Fortnite v9.01 Patch Notes Are All About Automatic Weapons

Another Fortnite patch has landed, and this week, players are getting a new gun to use in close-range combat. That weapon is the Tactical Assault Rifle, a fully automatic weapon that shreds enemies up close but loses effectiveness at greater range. We're also saying goodbye to a weapon today, while the Drum Gun is getting yet another nerf.

So, if there's a theme to this week's patch, it's definitely automatic weaponry. The Tactical Assault Rifle will drop in rare, epic, and legendary variants from floor loot, chests, supply drops, and vending machines, and it deals 22/23/24 damage depending on rarity. With a 30-round magazine and a tight spread, Epic says this is a good weapon to use up close, but that it's "less effective at long range when compared to other Assault Rifles."

With the Tactical Assault Rifle's arrival, the Compact SMG has been vaulted. Epic says that the re-addition of the Drum Gun influenced this decision too, as it doesn't want too many weapons with a high rate of fire available to players.

Speaking of the Drum Gun, its base damage has been reduced from 26/27 to 22/23 with this patch (again, how much damage a gun does depends on its rarity). The Drum Gun is being nerfed because Epic found that its effectiveness is a little too high after being re-introduced to the game, which has been something of a running problem with the weapon.

That's pretty much it as far as this week's patch is concerned – there aren't any new modes or very many performance tweaks coming along with this update, but Epic has made some changes to the way Slipstreams work. Now Slipstreams don't block building so players can get up to them easier and they've been disabled after storm phase 5 so players aren't accidentally flung into the storm during smaller circles. You can view this week's complete patch notes over on the official Fortnite site, or hop into the game and take the Tactical Machine Gun for a spin yourself.