Fortnite patch 5.40 introduced a ton of weapon changes, here’s what they really mean

Fortnite’s latest patch has arrived, and while most of the attention will rightly be placed on the new High Stakes event and the game mode that came with it, patch 5.40 also made a whole lot of weapon changes that are worth talking about.

The first change, and likely the most important, is that the burst rifle received a few much needed buffs. Ever since first-shot accuracy was added to the game back in Season 3, the burst rifle has fallen behind its steady-firing counterpart. Thankfully, Epic has finally decided to take a look at the weapon and give it some of the attention it needed.

The buffs start with a boost to the accuracy of the gun’s second shot which should help players more consistently take advantage of the burst rifle’s high damage — because it will be easier to land shots. The other buff is an increase in accuracy when aiming down the weapon’s sights. These buffs, along with the nerfs to the gun’s effectiveness while moving, cement the rifle’s place as a high quality mainstay of mid-range combat in Fortnite.

That’s about it for actual weapon changes this patch, but there are several changes to other things about weapons like spawn rates and rarity that are important as well.

First of all, the rare rocket launcher has been taken out of the game, while the epic and legendary versions of the same weapon will spawn a little more often to help offset the change. The legendary bolt-action sniper rifle is also gone, along with the rare pistol and the common suppressed sub-machine gun. Remote explosives are now epic, instead of rare, and Port-a-Forts are now rare instead of Epic. Semi-auto snipers also had their rarity decreased as they went from epic and legendary to uncommon and rare — they also should spawn a little more often now. Similarly, the dual pistols and the suppressed pistol all went from epic and legendary to rare and epic, respectively, without any other changes.

While longtime players may not see much need for these kinds of changes, they actually go a long way in helping new players better understand the game. The weapon rarity is a quick and easy way to see if one gun is better than another, so it’s best for Epic to keep up with the trends of the community and let rarity colors reflect that to better help new players learn what people use.

The final change worth mentioning that’s coming through with this patch is that the revolver is being vaulted. Chances are, you won’t miss it much. But, in a recent developer update, Epic Games reminded us that vaulting weapons is a way to work on those items quietly and possibly bring them back when they are in a better place overall.

By and large, these weapon changes that came along with patch 5.40 aren’t a massive deal. But, they’re worth keeping in mind when you suddenly see that one of your favorite guns has a new rarity color; don’t worry, it’s no better or worse than it was yesterday.