Fortnite Players Decry Huge Nerf to Fishing, Urges Epic to Resolve It

Fishing, one of the core mechanics in the early years of Fortnite, has seemingly got a huge downgrade, so much so that players took to Reddit to voice their frustrations. Some people say that this is a definite downgrade to what it was before.

Fishing No Longer Fun

Fishing in Fortnite is a mechanic in battle royale mode where players go to certain fishing spots on the map, whip out their fishing rods, and well, catch fish.

Back then, this mechanic was a great way for players to receive useful weapons. But now, it has been reduced to acquiring certain consumables that restore HP and provide shields that make them take a few more shots before going down.

This, of course, prompted some players to voice their disappointment about the said mechanic over on Reddit.

Redditor Ecquatic asked why Fishing has gotten so much worse now. High-tier weapons seemingly got removed, fish with cool abilities are nowhere to be found, and loot has just been reduced to floppers and shield fish.

Another Redditor shared a similar experience in that they have not caught anything other than gray (common) weapons.

In addition, Redditor TheMaster151 said that they miss having to catch big fish and put them into their collection. Fishing was treated as a competitive endeavor in the past where some players would compete against others to see who caught the much bigger fish. Sadly, this mechanic is pretty much useless with the type of items one can get.

The removal of the Harpoon Gun since the start of Chapter 4 Season 1 also did not help things. According to Redditor Loomling, the Harpoon Gun being completely removed from the game made fishing far worse than it needed to be."It isn't even worth doing anymore," they added.

What Gives?

So, why did Epic Games nerf fishing so much? Some players have provided their take on this matter. Redditor Katzemensch has given some good points by saying that Fortnite has become a showcase of what the Unreal Engine can do. Fishing, when it was introduced in Chapter 2, was made as a way to show people that such a mechanic is possible with Unreal Engine.

However, with each new season, Epic Games has to try something new in order to keep things fresh. For instance, Chapter 5 was the perfect avenue for the company to add a moving point of interest that has weapon mods, nifty power-ups, and various vaults.

"Because they're trying to showcase how flexible and varied the engine is, they're constantly going to be putting in new things and removing old things," Katzemensh added.

Another player opined that the company has different metrics to see which part of the game is popular and which ones are not. "No point investing time or resources into [an] underutilized feature," said Redditor JohnMAlexander.

If fishing is still going to be a part of the game, then it is probably time for Epic to improve it somewhat. It may not be as good as its heyday, but at least give players a reason to fish from time to time.

What do you think? Should Epic Games revisit fishing as a core mechanic in Fortnite? Or should the company just focus on newer things?