Fortnite Battle Royale unvaults old guns and modes for a fortnight in the sun
Sun's out, guns out.
Epic Games are on holiday for the next two weeks, but before they left for some much-needed R&R (especially after all that crunch), they lined up a summer event for Fortnite Battle Royale. The 14 Days Of Summer event is live now and runs until the devs return on July 8th. Every day, they'll be 'unvaulting' a weapon or item removed from the game for 24 hours, and re-running one of the time-limited event modes. For those playing the co-op Save The World campaign, they're running daily quests with the chance to unlock a "new explosive weapon". Below, a list of the modes returning:
Epic Games announced their planned break in this blog post a few days ago. There'll be no official competitive events running for those two weeks, but a returning weapon and mode every day should help keep the game summer fresh during their absence. While there's no list of the vaulted gear that will be returning over the past two weeks, this wiki page lists all the (many) items that have been removed from the game. Personally, I'm hoping that the wildly overpowered Infinity Blade gets another moment in the spotlight, if only to remind people of how much it hurt.
As for the returning Time Limited Modes, we have a list of what's going to happen, but no word of when. Epic say the order will be random, but here's what you've got to look forward to:
- Heavy Metal Squads - Heavy weapons only
- Storm Chasers: Surfin' (squads) - Vehicles and impulse grenades for all
- Splashdown Squads - Water balloon fight! Respawns on, first to the score target wins.
- Power Up Solo - Respawns early in match, shields hugely buffed
- Leave None Behind Duos - Buffs when your partner is alive, no damaging downed players
- Use With Care Duos - No harvesting, spawn with a limited pool of resources
- Headshots Duos - No shotguns, only headshots do damage
- Tank Battle Squads - Huge buffs to toughness, but no healing
- Builders Paradise Squads - Tough structures, gathering rates boosted
- Wick's Bounty Duos - Three lives, spawn fully geared, hunt target players for big score
- Arsenal (Solos) - Spawn in with top-tier guns. Each kill gives you a worse gun instead
- Rumble Squads - Respawns, green-or-higher weapons only, first to goal score wins
- Loadout Swap Squads - Respawns on, everyone's loadout changes every few minutes
- Strategic Structures Squads - Metal and stone buildings are better, but you can carry less
It bears repeating that those aren't the order the modes will be running in. If you want to know, you'll just have to log in each day and see what they've dug up. There's also a new island being featured each day in Creative mode, giving those less interested in shooty gun fun. Of course, there's new outfits to be earned or bought, summer challenges and all the other stuff that makes a big Fortnite event. Personally, I just want a smiley smoothie. Not in the game - in real life. In fact, I could do with a nice, iced smoothie right about now.
The 14 Days Of Summer event starts today, and you can see the official announcement page here. Fortnite Battle Royale is, as always, on the Epic Games Store, free to play and available here.