Planes return to Fortnite in new Limited Time Mode
According to the v8.40 patch notes, planes have made their comeback in Fortnite: Battle Royale for season eight. However, they are only available in a new Limited Time Mode called Air Royale.
In Air Royale, players are forced to be on a plane at all times and touching the ground will eliminate them. This mode offers a unique twist to the standard Duos battle royale experience with planes.
Respawning works differently in Air Royale. Each plane has three lives, so when your plane gets destroyed, you and your Duo partner will respawn on it as long as you have lives remaining. To recover lives, you can hijack another Duo’s plane, which will add to your existing number of plane lives while costing the opposing team a life.
Air Royale introduces a storm with a gradually lowering ceiling. This means that the planes will have to fly lower every time the storm closes in. Just like any storm in Fortnite, flying in it will cause damage to players.
In this mode, chest and loot spawning had to be adapted because players cannot touch the ground. Chests now fall from the sky, and players must fly through them to receive their contents and a short boost for their plane. If the loot is of lower quality than what the players already have, it will provide additional ammo. Higher-quality loot will automatically replace lower-quality items.
The Air Royale game mode will be available once the server downtime for the v8.40 update is over.