When Fortnite's Battle Royale mode dropped in 2017, it changed the video game industry forever. Fortnite contributed to popularizing the Battle Royale genre as a whole alongside PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, but it also capitalized on what MMOs like World of Warcraft and MOBAs did with the live-service model. This means that developers continue to update their games long after the initial release date, adding new content on a consistent basis to keep players invested. Though many have tried to imitate it, there's no other game quite like Fortnite, and its long six-year history in the video game landscape has brought with it multiple memorable maps, a plethora of pop-culture crossovers, and a good number of absurdly overpowered weapons.
Every multiplayer game has its own set of notorious weapons. Whether its Call of Duty's Akimbo Model 1887s, or Halo's Energy Sword, or even GoldenEye 007's Golden Gun, every good multiplayer title has at least one or two weapons that go down in history for being just a little too good at their job. With countless items having come and gone, it's not too difficult to pinpoint some of Fortnite's most overpowered weapons.
The Infinity Blade
Possibly the most notorious Fortnite weapon of all time, the Infinity Blade was first introduced in Fortnite Chapter 1 with its 7.01 patch. Just one Infinity Blade was available per match, with the player needing to pull it from a stone in Polar Peak, but once the player got the sword, the match was practically over anyway. In its first iteration, the Infinity Blade was unstoppable.
Though it delivered just a solid 75 damage per slash, the Infinity Blade came with plenty of unique bonuses. Picking up the sword would grant the player an additional 200 health and 200 shields, would increase their movement speed by 130%, would grant them an instant burst of health upon getting an elimination, and would let the player regenerate their health at a rate of 1HP every second. On top of all that, the Infinity Blade could destroy player-built structures in just one hit. Though it was nerfed a little in subsequent patches, the Infinity Blade was, and likely always will be, Fortnite's most overpowered weapon.
The Combat Shotgun
Another infamous Fortnite weapon, the Combat Shotgun was first introduced in Season 9 of Fortnite's first Chapter. Offering a superb range, very fast rate of fire, extremely high damage, and a tight spread, the Combat Shotgun has practically no weaknesses at all, and it's easily the best shotgun in the entire game. Unlike the Infinity Blade, the Combat Shotgun has reappeared throughout Fortnite's life, cropping up throughout Chapter 2, and appearing once in Chapter 3, and although it's received various nerfs each time, it's still one of the best weapons in Fortnite. Lucky fans can even try out the Combat Shotgun now, with it appearing as part of the Tactical Armory Augment in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1.
The Drum Gun
Introduced all the way back in Season 4.5, the Drum Gun was infamous for having an absurdly large magazine capacity, a surprisingly high level of accuracy, and extremely high damage output. The Drum Gun was one of the first Fortnite weapons to be vaulted, and though it's appeared in a few Unvaulted events over the years, it's never returned in its original capacity, though special Mythic versions were available in Fortnite Chapter 2 and 3.
The Shockwave Hammer
The most recent overpowered weapon in Fortnite history, the Shockwave Hammer was introduced in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1, the current build of the game. This Shockwave Hammer not only delivers a solid amount of damage per hit, but it also flings opponents halfway across the map. To top it off, Fortnite's Shockwave Hammer's alt-fire lets players fly through the air themselves, letting them traverse the map quickly, or confuse their targets. Though it was heavily nerfed about halfway through the Season, the Shockwave Hammer remains one of Fortnite's most effective weapons.
Fortnite is available for Mac, Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.