Fortnite fans will get a bit of a surprise when logging into the store tonight. There are no featured epic or legendary items to be found, but instead a rare and uncommon that will have players drooling all the same.
First and foremost we have the return of the classic scythe, originally paired with the old school Skull Trooper which was also brought back this month for the Halloween season. While the return of Skull Trooper and the arrival of Skull Ranger did come with a new, updated scythe, everyone has been clamoring for the old one all the same, due to its rarity, sound effects and the fact that you can cancel it mid-swing to mine slightly faster (which may have been patched by this point?). Needless to say, for 800 V-bucks, a ton of people are going to be picking it up today.
Next we have the arrival of Male Ghoul Trooper, or what he’s actually called, “Braniac.” He’s an uncommon skin because he’s pretty much just a default skin re-colored to look vaguely like a zombie, but honestly he shows no real signs of wear and tear, so he looks more like the Incredible Hulk. He’s meant to be a counterpart to the female Ghoul Trooper skin, which looks like someone badly painted zombie makeup on a default skin, but she is extremely rare, sold only last Halloween, so players want her to return all the same. With the arrival of the old scythe, original Ghoul Trooper is now literally the only Halloween cosmetic not to reappear yet, but since Epic enjoys printing money, I doubt that we will escape her in the store before Fortnitemares is over.
Of course the thing about bringing back all these long lost rare items is that it sort of instantly destroys what made them so appealing in the first place. Once everyone has Skull Trooper, the scythe and Ghoul Trooper, they’re no longer rare relics of Fortnite that only OGs have (minus special Skull Trooper coloring), they’re just…kind of below average skins. I mean that’s fine, and I understand why Epic brings them back, but once they do, that mystique is gone.
I’ll probably be skipping both of these and saving my 1,600 V-bucks for 80% of a legendary Day of the Dead skin which should be coming out soon. I’m just not hooked by this “nostalgia” factor for these super old and not-great skins/items, though I understand I am not the majority opinion of the 400 people who comment “bring back X” under every Fortnite post on social media.
Are you picking up the scythe and Braniac? Let me know.
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