If you thought the Season 4 map changes were big, wait til you see the Season 5 changes. Season 4 introduced some new ‘hidden bases’ in out of the way areas for people to explore. Season 5 has upped the ante, changing over 1/8th of the map, replacing some locations with completely news one and adding completely new gameplay elements. I’ve divided them into ‘major changes’, which documents the big ticket changes to the map, and ‘minor changes’ which typically come in the form of altering landmarks and map related gameplay additions. So, without further ado.
Fortnite Season 5 Major Map Changes
The most notable major map changes are the southeastern swamp area being replaced by a new desert biome and three new major locations/towns.
Southeastern Desert
Southeastern Desert Points of Interest
This brand spankin’ new region covers about 1/8ths of the map’s total surface, beginning from what was formerly the ‘Trolley Track’ (upgraded to fully fledged racetrack, that I redub: ‘Race Road’) stretching all the way down to Lucky Landing. This is an entire replacement of the swamp region from previous seasons, supplanting Moisty Mire, the prison and the surrounding areas. In return, we receive numerous small towns and points of interest dotting the landscape; an upgraded Trolly Track, completely unique terrain (mesas, bluffs, oases and flora) and a new city called Paradise Palms (which I will cover in a later section).
Race Road
What was once a humble Trolley Track for bored kids (or adults, I’m not judging) to muck around on, has been upgraded to a bonafide racetrack. A lap timer, fully paved track, crash tyres, pit crew area, spectator stand and a restaurant are all new additions to once a humble dirt track.
Desert Towns and Other Points of Interest
Numerous desert towns and points of interest dot the landscape, with there being three major ones outside of Paradise Palms. These are; the ‘Scrapyard’, the ‘Mexican Village’ and the ‘Truck’n’ Oasis’. Directly south of Paradise Palms is a large scrapyard reminiscent of Junk Junction. It contains fairly decent loot and a bucket load of metal (if that’s what you need for some reason).
A bit further southeast is a moderately sized village in theme of a small Mexican town (I think), being quite visually distinct from any other villages/towns on the Fortnite Map. It contains a decent bit of loot inside and seems to relatively deserted due to Paradise Palms soaking up all the attention.
Even further southwest, on the very edge of the desert region is a truck stop called ‘Truck’n’ Oasis’. This is another decently sized unnamed point of interest, containing a decent amount of loot and materials that are overlooked thanks, once again, to Paradise Palms.
Other small shacks, buildings and miscellaneous points of interest pepper the landscape (including a dinosaur type attraction).
Unique Geography
The terrain here is completely unique to the map. Hills are replaced with mesas and bluffs, trees are of the heat resistant variety, light blue oases and so much damn sand. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Towns New To Season 5
Along with the southeastern desert, comes three new locations. These are: ‘Lazy Links’, which is Anarchy Acres’ replacement, Paradise Palms, which is the ‘main attraction’ of the southeastern desert, and an unnamed town (I dub Viking Vista), which replaces the whole lot of nothing atop a hill southeast of Snobby Shores.
Lazy Links
Located on the northern edge of the map, occupying the grid squares of; E2, E3, F2 and F3 is ‘Lazy Links’ (circled in blue). Representing the ongoing gentrification of Fortnite (hehe), Anarchy Acres has been replaced by a fancy middle/upper class ‘gentlemen’s club’ (not that kind of gentlemen’s club).
As befitting any (monetarily) well endowed club of this stature, it comes replete with; a nine hole golf course, three tennis courts, a pool, an artificial lake, shops (food and golfing gear), a maintenance shed, grounds keeper houses, locker rooms and a dining room.
Lazy Links also spawns three ATKs in the same location every game (so far). One on the tennis courts (eastern edge of the main cluster of buildings) and two near the maintenance shed directly opposite the courts, across from the pool. These things are a blast to drive around in, more about them in a section below.
Lazy Links has a concentric pattern in how it distributes cover (buildings), which can easily be divided into an inner circle and outer circle. The inner circle constitutes the main cluster of buildings, this extends from: the southern food shop to the main building north and the eastern tennis courts to the western golf store. Combat here will be of the close to medium variety, with natural elevation points only being about one story high on average. The outer circle is anything outside this cluster, mainly consisting of the various golf courses. Combat in this area will be of the long range variety. Guns do spawn out here, especially in the sandtraps, but if you don’t have a long range weapon, materials or an ATK, getting caught out here is going to be a lesson in pain.
Ultimately, I’d consider this a very positive change to the map, seeing as Fatal Fields and Anarchy Acres were essentially carbon copies of each other. This spices up the playfield by providing a reason to land here (ATKs, scenery, ATKs, ATKs) rather than just picking whichever farm you’re closest too.
Paradise Palms
Located on the southeastern corner of the map – H8 and I8 on the main map’s grid – is ‘Paradise Palms’ (circled in green). Not just an entirely new location, but the ‘crown jewel’ of the entire new biome that has been ‘spliced’ in to replace the swamp area present in earlier seasons. RIP shitty swamp area and all your glorious wood.
The easiest way to describe Paradise Palms is if Tilted Towers and Snobby Shores had a baby. A scaled up Snobby Shores or a really rich Tilted Towers, whichever floats your boat.
Paradise Palms is almost entirely a residential district. Large, extravagant and oddly shaped houses circle the perimeter of the town, with a fancy hotel on eastern edge of town acting as its ‘focal point’. In the centre are a few shops of varying kinds, a communal recreational area and an ATK spawn in the northernmost shop.
