Fortnite Update 3.0.0 (1.44) Starts Season 3, Adds 60 FPS & Hoverboard

Fortnite update 3.0.0, or 1.44 on PS4, has officially landed. Between a 60 fps performance boost, the addition of the Hand Cannon and a Hoverboard in Save The World, this is definitely one of the most substantial patches yet. Read the full patch notes below.

NEW FEATURES FOR ALL MODES

• Building Improvements: Turbo Building and Automatic Material Swapping added. Building through objects is now allowed. Read more about these changes here.
• New orchestral musical score
• Color blind option added
• Holding down the Interact button will perform the action once you’re in range.
• New Party message displays when server problems occur
• Anti-cheat for Mac

BATTLE ROYALE NEW FEATURES

• Season 3 Battle Pass added
• Hand Cannon added: Fires Heavy ammo in Epic and Legendary tiers. Can be found in Treasure Chests and Supply Drops.
• Pump Shotgun spamming fixed
• 60 fps mode available on PS4, Xbox One, PS4 Pro and Xbox One X
• Full map available while spectating
• Streamer mode anonymizes all names that aren’t squadmates
• Emoting available in pre-game lobby

SAVE THE WORLD NEW FEATURES

• Hoverboard added: complete Stonewood Homebase Storm Shield Defense 5 tutorial to unlock it.
• Bald Eagle Hand Cannon arrives in weekly store
• New event questlines
• Sarah Hero added to the event store
• Legendary versions of Lunar New Year’s Heroes added to Spring Llama
• Movement speed for Heroes has been unified

GENERAL BUG FIXES AND TWEAKS

• Fixed Auto-Run being cancelled when opening the map or inventory screens
• Inventory icons should no longer get stuck in a selected state after being dragged out of the inventory.
• Improved CPU performance when activating overlaps, such as traps or triggers
• Optimized grass rendering to improve overall frame rate
• Fixed an issue where incorrect numbers could be shown if you enabled the “Show Net Stats” HUD option

BATTLE ROYALE BUG FIXES AND TWEAKS

Weapons

• Grenades no longer have the ability to Crit.
• Removed the Valentine’s Day skin from the Crossbow
• Adjusted Pistol drop chances in floor loot: Common buffed by 25 percent, Rare buffed by 100 percent, Epic Suppressed nerfed by 33 percent Legendary Suppressed nerfed by 20 percent.
• Fixed the colorful outlines around weapon pickups not showing up
• Fixed the Crossbow not reloading if the fire button is pressed with an empty ammo clip
• Fixed the Impulse Grenade sometimes not sticking to the environment
• Fixed a recoil recovery issue that caused the reticle to be in a lower position than expected after switching weapons

Performance

• Optimized weapon and building selection to be much more responsive under non-ideal network conditions
• Several HUD elements have been optimized to improve performance
• Fixed hitching that occurred when jumping out of the Battle Bus
• Fixed hitching that occurred when encountering certain skins for the first time in a match

Gameplay

• Players now remain in control of their character for 10 seconds after earning Victory Royale.
• Players who do not have an Outfit equipped will now have the same Outfit both in-game and the lobby.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes no weapon would be equipped on first weapon pickup.
• Fixed the crosshair reticle disappearing in certain cases
• Fixed an issue where the wrong item was dropped after switching inventory slots immediately after picking-up a new item
• Fixed an issue where Supply Drops were unable to be viewed from long distances
• Fixed issue where other player models could appear giant in certain network conditions
• Fixed wall traps not triggering if placed behind certain stair configurations that didn't visually block the trap
• Fixed the wrong item stack sometimes being consumed when multiple instances of a stacking item are in the quickbar
• Fixed a rare server crash when a player would join a match
• Fixed an issue that would cause visual delays when acquiring pickups or opening chests

