New Fortnite fire mechanic heats up battle royale in Season 3

Fortnite Season 3 has arrived and while map changes and fresh cosmetics may have taken centre stage, a fiery new feature could just be one of the biggest shakeups going unnoticed.

While Fortnite players around the globe fixate on Aquaman, all-new weapons, and even an expanded list of driveable vehicles, Season 3 has also made a few big adjustments under the hood.

Aim assist nerfs have been a big talking point since the June 16 update. However, one new feature has gone mostly unnoticed until now. Fire behaves in a brand new way in Fortnite, and it could ruin your next match if you’re not up to speed.

In earlier iterations of Fortnite, explosions would be over in a flash. If you weren’t in the blast radius, you wouldn’t be phased. In Season 3, however, certain explosions can have lingering effects.

• Read More: What’s in the Fortnite Season 3 Battle Pass? All tiers and rewards

Fire will now start to burn wooden structures, gradually spreading across buildings and structures of all shapes and sizes. If you’re standing atop a wooden build and your layers gets set alight, it will all come tumbling down in a matter of seconds.

This new gameplay feature can stem from propane tank explosions and even the new Firefly Jar item that acts as a molotov. Once a fire starts to spread, there’s seemingly no way to extinguish the burn.

Additionally, players may also want to stand a few feet away from campfires in the latest season. Previously, you could stand in the blaze and continue healing. With these new changes, your character will catch fire almost instantly.

• Read More: All Fortnite Season 3 map changes: Islands, changing tides, more

Fire realistically spreading across wooden surfaces could just be the first of many new features made possible by the 11.50 update back in February. One that saw Fortnite transition to the Chaos physics system.

It could be wise to mix up your structures moving forward. Relying on wood as your main building resource could come back to bite you. Fire can spread very quickly and cancel out your high-ground control before you know it.

Be extra careful while jumping into the brand new season. There could be plenty more gameplay tweaks that weren’t addressed in the Season 3 patch notes.