The "Tap-to-Deal" Trap: Building a Special Weapon Island

Stop letting your friends one-shot you with basic attacks. If you’re tired of boring combat where clicking left mouse button is all that matters, it’s time to break the rules. We’re going to build a custom weapon that looks like a hammer but deals zero damage on a normal swing. Instead, you have to time your jumps or hold down the special attack button to actually hurt anything. It’s the ultimate test of skill (and patience) for anyone who thinks they’re too good for standard Fortnite combat.

What You'll Learn

• The Melee Designer: How to use a device to create a custom weapon that doesn’t exist in the standard loot pool.
• Attack Types: The difference between a "Basic Attack" (M1) and a "Special/Jump Attack," and how to separate their damage values.
• Item Granting: How to give your custom weapon to players using an Item Granter.
• Game Loop Logic: Setting up a simple arena where the only way to win is to master the "special" mechanic.

How It Works

In standard Fortnite, your weapon is a black box: you click, it shoots, they take damage. In UEFN, we can open that black box using the Melee Designer.

Think of a Variable as a stat on your character’s health bar—it changes during the game. In this tutorial, we are dealing with two specific variables attached to our weapon:

1. Basic Attack Damage: This is what happens when you tap the fire button (M1). Usually, this is high.
2. Special/Jump Attack Damage: This is what happens when you hold the fire button or jump while attacking.

Most weapons have both set to "good numbers." We are going to set Basic Attack Damage to 0. This means if your opponent just taps you with a normal swing, nothing happens. It’s like hitting a wall with a feather. To deal damage, the player must perform a Special Attack or a Jump Attack. This forces players to move, jump, and time their inputs rather than just spamming left-click.

We will use an Item Granter as the "Drop Zone." This device is like the Battle Bus—it delivers loot. We’ll configure it to give out our custom "Tap-to-Deal" hammer. Finally, we’ll use Creature Placers as target dummies so you can test if your weapon actually works without killing your friends.

Let's Build It

Here is the step-by-step build. No coding required for this specific mechanic—it’s all device configuration—but understanding why we set these numbers is key to building more complex weapons later.

Step 1: The Arena

Build a small, raised 3x3 platform. This is your "kill box." If you fall off, you lose. Keep it tight so players are forced to engage.

Step 2: The Custom Weapon (Melee Designer)

1. Place a Melee Designer device anywhere in your island (it can be hidden).
2. In the details panel, set the Initial Weapon to Hammer.
3. Click into the Basic Attack settings:
   • Set Damage - Players to 0.
   • Set Damage - AI to 0.
   • Why? This neutralizes the tap-to-kill meta.
4. Click into the Special Attack settings:
   • Set Damage - Players to 50 (or whatever balance you want).
   • Set Damage - AI to 50.
5. Click into the Jump Attack settings:
   • Set Damage - Players to 75.
   • Set Damage - AI to 75.
6. Set Rarity to Epic (just for the purple glow, because everyone likes purple).

Step 3: The Loot Drop (Item Granter)

1. Place an Item Granter on your platform.
2. In the details panel, under Item, select Melee Designer.
3. Under Give On, select Start (if you want them to have it immediately) or On Trigger (if you want to press a button to give it). For this tutorial, let’s just give it on Start for simplicity, or better yet, place it in a container or just let players pick it up if you’ve enabled item spawning.
   • Correction: Actually, the easiest way for a beginner is to place the Melee Designer in the world, but to give it to players, we usually rely on the Item Granter granting the custom melee asset.
   • Simpler Approach for Beginners: Since configuring the Item Granter to grant a custom melee from a Melee Designer can be tricky with variables, let’s use the Melee Designer as a "Station."
   • Revised Step 3: Place a Player Spawner on the platform. When players spawn, they start with nothing. Place a Melee Designer on the platform. Set it to "Grant on Start" if available, or simply tell players: "Walk up to the Hammer and press E to equip."
   • Actually, the most robust beginner method: Use the Melee Designer device. Set it to Grant on Start. This means when the game starts, everyone gets this custom hammer.

Step 4: The Targets (Creature Placers)

1. Place three Creature Placers around the arena.
2. Set them to Zombie or Raven (anything easy to hit).
3. Set them to Passive so they don’t attack you back immediately.

Step 5: Test It

Play your island. Try to hit a Zombie with a normal tap. It does 0 damage. Now, jump and hit it. It does 75 damage. You’ve just created a weapon that requires skill to use.

Try It Yourself

Challenge: Modify your "Special Weapon" so that it only works when you are in the air.

Hint: Look at the Jump Attack settings in the Melee Designer. Can you set the Basic Attack damage to 0 (which you already did) and the Special Attack (grounded) damage to 0 as well? Leave only the Jump Attack damage as a positive number. Now, if you don’t jump, you can’t kill anyone!

Recap

You’ve built a weapon that breaks the standard "tap-to-kill" loop by decoupling the Basic Attack from damage. By setting Basic Attack damage to 0 and reserving damage for Special/Jump attacks, you force players to engage with the movement mechanics of Fortnite. This is the foundation of custom weapon design: understanding that every attack type is a separate variable you can control.

References

• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/using-melee-designer-devices-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/38-00-fortnite-ecosystem-updates-and-release-notes
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/using-melee-designer-devices-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/lego-asset-inventory-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/37-10-fortnite-ecosystem-updates-and-release-notes