A very interesting item was introduced in update 18.40, which heralded a completely new mechanic.
At this point, Fortnite is in the 19.01 cycle. Three updates ago, in 18.40, which is before the start of the new season, Epic was working on a new option – throwing axes at opponents. Everyone was convinced that this would be a new mechanic for Chapter 3.
In the end, nothing has come out of it, or at least so far nothing is known about whether something like this would enter the game. The item has been removed, but that doesn’t mean it will never come back.
Like in God of War
The mechanics of the axe were very interesting. It could be thrown at opponents. According to leaks, the axe itself in the files was only a placeholder, and the throwing mechanics would apply to all pickaxes, including those that the players themselves have.
The damage would remain the same, i.e. hitting an enemy would take 20 health points. Then the pickaxe would return to the player.
Why add something like this? Apparently, the developers wanted to somehow spice up these early stages of the game, when people don’t have weapons yet, land on two different ends of the roof, and fight.
For now, this mechanic is considered removed. So it seems that the idea was simply abandoned.