Three upcoming exotic weapons in Fortnite leaked

A specialized SMG, AR, and Bazooka, each with their own spin, have been leaked through popular Fortnite data miner HYPEX’s Twitter.

If implemented into the game, these new exotic weapons will give players some new tools for winning fights. The Run-Gun SMG will increase the player’s running speed, while the Freeze AR would apply an ice effect to enemies hit by it. The Slurp Bazooka would likely function similar to the bandage gun, albeit with a Slurp effect instead.

Upcoming Exotic Weapons:- Run Gun SMG: increases your running/walking speed (i had a footage with @ximton but i deleted it and i'm too lazy to record it again)- Freeze AR: gives chiller trap effect to other players- Slurp Bazooka: maybe scrapped

— HYPEX (@HYPEX) December 29, 2020

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Didn’t Fortnite already leak the Slurp Bazooka, though?

Eagle-eyed readers might notice that the Slurp Bazooka had been leaked a few months ago, back in October. These latest leaks seem to spell an end for the Slurp Bazooka, as it seems the novel gun may have been scrapped.

This is likely because the game simply doesn’t need another rapid-use healing item. Fortnite already gives players ample opportunities to top off their health and shields, with potions, medkits, bandages, and slurp barrels littered throughout the map. Maxing out on health and shields in Fortnite is often a trivial practice, and these kinds of burst healing items are often unexciting.

The problem with them is that they seldom manage to make Fortnite more fun. Catching someone out of position should be exciting. However, when all it amounts to is players quickly firing off a few bandages behind cover, then it’s usually not all that meaningful.

This may be one reason the Slurp Bazooka hasn’t yet been implemented, though the exact reasoning is still unknown.

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New guns, new design space

Here's the Run Gun exotic SMG from the previous tweet, recoded 2 clips with @ximton for y'all.. It makes you walk/run faster and its still unfinished pic.twitter.com/inINji0g8x

— HYPEX (@HYPEX) December 29, 2020

The other two guns are interesting in that they change how players will want to approach fights. For example, SMGs often have the weakness of being very ineffective beyond a specific range. An SMG giving players a permanent speed boost is interesting, allowing them to close gaps on fleeing players or move around quicker.

Even a modest speed boost can change how players want to approach fights. A faster player will always have the ability to control when and where a fight happens. The ability to avoid or force fights as needed will likely be the essential part of this gun.

The Freeze AR does the opposite; it makes it much more difficult for opponents to control space or range. By applying a cold status effect to enemies, opponents will find it much more challenging to approach someone wielding this AR.

There aren’t too many guns in Fortnite that apply a status effect on enemies when hit. It’s certainly something that the game could explore a little more aggressively. If an AR can apply a cold effect, why can’t another weapon apply damage over time?

If these weapons end up catching on in Fortnite, Epic Games may decide to explore these kinds of effects more later on. So, it will be important to keep an eye on how well these new weapons perform.