Fortnite Battle Royale has been around since 2017. In that time, a lot of changes have been made to the game, especially with the meta surrounding weapons, the map, and of course, building. Because of the near-constant changes that Epic Games makes to its incredibly popular battle royale, it can be daunting for new players to the game.
It's no secret that a major key component to being successful in Fortnite Battle Royale is building structures. While building in this game is certainly not for every type of player, there are some basic tips and advice that all new players should employ when jumping into the game. The building mechanic is challenging to learn, but these tips should help.
Updated May 20, 2022 by Geoffrey Martin: Fortnite is now in an interesting place where the build mode is only half the battle, yes, pun very much intended. Chapter 3: Season 2 of the beloved battle royale introduced a permanent zero build mode that completely changes how each match plays out. For those hopping into the zero build mode, you have an extra rechargeable shield to account for the lack of building, as well as new traversal and mobility options. However, for those players that still love the building aspect of Fortnite, worry not, building is still here to stay in the traditional modes.
19 The Fall And Catch Trick
One of the best new tips for those playing the traditional building modes is to understand how to catch yourself if you are falling during a tense build battle. Before Chapter 3: Season 2, most people had to quickly learn to build walls and floors to catch themselves when falling. However, you can now catch yourself on builds with the game's mantle ability.
While this is less of a building tip and more of a traversal tip, it's something that will be incredibly useful during those punishing build battles, especially the ones that keep getting taller. If you find your build destroyed or if you quickly need to move downwards, simply position your fall near a wall or floor tile and press the button that moves you towards it. By doing so, you will typically catch yourself on the build instead of just falling to your doom. It's a tough building tip to master but will showcase your prowess once you master it.
18 Make Your Builds A Tad Bit Taller
In a similar fashion to the previous tip, the new sprinting and mantling movement mechanics in Fortnite make climbing over and on objects much easier overall. Because of this, you should focus on building your traditional one-by-one builds as a two-by-two. The reason for this is that it will be much harder for your opponents to climb on top to take out your ceiling to flank you.
Many players are in the habit of quickly cranking a 90 in order to negate damage, and while this will still help initially, learning to master a slightly higher build will mean longer survival. Get in the habit of making your builds one story taller than you used to in order to stave off third-party opponents from climbing onto builds more easily.
17 The Ramp Slide
One of the coolest new additions to Fortnite Chapter 3 is the ability to slide. Where bunny hopping used to be the foolproof way to move across the island in hopes of avoiding getting hit, sliding can now often be used in its place. Not only does sliding increase your movement speed during a decline, but you can also aim and shoot at the same time.
In terms of building, arguably one of the most unique building meta aspects comes from sliding while building downward ramps. While this won't be a tactic you utilize all of the time, if you find yourself needing to rotate quickly to avoid the storm, or to evade a fight, simply find an area where you can build down from while sliding. If done correctly, you can move faster while rotating more efficiently.
16 Armor Walls Are Your Friend
Fortnite has gone through a number of different traps that can be used in the battle royale from the floor spikes to the fire trap. Towards the end of Chapter 2 and now into Chapter 3, one of the best building-type traps has been the armor-plated walls. Simply put, the armor walls can be quickly thrown onto any floor, ceiling, wall, or ramp tile in the game, for the most part.
As you might expect, the armor walls are near impenetrable and can be the saving grace you need during a hectic firefight or when you need to use that medkit or chug potion. Simply build a quick box and add the armor walls to surround yourself. Even if other opponents want to break in, it will take them a good twenty or thirty seconds given the wall's high HP. Plus, you can find these armor wall items all over the place, from chests and floor loot alike.
15 Practice In Battle Lab
One of the best ways to get better at Fortnite and, in turn, increase your chance at getting that coveted Victory Royale, is to learn to build. While you certainly don't need to build massive, extravagant structures to do well, learning how to utilize the simple and intuitive building mechanics in Fortnite is essential.
The best way you can do this without having to worry about getting eliminated in a match is to jump into Battle Lab. This mode allows you and some friends to jump into your own private island in order to practice, practice, and practice some more. Eventually, you will want to practice these skills under pressure but the Battle Lab is a great place to start.
14 Memorize Basic Building Techniques
As with any skill, practice makes permanent because it helps you memorize things. In the same session of practicing building speed, you should be practicing how well you remember building basics. That means knowing what buttons correlate to which UI elements and coordinating in ways that facilitate building competitively.
Know how many button presses it takes to get to stairs vs. roofs. Lock in how it feels to build as you move your mouse while doing it. This might seem both obvious and impossible, but again -- practice makes perfect.
13 Farm, Farm, Farm
While it isn't absolutely necessary to be super well-stocked, you need to have a decent inventory of building materials for competitive play. That means incorporating harvesting into your regular gameplay until it becomes habitual. After all, you don't ever want to be caught in a solo fight only to discover you have no more materials.
From the beginning of every match, be sure to harvest here and there. It doesn't have to be a huge amount at every turn; just make it a habit. Soon enough, you'll find yourself with lots of material without struggling to get it.
12 The Drop Fall Save
One building method that new players will want to quickly learn, especially if you spend time on higher structures, hills, mountains, etc, is the drop fall save build. While this specialty has many names, it simply means quickly spamming walls as you wall from a structure, culminating in a floor to save yourself from fall damage.
Arguably, this could be an intermediate-building skill, but new players to Fortnite should learn this skill. It's not essential by any means but winning in Fortnite oftentimes comes down to whoever has the higher ground. When you do need to retreat though, fall from a ledge and spam the wall build button followed by a floor.
