How Fortnite could make Cube Monsters work

Over the Halloween period, Epic Games introduced ‘Fortnitemares’ to Fortnite. The update saw a number of changes, with the most prominent being the addition of Spawners and Cube Monsters – zombies, essentially – to the map. These spawners pop up intermittently throughout the map, continuing to spawn randomly as the storm closes in. They can attack both players and builds and, although slow, this can be a huge detriment to the overall gameplay. They also drop ammo, weapons, shields and heals, but often the distraction outweighs the benefits you can gain from them. Cube Monsters have come under a lot of fire from players and fans of the game, so much so that Epic had to turn off the Cube Monsters for the Fall Skirmish finals at TwitchCon, and the game in its traditional form played so much better than Fortnitemares matches. Though Epic did nerf the amount of Spawners that spawn throughout the game, they are still a nuisance as the end-game approaches. In my opinion, these monsters are the worst addition to Fortnite since I started playing in late 2017. Through unlimited rockets, the SMG meta and the original Guided Missile I still had a lot of fun, but this past week has been really hard to enjoy and I eagerly await the end of Fortnitemares on November 4. However, I don’t think Cube Monsters are a fundamentally bad idea. In fact, I think they could actually work quite well as a permanent fixture in Fortnite. Here’s how.

Set Spawner locations

Spawners, the aptly-named builds that Cube Monsters spawn from, pop up throughout the map whenever and wherever. This, in my opinion, is essentially where the problem sits. Anybody who has played during Fortnitemares and reached the final 10-or-so players will know that Cube Monsters run riot in the final circles and make it really difficult to have a proper gunfight. This could be changed by simply having set locations for Spawners. Doing so would allow a more tactical approach to playing Fortnite, with players able to use the creepy monsters to gain any supplies they may need during rotations. This is similar to how people currently farm after landing. Now, there could be a conscious choice between farming for more materials or killing Cube Monsters and destroying Spawners so as to improve your loot or health. Hypothetically, 10-15 set locations for Spawners could be a good way to fill in some of the empty or less-popular places on the map. The mid-game is historically pretty bland, as so many players drop before the storm even starts to close, leaving the map seriously under-populated. This is the perfect time to try and recover anything you don’t already have from the Cube Monsters.

More loot from Cube Monsters and Spawners

In their current state, it often isn’t worth wasting early-game ammo on killing Cube Monsters unless you’re really low on heals, and even then, the drops are random so you may get no heals from them at all. Worse yet, many Cube Monsters don’t drop any loot at all. As mentioned in the previous point Cube Monsters could be a high-risk, high-reward situation with players rushing to their set locations following looting their drop. The time (and potentially damage) taken to fight off a horde of them should be rewarded better, and more frequently. Each Monster killed should drop at least a minimum of half a magazine for the gun being used, with bigger Monster kills being rewarded with more, better loot. If you’re neglecting farming to kill Cube Monsters you should be rewarded as such. In short, there should be clear pros and cons to each that the player has to choose between, whilst not making Cube Monsters overbearing like they are now.

Minimise the area in which Cube Monsters can travel

Currently, Cube Monsters have stamina like no other. They’ll follow you halfway across the map if need be. This needs to change. I think Cube Monsters should have a tighter radius of action, and especially if you disengage with them (actively running away from the area). If Cube Monsters could only travel within, say, 30 metres, it would make them much easier to handle and disengage when they get overbearing. In addition to this, I’d like to see far less in the final circles. Too many games are ruined by the huge distraction that is 15 Monsters surrounding two players at the end of the game, completely ruining the potential of a true one-on-one gunfight or build-battle. Avoiding Cube Monsters and trying to find the player between them has become a legitimate issue that simply shouldn’t be in a game that is, by nature, already based largely on RNG. As I said, Cube Monsters are probably my least favourite addition to the game since I started playing. But I truly believe they could work and add another layer of intricacy to the game if implemented correctly.