Fortnite Season 4: Mobility and pacing changes

Fortnite Season 4 is out and many fan favorite weapons and tools have been vaulted for the season. Among the vaulted items is the Launch Pad. Let’s take a quick look at how pacing in Fortnite Season 4 will be affected.

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Pacing in Fortnite and how Season 4 might change it

My fortnite just updated, really going to be disappointed if I don’t see a new reboot system or at least an effort to fix the pacing of the game. This is my #1 goal for season four. Ill be back in an hour to let you know how this goes

— Absollado (@TheAbsollado) August 27, 2020

Pacing has been a bit of a sore spot for Fortnite. Many players, especially those at a high enough skill level, frequently complain about the game’s pacing, specifically how too many players get eliminated in the early game, and that the late game lasts too long with too little action.

These complaints were also paired with complaints about the game’s poor mobility, though many players had hoped that vehicles would help along this angle. Unfortunately vehicles had their own issues as well, chief among them their strangely large hitbox and high damage making them into surprisingly effective weapons.

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Fortnite Season 4 removes launch pad, includes other mobility options.

It's almost as if fortnite doesn't want launch pads and bounce pads togethere in the same season cuz the super launch pad

— Lolzd (@LCILZD) August 27, 2020

The Launch Pad was one of the ways players could navigate the map quickly in a pinch, but was also useful towards the late game when it allowed you to rapidly disengage from a fight, or to approach from an uncommon angle.

Without the launch pad, players now have to rely on bounce pads and shockwave grenades instead. Both of these fill the same niche of giving players a rapid burst of movement, with shockwave grenades having the alternate use of offensively relocating an enemy player.

Fortnite Season 4 will likely have slower mobility during the early game, as now the only remaining tool for rapid rotation during the early part of the game are vehicles. This should be offset by the increased mobility during fights and during the end game.

In effect, mobility in Fortnite Season 4 is concentrated on those moments where players need it most, during fights, at the cost of making it take longer to rotate, loot, and move to where those fights are to be found, which may actually end up improving the overall pacing.