Two new Combat weapons have been added in Fortnite Season 8, the Combat Assault Rifle and the Combat SMG, and we’ve got all the details you need to get your hands on them.
Epic Games are always adding new content to Fortnite to keep it fresh, whether that’s crossovers with huge pop culture franchises or fun map changes, but there’s no denying that new weapons are always the most exciting addition.
As part of the v18.20 update, two powerful new Combat weapons have been added to the game. You won’t be able to find them like other weapons in the loot pool, though, so we’re going to explain what you need to do to unlock them.
Donation Boards are key to unlocking new weapons this season.
How to get the Combat AR & Combat SMG in Fortnite
In order to unlock the Combat Assault Rifle or Combat SMG in Fortnite, players around the world will need to donate enough Gold Bars towards their chosen weapon’s fund as part of the ongoing War Effort.
You can make donations of Gold Bars at the various Donation Boards around the Island, usually located just outside POIs. We’ve marked them all on the map below to save you some time when looking for them.
Here are all of the Donation Board locations in Fortnite Season 8.
Once the Combat Assault Rifle or Combat SMG gets enough donations, it will be unlocked and will enter the loot pool alongside the current lineup of weapons. You should then be able to find it by searching chests.
It’s currently unclear what will happen to the weapon that doesn’t get enough donations, but it seems unlikely that Epic will let it go to waste. Maybe it will arrive later in the season? We’ll have to wait and see.
What are Combat weapons in Fortnite?
You might be wondering what makes Combat weapons different from regular weapons. Well, according to Epic, they have a tight bullet spread and “exceptional power” which comes at the cost of a strong kickback.
Essentially, this means they’ll be stronger than your classic Assault Rifles or SMGs, but harder to control. You’ll have to spend some time mastering their recoil pattern to figure out how to use them properly.
The new Combat weapons in Fortnite are powerful at the expense of a high recoil.
Combat Assault Rifle stats
Here are the stats for the highest rarity Combat Assault Rifle in Fortnite:
- Damage to player: 25
- Magazine size: 35
- Fire rate: 9
- Reload time: 2.79 seconds
In comparison to the standard Assault Rifle, the Combat AR deals less damage per shot but fires at a much faster rate and has a slightly higher magazine size. It will also take a bit longer to reload.
Combat SMG stats
Here are the stats for the highest rarity Combat SMG in Fortnite:
- Damage to player: 24
- Magazine size: 32
- Fire rate: 12
- Reload time: 2.16 seconds
In comparison to the standard Submachine Gun, the Combat SMG has a slightly higher fire rate and deals more damage per shot. This comes at the expense of a smaller magazine size and higher reload time.
The last War Effort vote saw players donate Gold Bars to support the return of either the Rift-To-Go or the Shockwave Launcher, but considering these are two new weapons, we expect voting to be more heated.
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