Fortnite Patch 5.21 Now Live, Adds Heavy Sniper Rifle

A new patch is now live for Epic Games’ Fortnite as of August 15th, 1 AM PT, with no server downtime. Along with a new weapon for Battle Royale, there’s two new limited time modes added as well – Soaring 50’s and Sniper Shootout.

Soaring 50’s adds a lot of opportunity for verticality. When falling from great heights, the glider can be re-deployed, and there are more Impulse Grenades, Bounce Pads and Launch Pads to find for even more jumping. As for Sniper Shootout, it’s fairly simple – only sniper rifles are allowed.

To assist in this, Epic has added the Heavy Sniper, which is available in Epic and Legendary rarities. Its damage is pretty huge – 150/157 to other players and a whopping 1050/1100 to buildings, making it ideal for taking down structures. The bullet drop is also less compared to other sniper rifles, but a longer reload time is the tradeoff. Scoped Assault Rifles have been removed to accommodate the new Heavy Sniper, so keep that in mind.

Check out the full patch notes below, as provided by Epic, which include additions to Save the World as well.

Battle Royale

Limited Time Mode: Soaring 50’s: Summary This mode is a twist on the traditional 50 vs 50 mode, featuring an extra emphasis on mobility. Gliders can be re-deployed when falling from large heights. Additional Impulse Grenades, Bounce Pads, and Launch Pads will be spawned throughout the map. Jump in and soar to new heights!

Mode Details

50v50 loot, ammo and resource levels
When in mid-air and greater than 10m up, press Jump to deploy your glider
Added Impulse Grenades to chests at double the standard spawn rate
Added Impulse Grenades to floor loot
Decreased Spike Trap spawn chances
Increased Launch Pad & Bounce Pad spawn chances
Profile Stats (K/D & Wins) are not tracked in this mode.

Limited Time Mode: Sniper Shootout: In this limited time mode, players will do battle using sniper rifles. May the best aim win!

Mode Details

Only weapon drops are Sniper Rifles.
Floor Loot spawns reduced by 50%.
Profile Stats (K/D & Wins) are tracked in this mode.

Weapons + Items

Heavy Sniper added

Available in Epic and Legendary variants.
Can be found from floor loot, chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines.
Each shot delivers devastating damage at the cost of a long reload.
Deals 150/157 damage to players.
These large rounds deal increased damage (1050/1100) to buildings.
Projectiles fired from the Heavy Sniper have less bullet drop in comparison to other Snipers.

Minigun

Minigun headshot multiplier has been reduced from 2.5 to 1.5.

Bug Fixes

Grenades now properly grant progress for the Week 5 Challenge: “Deal damage to players with a Clinger, Stink Bomb, or Grenade.”

Art + Animation

Cloth physics have been fixed and will now appear properly.

Save The World

Missions + Systems

Weekly Horde Challenge – Bullet Proof Husks
Features bulletproof enemies that must be defeated with melee weapons, traps, or Hero abilities.
– One time completion Quest Reward (1500 Gold)
– Repeatable quest reward (75 Tickets)
Removed the Power Rating restrictions on Challenge the Horde missions.
– These restrictions were blocking some players from accessing the Weekly Challenge Missions even though their Power Level was at the necessary level.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue where the modifier between Challenge the Horde missions wasn’t appearing between waves.
The Constructor Leadership quest will no longer fail to advance when purchasing the skill tree node.
Atlas activation has been fixed in multi-gate Fight the Storm missions.
Track completion now advances the mission properly in Level 28 Deliver the Bomb.
Survivors and quest items no longer appear as orange boxes in the world.

Heroes