UI

• The fullscreen map now displays information about what the buttons do in the top right.
• The path of the Battle Bus is now visible on the map prior to launch.
• When picking up items, we once again display the names and quantities on the HUD, with an improved appearance.
• Ammo count is now shown in the tooltip for weapons on the ground.
• When spectating players, the number of players they’ve eliminated now appears under their name.
• Text notifications no longer appear when a spectator leaves.
• The "You placed X" message now appears for only 10 seconds instead of 20 while spectating.
• Added a Help button to the Battle Pass tab with a list of Frequently Asked Questions
• Fixed an issue where, after being eliminated, the banner rank of the opponent wouldn’t match their rank but would instead match your own
• Fixed unclear description of the Emote key binding in the Input Settings menu
• Fixed an issue where messages and popups were affected by the HUD Scale option
• Fixed an issue with escape behavior where it was cancelling game actions rather than bringing up the menu
• Fixed an issue where spectators would see the character model obstructing their view, if the spectated player was scoping a Sniper with their back to a wall
• Fixed an issue where text notifications would show for spectators joining despite “Show Spectator Count” being disabled
• Fixed not having enough visual padding between the current ammo in the magazine, and the amount left in reserve

Social

• Banner, Boost Level and Battle Pass Tier of party members are now shown in the lobby.
• The top menu in the lobby now shows expanded information on party members.
• Party Finder has been restyled with streamlined invite/join visuals.
• Ray no longer enthusiastically announces all friend invites.
• Fixed several cases of players failing to receive Party Invite notifications

Art

• Removed Depth of Field blur to greatly increase image sharpness for all players
• Lighting during all times of day/night now match the brightness across all Quality options.
• Lighting contrast + intensity have been adjusted to improve contrast in certain times of day that were flat and to reduce shadows in times of day that were too dark.
• Fixed an issue which caused downed players to become invisible if revived underwater

Audio

• Unique Audio coming to several Pickaxes + Gliders within the Battle Pass in V.3.1.0
• Created new Semi-Auto Sniper world impact sounds, so it doesn't sound as overwhelming when shot at
• Implemented a fix that should resolve the stuttering and lagged audio issues that were introduced in the last update
• Fixed an issue that caused the pickaxe equip sound to play when other players jumped from the bus

SAVE THE WORLD BUG FIXES & TWEAKS

Gameplay

• The Cozy Campfire no longer rewards the full Utility score every time it heals a player, instead spreading its total reward out over its lifespan.
• Plankhattan Project quest now only requires a single fully completed Siphon to succeed instead of 3. Players still must complete all three defense stages on the Siphon.
• Adjusted the cost of all BluGlo Pylons
• Increased Wood/Stone/Metal harvesting rates. The exact amount varies by object, but is approximately 10 to 20 percent higher.
• Frontend crafting within Universal Inventory feature will be added.
• Reduced appearance rate of Ranged, Melee and Weapon Llamas by 20 percent
• Wall launchers once again push husks in the direction the trap is facing.
• Weak points will now spawn for all players when multiple players attempt to harvest a building or Outlander llama at the same time.
• The Cozy Campfire now requires tiered Mineral Powder to craft.
• Spring It On! Gold was incorrectly displaying as Sprint It On! Gold.
• Fixed Wooden Wall Spike Traps to have no reload time
• Fixed Wooden Wall Spike Traps to have proper damage at different tiers and rarities
• Fixed an issue with Wooden Wall Spike Traps not properly reflecting damage
• Survivor’s lost item should no longer spawn outside of the search area.
• If a Survivor Relay doesn't spawn a survivor, it will now fulfill related objectives and grant full rewards.
• Fixed the mailbox quest item from being searchable even if you're not doing the quest
• Fixed “Summer” from spawning Outside the Storm Shield in Outpost
• Vacuum Tube Launcher and Dam Buster will no longer roll headshot perks.
• Fixed an issue where new Dragon Weapon schematics could roll invalid perk configurations
• Updated Melee “Durability Decay” perk descriptions to say "Longer Durability" instead of "Durability Decay"; updated values to reflect new descriptions
• Crossbow Schematics will now craft weapons of the correct power level.
• Fixed a bug that caused multiple elemental enemy types to spawn in the same encounter after increasing difficulty. Only one elemental type should spawn at a time, except Minibosses.

