Fortnite Battle Royale has quickly become one of the hottest multi-platform games, and it’s totally free to play. If you’re just getting started, these 10 tips will help you feel competent on the battlefield.
1) Build, Build Build: You might be playing Fortnite as a PS4 alternative to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. While the two games are undoubtedly similar, Battle Royale’s main hook is its building mechanic. If you want to win matches, you need to know how to use it effectively.
Gather resources by destroying structures with your pickaxe. Then you can use those resources to do some really cool stuff. For example, building stairs is a great way to instantly get the higher ground on an enemy. If you’ve found a Supply Drop and want to keep it safe, you should build walls around it. If you’re in the thick of a deadly firefight, building whatever you can while running away is a good way to preserve every last bit of health. Building correctly has a huge impact on Battle Royale.
2) How To Drop Items: No matter what platform you’re on, it’s possible to drop any weapons, ammo or health you’ve picked up to help your teammates. On console this is done by tapping the touchpad (PS4) or view button (Xbox One). Hover over the thing you want to drop, and hit the right thumbstick. On PC the inventory is accessed by hitting the “I” key.
3) Use Explosives: Speaking of inventory management, one weapon type you should always have plenty of is explosives. Rocket launchers and grenades are very overpowered in the current meta. You might see lots of players using the bowl-like adjusted roof piece on their structures. Toss a grenade in there and watch the bodies fly.
In general your slots should consist of a good main, a shotgun or pistol for close range, explosives and health.
4) Cities Aren’t Always Best: When scouting out a place to land, cities aren’t always the best locations to get the most loot. Unlike PUBG, Battle Royale scatters good stuff across the whole map.
This difference creates a new dynamic when it comes to where you land at the start of each match. If you’re a skilled player who wants a ton of kills, then maybe going to highly populated areas is a good thing. Since these tips are focused on new players, though, we’d suggest picking a quieter spot so you have more time to stock up and get familiar with the gameplay.
5) Loot Effectively: In Fortnite Battle Royale, loot is categorized into five colors of increasing rarity levels: white, green, blue, purple and orange. When you’re picking a landing spot on your glider, look for locations with an orange-colored glow.
Once you’re on the ground, don’t forget to search for loot chests in unexpected locations. It's not uncommon for players to ignore chests that spawn under stairwells. As long as you know about them, you can take what’s inside. Again, if you find a chest in the open, it may help to build a wall around it for safekeeping. You can even leave a chest untouched on purpose to bait opponents to your location. You can also listen for the ring sound to hear when the chest opns.
6) Rarity Doesn’t Always Equal Effectiveness: Legendary weapons generally have better stats than lower levels, but that doesn’t make them the best choice 100 percent of the time. If you’re good with a certain type of weapon, like shotguns, a Rare or Epic shotgun may be more valuable in your inventory than a Legendary sniper. Just like any good shooter, any gun in Fortnite Battle Royale is only as good as the player pulling the trigger. Rarity is a solid guide, but don’t make it your bible.
7) Use The Storm To Your Advantage: As the battle rages on, the zones of the map will start to shrink. It’s easy to panic if you’re losing health while caught in the storm, but sometimes it’s a good thing. If you’ve been able to loot plenty of health items, you might be able to last longer than you think. Take time to look behind you, because there’s typically a chance to quickly pick off some noobs running for their lives.
Once you see where the zones split, you can constantly use that to your advantage to rack up easy kills. If you’re hanging out around the border, it’s possible to pick off enemies as they run towards you. Sticking close to the bubble the entire match is a solid tactic.
8) Look For Enemy Resource Trails: As noobs build and destroy structures, they often leave a trail of discarded resources in their wake. With that in mind, following the goods can oftentimes give you the upper hand or an easy kill.
9) Hug Walls To Avoid Fall Damage: This is the kind of thing that may be patched out of an Early Access game like Fortnite, but lots of people are doing it at the time of publish. If you want to limit your fall damage from a big jump, hug a cliff wall. If you get lucky, the game will register it as if you’d landed much earlier than you actually did.
10) Know Where The Gold Chests Are: We can’t take credit for this last tip, but a site called Fortnite Chests lists all the locations of Gold Chests on the map. They’re pretty much everywhere, but certain locations are more fruitful than others. We’ll probably make a full guide on this topic in the future, but, for now, this map is a must-have resource.
Fortnite Battle Royale is available now as a free download across PS4, Xbox One and PC.
What do you think of these 10 tips and tricks? Are there any cool secrets that have made your Battle Royale experience better? Tell us in the comments section!
