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With so many crazy changes to Fortnite in Season 2, is there a way to find a balance that keeps things competitive?
Although the first season of Fortnite Chapter 2 was overwhelmingly dry in terms of content, pro players loved the meta from a competitive standpoint. Unsurprisingly therefore, many of these people were disappointed to see the return of overpowered items like C4 and Heavy Sniper Rifles in the Season 2 update.
Fortnite rn is like reliving a nightmare.... Double heavys, C4, Minigun, Tommy Gun, Crazy Server Lag
— Bizzle (@Ghost_Bizzle) February 25, 2020
For many, the solution is a completely separate loot pool for Arena and tournament modes, but knowing Epic Games, that’s never going to happen. They want competitive Fortnite to look as similar to the core public playlists as possible. However, I have already seen some awesome suggestions that would retain the key aspects of Season 2, whilst keeping things competitive.
Firstly, let’s talk about the loot pool. Fortnite caster and analyst @ShyoWager shared a revised comp loot pool, which focused on small changes that would greatly help with balancing. The only items he completely got rid of were the Mythic Boom Bow and C4, which let’s face it, are just broken.
My thoughts on the Comp Loot Pool for a DUOS / TRIOS / SQUADS META.
— Shyo (@ShyoWager) February 27, 2020
Used all the items that are currently in the game and attempted to balance them. (Only took out C4 because that thing is a nightmare)
Kind of like Mythic POI's too, hopefully helicopters wont be OP if added. pic.twitter.com/XQBK31Jy2r
Shyo doesn’t seem to have too much of a problem with the new POIs, but thinks a few adjustments are necessary. For example, Mythic Bosses grant 50 Siphon upon elimination, and damage on Henchmen shouldn’t count towards storm surge. He suggests nerfing the Mythic items, and swapping the Boom Bow out for the Heavy Sniper (meaning just one Heavy Sniper to worry about).
On a recent episode of the Hotline FN podcast, @Ballatw took these thoughts on the Mythic items a step further. He believes that rather than just being overpowered weapons that no one else in the game can use, these Mythic items should have a unique benefit. The Storm Scout Sniper was one idea, as this would give you a slight advantage, but nothing too game breaking.
Team Liquid star Noah “Vivid” Wright also had his say on the new POIs. Similar to the others, he agreed that they aren’t necessarily a bad idea, the Mythic items themselves just need to be changed. Vivid talked about the risk versus reward of these new spots. He explained “A lot of those things other than The Agency are on the outside of the map, which in turn makes your rotation technically worse… so you’re trading off better loot for a worse rotation”. Not to mention you are bound to be heavily contested.
So it seems like pro Fortnite isn’t a lost cause this season. A few small adjustments would allow the game to keep that unique Season 2 feel, whilst remaining competitive. We are still waiting on an announcement of what the next tournament will be, but with another Duo Testing event on Saturday, it seems like that could well be the game mode.
