Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 3 brought us another major new addition to the battle royale map, with a massive new desert region on the southern side of the island that includes several new major locations while only fully getting rid of one of the existing ones. So while nearly all of our favorite landing spots from last season are still around, the island's balance has been upset by the addition of a bunch of new locations that are all on one side of the map--not to mention the new roaming bosses that spawn in a few possible locations each game.

So when it came time to decide which landing spots have been working out the best for me thus far, it didn't take long to realize I'm biased toward the southern part of the map where all the new stuff is. It's just such a departure from how the rest of the Chapter 5 island looks, and we haven't had a desert region like this in battle royale since Chapter 3. So the addition of a desert is well overdue, and it's a very cool area--the only way they could have made it better is by putting a Butter Barn out there somewhere. Maybe next season?

In the meantime, I've got a few spots that I've found have worked out pretty well for me as recurring landing zones. Some will have you in a fight right away, and others will get you off to a quiet start--but what really matters is they're all better than just dropping down at a random spot inside a random named location. Let's take a look.

The Nitrodrome

The Nitrodrome is that rare location that's perfect for free-for-all sort of battles. It's easy to lose yourself in the maze-like architecture. There's tons of cars and car upgrades, so it's the easiest landing spot to run away from if it's too much. Hanging around the arena for 60 seconds will spawn tons of good loot, including Nitro fists, and this is the only location that always has a boss NPC and boss car. And it's in the middle of the map, so it's usually in the circle for a long time. The Nitrodrome is the complete package. But it's also a spot you have to play by ear--this is a chaos zone, for sure.

That small shack to the north of the Nitrodrome

For solos, this is a good pivot spot because it has three slurp cacti and enough other loot that you'll be ready to fight quickly, and a car parked out front for a fast getaway if needed. It's going to be fairly rare for there to be enough loot for multiple people here, but there's a service station pretty close to the north that can help as well.

Any gas station

Aside from the Nitrodrome, the best place to get a well-equipped car quickly is one of the gas stations--not just any random Season 3 service station, but specifically one of the gas stations that have been on the map all season. These gas stations always have all three car upgrades, along with a decent assortment of loot and a vending machine. So any of them will get you serious bang for your buck.

Peabody's house

The pea man's house has all the same amenities as a gas station, but with way more stuff otherwise. While a gas station is probably a better landing place for a smaller group, this house has enough loot to support a full squad.

Class Courts clubhouse

Anecdotally, Classy Courts has been a lot quieter this season thanks to the new region being on the opposite end of the map, so you're more likely to be able to land here without being harassed now. But on top of that, Oscar the Tiger lives in the clubhouse now, and if you beat him in a duel you get his mythic Frenzy Shotgun. But when enemies land here with you, be sure to drop at the big clubhouse vs the courts--the cover of the building will save your life more often than not.

Wasteland Challenge 1

This little outpost south of Reckless Railways was a favored spot of mine last season because it's got a decent amount of loot and it's sitting right in between a bunker and a weather station. And in Season 3 it got even better with the addition of a Wasteland Challenge pickup. With a challenge, you'll have to deal with some complicating factor--like taking 5 points of health damage every time you stand still, for example--but you'll also get bonus XP as you play. And since you can only pick up a challenge before the third storm circle, landing near one of these is a must if you want to play with one. But since this one is located in the middle of the map, it can be fraught sometimes to drop here.

Wasteland Challenge 2

The only other place to get a Wasteland Challenge is this small spot on the southernmost point of the island. In addition to the challenge, there are several chests to loot, an NPC who sells Boom Bolts, a bunch of slurp cacti so you can easily and quickly shield up, and usually a vehicle. It's at the edge of the world, yes, but it's also close to all the new stuff, so it's a good spot to get started from.

Brutal Beachhead at the boss car garage

This beached ship is kind of an awkward spot because of its verticality, but slightly to the west of it (under the L in Brutal on your mini-map) is a smaller building that holds Megalo Don's SUV when he spawns there. This little building has become my main starting point for Brutal Beachhead because it's a much more contained situation than the rest of the ship is. But don't dilly dally here--there's not that much loot in the building, so this is just your, ahem, beachhead for this location before you go hunting for your enemies.

Sandy Steppes at Hope

Snooty Steppes, best known as the former home of Peter Griffin, got a significant makeover when it was buried in sand--it's a really cool change, if we're being honest. And if you land near the NPC Hope on the eastern end of town, you'll have access to three weapon chests that guarantee at least blue-quality weapons, and Hope herself sells a purple-quality Tactical Assault Rifle and Shockwave Grenades. In other words, if you land in this house, you'll very quickly be ready to fight as sweatily as you want.

Mount Olympus throne room

Mount Olympus may seem a little bit lackluster without Zeus and his equipment, but the throne room is now home to Artemis, the only current hireable NPC that will ping enemies. So while this spot may have lost a lot of its luster this season, Artemis's presence makes it a destination even so.