Fortnite has a plethora of cosmetic items. For every outfit, there are back blings, harvesting tools, and other items that compliment the set. With more than 50% of the skins being collaborative, the developers have managed to bring other iconic cosmetic items to the game as well.

A harvesting tool is one such item. While the tool doesn't get the recognition that it deserves, any Fortnite game is incomplete without it. It is the primary tool in a player's inventory that helps forage material and can also double up as a weapon. There are more than 800 different harvesting tools in the game.

The Fortnite community is infamous for scrutinizing each and every cosmetic item and labeling it either as pay-to-win or pay-to-lose. As the name suggests, any cosmetic item that offers functionality and justifies its price tag is deemed pay-to-win. If not, it is called pay-to-lose.

While the majority of the cosmetic items fall under either of these categories, there are a few that come under none. One such item is the Sludgehammer Harvesting Tool. A triple threat, this particular harvesting tool has a unique ability to turn into a slegehammer, axe, and pickaxe. There is no other harvesting tool in Fortnite that can match this.

Introduced in Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 1, the Sludgehammer was part of the Battle Pass and could be unlocked upon reaching level 38. The Sludgehammer is a re-skin of the pickaxe and has followed the same style cues and design language. Since it was part of the Battle Pass, it costs 950 V-Bucks.

Part of the slurp series, this harvesting tool has two different edit styles in addition to the default slurp style. Players can wield this pickaxe in three different color styles. While this tool has been in the game for at least two years now, the Fortnite community is still unable to place it in a category.

Although the harvesting tool does transform into three different cosmetic items, it doesn't provide any tactical advantage over other pickaxes. However, players do get multiple items for the cost of one. It is this unique property that has rendered the players perplexed and made it impossible to place it in either of the categories.

Generally, when pickaxes are placed in the pay-to-win category, they often provide an unmitigated advantage to the players. It can range from faster swing action to unusal edge, like translating footsteps into visual signifiers. For instance, Dragon Rune Lance was one such pickaxe. It muted the players' footsteps and even prevented them from showing up in the form of visual sound effects.

Pay-to-win cosmetics are generally glitched and are often disabled by the developers to prevent players from gaining an unwanted advantage. Such glitches do not last. Once the developers find out about the malfunction, the item is generally disabled until it is fixed. In the past, there have been instances where the developers had to disable certain cosmetic items from competitive gaming.

Irrespective of its capacity to justify the price tag, the Sludgehammer is one unique pickaxe and a total bargain.

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