Techno Drama: Season X’s Fortnite Turret Vaulting And Mech Nerf
It’s been a few days since the launch of Fortnite’s Season X and the changes have already caused quite the hubbub. So, what’s getting hit with the nerf bat this time? Well, it’s the mechs, which will suffer the same fate as the Fortnite Turret. Speaking of which, the latter suffers an even worse demise: being vaulted!
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Quite the Turnaround
Before we talk about the watering down of the giant bipedal humanoid killing machines, here’s a short history lesson about the Fortnite Turret. Introduced way back in November 2018, this contraption deals 40 damage-per-round and initially had 800 Health and 5000 floor health. Suffice to say, it was difficult to take down; so much so that Epic Games realized that its HP values had to be nerfed to make things fair.
The nerf reduced its HP values to 400 and 1000, respectively. This made the turret relatively easier to neutralize, but it didn’t take away the fact that it was still a damage-dealing powerhouse that had an impressive high rate-of-fire with tremendous range to boot. So, after a few months of striking fear into the hearts of the unwary, it’s now being vaulted. Will it subsequently be un-vaulted?
Perhaps, but definitely not anytime soon!
Can’t B.R.U.T.E. Force Your Chances
Now we go to the more talked-about piece of hardware: the B.R.U.T.E. machines. Or in more common terms: the mech. This is because pro-level Fortnite players have been complaining about them. In fact, they want to do away with the mech completely, something Epic disagrees with, as well as most casual players.
Nevertheless, the latter seems to share the same sentiment about how unbalanced the mech is, so the hashtag #removethemech started trending on Twitter. It’s pretty safe to say that Epic Games has been paying attention. However, unlike the Fortnite Turret, they don’t want to do away with the mechs altogether, so instead they hit these machines the dreaded nerf hammer.
The B.R.U.T.E. is a two-seater mech has 1000 HP that has two weapons: the Missile Launcher and the Shotgun. The former deals 50 damage with its rocket but can dish out as much as 500 damage if all 10 are launched simultaneously. It also has a shotgun that, although only has four bullets, deals a stunning rate of 200 damage each.
To top it all off, the B.R.U.T.E. has got a self-destruct function, which can deal a huge amount of damage to anyone within a 5-10-meter radius, including the one that activated the function. This can be activated by either rider, so make sure that you and your co-pilot are in agreement should you decide to use this, lest your plan literally blows up in your hapless faces.
Mech Do With Luck
With such high HP and firepower, it’s pretty obvious that the B.R.U.T.E. deserves a nerf. However, it’s not its ability to deal damage or HP that took a hit. Rather, its chances of spawning and its number when it took a dive. At the beginning of a match, from a completely assured 100% chance of two to four mechs spawning, it’s now down to a 21.5% chance of one to three mechs.
As the storm gets closer and the arena shrinks, its spawn rate gets even lower, and at the last part of a match, it goes down to a measly 3%. Three out of a hundred competitive matches–so if you get one, it really means you’re lucky!
Nerfs, buffs, and being in and out of the vault–just some of the things that prove how nothing stays the same in Fortnite’s metagame. And to think Season X just started a few days ago! With such significant changes right off the bat, it should come as no surprise if these nerfs ultimately shape the game’s future.
