Fortnite Season 8 update - new locations, pirate cannons, skins, Battle Pass info

It's finally here! Season 8 of Fortnite has arrived at last, bringing with it a plethora of changes, some of which were definitely expected but others of which certainly were not. Whatever the case, there's a lot of ground to cover with this new season, so let's get started!

Our Fortnite Season 8 guide will walk you through everything you need to know about the new season and all the changes it has wrought upon the Fortnite island and its unceasingly warring inhabitants (that's you!). We'll go over new locations such as Lazy Lagoon and Sunny Steps, along with the new Pirate Cannon weapons, vaulted items, the introduction of a very Apex Legends-esque contextual Ping system, and much more.

This guide is just one section of our massive Fortnite guide series, which we've packed with tonnes of Season 8-ready tips and strategies on every aspect of this beast of a battle royale, from Fortnite building and editing to stats on all the different Fortnite weapons, and so much more. Take a look if you like; you might learn something new.

Fortnite Season 8 update

We've laid out all the major changes introduced with Season 8 of Fortnite below, dedicating a short section to each noteworthy change or new feature. Feel free to use the links below to skip right to the sections you're interested in.

Fortnite Season 8 Patch Notes (V8.00)

As previously mentioned, in this guide we'll delve into all the major changes introduced with this new season of Fortnite, but if you'd like to take a look at the full patch notes for Season 8 of Fortnite, then look no further than our Fortnite Patch Notes page.

Here we've got every single new feature and alteration written down for your perusal, alongside all previous patch notes dating all the way back to the advent of Season 7. It's actually quite interesting to see how things have changed over the past three-or-so months; why don't you take a look yourself?

Season 8 Battle Pass, Skins, Challenges

New Season, new Battle Pass. Fortnite Season 8's Battle Pass is once more available for purchase for 950 V-Bucks, which you may well have accrued over time if you bought and played enough with the Battle Pass for Season 7. With Season 8's Battle Pass purchase you immediately unlock two new upgradeable skins, as part of the larger selection of 100 Battle Pass-exclusive cosmetics and rewards.

There are in fact seven skins available for unlock with the Battle Pass for Season 8:

• Blackheart (Tier 1, unlockable styles) - "The dreaded captain of the stormy seas."
• Hybrid (Tier 1, unlockable styles) - "Become the dragon."
• Sidewinder (Tier 23) - "Coiled and ready to strike gold."
• Peely (Tier 47, reactive) - "Go bananas."
• Ember (Tier 71) - "Take steady aim with hands of flame."
• Master Key (Tier 87, unlockable styles) - "Unlock your true potential. The key lies within."
• Luxe (Tier 100, unlockable styles) - "Don't try me. I'm unstoppable."

Also new to Season 8 is the Challenge "Party Assist" functionality, which allows you to select a daily or weekly challenge and team up with your friend(s) to help you complete it. So now you've simply no excuse! For full details on all Fortnite's challenges, head on over to Dave's Fortnite week 6 challenges page.

Map Changes - Lazy Lagoon, Sunny Steps, Volcano

Holy Deforestation, Batman! Wailing Woods is toast, largely replaced (exactly as we predicted!) by the enormous lava-spewing volcano that was brought about by all those tremors and earthquakes leading up to the end of Season 7. And (again, as we predicted) a great deal of change in general has been brought to the north-eastern quadrant of the Fortnite island in particular, with the Block being shunted along to the west to make way for three new locations:

• The Volcano
  • Probably the most striking change to the map since the Meteorite that formed Dusty Divot way back at the beginning of Season 4. The Volcano is a massive landmark filled with loot and lava aplenty.
• Lazy Lagoon
  • Replacing Lazy Links entirely, Lazy Lagoon is home to a small settlement and a massive pirate ship decked out with a great many of the new Pirate Cannons, which we'll get to in just a moment.
• Sunny Steps
  • Now the north-eastern-most location on the map, Sunny Steps is a colourful and relatively small space dominated by three pyramid-shaped buildings overlooking a smattering of smaller houses.

