Fortnite: Understanding nerfs to Hand Cannon, Stormwing in v7.40 update - Dot Esports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We break down why nerfs to the Hand Cannon, the Rocket Launcher, and Storming Planes matter.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How will Fortnite's v7.40 balance adjustments affect the game?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We break down why nerfs to the Hand Cannon, the Rocket Launcher, and Storming Planes matter.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-12T12:09:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-15T04:39:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/06190119\/hand-cannon-legendary-1021x580.jpg?resize=768,436\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"436\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bhernardo Viana\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DotEsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DotEsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bhernardo Viana\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bhernardo Viana\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8326f85b37139285df58b552544a651b\"},\"headline\":\"How will Fortnite’s v7.40 balance adjustments affect the game?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-12T12:09:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-15T04:39:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/06190119\/hand-cannon-legendary-1021x580.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Fortnite\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing\",\"name\":\"Fortnite: Understanding nerfs to Hand Cannon, Stormwing in v7.40 update - 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He's been working in the gaming industry for over 9 years, with works published on Destructoid, Prima Games, ESPN, and more. A fan of Pok\u00e9mon since 6 years old and an avid Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch player. 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Fortnite\u2019s<\/em> v7.40 update has been postponed to Wednesday. Players will only have access to the update\u2019s full patch notes early tomorrow.
<\/p>

But developer Epic Games revealed yesterday a few balance adjustments that are coming with that update. They include important changes to items that several Fortnite <\/em>streamers and the community have been complaining about for the past week, and now Epic is catering to them all to some extent.
<\/p>

After numerical adjustments to Rocket Launcher, Hand Cannon, and Stormwing, what really matters to players is how these numbers will affect gameplay. We break down for you how each of the v7.40 balance adjustments can impact Fortnite\u2019s<\/em> current meta and how useful some items will be from now on.<\/p>

Rocket Launcher<\/h2>

Rocket Launchers will be hit hard by the balance adjustments. Their reload time will be increased by 28 percent (from 2.52s to 3.24s) and they\u2019ll no longer be found in chests, only in Vending Machines and Supply Drops.
<\/p>

That means Rocket Launchers will be more difficult to find and spam. Players will be vulnerable for longer when reloading them, which means it might be harder to launch several shots in a row without getting tagged by an opponent.
<\/p>

This might make Supply Drops be contested more often by opponents since they\u2019ll likely carry a Rocket Launcher. But the weapon won\u2019t be as reliable as it has been.<\/p>

Hand Cannon<\/h2>

The Hand Cannon has been a dominant weapon for destroying enemies\u2019 structures in a single shot. It’s often used after shooting a rocket towards a wall an enemy is using as a cover. If you time it correctly, you can take down that wall to make the rocket fly past it before the opponent builds another one.<\/p>

And that\u2019s why the Hand Cannon\u2019s damage to structures will be reduced from 150 to 100. That\u2019s a very significant change, as the Hand Cannon will no longer be able to destroy metal walls in a single shot as soon as they are placed since they have 110 starting health. Also, it won\u2019t destroy wood walls in a single shot even after they reach their max 150 health.<\/p>

That means the Hand Cannon and Rocket combo will be harder to pull off, which might make the Hand Cannon a lot less mandatory against turtling enemies than it is now.<\/p>

X-4 Stormwing Plane<\/h2>

The X-4 Stormwing plane is more than a vehicle. It has a mounted turret and can demolish structures when you boost through them. Well, not anymore.<\/p>

Planes will no longer smash structures under any circumstance. Trying to do so will only deal damage to your plane. This means players will be able to defend themselves from incoming planes by just building a wall if the opponent isn\u2019t shooting.<\/p>

It’s a very annoying feature of X-4 Stormwings that will soon be gone, but it doesn\u2019t mean planes will be dead. They\u2019re still the fastest vehicle in Fortnite, <\/em>and players can use them to surprise opponents by hopping off and gliding into a fight out of nowhere. After v7.40, it might still be worth it to use Stormwing Planes, but they will be less threatening to opponent’s structures.<\/p>

These changes all add up to a build-oriented meta, since the main methods of destroying buildings will be weaker. As long as you build structures and pay attention to their health, you should be safe from item combos or from a huge metal machine bursting through your defenses while knocking you back.<\/p>

