Are "Old School" weapons worth your time?

With the latest iteration of Fortnite comes the reintroduction of two “Old School” weapons the Six Shooter and the Infantry Rifle. These weapons differ significantly in style from the advanced heisted weapons of the previous iteration but may offer some surprising advantages. In this two part article, we will explore the efficacy of both of these two additions. Let’s first consider the Infantry Rifle.

1. How good is the Infantry Rifle? 

The Infantry Rifle is a non-scoped, medium to far range rifle with a small magazine. It's competitive set is relatively large because it falls in between the scoped options like the DMR and Red-Eye and non-scoped options like the Burst Rifle and Assault Rifle. Let's take a closer look: 

The TtK for the infantry rifle is far better than expected and even seems to rival the Assault Rifle, the formidable short to medium range option. The challenge, however, is that the un-scoped Infantry Rifle is simply not usable at the same long distance range that the DMR and Red-Eye are. Making it a difficult replacement for these options. However, given its TtK advantage (26% more lethal) there may be a case for carrying it, in addition to, a longer range option because it can prove lethal at ranges that the Assault Rifle is simply not effective. 

At this "intermediate range" the infantry rifle is extremely accurate using ADS and hits hard in part due to its significantly more potent critical hit multiplier.  This weapon can clearly take large chunks of health from enemies if used accurately. Its effectiveness in this intermediate range likely make it a "specialty weapon" that can prove lethal if used in loadouts with longer range or medium range weapons. 

The only clear disadvantage is that if not used accurately the weapon has a small magazine size relative to its peers (6 rounds) making it difficult to use inaccurately or in larger squad games. In a similar way to the Bow or the Hand Cannon, this weapon can be highly satisfying to use for its hard hitting, precise set up but likely will only fill a specialty niche for its small mag and narrow distance window of premier effectiveness. 

2. How good is the six shooter? 

The six shooter is a seemingly powerful, low fire rate pistol that was recently introduced to the Fortnite universe. Given the efficacy of other pistols in the game right now, it seems reasonable to expect it to have a meaningful impact. Let's take a look at its performance:

 

 The reality is that the six shooter isn't a good comparison to the highly effective Suppressed and Tactical pistol options. These high fire rate pistols are significantly more effective at short range than the returning six shooter, outperforming the six shooter by 60%. This doesn't mean however, that it doesn't fill a niche. 

If we dissect the performance of the six shooter it doesn't perform particularly well. It certainly hits harder than the other pistol comps but not so materially that it outperforms other slow fire hard hitting options. When compared against a shotgun, another hard hitting short range option, it is clear how big the gap is. The reality is that the six shooter isn't a particularly good option and doesn't appear to fill any reasonable niche. There are better pistol options and materially better hard hitting short range options, like the Thunder shotgun. It makes sense to pass on the six shooter unless a last resort.

3. What is the data telling us?

It seems that the addition of the "Old School" weapons shouldn't materially change load outs. There is some case for the Infantry rifle to fit in between an effective long range option like the red eye and a mid/short range option like the tactical pistol and the assault rifle. Although, in 2-3 gun load outs it likely doesn't fit. When it comes to the six shooter its not worth carrying as it doesn't provide any meaningful improvement over any adjacent weapon comparisons. 

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