Fortnite’s Combat Shotgun Vaulted, BRUTEs Nerfed Again

In a surprising hotfix, Epic Games have rolled out some changes to the current Fortnite meta by vaulting a few weapons, bringing one back, and also further nerfing the BRUTE as we march past the halfway point of Fortnite Season X.

Here are the hotfix notes in full.

WEAPONS & ITEMS

Vaulted

• Combat Shotgun
• Drum Shotgun
• Proximity Launcher

Unvaulted

• Suppressed Assault Rifle (Epic/Legendary)

Automatic Sniper

• The Automatic Sniper was underperforming relative to some of the other Sniper Rifles. This adjustment to damage should make it more desirable as an alternative long-range weapon.
  • Increased damage from 31/33/35 to 40/42/44

 

GAMEPLAY

B.R.U.T.E
Lowered the spawn rate of the B.R.U.T.E in Storm phases 3-6 in core modes. Arena spawn rates will remain unchanged.

• With this change, we’re hoping to reduce the impact of B.R.U.T.Es on late-game scenarios, while retaining their presence in the early game.
  • Storm phase 3
    • New spawn rates
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 0
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 1
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 2
    • Old spawn rates
      • 25% chance to spawn 0
      • 25% chance to spawn 1
      • 25% chance to spawn 2
      • 25% chance to spawn 3
  • Storm phase 4
    • New spawn rates
      • 50% chance to spawn 0
      • 50% chance to spawn 1
    • Old spawn rates
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 0
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 1
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 2
  • Storm phase 5
    • New spawn rates
      • 83.4% chance to spawn 0
      • 16.6% chance to spawn 1
    • Old spawn rates
      • 50% chance to spawn 0
      • 50% chance to spawn 1
  • Storm phase 6
    • New spawn rates
      • Will no longer spawn.
    • Old spawn rates
      • 90% chance to spawn 0
      • 10% chance to spawn 1

Peppers

• Increased the duration of spiciness from Peppers to a 60-second duration from a 20-second duration.

Retail Row

• This POI is intended to be a high-risk, high-reward drop location, but we feel the reward has outweighed the risk. By reducing the availability of Obelisks, gathering rare loot will require a little more time investment.
  • Reduced the maximum number of Spawn Obelisks from 7 to 5.
  • Increased the time before Spawn Obelisks respawn to a max of 30 seconds (previously a max of 5 seconds).
    • The respawn timer for Spawn Obelisks is on a loop and time may vary between 1-30 seconds.
  • Decreased the chance to drop Rocket Launchers from destroyed Spawn Obelisks from 18.46% to 10%
  • Decreased the chance to drop Jump Pads from destroyed Spawn Obelisks from 50% to 40%

It’s quite the surprise to see the Combat Shotgun being vaulted with it being such a popular weapon. However, many had become far too dependent on it and, despite nerfs, it’s almost always seemed a little overpowered. The Drum Shotgun, though, that can be blasted into the Vault and stay there for the rest of its days. The Proximity Launcher can also get in the ocean.

The return of the Suppressed Assault Rifle is an odd one as it will only make the SCAR, a weapon which already became quite difficult to find, even rarer in the loot pool. Further BRUTE changes were still needed, so it’s good to see Epic enact even more. It’s just a shame they couldn’t have done it right at the start of the season instead.

Happy with these changes?