‘Fortnite’ Players Will Be Able To Call Airstrikes Using A Grenade

“Fortnite” players will now be able to call down devastating air strikes by throwing a canister that looks like a grenade.

Epic Games has recently released the V9.30 update patch that allows “Fortnite” players to, among others, call for a barrage of missiles to destroy their enemies. This new weapon, “Air Strike,” can easily change the tide of battle in every round of “Fortnite” battle royale.

Air Strike mechanics

According to the patch notes, Air Strikes can be called down by throwing a canister that looks like a grenade. When thrown, the canister will let out a cloud of colored smoke that will indicate the area where an airstrike will hit.

A few seconds after the canister comes to rest, a flurry of missiles will drop from the sky. The missiles will spawn from a height of about 120 meters above the area where the canister is located. A total of 20 missiles will be spawned.

These missiles will not hit the same spot every single time. Each missile will aim for a random spot within a 9-meter radius from where the canister comes to rest. Each missile, however, has an explosion radius of about 3.5 meters, which means everything that's within radius of the canister is sure to take a hit.

Each missile will deal 75 damage to players and 200 damage to structures. Simply put, unfortunate players who manage to catch all 20 missiles (if they can) will receive a total of 1,500 damage. Those who love to camp in their self-made hideouts also can’t expect to stay safe when a canister is thrown in their hiding places.

Players who want to call Air Strikes down on their enemies can find canisters from Floor Loot, Chests, Supply Drops, Vending Machines, and Llamas. Air Strikes drop in stacks of one, and players can only have a maximum stack size of two Air Strikes.

A Challenge?

Engadget noted that according to some players, “Fortnite’s” Air Strike weapon appears to have some resemblance to the air strike a certain character from “Apex Legends” is able to call. In “Apex Legends,” a character named Bangalore can throw a grenade that calls down an air strike in the area that it rests on.

Whether or not this is “Fortnite’s” outright challenge to its competitor or not remains to be seen. What’s clear, however, is that a new weapon is added to the popular battle royale title.