Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, recently announced a temporary disabling of the Kinetic Blade in competitive playlists due to one specific issue. This announcement was made via the official Fortnite Status Twitter account.
Why was the Kinetic Blade disabled?
The question on every Fortnite enthusiast’s mind is – why has the Kinetic Blade been disabled? The answer is tied to the reason some players are getting banned.
Due to an issue, we've temporarily disabled the Kinetic Blade in tournament playlists.
We will provide an update when the Kinetic Blade has been re-enabled. pic.twitter.com/KTkWztXRCp
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) May 22, 2023
To illustrate, we can examine user FNBRIntel’s tweet. This user explained how to exploit a glitch with the Kinetic Blade that allowed players to eliminate anyone from any range:
- Players must be in the open for this exploit to work.
- Disconnect Wi-Fi and dash to the players. You can use the slice feature repeatedly until you’ve done 200 damage.
- Reconnect Wi-Fi, and you’ll be teleported back and granted the elimination.
This user even posted a video demonstrating the exploit.
The most significant aspect of this glitch is that it offers no indication or warning to the player being attacked. Hence, the consensus on Twitter was that this glitch would lead to the temporary disabling of the Kinetic Blade, much like the Shockwave Hammer glitch from last season.
How to kill anyone from any range with the Kinetic Blade:
1) Players must be in the open for this to work.
2) Disconnect wifi and dash to the players, you can use the slice feature reputedly until you feel like you've done 200 damage.
3) Reconnect wifi and you'll be… pic.twitter.com/oKGwB8bGUC— FNBRintel (@FNBRintel) May 21, 2023
Surprisingly, the disabling only applies to tournament modes or ranked games. The decision to exclude the katana from these modes but not from normal games such as solos, duos, and squads has raised some eyebrows.
Consequences of the Exploit
- One silver lining to this situation is that players who have used or are planning to use this glitch will face bans. Fortnite has already started issuing bans for this exploit.
- The ban screen message reads, “This account has been banned due to recent actions on your account. You have been banned for exploiting. Ban length is 23 hours.” Repeat offenders may face a permanent ban.
Epic have now started issuing bans to anyone that used the katana exploit. #Fortnite pic.twitter.com/SEuiJ5Q65v
— FNBRintel (@FNBRintel) May 22, 2023
It’s crucial to note that exploiting this glitch could result in losing your entire account. Hence, it is advised not to risk it.
Kinetic Blade Banned on Ranked Games
The good news is that the disabling only affects the tournament playlists, presumed to be the ranked games. A quick test of a live solo match confirmed that the Kinetic Blade is still available there. Likewise, it’s reasonable to assume that it would be available in-game modes like Team Rumble.
Kinetic Blade’s Future
The current disabling and banning situation mainly affects users on Wi-Fi. Users with a wired connection are less likely to be impacted. However, anyone attempting to cheat the system should be wary.
A Rare Kinetic Blade has been added! With identical damage to the Epic Kinetic Blade, this Rare counterpart has only two Kinetic Dash charges. #Fortnite pic.twitter.com/s2AxO6hJtP
— Fortnite News (@FortniteBR) April 11, 2023
Currently, the Kinetic Blade is still available in normal game modes. However, given the recent events, it wouldn’t be surprising if the blade eventually gets disabled across all modes. It remains to be seen how Fortnite will address and fix this issue. However, the hope is for a quick resolution, as the Kinetic Blade in a ranked game mode can be very beneficial.
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