Fortnite is one of the most famous battle royale games on PC, PS4, PS5, and Android. Being a popular game among a large age group and with amazing cross-overs from a variety of characters from the pop culture world, Fortnite has almost become a platform and not just a game. The most distinguishing feature of Fortnite battle royale is the ability to build. Unlike most battle royale games, Fortnite does not just focus on shooting, the ability to build ramps, walls, towers, etc. revolutionizes the classic battle royale experience. You can use this building mechanism offensively and defensively.
So to get better at Fortnite, you need to know how to use this unique skill in game to your advantage. From shooting, building, and strategizing, we have here everything you need to know to get leagues better at Fortnite and get yourself a Victory Royale!
We will categorize these tips into three sections of building, shooting and Playstyle. First, let’s start with building.
Building
Building in Fortnite is a prerequisite to becoming a pro in this Battle Royale game. Using your builds appropriately can help you both defend yourself from bullets or escape from a tough situation and it can even be used to drive your opponent in a corner. Here are all the building tips you need to know.
Basics first
If you are a beginner, you need to familiarise yourself with the four basic structures.
- The ramp is used to gain some height on your opponent or reaching greater heights.
- The wall is the most basic structure to put something in between you and your enemies. It can act as your cover from snipers when you are trying to reach them.
- The horizontal mat can act as a floor or a roof for making a bigger structure.
- The cone can hide you if you crouch and build it on yourself, you can also use it as an extra line of defense.
All these basic structures can be further edited individually to create openings to shoot or baits for your enemies.
Resources to build
When you land on the map at the beginning of the game, the only thing you have in your backpack is your pickaxe. You can use it to eliminate players (and get a legacy in every season), but more importantly, you can efficiently farm resources from building structures. You can farm wood, stone, and metal. Wood is the easiest to farm, as it takes the least amount of time and you receive a higher quantity from the source. Metal takes a relatively long time to farm, with stone falling in between wood & metal. Building these basic structures with wood also takes the least time but they can be knocked down easily. On the other hand, metal takes the longest time but is tough to knock down. Each of the 4 basic structures takes 10 pieces to build.
Building Skills
Building structures in Fortnite is a skill, one that you won’t master in a single day. With repeated practice of constructing basic structures, you will soon adapt and the building will become a reflex action. As the saying goes “Practice makes a man perfect”, this applies to everything including your building skills! At first, you may have to consciously build each structure and its proper placement, but after a while, you will be able to create a high tower in the blink of an eye.
Useful builds
Just building a ramp won’t be enough as if someone shoots the structure behind you, you will take fall damage and might be eliminated on the spot. Creating durable structures can ensure they serve their purpose for a longer time. Here are some decent builds you can use to get an edge on your enemies:
- You can build a more durable version of the ramp by placing a wall below the end of the ramp. This increases the durability as your opponent will have to shoot down the wall first and then the ramp to hit you.
- Even better you could add a floor and a wall for every ramp (looks like a triangle from the side). This is especially better to keep you safe at higher heights as just the wall in front would leave the ramp exposed from below.
- One by one block is a basic trick that almost every player needs to know. You can build one by putting up walls on all four sides of a ramp, with a floor at the bottom. You can then learn to build a one by one block tower by adding on top of the base block
- Most of the time you won’t have the luxury to build a fortified palace because as you start building you give away your position to players around you. During the heat of the battle, you may have to give up on completing the structure as a quick response to your opponent might be a better choice.
Weapons & shooting
Weapon rarity types
A variety of weapons are available in Fortnite, ranging from pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, SMG, sniper rifles, etc. The arsenal of Fortnite Battle Royale is limitless and ever-changing. Every season, a few weapons are “vaulted” from the loot pool and others are “unvaulted”. i.e. they are drawn out from the loot pool while others are put back in. The mythic items are super rare items only obtained at specific spots or can be received by eliminating a boss in the game. They are amazing items that give you truly unique skills like mobility, huge firepower, etc. For example, last year during the MARVEL crossover, players earned cool in-game skins of Ironman, Shehulk, Thor, etc. These were actually bosses in the game who dropped mythics like Ironman’s gauntlets, Ironman unibeam, Shehulk’s fist, etc. Weapons in Fortnite are ranked below with a common weapon being the weakest & Legendary or Mythic as the strongest.
- Common – Grey
- Uncommon – Green
- Rare – Blue
- Epic – Purple
- Legendary – Orange
- Mythic – Gold
When you first land and open a few chests, you might not get a Rare or Epic weapon right off the bat. You should get the best weapons you can and then as the game progress, you can switch them out for better ones.
Loot Chests
There are basically three types of chests in Fortnite. Upon unlocking chests give you weapons and other loot. Depending on the types of chest, you may get better loot.
- A simple wooden chest that is common around the map mostly gives you Common or Uncommon weapons.
- A blue “Rare” chest will definitely give you an Epic tier loot.
- And lastly, a Bunker chest (cuboidal shaped) has a high chance to provide Legendary & Epic tier weapons.
Keep an eye out from these chests and if you do find one, try to remember the spot as it is highly likely that it will respawn there in the next matches. Towards the end of the game, blue “supply boxes” will drop down on the map containing Epic or Legendary loot. When they do, a mark will be put up on your map. Be prepared to fight as many players will try to get their hands on these precious loot boxes.
Tweak your settings
If you are having trouble playing the game, we recommend that you have a look at your game settings. Depending on your device and your gaming experience, it’s best to change some settings according to your needs. If your game is lagging, you could reduce the graphics to make the gameplay more smooth. “Visualising sounds” is a great setting option as you see the visualized footsteps on the screen of other players if they are close to you.
Be on the move
Standing in one place is an open invitation to get eliminated in a single headshot with a sniper. Constantly being in motion makes it much harder for other players to land a shot on you, much less a headshot. Even while shooting someone else, you must not forget that there are many other players who can intervene by taking advantage of the situation by creeping up on you or eliminating you from your blind spot. Even while healing and equipping shields, try taking cover or building one for yourself.
Playstyle
With all the weapon choices and the building mechanism in the game, you can have a distinct playstyle that suits you. You could be a sniper and shoot enemies from high ground, or if you are an aggressive player you can go out with guns blazing and invite the players around you for a battle. You could also sneak up on players and eliminate them with a silenced pistol or SMGs. Your playstyle really depends on your building skills and weapon preferences but sometimes you may have to make do if you couldn’t get your favorite weapon.
Extra Tips
- Using headphones can help you detect other player’s footsteps or hear their shooting to detect their location.
- Crouching or moving slowly can reduce the sound of your footsteps, thus making your presence less known to other players.
- Some guns make a lot of noise, so keep in mind that you might give up your position while using them.
- Knowing where you can find stuff on the map gives you a great edge over other players. Landing on a different spot every time till you know the gist of the terrain will help you when you are driven in a corner by your opponent.
- Landing in spots that are condensed with players might be a bit hectic for beginners as searching for chests while eliminating multiple players will drain your HP. Instead try landing around the outskirts.
- Your gaming device matters when it comes to shooting and efficiency in building. So if you are having difficulty while playing try it out on a different platform.
That concludes all the tips & tricks you need to know to get better at Fortnite Battle Royale. It’s worth mentioning that Fortnite is an ever-evolving game. New weapons (especially the mythics) are added every season, new map changes along with locations of the latest bosses, etc are the things you need to keep up with, so stay up to date & grab that Victory Royale with your wits & skills!