Fortnite is getting a new sniping tool soon called the Heavy Sniper Rifle, and we now have a first look at how it’ll blow through opponents” structures in-game.
The Twitter account Fortnite Battle Royale News shared the preview of the weapon that came in a video from Fortnite: Battle Royale Leaks. The former’s tweet showed the player wielding a Heavy Sniper Rifle taking aim at various structures built of wood, stone, and metal before finally tearing apart a tree with just two shots. Each of the walls that were targeted were downed with just one shot each, so any buildings that players try to defend themselves with will quickly be blown apart by the Heavy Sniper Rifle.
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Here’s our first in-game look at the upcoming Heavy Sniper Rifle weapon via @FNBRLeaks: pic.twitter.com/R7lzLRhDi4
โ Fortnite Battle Royale News (@FortniteBR) August 12, 2018
Stats for the Heavy Sniper Rifle were also previewed at the end of the video that vary just slightly from the previously leaked weapon stats. The only difference in these is that the reload time has been increased to 4.1 seconds instead of 4.05 like it was when first revealed. The new stats for the weapon previewed in the video can be seen below:
- Rarity: Legendary
- Damage: 157
- Fire Rate: 0.33
- Magazine Size: 1
- Reload Time: 4.1
There’s apparently an Epic version of the Heavy Sniper Rifle as well as shown through Storm Shield One, but it’s unclear if those stats have been changed by now or not since the Legendary’s are different.
While the rifle does a huge amount of damage, 41 more than the Legendary Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle, it appears that the incredibly long reload time serves as the gun’s balancing mechanism. With 4.1 seconds needed to reload it, it takes 1.4 more seconds to ready a next shot than it does with the Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle mentioned above. The Hunting Rifle still has the lowest rifle reload speed of the three categories, but it’s an advantage that’s balanced with significantly lowered damage compared to the Heavy Sniper Rifle.
There’s also the question of whether this gun has another effect, one that penetrates walls and deals damage to those behind the structures. The initial report about the leak suggested that this was the case, but that effect wasn’t previewed in the video above since there was nobody behind the damaged walls to take the damage. It sounds likely that the weapon would have the effect seeing how powerful it already is, potentially with a reduction in damage for those on the receiving end of the bullet.