Epic Games released the BRUTE mech with the v10.00 patch, which was the first patch of "Fortnite Battle Royale" Season X. With the same patch, the video game developer has removed some mobility options, such as the Quad Crasher and the Baller, leaving players with only two vehicles: the Driftboard and the BRUTE mech. The mech, which is capable of carrying two players, isn't used primarily for mobility as players have mostly used it for its destructive power in the first three weeks of the season.
The mech's power was the biggest issue "Fortnite Battle Royale" players had complained about, and Epic Games has finally listened to them.
On August 22, the game creator has released numerous nerfs to the vehicle, making it much less powerful while also reducing its spawn rate. This move has been accepted relatively well by the community, and many professional players and streamers have shared their thoughts on it over social media.
The reaction
Many "Fortnite Battle Royale" players had been begging Epic Games to nerf the BRUTE mech, but the game developer had only released small changes to it. The competitive modes had the mech spawn rates adjusted and nerfed and the laser was also added to the vehicle. There was no real nerf until August 22, and while players are happy for it, many of them still want the vehicle vaulted.
Jack "Courage" Dunlop, who is one of the most popular "Fortnite Battle Royale" streamers, had a positive reaction to the nerfs.
"Finally...the mechs have been nerfed. Good riddance," is what the streamer posted on his Twitter account. Tim Betar, also known as "TimTheTatman," posted a short video of himself on Twitter, and he was also excited about the change.
— timthetatman (@timthetatman) August 22, 2019
Cloakzy and Chap, who are also very popular in the "Fortnite" community, claimed how the vehicle should have never been added to the game and how keeping it in "Fortnite Battle Royale" is a bad move.
While there is no doubt they are happy about the changes, just like many other players, they believe that the BRUTE mech should be vaulted. Nickmercs has also reacted to the changes, saying they are good.
Junk Rift removed from competitive modes
Junk Rift, the item which was added to "Fortnite Battle Royale" with the v10.10 Content Update, has been removed from Arena playlists and will be disabled in this weekend's FNCS tournament.
According to Epic Games, this is a temporary change and we can expect the item to be re-enabled soon.
"This is due to an audio issue caused when the portal is significantly higher than a player," is what Epic Games explained regarding the item. Considering that the Junk Rift is another item players want to be nerfed, we can expect it to be changed soon.