Going through the Fortnite subreddit and comments on TikTok, a chunk of the player base dislikes mythics and thinks they’re overpowered. While some mythic items like the water-bending scroll from the Legend of Korra/Avatar the Last Airbender collab, can be very broken, most are not. The issue also is not entirely skill-related, or a coding issue, the real problem with mythic items and medallions is loot options aren’t always the best combination for a season. 

Here’s why:

This season adds a ton of Marvel-inspired mythics, all of which can be fun for players. Did some of these items have issues at the start of the season, absolutely, however, a lot of these issues have loot-based solutions. Loot-based solutions mean that there are vaulted items that could offer ways to counter the mythics in this season. 

War Machine Mythics Hypothetical Counters

The War Machine Arsenal is designed to turn a player into War Machine. A player with a full set of the War Machine mythics would have, an auto turret, a jet pack, and the gauntlets with room for two more items. In Zero Build running into someone with this setup can seem unfair, however, items from last season would offer hard counters for these mythics. EMP Grenades would be the best counter for the entire War Machine Arsenal. 

The EMPs have already been used to shut down auto and business turrets, vehicles, and drop player shields. It’s rather surprising that EMPs were taken out at the end of last season when they would have been a hard counter to War Machines’s arsenal. 

For anyone saying that it might be unfair to shut down a mythic, the EMPs ideally would only disable the missile and HUD, with the machine guns still available for fire. The full arsenal also leaves 2 slots open for weapons or healing items, so a player would just swap weapons quickly to continue fighting an opponent that uses EMPs. 

Vehicle mods should have also remained in this season of Fortnite, to offer more ways to counter the DPS-heavy mythic items. Turrets on vehicles would give even solo players a chance to return just as much heavy fire as the War Machine Gauntlets. Turrets would also offer a way to remain in cover while knocking a jet pack user out of the sky.

Captain America Shield Hypothetical Counter

The next mythic I’ve seen a lot of discourse over is the Captain America Shield. Now, I do agree at launch, the shield was overpowered. It was a tiny shield that covered a player’s full body, so players couldn’t damage opponents’ legs that were very exposed. It would also clip through metal walls and terrain. However, with the recent nerfs the shield is a lot better balance-wise.

A way to offer a counter to the shield-blocking abilities and range would first require completely changing the Emma Frost Medallion. Now this is a personal opinion, but as someone familiar with Emma Frost’s character in the Marvel Universe, it does not make sense to pair her with a tracking ability.

“But she’s a telepath-” I know, but stick with me. While battling Emma Frost to get her Reveal Medallion, she does the diamond skin shield effect. This should have been her medallion effect. This hypothetical medallion would work similarly to the chrome splash from earlier seasons. A player would be able to either gain an extra shield bar, regen shields quickly or have a temporary lock on their shield (similar to the nitro splash effect with sprint). This would be a great way to counter the shield damage and some of the damage from the war machine items. 

Now I do think the Reveal Medallion is very useful, and not overly overpowered, especially when opponents can be in the air.  If Taskmaster was added as a fourth area boss, the reveal medallion would work as a drop from that boss. Taskmaster would have also opened up the season to some fun side quests, going off of other games, with the character. 

Mythics That Need Buffs

While conversations typically focus on balancing and nerfing mythic items, some items this season do not need any changes or buffs. 

The medallion that needs a boost in my opinion would be the Stealth Medallion you get from Mysterio. You can only really use it at a distance semi-effectively due to players being able to see an outline of an invisible player up close. You also can’t shoot while invisible, and get pinged with the current Tracker medallion.

 The Mysterio Stealth Medallion should either A not be affected by trackers, but visible with thermal scopes, or B trackable but give players the ability to shoot while invisible. Either of these changes would significantly increase the use of this medallion.

Doom’s Arcane Gauntlets and pistol, are the most balanced mythic items of the season, even though I rarely see them used in games. This balance comes from the fact that there is only one version of Doom’s monarch pistol and one set of Doom Arcane Gauntlets, plus the medallion is the basic siphon, so most weapons can easily counter these at range. 

Final Thoughts on Mythics in Fortnite

Overall this season of Fortnite has a lot of fun weapons to use, and there are still more to come according to the season trailer. Players have come up with creative load-outs and ways to combat mythic items in the meantime, and the game has received several patches to better balance these items as well. With more items coming to the game it will be interesting to see how the new items work.