On top of being a monolithic hit across platforms and drawing in players from all walks of life,Fortnitehas shown itself to be surprisingly versatile in the long run. On top of the explosive reveal ofFortnite’s second chapter, the game constantly introduces new features, and in cases like this, adds them on top of existing features.
Chapter 2 ofFortnitebrought with it significant changes to the game, both in the form of a new map and new things to do on the map. While some of these are nothing but fun distractions, the newest one, introduced in the latest patch notes, has a direct and, no doubt, important impact on gameplay and strategy.
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One of the new features scattered across the currentFortnitemap is the Upgrade Bench, where players can turn in crafting materials to upgrade a single weapon to a higher rarity, increasing its overall performance. A new feature has been added to those benches, which theFortnitedevs have dubbed “sidegrading.” Similar to upgrading but costing fewer materials, the feature allows certain weapons to be transformed into different, similar weapons. The big example given in the reveal on theFortniteTwitter was an assault rifle being sidegraded into a heavy assault rifle, although how many weapons can be changed this way is unclear as of this article.
One of the first implications of this is that theheavy assault rifle seems to be leavingFortnite’s vault, although the sidegrade feature may be the only way to obtain it. The other implications are far more wide-reaching, as this could mean a huge increase to versatility and flexibility in the game, as a weapon that would normally be discarded could, with a few materials, be changed into exactly the one players wanted all game. Essentially, every random drop could represent two or three weapon choices rather than the single weapon actually dropped.
With this in mind, it’s easy to think of the new feature not so much as “sidegrading” but rather exchanging a wepon for, presumably, another in the same family of weapon. Presumably this will not work for anyfuture lightsaber or other crossover weapons, but only time will tell for sure.
The tactical implications for this feature are enormous, granting choice in a game that can sometimes be determined by the luck of the drop, which opens up many more opportunities for players to show off their skill, all for less material than is necessary for a true upgrade. In a game wherenew secrets are constantly sought after, this new feature may make Upgrade Benches into permanent hotspots for battle, as everyone makes a beeline for them to grab a favorite weapon.
Fortniteis available for the PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Android, and iOS.
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