Fortnite Update 42.40: New Loot Hacks, Sprites and Like-for-Like Weapon Upgrades Explained

Fortnite's v42.40 update went live on October 15, 2026, and it's the last major content drop of Chapter 7 Season 4: Override before Fortnitemares 2026 rolls toward its Halloween finale. Epic Games used the patch to add a genuinely new movement mechanic, shuffle the Loot Hack and Override lineups one final time, drop two new Sprites, and overhaul how reboots work in Reload. Here's exactly what changed, straight from Epic's own patch notes.

1. When v42.40 Went Live

Fortnite's downtime for v42.40 started in the early hours of October 15, 2026, with servers returning that same morning. Epic's official update threads were last revised at 6:14 AM ET on October 15, matching the usual few hours of scheduled maintenance the game takes for a content patch. The update covers Battle Royale, Zero Build, Reload and Horde Rush simultaneously, so every mode picked up at least some of the changes below.

2. Like-for-Like Weapon Upgrades: A New Core Mechanic

The headline Battle Royale change isn't a weapon or a cosmetic — it's a new pickup rule. Epic's official notes describe it simply: walk over a higher-rarity version of a weapon you're already carrying, and you'll automatically swap up to it. No more stopping to compare stats or manually dropping your old gun first.

The feature only works if Auto Pick Up Weapons is switched on, found under Settings > Game > Combat. It's a small quality-of-life tweak, but it changes how looting feels in the back half of a match, when players are swapping Common and Uncommon rolls for Epic and Legendary versions of the same gun on the fly.

3. New Loot Hacks Added in v42.40

Loot Hacks are the Sprite Dust-powered upgrades players can slot onto weapons and items, and this patch refreshed the rotation one last time before the season ends. Readers who haven't used the system yet can check how the Loot Hack system already works for the basics. The six additions in v42.40 are:

• Thorne's Vampiric Blade — a callback to the Kado Thorne era of the island
• Finger Guns — the comedic emote-turned-item first added in Chapter 7 Season 2
• Gatekeeper Shotgun
• Hunting Rifle
• Slap Splash
• All Sprite Variants — every Sprite variant in the game is now hackable

Epic also gave the Sweeper Shotgun a small balance pass, slightly increasing its fire rate.

4. What Got Vaulted

With new Loot Hacks in, older ones rotated out. Epic's notes confirm the following items and Overrides are vaulted for the remainder of Fortnitemares 2026:

• Midas' Masterpiece (Rift Anomaly)
• Witch Broom (Pocket Item)
• Super Shot, Big Boom, Action Hero and Healing Overdrive (Match Overrides)

No brand-new Match Overrides were added this patch — v42.40 is purely a trim-and-refresh update on that front, saving the next wave of Overrides for the season's final stretch.

5. Two New Sprites: Honey and One Wish Willow

Sprites got their last additions of Chapter 7 Season 4. For background on how the system works, see the site's guide to Sprite Mastery and leveling rewards. The two new Sprites, per Epic's own description, are:

• Honey Sprite (the winning entry from Epic's "Design a Sprite" contest) — has a chance to spawn bees at the hit location whenever you deal damage with a ranged weapon.
• One Wish Willow Sprite — extracts an eliminated enemy's equipped Sprite and pushes nearby enemies away when it takes damage. Removing it marks your location on the map, so it's a risk-reward pick.

The final page of Sprite Mastery rewards also unlocked, including a new Quack Sprite — which boosts every Sprite you're carrying with bonus Sprite XP whenever it levels up — and a new style for the Pixel Polli Outfit.

6. Power Hours: Trick or Treat Sprites (October 17)

Epic also confirmed a weekend Power Hour event tied to the update, called Trick or Treat Sprites, running this Saturday, October 17:

• First round starts at 2 PM ET / 6 PM UTC
• Second round starts at 9 PM ET, which is 1 AM UTC Sunday
• Everyone drops in holding Freddy's Nightmare, which boosts movement speed while equipped and lets you slash through unwary opponents
• The Trick or Treat Sprite variant appears more often during the event
• 1-Up Tokens and Portable Extractors have a better chance to drop from Chests

It's Epic's way of tying the Halloween-themed Fortnitemares content directly into the patch, giving Freddy Krueger's in-game kit its own dedicated spotlight event rather than leaving it as a permanent fixture.