11 The Floor And Ceiling Build
The Fortnite map is filled with traversable objects such as hills and rivers, but, bigger structures like mountains can typically only be climbed via building. New players might be tempted to just build a ramp straight up to the peak of a mountain or building. The problem with this is that other players can shoot out your structure, as well as shooting you from above if they have the high ground.
The best way to mitigate these effects is to build a ramp up the side of a mountain while also building a ceiling above you. This will take practice because it means you have to rapidly spam the ramp button while moving the camera up and down in order to create a sort of tunnel for you to traverse upwards.
10 The Interior Stairway
One surefire way to do well in Fortnite, especially as a solo player, is to build structures that you can quickly traverse but will confuse your opponent. Mastering the tower build will eventually become essential but as you start working on smaller builds, it's a good idea to edit out the innards of your building.
Essentially this works by building a tower, replete with floors and ramps. Once inside, you can simply edit the structures to create stairwells and half-floors. New players would do well to learn how to maneuver inside of their structures so that they can confuse and divert their opponents.
9 Find A Controller Layout For You
While most games come equipped with a very specific controller layout and scheme for players to use, Fortnite encourages some diversity. For players using a controller and focusing on building, it is recommended to use the Combat Builder or Builder Pro.
This controller layout attaches a building structure to four primary buttons, removing the need to swap structure types after entering build mode. This change can drastically alter how quickly you can pump out cohesive and protective builds, cutting out vital time that could have left you vulnerable. Finding and mastering your preferred layout will help you become an adept builder.
8 Find A Keyboard Setup For You
\Not everyone plays on console; there are plenty of mobile and PC Fortnite players out there, as well. Fixing up the best keyboard and mouse setup for yourself is another fantastic way to boost your technique. After all, making things as automated as possible is the best way to build up speed.
What this means is investing in a mouse with adjustable and high DPI, a gaming keyboard (RGB optional), and determining which keybindings work best for you. Though the default settings are fine, many professional players like Ninja use their own unique keybinding settings for better performance.
7 Always Be Sure To Edit Your Structures
Aside from the basic building mechanics in Fortnite, editing your structures becomes essential to quick movement and traversal. As a new player, learning how to edit your walls, ramps, floors, and ceilings so that you are comfortable doing this in the heat of a battle is crucial.
Like building in this game, editing is intuitive and simple, yet full of nuance. For example, you could build a small three-floor tower with a quick exit by editing out a door on a lower level that you can drop down to if need be. Many high-level players attack from the high ground when possible so being able to quickly edit your builds will ensure more maneuverability.
6 The Turtle Shell
The turtle shell is a great build for players who need to hide away to heal or to simply provide an extra layer of protection within a structure. The turtle shell build can be built on a flat surface, typically on a floor piece. When crouched down, the player can actually hide within it, able to heal up or drink chug potions before jumping back into the fight.
Alternatively, many players will try to spam shoot your walls in order to get some potshots. By making a turtle shell build, you can provide a dual protection layer which might just give you that extra few seconds to survive.
5 The Protective Ceiling
The protective ceiling strategy is not one that many players seem to use, even with high-level players. Having the high ground in Fortnite will generally lead to better outcomes. Because of that, many new players, while learning to build, might find themselves taking the lower ground. The best way to mitigate damage from enemy shots is by building a protective ceiling as you move around.
Now, this can really only be used in specific scenarios where you can attach the ceiling, but it can provide a great advantage. If an enemy opponent is multiple floors above you, you can simply start a ceiling tile and keep spamming the build button as you run forward in hopes that it will protect you.
4 Building Material Management
It can be all too easy to get caught up in the fast-paced fury of battle and ignore what remains of your resources. There is nothing worse than trying to build a wall to block enemy fire only to be left holding your paper and pencil while you are riddled with bullets. While Fortnite is a game that wants you to find quality loot, you'll need to do some basic resource scavenging to ensure you can survive.
Keeping track of your primary building resource and your two backups can help you survive and get away from players of the sweaty variety. If nothing else, you can spam a variety of builds, especially in the endgame, to trap players in the storm and create a maze for them to get through, enabling your getaway.
3 The One By One Box
One of the best builds that new players should quickly get to grips with is the one-by-one box. No pun intended, this build is literally the building block to many bigger and better structures within Fortnite. Basically, this build is four walls, a floor, and a ramp. It's highly simplistic but provides protection from all avenues, yet gives the player some advantage with the ramp.
This build is great to learn early on because it can be whipped up in a matter of seconds by swirling the camera around while holding the wall build button, throwing down a quick floor if need be, and then a ramp to keep some height advantage. Once you master this, you can then build higher or even throw a ceiling on top to heal up or chug those potions.
2 The 90 Degree Wall
I think most players have probably heard the term crank a 90 by this point. Even if you don't play Fortnite, due to its sheer popularity, this term has almost become a meme. Essentially what this means is throwing out two walls on either side of you to negate gunfire coming your way.
The best way to survive and get that Victory Royale is to think quickly and strategically. If you take damage from a shot or if you notice shots coming your way in general, build two walls to block those shots. Of course, you are still left open from behind, but in a pinch, this highly basic build can be a life-saver.
1 The Basic Ramp
The most basic, yet most useful build is the quickest to do, yet starts a staggering number of other more challenging builds. Every new player, whether focusing on building or not in the game, needs to learn to quickly put up a basic ramp. This basic ramp can create a nice barrier between you and an opponent in front.
Alternatively, this ramp build means that you are able then to work on more complex builds. When in a firefight, this ramp can provide that few feet of height advantage which could be a game-changer in a tight situation. Yes, it's very simple, but one of the best building skills new players should learn right away.