7 Items Epic Added to Lower the Skill Gap in Fortnite

In honor of the new Shield Bubble that will be coming in the next patch, here are seven weapons and items Epic has added to Fortnite with the intention of lowering the skill gap.

Fortnite is a game that's extremely punishing to people who don't regularly play. Anyone who plays casually, takes some time off, or doesn't practice the mechanics are going to be left in the dust.

In a game like Halo or Call of Duty, you can take a year off and come back with a general idea of what to do. You might have to learn some new maps and practice your aim a bit, but you already have an idea of how to play at a high level.

In Fortnite, that year you missed will put you at an extreme disadvantage. Anyone who plays Fortnite can look at their old clips and realize what a bot they were a year ago - even those who had been playing for a year up until that point.

A year away from Fortnite means you missed several meta shifts and new building strategies. Now, all of those "bots" you were killing during Season 4 are coning you and taking your walls.

Epic knows that Fortnite is one of the most intimidating games for new and returning players, and have been actively working to lower the skill gap since players started to get good.

Here are seven of the ways Epic has attempted to make bad players have a good time in Fortnite.

Shield Bubble

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The Shield Buble is on its way in the upcoming Fortnite patch and looks to be the next in a long line of items that attempt to lower the Fortnite skill gap.

We'll have to wait and see what exactly this item does, but the name appears to give it away. It's going to be a large bubble with high health that opponents will either have to destroy or get inside of to do damage to anyone who uses it.

This item appears to be the Season X version of the Port-A-Fort, which is next on our list. Just another item that will help players who don't know how to build properly.

Port-A-Fort/Fortress

The Port-A-Fort and Port-A-Fortress were some of the first items Epic added to Fortnite with the intention of nerfing the skill gap.

The addition of these items didn't do much to make bad players better, but it was a transparent way to get non-builders to have some cover.

These items were added early in the Fortnite life-cycle. We were still a year or so away from cranking 90's becoming a widespread strategy, so giving bad players some cover and high-ground did wonders for their self-esteem.

This might have been the first time Epic attempted to nerf the skill gap, but it was far from the last.

Boom Box

The Boom Box was one of the failed items Epic added with the intent to lower the Fortnite skill gap.

The item destroyed everything in a massive radius and virtually eliminated building altogether.

This item was a bit of a double-edged sword. The radius was huge but you couldn't throw it that far, meaning friendlies and enemies couldn't build to protect themselves. Pretty much everyone dropped the Boom Box when they found something better, so Epic vaulted it and moved on.

Infinity Blade

Everyone knows what happened with the Infinity Blade. It was only in the game for a short time, but it made a huge mark on the psyche of the Fortnite player base.

The overpowered Infinity Blade was added the night before a major tournament, so we got to see pro players dominate with it for a couple of weeks.

Epic eventually nerfed and subsequently removed the Infinity Blade, but they were clearly trying to give some bad players a way to get more kills.

Junk Rift

The Shield Bubble hasn't been released as of this writing, so the Junk Rift is still the latest item Epic has added to nerf the skill gap.

One Junk Rift can decimate a 1x1, which means a good player cranking 90's can be countered by a bad player who was lucky enough to find a Junk Rift.

The Junk Rift was one of the many items Epic has added with no regard for the competitive community. The above clip is from a pro scrimmage where 72hrs killed 6 players - including his teammate Tfue and the World Cup winner Bugha - with only two Junk Rifts.

Planes

Planes were one in the list of much-hated vehicles Epic has added to Fortnite. You could fit an entire squad on one plane, smash through structures and shoot people on the ground.

When you think of the planes in the context of the BRUTE during the first part of Season 10, they don't seem so bad.

Before the mech, though, the plane was number-one on the "Worst Fortnite Vehicles" list.

The BRUTE

This one is obvious. Epic even admitted that part of the reason the added the mech is to lower the skill gap. They wanted bad players to get kills, and got what they wanted.

Unfortunately, bad players weren't the only people using a mech. The mech worked as a "you're dead" button. If you went up against a mech with full-health, you were going to die (at least before the recent patch).

At this point, it's clear that the BRUTE has something to do with the Season X plot, which is why Epic hasn't vaulted the thing. Still, they added it with the intention of lowering the skill gap.

Honorable Mentions

Epic has added way more than seven weapons and items that lowered the skill gap. Some of the honorable mentions include:

• Jetpacks
• Quad Launcher
• Minigun
• C4
• Ballers
• Dynamite
• Homing Missile
• Bush
• Storm Flip

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Twitter @FortniteTracker.