Fortnite has made yet another change to its controversial Shockwave Hammer, leaving players divided on its overall use in the game. The tweak to one of its features is just the latest in the ongoing saga of the embattled weapon, with the Fortnite community at large unable to agree on what should be done about it.
The Shockwave Hammer was first introduced during the current inaugural season of Fortnite Chapter 4. A versatile item, players are able to use it both as an offensive weapon and as a means of quick travel. The fire button initiates a structure and opponent-damaging slam that knocks others back, while the secondary fire button will bounce the player into the air, negating any fall damage. While powerful, players should be careful while using the Shockwave Hammer, as one viral humorous clip clearly demonstrates.
Announced today via Fortnite's official service update Twitter account, Epic Games revealed that a nerf for the Shockwave Hammer has been rolled out, reducing the weapon's bounce charges from four to three. Thus far, fan response has been completely divided, with plenty of crying emojis and remarks like "what is going on with this season" filling the tweet's comments section. Other players think the Shockwave Hammer nerf is a step in the right direction. Several Fortnite players on Reddit thought the weapon "should have two" charges, with another glad the "annoying" hammer just became a little less so.
The nerf comes just days after a Fortnite update brought the Shockwave Hammer back into the game. The item had received so many complaints after Fortnite players widely exploited an infinite bounce glitch that Epic temporarily shut servers down to remove the hammer altogether, before putting it back in a day later with the glitch presumably patched. The Shockwave Hammer's bounce charge reduction isn't the first nerf the item has received, either. The speed of which the hammer recharges its bounces was increased in early December from 15 to 20 seconds, making the original incarnation seem completely overpowered in comparison.
Unfortunately, the Shockwave Hammer isn't the only glitchy piece of content that has returned to Fortnite this season. After also being recently removed due to widespread player complaints, Fortnite's hurdle mechanic has returned, and so too has the mobility maneuver's glitches and bugs. Fortnite Chapter 4 introduced the auto-mantle mechanic, allowing sprinting players to automatically hop over low obstacles. This has inadvertently caused many players to get launched up to Battle Bus-level heights, sending them falling to their deaths - an issue that is still reportedly occurring.
Due to its perceived overuse and overpowered nature, many in the Fortnite community want the Shockwave Hammer gone entirely, but it should be interesting to see what Epic Games ends up doing with the divisive weapon going forward.
Fortnite is available for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Dexerto