The Worst Weapons In Fortnite
The battle royale mode in Fortnite has had some moments of brilliance where weaponry is concerned. Epic Games has taken a special interest in keeping the game fresh by constantly adding and removing guns from the current roster so that the game will remain balanced. When a weapon in Fortnite goes into the vault, there's always the possibility that it may come back, and while this is good news for some of the fan favorites, it's nothing more than an annoyance for those weapons nobody wanted back in the first place.
Whether a weapon is on the list of "worst" weapons because of its difficulty to use, its lack of power, or its sheer uselessness for a battle royale, these items won't be missed when they get placed in the vault (although some of them, thankfully, are already there). From long reload times to a stunning lack of accuracy, here are some of the worst weapons in Fortnite, both vaulted and available.
Double barrel shotgun: a reload time that takes an eternity
Among the coveted characteristics of the perfect Fortnite weapon is a fast reload speed. How quickly you're able to reload your weapon can often mean the difference between life and death, especially when you've managed to whittle the match down to just one other opponent. Building fortifications around you is all well and good, but when it comes down to it, the person who will emerge from the battle royale victorious is the one who manages to take the other player out. Because of this, the double barrel shotgun isn't the weapon you'd want as your only option at the end of a match.
The double barrel shotgun was sent into the infamous Fortnite vault with patch 7.0 (though it is still available in playground and creative mode). But even though the vault doesn't always mean a permanent retirement from the game, not many people were too sad to see this weapon go. The time it took to reload may have only been a few seconds, but because it's slower than other guns, it felt like an eternity. That feeling was only intensified when that meant that your opponent could easily kill you without any opposing fire. Even though this weapon may return to the game at a later date, it's not one we're necessarily waiting for.
Pistol: you'll be dead before you can build a wall
There are a few staples in Fortnite that almost every player has come across and has an opinion on. The pistol is one of them. It isn't very difficult to find and unlike those elusive weapons everyone wants but can't seem to get, there are almost too many of these lying around. The pistol is usually the gun you pick up because it's there and it's better than a pickaxe, but you know you'll drop it the second you find something better, which isn't too hard to do.
Though a bad gun is better than no gun at all when you're in the middle of a battle royale, the pistol won't do much to protect you against an enemy with almost any other weapon. For starters, it's not very powerful, which automatically puts anyone who wields it at a disadvantage. But on top of this lack of fire power, the accuracy is so poor that by the time you've fired at (and hardly damaged) your enemy, they'll be able to kill you before you can build a wall to protect yourself. If the pistol is your only option besides your pickaxe, you're probably better off just hoping that you find something else soon.
Hand cannon: just try landing that first shot
Just like reload speed, accuracy is vital when choosing the right weapon for yourself in Fortnite. This becomes abundantly clear when trying to kill an opponent at any sort of distance. If you fire at someone with a gun that has poor accuracy, the only thing you'll manage to do is give away your position while you're still desperately trying to keep your gun on a now-moving target.
The hand cannon, for all of the pomp and circumstance in its name, isn't exactly the gun you want to rely on for ranged combat. It's not just that the accuracy of this gun is bad, but any assistance the gun is supposed to provide with accuracy seems to be broken. The First Shot Accuracy doesn't always trigger correctly with this gun, which means that even though your shot looks like it might be perfect, you could still miss your completely still target. On top of that, the FSA takes quite a while to come back to a complete center after you've fired, meaning that your target (who is probably now mobile after you've shot at them) will now be even harder to hit. If you have another option for ranged combat, you'd probably do well to take it.
Light machine gun: no good for ranged stealth
The light machine gun is a tricky weapon as far as its merits go. On the one hand, this weapon was vaulted because it was too efficient at punching through walls. This puts the gun at an obvious advantage where taking down enemy fortifications is concerned. But while it excelled in this area and was probably taken from the game because of it, it lacked in many other vital areas.
This gun, though powerful at close range, didn't do much good for players using it at a far range. The damage dealt was minimal and once you'd fired the light machine gun, there was no question as to where you may have been hiding. The light machine gun was incredibly loud, so if you wanted to try to play through your match with any kind of stealth, this wouldn't be the weapon for you. If there's one thing this gun was effective at, it was giving away your position. So between the lack of damage at far ranges and the overly loud sound effects this gun had, you'd be better off holding onto this to knock down a few walls and using anything else for actual combat.
Tactical shotgun: easy to find, but ...
Just like the pistol, the tactical shotgun is another weapon that can be found almost everywhere in Fortnite. If there was one perk, it would simply be that it's better than nothing. But it's not much better since the damage dealt by this weapon isn't very high. If you were looking for something that would kill your enemies quickly, the tactical shotgun wouldn't be your best bet.
Because these weapons are so easy to find, newer players often feel very comfortable using them. They aren't a difficult weapon to wield and they look at least semi-intimidating. But even with how abundant they are around the battlefield, there will almost always be something better close by. This means that you'd be much better off picking up the weapon with the intent to ditch it the second you find something better. At least you can always rely on the tactical shotgun to be there for you, even if you don't want it to be.
Minigun: good for walls, not enemies
One of the weapons in Fortnite that has a deceptively odd name is the minigun. This surprisingly large gun deals a fair amount of damage if you're aiming at a structure instead of a person. But the fault in this weapon lies in its inability to accurately kill an opponent.
The minigun is a great weapon for knocking down walls and structures quickly. But if you're looking for something to use against your fellow players, you may want to look somewhere else. The horrible accuracy on this gun means that when you use it, you're basically relying on a "spray and pray" method: shooting a lot of bullets and just hoping that they'll find a target. Because of this, the minigun is generally considered a noob gun as it requires more luck and less skill to get good results out of it. Because the gun itself is so inaccurate, you often need to be out in the open in order to use it, which, in turn, leaves you vulnerable to attacks, defeating the purpose of arming yourself in the first place, as you most likely won't be able to defend yourself against any enemy who comes after you.
Revolver: slow to reload, hard to hit with
Though the revolver was eventually vaulted because of the high amount of damage it was able to do, there were many players who weren't able to utilize this advantage at all, which only further led to an unbalanced battlefield.
Newer players — or even players who don't have eagle eyes — weren't able to use this weapon effectively. In order to successfully use the revolver, players needed to have pinpoint accuracy, as this weapon isn't at all forgiving. On top of that, the revolver's reload rate is incredibly slow, which means that if you missed your enemy on that first shot (which you probably did because of the aforementioned need for pinpoint accuracy), you were now a sitting duck for the player you just shot at. If this was the first weapon you picked up in Tilted Towers, it usually meant you were dead, since the chaos that ensues there isn't exactly conducive to taking your time to line up your shot perfectly.
Hunting rifle: a shot brings a drop
Just like the revolver, the hunting rifle has a few different downfalls. For a skilled player, the hunting rifle isn't actually a horrible option. If they're able to line up their shot correctly and take into account the bullet drop that will occur, a player could use this weapon effectively in a battle royale. But because this gun isn't exactly intuitive, only players who are incredibly familiar with its finicky ways would have much success using it.
The hunting rifle experiences some bullet drop on long range shots, meaning that if you aren't familiar with this gun and don't account for that drop, then your headshot that you could have sworn you lined up perfectly just became a body shot. Once you land that unintentional body shot and your position is compromised, you now have to deal with a long reload time, giving your opponent plenty of time to charge you for a kill or simply pick you off from a distance with a gun that requires less accuracy to fire. Even spray and pray would have an advantage over your slow, inaccurate hunting rifle. Unless you've had time to learn the ins and outs of this weapon, it's probably one that's best to avoid if you have other options available to you.