Fortnite 12.20 Update patch notes: Helicopters, Spy Games, more

Epic Games have officially released the Fortnite v12.20 update for their battle royale title, with the patch available to download on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and mobile device.

Since the beginning of Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 2, it doesn’t take an eagle eye to see that the island has been prepared for the arrival of a brand new flying vehicle – helicopters.

The game has experimented with flying vehicles in the past, whether that be X-4 Stormwing planes or players driving Quadcrashers into the air using their boosts, none of which have managed to stick around for too long. After weeks of speculation, the Choppa has arrived and is set to shake up the game.

Helicopters

It’s no surprise that the introduction of helicopters is the headline addition to the game with the v12.20 Update. The new season kicked off with a helicopter spotted in the tailer, and ever since players have been expecting their arrival, as a number of the game’s new locations such as The Agency or The Grotto have helipads built into them.

Now, players have a brand-new mode of transportation that will see them soaring high into the sky, and offer new ways to rotate around the island when the storm starts to gather and the play area shrinks.

• Read More: Fortnite motorboat glitch could wipe your squad in seconds

While some rumors suggested that the Choppa would only carry one player at the time, it will actually be able to take your whole squad to a new location, so is a perfect tool to visit and loot multiple areas, as long as you can get there without being shot down by an enemy. At the moment, Choppa’s are only available in core modes, and won’t be found in Arena for the foreseeable future.

You can take a look at the new helicopter below.

The Spy Games

The secret agent theme continues in Fortnite Season 2 with the introduction of The Spy Games in v12.20, available by dropping into the Operation: Dropzone Limited Time Mode.

Players who take part in this new LTM can use a new Tech system to unlock perks that will give them an advantage against their enemies in the Spy Games, and will also be able to test out some new Gadgets as well.

The event also comes with three special challenges, with 80,000XP up for grabs for completing each of these tasks.

Grappler and C4 nerfed

Two items received nerfs in the latest update too, with the C4’s explosion delay receiving the biggest nerf jumping from 0.3 seconds to 0.5 seconds between each item.

The Grappler also received a nerf, with a small delay added between shots to stop players from spamming it to reach places they theoretically shouldn’t be able to.

Bug fixes

It’s no secret that Epic Games have seen a number of different bugs reported since the last Fortnite weekly update, and as always, the developers have been hard at work ironing out some of these issues to improve quality of life for players.

Thanks to the game’s official Trello board, we know which bug the developers have addressed in the v12.20 Update.

• Auto-Sprint not resuming once stopped.
• Locker is missing the vault banner.
• Low detail on buildings and structures in Fortnite.
• Player markers not working as they should (placed too far away).
• Players getting stuck inside Fortnite’s Porta Pottys.
• Players unable to use the navigation buttons at the end of a match, such as returning to lobby, reporting players, or going to the Item Shop.
• Unable to place traps when the icon hasn’t loaded up.

Some that haven’t been noted, though, include a motorboat problem which has been wiping out whole teams just by building in front of it, as well as broken footstep audio. There’s a good chance that this next update will put an end to at least a few of these.