The patch went live this morning at 5 a.m. EDT; here’s what you can expect when you log in, per the official Fortnite website and release notes.
Creative Mode
Although it might sound similar, Fortnite’s Creative Mode is a slightly different experience than its Playground Mode.
Whereas Playground Mode allows players to explore the Fortnite map and practice their skills without fear of dying, Creative Mode is a more traditional sandbox mode that allows players to build their own islands using individual assets or prefabricated buildings. These creations can (eventually) be shared with friends or the community at large on Reddit, YouTube, and Twitch.
The mode has been out for several days now, but it has only been available to Battle Pass owners. The 7.01 patch makes it available to all Fortnite players.
Islands
Originally, Creative Mode had only four islands on which players could build structures. Patch 7.01 increases that number to five.
Players will be able to “load creations that have been shared with the Island Code system”, but as of this writing, Epic has said that the Island Code system will initially be available to only a select number of Fortnite players.
The company said the feature will be expanded over time, but it did not specify how quickly the feature would roll out to all Fortnite users.
Prefabs
Epic has added six new prefabs to Creative Mode, all of which are modeled after Lucky Landing. Indestructible parts have also been added to prefabs.
The obstacle course has been split into floors, walls, roof and stairs, and parts.
Devices
The new item spawner allows players to spawn one item per match after dropping it on the device, while the player checkpoint plate creates a respawn checkpoint that lets players “choose” where they respawn after they bite the dust.
Other changes to devices include letting players use the player checkpoint plate to spawn at Island start instead of game start, and the player spawn device now allows for team spawning.
Gameplay
Creative Mode now allows for infinite health, players can create a flag that keeps pre-built structures from being damaged during games, and building can now be blocked after games have started.
Flying
Prior to 7.01, players could not switch to flying while their glider was deployed. That’s now a thing of the past. Just double tap the jump button: “Space” on PC, “A” on Xbox One, and “X” on PS4.
Players can also now fly upward by holding jump.
Infinity Blade
Although Epic has pulled all three Infinity Blade games from the App Store, the developer has added a little Infinity Blade goodness to Fortnite. According to the official patch notes, the new melee weapon doles out some hefty damage and can be found in Polar Peak.
Primary fire performs a sword slash that deals 75 damage to players, while alternate fire will let you jump “great distances”, dealing 25 knockback damage upon landing.
In addition, health and shield pools will increase to 200 when wielding the blade, and the weapon will provide 1HP regen per second. On top of those health buffs, the Infinity Blade also provides “an instant burst of effective Health upon elimination of an enemy (50 HP)” as well as “increased movement speed (130%).” Removing the Infinity Blade from its location in Polar Peak instantly heals the first player to do so.
The weapon appears only once per match.
Save the World
As per the usual, Fortnite’s Save the World mode takes a back seat to the game’s battle royale offerings.
This week, we get a single bug fix (“Storm Shield Defenses no longer grant reduced primary rewards if the 80% health bonus objective is failed”), alongside the return of Ralphie’s Revenge, which will be in the weekly store from December 12 at 7 p.m. EDT to December 19 at 7 p.m. EDT.
Those are the major additions in the new 7.01 update for Fortnite. For the full patch notes, head over here, where you’ll find more info on Creative Mode tools and teams, UI, social, and performance tweaks, and changes to Fortnite mobile.
