For a very short period of time today (January 10) the Fortnite servers were down and inaccessible to allow the resolution of a Major glitch involving the Shockwave Hammer. This is the new tool that debuted, along with the new map and dirt bikes, in Chapter 4, introduced just a month ago.
The Shockwave Hammer, in addition to being a weapon, is also useful for move quickly across the map. In fact, it allows you to unleash the shock wave and launch yourself in a certain direction. However, this functionality is subject to a recharge time (cooldown), which serves to preserve the balance of the game.
Fortnite: The Shockwave Hammer glitch
Over the last week some players had found out a glitch that allowed the Hammer to be found easily and the cooldown times to be canceled. This way players were able to move quickly across the map while avoiding all firefights. A dynamic that obviously led many players to complain on the net, defining “Fortnite unplayable”.
Having noticed the glitch, yesterday the Epic Games team initially removed the Shockwave Hammer from Fortnite’s competitive modes. This was followed by the maintenance performed today, which should have fixed the glitch permanently.
It is not the first “overhaul” maneuver that Fortnite has had to perform since the launch of Chapter 4. In fact, in recent weeks it has been removed the automatic jump over obstacles while runningwhich was one of the big changes in Chapter 4.
We’ll be undergoing a brief downtime starting at 4 AM ET to deploy a patch addressing several issues including bouncing with the Shockwave Hammer more often than intended. Downtime is expected to last about one hour. pic.twitter.com/6aF8BWImky
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) January 9, 2023
Meanwhile, to celebrate the new year, the CEO of Epic Games has announced that Fortnite for mobile is also returning to iOS devices.