Fortnite's Chapter 7 loot pool is a blueprint for battle royale going forward: balanced, lethal, and flexible

I love a good moan about Fortnite: about Epic Games vaulting my beloved shockwave grenades, about the sorry state of SMGs, and about a baffling update adding off-brand weapons.

So I should give credit where credit's due. Through careful buffs and bringing back some older weapons, Epic Games has curated the best loot pool in ages.

I felt very differently a month ago. I loved Chapter 7's varied map, but one weapon—the Deadeye AR—dominated. No other rifle came close. SMGs were as irrelevant as they have been for most of the past year, and the sole sniper only felt viable in a three-weapon loadout alongside the Deadeye and a shotgun.

What a difference a few weeks can make. I took a chunk of time off as paternity leave and I've returned to find that bad weapons are suddenly good and that a new red-dot rifle, the MK-seven, is challenging the Deadeye's supremacy.

The most meaningful change has been to SMGs. Epic has ditched the fast-firing Dual Micro SMGs to focus on the Holo and Flex SMGs, buffing the damage and magazine size on both weapons. The Holo always had potential because of its optic, which made it easier to aim—now, it's finally fulfilling that potential as a stable, high-damage, full-auto weapon that shines over short-to-medium ranges. Its 200 damage-per-second means that when I've played a little stealthy and caught opponents napping, I've obliterated them before they know what's happening.

It's so good that for certain players it's worth ditching the Deadeye assault rifle. The Holo's damage fall-off makes it struggle at mid-to-long ranges but if you can control sightlines, slip in and out of cover and get close to another player, you'll beat the Deadeye in a straight fight.

The Flex got a similar buff and while I still prefer the Holo, the Flex is a more… well, flexible weapon. Its rapid hipfire sprays through builds and when you right click, it fires slower but deals more damage, and is surprisingly accurate at range. Its new larger magazine means you can theoretically deal more than 200 damage per second for more than four seconds before reloading. Lethal.

And this is all happening while Epic has added zero-gravity Flowberry items, the champagne-spray Fizz and the Mist Grenade. These make you more mobile and reward the agile playstyle that SMGs necessitate.

These SMGs buffs also bring the Deadeye sniper into play. It's still a middling rifle, and I'd love to see Epic try a one-shot-headshot beast, but it's now a lot easier to justify carrying. Before, it only really worked as a third weapon alongside the Deadeye and a shotgun. Now a sniper and SMG is a lethal combo, leaving you enough loadout slots to carry both the wing suit and shockwave grenades alongside heals. Pop shots from distance and shockwave in for the kill with your SMG—or, if you miss your sniper shots, fly to a better position with the wingsuit.

Mini buffs to other weapons including the tactical pistol and the tactical assault rifle have shrunk the gap between the handful of S-tier weapons—the Deadeye, the Iron Pump shotgun, the Twin Hammer shotguns—and everything else. And the MK-seven, another red-dot assault rifle, will outdamage the Deadeye, albeit with more recoil.

It genuinely feels like there are now a dozen solid weapons. One glance at our top-heavy best weapons tier list will tell you that, and the two weapons I rate lowest, the Enforcer assault rifle and Sovereign shotgun, are only low-ranked because of how strong the alternatives are.

The only sore spot for me is the Lock On assault rifle. God, I hate that thing.

As the name suggests, it automatically locks onto enemies when you aim down sights in their direction and, after a short pause, you squeeze the trigger for a three round burst that can't miss. I get why it's in the loot pool: to help players with worse aim. But it just feels unfair when you're killed by it, and I think it's actually too powerful in the hands of movement demons who can shockwave around the map and blast you in mid-air without having to aim. In my view the Arc Lightning gun, which has a forgiving cone of fire but limited range and slows your movement, is a better-designed weapon.

But one rotten drop in a pool this large is completely forgivable. Wallow in the warm water before it drains.