Fortnite’s New Overshield Is A Significant Nerf For Sniper Rifles

Sniper rifles have always been among Fortnite’s hardest weapons to use, and the introduction of the overshield has made them even more difficult. Fortnite’s recent update has changed the game’s status quo quite a bit, but the overshield might be the biggest change. With this one mechanic, the sniper rifle’s strength has been largely gutted.

The overshield is a new mechanic that debuted at the beginning of Chapter 3, Season 2. It is a regenerating shield that can absorb up to 50 damage at maximum charge. Its primary role is to prolong firefights and keep a player from being immediately eliminated if they get caught off guard. It is one of the several mechanics accompanying the update that removed building from Fortnite, and definitely the most consequential. It is this exact change that has managed to damage the role that sniper rifles play in Fortnite‘s current metagame.

Fortnite’s sniper rifles have a fair amount of downsides, being only effective at long range and having slower shots than other weapon types. However, they have high damage to balance out their downsides, able to take out a large amount of an enemy’s health in one shot. Although most varieties of sniper rifles have been vaulted for the time being, the current Hunter Bolt-Action Sniper is essentially the exact baseline for what one can expect from Fortnite’s sniper rifles. It has good chemistry with Fortnite’s new mantling mechanic, allowing one to climb up to a decent sniper nest before taking aim. It’s designed to take down enemies from long distance before they can use their own weapons.

A Full Overshield In Fortnite Makes Sniper Shots Too Weak To Matter

The overshield does incredible damage to the sniper rifle’s reliability. Since every player can now absorb up to 50 points of damage, the sniper rifle’s main upside of high damage looks far less impressive. The Hunter Bolt-Action would lose over half of its base damage from a fully-charged overshield. In order to score an elimination, the opponent would either have to be at very low health, or have already had their shield and overshield depleted. Even taking post at one of Chapter 3, Season 2’s new landing spots won’t be much help due to this disadvantage. While the player could line up a second shot after the first, by that point the opponent knows where they are, and has a better chance to dodge their shots while their overshield recharges.

Due to this new weakness, the sniper rifle has become far less effective than other weapons. Pistols are semiautomatic, and assault rifles and SMGs are rapid-fire. Each of these three weapon categories can rip through shields with their fast stream of damage. While shotguns have similar weaknesses to the sniper rifle in terms of slowness, they are easier to aim and fire, and the drum and auto shotgun variants even offer faster firing rates, letting them deal damage much more quickly. As it stands, the sniper rifle is simply outclassed compared to every other weapon type, and its main advantage has been nerfed by the overshield. With Fortrnite Chapter 2 having plenty of new weapons to choose from, the sniper rifle will likely sit unused.

Fortnite is a game that is frequently changing, and its latest change has led to the sniper rifle’s surprising weakness in Chapter 3, Season 2. What was once a powerful but risky weapon has had most of its power stripped without making it any easier to use. Now the sniper rifle sits in a very weak spot, and until Fortnite has another update, it probably won’t be helping many players reach Victory Royale.

About The Author