Fortnite wants to end 'build to win' with major weapon rebalancing and resource caps promised

News
By published

Fortnite's days of tower building rocket firing end games could soon be over with resource caps and weapon nerfs on the way

Epic is promising some big Fortnite changes, with major weapon rebalancing and even resource caps being suggested. The aim being to end the dominance building has over the end game. 

"Not every encounter should have to end in a build-off," Epic said in a blog post. "It’s important to support a variety of late game strategies, that don’t boil down to 'just build lol'". While what changes will be made has yet to be confirmed it sounds like this could be a major reworking of the game: "the superiority of shotguns, rockets, and uncapped building are such a dominant play style in the final circle that most other strategies are being drowned out." The response? "We are exploring changes to weapon balance and resource economy, like e.g. resource caps."

It's obvious that this has been something the team has been thinking about for while - the guided rockets, jet packs, or stink bombs and rocket ammo cap recently added to Fortnite all feel like attempts to counter the tower building frenzy that ends every game - this is the Fortnite team making it official: the days of crazy building and tower to tower RPG stand offs will soon be over. 

Hopefully. Fan bases are notoriously fickle when it comes to changes, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes down. A minor tweak in gun damage can cause an outrage, so a major reworking of what has become the main tactic for winning is going to be... iiiiinteresting.  

Epic say it will "be exploring these changes over the next few weeks" so the upcoming patches could be quite eventful. It sounds good though, and having more options would be great if you're tired of reaching the last ten and ending up surround by towers. "You should be able to find Victory Royales through multiple strategies," the developer states, "shotguns should be strong, but other weapons have room to grow. Not every encounter should have to end in a build-off. We want to empower you to showcase your skill, strategy, and tactics in all variety of ways."

Leon Hurley
Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.