Why was the Fortnite Shockwave Hammer disabled? Here's when it's coming back

The Fortnite Shockwave Hammer has officially been disabled and vaulted in Chapter 4 Season 1. While there were two to three glitches/bugs that caused in-game issues, one of them was game-breaking.

Posted on YouTube nearly 10 days ago by content creator GKI, he revealed how the weapon could be 'broken' to gain a combat advantage. Just before landing in the water, players can 'break' the weapon by executing a 'slam' attack from mid-air.

This resulted in them gaining the 'Shockwave' status effect by default even while not using the Shockwave Hammer. Simply jumping from one spot to the other would trigger this attack-type, causing opponents to fly in random directions and receive heavy damage.

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When is the Fortnite Shockwave Hammer coming back in Chapter 4 Season 1?

Based on the official information provided by the developers, they are 'trying' to resolve the issue before the next update, which is v23.20. Although it has previously been speculated that the update will occur tomorrow (January 10, 2023) which is a Tuesday, that's unlikely going to be the case.

Since the company-wide winter break ended just a few days ago, it may take some time for things to be organized and executed. Additionally, until the update is pushed to the staging server, it will not be made available in-game. According to leakers and data miners, the Fortnite update v23.20 will occur either on January 17 or January 24 at the latest.

Furthermore, since the item was only disabled a few hours ago, it won't be possible for the developers to find the root cause of this glitch/bug this early. It will take some time to either find a workaround and/or issue a fix for this problem. That said, players will have to make do without this item for anywhere between eight to 15 days.

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What else can I use for mobility besides a Fortnite Shockwave Hammer in Chapter 4 Season 1?

While the Fortnite Shockwave Hammer was the pinnacle of mobility in Chapter 4 Season 1, there are a few decent substitutes. In addition to the Trail Thrasher Dirt Bike, players can also use the Launch Pad and Impulse Grenades to travel across the game's map.

Those who land in Shattered Slabs can use Kinetic Ore as a means to move short distances at a time. However, since their trajectory is a bit 'janky,' they are not reliable in all instances. Keeping this aside, Augments are another solid option to use.

Aerialist, Party Time, Soaring Sprints, and More Parkour can be used to quickly move about the island. That said, Party Time and More Parkour will be limited in nature due to the Augments' given circumstances. Party Time will be dangerous to use without the Shockwave Hammer to break one's fall if the balloons burst, and More Parkour is not the best choice when moving around in the open.

For this reason, Aerialist and Soaring Sprints are the best Augments for players to choose from. They can be used without worrying about any prerequisites and will come in handy in almost any given combat/exploration situation.

Lastly, given that the Shockwave Hammer will be vaulted for some time, the current meta for movement and mobility is likely going to favor vehicles. Augments such as Supercharged and Tricked Out are good options for players who want to 'put the pedal to the metal' in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1.