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BRUTE nerfs met with mixed reactions from community – Timthetatman, Nate Hill, and more
Epic Games nerfed the BRUTE mechs, but the community isn’t quite ready to forgive the developers just yet.
While the nerfs to the BRUTEs are hefty, the Fortnite community (including us) are highly skeptical about forgiving their addition in the first place. The reactions to the nerfs have been mixed to say the least with a definite lean towards the negative.
Don’t get us wrong. The nerfs themselves have gotten a great response, but many players simply want the mech removed completely. Let’s get into the replies!
Community has mixed opinions of BRUTE nerfs
As we mentioned, the reactions to the nerfs have been a wild mix. The balance patch was supposed to deliver a striking blow to the ease of use that the BRUTEs have. Instead, it cut down on the “noob-friendly” mechanics while still keeping a ton of its power intact.
Liquid Chap was among the first to reply after the updates went live. In proper fashion, his single replay contains both a positive and a negative. Junk Rifts were temporarily removed from Arena due to bug and we suspect that competitive players will be angry as soon as the item returns.
Chap also mentioned the BRUTE only as the “terrible vehicle.” Its power has been chipped away at, but there’s still no way around the fact that Epic added the BRUTE to allow easy wins for newer players.
+1 for removing Junk Rift from arena
— Chap (@LiquidChap) August 22, 2019
-1 for keeping the terrible vehicle in the game
Nate Hill, another professional player, took a more tactful approach. While he slightly praised Epic on the condition of being able to counter the BRUTE with builds, he pointed a plethora of other Fortnite issues.
Many of these bugs and glitches mentioned have been lingering within the game code for all of Season X so far.
If you can outbuild rockets this update makes sense. Storm surge is still bugged and shouldn’t be in the game( it’s ridiculous it hasn’t been fixed yet) shockwaves break the game and teleport you into random muck, and the game lacks mobility. Trying to help, all love….
— Nate Hill (@NateHillTV) August 22, 2019
Timthetatman was among the only truly positive comments in the pack. He posted short video as a reply simply saying “Yes, yes, yes.” The difference between casual and competitive players is notable in this respect.
— timthetatman (@timthetatman) August 22, 2019
Dakotaz also expressed his interest in the update with a GIF. We shared his enthusiasm for such an update and had a similar look on our face when we saw the blog post.
— dk (@dakotaz) August 23, 2019
Prominent data miner & leaker, Lucas7yoshi, chimed in on the BRUTE nerfs as well. “Too little, too late” was his conclusion after reading through the patch notes.
The nerfs do hit the mech, but we tend to agree with the hesistation to give praise to Epic. The developers, unfortunately, caused this problem themselves and you don’t get overflowing credit for cleaning up your own mess.
Tldr: too little too late, they don’t get any praise from me for doing what they should’ve done ages ago
— Lucas7yoshi // Fortnite Leaks & News (@Lucas7yoshi) August 22, 2019
Cloud 9’s Keeoh pointed out the possible reason behind Epic’s sudden change of mind. They were adamant about keeping the BRUTE as is for weeks, but many streamers decided to stop streaming Fortnite all together.
This meant that other games like Minecraft and Apex Legends overtook Fortnite several times in the viewership charts on Twitch and other websites.
Community: “Remove mechs or we’ll play other games!”
— C9 Keeoh (@Keeoh) August 22, 2019
Fortnite: “Yeah right”
…
Fortnite: *looks at twitch* pic.twitter.com/DwXNnwUtQD
The Fortnite Guy made a simple and quick response that sums up the surprising nature of Epic bending to the community’s will. The nerfs aren’t the end of controversy, but Epic has realized that they can’t just do anything they want without repercussions.
NO WAY WTF
— The Fortnite Guy (@The_FortniteGuy) August 22, 2019
With the nerfs, the casual and competitive sides of the community may once again split into opposing camps. BRUTEs may no longer be a problem in casual matches as they take a small amount more skill to use. However, competitive matches will still be plagued by the mech until the day they are removed.
New leaks hint at Aquaman villain Black Manta coming to Fortnite’s Item Shop in Season 3.
Epic Games has introduced many new changes following the release of Fortnite’s long-awaited Season 3, with new weapons, a flooded map and even Aquaman being added as a character in the popular battle royale.
