Following the Chapter 2 Remix mini-season,Fortnite’s Chapter 6 has officially begun. Epic has taken full advantage of this update to make some major changes to Battle Royale. Chapter 6 Season 1 has introduced a completely new map inspired by Japanese culture and folklore. The map has brought with it mystical locations,sprites that players can useto gain the upper hand on the battlefield, and some boss fights that make Chapter 5’s bosses look like child’s play. A few new movement mechanics that are sure to shake up gameplay have also come to the game.
For years now,Fortnitehas used the start of a new chapter as an opportunity to introduce new additions to the game’s movement system. Chapter 3 added sliding, sprinting, and mantling within its first two seasons; Chapter 4 introduced hurdling — even if it ended up being disabled for most of the chapter; and Chapter 5 gave players the ability to climb walls. Building off its preceding chapters, Chapter 6 has added new parkour moves to the game that let players scramble up, kick off, and run along walls.
Parkour in Chapter 6’s Battle Royale
Shown off in theChapter 6 Season 1 gameplay trailer,Fortnite’s new movement abilities include launch jumping, ground rolls, wall scrambling, wall kicks, and wall runs. All of these can be used in tandem withFortnite’s other traversal mechanics and items to navigate the island in a showy, fast-paced manner. Wall-running in particular will make traveling through the new Seaport City POI a dream for any parkour enthusiast, but the ability could take some getting used to.
How Wall-Running Works in Fortnite
Wall-running will be a familiar mechanic for anyone who has playedparkour-focused action gameslikeTitanfall 2orDying Light 2. In order to wall run inFortnite, players will need to place themselves perpendicularly to a wall. While running alongside the wall, players can then jump toward it. If the player quickly presses the jump button again while next to the wall, they can then kick off of the wall, which propels them forward and to the side. While the player can’t continually run on the same wall, they can chain wall kicks off of nearby walls. Doing so will utilize the player’s momentum to run along the walls, during which they not only have the ability to shoot enemies but become much harder to hit themselves. Wall-running and wall kicks don’t use up a player’s base stamina like regular springing. However, performing enough wall kicks will burn through a player’s jump stamina, which will prevent players from indefinitely chaining these kicks.
What the New Parkour Abilities Bring to the Game
With the addition of new parkour moves,FortniteChapter 6 places a heavy emphasis on movement. Battle Royale players can combine these moves with mobility items like Shockwave Grenades, the Typhoon Blade, and theVoid Oni Mask— as well as items in the environment, like lily pads, umbrellas, and grind rails — to zip around the map in fluid and dynamic ways. The Kinetic Blade was also shown off in the gameplay trailer for this season, meaning thatFortnitehas plans to further expand upon movement.
This is big news for fans of faster-paced seasons like Chapter 4 Season 2. However, the learning curve that comes with all of these new movement abilities will likely make it much harder for players who don’t have the time to learn the ins and outs of movement to compete with those who do. For players who don’t want to bother with parkour and would rather stick with how movement worked in previous chapters, the upcomingFortnite OG modewill not feature any of Chapter 6’s new movement abilities.
Fortnite
WHERE TO PLAY
Create, play, and battle with friends for free in Fortnite. Be the last player standing in Battle Royale and Zero Build, experience a concert or live event, or discover over a million creator made games, including racing, parkour, zombie survival, and more. Each Fortnite island has an individual age rating so you can find the one that’s right for you and your friends.Explore large, destructible environments where no two games are ever the same. Team up with friends by sprinting, climbing and smashing your way to earn your Victory Royale, whether you choose to build up in Fortnite Battle Royale or go no-builds in Fortnite Zero Build.Discover even more ways to play across thousands of creator-made game genres: adventure, roleplay, survival and more. Or, band together with up to three friends to fend off hordes of monsters in Save the World.
