Surprisingly, Epic not only introduced vending machines in Fortnite: Battle Royale with the last patch on Wednesday, but also adjusted the weapon balance. How do these changes affect the weapons? And why are the burst assault rifles particularly suffering?
All players were actually waiting for a continuation of the shooting tests – a test mode where planned weapon changes can be tested. Now Epic has already made productive changes on Wednesday that could have far-reaching consequences.
Specifically, the initial accuracy for various weapons is increased. If you do not move and crouch ideally, you will have a one hundred percent hit probability on the first shot fired if the target is aimed at.
But what does this mean specifically for the individual weapons? Is the effect noticeably felt? Do all weapons really benefit from these changes?
This is how shooting behavior works in Fortnite: Battle Royale
In general, shots fired from a weapon should land where you aim. However, in Fortnite, the so-called bloom mechanic messes with this. It adds a certain element of randomness to every fight as it is not guaranteed that you will hit your target.
Especially in chaotic fights, it can happen even at short range that you miss your opponent with your assault rifle or submachine gun, even though you obviously aimed at your opponent.
Epic implemented this system to ensure that fights do not end too quickly. Those who are shot at from behind should have a chance to react. Fights are artificially prolonged in this way.
The initial accuracy indicates how likely a hit is when you are completely still and aim steadily. With the last patch, this probability was increased to 100%. The following weapons are affected by this change:
- Silenced submachine gun
- Tactical submachine gun
- Pistol
- Silenced pistol
- Revolver
- Hand cannon
- Assault rifle
- Burst assault rifle
The first shot from any of the specified weapons will always hit exactly where you aim, provided you do not move. A significant change, especially for weapons that can inflict high damage with a single shot.
Hand cannons and revolvers are the big winners of the balance changes in Fortnite: Battle Royale
Hand cannons and revolvers deal great damage on critical hits. However, opponents with full shields will not be finished off by either type of weapon after one shot. A subsequent shot, however, no longer benefits from the initial accuracy if you pull the trigger too quickly.
The second shot can therefore miss – time for your opponent to build cover and perhaps use mini shield potions. Although the slowly firing cannons benefit the most from the change, they still do not represent a cure-all in the endgame.
At the beginning of a match, you can clear out with these cannons – opponents rarely have full shields in the early phases of the game.
In the endgame, weapons with the potential to eliminate opponents with a single shot (sniper rifles) still remain the best option. To prevent the initial accuracy from allowing you to safely eliminate distant targets, Epic made two additional changes:
- The critical damage multiplier has been reduced to 2 (was 2.5)
- Weapons deal less damage at greater distances
Initial accuracy at the cost of potential damage
So that you do not gain an excessive advantage with the guaranteed hit probability, all affected weapons will incur a damage reduction over distance. Depending on the distance to the target, you will now deal less damage.
While the damage reduction for submachine guns begins after 24 meters, you can fire at targets up to 50 meters away with assault rifles before you also have to accept reductions here.
Up to 35% damage loss you will have to accept over long distances, while with revolvers and hand cannons you will even lose up to 60% of the damage. The reason for the damage drop over distance lies in balance.
Weapons like revolvers are meant to shine at their intended range – and not dominate long-range combat.
Is everything great in Fortnite now? Not quite – one weapon has now ultimately been buried with these changes – the burst assault rifle!
Why the burst assault rifle does not benefit from the initial accuracy
The improved initial accuracy is also noticeable with the burst assault rifle. However, only for the first bullet of a burst – not for all three.
So if you aim directly for the head, the first hit will be critical, but the vertical deviation ensures that the other two bullets may miss the opponent. Since the fire rate of burst assault rifles is lower than that of standard assault rifles, they thus have a disadvantage.
The apparent bonus of the initial accuracy actually turns out to be a shortcoming in the game mechanics. Compounding this is the reduction of the critical hit damage multiplier, which further weakens the weapon.
How Epic will deal with this in the future is not known – at least according to data miners, templates for a legendary variant of a burst rifle already exist. The shortcomings of the standard variant could be balanced with this version.
What do you think of the weapon balance adjustments?
