Epic Games just released a big update, paring down medallions from Fortnite Battle Royale. At least, that’s what they said. And with so many bugs “squashing shenanigans” gosh knows what the teams could have done to them in Boss POI’s landing.
It really is only half the story though. Buff to Leadspitter 3000 with less recoil, so it is consistent in short and medium ranges. They then killed the Shockwave Launchers, claim “Hungry bugs gobbled them up,” such an obscure way of balancing something, but hey, it is Fortnite. Meanwhile, an aggressive Exotic variant launcher from O.X.R. is teased for next week, so mobility is not dead.
Ranked players get more love. It is now way quicker to climb from O.X.R. Ranks to S+ Solos and Duos, which is huge for any ladder grinders. But they are making Rocket Ammo, Epic, and Legendary items scarcer, for some “greedy bugs” died with them. The big competitive change? Ranked BR and Zero Build now match Tournament’s loot pool. Absolutely massive if you consider casual to rank-to-competitive consistency.
Player reactions have been… varied to say the least. Some have actually appreciated it, with leooooo tweeting: “Thank you Fortnite for making ranked have same loot as comp ❤️.” Then you have TRG_R17, yelling all caps: “REVERT THIS, REVERT THIS, REVERT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!” being very angry about the mobility changes, saying that taking away Shockwaves has made Chapter 6 map too large to traverse properly.
And then there’s the medallion discussion. Some players are celebrating their removal; Dimi tweets, “The game was much better without the medallions. Balanced and fair.” Others are confused about what the point of bosses is now, DoctorLlamaLord asks: “Bruh so the main mechanic of the season queen hunting was removed?” Even if bosses still drop mythics, the change has almost completely obliterated the meta surrounding contesting them.
The toxicity in some replies is just… wow. One user, ezequie23879539, went on a Spanish rant that translates to some pretty nasty stuff about the developers’ mothers. Meanwhile, there are plenty of players toeing the line, calling out each other as “sweats” and “casuals” and claiming they’re ruining the game. Classic Fortnite antics.
What I find interesting: the pro and the con cannot be any more divided. While some claim it’s the best thing that has ever happened for competitive integrity, others say “it’s so boring now” in Rhino_2016’s words. There’s also some middle ground suggested, where Jeff Davis_75 says restrict medallions to one per player, not outright banning.
And then there are random requests interspersed in the balance discussion: bring back old movement animations, somebody pleads for KPDH skins (whatever those are), and of course, there’s always that one guy asking for the no-helmet version of a certain skin. Because, why not.
All in all, this update definitely looks like it is pushing Fortnite toward a more competition-focused experience, mostly with the ranked and tournament loot alignment. Whether it’s good or bad depends on who you ask. The medallions, they really had to be the controversy; some players enjoyed the power while some just hated how they could stack and create teams “that can’t be beaten.” Taking off the medallions launches an entirely new avenue of play in contests for people, especially in ranked.
It’s strange considering the weapon changes now: buff the Leadspitter while eliminating the Shockwaves. They want gunfight consistency, but no mobility cheese. That soon-to-be-released Exotic launcher will patch up that mobility hole in another way. The changes to scarcity of items and ammo will definitely shake up how loot is distributed and how people can manage their inventories.
Epic’s meta-shifts are always fun to watch. They’re not scared to roll the dice, regardless of the player wrath it may stir. The fact that they’re aligning ranked with competitive loot pools shows they’re serious about making ranked a true competitive experience instead of just casual play with points.
I think we all need to watch how this plays out over the next week, especially with the new Exotic coming in soon. The meta right now is definitely in flux, and players are forced to adapt to a very different gameplay experience without medallions and with stubbed-down mobility options. That, by itself, doesn’t make a game better or worse; it just does a lot of tipping the scales of how Fortnite is played on the casual and competitive level.
