Fortnite: Battle Royale Tips

The risk was calculated... but man I'm bad at math.

This section outlines a strategy. Feel free to add tips, tricks and general advice about the topic.

Fortnite: Battle Royale, being the PvP aspect of Fortnite, presents players with a various number of ways in which they can be killed by the opposition. As if that weren't enough, the very nature of the map can do so to the inattentive rather quickly. Below is a collection of tips gathered from across the web and from personal experience that should help you get some Victory Royales.

These tips are for beginners and may include something even well-versed players might not know. Feel free to add your own tips here!

Basics

An image depicting a Mini Shield Potion, Shield Potion, Slurp Juice, Chug Jug, and a Med Kit.

Everything you need to know about Fortnite is here!

When crouching, your footsteps don't make as much noise (If you crouch while Aiming Down Sight, your footsteps can barely be heard). If you're planning on jumping someone close to you, crouch as you move towards them so they cannot hear your footsteps. Stealth can give you the advantage in a fight.
Remember, Fortnite isn't about killing; it's about surviving.
You'll die frequently with the number of people on the map and the nature of the game. Rather than focusing on getting Victory Royales, focus on your match duration and perfecting techniques such as building and combat.
Many of the player's actions make noise: sprinting, gathering, building, shooting, and using things like doors. Sprinting also leaves behind a dust trail. Be aware and have the volume up to know when players are around. This will prevent them from sneaking up on you. Certain materials such as the ground, wood, stone, and metal make different sounds.(also referred to as mats)
Live to fight another day. Ambushing and patience is often the better way of taking out opponents.
Whenever possible, stay out of the open and use cover if you must move. Just remember that most cover can be destroyed. Natural cover is better, as it doesn't reveal your location to other players like player building will.
If you come across a shield potion, use it quickly. You don't start out with a shield; if you have some, it will deplete before your health. Keep in mind that mini-shields can only be used to a maximum of 50 shields, so it may be beneficial to hold onto some in case a Shield Potion is found.
Shields protect from weapons. It does not protect you from the Storm or fall damage (If you are a team game mode, and you die of fall damage, your teammates can revive you and you will respawn with 30 health and how much ever shield you had when you were knocked).
You can gain shield points by drinking a small shield potion, or a shield potion. Mushrooms give 5 shield points, Slurp mushrooms found in the swamp biome near Slurpy Swamp will restore 10 Shield, and Slurp Containers found throughout Slurpy Swamp and a few surrounding areas will restore 10 (The small barrels), 25 (Larger Canisters), or 100 (Slurp-Tanks on Trucks).
On the flip side, save some of those health-restoring items for later in the game.
- Players start with max health, but no shields.
- Bandages return 15 apiece but don't heal over 75 health. They take 3.5 seconds to use.
- Med Kits heal 100 HP, no matter what degree of damage players have taken. A Med Kit takes 10 seconds to be applied.
- Drink small shields before a shield potion, this will allow you to have 100 shields. They take 2.5 seconds to consume, for a total of 10 seconds, if 2 Mini shields and a Large shield are consumed.
- Chug Splashes is another way of getting health and shield, make sure to look out for them!
You do take fall damage, but you can quickly build structures beneath you to halt your descent if you have something to build off.
If you happen to come across a player fortification, such as a tower, it might be best to avoid it. The player who built it likely has most of the advantages when it comes to a confrontation, including the high ground, scoped weaponry, and cover. Approach with caution.
Building with the same material as another player during combat in structures can often allow you to gain the element of surprise. Use this to rush 1x1 bases with ease.
In small-team based modes (Such as Duos or Squads), it may be better to be Rebooted in the Reboot Vans instead of being revived, depending on the scenario. Players that are in the knocked stage will have a default time of 50 seconds to be revived before dying, with this time being shortened if the damage is taken, or if the knocked player is in the storm. Upon Death, the Reboot Card will last for an additional 90 seconds, allowing you to fight a bit longer or heal up. Additionally, a revival will take 10 seconds on that spot, leaving you open and vulnerable, while the Reboot Vans allow at least 1 angle of indestructible cover during the 10-second reboot, though they're much louder than being revived. Reboot Vans will respawn teammates with 100 health while reviving them will give them only 30 HP. However, Rebooting a teammate will provide them with only a Common Pistol whereas reviving them will allow them to keep shields (if knocked out by fall damage or the Storm), inventory items, and materials.

