Fortnite BRUTEs Getting A Nerf, But Is It Enough?
Are the BRUTEs the most unpopular addition to Fortnite there has ever been? The giant mechs have only been operational for a little over a week, but fans everywhere are howling for their removal from the game. #RemoveTheMech was Twitter’s top trending hashtag yesterday.
As it is, winning a match pretty much depends on two things: getting a BRUTE, and staying out of another BRUTE’s way. With Fortnite’s Champion Series event bearing down in one week, the prevailing attitude is that the BRUTES have to go before any kind of competition can be taken seriously. Epic finally responded to the demands yesterday with….uh, a targeting laser:
We’ve been monitoring the impact of the B.R.U.T.E. in gameplay and are investigating ways to enhance combat feedback when interacting with the vehicle. In v10.10, we will add a targeting laser that will show the direction the B.R.U.T.E. is aiming its rockets while they are being charged. This laser will have directional audio to help indicate when it’s being pointed at you, even if you’re behind a structure. We’ve also fixed a few mobility bugs that was allowing players to exploit its boost mechanic.
The B.R.U.T.E. remains within the core game modes (Solo, Duos, and Squads), select Limited Time Modes, and in competitive Arena and Tournament play. We’ll communicate any future iterations to the vehicle as we’re continuing to investigate a few more areas where we can improve combat interactions.
This was when #RemoveTheMech started trending. Having satisfied no one, Epic turned on the mike later that evening and stammered out that the number of BRUTES in each match would soon be reduced, and that their spawn rates would be lowered to 21.5 percent (from a high of 100 percent).
Beginning of Match
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21.5% chance that between 1-3 B.R.U.T.Es will spawn
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Previously was 100% chance that between 2-4 B.R.U.T.Es would spawn
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Storm 1
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44% chance that between 1-4 B.R.U.T.Es will spawn
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Previously was 100% chance that between 2-4 B.R.U.T.Es would spawn
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Storm 2
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40% chance that between 1-2 B.R.U.T.Es will spawn
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Previously was 100% chance that between 1-3 B.R.U.T.Es would spawn
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Storm 3
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40% chance that between 1-2 B.R.U.T.Es will spawn
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Previously was 66% chance that 2 B.R.U.T.Es would spawn
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Storm 4
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10% chance that 1 B.R.U.T.E will spawn
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Previously was 50% chance that 1 B.R.U.T.E would spawn
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Storm 5
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3% chance that 1 B.R.U.T.E will spawn
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Previously was 10% chance that 1 B.R.U.T.E would spawn
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Epic said “We will continue to monitor the impact of this change in advance of next weekend’s Champion Series event,” implying further reductions could take place, or possibly the removal of BRUTEs entirely. Stay tuned.