Fortnite update 26.30 patch notes: Fortnitemares 2023, Michael Myers skin, Alan Wake collab & more

Rishabh Sabarwal
Fortnitemares 2023 patch notes

The much-awaited Halloween update in Fortnite is finally here and brings the Fortnitemares 2023 event, new Augments, themed cosmetics, and related quests. It also releases the Michael Myers skin from Halloween, an Alan Wake collab bundle and brings back candies, Witch Broom, LTMs, and more to the island. Here are the patch notes for the 26.30 update.

Fortnite players in the past week have been gearing up for Fortnitemares 2023 as update 26.30 has finally arrived. The annual Halloween event is always a lot of fun, with all the creepy new skins, weapons, terrifying ways to play, and the fascinating lore that runs around the island.

The update which brings the event introduces new event-related quests and free rewards for players to get. Moreover, the Halloween event also brings several new weapons, items, a Michael Myers skin and an Alan Wake skin to the game alongside bunch of new cosmetics.

While there’s a lot to discover with the event, here are the patch notes for the 26.30 update.

A logo symbolising updates and downtime in Fortnite

Fortnite update 26.30 downtime details

Fortnite update v26.30 was released on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 4 AM PT / 6 AM ET / 12 Noon BST.

Downtime for this update has ended and the servers are now live, so you can jump back in whenever you want!

Fortnite update 26.30 patch notes

Fortnitemares 2023 event

The new Fortnitemares 2023 event has finally arrived with the 26.30 content patch. The three-week event introduces numerous new additions to the game, as well as the Vampire version of Kado Thorne, armed with a new mythic weapon, and several items like Thorne’s Time Machine spread across the island.

As always, the Fortnitemares event also brings a set of related quests and a chance for players to acquire free rewards upon completing them.

New weapons and items

Fortnitemares 2023 update brings two new weapons to the island: the Wood Stake Shotgun and Thorne’s Vampiric Blade. The Wood Stake Shotgun can be found in chests and on floor, whereas the Vampiric Blade can only be claimed by defeating the Vampire variant of Kado Thorne boss on the island.

In addition, the update brings back the Pumpkin Launcher, a red Witch Broom and Candy consumables back to the island and vaults the Lightsabers and Force abilities.

New Augments

The latest update also brings six new Reality Augments namely, Trick or Treat, Revamped, Mythic Grab Bag, Icy Slide, Rushing Reload and Witchy Warrior. The Trick or Treat will grant 10 additional health while consuming candy and the Witchy Warrior reduces the cooldown of Witch Broom respectively.

Moreover, if you’d like to test the latest Wood Stake Shotgun yourself, activate the Revamped Augment to make the most of it. You can check out our complete list of Reality Augments, along with the gameplay advantage they provide.

Horde Rush (Zero Build) LTM returns

The long-awaited Horde Rush LTM in Zero Build mode is back with the 26.30 patch, as players have been eager to leap back into the action and slay hordes of cube husk monsters in the storm.

In addition, the LTM now includes various features such as the activation of Augments, the introduction of New Cube Monster Part Upgrade Benches, the addition of new quests with free rewards, and the return of old sideways weapons.

Michael Myers, Alan Wake, Jack Skellington collab skins and more

The latest Fortnitemares update brings three collab bundles to the Item Shop namely Michael Myers skin from The Halloween film franchise, Alan Wake from the popular video game and Jack Skellington from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

These outfits will be available in the Item Shop to purchase throughout Fortnitemares 2023. Moreover, four new outfits named wrapped rapscallion Seth, muckfish Bogstick, meownstrosity Phantom Meowscles, and nautilus Festival Phaedra will also be released alongside the above collab skins.

Quick Weapon Action for controllers

Epic Games has added a new feature for Controller players called Quick Weapon action which lets them swap weapons with ease without having to assign a next weapon or the previous weapon keybind. In simpler terms, it will work similar to the Emote Wheel where you will be quickly able to swap to a weapon of your choice by pressing the Quick Weapon button and the face button on your screen.

In this instance, the Next/Previous Weapon button will be replaced with a Place Marker keybind for easy comms with your teammates during a Battle Royale match.

New UI

Epic also finally gave the Fortnite’s main screen User Interface a much needed revamp by making the tabs much more cleaner, removing the tiles on the left and the right side and adding the playlist menu at the bottom of the screen.

Moreover, the Discover tab now has a search bar from where players can easily look up UEFN/Creative experiences by simply entering the name of the island or the creator instead of looking up the Island Code first.

Chapter 1 Season 5 return rumors

In the official key art for Fortnitemares 2023, Kado Thorne can be seen exiting a Time Machine with the date July 12, 2018 which is the launch date of Chapter 1 Season 5. Soon after that the same time machine and several items from the Season 5 island have started to now appear on the current Chapter 4 Season 4 map at Frenzy Fields.

Moreover, it is strongly speculated that the next Fortnite season after this update, might take players back to the Chapter 1 island and give them the update they have all been waiting for. Players can also find the Time Machine inside the Eclipsed Estates POI placed in Thorne’s room.

Miscellaneous Updates

Several items and weapons were vaulted and unvaulted in Competitive as part of minor hotfixes that were implemented with the current patch. Here are those changes:

  • The Wood Stake Shotgun, Thorne’s Vampiric Blade, Pumpkin Launcher, Witch Broom, and Candy are not included in tournaments.
  • The Game Time, Icy Slide, and Rushing Reload Reality Augments are not included in tournaments.
  • Fixed an issue where trees were not rendering correctly.
  • Exclamation marks will now clear above the Quests tab as intended.
  • Starting with v28.00, players will be required to use OS10 or higher to continue playing Fortnite natively on Android in an officially supported manner.

That’s everything you need to know about the Fortnite patch update 26.30! Make sure you check out our Fortnite page for the latest news and guides.

About The Author

Rishabh is a Games Writer at Dexerto. He's our Fortnite expert and knows all there is about the Looped Island and the Zero Point. He comes with an experience in films and storytelling in India and has past experience covering Roblox, Fortnite and PlayStation titles for reputed publications. You can contact Rishabh at: rishabhsabarwal@dexerto.com