Fortnite: Primal Shotgun Receives A Significant Damage Nerf

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Fortnite: Primal Shotgun Receives A Significant Damage Nerf

One of Fortnite’s newest weapons is now weaker after a significant adjustment.


Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 6, dubbed Primal, introduced a slew of new weapons into the almost four-year Battle Royale title. One of those – the Primal Shotgun – quickly became a target for active players. This new weapon’s damage output mixed with a fast fire rate made it almost impossible to overcome for many. Competitive players mainly took issue with the gun, with most stating that it requires virtually no skill to use effectively. Epic Games answered the call with a slight fire rate adjustment in Patch v16.10.

However, the Primal Shotgun remained arguably the most outrageous variation in the game. After some presumed internal discussion, Epic deployed another nerf that dramatically impacts the Primal Shotgun. The once-controversial weapon will now do significantly less damage.

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Primal Shotgun Nerf

Fortnite leaker HYPEX was the first to report the Primal Shotgun changes. All rarities now deal much less damage per shot. Epic also increased the weapon’s pull-out time. Here are the shotgun’s new damage properties:

  • Common: 54 -> 45
  • Uncommon: 57 -> 47
  • Rare: 60 -> 50
  • Epic: 63 -> 52
  • Legendary: 66 -> 55
  • Mythic: 69 -> 57
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It’s challenging to say precisely how much this nerf will affect the Primal Shotgun without jumping into Battle Royale mode and testing ourselves. We can estimate that the recent fire rate reduction mixed with the latest damage adjustment should balance it out, if not make it inferior to the Pump Shotgun. The discussion from the beginning of Season 6 revolved around how easily the weapon could destroy someone’s entire health bar in an instant. Hopefully, that possibility is now less likely, and players may no longer have to fear the Primal Shotgun.

Check back here for any additional updates regarding this latest Fortnite weapon nerf.

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Matt Pryor
Matt is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University. He appreciates all esports titles but primarily focuses on Fortnite and Call of Duty. Matt continuously analyzes gameplay and plays the games himself to better understand in-game decisions by the best players in the world.