Fortnite has seen its fair share of wacky weaponry over the past few years. From snowball and egg launchers, to powered-up bows, the Recycler, and a whole host of Exotics, the game has seen plenty of imagination in its arsenal. Fortnite looks to continue that trend with its latest addition, in what could be one of the title's most powerful weapons yet.
Epic Games' popular battle royale title is now currently in the second half of its seventh season. Rolling out the new patch today, Fortnite update 17.21 namely adds the new Plasma Cannon weapon. The new gun joins an impressive Season 7 weapons roster filled with sci-fi inspired options hailing from both sides of the ongoing island invasion.
Detailed in a blog post on the official Fortnite website, the all-new Plasma Cannon weapon is supposedly a repurposed technology, an "instrument of war" once used for "educating the youth." Made by the IO, the Plasma Cannon comes with a clip of five plasma balls. When fired, the ball will slowly move forward, emitting an electrical dome that will both deal heavy damage along with knocking back enemies caught within. The Plasma Cannon is also particularly effective against buildings. Each round of the new Legendary weapon destroys most any structure almost instantly, making it ideal for eradicating opponent builds.
Players looking for the new weapon have a few options. Plasma Cannons can be found in IO Chests in addition to normal ones, although its inherent rarity lends itself to showing up more in the former. Additionally, the new weapon can be crafted by combining a Legendary pistol with an Alien Nanite. Many fans believe the Plasma Cannon to be the weapon behind the prominent Fortnite leak from last month. In mid-June, established leaker HYPEX datamined files with conjugations of "zap" as an elimination descriptor, which at the time was thought to be the long-vaulted Zapatron. While still not ruled out, the Plasma Cannon's electrical nature could be the answer.
The addition of the Plasma Cannon is the main component of update 17.21, but its not the only one. Beyond the new weapon, a new "unusual" Alien ship can now be found hovering over The Aftermath, the central point of the island for Fortnite Season 7. According to the official blog post, the IO is declaring it "unusual" due to it not appearing to have malicious intent, and that its purpose will become clearer in the near future. Some players are speculating the ship could be the harbinger of the leaked returning Rift Zones. The feature was a fan favorite during Chapter 1 Season 10, and would mesh well with the alien invasion theme.
As for when that "near future" is, there might be an exact time for it. A mysterious countdown clock has also appeared above The Aftermath, set to expire on Friday, August 6. While the season isn't slated to end until mid-September, the clock could indicate a potentially huge event.
Fortnite is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Source: Epic Games