How would melee weapons work in Fortnite? Explained

Fortnite has come a long way since its early days and continues to grow with every update. Epic Games has always tried to incorporate new and unique things into the game to keep players engaged while also attracting new ones.

One of the unique aspects of Fortnite is its abundance and variety of weapons. There are different types of weapons, each with its unique functions.

One such weapon type is Melee. These weapons allow you to strike at your enemies without the need for any ammunition. In this guide, you'll discover how Melee weapons work in Fortnite.

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What is a melee weapon in Fortnite?

As already said, a melee weapon doesn’t shoot bullets and can only be used with close-range targets. Currently, you can only come across one melee weapon in Fortnite - your harvesting tool, aka the trusty pickaxe.

Epic introduced a second melee weapon during Chapter 2 Season 8 called the Sideways Scythe, which was a Sideways only weapon. The most common and simple melee weapon to use is none other than the harvesting tool.

Players also get a melee weapon automatically at the start of every match and you can select your favorite pickaxe from your Locker and directly jump into the action. The pickaxe works in quite a similar fashion to weapons like Assault Rifles or throwable items like Grenades. All you need to do is use your trusty pickaxe to deal melee damage to other players.

Usually, the pickaxe is used to farm wood, stone, metal and other objects in Fortnite. Players use these materials to build walls, roofs, and stairs that help protect against enemy fire, help in map rotation, or for fun.

However, the pickaxe can also be used as a weapon to deal damage to enemies. Pickaxes are mostly used by players during the early stages of the game when they land with no items in their arsenal.

All one needs to do is equip their pickaxe of choice and swing away to deal melee damage to your opponents. But why don't players use pickaxes to inflict damage on their opponents more often?

This is because the pickaxe is simply not effective enough and can easily be outgunned. The pickaxe only deals 20 damage per hit, meaning players will have to consistently land good shots to take down an enemy.

One can easily be killed if the opponent has a weapon no matter the type or rarity. However, melee weapons are a great facet and it's possible Epic might introduce new ones as the Chapter progresses.

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