Fortnite released patch v9.21, which introduces a new weapon called the Proximity Grenade Launcher. When fired, the weapon releases an arcing, bouncing, explosive projectile that explodes when in proximity of an enemy. It is available in Epic and Legendary rarities and can be found from Chests, Loot Carriers, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines.
Additional features of the Proximity Grenade Launcher are:
- 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.
Surprisingly, this latest patch already makes changes to the Storm Flip, which was introduced in patch v9.20. According to the development team, they noticed that a number of players were holding on to this weapon until the later part of the match, given the scaling damage of the storm. This has resulted in what can be described as undesirable effects. The changes made now allow players to use the Storm Flip earlier in matches. These changes are:
- 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.
- Reduced the availability from Chests from 3.39% to 1.69%
- Reduced the availability from Floor loot from 3.32% to 1.66%
The Storm Flip has also been added to the playlists for Arena and Tournament. The reason is that there are visual effects changes planned in v9.30 that are aimed at improving readability.
Patch v9.21 also introduces a new Limited Time Mode with Horde Rush. Details of this Mode are:
- Four player Squad mode divided up into multiple stages.
- Prepare to defend an area by searching for weapons & items, scavenging materials, and building defenses.
- Rack up points by fighting Fiends, collecting score multipliers, and destroying Fiend Spawners.
- Recover from the battle and search for more equipment.
- Travel across the map to the next defense point.
- Respawning is enabled until the last stage when players have to destroy a Boss Fiend and his horde of minions.
- Keep an eye out for special loot chests, which contain powerful weapons & provide a scoring bonus.
The full patch v9.21 notes are available here.
