In Fortnite, Epic has implemented its plan and actually weakened building in a patch. However, not all players are happy about this. Critics fear that Fortnite loses its “key element” with building. Additionally, professionals now have a new scapegoat when they lose: It’s the meta’s fault.
What Epic has changed: It wasn’t a big topic in the media, but Fortnite actually implemented the plan with patch 5.10 one week ago and made building weaker.
While most focused on the fact that the weapon balance for submachine guns was changed, there were also simultaneous changes to the forts.
This is how Epic nerfed the forts in patch 5.1
Buildings now start with fewer hit points:
- The wooden wall starts with 80 hit points instead of 100
- A stone wall starts with 80 instead of 90
Additionally, buildings now have fewer maximum hit points:
- The wooden wall now has only 150 instead of 200
- The metal wall has more hit points: 500 instead of 400 – but it takes 25 seconds to reach these points; previously, the metal wall reached 400 after 20 seconds
No more building, please
Why was this done? Epic had already stated at the end of June: It cannot be that building is the only option. Players should also be able to win without building. There should be multiple ways to the top. Different playstyles should lead to victory.
Since then it was clear: something would change. Epic is going to nerf building in Fortnite.
The extensive and massive building is expressed in Fortnite in two extreme cases:
- Once it is built astonishingly quickly when two top players face each other – it’s about who occupies the high ground and builds the height advantage. Fortresses grow to the sky in no time at all according to certain patterns
- And on the other hand, there is nested tunneling in eSports, where players play with maximum caution and move minimally. This building looked strange when Fortnite pro Myth demonstrated it:
Top players love building
Protest against the new building: Even before the nerf, streamers had spoken out against Epic changing building. For streamers, building is a crucial element of Fortnite and the feature that defines the game and sets it apart from other games.
High skill ceiling:
- On one hand, top players see building as the key element that allows the better player to prevail.
- On the other hand, “building” was a primal promise of Fortnite. A reddit thread stating: “After the building nerfs, we need to remind Epic of something” received over 7300 upvotes. This was the reminder image:
New scapegoat: The silly new meta
Esport players have a new enemy, the meta: Now that the changes are really active, some are complaining that “forts” in Fortnite can no longer withstand enough damage.
Here, pro player Jake “Poach” Brumleve from Liquid shows clear frustration in the stream because his cover is being shot down. However, his opponent here uses a minigun, a weapon specifically designed to destroy buildings.
Is this already a new meta “spray and pray?”
Some already call the new meta “spray and pray.” Critics of the new meta believe that it is the decline of “Fortnite with skill.” However, the changes are still relatively minor.
What comes next? One can be curious about how this will develop. Were the changes a week ago already the end of the building nerfs in Fortnite or just the beginning?
At least a sniper rifle is to come that will shoot through walls. One can imagine how professionals will react should someone eliminate them with it.
