Fortnite’s Update Increases Drop Rates, Adds New Horde Rush Mode, And More

Fortnite is one of the biggest games in the world, and it’s constantly being updated. The newest update for the game, 9.21, continues on that tradition with a new mode in Horde Rush as well as some usual updating, specifically to drops relating to the shotgun and shields.

One of the biggest additions to the game is Horde Rush. In it you can be in a squad of up to four players and take on zombie like “fiends.” You must build and scavenge parts with points being given for every enemy you kill. It also added a new weapon with the Proximity Grenade Launcher, a weapon that fires bouncing projectiles. The patch saw increases to the drop rate for shotguns from 8.50% to 9.77% and shields from 16.95% to 18.13%.

You can check out a partial list of the notes below or see the whole thing here. Fortnite is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, and mobile platforms.

Proximity Grenade Launcher

• Fires an arcing, bouncing, explosive projectile that explodes when in proximity of an opponent.
• Available in Epic and Legendary Rarities.
• Found from Chests, Loot Carriers, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines.
• Semi-Automatic.
• Uses Rocket Ammo.
• Holds 2 Explosive Rounds.
• Rate of Fire: 0.65 shots per second.
• Player Proximity Radius: 250 units (about half the width of a tile).
• Explosion Radius: 300 units (about 60% of the width of a tile).
• Explosion damage:

Player: 67/70

Environmental: 131/138

• Reload Speed: 2.8s/3s
• Projectiles explode automatically after 10s or if it has nearly come to a stop.

Shield Potion

• Increased the availability from Chest loot from 11.3% to 12.09%

Small Shield Potion

• Increased the availability from Chest loot from 16.95% to 18.13%

Comment from Epic: With items being added and removed, we’ve noticed that Shield Potions and Small Shields have been less available in Chests. So we’ve increased the chance to find Shields from Chests to compensate for that.

Shotguns

• Increased the overall chance to find from Floor loot from 8.50% to 9.77%

Comment from Epic: After seeing the community’s feedback about Shotgun availability, we’ve increased the Shotgun availability from Floor Loot to make finding them in the early phases of the game easier.

Infantry Rifle Epic and Legendary variants

• Increased the availability from Floor loot from .067% to .105%
• Increased the availability from Chest loot from .414% to .645%

Heavy Assault Rifle Common variant

• Decreased the availability from Floor loot from 2.04% to 1.715%
• Decreased the availability from Chest loot from 12.47% to 10.46%

Mounted Turret

• Decreased the availability from floor loot from .59% to .46%

Storm Flip

• Adjusted Storm Flip to cause flat damage instead of being based on which Storm Phase is currently active.

Causes 5 damage every second.

This change may not be immediately available at the time of release. It requires a server update and will become active at some point later in the day.

Comment from Epic: We noticed with scaling damage that players held onto their Storm Flip later into matches, creating undesirable effects. This change gives players more value in using it earlier in matches.

• Reduced the availability from Chests from 3.39% to 1.69%
• Reduced the availability from Floor loot from 3.32% to 1.66%
• Added back into the Arena and Tournament playlists.

Comment from Epic: We have visual effect changes coming in v9.30 that will help improve readability.