In Fortnite, players and their friends lead a group of Heroes to reclaim and rebuild a homeland that has been left empty by a mysterious darkness only known as “the Storm.” Players will band together online to explore the world for resources, build extravagant forts, find or build insane weapons and traps as they protect their towns from the strange monsters that emerge during the Storm.

Today Epic Games sent out the second wave of Alpha invites for its action/building game Fortnite. The 2nd phase of Alpha testing is called, appropriately enough, Online Test No. 2 and it runs from March 24 through April 14. Members of the Fortnite community are currently being invited to OT2, but people interested in taking part in the Alpha can sign up for future online tests and learn more at Fortnite.com. Each initial invite allows players to invite two friends, so even if some folks  haven't signed up by now they still have the chance to get in this week.

As a part of the OT2 testing process, all profile data has been wiped. There were significant changes made in important areas of the game that made this necessary. This is the perfect opportunity for returning players to try out a new class or build!

Under the hood, we changed the underpinning of classes by adding a shiny new Abilities System. This means we'll be able to make and modify our classes faster and better. In terms of how they play, they should mostly feel the same as OT1, but we made some specific changes below:

• Constructor: Your B.A.S.E.'s area of effect now depends on the pieces connected to it. Initially, the B.A.S.E will affect all building pieces within 3 connections and can be upgraded to extend its influence farther.
• Ninja: Updated visuals for Shadow stance and made some adjustments to the skill tree.
• Commando: Some adjustments to the skill tree and updated grenade effects.
• Outlander: New visuals for the Utility fragment and some skill tree adjustments.

• Try out the new Drone Manufactory in your Homebase! This building allows your heroes to call in a supply drop when you need it most. Make the call and watch those emergency resources drop at your feet for those more difficult gate captures.

“Close the Gate” Improvements

• When you activate an Atlas, its health is now displayed in your objective list.
• We changed the color of the timer flash during the final 60 seconds of a gate closure from red to blue.
• Having second thoughts after activating your atlas? You now have the ability to cancel an Atlas activation within 5 seconds of activation

Join Game Improvements

• Making friends just got easier! Joining a friend's game or accepting a friend invitation is now possible from anywhere within the game.

Emotes

• /Dance confirmed! Heroes now have a dance emote. Type /dance in chat to twerk it out … or something.

• Global chat too chatty? Leave global chat by clicking the Globe icon next to the chat input and uncheck Global Chatter.
• Not sure if your buddy is AFK? Social panel now shows detailed information about current online activity of your friends.
• The Homebase has been updated with many improvements for visual clarity, ease of use, and some cool animations.
  • The overall layout of Home Base has changed. Buildings that grant you Heroes are on the left, buildings that grant stat bonuses are on the right, and the new homebase ability buildings are in the center.
  • Added and improved the building plots so that it is now more clear where buildings will be built.
  • Unbuilt buildings now display an icon of the building that will be built on a plot, giving you more clarity about what the building is.
  • Buildings now more clearly communicate when they are locked, available, able to purchase, and upgradable.
  • The art in the Command Center has been improved.

• The level 1 wood and metal walls have been updated with new art. The updated models no longer have openings that allow players to shoot through them.
• Added a new weapon model for the Dragon Pistol.
• Added the Command Building model to the Home Base.