Fortnite now has the Rift-To-Go item, which lets players create a rift for themselves or their allies. When you activate it you're teleported into the sky and placed in skydiving mode. The rift remains at the location it was deployed for 10 seconds, letting other players use it. Of note: enemies can follow you through your rift, so be warned. The video, below, shows it off in action. Rift-To-Go carries an epic rarity and drops in stacks of one, with a max stack size of two. It can be found in chests, vending machines, supply drops and loot llamas. Elsewhere, as part of the Fortnite v5.30 patch, Epic has added the Score Royale limited time mode. Here, you earn points by collecting coins, opening loot containers and killing enemies. As you'd expect, the player who crosses the high score threshold first wins. The patch makes a number of bug fixes, weapon and item changes and tweaks to gameplay. The patch notes in full are on Epic's website, but it's worth highlighting a few details: Pump Shotgun equip time has been shortened from 0.96 seconds to 0.88 seconds. Double Barrel shotgun now has a spread reduction of 15 per cent while crouched. Clingers will now only explode when their fuse has expired. Clingers will no longer explode if the object they are attached to is destroyed. They will be affected by gravity and fall until they stick to another object or their fuse expires. Added an option to auto-sort consumable items to the rightmost empty quick bar slot when picked up. And, my favourite:<doc-sep>Fortnite might update regularly, but Epic Games still packs plenty of surprises within expected patches. This week sees the introduction of a rare item that is poised to shake up conventional playing methods even further away from “just build, lol.” Rifts have been populating the island since the start of the season, but until now, they’ve only appeared at fixed locations. As of patch version 5.30, players can now find a “Rift-to-go” epic-level item that acts as a mobile teleportation device. Once in hand, players shake the snow globe-like object and are catapulted high into the sky where they can dispatch an umbrella to break the fall. Rift-to-gos can be popped in the middle of the air, and once deployed, the rift lingers for 10 seconds so other players can also hop inside. Theoretically, this item will provide players with more evasive and offensive maneuvers that are capable of providing quick exits, higher ground, or more pathways toward the enemy. Elsewhere, the Risky Reels location has been updated so players can watch the footage of the player who won Epic Game’s contest, where fans were tasked with creating a film within Fortnite. Reportedly, however, players who stop and watch the movie are getting killed by jerks who really want that Victory Royale, which is not a new occurrence for the game. Fortunately, you can just watch the film online: There is also a bizarre number of tomato-related changes. The Tomato Town area is now a temple. (The giant head at the center has an unexplained crown.) You can watch YouTuber HollowPoiint’s walkthrough of the locale here: It seems like Epic Games is trying to build a spooky vibe with the Tomatohead skin, which has been updated to have its own special challenges. Normally this would be nothing more than a small but notable detail — only Battle Pass costumes have challenges associated with them — but what’s interesting here is the accompanying disturbing lore. Ascend to Royale-ty as Tomatohead by completing the Tomatohead challenges, available for past and present owners of the outfit. The Tomatohead Outfit is in the Item Shop now! pic.twitter.com/bUG8hegZ3U — Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 23, 2018 Human sacrifice? What in the world is Fortnite building this season up to? On the sillier side of things, Redditor /Flqmingg discovered that you can now also thank the bus driver who shepherds you into the match. Sure, the driver is probably just fast-forwarding you to some impending doom, but they’re just doing their job, you know? Being polite is important. More seriously, Fortnite now rewards players with a special Boogiedown emote after they two-factor secure their accounts. Given how often Fortnite accounts are stolen, two-factoring is a thing every player should do anyway. You can read the rest of Fortnite’s patch notes here.<doc-sep>As our Samuel Horti reported yesterday, Fortnite's next item is a pocket rift that teleports you skywards. Then, it was "coming soon". Today, it's here—alongside the return of the Playground limited-time mode, and a host of other nips and tucks courtesy of update v5.30. As very briefly teased in the trailer up top, the Rift-To-Go lets players conjure rifts on the fly, for personal use and for squads. A few scenarios play out above, but I reckon the best fit is the first—getting the drop on unsuspecting foes. "Escape danger or dive into it," says Epic in the latest update's patch notes. "The Rift-To-Go is any player’s ace in the hole, creating a Rift for themselves and allies. Be careful that no enemies follow you through." Found in chests, vendies, supply drops and loot llamas, the portable portals can be carried in your inventory and deployed immediately. Once set, each rift remains in place for ten seconds. As you might expect, they're of Epic rarity, and come in stacks of one with a max stack size of two. Elsewhere, v5.30 tweaks BR's Playground limited-time mode. With more ramps, new rifts and a "couple dozen" new ATKs, players have plenty to get on with inside their 60-minute window. Score Royale, on the other hand, lets players earn points by collecting coins, opening loot containers and eliminating other players. "The first to cross the High Score threshold wins the Victory Royale," says Epic. Here's the mode's score chart: On the Save the World front, its Horde Challenge enters week 3, and the new Bundlebuss Assault Rifle promises "lots of damage and plenty of ammo". The latter looks like this: More on all of the above, plus update v5.30's list of bug fixes and quality of life adjustments can be read here. And before you go—remember the Fortnite Blockbuster contest James reported on back in July? The following awesome short—titled 'Prepare For Collision'—from Janthony come out on top, and will premiere at Risky Reels in-game.<doc-sep>
Epic Games/Screenshot by CNET After a mysterious delay, Epic Games launched its weekly update to Fortnite: Battle Royale early Thursday. Most significantly, the latest Fortnite patch added the Rift-to-Go item to the Battle Royale mode, which allows you to carry a rift-generating tool in your inventory and use it to launch into the sky. There, you'll go into skydiving mode. The Rift will remain active for 10 seconds after it's deployed in the game. "Escape danger or dive into it! The Rift-To-Go is any player's ace in the hole, creating a Rift for themselves and allies. Be careful that no enemies follow you through," Epic wrote in the Fortnite patch notes. The Rift-To-Go has an epic rarity, drops in stacks of one and has a max stack size of two. It appears in chests, vending machines, supply drops and loot llamas. The patch also adds a fresh limited-time mode, Score Royale. Here, you earn points by collecting coins, opening loot containers and eliminating other players. The first to cross the high-score threshold wins the game. For Save The World players, the patch adds the high-damage, high-recoil Bundlebuss Assault Rifle and a new horde challenge. Along with the weekly patch coming late this week, the list of season 5, week 7 challenges was shifted to Friday at 1 a.m. PT. Make sure to check back here early Friday so you can dive into the game and complete challenges to claim more tiers on your Battle Pass in the remaining weeks before season 6. Now playing: Watch this: Fortnite makes its Android debut exclusively on Samsung... First published Aug. 22 at 5:34 p.m. PT. Updated Aug. 23 at 6:32 a.m PT: Added details from the patch release.