Fortnite v17.20 update early patch notes: Alien invasion, map changes, Bugha skin, Preferred Item Slots, and more

Fortnite v17.20 will be released within a few hours, and the island is expected to undergo another major transformation.

Fortnite Season 7 updates have been quite interesting as the developers have rolled out several new aspects to keep the game interesting.

Regular updates and hotfixes have been implemented to offer smooth gameplay, and loopers have claimed Fortnite Season 7 to be the best season ever.

With the Fortnite v17.20 update just around the corner, gamers are pretty curious to know about the upcoming patch notes.

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Fortnite v17.20: Early patch notes reveal impending changes on the island

Fortnite downtime today (July 20th)

Epic Games will release the v17.20 update within a few hours. The downtime for the upcoming update will begin at approximately 02:30 AM ET (06:30 UTC).

The downtime is a bit early as compared to other updates. The reason has not been revealed, but gamers can expect many changes to the island following the release of the Fortnite v17.20 update.

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World Cup winner Bugha to receive Icon Series skin

Popular pro gamer and streamer Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf will be getting his own bundle following the v17.20 update. The Fortnite World Cup Solo champion will also be getting an LTM mode to his name.

Gamers who prove their mettle in the Bugha's Late Game LTM will qualify for a one-day cash prize tournament.

The official announcement said:

"World Cup Solo Champion, Content Creator, and a core member of the community, Bugha himself is joining the Fortnite Icon Series! Bugha's Icon Series Set will be available in the Fortnite Item Shop starting Tuesday, July 20th, at 8 PM ET. But before that, fitting for the occasion, Bugha's making an entrance with a competitive new LTM: Bugha's Late Game. Prove yourself in this Arena mode to qualify for a one-day, cash-prize tournament!"

The Bugha bundle will feature in the Item Shop and have the World Cup backbling, Bugha Blades pickaxe, and the Bring It Around emote. Gamers will also get to see his beloved pug Zoey inside the World Cup backbling.

The Bugha skin will be coming along with two other styles, the Bugha Elite Style and the Champion Bugha Style.

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Preferred Item Slots to finally arrive

Gamers have been vocal regarding the implementation of the Preferred Item Slots setting for a long time. The developers have been working on the same for some time, and it was recently revealed that the upcoming Fortnite v17.20 update would roll out the Preferred Item Slot settings to the game.

Loopers will be able to customize the weapon slot and assign a specific weapon to a particular slot.

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A full force Alien invasion is inbound

It seems that gamers will have to deal with a new set of Alien forces following the Fortnite v17.20 update. Until now, they had to evade the abducting UFOs that roamed above the island.

However, it was recently revealed that Alien ground troops have been mobilizing towards the west.

Players are clueless regarding this cryptic information. It was anticipated that some indications might be revealed following the recent hotfix. However, there were no changes regarding this matter.

They can now expect the Alien ground troops to make an entry following the Fortnite v17.20 update.

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New NPC to arrive with Fortnite update v17.20

Since the Alien ground troops are expected to arrive on the island, gamers can expect a new NPC boss to be introduced. It is to be seen whether Epic introduces a new NPC boss to lead the Alien ground troops or not.

An official tweet from FortniteME also indicated an underground POI with a crashed UFO. Since this was not implemented on the island, players can expect Fortnite v17.20 to add this POI to the game.

Coral Castle was expected to be blown up anytime soon. However, the POI has been kept intact even after minor updates and hotfixes.

Gamers, therefore, anticipate that in the upcoming Fortnite v17.20 update, Coral Castle will get destroyed, and a new POI, possibly the underground one, will be revealed.