Hehe, so, you know what? The recent additions to Fortnite‘s arsenal are the ray gun and the slingshot combined with stink bombs to which the community reaction was ecstatic since new weapons indicated new ways to dominate the battlefield. Still, renowned leaker HYPEX said, well, to put it mildly, a large waste.
HYPEX did not hesitate to share his opinion and tweeted, “ngl these were so underwhelming & useless 😭.” He was even making fun of HYPEX in the tweet. HYPEX particularly chose the ray gun to be the worst in the build mode and was complaining that the stink bombs were very short-lived compared to their small area of effect. And when HYPEX expresses his dislike for some Fortnite items, the others practically take note as he is the one leaking and updating the game.
The response of the community was rather…divided yet mainly disappointment was the prevailing feeling. One user, for example, Thalia thought that “I think the slingshot is fine, but the raygun is really bad,” which coincides with the common opinions. At the same time, however, KreciQ is protesting, saying “The slingshot is actually peak in zero builds imho,” thus there is a little more bone of contention here.
What is even more interesting, though, is that the community is split over the issue of which game mode is best suited for the new weapons. For instance, AnaChrony claimed that “The ray gun is great for finding people hidden in bushes now that they’re broken as fuck,” a very clever use of the weapon. On the contrary, there are players comparing builds with zero builds, and teesushii is actually asking “who tf plays builds 😭” which is a very valid question, to be honest.
The problem of rarity is another major complaint. Players have come one by one to express their discontent with the fact that the new guns are hard to spot. Ghosty stated, “I still haven’t even found them,” and DSmash added, “And they are so dang hard to find too.” The point is that if the guns are meant to be this rare, why not at least give a good reason for finding them when you finally do, right?
Out of the numerous complaints Rat_Plague_ probably delivered the most detailed one saying: “Plus they’re so insanely rare like it took me 5 games just to find the slingshot at like Top 10. I absolutely love durability for the most part since it stops people from having a dumb op weapon for the whole game, but these two should NOT have any.” This is indeed a strong argument – if something is so rare and short-lived why should it be granted durability at all?
A few players have even expressed doubts regarding the whole season. Nawasace simply remarked “This whole season is…” leaving it at that, which with that tone pretty much says everything without saying anything. Lo shared a rather sad story about how “I will never pick up the fun item ever again it cost me a win (I have not won yet, what is happening to me)” and it is like, such a mood, honestly.
But wait, what was I saying? Oh yes, the weapons being disappointing. The thing is, Fortnite has been known to bring in crazy and overpowered items that would completely mess up the game for a period of time till they get nerfed. Do you recall the mechs? Or any of the mythic weapons from the previous seasons? So when they throw in something that is actually skillfully balanced and even underpowered then it feels weird.
Patbacknitro made a very appropriate remark, “These especially suck if they’re just 2 days weapons. If they’re super limited time, just make them broken” which is once more, true! If something is going to be in the game just for a short time, why not make it completely crazy? Give the players their fun with overpowered weapons for a few days before they disappear forever.
The slingshot’s durability seems to be a particularly confusing aspect for the players. BraydenBeard6 was like “Wait did you just say the slingshot has durability… ” together with a surprised face emoji. That’s really puzzling! What on earth would a slingshot need a durability feature for? It comprises just a stick and some rubber bands, so it should last a lifetime.
Plus there is the debate which community is ever satisfied again. Sangan remarked that “theyre cool but its one of those things that people would get mad about all the time if they were actual good weapons” which is very likely indeed. Players of Fortnite will complain if the power is on the strong side, then they will complain when it is on the weak side – sometimes it is impossible to make Epic Games happy!
However, at the end of the battle royale match, some players on PlayStation and Xbox continue to debate these new additions.
