Chapter 7 Season 3 is live, and Epic has branded it Runners — a season built around speed, creature companions, and a story that picks up directly after the Shattered live event. Dr. Slone is back, the Foundation's conflict with the Ice King is far from settled, and the island has been reshaped to match the chaos. Here's everything that's new.

The Theme: Runners

The Runners theme isn't just a label — it runs through the entire season. Movement is faster, repositioning is more important, and two brand-new mobility items are joining the loot pool from day one. The map reflects this philosophy too, with open sightlines around the new Zero Point POI and elevated terrain near Duck Mansion designed for rapid rotations rather than early-game camping.

On the story side, Dr. Slone's return is the headline. She's been missing from the lore for several chapters and her appearance in the Season 3 Battle Pass as Vanguard Slone signals that Epic is finally picking up those threads again. Whether she's a protagonist or an antagonist this time around is part of the mystery.

Battle Pass Skins

The Chapter 7 Season 3 Battle Pass is one of the more varied lineups in recent memory, mixing original characters with a high-profile collab:

  • The Guardian
  • Heatwave PJ
  • Vanguard Slone — Dr. Slone's return, redesigned
  • Dylan (unlockable as Gold Huntress Dylan during launch week)
  • Cluster
  • John Wick – Pen & Ink — a cel-shaded take on the classic skin
  • The Voidblade
  • Wolfe

The John Wick collab is the standout. The Pen & Ink style applies a hand-drawn, comic-book filter to the entire skin and his weapons, making him look genuinely different from any other version of the character in the game. Launch week players also unlock bonus items including John Wick and Dog, Dark Cubic Sneakers, and additional style variants.

Sprites Are Back

Sprites originally showed up in Chapter 6 Season 1, and they're returning for Season 3 with a deeper progression system. These small companions attach to players mid-match and grant passive abilities depending on their rarity. Here's how they break down:

Rare

  • Earth Sprite — higher chance of finding rare items from chests
  • Fire Sprite — triggers a fiery burst after dealing enough damage
  • Water Sprite — replenishes shields for you and your squad while in water

Epic

  • Duck Sprite — emoting or jamming replenishes shields
  • Ghost Sprite — brief cloak on reload
  • Demon Sprite — siphons health and shields on elimination
  • King Sprite — pickaxe deals increased damage

Legendary

  • Dream Sprite — drops a random item per level, bursts with legendary loot at max
  • Punk Sprite — unpredictable. Could be nothing, could be everything

Mythic

  • Zero Point Sprite — spawns a Shield Bubble Jr. when you heal yourself

Sprites level up through three activities: opening chests (exploration), getting eliminations, and extracting Sprites. Reaching max level lets you Master a Sprite, which unlocks seasonal progression rewards. Successful extractions also earn Sprite Dust — the in-match currency that lets you summon already-collected Sprites at the start of future matches. Rarer Sprites cost more Dust, and Dust can also be spent to upgrade a Sprite's power tier.

Watch for special rare variant Sprites that appear throughout the season via daily drops and Power Hours — they carry small bonus effects on top of their base power.

Gizmos

Alongside Sprites, Epic is introducing Gizmos — consumable tools that shortcut or supercharge your extraction runs. They start in your Pickaxe slot, persist all season, but expire at season end. Three are confirmed:

  • Portable Extractor (available now) — extract your Sprite from anywhere on the island
  • Lucky Locator (coming later) — tracks a buried chest guaranteed to contain a Sprite you haven't collected yet
  • Extraction Site Booster (coming later) — calls in a special crate that boosts any Sprite extracted at that location — and draws other players in

Gizmos can't be traded and drop on elimination, so they're not a permanent advantage. Earn more by completing Bonus Goals quests, spending Sprite Dust, or advancing your Sprite Mastery.

