Epic tweaks BRUTE spawn rates but players are still unhappy

The BRUTE mech suit has proven to be Fortnite's most controversial in-game item, one players have consistently complained about since its debut on August 1 with the game's tenth season. The suit is overpowered, able to completely destroy anyone near it without any way to defend against it. Epic has finally responded to the controversy, but not in the way players were anticipating.

The BRUTE mech suit can fire rounds and also launch rockets ranging from one to several at a time. The suit is operated by two players, one who steers it and another who controls the weapons. Though it's fun for the person who manages to get control of the vehicle, it rains down destruction on everyone else, ruining the fun.

Players have called on Epic to remove the mech suit, but that's not happening. The vehicle remains available in all game modes, including Arena and in tournament games, stoking player frustration. In a post on the FortniteBR subreddit today, Epic revealed that it has tweaked the suit's spawn rate.

The spawn rate change only applies to Arena and Tournament matches, reducing the odds that certain numbers of mech suits will be spawned during each Storm circle:

Beginning of Match

- 21.5% chance that between 1-3 B.R.U.T.Es will spawn

- Previously was 100% chance that between 2-4 B.R.U.T.Es would spawn

Storm 1

- 44% chance that between 1-4 B.R.U.T.Es will spawn

- Previously was 100% chance that between 2-4 B.R.U.T.Es would spawn

Storm 2

- 40% chance that between 1-2 B.R.U.T.Es will spawn

- Previously was 100% chance that between 1-3 B.R.U.T.Es would spawn

Storm 3

- 40% chance that between 1-2 B.R.U.T.Es will spawn

- Previously was 66% chance that 2 B.R.U.T.Es would spawn

Storm 4

- 10% chance that 1 B.R.U.T.E will spawn

- Previously was 50% chance that 1 B.R.U.T.E would spawn

Storm 5

- 3% chance that 1 B.R.U.T.E will spawn

- Previously was 10% chance that 1 B.R.U.T.E would spawn

Players aren't happy as evidenced by the huge amount of complaints on Epic's Reddit post. Many are calling for the mech suit to be removed completely, while others want it to remain, but either isolated in its own Limited Time Mode or drastically altered so that players have a fighting chance against it.

The fact that Epic hasn't removed it — something it quickly did with the similarly overpowered Infinity Blade — may indicate that the vehicle will play a role in future game events or changes. That doesn't explain why Epic is keeping the vehicle in competitive gameplay modes, however.