Heroes

• Fixed an issue causing the Outlander Flash Eagle Eye's support perk to show 12 percent damage increase at all Hero evolutions. It now properly displays 12 percent, 18 percent and 24 percent at Evolutions one, two and three.
• Fixed an issue where Dragon Slash wasn’t activating voice over
• Fixed issue causing players to lose control of their character if a Troll Bomb was destroyed with Soldier's “Shockwave”
• Fixed issue where “In The Zone” would sometimes trigger following one swing after switching weapons
• Fixed an issue that allowed Soldiers to sprint while they were aiming their Frag Grenade
• Fixed an issue that allowed Light Sword Heavy Attacks to be canceled early
• Fixed a visual issue where the Flash Eagle Eye Outlander's backpacks of Epic and Legendary rarities were reversed
• Fixed an issue where hero abilities, projectiles and visual FX would fail when cast in water
• Fixed an issue where the Epic version of Sarah Claus had Crescent Kick as Tier 2 ability instead of Throwing Stars
• Fixed an issue where Ranger BeetleJess was missing her face paint
• Updated the “Rain of Death” Ninja perk to show the updated throw pattern

UI

• Updated Skill Tree backgrounds with new art and path labels to help player progression
• Added new color backgrounds and labels to Research Trees to help player progression
• Selecting the "Find in ..." option in the Heroes or Squads menu will now show the selected Hero, Survivor or Defender when opening the appropriate Armory sub-menu.
• Clarified the behavior of the the Quick Chat key binding in the Input settings screen
• Added a purple skull icon above Mini-Bosses
• Spring it On! Gold icon has been updated.
• Fixed an issue that caused “Connecting…” to appear when a teammate joined a match
• Fixed the tooltip for Supply Drop
• Clicking a locked squad now takes you to the "earliest" skill node that unlocks any slot in that squad, rather than the skill node that unlocks the leader slot
• Fixed a case where weapon perks would disappear from the UI temporarily
• Fixed a case where the item level display would fail to update
• Fixed a case of overrunning text in the Store tab
• Fixed some cases where controller navigation would become unresponsive
• Fixed a hitch that could occur when navigating the Quests tab
• Fixed some mission detail information not correctly updating when hovering over missions with a mouse
• Fixed a case of cut-off text in the Armory menus
• Tab navigation button callouts are now hidden if they cannot be used.
• Fixed the Mission Select button becoming overly large in some situations
• Adjusted the layout of the Defender Squads button to better support having every squad unlocked
• Fixed slotted Survivors not showing their correct power level in some situations
• Fixed an issue with purchasing additional Llamas during the Llama store tutorial
• Removed unnecessary blank rows in the tooltip information for “Bear Stare”
• Corrected a typo in the description for “Quick Kick”
• Fixed the tooltip for “Hearty Blows” to refer to base health values and “BASE MD” missing its display name
• Fixed map and radar icons (including player icons) not displaying in some circumstances
• The Ralphie's Revenge Sniper Rifle now correctly displays tier information.
• Removed unused stats in Patrol Ward tooltip
• Fixed a case of overrunning text breaking the layout of the Daily Rewards menu
• Updated "Air Strike Upgrade: Damage" node to accurately reflect bonuses
• Updated the description of “Hover Turret Upgrade: Fire Rate” node in Skill Tree 4 to accurately reflect bonuses
• Fixed an issue where console players were unable to select a skill in the skill tree

Audio

• Added Plasma Stun sound to Decoy when you have the perk enabled

That’s all there is to it! As you can see, there’s almost no part of Fortnite that hasn’t been changed or improved by the 3.0.0 update. The new Battle Royale Battle Pass will likely be the biggest addition for free players, and you can learn more about that here. As of the time of publication, Season 3 is scheduled to run for the next few months. No exact dates have been announced.

While it’s a bit understated compared to the massive list of bug fixes, the ability to play Fortnite at 60 fps is obviously going to be beloved by console players. It means everything should feel smoother and the action should be more fluid. As opposed to the previous uncapped situation, players shouldn’t notice any major dips in performance from here on out. If that’s not the case, it’s always possible to revert to the old mode if you’d rather play that way.

Fortnite is in early access on PS4, Xbox One and PC. The 3.0.0 update should be live across all platforms.

What do you think of Fortnite’s latest patch? Are you enjoying the Hoverboard and Hand Cannon? Has building become too easy? Tell us in the comments section!