Elements

Elements are a mechanic in Fortnite: Save the World.

There are 5 elements:

Physical, represented by a broken grey wall.

Energy, represented by a blue energy blob with orbiting spheres, resembling an atom.

Fire, represented by a flame.

Water, represented by three wavy lines, resembling the sea.

Nature, represented like a lightning bolt.

Element Matchups

 * On the left is the attacking element. Husks and Mist Monsters cannot be Energy. Players cannot damage player structures with weapons.
 * On the top is the defending element. Elemental Husks and Mist Monsters deal increased damage to particular materials. Husks and Mist Monsters cannot be Energy.



Elemental Perks
While most weapons can be perked for all 5 elements, particular weapons, traps and sets have reduced options or are locked to one element.


 * The Ceiling Zapper, Wall Dynamo and Ceiling Electric Field can only be Nature or Energy.
 * The Floor Freeze is locked to Water.
 * The Flame Grill and Tar Pit are locked to Fire.
 * All other Traps are locked to Physical.
 * Dragon weapons, as well as the Quad Launcher and Jack-O-Launcher, are locked to Fire.
 * The Blizzard Blitzer is locked to Water.
 * Vacuum Tube weapons are locked to Nature.
 * Neon weapons, Vindertech weapons, and many other weapons that use Energy Cells are locked to Energy.
 * Many other weapons not listed may have limited options, such as the Spectral Blade, which can be Physical, Energy or Water, but not Fire or Nature.

It costs RE-PERK and the corresponding PERK-UP (FIRE-UP, FROST-UP or AMP-UP) to change a weapon's element in the Perk Recombobulator. Changing to Energy requires all three PERK-UP types. Elemental perks also have a built-in damage buff based on the rarity of the perk.

Elemental Enemies
Husks and Mist Monsters can be Elemental in Plankerton, Canny Valley and Twine Peaks. They can be Fire, Water or Nature instead of the usual Physical.Above are Husky husks with Fire, Water and Nature respectively. Each element changes the enemies appearance and adds an effect to their attacks.


 * Fire enemies glow red and are surrounded by flames.
 * Fire enemies apply Affliction when they deal damage, damaging Shields then Health.
 * Water enemies have darker 'clothing' and paler 'skin' and are surrounded by water vapour.
 * Water enemies apply a Slow when they deal damage.
 * Nature enemies glow yellow and are surrounded by electricity.
 * Nature enemies apply Affliction when they deal damage, draining Energy then Shields.

Blasters, Takers and Flingers and Beehives, Sploders, Nurses and Lobbers are almost never Elemental.

Each wave of a defence may have an Elemental Storm, where all Elemental enemies are a particular element. Some Mission Alerts may have the same effect even outside of the main objective.

Tips

 * Energy is a good choice for a well-rounded weapon as it deals 75% damage to Elemental enemies, though using specific Elements will be more effective.
 * In higher-level missions, Physical is not good as more enemies will be Elemental and your weapons will deal half of their potential damage.
 * In Mission Alerts with an Elemental Storm modifier, build out of a material that does not receive 200% damage against the modifier Element.
 * In Fire Storms, build with Metal and don't build with Wood.
 * In Water Storms, build with Metal and don't build with Stone.
 * In Nature Storms, build with Stone and don't build with Metal.
 * Mini-Bosses may have an element, though this is shown by the Mini-Bosses health bar, not their appearance.
 * Nature enemies can hinder Ability-based and melee heavy attack-based loadouts as they drain the Energy used to activate these effects.
 * Heroes that have a perk to restore Energy can be used to help combat this.
 * Fire enemies' Affliction mean that their damage potential is much higher, so healing will be needed more often in Fire Storms.
 * Ranged enemies, especially Zappers, can apply elemental effects from a distance, making them considerably stronger.

Trivia

 * Fire, Water and Nature form an effectiveness triangle: Fire is weak to Water, which is weak to Nature, which is weak to Fire.
 * Energy is the only element that enemies cannot be.
 * When Physical is perked Legendary, it provides a 44% damage boost, unlike the other elements' 20%.
 * This is to make up for the fact that is has no advantages against any element.
 * Water enemies are the only Elementals that do not apply Affliction.
 * Water is the only element that doesn't have an element-locked weapon set.
 * Fire ammo used in Battle Royale for the Flare Gun uses the same symbol as the Fire element.