You can’t really treat Paradise Palms like Tilted Towers when it comes to combat however. While there is some really nice spots for gaining ground (especially the eastern high rise), they don’t typically get nearly as high as Tilted Towers does (minus said high rise). Additionally, the highest points are weighted towards the east end of the town rather than the centre. This means the western side of Paradise Palms is a little bit less threatened by people camping the high rise building (which is a problem Tilted Towers endures). The eastern side of town has higher building density as well, encouraging closer combat (especially the high rise). The western side has a lot more space between the buildings and thus, open sightlines, encouraging a bit more of a calculated approach. Just keep in mind how easily you can be seen on the western side of town by those from the east, even if you’re far enough away that actually being shot by them is a challenge unto itself.
Currently, Paradise Palms is one of the more appealing looking locations on the map. It definitely has a lot more going on inside than both Moisty Mire’s film set and dilapidated prison it replaced. Whether or not you like that though, is down to personal preference. I’m a fan though.
Viking Vista
Located on the western edge of the map – B6 on the main map’s grid – is an unnamed town I have dubbed ‘Viking Vista’ (circled in red). Viking Vista replaces the content that used to be located atop this hill, which was a singular lone house. A significant upgrade, to be sure.
Viking Vista is a small enclosed town resting atop a large hill, designed in the style of a Viking village. True to viking style, a longship was included, being the main visual treat of the town; precariously perched on the lip of the waterfall.
The longship also has a below deck section you can hide in.
The town also comes equipped with: stables, pens, miniature plantations, barns, houses and a blacksmith. There is also a tonne of ‘rifts’ resting on the slope of the hill or midway down it, allowing a quick method of travel up to the town. Or pull off a fancy reversal/escape.
The town is very condensed, that is, lots of buildings packed into a small space. This means sightlines typically aren’t long (except for the north-south sightline) and most of your enemies will usually be within striking distance. It’s also quite difficult to perch yourself atop the buildings as you tend to slide off the slope. This again forces people closer together by making elevation more difficult to obtain (mats will be in short supply as most fights here will take place right after landing). If you’re not comfortable with close quarters battle (CQB) you may want to avoid landing here. If you’re a CQB fan, you’ll love it here (I know I do).
As the season 5 cinematic illustrates, the whole town was teleported to the top of this hill, hence the random waterfall and river (which, apparently, never dries up). No idea where the inhabitants of the town are, though. Maybe we’re the inhabitants when we don the Viking themed skins?
All in all, a decent anachronistic addition (and resourceful, seeing as they reskinned some of Anarchy Acres’ assets) to the map.
Minor Map Changes
Along with the major changes documented above are some more minor (but still impactful) changes. The bigger ones of the bunch are: ATKs, Rifts and Tiki heads. There are some other slight changes, like the Tomato Town tomato head being teleported to Pleasant Park, Dusty Divot becoming severely overgrown and dilapidated, the World Cup stadium being taken down and some buildings being altered. But this article is long enough as it is.
All Terrain Karts (ATKs)
ATKs are probably my favourite addition to season 5. Basically an upgraded version of the shopping trolley. They move a hell of a lot faster and can hold four people. They have their own HP bar and will blow up when it gets depleted (this won’t damage the occupants however). The ATK is also very loud, players can hear them from a very long distance away. Passengers can shift their weight allowing you to alter its centre of gravity (for what that’s worth). Additionally, all three passenger seats can shoot from the ATK by re-selecting their weapon (this includes the pickaxe) and it is glorious to behold. Especially in solo matchmaking where you have a bunch of enemies clinging to your ATK trying to pickaxe you off from the back seat. Finally, you can drive over pick-ups and collect them as long as they don’t require the interact button (traps, ammo, etc.).
There are two very cool additional things the ATKs can do. The first is: the roof of the ATK acts like a portable jump pad (it doesn’t deploy your glider however). The second: they function like a kart, from well, Mario Kart. As you powerslide around you’ll build up charge and once you let go of the button you get a huge boost of speed. Blue is the lowest charge, yellow is medium and red is the highest. You go very damn fast with the red boost. Sadly however, ramming a player, even at max boost, doesn’t seem to do the damage I wish it did.
Rifts
Rifts are another interesting gameplay addition to season 5. They look like shattered pieces of floating blue glass. Stepping into one teleports you high up into the air above (after a fancy animation and thunderous sound, alerting everyone in a very wide radius that someone just stepped into one) allowing you to deploy your glider.
It essentially acts like a mid-game Battle Bus that doesn’t drop you from as high. These are single use only, but smart usage allows you to slip a pursuer (or perform a reversal) or relocate to a better spot on the map very quickly. Also great for outrunning the storm if you’ve mismanaged your time and are about to be swallowed whole by it.
Tiki Heads
Another interesting addition, though not as spectacular as Rifts or ATKs. Tiki heads are fixed spawns (they spawn in the same place every map, i.e. map terrain) that tend to have a congregation of chests and rifts in close proximity. They have 900 health and give a massive amount of bricks when mined (100+ for the whole thing). While they have no specific use, the fact they tend to always have chests and rifts nearby makes them very worthwhile to land at or detour towards.
That documents about every change I’ve seen personally so far, though I may have missed a few small ones. There was a lot to this update; season 4 wasn’t even a update compared to this season’s standards. Epic seem committed towards evolving their game consistently, which I personally view as a good thing.
MORE FORTNITE:
– Fortnite Season 5 Battle Pass Skins: Drift, Ragnarok, Sledgehammer & More Details
– Fortnite Season 5’s New Skins, Emotes, Loading Screens & More Revealed
– Fortnite Season 5 Brings Golf Karts, Rifts, Shotgun Changes & More
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