Fortnite's no-aim-required lock-on assault rifle is an all-time stinker, and I hope Epic vaults it into oblivion

Fortnite is hard when your crosshair sways like a drunk sailor on rough seas. Victory royales are rare. Every lobby has one or two players who could've turned pro, probably, definitely, judging by the way they land headshots and judge their shockwave jumps. Just making the final five is an achievement.

But that challenge means winning is a joy. I've been playing since launch and my heart still pounds in the final zone—earning a victory crown leaves me on a high for a good hour knowing that I, somehow, have outplayed 99 other people (well, perhaps 49 other people, and 50 bots).

So how much easier would it be if you didn't have to aim?

That's the question posed by the Lock On assault rifle, a weapon added in Chapter 7 that commits the dual sins of feeling weak when you use it and annoying when you fight against it.

As the name suggests, if you aim in the vague direction of an enemy it locks onto them. It happens in four stages, four pips around your crosshair, each representing a three-round burst of the rifle: if you pull the trigger after stage two, you'll hit them with two bursts but if you wait for the full lock on, you'll land four.

It isn't overpowered. It deals just 10 damage per bullet at its base rarity so if you fully lock on you'll deal 120 damage. By that point your enemy knows where you are and can evade, build, or hide behind cover before you have time to charge it up again.

I still think it's bad game design.

Instinctively, it feels tailor-made for beginners or for those who struggle with their aim. As long as your position is strong and your crosshair is vaguely near your enemy, you'll hit your shots. But it doesn't work on those terms. Its damage is so low that you'll lose basically every time against any other rifle. Even if you land a few bursts, your enemy can turn and finish you off.

Yes, if you can get the drop on an opponent then you're immediately at a 100 health-point advantage—but if you're catching your opponent unawares they're likely an easy target anyway. You may as well fire with the Deadeye assault rifle and carry on firing. Even if your aim wavers, you'll deal more damage.

I think its true purpose is as a finishing weapon that can hit wounded opponents as they try to escape through the air. We know that Epic believes Fortnite has a "combat fleeing issue" and that shockwaves make it too easy to "escape an engagement". The Lock On is a direct counter to defensive shockwaves, allowing you to drop weakened enemies out of the sky.

But isn't that a bit unfair? Mobility items should make you difficult to hit, a well-placed shockwave grenade should give you a chance to escape. Otherwise, what's the point? By allowing shots to land for free, this rifle eliminates the thrill of recovering from a disadvantage, of turning a 1v1 on its head.

And besides, Epic has already nerfed the fan-favorite shockwaves by shrinking their stack size from six to four, so you already have to think harder before throwing them. Now, you need to worry about aimbots beaming you too.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the Lock On, however, is getting ambushed when you're fighting a different enemy. Getting third-partied in Fortnite, particularly in solo modes, is already frustrating because it feels like you're being penalised for being aggressive: by taking fights you're alerting nearby players to your location, allowing them to swoop and finish you while you're distracted. With the Lock On, that requires precisely zero skill. As long as you have line of sight you can wait for enemies to whittle each other down and then pounce.

I worry about the kind of playstyle the rifle encourages, and its wider effect on how 100 players play battle royale. It is not good enough to be a primary weapon, and it won't help up close like a shotgun will, so you really have to carry it as a third weapon instead of, say, an extra mobility item.

If everyone did that, rounds would be less dynamic and less active. The optimum way to use this rifle is to camp at a safe distance and pounce when an enemy's back is turned—or, conversely, to combine it with Fortnite to simply jump around the map, pinging enemies from the sky without having to aim.

Thankfully, the community seems to be shunning it. Everyone on the game's subreddit is annoyed by it, and I rarely encounter players who want to carry it. That's when you know it's time for a rethink.

The Lock On assault rifle is too weak to help newer players—and too annoying to make any stronger. The only thing it needs is to be stuffed at the very back of Fortnite's vault, never to be seen again.