The v7.40 update will arrive tomorrow morning.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We break down why nerfs to the Hand Cannon, the Rocket Launcher, and Storming Planes matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":858,"featured_media":98106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gamurs_wordpress_blocks_hide_tags":true,"_is_affiliated":false,"dotesports_deal_href":"","dotesports_featured_video":"","_notify_users":1,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"invoiceable_action":[],"internal-label":[],"article_type":[],"coauthors":[{"id":858,"display_name":"Bhernardo Viana","user_login":"bhernardoviana","user_nicename":"bhernardo-viana"}],"class_list":["post-99559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fortnite"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFortnite: Understanding nerfs to Hand Cannon, Stormwing in v7.40 update - 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He's been working in the gaming industry for over 9 years, with works published on Destructoid, Prima Games, ESPN, and more. A fan of Pok\u00e9mon since 6 years old and an avid Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch player. 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Dot Esports","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/06190119\/hand-cannon-legendary-1021x580.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-12T12:09:06+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-15T04:39:12+00:00","description":"We break down why nerfs to the Hand Cannon, the Rocket Launcher, and Storming Planes matter.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/06190119\/hand-cannon-legendary-1021x580.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/06190119\/hand-cannon-legendary-1021x580.jpg","width":1021,"height":580,"caption":"Image via Epic Games"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/fortnite\/news\/fortnite-meta-7-40-update-nerfs-hand-cannon-stormwing#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How will Fortnite’s v7.40 balance adjustments affect the game?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","name":"Dot Esports","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization","name":"Dot Esports","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"Dot Esports"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8326f85b37139285df58b552544a651b","name":"Bhernardo Viana","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/5e906bd62490449517c97dd3098b9ca5","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86c0976ff438b239e078e5e2a2819e7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86c0976ff438b239e078e5e2a2819e7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","caption":"Bhernardo Viana"},"description":"Bhernardo is senior guides writer and strategist at Dot Esports. He's been working in the gaming industry for over 9 years, with works published on Destructoid, Prima Games, ESPN, and more. A fan of Pok\u00e9mon since 6 years old and an avid Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch player. Now writing strategy and quests guides for several mobile and PC titles.","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/bhernardo-viana"}]}},"raw_content":"Fortnite\u2019s v7.40 update has been postponed to Wednesday. Players will only have access to the update\u2019s full patch notes early tomorrow. But developer Epic Games revealed yesterday a few balance adjustments that are coming with that update. They include important changes to items that several Fortnite streamers and the community have been complaining about for the past week, and now Epic is catering to them all to some extent. After numerical adjustments to Rocket Launcher, Hand Cannon, and Stormwing, what really matters to players is how these numbers will affect gameplay. We break down for you how each of the v7.40 balance adjustments can impact Fortnite\u2019s current meta and how useful some items will be from now on. Rocket Launcher Rocket Launchers will be hit hard by the balance adjustments. Their reload time will be increased by 28 percent (from 2.52s to 3.24s) and they\u2019ll no longer be found in chests, only in Vending Machines and Supply Drops. That means Rocket Launchers will be more difficult to find and spam. Players will be vulnerable for longer when reloading them, which means it might be harder to launch several shots in a row without getting tagged by an opponent. This might make Supply Drops be contested more often by opponents since they\u2019ll likely carry a Rocket Launcher. But the weapon won\u2019t be as reliable as it has been. Hand Cannon The Hand Cannon has been a dominant weapon for destroying enemies\u2019 structures in a single shot. It's often used after shooting a rocket towards a wall an enemy is using as a cover. If you time it correctly, you can take down that wall to make the rocket fly past it before the opponent builds another one. And that\u2019s why the Hand Cannon\u2019s damage to structures will be reduced from 150 to 100. That\u2019s a very significant change, as the Hand Cannon will no longer be able to destroy metal walls in a single shot as soon as they are placed since they have 110 starting health. Also, it won\u2019t destroy wood walls in a single shot even after they reach their max 150 health. That means the Hand Cannon and Rocket combo will be harder to pull off, which might make the Hand Cannon a lot less mandatory against turtling enemies than it is now. X-4 Stormwing Plane The X-4 Stormwing plane is more than a vehicle. It has a mounted turret and can demolish structures when you boost through them. Well, not anymore. Planes will no longer smash structures under any circumstance. Trying to do so will only deal damage to your plane. This means players will be able to defend themselves from incoming planes by just building a wall if the opponent isn\u2019t shooting. It's a very annoying feature of X-4 Stormwings that will soon be gone, but it doesn\u2019t mean planes will be dead. They\u2019re still the fastest vehicle in Fortnite, and players can use them to surprise opponents by hopping off and gliding into a fight out of nowhere. After v7.40, it might still be worth it to use Stormwing Planes, but they will be less threatening to opponent's structures. These changes all add up to a build-oriented meta, since the main methods of destroying buildings will be weaker. As long as you build structures and pay attention to their health, you should be safe from item combos or from a huge metal machine bursting through your defenses while knocking you back. The v7.40 update will arrive tomorrow morning.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/06190119\/hand-cannon-legendary-1021x580.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99559"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/858"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99559"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=99559"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=99559"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=99559"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=99559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}