Epic Disables Fortnite’s Junk Rift On All Game Modes – But Why?

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Epic Games introduced a junk rift item with the update version 10.10. However, just like the BRUTE Mech, many criticized Fortnite’s junk rift item for giving an unfair advantage to the players. Now, Epic has finally pulled the item from the game, although temporarily, but it is not clear why the item has been removed.

On Sunday, Epic announced that it would disable the item across all games modes owing to an issue. “Due to an issue with Junk Rifts, we’ve temporarily disabled them in all games modes. We’ll provide an update when we have more information.” read a tweet from Epic.

Though Epic says that they are removing the item due to an issue, it has not revealed what issue forced it to disable the feature. Many believe that the criticism from the gaming community could have been a factor here. A point to note is that Epic already disabled the junk rift item in the Arena playlists on August 22 due to an audio issue, and at the time, the announcement was met with praise from pro Fortnite players.

“+1 for removing Junk Rift from arena  -1 for keeping the terrible vehicle in the game” Team Liquid’s Ryan “Chap” Chaplo tweeted last week. When a player uses Fortnite’s junk rift item and throws it like a grenade, it opens a rift over the enemy from where a random item is dropped on them.

Fortnite’s current season has been the most controversial owing to the criticism from the players over the addition of the BRUTE Mech and junk rift item. Earlier last week, Fortnite World Cup winner Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf even urged Epic to remove the junk rift item from the game.

Epic Games pulling an item, weapons and vehicles from Fortnite is not a new thing. The developer constantly works to ensure a level playing field for all the players. On the other hand, there have also been cases when an item was removed due to an issue that required a quick fix. So, there is no clear reason why Epic removed the junk rift item.

Another thing could be that Epic plans to make some changes to the junk rift following the BRUTE adjustments. Initially, Fortnite’s junk rift was welcomed by some as it allowed players to face BRUTE mechs, which were too powerful and had the potential to change the outcome of the game depending upon who made it to mech first.

However, junk rift falling from above could potentially down a BRUTE mech. Now, that the BRUTE mechs have been nerfed, Epic probably wants to adjust the junk rift as well to make it fair to the gamer. We may never know the real reason why Epic disabled the junk rift item or if it will it come back, until the company comes up with a clarification.

As said above, Epic Games has nerfed BRUTE mechs to give opponent players a fighting chance against the behemoth machine. The numbers of rockets that BRUTE mech can fire in a single charge has been reduced from ten down to six.  Also, the damage radius of the rocket explosion has been trimmed by 42 percent.

Epic also increased the dash cooldown time to five seconds to make it easier for players to lock down on the mech. Similarly, the velocity that BRUTE mech gained while boosting in the air is reduced by 33 percent. Another change is that players controlling the mech won’t be able to gain materials while they are in the battlefield.

Epic has also adjusted the spawn rate in the core modes across different storm phases in the game. Moreover, Epic has also reduced the average number of BRUTE mechs. On the other hand, Epic Games has raised the health of the BRUTE mechs from 1,000 to 1,250.

Talking of other controversial additions to the game, the changes made to the explosive weapons in Season 6 is among the top of the list. With the v6.21, the projectiles could actually cause damage right through structures. Meaning, if an RPG hit your wall (not you), then you would also take 25 percent of the weapon’s damage capability. After massive backlash from players given the abundance of explosive weapons available, Epic reverted the changes.

The X4-Stormwing (or the planes) was also a controversial addition to the game. Epic added planes with Season 7. Though the planes were useful, they could break through structures and also damage players. Many also criticized the planes for impacting competitive games. Epic nerfed the planes throughout Season 7 and eventually vaulted it in the Season 8.

The Infinity Blade was another unpopular addition to the game. It came with v7.01 and gave players ridiculous power, like the ability to harvest materials quickly while traveling the map at rapid speeds. Many pro players criticized the addition. Epic nerfed the Infinity Blade before it was eventually vaulted. However, it made a comeback in various limited-time modes.

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