Wings Of Icarus nerfed just 24 hours after downtime for Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 ended

It's been just over 24 hours since the downtime for Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 ended, and the first item has already been nerfed. During a hotfix carried out a few hours ago (March 10, 2024), Epic Games nerfed Wings Of Icarus (Mythic) in a major way. The information was shared by several veteran leakers/data-miners such as iFireMonkey, HYPEX, and ShiinaBR.

Based on the details shared online, the Divebomb ability was nerfed to ensure the item could only be used from a certain height. This was likely done to stop players from spamming the ability to get the upper hand in combat. As the Wings Of Icarus (Mythic) can be purchased from several NPCs, there could be quite a few active players using them in any one match.

That said, this article covers the changes made to the item.

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Wings Of Icarus (Mythic) nerfed in Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2: Changes and more

As mentioned by leakers/data-miners, the Wings Of Icarus have been clipped, and in a major way, at the start of Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2. The Crashing/Diving ability has been put into check and players must be higher up in order to be able to use this ability.

The minimum height needed to activate the Crashing/Diving ability has been increased by ~1250%. It was 64 meters before the hotfix went live and is now 800 meters. This is a massive jump in terms of the height needed to activate the ability. iFireMonkey added to this by stating:

"Not sure if it means 800m above the island or what, but long story short, you won't be able to dive as often."

While Epic Games must have had good reasons to nerf Wings Of Icarus, it has left the community divided in opinion about the change. On the one hand, Mythics in Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 are supposed to be powerful items. On the other hand, if they are too powerful, they could break the game. A classic example of this was Deku Smash Mythic in Chapter 4.

Here is what a few community members had to say:

As seen in the comments, the majority of players are not in favor of this nerf. Given that Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 just started, nerfing items the community loves is never a good idea, even if the reasons behind doing so are logical. Epic Games may likely take another look at Wings Of Icarus to see what else could be done to circumvent the nerf.

That being said, there will likely be a few more potential nerfs implemented in Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 over the coming days to ensure nothing is broken. While it may seem like a killjoy, ensuring fairness is the ultimate aim. As such, changes would be made if needed.