The Shotgun Striker was removed only a few hours after it was released (pic: Epic Games/Metro.co.uk)



One out of the five new reality augments added to Fortnite with update v23.20 has already been removed from the game. 



Besides introducing the Falcon Scout item to the battle royale mode of Fortnite, Epic Games also added five new reality augments in the latest update.



Reality augments  are a new gameplay mechanic that was introduced in Chapter 4 Season 1 and are essentially the game’s version of player perks.   



After update v23.20 the total number of augments went up to 27, as the season kicked off with 22, but problems have forced Epic Games to remove one. 



The problematic augment was one of the two new syphon-related additions, which give you the ability to drain health and shields from your opponents. 



It’s called Shotgun Striker and it gives your shotgun the ability to steal health from anyone you hit with it. 



Although Epic Games hasn’t given a reason for disabling the augment, many players speculated that it’s because it could prove too powerful. 



Once activated, you can farm unlimited amounts of health and shields, essentially becoming immortal if you play your cards right. 



Some players even went as far as shooting their own teammates to survive, which likely wasn’t what Epic Games intended. 



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Typically, you can’t harm your teammates in Fortnite, but for some reason the Shotgun Striker augment didn’t abide by this rule. 



As the perk was also made available in competitive playlists, it makes sense for Epic Games to remove it entirely from Fortnite, even if only temporarily, to prevent players from further exploiting it. 



The good news is that, at the same time, Deku’s well-liked Smash ability has been re-enabled in Fortnite, after being removed from the game almost a month ago. 



Deku was added to Fortnite as part of the new My Hero Academia collaboration, alongside other characters such as All Might and Katsuki Bakugo. 



Hopefully, it won’t take as long for the Shotgun Striker augment to reappear in Fortnite, though you can always pick the Rarity Check one to gain a similar boost. 




HUGE BUG WITH NEW SIPHON PERK You can gain Health and Shield from shotgunning your teammate with the new “Shotgun Striker” perk… @FortniteStatus please disable and fix 🙏 pic.twitter.com/NGVzNWNLAT — NRG Aussie Antics (@AussieAntics) January 18, 2023




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