Other situations where caution is advised is when looting players and nearing Supply Drops. Enemies will typically hear or know the locations, so you can hang back and wait to either make sure no one else is approaching or use it as an opportunity to ambush others.

Players building tall structures are at risk of the bottom being destroyed and the rest of the tower disappearing, leaving the players on it vulnerable to fall damage. Be wary of this when building, but also use this to your advantage when you see other player's buildings.
If you have no weapons, the pickaxe will do 20 damage per hit.
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If you're not sure where the safe zone will be, activate your Glider (while the storm is forming) and do nothing. This will lower your risk of getting killed and the risk of landing in the storm's range.
depending on the bus path land somewhere far with some good loot, somewhere like Lockie's lighthouse or the Pawntoon.

Landing

Looking for somewhere to land? Read this.

The first big decision players will make is where to land once they depart from the bus.
Landing as far as possible does mean you would be less likely to get killed or shot, but doesn't help with improving skills. It also will not help the time it takes to go to the storm circle.But what it does help on is getting weapons if you land somewhere far then it is a bigger posibility to get geared up without dying.
Land at popular locations or jump out at the start of the bus path if you want some action.
- Weapons are found mainly inside buildings, so target those areas.
- Be cautious when dropping to buildings, other players will have a similar plan, and areas with buildings typically attract more players than areas without. There are trade-offs of choosing areas with more items and players, or areas with fewer players but fewer items. Pick your position.
Deploy the glider sooner rather than later in order to fall slowly and cover more distance. This allows you to scout out where others might be landing in order to avoid early confrontations. However, if you do decide to do this then chances are other people will have landed there and gotten a weapon. Even if you are gliding you are not invulnerable.
On the contrary, by not deploying your glider manually and aiming for a lower portion of the ground by diving directly downwards, one can potentially reach the ground before their opponents, and gain a weapon before their adversaries are able to.
When you decide on an area to land deploy the glider as late you can and slightly away from the area you are trying to reach. Then glide at an angle to the place you want to land. This will get you to the ground quicker than gliding straight down.
Instead of going to populated areas, try to tackle less populated places as hardly any players landing means all the loot is to yourself.
Good places to land are usually either in a Named Location or in someplace discreet that still has multiple chests.
Landmarks are good for this as they often contain loot without drawing as much attention as Named Locations.
Radio Towers can also be good landing points as they are not as attention-drawing as other locations, (probably due to them not being Landmarks), yet they have good amounts of loot. The Ziplines can also be used for transportation.
If you want to land at a popular landing spot, try to land a bit away so would have time to get ready with weapons and shield.

The Map

There are many locations and landmarks in the Battle Royale Island.

Take note of the direction of travel the bus makes during the drop-off phase. Players will be landing at spots along or near this line and spreading out from there.
Pay attention to where the storm circle is on the map; players won't last long outside of it, because even though it starts with doing one damage, by end-game it does ten every second that you are submerged.
Knowing where the ever-shrinking circle edges are is helpful, as players will need to move away from it.
One late-game strategy is to keep the storm at your back. By doing this, you can be sure that players will not attack you from behind (due to the storm killing them).
One early-game strategy is to maintain a position at the edge of the storm, moving around the circle and picking off players as they attempt to make their way to safety.
To check where the bus is going, you can check the map before the bus takes off, and you can see an arrow pointing to that direction.
The storm will usually do one damage every second and the damage gets higher as the game progresses. Shields are useless as the storm cannot do damage to shields but instead will chip away your health.
Depending on the distance to the circle, the storm can be much faster or slower than the player - the further you are from the new circle's edge, the faster the storm moves.

Environment

The environment may have some surprises on the way. But better make use of everything around you!

