Epic Games released Fortnite update v42.40 on October 15, the last patch of Chapter 7 Season 4 and of the Fortnitemares 2026 event, according to patch notes compiled by Esports.gg. The update rotates the season's Loot Hacks, vaults several items, adjusts one weapon and adds two Sprites, one of them tied to the Obsession collaboration.
Loot Hacks and vaulted items
Loot Hacks, the Season 4 mechanic that lets players spend Sprite Dust on a chosen item, changed again with this patch, as they have with every update this season, Esports.gg reported. The outlet lists six options now available:
- Thorne's Vampiric Blade
- Finger Guns
- Gatekeeper Shotgun
- Hunting Rifle
- Slap Splash
- All Sprite Variants
Three items left the loot pool. Midas' Masterpiece, a Rift Anomaly, and the Witch Broom pocket item were vaulted, along with the Super Shot, Big Boom, Action Hero and Healing Overdrive Overrides. The only balance change Esports.gg reports is a slight increase to the Sweeper Shotgun's fire rate, which the outlet said makes the weapon more worthwhile to use.
Two new Sprites
The One Wish Willow Sprite, inspired by the Obsession collaboration, is now in the game ahead of that collaboration's cosmetics, per Esports.gg. The Sprite extracts the Sprites equipped by eliminated opponents and pushes nearby enemies away when its holder takes damage. Removing it marks the player on the map.
The update also adds the Honey Sprite, the final winner of Epic's Design-A-Sprite program. It gives hits from ranged weapons a chance to spawn bees at the point of impact, Esports.gg reported.
Esports.gg also reported cosmetic details that surfaced from dataminers during the update's downtime, covering several collaborations. These include an Obsession set built around a Nikki outfit, a Hamikuma set with a dual-wield pickaxe, a Slender Man outfit the outlet said releases within the next two weeks, a Predator Badlands outfit with three alternate styles and a plasma sword pickaxe, a Lady Liberty outfit from The Purge, a Hazbin Hotel set led by an Alastor outfit with a keytar, and a Beetlejuice set with a guitar and Kicks. Esports.gg attributes these details to leakers rather than to an Epic announcement.
Epic has also begun teasing the One Piece Mini-Season, with a pirate-themed chest set to appear in-game, according to Esports.gg. The outlet described it as the latest of several Easter eggs the developer has added ahead of Chapter 7 Mini-Season 3.
