A critical fix came to the Sideways Scythe in Fortnite 18.30

I was wrong about the Sideways Scythe.

I’m one of those players who loves melee weapons in shooters. There’s an undeniable, childish charm that comes with using a Lightsaber, Umbrella or a pickaxe against enemies shooting firearms at you.

A critical fix came to the Sideways Scythe in Fortnite 18.30

It’s already an incredible disadvantage, so I was surprised to see that the Sideways Scythe had a jump attack that would inflict fall damage.

I had thought Epic Games wanted to preemptively balance it by removing its mobility outside of combat, but it seems that it was indeed a bug and not a feature.

As of 18.30, the Sideways Scythe no longer will inflict fall damage upon the user when using the Smash Attack off of a tall structure.

This fix opens up some utility for the Scythe, but only in some niche cases. For example, if you’re caught at the end of a cliff that you can’t slide down. If the circle is behind you and you need to make a quick traversal down a cliff, you can now do it with the Sideways Scythe and land safely.

This also lets you deliver death from above, if you’re on a high vantage spot and want to literally get the drop on enemies.

Looking back on it, there probably wasn’t much to fear from the Smash Attack’s mobility, especially since that the fall damage was both unintentional and poorly received. Chapter 2 Season 3’s Kingsman Umbrella (my favorite melee weapon) had similar attacks and even more mobility, and that weapon certainly didn’t make waves.

Other issues fixed by the update include various cosmetic fixes for Tricksy and Wolverine. Perhaps the most important fix offered by 18.30 is the return of the red dot indicators on the compass that marked firing sounds, which were disabled for a while.