New Fortnite update brings new pistol, ends Baller’s reign of terror

Epic Games is almost always giving Fortnite players some new toys, and the latest update for the game is keeping things fresh.

The 8.11 patch has dropped in Fortnite and with it comes a number of balance tweaks and shakeups to the weapon rotation in the battle royale game mode. There’s also a number of changes made to PVE.

The most obvious addition for fans is the new Flint-Knock Pistol. This special flintlock pistol consumes heavy ammo and has the slowest fire rate of any gun in the game, shooting just one bullet every three seconds.

Making up for this is its ability to deal incredible damage at close range and a unique knockback effect. When fired, the gun sends the user and the target flying. This can be used to knock enemies off cliffs and buildings, but it can also be used in other creative ways like double-jumping and preventing fall damage.

Returning from the vault is the Impulse Grenade. This thrown weapon still knocks targets back within its AOE but has also received a substantial buff when used on vehicles. Though all explosive weapons received increased stopping power against vehicles, the Impulse Grenade’s effectiveness was increased by a whopping 344 percent.

Beyond that are a few minor tweaks including a modest damage increase to scoped assault rifles and a halved spawn rate for the new Baller vehicle.

Finally, a new limited time game mode was added in the form of One Shot. The new game mode has player health capped at 50 points with hunting rifles and sniper rifles being the only available weapons. As the name implies, this makes it so that players are capable of killing each other with just one bullet.

In Save the World, the Battle Hound Jonesy hero has returned with his increased grenade capacity perk. The Sir Lancelot spear is another fresh addition to the game, giving players a long-range melee option.

As per usual, along with these front end changes are a plethora of bug fixes and UI improvements. The full patch notes for version 8.11 can be found on the official Fortnite website.