How today’s Fortnite: Battle Royale update changes the game

Fortnite: Battle Royale’s 5.10 update brought quite a bit of changes, but how will they alter the game and its meta?

Epic Games adjusted loot rates, material health changes, and even added a new weapon. This update seems to be one of the game’s biggest in a while, with many key elements being altered.

The Compact SMG joins the game as the newest weapon, following up on the recently added Submachine Gun and Drum Gun. The gun seems to be strong by itself, but it may be even more dangerous with the implemented material health changes.

In the patch notes, Epic laid out changes to building materials, which included drops in starting health and maximum health to Wood, as well a decrease in Stone’s starting health. The only material that ended up with a buff was Metal, which received a 100-point max health boost but Epic also hit it with a build time nerf.

Players have already seen the effect Submachine Guns have on structures, tearing through them quickly. With another SMG in play and less material health to work with, players may be forced into gunfights And this isn’t necessarily a good thing for the players who have been advocating for more building.

While it’s not necessarily a bad thing to want players to engage and fight more, there seems to be a large contingent—especially within the competitive community—that want to see building made more of a priority, as it is what singled Fortnite out from the pack in the first place. Whether that means increasing the harvesting rates, Supply Drop rates, or increasing the health of materials, players want to be able to get in build battles.

Further frustrating that faction of players, Wood and Stone will be found less in Supply Drops. Both loot rates dropped while Metal’s was nearly doubled, making all the materials’ loot rates the same.

While players usually don’t rely on Supply Drops for a lot of materials, the drop in Wood and Stone’s loot rates are likely an indicator of where Epic is going with Fortnite. For the past several months, it’s been evident that the importance of building hasn’t been made a priority. The additions of the Jetpack and Bouncer mixed with the hindering nerf of Supply Llamas and a drop in traditional harvesting makes Epic’s intentions clear.

The various changes to materials in this update will likely cause players to stay away from much vertical building unless they have a lot of Metal. The reason for this is simple: The higher they get, the more likely they are to die if a player destroys their structure. Submachine Guns and explosives are perfect ways to quickly take down walls, and it’s even easier with this update’s decrease in material health.

It’s unclear whether the Submachine Gun or the Compact SMG will reign supreme as the best light ammo weapon, but either one will become a terror. Many players have attached themselves to the Shotgun-SMG loadout, which allows them to quickly swap between two of the most powerful weapons in the game.

Players will live in the meta until Epic addresses it. Much of the community’s feedback is still to be seen as the Compact SMG is used more and the effect from the materials’ changes are felt.