Because Fortnite players complained that they could hardly find these items anymore, Epic increased the drop chances. Without these items, the Battle Royale simply does not work.
What was the problem? In Battle Royale, it’s about quickly finding good loot after landing to defend against other players. Some items are more important than others.
For the community, shotguns and shields turned out to be essential items. And apparently, Epic now realizes that players need to find these items more frequently. That was not the case recently.
What did Epic change? In the latest Fortnite patch 9.21, the developers increased the drop chance for both items, shields and shotguns:
- Shield Potion: Availability in chests increased from 11.3% to 12.09%
- Small Shield Potion: Availability in chests increased from 16.95% to 18.13%
- Shotguns: Overall chance as loot on the ground increased from 8.50% to 9.77%
Regarding the shield potions, Epic explained that they noticed that after removing and adding items, shield potions were less frequently found in chests. This is now compensated by the increased drop chance.
Regarding shotguns, Epic said they listened to community feedback. The chances were then increased for players to find shotguns more easily in the early phases of the game.
Why are shields and shotguns so important for Fortnite?
That’s why shields are important: Anyone running around in Fortnite without a shield is an easy target for opponents. You miss important hitpoints that can determine life and death in battles with other players. Players without shields have a significant disadvantage.
That Epic increased the chance for shields is an important change to not disadvantage you at the start.
That’s why shotguns are important: Most shooters cannot do without shotguns. The shotguns are ideal close-combat weapons that deal massive damage when you hit the opponent directly from close range.
These weapons are an important part of Fortnite and have been there from the very beginning. In situations where opponents are close to you, they are particularly effective and often determine victory or defeat.
That was the problem with shotguns
Since update 9.0, the new combat shotgun is in Fortnite. It came after the old shotgun “Pumpgun” was removed because, according to Epic, it was too effective. The pumpgun was considered a legendary weapon of the first hour, its disappearance was like a slap in the face.
As Polygon reports, the old “Pumpgun” accounted for nearly 26% of all kills in Fortnite. And that was probably too much for Epic. But it also shows how much players like to use this type of weapon.
When players then noticed that the new combat shotgun is very strong, Epic lowered its spawn rate. And this spawn rate dropped so much that players were frustrated because they could hardly find the shotgun anymore.
Due to the changes in patch 9.21, the overall frequency of shotguns in Fortnite has increased. Now you can find the new shotgun and other weapons of this type more often.
Epic has likely realized that shotguns are simply important for players and should also be found more frequently.
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