Fortnite Developer Discusses Season 5 Weapon Adjustments, Storm Changes, and More in Latest Dev Update
Epic Games has released the 12th episode of its Fortnite Battle Royale Dev Update series to discuss the changes in Season 5.
In the video, developer Eric Williamson talks about the decision making process that went into making weapon adjustments, changes to the Storm, and acquiring Progressive Outfits.
The Fortnite Battle Royale Dev Update series is a way for Fortnite developers to directly talk to the game’s vast-player base, offering up commentary and perspectives that can’t be found in written patch notes.
Following a major game update, Epic usually will release a short episode that is both tweeted out and published to YouTube.
Weapon Adjustments
Episode 12 started off with a discussion about weapon adjustments, particularly with Shotguns and suppressed SMGs.
Shotguns now have a delay after being shot, to eliminate the quick, follow-up use of another shotgun, and spread of pellets inside the reticle have been changed to shoot in the same dispersion and red dots that indicate which of them did damage.
“We wanted to make them more consistent […] Running multiple shotguns was too advantageous and we wanted to make sure that was kept in line with other weapons.”
The adjustments made to SMGs include a decrease in fall off damage at longer distances, reversing some of the previous changes that had made them too strong at long range.
“We were seeing that the supressed SMG was being picked over Assault Rifles for long range engagements, and we wanted to make sure it fit its role for close to medium range.”
Storm Changes
The development of Season 5 included some major changes done to how the Storm circle moves, particularly in end-game situations.
The cent of the final circles (7,8, and 9) now shifts in random directions instead of simply shrinking, allowing it to move to a new location.
“This is to encourage dynamic and exciting gameplay for matches that do reach that length”
Progressive Outfits
In terms of cosmetic items, one of the new aspects of Season 5 is that players can progress their Battle Pass skins (the ones that can be progressed) beyond the end of the season, giving them much more time to fully upgrade the skin.
“We’ve gotten a lot of feedback about Season 4 progressive outfits and the main concern was that people didn’t feel they had enough time to complete them.”
The entirety of the Battle Royale Dev Update #12 can be viewed down below.