Close doors after using them to avoid tipping off players as to your location. To the unwary opponent, this can also serve as a useful ambush if you're waiting on the other side.
Tires, fire hydrants, and umbrellas can launch you into high places, and you won't take fall damage when landing.
Checking above you can be of vital importance. You could find player-built structures and can check the tops of mountains for players.
If hiding in a bush, note that some weapons, when equipped will poke out more, giving away your position. Also, if on a slope, you can be seen hiding in it from certain angles.
In certain biomes, there are different consumables that are lying on the ground. Some give different boosts.
Containers in Slurpy Swamp may give you anywhere ranging from 10 to 100 Shield points, so be sure to collect those mats and gain that health!
In Chapter 2: Season 1, Hiding Spots were added. You can use these to hide from nearby players. This is especially useful for the early game if you get an unlucky landing and have no weapons to fight off other players. You can hide in dumpsters, Porta-Potties, and haystacks. When in one of those hiding spots, you can not move, shoot, or heal. These hiding spots, however, allow you to move, but you are still not allowed to shoot or heal. That said, when falling from a high spot into a haystack or dumpster, you will not take any fall damage.
If you damage gas pumps and any other flammable infrastructures (including propane canisters and certain generators) will set fire and explode if damaged by any weapon (or vehicle) and will deal damage if your a nearby. A good tactic is if someone is filling up their Car at a gas station you can shoot the pumps from a safe distance so they damage (or even kill) your opponent but not you.
Upon destruction of the structure that an ammo box or chest is attached to will make the ammo box or chest open. So if you're in a hurry, destroy whatever is beneath the chest or ammo box to quickly snatch the ammo or weapon! However, this will not give you any XP as you are not opening the chest/ammo box.
In Chapter 2: Season 1, bigger bushes were added to conceal your entire character and weapon. If you ever want to hide, jump in a bush!
Ziplines are helpful for getting around and the radio towers can also contain loot.

Resources

Getting them materials? Read this.

With your trusty Harvesting Tool as your only option at the start, use it to gather resources quickly. Keep in mind that doing so will potentially hint at your location to those close by, as breaking some things are louder than breaking others.
The three resources are wood, brick, and metal.
Make sure to have enough "hard mats" (brick and metal) for endgame if you get low so you can heal without getting sprayed by the whole server.
- In endgame, wood is seen as a sign of weakness or lack of "hard mats."
Gathering early is much easier than waiting until later in the game, as the map is tighter, the player population is denser, and resources more scarce.
Make sure to collect lots of wood, as it is the easiest to collect and the most common material used for building. It starts out with the most amount of HP, making it useful for fast-paced combat.
Remember the structures that give you more mats than others. You do not wanting to be wasting your time harvesting buildings, instead try to look for big rocks or trees.
Smashing cars can set off their alarms, alerting players of your location, however not all cars have alarms that can be triggered. This also affects police cars.
Don't forget wooden pallets! These will give you up to 80 pieces of wood.
When a large tree is destroyed, leaves will fall from the sky and will possibly give away your position.
Players are the best source of resources, but be careful, or else you may end up with the enemy killing you. Killing them will result in all of their inventory dropping to the surrounding area.
When harvesting, aim for the Weak Spots as they do 100 damage to buildings rather than 50. Doing this can make you harvest much easier and faster.

Building

This is an important feature in Fortnite: Battle Royale. You may not win without learning the basics of building.

Learn to navigate the building interface quickly, as building can be performed during combat.
Building creates noise and player-created structures stand out against natural ones.
Wood is the go-to resource to use in a pinch since it takes the least amount of time to build with and is the easiest to acquire.
You can use your walls and such to protect teammates that have fallen in battle.
Learn how to set designs to your forts so you can have an advantage when building. The most useful things you can edit in a building are windows and doors.
When editing things you can only edit your own and your team's structures. This is an advantage if someone is inside their building or in a building because you can break the building, add a wall then you can edit, without the enemy editing. However the Architect Pop-Up Cups allowed players to edit enemy walls.
Make sure to also build a roof on top of you to prevent players from ambushing you while you are looting, sniping, or reviving a teammate.
With wood and bricks, you can look through the holes to see if there are any players, but it’s far better sightline if you make a window. However, this can lead to you being sniped by an opponent
When building forts with no players in your sight, use metal, or if you don’t have any metal, use brick (these are more durable than wood, as they take more damage to be destroyed, but they take longer to fully build).
Learn building tactics that are useful during combat (watch pros using some advanced tactics).
For controller players, use Builder Pro because each trigger has an input to a certain building part.

Building Techniques

There are many ways to build, but there are some techniques you can do with them!

