New weapons are (always) on their way to Fortnite, and a potential new addition looks like it could have a massive impact on the game. Dataminers StormShieldOne have uncovered a legendary high calibre sniper that should be on its way to the game in next week’s update. The Heavy Sniper Rifle, as the weapon seems to be called, is a “powerful and accurate rifle with a bolt-action mechanism with an extremely slow reload.” That’s relatively similar to the bolt-action sniper rifle that currently exists in the game, but the heavy sniper has a trick up its sleeve, allowing it to smash through enemy defenses. According to StormShieldOne, shots fired from the Heavy Sniper “pierce through the first wall [they] hit.” That firepower is backed up by some significant damage – the heavy sniper deals 157 damage on-hit, which is an awful lot more than any of the other snipers in the game. It’s also almost the exact opposite of the Crossbow (which has been consigned to the Vault), which couldn’t do any damage to structures. The introduction of piercing shots could have quite the impact on both the early and late game. A significant advantage of the wood resource is that it’s abundant, easy to gather, and gets up to its full strength faster than brick or metal. However, you can see through the gaps in the wood, potentially allowing eagle-eyed enemy players to know where you are in your tower. Usually, that doesn’t matter, as their bullets will be stopped by your defenses. But if players equipped with the heavy sniper now know that they can get a shot away through those barriers, wood could become significantly less popular in the late-game – brick and metal might be rarer, but you can’t see through them once they’re fully formed. Next weeks item will probably be this legendary sniper. It can pierce through the first wall it hits! pic.twitter.com/RVmZqAkWcc — DieBuddies (@TwoEpicBuddies) July 25, 2018<doc-sep>Another leak has been revealed in Fortnite and this time it’s a Heavy Sniper that has the ability to pierce through walls. The Fortnite meta has slowly but surely shifted to building and who is able to get the drop on their opponent quicker. This new Heavy Sniper, if the leaks are true, will be able to penetrate through one structure so if a player is standing behind a single wall they aren’t safe from a sniper shot. The sniper will presumably use heavy ammo like all the other snipers do. It would make sense to have this sniper do less damage to players as well since it can shoot through walls. TwoEpicBuddies, who have leaked numerous other Fortnite items, has said the weapon is on the way. That's the official item image. The last one was a 3D render by me! pic.twitter.com/rKQwbmV0C4 — DieBuddies (@TwoEpicBuddies) July 25, 2018 The Heavy Sniper doesn’t have details revealed yet but if it does shoot through walls it sounds like it will have a thermal scope of some sort. Without the thermal scope players will be left guessing as to where the hidden player is. This weapon will likely be met with a lot of resistance as most meta-defining weapons/items are. We don’t have Epic Games’ actual announcement for this weapon yet so we are left to speculate in the meantime. Shotguns were practically forced out of the meta by nerfs to the “double pump” and buffs to the SMGs and other weapons. Epic has recently walked back the SMGs, which you can read more about here. Fortnite: Battle Royale is out now on Xbox One, PS4, iOS, Nintendo Switch and PC via the Epic Games Launcher. For more Fortnite: Battle Royale coverage, content and guides stay with us here at Heavy. Make sure you check out the rest of our gaming coverage too. See Also:<doc-sep>A new sniper rifle capable of shooting through walls could be coming to Fortnite, according to a new item entry data mined by Fortnite hub Storm Shield One . The "heavy sniper rifle" is described as a slow, bolt-action weapon that can "pierce through the first wall it hits." Its item entry shows 157 damage and a reload time of four seconds, which is much higher than a standard legendary bolt-action sniper rifle's 116 damage and 2.7 second reload. Coupled with its piercing effect, this would make the heavy sniper rifle the most lethal long-range weapon in Fortnite, provided it is indeed real. The item entry also says data for the heavy sniper first appeared in Fortnite's recent 5.10 update , and while Epic has yet to confirm that the rifle is genuine, a weapon capable of piercing walls does fit with some other changes the update made. Update 5.10 not only made walls overall easier to destroy, it also added a new weapon, the Compact SMG, which absolutely chews through them. Update 5.10 is the latest in a line of changes made to weaken building as a strategy. Ever since Epic said in June that "not every encounter should have to end in a build-off," it has worked to emphasize good old-fashioned shootouts by making structures less effective and reliable. Some people—usually the people who reflexively say "I just don't like the building" whenever you so much as mention Fortnite—are glad to see building minimized. But many diehard players worry Epic is phasing out the feature that makes Fortnite stand out from other battle royale games, and hope to see building remain relevant. Needless to say, if it is released, the heavy sniper will tip the needle toward the former group.<doc-sep>
Tuesday’s Fortnite v5.1 update saw the release of the Compact SMG, better known as the P90. Data miners were the first to find proof of the weapon coming to Fortnite: Battle Royale, and they also discovered another gun that will literally blow players away. One of the more prominent Fortnite data miners, TwoEpicBuddies, tweeted a new discovery on Wednesday. Dubbed the Heavy Sniper Rifle, the legendary gun will reportedly have a ton of power. So much that it will shoot through walls, which will make for interesting build battles at the end of a match. On the Fortnite database site, Storm Shield One, the description for the Heavy Sniper Rifle reads, “Powerful and accurate rifle with a bolt-action mechanism with an extremely slow reload. Shots pierce through the first wall it hits.” The site also shows the damage for the rifle at 157, which makes it even more powerful than the Rocket Launcher with its 110 damage. This makes the Heavy Sniper Rifle the strongest weapon in the game with enough power to take down players in one shot unless they have full health and close to full shields. It’s a good thing this weapon is a legendary as having a lot of these guns on the field would not make for a fun match. Another data miner, Fortnite_Leaks, tweeted the audio clip for the Heavy Sniper Rifle also on Wednesday. The consensus among the data miners is that the Heavy Sniper Rifle will release with the next Fortnite update, which would be next Tuesday. The only one that knows for sure when it comes out, though, is Epic Games. Data miners were busy this week starting Monday prior to the release of update v5.1. They found a slew of skins, emotes, and what could be the most ridiculous glider to ever grace the game of Fortnite called the Laser Chomp. Follow Inverse on Twitch for more episodes of Squad Up: The Fortnite Talk Show.