'Fortnite' Season 8 launches today with new skins, new map locations, and a huge overhaul to its offline mode

Warning: You'll need the a Season 8 Battle Pass to get exclusive items during the season.

You'll need to buy a battle pass for a chance to unlock dozens of items that are exclusive to "Fortnite" Season 8. As players complete challenges during the season, the battle pass will level up and grant access to extra rewards like skins. If you purchased the battle pass during Season 7, you'll start this season with an extra 30% XP boost.

Season 8 introduces seven new skins; you'll need to grab a battle pass to unlock them all.

Among Season 8's seven new skins are three legendary outfits: Blackheart, Hybrid, and Luxe. Legendary skins can be upgraded over time, unlocking new styles and color options as you play. Blackheart eventually turns into a bearded ghost pirate, while Hybrid becomes a dragon.

The Season 8 battle pass also includes four epic outfits: Sidewinder, Peely, Ember, and Master Key. Sidewinder is a cowgirl, like Calamity from Season 6. Ember is a member of the Ashen guard protecting the island's volcano. Master Key resembles a martial artist and can unlock a special tiger mask. Peely... is a banana.

The Season 8 battle pass costs 950 vbucks, the in-game currency of "Fortnite." You can earn vbucks by playing the game, or pay $10 cash for 1,000 vbucks.

Like prior seasons, the Season 8 battle pass costs 950 vbucks, and a discounted battle bundle includes the season pass and the first 25 tiers of rewards for 2,800 vbucks. Vbucks can be earned through in game challenges, or you can purchase them in "Fortnite."

The battle pass costs just under $10 if you're paying with cash, while the battle bundle is $25.

The battle pass contains dozens of rewards, like Woodsy, one "Fortnite's" two new pets.

While you can still unlock some items without the battle pass and save your vbucks for your favorite items in the shop, the battle pass has the most valuable rewards. Other exclusive items in the Season 8 Battle Pass include Woodsy and Dodger, a pair of new pets, an octopus parachute, and a conga dance emote.

Luckily, even if you spend the first few weeks of Season 8 playing without the Battle Pass, you can still level up. If you decide to buy the pass late in the season, you'll unlock the same rewards as if you had it from day one.

A volcano has erupted on the "Fortnite" island, adding new locations and scattering lava across the map.

A volcanic eruption has shifted the landscape of "Fortnite," bringing a pair of new locations with it. Players will need to be on the look out for lava and special volcanic vents that can launch them into the sky with a rush of hot air.

A huge pirate ship is docked in the Lazy Lagoon, one of Season 8's new points of interest. The first challenges of Season 8 include searching for pirate chests and finding pirate camps around the island.

The other new location, Sunny Steps, resembles a temple village. Maybe this is the home of the warriors from the Season 8 trailer?

The Season 8 trailer shows a clan of warriors who look like they're covered in hardened lava. It's possible that they originate from the Sunny Steps, one of the new map locations. Ember, one of Season 8's Epic Skins, belongs to the Ashen Warrior set.

You'll find pirate cannons scattered around the map in Season 8. Use them to fire yourself across the map, or launch cannonballs to do splash damage from a distance.

Pirate cannons will appear in all of "Fortnite's" game modes during Season 8. Players can load them with cannon balls and fire from long distances; the explosion will deal damage to anyone in the area. If players are feeling a bit crazy, they can climb into the cannon and fire themselves across the map too.

Season 8 also removes some older items from the Battle Royale map — including three vehicles: the X-4 Stormwing plane, shopping cart, and all terrain kart. Two winter-themed items, the Sneaky Snowman and Chiller Grenade, have also gone back into the vault.

Season 8 also brings big changes to "Fortnite: Save the World," the game's offline mode. Unlike Battle Royale, you need to pony up $40 to get started with this mode.

"Fortnite: Save the World," the game's $40 paid offline game mode is getting a big time overhaul. "Save the World" is a separate game type where players fight against waves of AI-controlled enemies and work together to survive. Players select from a large roster of "Fortnite" heroes, each of whom have their own special abilities and perks.

The new hero loadout system allows players to stack perks and abilities from multiple heroes, adding a greater reward for unlocking new heroes, and giving players new ways to enhance their favorites.

Loadout perks can provide a stat boost or entirely new abilities like a triple jump. Heroes will also have access to team perks that can give your whole squad a power-up.

Eight new heroes joined "Save the World" for Season 8.

"Save the World" players will all receive a gift box with Hero XP bonuses, evolution materials and more bonuses. They'll also be able to unlock new eight new heroes with in-game quest lines.

These are the new heroes and their respective classes: Archetype Havoc (Soldier), Liteshow Spitfire (Soldier), Dark Vanguard Airheart (Constructor), Conqueror Magnus (Constructor), Forged Fate (Ninja), Overtaker Hiro (Ninja), Valkyrie Rio (Outlander), Ventura Ramirez (Outlander).

The season 8 update also added a public voice chat channel for Creative Mode, and a new Jungle Temple theme.

"Fortnite's" new Creative Mode is still seeing regular updates too. Season 8 allows up to 16 players to join a matchmaking party for the Playgrounds game type, letting them try out new game modes on featured islands, or practice in a specific area of the "Fortnite: Battle Royale" map.

It'll be easier to keep in touch too; Creative Mode will feature a single voice channel for all players to keep in touch, regardless of their team. Previously, players on separate teams could not use voice chat.

Fortnite Season 8 will end on May 9th, so be sure to unlock your favorite rewards before then.

Fortnite Season 8 is live now and will continue for 10 weeks. The first weekly challenges include visiting all of the islands pirate camps, boosting yourself into the air with a volcanic vent, and finding treasure chests in Retail Row and Junk Junction.

Now that you've gotten the details, it might be time to get out their and have your own pirate adventure.