Fortnite UFOs nerfed, vaulted from Competitive just 2 days into Season 7

Fortnite Season 7 has started with a bang (quite literally after Fortnite UFOs blew up the Spire). Despite trouble with the Rumble mode and the partially useless llamas, the new season has been fantastic so far.

However, when new mechanics and dynamics are kept aside, it becomes apparent that Fortnite UFOs are too powerful. While they are exciting to see, their damage output is insane even when piloted by the aliens themselves. It only gets worse when players take control of it.

In addition to simply moving about, players can use them as moving gun platforms. Opening up a wide array of tactical options when engaging, it's almost as if these Fortnite UFOs have become the new meta in Season 7.

Here we go again with these try hards arena kids, asking epic to remove all new stuff 🤣😂

— Ro' Corput 🇲🇽 (@__RoRodriguez__) June 9, 2021

Nonetheless, it would seem that the aliens are by far still the sweatiest players in-game at the moment. Once locked on to players, their ships fire relentlessly without stopping.

Adding insult to injury, the tractor beam is pretty overpowering as well, given how far it slingshots players, which has led to Epic Games nerfing them just two days into the season.

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Fortnite UFOs have been nerfed and vaulted

With that much firepower accessible to players, the entire meta shifts away from weapons to one vehicle. No doubt, the Rail Gun is a perfect counter for UFOs, but it's not always easy to find one.

This is why most players simply scatter when one of these Fortnite UFOs arrives on the scene. The balance in combat feels very off, which has led Epic to nerf the Energy Cannon by 25% (not a lot, but it's a start).

This is just related to the volume of the weapon, not the damage.

— iFireMonkey (@iFireMonkey) June 9, 2021

While this does not affect the fire rate or damage output, the area of effect should be reduced substantially. This would, in theory, allow players to dodge attacks with more ease.

In addition to Fortnite UFOs somewhat being nerfed, the developers have removed it entirely from Competitive and vaulted it. It's easy to understand why Epic would do this, given that Competitive is more about box fighting and boots on the ground type of action.

Great to see Fortnite separate the loot pool from casual and competitive modes. A UFO spamming and grabbing you isn’t something of a competitive playlist

— Antre (@Antre___) June 10, 2021

By all means, this is possibly one of the many nerfs that will be implemented to specific mechanics in-game throughout Fortnite Season 7. In the coming days, the developers are surely bound to nerf many more overpowered items in-game.