Fortnite 16.50 update patch notes: Dual Pistols unvaulted, Drum Shotgun returns, XL Islands

Guide

The Fortnite v16.50 update has arrived, as Epic Games tease the return of a ‘fan-favorite’ vaulted weapon along with the next Wild Week and bug fixes expected to come through.

As this is the final mid-season update before Season 6 draws to a close and Season 7 kicks off with (hopefully) a bang, players are expecting some exciting final changes to the Primal season.

Players have two unvaulted weapons to enjoy following this update, as well as a bunch of leaked skins and cosmetics. Creative fans are well-covered too, as XL Islands have finally made their debut.

There are also some teasers about alien abductions and the theme of Season 7…

When is the Fortnite v16.50 patch coming?

As previously announced by Epic Games in a tweet, downtime for the v16.50 update begins on Tuesday, May 25, at 4AM ET (9AM BST) with matchmaking being disabled shortly before then.

v16.50 brings:

🔓 A fan favorite comes back out of the vault

🏝 Survey and oversee larger spaces in Creative

🛍 Spend your Bars BIG in the next Wild Week starting June 3!

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) May 24, 2021

As usual, Fortnite players can expect downtime to last for around an hour in order to get the v16.50 patch live on the servers.

Fortnite v16.50 update patch notes

The Dual Pistols have been unvaulted

When they announced the arrival of the v16.50 update, Epic Games also teased the return of a ‘fan-favorite’ weapon to the loot pool.

It’s now been confirmed that this weapon is the Dual Pistols. This makes sense, as one of the leaked Week 11 challenges requires players to ‘deal damage with Dual Pistols’.

Drum Shotgun also unvaulted

As well as the Dual Pistols which were previously teased by Epic as the ‘fan-favorite’ weapon set to return, it seems that the Drum Shotgun has also been added back to the loot pool.

The Drum Shotgun was re-added! pic.twitter.com/OWkzePdrU2

— iFireMonkey (@iFireMonkey) May 25, 2021

Leaked skins & cosmetics

As with every Fortnite update, there are plenty of exciting skins and cosmetics that have been discovered in the files by prominent leakers such as FunGamesLeaks.

These new cosmetics include a Dizzie skin and a male version of the Spire Assassin. Most of these won’t be available right now, but they’re all set to arrive at some point over the next two weeks.

All new cosmetics in #Fortnite 16.50 pic.twitter.com/v5iWtxhpoP

— FunGames (@FunGamesLeaks) May 25, 2021

Is Loki coming to Fortnite?

As well as the leaked skins and cosmetics, a new loading screen gives us a hint at who the next big crossover skin could be: Marvel’s Loki!

The iconic character’s silhouette can be seen in the background of one of the loading screens. The timing certainly makes sense, as the anti-hero has his own Disney+ series coming in June.

LOKI SPOTTED IN THE LOADING SCREEN! (via @gameshed_) pic.twitter.com/docls0JgmE

— HYPEX (@HYPEX) May 25, 2021

Aliens teased for Fortnite Season 7

Following the Primal theme of Season 6, many fans have been wondering what the theme of Season 7 will be. Well, a new set of leaked files suggests it could be based around aliens.

As well as a bunch of strange sounds and quest lines that hint at aliens, there’s a new animation of a player appearing to be abducted.

Here's the animation of when you get abducted by aliens? (via @gameshed_) pic.twitter.com/JvpbVjSPov

— HYPEX (@HYPEX) May 25, 2021

XL Islands arrive in Creative Mode

The previously announced XL Islands have arrived in Creative Mode, giving players around 16 times the space to build as the original Islands did. There are four XL Island templates to choose from.

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There’s also a new Spacial Thermometer system, which breaks an XL Island down into a grid of cells and relates to how much memory you have to place items on the map.

Fortnite v16.50 bug fixes

As always, Epic have shipped a bunch of bug fixes alongside the exciting new features in the v16.50 update. Here are all of the bug fixes in this update:

  • Moving left in the inventory on controller skips the last weapon slot.
  • Unable to equip cape Back Blings on Rebirth Raven’s Rachel Roth Style.
  • Just-added friends wrongly appearing offline.
  • Player-built structures have reduced visuals in PC Performance Mode.
  • (Creative) “Recent Islands” list does not update.
  • (Creative) The ocean is invisible in the minimap.
  • (Creative) A game not starting if player is in a Phone Booth.

That’s it for the v16.50 update! As we mentioned before, this is the final mid-season update before Season 7 kicks off on June 8, so make the most of Season 6 while you still can.

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