5 New Gameplay Additions in ‘Fortnite’ Season 5

James Tedesco
Games Fortnite
Games Fortnite

Fortnite Season 5 is finally here, and amongst all the drama and speculation, we will finally have our questions answered. There were massive changes that came with the V5.0 patch, a whole new map, new skins, emotes, challenges, and gliders. There is more than enough to be excited about and it’s safe to say that the hype for Fortnite Season 5 is real. If you’re an avid Fortnite player, you know that the gameplay shifts dramatically with each patch, small or large.

As Fortnite fans sink their teeth into brand new locations, emotes, and skins, there have been some massive changes to the meta of Fortnite Season 5 as well. The game we know and love has introduced more craziness to the island and changed how we play the game in some unexpected ways.

Let’s jump into the biggest additions to the Fortnite gameplay in Season 5.

The All Terrain Kart

The ATK, or All Terrain Kart, is an amazing addition to the unpredictability of Fortnite. This golf cart, now available all over the island, adds a completely different element to the game. Seating all four of your squad members, you and your squad will be able to drive, drift and blast any enemies you come across as you rumble across the map. As you maneuver through the map, your squad member can rotate their positions, duck, and shoot.

As you encounter tight corners, you can drift, and as you drift more the ATK goes faster and faster. This speed build up is indicated by the color progression of the wheels: red, blue and finally yellow. Kart-on-kart combat adds a whole new tactical advantage to the game, using the ATKs to flank and outmaneuver and outgun your enemies.

As fun as the ATK’s are, there is a downside to them: they are noisy and attract a lot of attention in-game. So use them sparingly or in a squad where you do have fire support. If you are solo, be cautious and methodical with their use. While your passengers can shoot and build all while in the kart, there is fall damage for everyone. So think twice before you build, or drive off a cliff in excitement.

The ATK is a welcome addition to Fortnite, bringing a four-man vehicle to the game adds for more in-game fun and brings with it a different style of kart-versus-kart combat that the community hasn’t seen before. These might just be the most meta additions to the game.

Teleportation Rifts

The second big additions are the “Rifts”. Appearing as they did prior to the start of Season 5, these rifts allow you to teleport and drop from the massive rift in the sky just as you would from the Battle Bus. Rifts are a limited use gameplay element, so once you use it, the ground rift will disappear entirely into thin air. From a gameplay perspective, this allows players to relocate on the fly, whether that means relocate entirely or flank an enemy.

These teleportation rifts are strategic tools to help you either run from a fight or help you get an edge on an opponent or team. These rifts are randomly generated in-game just as the llamas are, so as you move through the island — and circles — keep your eyes peeled for these rifts as they provide a massive advantage to the player/team using them.

The New Desert

The new desert landscape isn’t necessarily a specific modification to any weapon or vehicle, but it should definitely change how you play in that area. I’m sure if you’re reading this you know very well that Paradise Palms and its surrounding desert takes up the bottom right corner of the map. This new biome adds a whole new element in of itself. It’s barren landscape that lacks cover, has monstrous mountains, all with a tan landscape that allows you to stick out like a sore thumb.

With the rest of the map being green, the tan landscape makes skins appear more prominently. As there are massive wide sightlines, that are both to your advantage and disadvantage. Your movement shows up more prominently, so as you drop there, maneuver through the terrain with caution. With that being said, we have a completely new area of the map and that is exciting enough!

The Circle

Being a Battle Royale game, the circle closes, that has been an essential element to Fortnite. But Epic added a completely different spin to the circle. Per the v5.0 patch notes, Epic states that “The center of Storm circles 7, 8, and 9 can now shift in random directions (instead of simply shrinking). As the storm closes in, it will move & shrink to the new location.” What this means for players is that they need to be on their toes, know that the final three circles will be moving outside of itself into the storm.

The circle then moves with the storm to envelop the circle outside of the storm. Essentially, the circle is now on the move rather than shrinking inside itself, something we have never seen before in Fortnite. With a 30-second closing time, the storm moves fast, and there is an added element of moving to a further location. This will require a completely different approach to how you tackle the final battles of the match. Now that the circle moves outside itself, it is up to you to tackle this and survive both your enemies and the storm.

Changes to Shotguns?

Fortnite Shotguns

For the majority of Season 4, there was the constant complaint about nerfing shotguns. While there isn’t a complete fix to that problem here, Epic has begun to address the problem. It was a well-known tactic to equip “double pumps“, well Fortnite players can say goodbye to that. Epic has introduced the reload timer after shotgun blasts slowing down the time between cycling guns. Having two shotguns in your load-out isn’t a viable option anymore. There is too much time in between changing guns, this is where a submachine gun or assault rifle can come in handy.

When it comes to the heavy shotguns, there has been a major change. The number of pellets per shot has increased from 5 to 10 while their max damage remains unchanged. With the addition that all shotguns now have a red hit-marker indicating how many pellets hit the target. So if the spread hits half of the target, the hit-marker will account for that. The hit-marker takes some getting used too, as it is a bright red, but inevitably helps the player know how much of their shot hit the target.

Fortnite is still the game we all very much love and Epic Games is doing things right. They are listening to the community and adjusting the gameplay to the community’s wants and need, that is what makes this game so amazing.

Keep an eye for more patches coming soon, new guns, skins and emotes now that Season 5 is here. What else are you excited about this season? Feel free to let us know!

James Tedesco
Playstation Fanboy, but will also spend incredible amounts of time scrolling Netflix for a new show to watch. Content Analyst at FANDOM. Let's talk games, movies, and TV. Han Shot First.