However, it seems as if there are even more characters from the DC universe on the way, after new leaked game files were found. According to Hypex, Aquaman’s Villain Black Manta will also be added to Fortnite in Season 3.
Unlike Aquaman’s skin, which will be available through the battle pass challenges, Hypex revealed that Black Manta’s skin and the ‘Black Manta Blades’ pickaxe will be added to the Item Shop.
The DC Villain is expected to arrive in Fortnite’s Item Shop on Thursday, June 16 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET / 4 PM BST/ 5 PM CEST.
While an early look at the new skin and blades has not yet been revealed, it will likely look quite similar to how the character was portrayed in the Aquaman movie.
With the upcoming release of this new character and rumors swirling about a potential Atlantis point-of-interest being added in Season 3, it is possible that Black Manta could play a role in some of the upcoming changes leading into the next season.
The Atlantis location is expected to arrive once the water level has decreased enough, and the final stage of the map has already been revealed by leakers.
It’s a new week, and that means that there’s a fresh update for us all to enjoy, as the Fortnite v12.30 patch goes live on all platforms on Tuesday, June 30, introducing a new weapon and a major change to an existing item.
Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 3 has been live for a few weeks, and while the first major update of the season made sweeping changes to the game, Epic haven’t sat on their hands, dropping the 13.10 update to add Firefly Jars, and a second patch on June 30.
The Flare Gun and Portable Upgrade Benches are the major inclusions in this week’s patch, and we’ve got everything you need to know about the new items.
Flare Gun
Epic love to include new weapons for us to try out, and the v13.20 Update is no exception, with the Flare Gun finally making it’s long-awaited debut in the game.
The weapon, which holds six cartridges and deals 60 damage on a direct hit, was first spotted in the game’s files all the way back in Chapter 1, but for one reason or another never made it to the full game. Finally, though, it’s arrived, and with its ability to start fires, it is the perfect way to burn through enemy structures and send them back to the pre-game lobby.
Portable Upgrade Bench
The other major change is the to the Upgrade Bench, which can now be broken and carried around to be used whenever you need it.
Simply hit it with your harvesting tool and it will transform into floor loot, which you can pick up and place in your inventory.
Bug fixes
Of course, no Fortnite update is complete without some bug fixes, and we have a full list of glitches addressed by Epic thanks to their official Trello board.
General
- ‘Lock Input Method as Mouse’ does not lock the input method.
- Missing styles for the Specialist Pickaxe and Arroyo Pack Back Bling.
- Rage Emote fire effect remaining on/near players.
- Sandstorm Outfit missing hair.
Battle Royale
- Party Assist Update
- Replays not saving on PlayStation 4.
- Slow Glider speed after redeploying in certain situations.
- XP bar can be visually incorrect while in a match.
- Fall damage from Ziplines while landing in shallow water.
- Epic & Legendary SMGs sometimes cannot be sidegraded.
- Damaging Marauders counting towards storm surge.
- Chug Splash does not heal when thrown inside of a bush.
- Supply Drops may sometimes push loot under the map.
Creative Mode
- Consumable items don’t stay in Item Spawn Pads in Creative on mobile.
The next cosmetic item in Fortnite’s Icon series, this time for streamer Loserfruit, has been leaked, with the release date all but confirmed for June 21.
Following on from Ninja’s skin release earlier in the year, Loserfruit, one of the most popular Australian streamers, has been waiting on her skin coming to the game for months now.
Its initial launch was pushed back due to ongoing protests around the world, but it looks like it’s finally getting a proper release.
On June 21, a handful of leakers got their hands on the encrypted files for the skin, and accessed them, showcasing a full, high-quality look at the skin we’ll soon be able to rock in-game.
Featuring a replica of Loserfruit’s hoody with rainbow-colored arms, the arm portions light up spectacularly, and there is also a backpack that mirrors her own real-life version.
Loserfruit skin release date and price
The skin is set to release on June 21, now confirmed by Epic Games. Reliable data miner iFireMonkey says that a source has confirmed this date for the entire bundle.
The bundle includes a fruity pickaxe too, as well as the Bounce Berry emote.
The skin will be available at 8pm ET. It will cost 1,500 V-Bucks for just the skin, or 2,000 for the whole bundle.
Loserfruit herself is actually already rocking the skin in-game on her stream, thanks to exclusive access before the rest of us, so you can see it in action here.
We’ll keep you updated when the skin bundle is available to purchase in the item shop.
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