Fortnite patch 9.40 arrives with shotgun changes and tournaments

The latest Fortnite patch, version 9.40, is up and running on live servers and has brought with it a few new things for Fortnite players.

The new patch is bringing the tactical shotgun back in both epic and legendary forms. The patch also includes changes to some existing weapons and items, new tournaments, miscellaneous gameplay changes, and some assorted game improvements and bug fixes.

The new tactical shotgun variants will shoot for 83-87 maximum damage at 1.5 shots per second. The gun can hold eight shells and has a headshot multiplier of 2.25. Players can get it from chests, floor loot, loot carriers, supply drops, and vending machines.

Starting with this latest patch, the semi-auto sniper rifle will have a reduced scope zoom as a quality-of-life improvement. Players should now feel more comfortable using the rifle at a variety of ranges.

The combat shotgun’s headshot multiplier has been reduced from 1.7 to 1.5. Its long-range effectiveness has also been reduced. While the falloff curve from 2.44 tiles remains unchanged, the 4.88 tiles number has been reduced to 4.39, 9.77 to 6.84, and 19.53 to 11.72 tiles. This means the shotgun’s damage will now start falling at closer distances than before, more with each of the increasing tile ranges. Its hits won’t be registered from the distance of 11.72 tiles or further, giving a big nerf to its range.

With these reductions, the combat shotgun should feel more balanced in contrast to other similar weapons while also retaining its unique feel.

If players now pick an item that creates overflow or fills a stack, the overflow will be dropped rather than the currently equipped weapon as was previously the case. Consumables will be picked up automatically if players already have them in the inventory prior to maxing out.

Two new tournaments have also been announced. The solo mode Xbox Cup will be starting July 20 and is open for all Xbox One players, while the new Trios Cash Cup will be played on July 21 and is reserved for those who have reached the champions league in ranked play. Both tournaments will feature $1,000,000 prize pools.

Those that own Save the World founder’s packs get a new glider and a harvesting tool. There are further bug fixes and smaller changes that can be found in the full patch notes.