Epic Games announced that Fortnite received the Patch 19.01 Hotfix, which brings in new a sudden new addition to the multiplayer online battle royale shooting game.
The said addition comes with in a form of new weather conditions that can give its players an advantage, while the hotfix also unvaulted one of the weapons that they can use to literally "bring in the fire" in every match.
Cloudy with a Chance of Tornadoes and Lightning
As mentioned earlier, the Patch 19.01 Hotfix will bring new weather conditions in Fortnite in a form of tornadoes and lightning.
Today's Island forecast: extreme weather including tornadoes and lightning storms!
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) January 11, 2022
Read all about some new weather arriving on the Island.https://t.co/hl7C7gKV0g pic.twitter.com/wqiGcSZM3X
The tornadoes were described by the developers in a post in the game's website as a signal for the player to not to flee, but rather a chance to escape, as they can use these swirling towers of wind what will be appearing in a match.
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According to Polygon, these tornadoes will pick them up if they are closer to them and swirling them up into the sky until they choose to either glide to the ground safely or stay spinning long enough until they will be hurled. Upon landing because of the latter, they will not take any fall damage.
These wind twisters, according to Forbes, can be strategically used to give them a fast gateaway in order to evade firefights or to reposition them against an enemy to initiate unexpected swift kills.
If they want to encounter more tornadoes in Fortnite, the battle royale shooting game will have its Tornado Week event, where they will have a percentage of doing so starting January 12th until January 17th at 9:00 AM ET.
The lightning, on the other hand, according to PC Gamer, will be appearing in Fortnite matches from dark clouds that are forming overhead. This will followed by giant bolts of it suddenly raining down from above.
Once hit, they will gain a significant speed boost, but it is just temporary. However, they will receive a small amount of damage, but it will not be a matter as the said speed boost can be use to either speed to wards the battlefield or exit out of it.
They can increase their chance to get struck by lightning by jumping into a body of water beneath the cloud or reach the highest land point under it. However, once they have been struck, it will not strike them again right after.
Other Additions
Aside from these two new weather conditions, Fortnite will also unvault one of their weapons, the Flare Gun, courtesy of the Patch 19.01 Hotfix.
According to Digital Trends, these weapons can start and spread fires within a radius much like the Firefly Jars.
The fire that is spreading in a location will deal continuous damage to any players who are too close to it, even to those who are using the weapon. Because of this, they need to stay far away while using it.
These Flare Guns will be appearing in matches as either weapon loots that will be scattered on the ground on every random location in the game's map or inside chests and supply drops.
However, these weapons will not be included in Fortnite's competitive playlists, but they are subject to an evaluation period, which will last one to two weeks.
