The newest season of Fortnite is here at last, and as you’d expect, it comes with a host of changes and features. Referred to as Fortnite Season 8: Cubed, you’ll have plenty of things to do with the latest update. Most notably, the story from season 7 continues, but this time, things have gotten out of control. Even more out of control than an alien invasion. Now, the giant Mothership is down, and the world has a new threat. Beyond that, you’ll find new map alterations, weapons, a fresh quest system, and of course, a new battle pass with tons of things to unlock.
There’s a lot to cover with the latest season, so let’s dive in. Here’s everything you need to know about Fortnite chapter 2, season 8.
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A new threat
So the aliens are gone now, but that doesn’t mean things are safe. In fact, the new Cube Monsters that plague the island are even more deadly than other foes. Fortunately, they only appear in new areas called Sideways Anomalies (as well as Sideways Zones), which are portals to alternate dimensions where the gravity is low, and the area is filled with deadly beasts. We’ll cover this in more detail below, but suffice to say, these areas are high risk/high reward and give you the opportunity to walk out with useful gear.
In addition, you’ll come across Sideways Zones, which should not be confused with Sideways Anomalies. The Sideways Zones appear on the map as a circular area and spawn in different locations each match. These are similar to the alien ships from the previous season, wherein they’d change each match you play. This is essentially the opposite of a Sideways Anomaly, wherein the alternate dimension is brought to the island instead of you going to the alternate dimension.
Updated arsenal
Speaking of new gear, the map will now have different weapons than the previous season. You’ll come across the FAMAS burst rifle and other new additions, but the main weapons to look out for are the ones you find in the Sideways Zones. Something you can collect from the Cube Monsters are — wait for it — Cube Monster Parts. These are items that can be used to upgrade Sideways weapons, and you’ll definitely want to do so to take out your opponents.
Included are the Sideways Rifle and the Sideways Minigun, which are just as powerful as they sound — even more so if you upgrade them. So be on the lookout for the new base firearms as well as the Sideways weapons during season 8.
Map changes
As expected with a new season, map alterations have been made with the latest Fortnite update. For the most part, the map itself remains intact, but now that the island has been filled with Cubes, there is a slew of changes that have been made. Of course, the new Sideways Zones are a major new addition, along with the Sideways Anomalies, but there are even more substantial additions to look forward to.
All around the map are Turret Stations indicated by a dollar sign ($). Spend your gold bars to set up Turret Stations to defend against the Cubes in an attempt to bring back the Vault. Once this is done as a community, players will then be able to vote on which weapons make an appearance throughout the rest of the season, which is an exciting new feature with an uncertain future. But this adds even more flavor to the ever-expanding changes in Fortnite.
What’s up with the Cubes?
The map is now littered with sentient Cubes that will eventually corrupt the island, hence the name Fortnite Season 8: Cubed. We know the Cubes are made from dark energy and have caused the rift into The Sideways to open, though the mystery will unfold over the course of the season. The Cubes have also influenced the wildlife around the island due to the presence of Shadow Stones. These items appear amongst the debris from the Mothership crash and have caused Shadow Floppers to spawn — which are a new fish variant.
For now, you’ll want to defend against the Cube Monsters as the season progresses. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about these mysterious Cubes and their motivations.
Quests are now tied to punch cards
During season 8, quests/challenges are now categorized into punch cards. This won’t necessarily change the way challenges are completed, but it certainly looks cleaner within the menus. It appears like each character currently implemented has their own punch card with various quests for you to complete. The nice thing is that you can click on a character’s punch card to reveal their location on the map. Once you visit the character, they’ll give you all the quests they have available, and each one you complete gives you more XP than the last.
Daily and weekly punch cards are also available, though those are less complicated and appear in a similar way as before.
What’s in the battle pass?
Tying the whole season together is a new battle pass full of goodies to unlock. It’s set up just like the battle pass from season 7, with the star system in place. As you earn XP, you accumulate stars, which can be spent on the items within the battle pass in a nonlinear fashion. This also gives you access to the new Paint a Toona Fish feature, which allows you to customize skins within the game. To do so, you need to find Rainbow Ink containers around the map. There is a slew of colors to find around the map, and they work just like the Alien Artifacts from the previous season.
Most notably, the battle pass eventually gives you the Carnage skin, along with other character-themed cosmetics. Carnage is a beloved villain from the Spider-Man series and closely mirrors Venom, who you might be familiar with. You have to reach the 10th page of the battle pass to unlock the skin, which will likely take quite a bit of time, but given how cool it looks, it’s worth it. You’ll also unlock a couple of emotes, a harvesting tool, loading screen, glider, and back bling, all themed after Carnage.
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