What Fortnite Chapter Is It?

12/07/21 • 7 min read

Four years after Fortnite first appeared on the Battle Royale scene, the game is still breaking its own records. On December 5th, the game had the most players it’s ever seen at the launch of a new season – but why?

We all know what Fortnite is at this point. Whether we like the game or not, it has been smothered all over the internet for four years now.

In Fortnite, up to 100 players descend from a party-themed bus connected to a hot air balloon and land at their desired spot. They must then locate weapons, ammunition, shields, and several other items that they will utilise to eliminate every other player or team on the island.

Fortnite is known to be addictive, with even the likes of Prince Harry calling for a ban for this reason in the game’s earlier days. Although the world-record player base has slightly dwindled over the last few years, it still remains very popular.

With that being said, even Epic Games didn’t expect quite the traffic they encountered on Sunday with millions of players trying to load in for the first season of a brand new chapter in the Fortnite story.

What Fortnite Chapter Is It?

Fortnite began Chapter 3 of its storyline, which is the 19th season of the game, on December 5th, 2021. A new map has come, along with many brand new features, much like it did with Chapter 2, albeit the transition wasn’t nearly as seamless this time.

Thanks to leakers on Twitter, as well as a few sorry representatives of PlayStation and Xbox, players knew exactly when the new season and with it the new chapter was going to begin. This wasn’t the case at the start of Chapter 2, so players were not pressed against the gates of the servers waiting for them to go active like some kind of Black Friday event. They certainly were on Sunday, though.

This led to a whole host of issues when the chapter launched, with players being unable to log in, make purchases, join their teammates or get into games for a number of hours. When it comes to Fortnite, nothing shows the magnitude of an issue quite like being unable to make purchases.

After the rush subsided, players were able to gradually enter the game and discover the new island, which was the previous island flipped on its back, presenting a fresh new one to explore.

What’s New In Fortnite Chapter 3?

As well as a brand new map, there are a whole host of new features that have come with Fortnite Chapter 3, including new guns, items, manoeuvres and more.

In terms of the map, the game has kept a few familiar places of interest just as they did with the launch of Chapter 2. While Chapter 2 retained Pleasant Park and Retail Row from the first-ever edition of the Island, Chapter 3 has brought back Greasy Grove and Shifty Shafts from that first map, too.

It’s believed that the very popular Tilted Towers is hidden beneath the snow in the vicinity of its previous location, too, and will thaw out throughout the season.

Here’s what else is new:

Fortnite Chapter 3 Guns

Looking at the new guns, It’s evident that Epic Games are making another attempt to move away from the shotgun meta.

Those that have participated in the new chapter so far have reported the new shotguns feeling like they’re in a pillow fight, not a gunfight. The shotguns are weak, meaning players with any of the new high fire rate weapons stand a much greater chance in each encounter.

Sniper rifles have returned, too, but maybe just a few too many of them. Although they don’t hit quite as hard as they used to, everybody seems to have one, which is particularly annoying for players that don’t have full shield. Fortnite does have a history of increasing the intended spawn rates of new guns, though, so this could soon change.

The new Chapter 3 weapons are as follows:

Auto Shotgun – similar to the Tactical Shotgun. Higher fire rate than the alternatives but at the expense of damage dealt.
Striker Pump Shotgun – instead of heavily nerfing the original Pump Action Shotgun, Epic simply made a new one and made it much weaker.
Ranger Assault Rifle – essentially a new edition of the AK-47.
MK-Seven Assault Rifle – assault rifle with high fire rate and red dot sight attachment. High recoil but no bloom.
Stinger SMG – The Stinger SMG, as its name suggests, causes a lot of damage to both opponents and buildings. It deals more damage than one may imagine at a medium range.
Sidearm Pistol – pistols have never been particularly awful on Fortnite, but nobody has ever been or will ever be excited to pick one up.
Hunter Bolt-Action Sniper – a high-damage sniper rifle that utilises a three-bullet clip. Particularly obnoxious in Squads mode but it’s always fun to hit that long-distance headshot.

Fortnite Chapter 3 Items

Players hiding in multiplayer games has long been referred to as camping. This season, Fortnite has taken that and made it literal by introducing tents. Tents can be used to hide and heal.

In addition, you may store up to three things in your Tent for future matches. Two item spaces are accessible by default, with a third spot available for hire with Bars. You’ll only need to locate a different Tent to gather your goods in future bouts.

As well as Tents, there are some other new ways to heal, too, thanks to Med Mist and Guzzle Juice.

Med Mist is like a can of Deep Heat, where you spray it on to heal and recover. Each can contains 150 ticks of white heal (green bar), which can be sprayed on you or a teammate until it is empty.

Guzzle Juice heals your white health back to 100 over time as long as you don’t take any damage during the process. Whether you have 1hp or 99hp, it’ll top you up to 100hp.

Fortnite Chapter 3 Movement

Getting around the Fortnite island has always been an issue. Finding a balance between getting around the map and always running from the storm has proven difficult for Epic in the past.

Being able to get around too quickly means the better players wipe lobbies far too quickly, but nobody wants to be stuck in the storm most of the game, either.

In this Chapter, Epic has added some new ways to move, as well as changes to which vehicles are in the game.

To increase your speed and avoid enemy fire, you can now slide by holding your crouch button, similarly to in Call Of Duty. You still have the ability to fire and build while sliding, too, so it will rarely put you at a disadvantage in battle unless you slide off your build. Whether you’re running downhill or not, hold the crouch button while sprinting to start sliding.

As well as sliding, players will soon be able to swing from buildings like Spiderman, too. Spider-Man’s Web-Shooters will be available starting December 11 at 10 a.m. ET. Use these to swing from the tops of buildings, or wherever else you fancy.

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