Have you been playing Fortnite recently and been absolutely hating the influx of mythical weapons that keep killing you instantly? Well, I’m happy to report that you may have a new fearsome champion on your side, and her name is Doja Cat. Yes, everyone’s favorite alternative rap girlie is a certified hater of waterbending in Fortnite, and I don’t have the gall to oppose her.
The famous rapper (and occasional gamer) took to Twitter recently to talk her shit about some of Fortnite’s recent changes. It started when Doja apparently tweeted a criticism of Fortnite’s waterbending ability, which was added to the game in the ongoing season to complement the introduction of a Legend of Korra skin and an Avatar: The Last Airbender event that concluded earlier this month. Doja has since deleted the tweet, but quote-tweeted a response to it and said, “IM HAVING A FUCKING MELTDOWN” before launching into a thorougly entertaining tirade about the feature.
According to the responses Doja received, she isn’t exactly alone in hating on waterbending, which appears in the game as a Mythic weapon, and thus is more highly valued and powerful than the average gun. Fortnite frequently introduces weapons like these in tandem with tie-in events, to mixed results. Early on in Fortnite’s lifetime, it added the Infinity Blade from the titular mobile Epic Games title, which could destroy structures and obliterate players in one fell swoop. Some folks really enjoyed the obviously busted nature of the weapon, while others were critical of its inclusion in a competitive game, since it threw off the game’s balance and, they argued, nearly guaranteed victory with little to no skill necessary.
It seems that Doja believes this is the current problem with Fortnite and waterbending, which may have been seen by some as a novelty weapon when it was first introduced. Now, it appears that it has perhaps overstayed its welcome. In Doja’s own words, “YOU ARE NOT GOOD AT THE GAME BECAUSE OF WATER BENDING, I WOULD BECOME SEVERELY DEPRESSED IF I HAD TO RELY ON ANY OF THESE STUPID NON FUCKING WEAPONS.”
Disgruntled players have taken to Doja Cat’s replies with the rest of their Fortnite-related woes, which seem to be tied to the ongoing season’s Greek theme and the ridiculous power-ups that came with it, including the explosive Thunderbolt of Zeus. One such player responded, “deadass u a pussy if u use water bending, chains, or the thunderbolt,” though Doja didn’t entirely ascribe to the same notion. Instead, she quote tweeted them to say she thought the thunderbolt was “fine,” and shared a similar sentiment about the season’s Wings of Icarus ability too.
While players routinely have their reservations and complaints about games, it does seem like constantly shifting live-service titles such as Fortnite bear the brunt of these criticisms these days. At times, it can be exciting to play games like it and Helldivers 2, which introduce new features, locales, or story beats on a weekly and monthly basis, and fans of these games often eat it up and praise the teams who make it all happen. In the case of Fortnite, though, it seems like its current season doesn’t really resemble the game that players initially invested in, which is par for the course when a game’s M.O. is to constantly change its core DNA to match the moment and the demands of players. If it didn’t change, Fortnite’s fan base would be the first to dub it a dead and stagnant game, making the core issue a complex and thorny one, not to mention kind of self-inflicted.
In other Fortnite-related news, Epic just announced that the game’s latest in a never ending string of collaborations will be with Fallout, which has been enjoying a great deal of success following the wonderful TV adaptation that debuted last month.