Fortnite Developer Removes Burst Assault Rifle from the Game
Today’s v7.30 update reveals that Epic Games has decided to vault the Burst Assault Rifle in Fortnite: Battle Royale. This means that players will no longer be able to find the weapon in standard modes, Pop-Up Cups, and other modes in the Events tab. The only chance of encountering Burst Rifles now is by playing Limited Time Modes that may or may not include them.
Why Epic Games Removed the Burst Assault Rifle
This update marks the second time that Epic Games has vaulted Burst Rifles. In the v7.10 update last December, the Common (Gray), Uncommon (Green), and Rare (Blue) Burst Rifles were removed from the game. Now, the Epic and Legendary variants are gone as well. Unfortunately, Epic Games did not provide any comment regarding the reasons behind this decision.
However, players still have the option to use the Heavy Assault Rifle and the standard Assault Rifle as alternatives for high-rarity guns in the same class.
Other Vaulted Weapons in Fortnite
Aside from the Burst Assault Rifle, other weapons have been vaulted in this update as well.
Heavy Shotgun
The Heavy Shotgun is one of the vaulted weapons. Previously available in Epic and Legendary variants, it served as a good alternative to the Pump Shotgun due to its high fire rate and damage. Now, players can only find Epic and Legendary Pump Shotguns as high-rarity options. Although these shotguns deal significant damage, their fire rate is not as high as that of the Heavy Shotguns.
Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle
The popular Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle has also been vaulted. Players looking to use a sniper now have the Heavy and Suppressed Sniper Rifles as alternatives, as well as the Hunting Rifle for a no-scope version.
However, some players may miss the Bolt-Action Rifle’s Rare variant, as it was the lowest-rarity scoped Sniper Rifle in the game. Now, players who prefer a scoped gun will be limited to the Epic and Legendary Snipers.
SMGs
The SMGs have undergone the same treatment as the Burst Rifle in the v7.10 update. The Common, Uncommon, and Rare variants have been vaulted, while the Epic and Legendary SMGs are still available. Epic Games has reintroduced the Suppressed SMGs to compensate for this change.
If the Suppressed SMGs have not undergone any stat adjustments since being vaulted in the v6.00 update, they should deal more damage per shot than regular SMGs, albeit with a lower fire rate.
Players can now experience how Fortnite feels without these vaulted weapons once the server downtime for the v7.30 update is over in a couple of hours.