Here's What They Didn't Tell You About Fortnite: Chapter 2 - Season 3

Epic Games holds a lot back when it comes to information about Fortnite's upcoming seasons. It wants to keep players hyped, and it's well acquainted with how much gets leaked these days. Most importantly, it wants to keep Fortnite fun and surprising for the 350 million people who now play the game. 

The developer succeeded in a big way when it introduced Chapter 2 – Season 3 on June 17. As you probably know by now, The Device flooded the map in a huge event at the end of Season 2, leading to a drastically altered environment and tons of new mechanics, items, and weapons to experience during "Splashdown."

And while players had hints of what was coming from the trailers, they did not know any details, or how everything would tie together. That's in part thanks to Epic's decision to stop releasing official patch notes (although some notes still get out) once Chapter 2 launched. Here's a look at some of the things that were not necessarily revealed by Epic Games that seem like they'll be hugely influential in Season 3 of Fortnite: Chapter 2.

With so much water now overtaking Fortnite's landscape, it makes sense that two new ways of getting around are water-based. You can ride a shark across the water and even parts of dry land, as long as you've got a fishing pole. Just be careful because those things are aggressive! Seriously.

You can also use a whirlpool. Once you jump straight into a whirlpool, it'll shoot your avatar right back into the air. You can then activate your glider and head on to another area.

The launch trailer and Battle Pass trailer for the current season of Fortnite do reveal a third way of traveling, and this one's for the land only: cars. One of the things Epic Games has actually confirmed is that the water will be receding during the course of the season, leading to more patches of dry land. That's probably when the cars will come in, although Epic has not stated exactly when players will see that. But the cars will be driveable, leading to another way players can get across the changed and fractured landscape.

Naturally, you'll see new weapons in the Fortnite season, along with changes to the old weapons and the return of others. For one thing, the Hunting Rifle is back. Other unvaulted items include the Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle, Stink Bombs, the Compact SMG, the Chug Jug, and the Grappler. A Chug Splash has also shown up again: this is the rare, throwable healing cloud you can share with up to three teammates.

Some weapons have been Nerfed: SMGs, shotguns, and ARs are not as powerful as they used to be, and Burst Assault Weapons only fire two rounds now. The pump shotgun has disappeared altogether, and most weapons appear to be dealing lower headshot damage. Aim assist also appears to be less useful than ever.

New items in Chapter 2 – Season 3 include the Charge Shotgun and several Mythic weapons: Kit's Shockwave Launcher, Jules' Drum Gun, Jules' Glider Gun, Jules' Charge Shotgun, and Ocean's Burst Assault Rifle. You should also expect the appearance of Molotov-style Firefly Jars, which deal 40 damage to enemies but have not shown up in the game yet.

Transportation modes and weapons are important, of course, but other there are other changes Epic Games has instituted. For example, umbrellas are more customizable now, thanks to the Build-a-Brella feature. As you level up the Season 3 Battle Pass and complete new challenges, you'll get better customization options and look stylin' as you drop gracefully into battle. 

And that's really just the big stuff. Players are reporting plenty of other changes, from NPCs shooting you from much further away to new consumables that now include bananas and corn.

Basically, Epic Games revealed very little about what was in store this season, and players are piecing all the changes together to document them properly and be ready as the season continues. Eventually, it'll all be recorded — probably just in time for everything to change in the next chapter of Fortnite.