Practice some harder ramp rushes like ramp-wall, ramp-floor-wall, ramp-floor-wall-ramp, or even a double ramp rush.
A common tactic to gain higher ground in a secure but cheap fashion is to place 2 walls at a 90-degree angle, place a ramp, climb up it, place a floor, then repeat the process (this is called 90ing in the game's colloquial language).
When an opponent is outside a wall you built, edit it quickly and shoot the opponent using a shotgun.
There are also controller/keyboard keybind options that can be very useful depending on the player's playstyle. The 5 configurations are Old School, Quick Builder, Combat Pro, Builder Pro and Custom (your own keybindings).

Weapons

Want to have a good loadout? Read this!

Place slot weapons and items consistently in the same spots so you never have to wonder what is where. This makes swapping out very intuitive.

While everyone has their own personal preference to their loadout, a generic placement system is to put your Sniper Rifle in slot 1, Assault Rifle in slot 2, Shotgun in slot 3, SMG/Explosives in slot 4, and healing items in slot 5. You can enable a setting to automatically put Healing items on the farthest-right open slot.

Weapons have 5 rarities ranging from Common to Legendary (mythic weapons can be found at distinct locations, or from another player), with weapons having a higher rarity being more powerful than their lower-rarity counterparts.
While all weapons have a chance of spawning as Floor loot and Chest loot, weapons with higher rarities have a larger spawn rate from Chests then they do floor lot. The rarities are, from worst to best:
- Common - Grey
- Uncommon - Green
- Rare - Blue
- Epic - Purple
- Legendary - Orange
- Mythic - Gold w/Stars
Supply drops always give one weapon of at least an Epic or Legendary rarity.
If equipped with close-range weapons, a more aggressive playstyle is effective. Rifles and Sniper Rifles lend themselves to a more measured approach. Jumping/Crouching is a good idea.
Don't pick up every weapon you see. Stick with a good set and then upgrade those as you go. Shotguns are a great staple, especially since a lot of firefights happen at close to mid-range.
Depending on the location of the final circle, Snipers and Assault Rifles may become more prevalent then Shotguns and SMGs, or vice versa, so don't be afraid to alter your loadout as the game goes on.
Ammo, Materials, and Consumable items that can be stacked will all be automatically picked up as you run over them.
Keep in mind that bullets leave tracers, so people can tell from where they are being fired.
Crouching with weapons that don't have scopes can help improve accuracy.
Utilize traps to deal high amounts of damage in rooms or structures of your own making.
Ammunition and weapons hover and glow in the air. This makes it helpful to check what they are from a distance to gauge whether the risk in approaching is worth the reward. You can also mark them (default mouse wheel click) to see what they are from a distance.
Pickaxes are useful if you have no weapon or just a sniper at the beginning of the game if you are attacking someone nearby that only has a long-range weapon, as they do 20 damage (This can also be used as a finish "weapon" if a player has less than 40 HP, as it takes only 2 pickaxe swings to take them out).

Looting

Loot everywhere, but where? Read this!

Learn the basics of finding chests in common places and unexpected areas.
- If you are near a chest, you can hear its noise, notifying you about the chest's presence.
Learn how to tackle an incoming Supply Drop from the sky.
If you are trying to be a long term player, try to memorize where the chest spawns are in your favorite location, and it will give you an edge over the enemy players that land there.
Remember to keep an eye out for Ammo Boxes as they provide usually a number of a certain ammo type.
Shoot the balloon that the Supply Box is attached to for it to pop and release the Supply Box faster.
- The Loot Llama in Battle Royale spawns in various locations in Battle Royale. There are 5 in each round scattered across the map. They always give consumables, 350 of each resource, and ammunition.
- Instead of searching for Loot Llamas, hit them with your pickaxe. This is much quicker.

Sniping

Sniper Rifles are good weapons, but are hard to aim with! Read this for some tips.

To make a good sniper, you will have to predict where your target will go, and what movements they will make.
To take into account bullet drop, you should never put the crosshair directly on your target's head. Instead, place the second bar below the crosshair on the target's head. This will usually work.
If a target is spam-jumping, try to predict where your target will land. That is how the pros do it, and they're pros, so might as well do what they do.
You will need to calculate how long it will take for the bullet to travel, an estimate of how far your target is from you, and how far the bullet will drop.
It is recommended to aim in front of a moving target so that they run into the bullet.
If the enemy is moving steadily in a direction, try aiming in front of them. If they are standing still and at a great distance, take into account bullet drop.
Snipers are the loudest weapon in the game (unless you use the suppressed sniper) and can be heard from a large distance, so be wary when firing, as someone may come up behind you and take you out easily.