For those of you keeping track, this means we've got two casualties in the transition from Season 7 to Season 8: Wailing Woods, and Lazy Links. Tomato Temple is indeed still there, though it's no longer named on the map and it looks as though it has seen better days, now dwarfed in stature and value by its new neighbouring locations.

For full details on all the new locations introduced in Season 8 and how they compare to all your favourite landing spots, check out our Fortnite locations guide for chest locations and other stats.

Lava & Volcanic Vents

Two new terrain-based phenomena have been introduced alongside Season 8's massive volcano: Lava, which can be found primarily south of the Volcano; and Volcanic Vents, which again can be found in the areas around the Volcano itself (understandably).

Volcanic Vents are fairly straightforward, and we've seen their like before back in Season 6 around the floating island above Loot Lake. When you step onto (or glide over) a Volcanic Vent, a gust of air sends you soaring upwards, triggering a glider redeploy without needing the actual Glider item. You can use this to travel quickly across distances of several hundred metres, as well as to quickly scale the Volcano itself.

Lava is a more original addition to the Fortnite island. Walking across Lava causes you to bounce quickly across it, again much like you could bounce across the surface of Loot Lake at one point during Season 6; but with each bounce, you take one point of Health damage. Yes, Health damage - so Shields won't help you here. But it remains an interesting trade-off and a new take on traversing tricky terrain in Fortnite.

Pirate Cannons

Pirate Cannons are the closest we have to a new weapon in Season 8 of Fortnite, though it's an environmental weapon, rather than a gun you can equip in your hotbar. These Cannons can be found throughout the map, though they are very heavily concentrated in Lazy Lagoon. You can very slowly push and steer a Cannon by interacting with it, and you can choose either to load and shoot cannonballs at your foes, or load and shoot yourself or your teammate across great distances.

This dual function of weapon and mobility item makes for some intriguing potentials, and we can't wait to see what new strategies and uses make themselves known over the coming weeks regarding Season 8's new Pirate Cannons.

Vaulted Items

We've got a few vaultings to talk about here, but let's start with the major changes: every vehicle except for Quadcrashers has now been vaulted, which means vehicles are going to play a significantly lesser role in Season 8 of Fortnite. So say goodbye to Season 7's X-4 Stormwings, along with the Shopping Carts and ATKs. Now more than ever you'll have to rely on your items and the terrain itself in order to get around the island in a hurry.

We're also saying goodbye to the Sneaky Snowman item and the Chiller Grenade, neither of which are a great shock considering their winter theme. Plus, Chiller Grenades were pretty useless anyway. And in doing so, Epic Games have taken some important steps in decluttering their item pool, which players have been complaining about for some time as being oversaturated with low-value items and weapons. For more info on all the items that are currently vaulted, take a look at Dave's Fortnite vaulted items guide.

Fortnite Ping System/World Marker overhaul

Hmm. I wonder what could have prompted this?

Before the rise of rival battle royale Apex Legends, Fortnite's Ping system was limited almost entirely to placing markers on the map to indicate where a team should land or rotate towards. With Season 8, this system has received a much-needed overhaul, with players now able to place and see their markers in the physical Fortnite world as well as on the map.

What's more, there is now a contextual aspect to the Ping system, with players able to ping specific items or weapons on the ground in order to mark their location for allies. While not nearly as fleshed out and intuitive as Apex Legends' Ping system, this change is no doubt welcome to those of us who spend most of our Fortnite hours playing in Duos or Squads.

That's all the major points covered for the advent of Season 8 of Fortnite, so hopefully now you're a little better-equipped for the matches ahead. My advice? Throw yourself into the deep end, drop repeatedly in the north-east corner, learn what's new and what's different, and build a solid foundation from which to dominate over the coming months. Season 8 is your season!