5 Fortnite Battle Royale Tips From One Beginner to Another

Needless to say, Fortnite is sweeping the gaming scene off its feet the world over. Well, namely its Battle Royale mode. I avoided it for a while, but finally dove in. Here’s what’s helped me get through.

I played a lot of Fortnite when it first came out. The PvE was lots of fun with friends and featured some solid gameplay. When Battle Royale came around, though, everyone abandoned me and ran for that new game mode. I stayed behind and swore it off out of spite. Admittedly, it took me a while to finally be swayed enough to attempt it. While I might not find it as magnificent as the rest of the gaming community seems to, I happily concede that there’s plenty of fun to be had.

Over my first few hours with Battle Royale, I’ve learned that doing/understanding certain things helps you become a better player. Below are five tips I think are useful to anyone just starting out in this hectic experience.

1. Play Solo Matches

Despite the benefit of having squad members in modes like Duo and Squads, I feel the best and most efficient way to learn is through Solo games. Here, you aren’t bound down by your teammates and you’re free to go wherever and do whatever.

It’s also beneficial that most of your fights here will be one-on-one, thus giving you the opportunity to better grasp how fights go down in Fortnite. Another added plus of Solo matches is the ability to learn the map at your own pace. You decide where to land and, depending on the storm, where you go next.

The flow of the game and the path you take to (hopeful) victory is yours. It’s the best way to learn what a mistake looks like and what good, smart plays are. By playing solo, you learn to be self-sustaining, so that when you go into Squads or Duo, your team now has a more reliable, efficient team member. It’s also a fantastic way to understand how to manage resources.

2. Learn To Manage Your Resources/Inventory

One of the most important concerns in Fortnite Battle Royale is managing your resources and inventory. This includes keeping an eye on your material counts (wood, brick, and metal), ammo, and healing items. Keep in mind that destroying things with your pickaxe makes a lot of noise, but never be afraid to farm materials. They are crucial. Especially wood because of how abundant it is — keep at least one hundred at all times, if possible.

When it comes to ammo, that isn’t as much management as it is finding it. Loot your enemies, and find ammo boxes. Lots of players walk past ammo boxes; even if the house is looted, there’s probably still ammo boxes. I find it’s best to stack bandages and mini shields, rather than medkits. You can hold more and they’ll be quicker and easier to use.

When you play in Squads, split your resources among team members. One person for meds, another for shields. Don’t overload individual inventories, divide and conquer, and share! That way, everyone has guns, meds, materials, and ammo. Also, don’t forget to swap weapon positions in your quick bar so you have the guns you want where you want them for easy switching!

3. Sometimes, You Just Gotta Shoot

One thing I still struggle with during my games of Fortnite is hesitation. I wait for the perfect shot, the right moment, the opening for a surprise attack. Over time, however, I’ve learned that isn’t always the best option. It isn’t wrong to look for those golden opportunities, but sometimes it’s best to just fire away. Take the chance. Learn how the weapons work at range. Get used to bullet drop and leading shots.

A surprising amount of weapons in Fortnite have the ability to remain effective at range. In general, I’ve learned that in most cases it’s better to just initiate. The longer you wait, the more opportunity there is for some exterior force to intervene and ruin your plans. Start the attack and force them to react, rather than waiting and hoping they do what you want them to do. Especially in Solo games, shoot first.

With team members, plan accordingly with them so you commence the attack when everyone is ready. You want to make sure you always have exit strategies and a solid plan to get through the engagement.

4. Plan Ahead

Fortnite Battle Royale relies heavily on reaction and planning to successfully get through matches and come out on top. That means you need to think before you act, and spontaneous actions should, generally, only be performed under moments of intense pressure or as reactionary tactics.

As I talked about above, shooting first in a great idea, but think about what happens after that first. Do you have an escape route? Enough resources to build up defences? If you’re with a Squad, is everyone ready and in position? You want to act fast and first, just don’t act unintelligently. I’ve died time and time again simply because I didn’t put enough thought into what comes after the shot. Even if you’ve got the drop on someone, anything can happen, especially outside of Solo matches.

Don’t always feel the need to finish off that knocked down enemy, use them to draw out their team, build around them, or tap them once to hasten their bleedout. Think, act, win. That’s the magic procedure, no matter if you’re attacking, escaping, or building.

5. Even If It Looks Like Garbage, Just Build

It probably sounds stupid to iterate this, since it’s Fortnite’s gimmick, but build. I’m still pretty bad at doing quick builds and reactionary defensive builds, but that doesn’t mean I don’t try. You simply won’t get far without learning this crucial bit of skill. It doesn’t matter if what you built isn’t practical or fluid, what matters is that you built it.

I was, and still am sometimes, timid about building. When I get hit, I just want to engage the enemy like any other 3rd person shooter. But you’ll quickly learn that the proper response, more often than not, is to build. Something as simple as a 1×1 exponentially increases your chances of survival. Just like engaging enemies first, consistently building is the best way to get a hang of the process. You simply cannot learn how and why to do things if you rarely practice it.

My forts look like absolute disasters, but I make them and they are mine and I like them. Eventually, they will be bastions of defensive. But, just like with everything else on this list, they will not get to that point until I practice and turn theory into reality. To put it simply: just build. And build often.