Since October 2019, fans of Fortnite have been enjoying and discovering the brand new Chapter 2 of the ever-popular battle royale game. With a new map, new weapon pool, and a significant amount of changes that bring a much-needed fresh coat of paint to the game, everything looks great on the surface.
Fortnite has been known as an ever-changing and fast-paced game, able to hold its own against even the most popular of newcomers. However, the game isn't without its flaws that still continue to persist and bug its community of high level players and newbies alike. Here are 10 things the developers should focus on fixing as soon as possible.
10 Optimization On Switch
One of the strongest features that Fortnite has as a franchise is its presence on a multitude of platforms. Not only is the game available on PC, it's also accessible for console players as well, including Nintendo Switch and mobile. In that sense, it's among the most inclusive games out there.
That being said, Fortnite is probably at its best when played on a major console or PC. Switch and other platforms still require a lot of fixing and optimization to make gameplay doable for players who tune in regularly.
9 Better Skill-Based Matchmaking
A fairly recent introduction to Fortnite has been major tweaks to the matchmaking system. Previously, it wasn't uncommon for new players to get queued up with extremely skilled and high level players. This would make the game frustrating, and in turn introduced lazy gameplay mechanics like mechs, which then ruined the game for the rest of the players.
Matchmaking still needs a lot of tweaking, mainly because of its longer queue times and the fact that it has cross-platform play involved. It also changes the experience for high level players, making their matches much more difficult and high-stakes, which objectively is fair due to an overall higher skill ranking, but can be frustrating to deal with on a daily basis.
8 High Vs. Low Mobility
Fortnite has a massive, vibrant and diverse map that provides lots of different terrain and colorful areas to visit. But despite some changes made to mobility within water, including the ability to swim, mobility and the degree to which a player can traverse a map are still legitimate concerns.
There should be a balance between great mobility and too much mobility. Big vehicles that can dominate a game and make it harder for other players to play should be avoided — we're looking at you, helicopter and planes. Instead, small mobility items, like grappling hooks and launch pads that don't allow for travel between entire zones, are much better.
7 Explosives And Rocket Launcher Tweaks
Fortnite has a wide range of different kinds of weapons, and not all of them are traditional shooter weapons. Explosives and the rocket launcher have had a bad reputation for many seasons now as they can deal a ton of damage and cause huge amounts of chaos in fights.
The rocket launcher in particular is devastating because it can nullify a great builder's defensive structure and kill instantly at a close range. While it's unlikely the developers will change their stance on these weapons, the game could really use a balance change that favors a more shooter-style arsenal.
6 More Updates
Fortnite has been known in the past as a very dynamic game, with changes coming almost every week to keep things feeling fresh. However, the first season of Chapter 2 was a big letdown for many players, due to the lack of frequent updates or patches that were released for the game.
This type of sudden silence and the launch of only two major events which didn't really succeed anyway left many players feeling disappointed. In the future, the developers should be ready to uphold the game's previous standards in the face of a demanding player base.
5 Audio Tweaks
In every shooter game, one of the vital parts about survival is listening to sound cues. These will reveal where an enemy is or where a chest might be located in Fortnite. In build battles in particular, great sound design can help locate the enemy in a monster of a tower and take them down more quickly.
However, Fortnite's sound design is still in dire need for upgrading. It's still difficult to pinpoint where exactly sounds are coming from, even for those who have been with the game for a very, very long time. A bit of fine-tuning is in order to complete this quality of life change.
4 Arena Mode Balancing
Arena Mode is the official competitive mode for Fortnite, where players rank up by playing against those of their own skill level. While this sounds great on paper, the game mode still needs a massive amount of balancing in order to remain viable and important in the future.
For one thing, there's a huge group of players in Fortnite who are extremely skilled, and another group that's fairly unskilled. There's no strong in-between, which causes a ton of issues in matchmaking for Arena Mode. Hopefully, Epic can figure out a way to fix this issue for the sake of making the competitive experience fairer for everyone.
3 Tuning Mythic Weapons
Over the years, Fortnite has introduced quite a few unpopular weapons and vehicles into the game. From the infamous mechs all the way to swords and planes, these were all things that many players would prefer never to see make a comeback for the sake of balance and simplicity.
Unfortunately, Season 2 of Chapter 2 has introduced a new type of headache: Mythic tier weapons. These weapons are currently the best ones in the game, and there are only a handful of them found on the island in certain locations. Once a player acquires a weapon like this, they become pretty much unstoppable, which is ultimately what kills the fun of the game for everyone else.
2 Remove Cross-Platform Play
As mentioned, it's awesome that Fortnite is available on so many platforms and that players from different gaming backgrounds can get their hands on this iconic battle royale title. That being said, Epic's idea to queue every player from every platform together was a massive mistake.
The pace of the game just isn't the same on each platform. PC players will definitely have an edge against everyone else due to the amount of control a mouse and keyboard provides. This also encourages some players on console to switch their controllers to mouse and keyboard so they can stand a chance. The better solution is to just stop with cross-platform play.
1 Balance Building
Building is a bit of a controversial topic in Fortnite. On the one hand, many defend it and say it should be kept as a core aspect of the game, and a gatekeeper for high ranks. On the other, Fortnite is a shooter, not a building game, which is why it should favor skill in terms of aiming as well.
It's clear that Epic still needs to spend a lot of time brainstorming how to balance this aspect of the game, without killing it off for high level players with strong building mechanics, while also managing to get in new players and actually keep them around without scaring them off with complicated building.