The only constant in Fortnite is change. That applies to nearly everything in the battle royale: the map, mechanics and even the XP leveling system. Every new season brings a new way for players to level up. Learning that new system can feel needlessly frustrating.
“I hate it so much, especially after the last season where XP was handed out like candy. The change is jarring and just sours everything,” Redditor ChaosEmerald92 said. “I can’t imagine how stressful it will be later on in levels.”
Fortnite Season 8’s XP system reintroduced punch cards for how the battle royale doles out challenges. There are 16 NPCs on the map, each giving out five of quests with thousands of XP. There are no other challenges in the game right now, although Epic has said that there are more NPCs and challenges to come.
The developer did add a new NPC today named Wrath, but the addition hardly addressed player concerns.
Fortnite Season 8’s XP grind isn’t looking good
Season 8 has only been out for a week and some change, so it’s clear that these players are hungry to level up as quickly as possible. Previous Fortnite XP systems gave players season-long challenges that they could grind towards at any time. Season 8 doesn’t have that and players are hardly patient enough to give Epic a chance to change course.
Players can still use Fortnite Creative to get extra XP, but they’ve found another way to grind through their battle pass. Epic Games copied Innersloth last month by releasing Fortnite Impostors; a carbon copy of the deception party game Among Us.
Once all the punchcards have been completed, there is nothing players can do to earn extra XP during a standard game of the battle royale. They’ve had to turn to lying through their teeth in a game that had nothing to do with the battle royale before last month.
“You don’t get crap for actually playing the game, it’s crazy,” Redditor xcrimsonlegendx said. “You could win back to back games and still get a fraction of what you’d get for just playing a match of imposters.”
We've noticed that XP gained in Battle Royale this season isn't where we'd like it to be and are making a variety of improvements.
We'll update everyone on 9/28 with the changes we're making. Thanks for playing Season 8! pic.twitter.com/OP2xWgnVpV
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) September 21, 2021
Imposters, although recently patched by Epic, gives players around 10,000 XP per match. Before the nerf, it gave players upwards of 20,000 XP, or a quarter of the XP required to level up this season.
Season 8 also brought changes to Team Rumble. Players no longer can complete challenges in the Deathmatch mode, which was the go-to method for players who aren’t as skilled at the standard battle royale mode. While the company didn’t mention Team Rumble, Epic said it plans to make changes to the current system.
“We’ve noticed that XP gained in Battle Royale this season isn’t where we’d like it to be and are making a variety of improvements,” Epic said in a tweet. “We’ll update everyone on Sept. 28 with the changes we’re making.”
That should hopefully satisfy players who view the battle royale’s leveling system and Battle Pass as a way to earn bragging rights among their friends. To them, the goal is to reach level 300 long before the season is over .
