When will building come back in Fortnite Chapter 3, season 2?

Epic Games has never been scared to add new mechanics or change core elements of Fortnite in the game’s updates over the years, and with the launch of Chapter Three, season two, building has been completely removed.

Given that building is one of Fortnite’s defining gameplay mechanics and helps separate it from other titles in the battle royale genre, this seems to be a temporary change. Until it returns, however, players will be forced to play Fortnite in a way that has previously never been seen. 

Epic did foresee how much this will change the core of Fortnite‘s gameplay, adding an overshield to the game, which grants an additional 50 shield that recovers back to full after not taking damage for a short period. This will take damage before your health and shield, partially replacing the now absent ability to build walls and other structures for defensive purposes. 

Additionally, new movement upgrades have been added, like a general movement speed increase, that will help facilitate this drastic gameplay shift. 

Related: What’s new in Fortnite Chapter 3, season 2: Resistance

Though Epic has given players some alternatives to building in the game, the company has left the details about the mechanic’s return vague. Fans, however, turned to dataminers and other sources to try and find an exact time for building’s return to Fortnite.

So far, the consensus is that building will make a return next week after the first portion of the new season ends. The exact timeline is still unknown, but most leakers and dataminers have put a pin on seven to nine days from launch, meaning it could come back between March 27 and 29. Dataminer iFiremonkey leaked an audio file for a quest line players will have to go through to restore building in Fortnite, which should follow the estimated schedule.

Though data-mined information can be reliable, it isn’t official and only reflects the state of the game files. This means players won’t have an exact timeline until Epic confirms the mechanic’s return or enables it again in a future update.

This article includes affiliate links, which may provide small compensation to Dot Esports.