Battle Pass

The Battle Pass is the best way to get cosmetics! It’s only a small cost of 950 V-Bucks. Read this to learn more.

Team Rumble can make Battle Pass progression easier because if you die you just respawn. Allowing you to do your challenges without worrying about opponents.
The Battle Bundle can be purchased for 2,800 V-Bucks to have an additional 25 tiers at the beginning.
You can progress through the Battle Pass by completing Daily Challenges, Missions, or simply levelling up.
When you level up your Battle Pass, then you can earn free stuff like V-Bucks or even Outfits.
If you have to Save the World you can earn V-Bucks through Storm Shield Defenses, Daily Quests, and Mission Alerts.

Cosmetics

You can also get Outfits from progression but you need the Battle Pass in order for that to happen.
If you are able to reach level 100 in the Battle Pass, you will earn up to 1,500 V-Bucks, which is enough to buy an Outfit or Harvesting Tool of Epic rarity or lower. You can also buy next season's battle pass with 550 vbucks remaining!

Victory Royale

A Victory Royale is the result of winning a match in most modes.

General

Have a good load out of short, medium, and long-range guns. Shields, Med Kits and Bandages could help.
Hoard as many materials as you can, especially in build battles.
Aim for the head, you do around double damage (it varies depending on the weapon). Keep in mind though the smaller hitbox may make weapons harder to connect your bullets.
Approach people from the back slowly so they don’t see you.
Be accurate with your shots.
You should also know your ranges of guns so you don’t try to shoot someone with a short-range gun when the enemy player is far away. (You can tell which range it is by the bullet type.)
When your crosshair turns red, you should shoot.
Make sure to fire in small bursts to increase weapon accuracy. (This goes for all guns except SMGs)
(This tip only applies for shotguns) Be patient with your shot. Do not rush your shot. If you and your opponent are running around in a 1-by-1, don't just shoot for the satisfaction for shooting. Line up your shot, and then shoot.

Solo

It’s you against 99 others.
You can use the Bandage Bazooka for instant healing, but it takes up 2 slots and you are alone, so keep this in mind.
Try to carry 2 heals as you cannot rely on your teammates to carry heals in Solos.
Don't worry about elimination count if you're trying to win. Eliminating other players is a good way to get more loot, but don't engage them unless you have to. The key to winning is laying low and not letting others know your weapon loadout. Once it's down to the top players, take them by surprise and win the game.

Duos, Squads, and Large Team Modes

You are not alone. (Unless you have Don’t Fill on. Don't Fill is a good way to practice fighting against multiple people at once.)
Communication is really important. (use a microphone for Voice Chat)
While your teammates may pressure you into reviving or rebooting them as soon as possible, it may be to your advantage, especially in the latter scenario, to bide your time and wait for an opportunity. Shooting a downed player with the Bandage Bazooka will heal them for 15 Downed HP, giving them another 7 seconds of survival.
Share materials and ammo to others so they never run out.
Share your healing items.
Ping weapons and items you don’t need anymore.
Ping opponents for quick alerts.
Use the Bandage Bazooka to heal your teammates from far away.

LTMs

LTMs provide a different experience for those who are bored with the basic game modes, or for people who want to try something new. Each LTM adds a bit of a twist to your Normal game mode. Read more about how to win LTMs here.
Have fun out there!

The Don'ts of Fortnite

Play the game as usual, but avoid making bad choices! These will result in a temporary ban or even a permanent ban! Take note of these or else you will get struck by the banhammer.

Purchasing V-Bucks illegally. Specifically, buying V-Bucks from an illegal or unauthorized store. This will not result in a ban, but rather a loss in V-Bucks or cosmetics.
Stream Sniping, which is looking at someone else’s stream and eliminating them in their current location.
Teaming with enemies, like having an additional player in your team.
Having an inappropriate name, definitely not suggested.
Harassment, whether by voice chat or other means. Please don't make the game worse for others.
Installing cheats like aim bots, wall hacks, etc.