New Weapons

Season 3 adds four new weapons alongside a handful of returning favorites:

  • Extending Focus Shotgun — long range; the barrel physically lengthens as your spread tightens across a three-round volley
  • Surgical Burst Rifle — burst-fire, low recoil, minimal damage falloff at range
  • Chaos Exploder Rifle — the Dark Voyager's heavy AR fires explosive cubes; especially punishing near cover
  • Lancehead Pistol — John Wick's signature sidearm with a 21-round mag; chuck the magazine at nearby enemies when reloading for bonus damage

Returning to the loot pool: Striker Pump, Maven Auto Shotgun, Ranger Pistol, Stinger SMG, Hunting Rifle, and Chaos Reloader Shotgun.

New Mobility: Seven Sliders & Shock Rocks

Seven Sliders are available from launch — equip them to slide faster than sprint speed. ADS while sliding to slow time briefly for a precision shot, then let the jets launch you into the air. Shock Rocks arrive later in the season: crush one to perform three consecutive midair leaps, letting you cover ground or reach rooftops without a launch pad.

Power Boots & Seven Caches

The Seven Power Boots are a new mobility item that lets players power slide and sprint at elevated speed for a limited time. They're particularly strong in Zero Build, where fast repositioning decides most fights. Power Boots are found inside Seven Caches — special loot containers that drop onto the island through rifts and also carry high-rarity loot.

Map Changes

Two major POI changes hit the island at season start:

  • Dark Dominion is gone, replaced by a new tropical POI with the Zero Point exposed at its center — expect it to be one of the most contested drop spots of the season
  • Duck Mansion arrives as a new named location tied to the duck-themed Battle Pass content. It's worth landing there early in the season to understand the layout before it becomes a meta drop

Bus Exfil (Coming Later This Season)

At some point in Season 3, a small percentage of matches will end with the Battle Bus rifting back onto the map. When it does, a window opens to board it. Get at least one teammate to the rift-out point and your squad secures the Victory — no Storm, no final circle. Multiple teams can win the same match this way. It's a massive shakeup to how late-game plays out and we'll have full coverage when it goes live.

Ranked Resets & Rewards

Ranks have been fully reset for Season 3. New milestone rewards:

  • Gold: Cube's Creche Back Bling
  • Platinum: Voyager's Suit Wrap
  • Elite: Hatchets of Chaos Pickaxe
  • Unreal: Axe of Unreal Pickaxe

New this season: the Unreal Legends rank. To qualify you need to reach Unreal, hold at least 2,500 Skill Rating, and place in the Top 500 on the Unreal Leaderboard simultaneously. It's the most demanding rank Epic has ever put in the game.

Reload Updates

Reload is getting a significant overhaul with Season 3:

Three new Morphite weapons join the pool: Morphite Hammer Assault Rifle, Morphite Sentinel Shotgun, and Morphite Mammoth Pistol.

Progressive Reboot Loadouts now scale with match time. Early game you reboot with a Common AR. Mid game you come back with a Morphite Heavy AR, Morphite SMG, and a Mini Shield. Late game reboots give you a Morphite AR, Tactical Shotgun, Mini Shield, and two Chug Splashes — a huge improvement from the weak gear that used to make late reboots nearly pointless.

Zero Build fall damage is gone. Instead of getting eliminated, you drop to 1 HP and lose shields. Gliders can now also be cut after jumping from the bus, letting you freefall and reach the ground faster than the rest of the lobby.

Battle Bus ADS is a new quality-of-life feature that lets players aim down sights during the bus ride to scout drop locations, ping spots, and coordinate with teammates before jumping.

Loot pool changes in Reload: unvaulted items include the Red-Eye AR, Combat Pistol, Rapid Fire SMG, Red-Eye SMG, Gatekeeper Shotgun, Collateral Damage AR, Heavy Impact Sniper, and Wrecker Revolver. Vaulted items include Slap Juice, Slap Splash, Med-Mist Smoke Grenade, Slapperoni Pizza, Holo Twister AR, Tactical Pistol, Cube Splitter SMG, and Cube Rifle.

Track Everything on MyFortniteStats

Chapter 7 Season 3 is one of the most content-dense launches Epic has put out. If you want to follow the competitive side — Ranked leaderboards, Cash Cup results, and event scoring — the leaderboard and events pages update in real time throughout the season. Good luck out there, Runners.