Fortnite: Armored Wall angers players for the wrong reason

Building is the biggest hurdle Fortnite players have to overcome. There are two players: those who build, and those who don’t. Those who don’t tend to look at those who do with disdain, and the new Armored Wall item has players frustrated and angry.

Fortnite: Armored Wall angers players for the wrong reason

Players who build well typically do better than those who don’t. Fortnite at higher levels is less of a shooter and more a head-to-head Lego building match as players attempt to outbuild and subvert the enemy. It’s a very different skillset than aiming a gun and shooting, and it’s incredibly powerful.

In the past, we’ve gotten more and more options for destroying builds. Rocket Launchers, Railguns and other weapons can make short work of builds when deployed properly, but building is still the dominating tactic. It seems strange, then, that Epic Games have made an item that buffs building.

The Armored Wall item lets you augment builds, plating them in armor that has a massive 2,500 health. It’ll be extraordinarily difficult to punch through even with explosives. This provides an ideal quick defense, or to give you some long term protection as you heal in the middle of a fight.

The Armored Wall isn’t invincible. It can’t be edited by their user. The Venom and Carnage Symbiotes also do a ton of damage against them, if you can find the Mythic Items.

Many casual players believe this Armored Wall will become problematic, but I don’t think this is the case at all. It has to be used strategically, as the true strength of building isn’t from the build themselves, but from the player’s skill to edit quickly and manage their spacing.

The slower, more methodical approach actually drives the game away from the turbo-building nightmare many players dislike playing against. The Armored Wall must be deliberate, and can’t be abused in the ways that it seems. The inability to edit Armored Walls goes a long way, and proves this wasn’t made for boxfighting.

It actually serves to slow down the game a little, and I believe is a major boon to players who aren’t adept at building fast.

That doesn’t mean the Armored Wall can’t have the potential to be busted. They’re disabled in competitive playlists for now, pending evaluation based on how they perform in casual playlists.