19 January 2023 , 14:40
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Epic has disabled the Fortnite shotgun Striker augment hours after it debuted in update 23.20 because the siphon ability was scuppered.
Fortnite Augments are relatively new, having rolled out in Chapter 4 when it launched last December, but how they work is simple. Essentially, they're weapon perks and character buffs that are awarded to players at certain points in a match, and they get to pick one of two randomised options each time. The shotgun Striker Augment is one of five new Augments that were introduced this week in update 23.30 but was disabled almost immediately because of a bug that made it massively overpowered.
Siphon refills player health or shields, and the shotgun Striker augment lets you get siphon with your shotgun fire. And by 'shotgun fire' we're not talking in terms of a single hit; it's dependent on the pellets your shotgun is firing out. So the Heavy Shotgun, with a single pellet pop, gives you two points back into your health or shield, as the siphon doubles that number. That means the Thunder Shotgun, with the capacity to shoot up to 11 pellets, siphons up to 22 health or shield points back at you.
This doesn't just work against opponents either; the perk was active when shooting teammates and animals as well, you could whip out a shotgun with a large magazine and start firing at pretty much anyone to replenish your shield and health. Depending on the gun you're running with, things could get out of balance pretty fast. YouTuber Tabor Hill demonstrates the issue in detail in a video he put out before Epic Games leapt into action.
Gun but not forgotten
Hours after update 23.20 went live, the official Fortnite Status Twitter account announced that the shotgun Striker augment had been temporarily disabled "due to an issue", but said that it can still be found in-game. The developer didn't provide any additional context or info over on the Fortnite public Trello board either, but it's obvious that the OP nature of the bug is at the root of the augment being disabled for now.
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There's no word on when it'll be back in action, and it joins a handful of other Fortnite augments that are MIA while bugs are being investigated. The Aerialist augment, which lets players deploy gliders following a jump, was temporarily shelved around a week ago. And a couple of days after that, the Party Time augment that lets you deploy balloons during a match joined it in limbo.
All three augments are being investigated, which is something at least, but it's anyone's guess when they'll be back. That being said, the Shockwave Hammer was removed and re-introduced with a speedy turnaround, so let's hope at least one of these augments reappears sometime soon.