Shockwaves, we miss you. Please come back to Fortnite

Shockwave grenades, the king of movement items, Fortnite’s evergreen purple propellants, have been removed from battle royale, and I’ve been grieving them for the past week. I feel stodgy and static without them.

The argument for vaulting them, as laid out by Epic’s design director Ted Timmins, is that Fortnite had a “combat fleeing issue” that spoiled fights. “If we are being honest with ourselves,” he said, “as much as we all love shockwaves, is it actually skilful to just throw one at your feet and immediately be able to escape an engagement?”

This echoes some but not all of the arguments made by streamer NickEh30 in December. He too said that shockwaves made escaping fights too easy—but added they also negate high-ground advantage, ruin early rotations, and outclass all other mobility items. Fans wondered whether NickEh30’s prompted Epic’s move, but Timmins denied that in his post.

I and most users on the game’s subreddit disagree with the decision to vault shockwaves—I’ll explain why in a minute—but I do sympathize with both Timmins and NichEh30. Shockwaves can be a crutch. I certainly lean on them to cover up mistakes: if I’m caught out of position without cover, outplayed at mid-range, or whittled down in a box fight I know that as long as I have shockwaves in my inventory, I can reset.

They create long cat-vs-mouse engagements that are decided by who has more grenades. If the mouse does, they escape, if the cat does, they can pounce. Aggression and outplaying your opponents often goes unrewarded because of them—and worse, rinsing your own shockwaves to chase an enemy across the map can get you killed by third parties.

So, I get it. But I think a blanket removal is too blunt a solution, for lots of reasons.

Sending shockwaves

It ignores how effective they are for pushing enemies. If you can land an assault-rifle burst from mid-range then shockwaves are the quickest way to close the gap and confirm the kill, reaching opponents before they can heal.

Shockwaves also level the playing field between newer and experienced players. Over the past year I’ve heard of casual players leaving the game because they keep getting rolled: whether you’re playing Zero Build or regular battle royale, it feels like a Fortnite demon could ambush you at any moment. You’re dead before you can fight back, but shockwaves are a lifeline, a chance to fight another day on more favorable terms.

Also, the “combat fleeing” problem applies to basically every meaningful movement item. The launch pad, which remains in the game, flings you a mile in the air and lets you travel further than a shockwave. Crash Pad Jrs, which are less versatile, have essentially replaced shockwaves and they too can help you escape. You could argue that they remain on the ground after you use them to escape, so any pursuer can use those same pads to follow you, but skilled players will throw them down, bounce off them, then shoot them in mid-air to burst them, rendering them useless for anyone else.

(Image credit: Epic Games)

The final reason I think vaulting them is a mistake, and perhaps the most important, is that shockwaves are fun!

Their zappy noise, their sheer speed as you ping away from them, crashing through brick and wood and stone. I for one play Fortnite for its fast, arcadey chaos, and shockwaves embody that. I don’t want everyone in the lobby worrying about high ground and positioning, I want to see players dropping out of the sky onto an enemy’s head, blasting a shotgun and, as if pulled by a giant elastic band, pinging back from where they came in a burst of purple light.

Without them, rounds are slower and every battle is prolonged because nobody has enough mobility to push an advantage. This is especially apparent in Zero Build, where I spend most of my time. When you damage somebody they can plonk a Port-a-Bunker at their feet and heal up and unless you have Crash Pads, which are less common than shockwaves, there’s almost nothing you can do. Players are less willing to take risks that could leave them out of position, so they play more passive.

Epic Games has promised shockwaves will return in a “special February update” that’s likely linked to Valentine’s Day. How long they’ll last I’m not sure, but I think there’s a way to make everyone happy. If the problem is “combat fleeing” then let’s find a way to make shockwaves reward aggression.

(Image credit: Epic Games)

I can think of two solutions that are probably flawed, but I’m sure Epic’s experts could come up with better.

First, if every player you killed dropped a single shockwave grenade, then the most aggressive players in the lobby would stack them quickest, and would never be caught short when chasing their prey. It’d make matches faster and more bloodthirsty, but more passive players could still get them off bots or find them as rare drops in chests.

My second idea—probably unworkable, but here we go—what if the distance you travelled from a shockwave diminished as your health dropped? So at 50% health, you travelled half as far as a fully-healed player? Fleeing when you’re wounded would be more difficult, while still allowing aggressive players to push and confirm their kills.

These might seem drastic but then again, I’m desperate. They have defined the way I and plenty of others have played over the past couple of years.

Shockwaves, we miss you.