Controversial weapon temporarily bounced out of Fortnite, removed due to exploit

Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1 had gotten off to a hot start in December, introducing an overload of new weapons and events. However, as weeks have gone on, players have slowly seen much of its latest content leave earlier than expected due to various issues. Now, yet another item has been affected by bugs, as developer Epic Games has announced the removal of the infamous Shockwave Hammer from the battle royale.

Late Sunday night, Fortnite Status’s official Twitter account revealed to fans that the Shockwave Hammer melee weapon had been disabled in all modes, noting that it would be reenabled in “the next game update.” Although it did not mention the reason behind this, it is widely speculated to be due to a glitch that gave its users infinite health. More specifically, Redditors such as Kaseius have posted clips in recent days showcasing how the hammer could be exploited to eliminate fish and farm large amounts of their healing items.

Glitches aside, the Shockwave Hammer has arguably become one of the game’s strongest weapons in the chapter, allowing players to bounce from it for hundreds of meters and then crush enemies. Its return date has yet to be confirmed by Epic, though proven dataminer Guille_GAG has suggested that the next major update for Fortnite is slated to launch on January 17.

Its return may not be met with much of a warm reception, either. Following the news of its removal, players were swift to take to social media to celebrate the hammer being vaulted. For one, Reddit user Knight-122 subtly joked, “Wouldn’t it be really cool if Epic just forgot to enable it in the next update.” Meanwhile, others like user TheZephyr07 have questioned if this actually could be the case, as they pointed out that even the short-lived hurdling mechanic has yet to be re-enabled.

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In actuality, there is a much longer list of features fans are hoping return. Last month, the battle royale drew heavy criticism for removing the long-awaited Deku’s Smash Mythic weapon due to photosensitivity concerns. The game also caught players by surprise by vaulting a majority of Winterfest 2022’s items almost a week before the event’s end date.