Fortnite is one of the most popular games on the planet, offering hundreds of different ways to play. Gamers who’ve played since day one have had multiple years to hone their skills, and you may wonder how you can compete with that.
Fear not. If you’re dipping your toes into Fortnite, here are some tips and tricks for new players.
Where should I start in Fortnite?
If you’re coming into Fortnite as a new player, you’ll likely be overwhelmed by the many game modes. I’ll mostly cover the Battle Royale and Zero Build modes in this guide, but I urge you also to try custom content. The Trending and Epic Picks lists always have fun, unique modes. You can find anything, from Obstacle courses to sweaty PvP games.
Related: How to perform Fortnite Festival Jam Emotes
My favorite is Octo Game, a Fortnite twist on Squid Game, but it’s good to experiment.
Fortnite Tips and Tricks
Most of these tips and tricks can be used whether you’re playing in Zero Builds or regular Battle Royale. Don’t worry if you can’t remember all of these right away; it will come with practice.
Fortnite is a Battle Royale, not a Deathmatch
While it’s good to head toward gunfire for combat practice, it’s not always the best course of action. As Fortnite is a Battle Royale, your life is precious, and if you die, you’re out of the match. Don’t feel like you have to shoot at everyone you see. Feel free to go for high-kill games as you would in a Deathmatch, but your survival should take priority.
It’s OK to disengage
If you’re losing a fight, the best course of action is to run away or hide and heal. As Fortnite’s map is so large, you can usually get away from your attackers and reengage when the battle is in your favor. There’s no shame in hiding, especially if you come out on top.
Ensure your health is topped up
One of my biggest mistakes when I started playing Fortnite was being stingy with healing items. I’d often keep med packs to get more value from them later, even if I had taken a few hits.
In reality, this is a terrible strategy as it means you go into battle with a health disadvantage. Sure, spending precious healing items to top up 10 or 20 health/shield points may sting, but you will win more battles.
Know your weapon Rarities
The rarer a weapon is, the more damage it does. Other bonuses include faster reload speed and sometimes different magazine sizes. You’ll often find players who reach the end of a match have the rarest weapons, as they offer the greatest advantage in combat. Here are the rarities in order of weakest to strongest:
- Common (grey)
- Uncommon (green)
- Rare (blue)
- Epic (purple)
- Legendary (yellow)
- Mythic (gold)
There are other rarities, but these are the ones you’ll encounter most often. It’s important to understand rarity, but make sure you have a varied loadout above all else. 3 legendary Shotguns don’t mean much if you also don’t have a solid ranged weapon.
Play the Storm
While a little more of an advanced tip, I see many new players stay right in the middle of the play area so they are as far away from the Storm as possible. Here’s why that’s a bad idea:
If you’re right in the middle of the play area, you’re open to attack from every angle. You can’t realistically keep track of threats from every direction, and you’re asking to get shot in the back.
If you’re close to the Storm, it protects you as you likely won’t get shot from that direction. You have to be more proactive, as the Storm can consume you if you’re not careful, but I’d take a little damage over a volley of bullets any day.
Keep your inventory tidy
While you can only carry 5 items at a time in Fortnite, you can change their order. I typically take 3 weapons and 2 healing items. I always keep the guns on the left to quickly swap between them instead of reloading in a fight.
This tip may sound like micro-management, but it beats fumbling around in battle.
Build a box
You can only do this in the regular Battle Royale mode, but if you get shot from an unknown position, quickly build a box around yourself for protection. You can make a simple box blindingly fast with practice, and it’s a great defensive maneuver.
Building is a skill that will take countless hours to master, but the humble box remains integral to combat in the Fortnite Battle Royale.
Avoid open spaces
This tip is doubly true in Zero Builds, but walking around in the open will get you killed in Fortnite. It pays to stay near cover or have somewhere you can run if you get shot.
I’m a big fan of the Port-a-Fort item, as it spawns a small structure to hide in, but they aren’t always available. If you’re forced into the open, use a vehicle or try and leave as soon as possible.
Move unpredictably
A clear sign of a good player is how they move around the map. You’ll often see decent players jumping all over the place and sliding. It may look silly, but it makes you hard to hit.
A Sniper will have a hard time landing a headshot if you’re bouncing around, and your opponent won’t be able to deal consistent damage. If you avoid a few shots through good movement, you can try to get away or heal up and return fire.
Turn ‘Visualize Sounds Effects’ on
While this isn’t a settings guide, many players use Visualized Sound Effects, as it offers a tremendous advantage. Visualized Sound Effects show a visual representation of where sounds are coming from. These sounds include footsteps, vehicles, and gunfire.
I’ve lost count of the times this setting has saved me, and it’s valuable in built-up cities with lots of verticality. Some may deem using Visualized Sound Effects as ‘cheap,’ but many people use it because the advantages are so massive.
Practice, practice, practice!
Finally, I’ll leave you with the most generic but arguably best tip of all. Practice. You can read every tips and tricks guide on the internet, but nothing beats trying what you’ve learned for real. On the other hand, don’t get discouraged if you lose. There are a lot of players in a Battle Royale, and only one can take the crown.
Even the best players in the world go on losing streaks. You’ll quickly see improvement if you try to learn something from every death. When that happens, I daresay you’ll be hooked and start to understand why so many people continue to enjoy Fortnite.
The tips and tricks above should be enough to get you started on your Fortnite journey. If you’re getting thrashed by opponents using Riot Shields, check out our guide on how to beat them, as they require a different approach to normal.
