Epic just made things a little bit harder for Fortnite W-Keyers.
Aside from tournaments, Arena is Fortnite’s primary competitive game mode. It is intended to be a place to practice, and also a way to gain eligibility for certain prized events.
The only problem is… it’s never been very competitive! Many players use Arena to hone their fighting skills, meaning they play super aggressively and lobbies die out quickly. Therefore, these matches in no way resemble anything you would see in the FNCS or even a Cash Cup.
In fact, popular streamer Ali “SypherPK” Hassan recently spoke out on the subject. He suggested that a more realistic ranked mode would do wonders for viewership, and described the current system as “glorified pubs” and “a joke”.
This idea is nothing new and something that fans have been asking for for years. Though Epic is yet to commit to a full rework, they are trying to make improvements.
For Chapter 3 Season 3, Arena matchmaking has been tightened to keep players facing opponents closer to their level. The aim is to enhance the quality of matches by avoiding any large skill disparities.
Arena Hype was only reset in Tuesday's v21.10 update, so time will tell how effective these changes are. However, there was another adjustment that flew somewhat under the radar.
The scoring system has been modified across all Leagues and Divisions to further incentivize placement over eliminations. Here are the key differences:
- Hype per elimination reduced to 15 in Open League, 10 in Contender League, and 5 in Champion League.
- Placement points begin at Top 50 in Open League and Contender League, and Top 40 in Champion League
- No Bus Fare in Open League Division 4
- Bus Fare is 30 in Division 5, 40 in Division 6, 50 in Division 7, 60 in Division 8, and 70 in Divisions 9 and 10
Epic should be announcing this season’s Arena rewards too. Last season, anyone who reached Contender or Champion League earned a special weapon wrap with different designs for each Division.
Hopefully with all these changes we will start to see some improvement in the quality of Arena matches. Sadly though, the truth is that a full rework/entirely new gamemode is required to create the ranked experience that competitive players desire.