Fortnite Season 3 competitive overhaul – Mobility gets vaulted, Snipers are a no-go

Esports News
June 16, 2022
Jordan Ashley

The latest Fortnite seasons have invoked a lot of the usual responses from the community. In some circles there’s excitement and in others anger at the game’s biggest misstep yet. All pretty normal for Fortnite, this time the game’s balance is becoming especially wonky for competitive. As the season has progressed Epic has been making changes to the Fortnite Season 3 competitive loot pool. Since release, they’ve vaulted as much mobility as physically possible in this part of the game.

Fortnite Competitive Season 3

Fortnite Season 3 Competitive Changes

The new Fortnite season is going to see some big events like the FNCS take place. These tournaments are usually at the mercy of what the game looks like by that stage in the season though. There have been good and bad seasons for esports. The best Fortnite players competing usually make it worth watching even if it’s a bad season for the lootpool. This time around it’s gotten weird though.

The first major problem with the season is probably the Reality Saplings. These can be used in a loop to level up fast, but worse they provide a pretty much guaranteed high-tier loadout every game. While they probably won’t ever be in competitive modes, it’s just the start of the problems.

The changes Epic has been making to the game’s competitive balance ahead of tournaments have been odd. There’s a definitive pattern in Fortnite Season 3 competitive though. Epic has been set out on a crusade to prevent players from rotating.

No cars, shockwaves, rifts, snipers

The changes being made to the game’s balance in the competitive-only game mode have been pretty strange. Epic started by removing a whole host of cars from the game.

They began with IO Cars. They set the spawn down to 0%. This isn’t the biggest problem as they’re a holdover from last season. Following this, Epic began removing more and more of the cars.

This isn’t their first move against mobility in the game though. They already removed Shockwaves from the competitive modes. This could be because they mess with builds, but it’s part of a pattern of Fortnite Season 3 competitive changes. Rifts to Go have also been taken.

Snipers getting removed from the game push more players to the new DMR. It still seems like an unnecessary change given the current meta though.

With mobility and long-range shooting now ruled out, what’s left in the competitive side of the game? The element of fire has also been removed. While fireflies weren’t exactly a competitive staple, it’s frustrating to have things shortened down even more.

What’s Left for Mobility in Fortnite Chapter 3 Competitive? The Wolf Meta 

In terms of what’s left in the game to get around faster than walking speed, you’ve got a couple of options. First, there’s the brand-new mechanic of riding on wildlife. It’s not really a replacement for a car, but it is something.

There is also the Grappler Gun that has been added to competitive while everything else was removed. This works very similarly to the Spider-man Mythic from earlier in the season. The problem is it spawns in select locations only. This means players have to land there or rely on getting favorable zones to avoid bad rotations. There are 10 in total, across the whole lobby.

Why These Changes?

The reductions in mobility in the game at the moment seem bizarre. While plenty of players complain about mobility it’s pretty widely considered important. Even Chapter 1 had fun mobility with shopping carts and quad crashers. While Season 1 of Chapter 3 had more options, things have been very limited since. Season 2 made the weird choice of choosing to gradually reducing the mobility options on the map as it progressed. Fortnite Season 3 competitive has taken it further and moved everything out.

The competitive side of the game often has a more limited lootpool. It doesn’t need the same novelties. Instead, it needs consistency that allows players to compete on an even playing field. Keeping the gimmicks to pubs is a good move. However, removing all mobility just seems to be going too far. The lootpool can hardly be said to be designed for competitive right now with SMGs overpowering the shotgun meta.

The game’s competitive playlists and events have become increasingly detached from Fortnite itself. It’s managed to do this without giving comp what they want though. The latest lootpool and conditions for Arena show this more than ever. Pubs have their own problems, but the balance of weapons in Arena is just as wonky as mobility. Fortnite still has time to get things in a better state for the FNCS. For now, things don’t look too bright for this season.