A Quantitative Approach To Weapon Selection in Fortnite [Refreshed for Chapter 3 Season 4: Paradise]

With the introduction of Paradise, the fourth season of the chapter, we have received a number of weapons changes for the latest version of Fortnite. There have been 7 weapons archived and 6 either reintroduced or newly created, a full list can be found below: 

The most exciting of which are likely the EvoChrome weapons, that uplevel naturally as you record kills with them, and the reintroduction of an effective sniper rifle, the Hunter Bolt Action Sniper Rifle.

In this article we will evaluate the lethality these new additions to the Fortnite universe and advise players on the best weapons to use. 

The analysis will be divided into 4 distinct sections; Shotguns, Assault Rifles, SMGs, and Sniper Rifles. This is done primarily to reflect the fact that users compare their selections against weapons of similar type (mostly related to effective range). We will not discuss weapon loadout combinations in this article. 

The primary metric that we will use to compare weapons is the previously derived Time to Kill, which is measured in seconds, and is the amount of time a weapon will take to eliminate an opponent with full effective health, without missing a shot. While not an overly practical value, it allows us to compare weapons like for like while saving intricacies like bloom or usability for discussion and not quantification.For more context on the terms, concepts, or more information please find our previous articles here and here on the topic.

Read below for five game changing insights that will increase your chances of Fortnite victory. 

1. Shotguns: Significant change in weapon hierarchy with new entrants

 

Takeaway #1: The EvoChrome shotgun is the most lethal shotgun available at all tiers and is even more so than the very effective but archived auto shotgun, for the highest tiers.

Takeaway #2: The lever action shotgun is better at all tiers than the remaining prime and striker pump shotguns, albeit by a much smaller margin.

2. Assault Rifles: Hammer AR is still king

Takeaway #1: EvoChrome matches Hammer AR for efficacy at highest tiers but still lags for every other tier, it's likely your best bet to stick with the Hammer AR.

3. SMGs: Similar weapon quality, no drastic changes.

Takeaway #1: Rapid fire SMG has similar performance to exiting Charge SMG if you take into account not needing to charge the weapon before firing. Not very much significant change to this weapon class. 

4. Sniper Rifles: Massive improvement over last season

Takeaway #1: The hunter bolt action addition is a significant improvement (3.7x) over the heavy sniper rifle, given its head shot capabilities and it's no lag damage compared to the boom sniper rifle, this will significantly change the Fortnite landscape. 

Conclusion: The introduction of the new sniper rifle and shotgun will significantly change loadouts over the next few weeks as players adopt these highly effective weapon additions. In order to increase your chances of winning work to incorporate these into your loadout so you get more comfortable with the intricacies of these weapons. The faster you adapt the more likely you'll be able to win. 

Thanks for reading! If you liked what you read, check us out on Medium or continue reading the other articles at hioutputblog.com. As always feedback, questions, and content submissions are more than welcome at submissions@hioutputblog.com.