Fortnite 4.4 Update Guide: Stink Bombs, Rocket Launcher Nerf, and New Limited Time Mode

We are rapidly approaching the end of Fortnite‘s Season 4, and as Week 8 proceeds, we’ve got hungry gnomes to find, new hidden battle star locations to track down, and more!

However, a rocket launcher nerf has landed in battle royale mode, and the addition of a new stink bomb grenade means new you’ve got new ways to devastate your enemies. On top of that, a new mode, Teams of 20, makes its debut — and brings with it new ways to play. 

Fortnite Week 8 Weapon Changes

First up, the rocket launcher got nerfed in the lastest update, with reload times increasing, so if you are using this weapon a lot, be aware its DPS just went down! Here are the exact reload times for every type of rarity:

• Rare from 2.3 seconds to 2.8 seconds
• Epic from 2.185 seconds to 2.66 seconds
• Legendary from 2.07 to 2.52 seconds

The numbers are small, but when someone else is shooting at you, that half of a second is all it takes to get killed. It may now be better to just switch to another weapon if you miss with your first rocket, or at the least throw up a wall while you deal with the increased reload time.

You can now hold a max of 12 ammo for the rocket launcher.

Fortnite Stink Bombs!

Next up is the new 4.4 patch weapon addition — the stink bomb. It should have been obvious we’d get something like this eventually, especially in a game that decided to throw in shopping carts as its first vehicle.

These grenades are epic rarity drops, so you won’t find them often, but they can potentially spawn just about anywhere as floor loot, in gold chests, or at randomized vending machines.

When thrown, they create an obscuring cloud that deals damage over time for 9 seconds. While you aren’t likely to outright kill someone with a stink bomb (unless they are very low on health), their real value is in directing traffic.

If you can get people out from behind their defenses for a few moments, or direct them toward other explosives you’ve already lobbed/planted, then it becomes much easier to get a kill. When people are playing squads or duos, this can be a particularly helpful tactic in breaking up groups so they can’t all fire at you at once.

For those who luck out and find both a thermal scoped assault rifle and a stink bomb at the same time, you’ve basically got free reign to annihilate anyone hiding behind walls or inside buildings. Since the thermal scoped rifle lets you read heat signatures, it becomes incredibly easy to lure people into the open as they flee the damage-over-time effect of the stink bomb.

New Limited Time Mode

There’s now a new way to put those stink bombs and nerfed rocket launchers to use! The Limited Time Teams Of 20 Mode also just arrived in 4.4., which is a bit different than the typical huge mobs in the large group modes.

Instead of getting down to just one player for a victory royale, the storm will stop after the third circle decrease and a final countdown timer will appear. When this timer hits zero, the team with the most players left standing is declared the winner.

In this mode, staying alive is actually more important than racking up kills, so be sure to play a bit more conservatively and practice your wall building to stay out of the line of fire.

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Haven’t finished the Week 8 challenges yet or still looking for other Fortnite guides at GameSkinny? Check out the latest below:

• Where to Search for Hungry Gnomes
• Challenge Guide: Search Chests in Salty Springs
• Battle Star Guide: Search Between a Bear, Crater, and a Refrigerator Shipment
• Map Guide: Search Chests in Risky Reels
• Challenge Guide: Score a Goal on Different Pitches
• Battle Star Guide: Follow the Treasure Map Found in Pleasant Park
• How to Log Out of Fortnite on the Switch