Five Weapons and Items Fortnite Fans Want Unvaulted in Season 3
Chapter 2 - Season 3 of Fortnite is right around the corner. With each new season, fans write up their wish lists and take to social media to express their desires for the new season. These requests generally range from map changes to new weapons or skins.
Sometimes, players just want an old weapon or item to return. Fans have become accustomed to the helpless feeling of seeing their favourites locked away in the vault with no timetable for return. Let’s take a trip through Fortnite history and visit some of these vaulted fan-favourites. We’ll discuss what made them so popular and why they deserve a spot in Chapter 2 - Season 3.
Hunting Rifle
Click to enlargeThe Hunting Rifle was the first weapon of its kind introduced into the Fortnite universe. A single shot rifle without a scope. The Hunting Rifle fit in right between the traditional Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle and the Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle.
The Hunting Rifle was known as a high skill gap weapon. In an inexperienced player's hands, the weapon was near useless. Players unskilled with sniper-like weapons often opted to fill that last inventory slot with heals or grenades. However, in the hands of a talented marksman, the Hunting Rifle was very rewarding and deadly.
The lack of a scope on the Hunting Rifle made it potent at both short and long-range. The weapon was extremely high-risk, high-reward. The Hunting Rifle had to be rechambered after every shot. If you missed, you would be punished. It was all worth it though when you heard that loud “DINK” of a successful headshot. Downing a player with a well-placed Hunting Rifle shot provided a feeling like none other.
Fortnite superstar, Tfue, made the Hunting Rifle famous after pulling off what some fans believe is one of the sickest clips in the game’s history. This clip shows off the true potential of the Hunting Rifle. While Tfue makes insta-kill after insta-kill look easy, performing something reminiscent of this in-game required a tremendous amount of skill.
Unfortunately, the Hunting Rifle was overshadowed by the release of newer sniper rifles. There have been six different sniper rifle variations throughout Fortnite’s history. A weapon pool filled with this many long-range snipers would be unhealthy for the game. Something had to go, and that something ended up being the precious Hunting Rifle.
Nowadays, the loot pool is far less diluted. Only the Bolt-Action and the Heavy Sniper remain. This leaves room for the return of the Hunting Rifle.
Impulse/Shockwave Grenades
Click to enlargeWhile the Impulse and Shockwave grenades are two different items, their properties are so similar that they can be thrown under the same umbrella.
The Impulse Grenade was the predecessor of the Shockwave Grenade. When thrown, the Impulse Grenade would launch players and vehicles away from the point of impact and did not grant fall damage immunity. This mechanic led to all kinds of unique uses.
Players could use the grenades on themselves to propel above a fight and reclaim height. Impulse Grenades became a necessary tool for trick shots. Impulse Grandes could be used offensively as well. A well placed Impulse Grenade would send an enemy (or teammate) flying to their deaths.
The Shockwave Grenade acted in a similar fashion. The only difference being that its blast radius and strength were much more extensive than that of the Impulse. Additionally, the Shockwave Grenade did provide fall damage immunity and it would launch players through builds, which the Impulse did not.
These items were vaulted as Fortnite aimed to limit player mobility and slow the pace of the game down. With Chapter 2 - Season 3 on the horizon, the Impulse and Shockwave grenades would be a perfect addition to bring the game back to its light-hearted and fun persona.
Flint-Knock Pistol
Click to enlargeThe Flint-Knock Pistol is another one of Fortnite’s fun, wonky weapons. The Flint-Knock Pistol is far from your standard weapon. It provided a plethora of unique and high-utility uses.
One of the more unforeseen uses of the Flint-Knock Pistol was its ability to pair with a Pump Shotgun and essentially “double pump.” Double pumping (rotating between two Pump Shotguns for intense, rapid damage) was patched out of the game because it was so powerful. The Flint-Knock Pistol could be used to perform a poor man’s double pump. The Flint-Knock could deal 90 damage to the body and a whopping 180 to the head. Firing off a shot of this pistol and then quickly rotating to a pump shotgun would take an enemy from 200 to 0 HP in an instant. While this sounds broken, it was very high-risk, high-reward.
When fired, the Flint-Knock Pistol would knock the enemy backward along with the user if they were not crouched. All kinds of different manoeuvres could be performed due to this mechanic. For one, players could save themselves entirely from fall damage by firing off a shot right before they made contact with the ground. This mechanic could be used offensively as well. Hitting a player mid-build fight would send them plummeting to their death.
The Flint-Knock Pistol is the perfect example of what a Fortnite weapon should be. It was unique to Fortnite and filled with untapped potential for the player base to unlock. In addition, it was far from overpowered. It was a fun weapon with plenty of drawbacks but also plenty of reasons to carry one if you had space.
Shopping Carts
Click to enlargeShopping Carts were the first vehicle ever added to Fortnite. Epic Games wanted to ease fans into the idea of vehicles. With that, they made the Shopping Cart extremely underwhelming in terms of usefulness. Unlike with Airplanes that came out of the gate OP, the Shopping Cart was anything but. The Shopping Cart was a cute toy to use with friends, nothing more.
The Shopping Cart could barely outrun a player on flat terrain. It did not have turrets or missile launchers attached. But, it was fun. Players could take the Shopping Cart off ramps or hills and fly through the air. Scooting around the map in a Shopping Cart fit the Fortnite theme perfectly.
Alas, countless glitches related to the carts and the addition of better all-around vehicles led to the Shopping Cart’s demise. It simply didn’t have a spot in the game. Now that most vehicles have all but been removed, the OG Shopping Cart could once again shine.
Infantry Rifle
Click to enlargeSimilar to the Hunting Rifle, the Infantry Rifle was a marksman’s weapon. The semi-automatic rifle stood out among the assault rifle class for its low rate of fire and high damage output. It had a small magazine size but each bullet was deadly. The legendary variant dealt 44 damage to the body and 88 to the head. All of this in a hit scan weapon with 100% aim-down-sight accuracy. The Infantry Rifle was perfect for players that weren’t a fan of the “spray and pray” meta.
The Infantry Rifle was likely vaulted due to its similarities with the Heavy Assault Rifle. However, players have seen plenty of the Heavy Assault Rifle this chapter. Maybe it's time to switch things up and unvault this lethal mid-range weapon.
None of these five weapons or items would cause a major imbalance to the game. No one has ever complained about the Shopping Cart being overpowered. Each of the five weapons or items had cool, niche uses that required technique and skill to execute properly. Unvaulting these five weapons/items would be a welcome addition to Chapter 2 - Season 3 and would generate substantial positive fanfare.
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Images via Epic Games