Fortnite introduces treasure maps, gives bottle rockets the boot

Ahoy there! Fortnite's season eight pirate theme continues this week with patch v8.01, which will see players dig for victory royale thanks to a brand new item.

As teased in the Fortnite news feed, treasure maps will allow players to "uncover hidden loot across the island" and work as a pick-up item which can be found in regular chests or as floor loot. As a legendary rarity item, it's unlikely you'll see these frequently, and only one map can be held at a time.

When you do happen upon the buried treasure (guided by a big beam of light), you'll need to bring out your pickaxe to dig it up. Good luck if you start looking at the floor anywhere near Tilted.

Meanwhile, one of my favourite tools of absolute chaos - the bottle rocket - has already been vaulted after only one month in the game. Apparently I was pretty much the only person to enjoy this item, as most other players found them too noisy and situational. It had one chance and bottled it. Or blew it. Your choice of cheesy joke.

Beyond the official patch notes, some players have also encountered a bug which displays what appears to be respawn vans: something Epic previously discussed in a Fortnite AMA. Judging by their appearance, these seem to operate in a similar manner to the respawn system in Apex Legends, where players collect a tag from their fallen comrade and carry it to a respawn location.

Sounds like it won't be long until we see the respawn system in-game: and while Apex Legends has proved the system works, we'll have to see how it sits with Fortnite's (rather vocal) competitive streaming community. Hopefully no-one will threaten to jump ship.