7. Fortnite Reload: Reboot Timers Overhauled

Reload mode got its own, separate set of official notes in this patch, and the biggest change is a full rework of how reboot timers function in Duos and Squads. Epic added more actions that reduce a teammate's reboot timer, then raised the base reboot time by 15 seconds per game stage to compensate. The adjustments:

• Looting: 1 second off for opening ammo boxes and similar small containers, 2 seconds off for chests, 4 seconds off for rare chests
• Damage dealt: 1 second off for every 30 points of damage
• Downs and eliminations (unchanged): Duos reduce by 2/3/5 seconds for downing, eliminating, or wiping a team; Squads reduce by 2/4/10 seconds for the same actions

The net reboot times now run 27/27/27/29/31/31 seconds in Duos (up from 12/12/12/15/15/17/17) and 45/45/45/50/50/55/55 seconds in Squads (up from 30/30/30/35/35/40/40), giving eliminated players more time to be rescued before a teammate has to make the trip to a Reboot Van.

Reload's loot pool also shifted: the Iron Pump Shotgun and Morphite Tactical Shotgun are unvaulted, while the Gatekeeper Shotgun (still available on Nitemare Island) and Twin Hammer Shotguns are vaulted. On the map side, Squid Grounds takes over the Reload rotation for an exclusive run from October 15–19, after which both Ranked and Unranked playlists settle into a rotation of Nitemare Island, Squid Grounds and the Stranger Things map.

8. Other Fixes Worth Knowing

Alongside the headline changes, Epic's fix list for v42.40 covers dozens of smaller issues. A few that affect everyday play:

• The Discover tab is getting a gradual visual redesign — more expressive tiles, auto-playing preview videos, and a cleaner logo treatment — rolling out to players over time rather than all at once
• New Locker sorting options: Most Used, Last Used and Least Used
• The Mega Buster's charged shot once again deals its intended area damage
• Players no longer get stuck after defeating and possessing one of Freddy's Animatronics
• A fix for the Hunter Scavenger Override's enemy-marking sound looping while standing in the Storm
• On PC, additional stability improvements and a fix for launch crashes on certain AMD graphics cards

Epic's full fix list also touches LEGO Fortnite, Save the World, Fortnite OG and Fortnite Festival, all of which shipped their own quality-of-life patches in the same build.

9. Where 42.40 Fits Into Fortnitemares 2026

This patch lands in the middle of Fortnitemares 2026, Fortnite's month-long Halloween event, and it's built to support that event rather than launch new map content of its own — hence the lack of fresh map changes or new Match Overrides this time. For a broader look at everything tied to the event, see the full rundown of Fortnitemares 2026 collabs, and for one of the headline horror crossovers already live on the island, check out the Five Nights at Freddy's crossover.

Quick Recap

• v42.40 went live October 15, 2026 — the last major Chapter 7 Season 4 content patch
• New Like-for-Like Weapon Upgrades auto-swap your gun for a higher rarity version when you walk over one (requires Auto Pick Up Weapons)
• Six new Loot Hacks, including Thorne's Vampiric Blade and Finger Guns; Midas' Masterpiece, Witch Broom and four Overrides are vaulted
• Honey Sprite and One Wish Willow Sprite are the season's final two Sprite additions
• Trick or Treat Sprites Power Hour runs twice on October 17
• Reload's reboot timers were reworked across the board, and Squid Grounds takes over the Reload map rotation through October 19

Official Resources

• v42.40 Fortnite Override: Battle Royale Update Notes (Epic Games)
• Fortnite Reload 42.40 Update Notes (Epic Games)
• Fixes and Improvements in v42.40 (Epic Games)
• Fortnite Official Site