Why Are Fortnite’s Broken Lightsabers Still Here?

Fortnite Chapter 2 hasn’t been quite as update packed as previous Seasons. The main event so far has been a Star Wars crossover, especially after a pretty subdued New Years event. There is a bit of an issue with this limited amount of new content though; the Star Wars event is still going on. Broken lightsabers have been hanging around ever since, which has given pro players a bit more to worry about.

Lightsabers were added into Fortnite during a crossover event to promote Star Wars Episode 9. While the other content was dropped after the event’s natural lifespan, the lightsabers are still here. It isn’t exactly clear why Epic has kept them around, but as time has gone on they’ve turned from a novelty to an annoyance. So, what’s changed with the broken lightsabers?

© Epic Games

Why are the Lightsabers Broken?

Lightsabers in Fortnite aren’t an issue just from their very presence. It is more what they’ve become. They began as a fun thing for players to mess around with. However, as they’ve been in the game quite a while players have had plenty of time to experiment. These are only supposed to be temporary items, so their balancing and usability aren’t all too important compared with the main weapons roster. This might explain some of their bugs.

As well as being fairly overpowered and promoting a gameplay style that doesn’t really fit in Fortnite; They’re exploitable. Players have discovered that lightsabers can be used to ‘warp’ away during fights through a glitch. These types of glitches are a common occurrence, but these bugged out items are producing them reliably. This is making the game kind of difficult to play for some players.

On top of this, the Lightsabers alter the way combat is done with their overpowered blocking. They should be in the vault alongside the Infinity blade, but they are still hanging around for some reason.

© Epic Games

Ninja Reacts to the Broken Lightsabers

These broken swords are causing problems for everyone. However, people who spend their entire working days in Fortnite have seen the worst of the problems. One of these people in Ninja. Discussing the latest lightsaber induced loss, he said:

“Dude, just get the **** lightsabers out of the game… we had fun, but just get them out… two weeks of lightsabers, we get it. They can block infinite damage and they’ve been bugged they came in.”

He isn’t alone in this sentiment. The glitches are making real problems out of the broken lightsabers, but they’re also horribly unbalanced items for wider games. It is good timing that they’ll be gone soon since Esports gambling would have to invent a new category to give the best esports odds to a lightsaber rather than a player.

Promotions and new content make Fortnite fun to play between the Season changes. However, it becomes something of a problem when the new content is overpowered or works poorly with what is already available in the game. The Star Wars content is due to be removed on Jan 7^th, but for many the broken lightsabers have hung around a bit too long, leading some to think that Chapter 2 Season 1 might have the same problem.

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