Skip to main content

Fortnite’s latest update lets you go ham in a hamster ball

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Have you ever watched a hamster roll around in a ball and become ridiculously jealous? Of course you have. Human hamster balls do, in fact, exist but they are typically quite pricey. Luckily, you can fulfill your hamster ball-rolling dreams with the latest Fortnite update, free of charge. Fortnite version 8.10 adds the Baller, a hamster ball equipped with high powered boost capabilities and a grapple.

Check out our new season 8, week 3 challenge guide.

The Baller’s grapple and boosts will help you “perform unbelievable feats.” These feats are probably more impressive than anything a regular old hamster could do, to be honest. Plus, your avatar won’t have to stand in the ball, as it’s fitted with a slick chair. The Baller is designed to make you look and feel like a baller, naturally, not to get a workout.

The Baller can be found at outposts and in pirate camp loot areas. With the help of the boost and grapple, you can vault up mountains and make progress through areas that would normally take some thought to maneuver.

We’re not sure how practical the Baller is if you want to stay alive. It’s pretty easy to spot someone zipping across the map in a giant hamster ball. It does come with some protection, though. The ball can take 300 damage before it’s destroyed.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Along with the Baller, the latest patch changes up the way vending machines work. You no longer have to spend materials to get new gear from the machines. However, the vending machine malfunctions and breaks after one use, so it’s a trade-off.

The latest update also brings back one of the cooler limited time game modes: The Getaway. The heist-style mode tasks players with recovering a jewel and making it to the getaway van to win. Meanwhile, Fortnite’s Creative mode has two new islands: Sandbar Island and Volcano Island.

As always, the patch makes a myriad of improvements across all facets of the battle royale experience. The marker system, which was added shortly after Apex Legends launched, has been improved. Vehicles and consumables can now be marked, and general readability and usability of the marking system should be better. The full patch notes can be read here.

Editors' Recommendations

Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
Fortnite Reality Augments: full list and how to use them
Fortnite Zero Builds key art.

Every new chapter of Fortnite is a massive event. While seasonal changes bring plenty of minor tweaks and additions, it's almost always when a new chapter rolls around that major overhauls or new mechanics are introduced. Fortnite Chapter 4 was no exception, and aside from the extreme changes the island underwent, it brought one very important change to gameplay that makes a huge difference when going for that elusive victory royal (it isn't easy to win Fortnite, after all).

Augments, well, augment the game. There are a few challenges that somewhat introduce what these are, but they leave out almost all the important details for you to find out on your own. Augments need to be considered, and deeply understood, not only for when you get them yourself but to know what new tricks your opponents could have up their sleeves. Before you get taken by surprise, here's a complete breakdown of how to unlock augments and how they work in Fortnite.
What are augments in Fortnite?
Augments, or Reality Augments, are a new perk system introduced into Fortnite. There are currently 20 augments in the game, but there are 32 total that cycle in and out with each Season. You can get access to multiple augments during a single match, but augments do not carry over after a match is finished, whether you win or lose. These perks can range from modifying certain weapon types to granting buffs for performing actions, and much more. There are no bad augments, so you will want to get as many as possible. Augments also have their own tab in your menu where you can see which ones you've had so far to track your progress using them all.
How use Fortnite augments

Read more
How many skins are in Fortnite?
Renegade Runner Fortnite loading screen.

With each new Fortnite season comes a slew of new cosmetics to earn through the Battle Pass or to purchase in the item shop. With the game being out for nearly six years, the number of skins in the game has grown to absurd levels. No longer will you run into a match of solo players wearing similar skins. Between regular releases of skins and special event skins involving IPs like Star Wars, Street Fighter, Marvel, and more, every player has a very unique locker full of cosmetics to bust out in a given match.

These days, it's almost more likely you'll run into a skin you've never seen before than a player using the same one as you!

Read more
33 Immortals will let you fight God in its Divine Comedy-inspired story
Key art for 33 Immortals

When something as phenomenal as Hades comes around, you can be sure that it's going to inspire a generation of games. Now three years removed from Hades' 1.0 release, we’re already seeing that with 33 Immortals. Developed by Spiritfarer studio Thunder Lotus, 33 Immortals is a top-down hack-and-slash game built around mythology. The twist on that formula is that it features 33-player co-op, but it’s not hard to trace the inspiration.

33 Immortals - Announcement Trailer (ESRB)

Read more