Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 Launches and Restarts Competitive

Fortnite is kicking off a new season, a little early! Super, or Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3, is here. It’s a full-length season, partially bringing us back to the more standard loot pool of weapons after a month of Star Wars. Although, there’s plenty of wacky items here with another superhero theme, this time with the most dedicated array of Superhero gameplay features we’ve seen. What’s in the new Fortnite patch notes?

As well as a complete reset of the meta, the new Fortnite season is re-starting Fortnite esports after a bit of a month off. We had the Showdowns, but tournaments were a little light. Looking at the new meta, it’ll be a fun time to get involved in Fortnite esports tournaments. These are the big changes you’ll need to know before jumping in:

Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 Patch Notes

Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 Map Changes

The Fortnite patch notes include quite a few changes to the map. The first thing to be aware of, is that the Star Wars landing spots in Fortnite haven’t vanished. They’ve stuck around, even though they’re collab POIs. However, we do have a bunch of new spots too. These are spread around the map rather than being concentrated in a single biome. These are:

Supernova Academy

A school for Superheroes. Taking over from the power plant in the north of the map. It’s a sprawling complex which adds some varied terrain to one of the older areas.

Utopia City

Taking over for Seaport in Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 is Utopia City. It’s a more futurist approach to a city than the older Japanese inspired one. However, it’s still very densely populated with loot locations which should make it a popular landing spot. Hopefully it proves just as fruitful in tournaments as Seaport, the Bugha trio’s storm surge strat in the densest POI was impressive back in Major 2.

Demon’s Domain

A new POI has taken over Masked Meadows for Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3, Demon’s Domain. A villain themed POI. But since the villain is Diago from earlier seasons, it’s got a bit more of the older theming still intact.

Hero Ranks – Fresh Mechanic for New Fortnite Season

The Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 update has introduced a new mechanic. In each game, players will have a Hero Rank. They’ll level up the ranks as they play. Completely separate to the normal Fortnite ranks, on a game by game basis.

Hero Rank goes up from tasks like eliminating enemies, surviving storm phases, and even returning sprites to the shrines. When you rank up, you’ll unlock a Hero Cache. These are special loot containers which contain a weapon, consumable, and possibly a boon. Their quality will depend on what rank of Hero you achieve! Up to S where you receive a mythic and S+ which gets you all the boons.

Your hero rank will also get you access to special areas. Kind of like the backrooms. Hopefully they’re a bit better balanced in Fortnite Chapter 6 Season, the backrooms were a bit of a nightmare in Season 2.

Hero Items in Fortnite Patch Notes

The new Fortnite season is based around Superheroes, so it’s no big surprise that there’s a bunch of superhero themed Mythic items now available. These Hero Items are going to be some of the most powerful this season. They are:

• Killswitch Revolvers – Dual pistols
• Tracking Visor – A visor that lets you see enemy footprints
• Bass Boost – A sound attack that knocks players back and destroys builds.
• Surf Curve, Storm Beast’s Pom Poms, and Myste Form – More Hero items coming later in the season.

New Mobility – Grapnel Gun

A new type of mobility is one of the exciting additions in Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3. It’s a slightly different take on the Grapnel Gun. It lets you shoot a grapple, but then redeploy your glider afterwards. Similar to past Batman Mythic items. Grapplers are a great choice for mobility items, limited in use, limited in power, but just enough to break out of locked down firefights.

Other New Weapons and Medallions

As well as those new items in the Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 updates, there’s another batch of new weapons. These are:

• Spire Rile – New LMG. Deals increased damage to structures and has a large magazine.
• Hyperburst Pistol – A fast firing pistol, shoots three rounds at a time.
• Deadeye DMR – A DMR scoped rifle
• Exotic Yoink Shotgun – A new shotgun, if you hit your first shot it pulls the enemy towards you.
• Exotic Voltage Burst Pistol – First and last shots have a shockwave effect.
• Exotic Frostfire Shotgun – A shotgun which gives you the pepper speed effect when you land a shot, or slow down an enemy.

There are also these new Medallions and Mythics:

• Enhanced Spire Rile
• Kor’s Deadeye DMR
• Infernal Defences Medallion – Increases reload speed and regenerates shield.
• Shrouded Striker Medallion – Invisibility while sprint jumping, which also sends you further.

Different Boons and Sprites for New Fortnite Seasons

The Fortnite patch notes include an update to the two key features this season. Boons and Sprites, we’ve had a new set to match Season 3.

• Storm Caller – Shield regenerates in the storm.
• Speed Healer – Healing items grant Slap effect
• Combat Acrobat – Parkour moves will reload your weapons.
• Heightened Senses – Marks players who attack you.

The sprites have been a cool feature this Chapter too. These have been replaced for Season 3. There is now a Dash Sprite, which gives three dashes. Plus, a Superman sprite. Who laser eyes everything. Definitely different to the heal and updraft critters that we’ve had all year.

Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3 Starts Tournaments Back Up

Lastly, we’ve got one of the most exciting new additions, tournaments are back in the new Fortnite season! There’s a whole batch coming this season. Starting with a new system for Ranked Cups, along with Performance Evaluations, Victory Cash Cups, and the return of the next FNCS Major! Right now though, the bigger question might be how all of this is going to play at a competitive level!

The Hero Caches and other features in the Fortnite patch notes might not make it all the way through to esports events. But with shield sprites gone, different mobility, and some really unique exotics, they’ll be a fun mix of items once the tournaments start back up for Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 3.