The Fortified perk is the classic Flak Jacket perk from Call of Duty’s past in Vanguard multiplayer. When players equip it, they gain extra protection against explosive damage and quicker health regeneration when hit by an explosive. While the description might make players think they won’t die from nearly as many grenades or rockets, that hasn’t been the case so far.
Instead, players who are running Fortified in Vanguard are experiencing some lackluster performance. The perk doesn’t seem to do enough against explosive damage, as players still die continuously. This is especially the case in Hardcore playlists, where players can still die easily despite running the perk. This has led to players asking Sledgehammer Games for a buff to the Fortified perk in multiplayer.
Players want a Fortified buff in Vanguard
In some previous Call of Duty games, the Fortified-type perk was actually too strong. Players reported that getting launcher kills in core and hardcore playlists was too difficult due to players having the explosion damage perk equipped. This was the case last year with Black Ops Cold War. Players could hit an enemy with a rocket launcher on Hardcore Nuketown and get a hitmaker if the player was running Flak Jacket.
Now, the tides are completely reversed in Vanguard. The player base feels that Fortified doesn’t feature enough protection. Or, as one player on reddit simply stated, the perk “definitely needs a buff.” This player went on to explain that when they play Hardcore on the map Das Haus, they get killed instantly by rocket launchers across the map.
There needs to be a fundamental change to the fortified perk
byu/LordofDog inCODVanguard
“I spawn into a game of hardcore das Haus and, the second I spawn in, I get blown up and there is quite literally no counter to it at this point in time,” the player said. They also brought up a good point about countering explosives. Without an effective Fortified perk, there’s no counter to players using explosive weapons/equipment.
This player even ran their own test to see how effective Fortified is. With the perk equipped along with the Armor Plate Field Upgrade, they claimed they still died in one hit to the MK11 launcher. There may be a case to be made for Sledgehammer Games giving the Fortified perk some extra protection stats. If not, maps like Das Haus will continue to be dominated by rocket launchers and other explosives.
