Fortnite Season 3 Balance Update: Nerfs, Buffs & More


As Season 3 of Fortnite has just landed, there are many changes to the battle royale that fans need to adjust to. New map locations, new quests and perhaps most challenging of all, new weapons.

Yes as it's a new season Epic Games has decided to shuffle around the available arsenal that players can access at any given point. This has led to the introduction of weapons like the DMR and Two-Shot Shotgun but has also led to a major balancing issue which Fortnite has decided to try and fix.

Here are all the buffs and nerfs made in Fortnite Season 3

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Balance Changes in Fortnite

For this first round of balance changes, four weapons have been affected including two of the new ones added in Season 3 as well as two of the classic weapons that are currently available. The changes were announced via the Fortnite Status Twitter Account.

Two-Shot Shotgun

the Two-Shot Shotgun weapon that was given in buff in Fortnite Season 3
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The first weapon mentioned was the new Two-Shot Shotgun which has had some buffs to make it more viable while playing. This weapon has actually had the most individual changes so far with four total. These changes include increases to the pellet damage, minimum pellet count, accuracy and max damage cap.

Hammer Assault Rifle

The Hammer Assault Rifle weapon added in Fortnite Season 3 and has been buffed.
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Perhaps one of the more surprising buffs added in this set of updates was the Hammer Assault Rifle which has been a pretty good weapon so far in the season. Even more confusing, the buff was by reducing its recoil despite the weapon already having pretty great recoil overall.

Striker Burst Assault Rifle

The striker burst assault rifle weapon in Fortnite, a popular medium/long range weapon that got a big nerf.
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The largest nerf we got in the latest batch of balancing changes was to the Striker Burst Assault Rifle which now has reduced damage and increased recoil for the first bullet, potentially ending the hot streak that has been an excellent weapon for players in the meta as of late.

Combat SMG

The Combat SMG in Fortnite that has received a massive nerf in this latest balancing patch.
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Finally, we have the Combat SMG, the weapon on this list that most desperately needed a nerf as it had become a weapon of mass destruction in the meta, with even uncommon variants of this SMG suspiciously outperforming some epic assault rifles when it comes to damage. The damage is what was reduced and rightfully so. The Combat SMG was a monster.

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