The pump shotgun has always been a much discussed weapon in the world of Fortnite Battle Royale, as the early days of Fortnite saw the weapon be at the center of the dominant two pump shotgun meta that at the staple of combat in the battle royale title during earlier seasons with no need of a buff.
However, Epic Games went on to make significant changes to the pump shotgun and other items in the same weapon class, such as adding a delay between switching from one to another. These changes in addition to the wildly inconsistent damage output and accuracy of the pump shotgun has had the Fortnite community calling for a major buff for the weapon by Epic Games.
Fortnite Pump Shotgun Buff - 6.31 Patch Notes
These prayers looked to have finally been answered on Tuesday, November 20th as Eric Williamson, Design Lead for Fortnite Battle Royale, announced on Twitter that the next major patch for Fortnite would be 6.31 and its notes would include major a major buff to the pump shotgun.
"The upcoming 6.31 update will include a Pump Shotgun rebalance to improve effectiveness: damage will increase in close quarters and range will be reduced slightly. Additionally, ALL shotguns will have a minimum damage of 3 pellets (even if only 1 or 2 hit)," said Williamson regarding the 6.31 patch notes.
The upcoming 6.31 update will include a Pump Shotgun rebalance to improve effectiveness: damage will increase in close quarters and range will be reduced slightly. Additionally, ALL shotguns will have a minimum damage of 3 pellets (even if only 1 or 2 hit).
— Eric Williamson (@erwil9) November 20, 2018
Players are sure to be excited at the fact that this particular weapon will receive a major damage boost buff in the 6.31 Patch Notes for close quarters combat and that it will also benefit from the new buff to the weapon class it belongs to that will see damage output be a minimum of three pellets even if only one or two hit the target thanks to the 6.31 patch notes.
While the pump shotgun and overall buff to the close quarter weapon class that will be arriving in the notes of Patch 6.31 look to address major complaints and requests from the Fortnite community regarding their effectiveness in the meta of Fortnite, only when the Patch 6.31 notes are implemented will players get an accurate look and feel to see if this buff is what is actually needed.
(cover photo courtesy of Epic Games)
