Trying to win a game of Fortnite Battle Royale may appear to be a daunting task at first. You are just one, or groups up to 4, in a pool of potentially 100 players and you have to find a way to be the last one standing. But when you learn the basics of the game, it really isn’t that difficult to get to be one of the last 10 or so remaining. From there it could be anyone’s game, all depending on the preparation leading up to it.

The real magic of Fortnite is that with so many players, you know everyone won’t be complete pros at the game. You’ll have skilled experts who know everything about the game and what it takes to earn a victory royale. At the same time, you’ll see people aimlessly wondering around swinging their pickaxe because they somehow couldn’t find a weapon.

Fortnite is a game that can change drastically with the start of a new season. But despite all that can happen in a season’s change, there are still basic fundamentals that will separate the pros from the noobs. In a super popular game that can be quite enjoyable, you will encounter your share of inexperienced kids that can easily water down your experience. Don’t fall into the category of noobish kids! Here we will go through things that pros do to get a victory royale, and things that noobs will do that they only think will help them win in Fortnite.

20 Pros Gain The Upper Ground

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One of the basic measurements to tell if someone is a pro or a noob is seeing if they can use height to their advantage. One way to put yourself above the rest is if you always keep yourself on higher ground. Being above your opponent usually results in more mobility, fewer obstacles to potentially get in your way, plus when you are on the ground, you are typically stationary.

All of the best eliminations happen when you are above your target.

Let gravity make you a moving target while you aim down your target. If you are on in an open area, building diagonally will allow you to continue moving upwards toward your target while having cover.

19 Noobs Use Houses, Trees, And Other Things As Cover

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This will be very common for newer players as they are not used to using the building mechanic. While there are many trees, houses and abandoned cars around the different locations, most of them really don’t provide good cover should you find yourself in a skirmish.

Fortnite gave you building, it is best if you use it.

As opposed to someone who builds, using natural cover will leave you stationary, making you a more vulnerable target. Trees and buildings should only be used as cover if you don’t have any alternative ways to protect yourself.

18 Pros Leave Downed Opponents Crawling

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When playing duos or squads, players won’t be eliminated right away. Instead, they will reach a perilous state where they will only be able to crawl until someone revives them or the finishing blow is dealt. When knocking opponents down, pros know to let them crawl around.

They could serve as a lure to bring out any nearby teammates, once the final team member is down all players on that squad will be eliminated at once. The only reason you could reasonably execute someone who is crawling is if you really need the elimination for a certain challenge. Other than that, let them crawl miserably, it can be more satisfying that way.

17 Noobs Blend Themselves In With A Bush In A House

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This should go without saying, but if you are wearing a bush, don’t do anything to give away your disguise. Bushes don’t jump, they don’t run, and they certainly won’t be found inside buildings in Fortnite.

They can be used quite cleverly to sneak up or evade opponents, especially if you hide as a bush within another bush. Bushes are not as common as they used to be with all the additional items added, so make sure to adapt to your environment if you have one.

16 Pros Drink The Small Shield Potions First

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In the next entry of “how to be good at Fortnite 101” a simple understanding of how the shield potions work will make a massive difference to how prepared you are. Small shield potions will only restore 25 shield points and can be used up to 50. After that, they are useless. Big shield potions can boost your shield by 50 and can be used regardless of your shield count.

A simple observation is that you should drink the small shield potions first before drinking a big ones, unless you want to be stuck at 50 shield points. If you've just started a match and find a big shield potion first, take a look around for any small shield potions that may be lying around as they are relatively common.

15 Noobs Try To Be Cute With Their Building Tactics

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Building in Fortnite should be about creating cover for yourself and to help you reach higher ground. Just because the game is called Fortnite doesn’t mean you have to commit to building actual forts. That can take up too much time and you’ll probably be discovered in the process.

What is really funny is when players build their own small little houses.

These houses would only be as useful as the regular shacks you find on the map, which isn’t much. It won’t take much for a big bad wolf to come and blow it down.

14 Pros Know How To Communicate

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When playing with friends online, it is easy to spot an enemy and tell your buddy “Look he is over there! Now he is above you! No, behind you!” etc. Just like in any team environment, whether if it would be gaming, sports, or workplace, communication is very important.

The best way to communicate in Fortnite is to take advantage of the compass locator at the top of the screen, it shows what direction you are facing as well as a degree angle. Next time, you can let your buddy know that an enemy has been spotted SW at 250.

13 Noobs Don’t Know When To Hop Get Out Of The Battle Bus

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This tactic could make a difference of being one of the first 20 to get eliminated and achieving victory royale. If you just nosedive straight to your location when you jump out of the battle bus, you’re going to find yourself in a predicament by slowly floating down to your location.

Always make sure you jump out of the bus before you reach your destination.

Other players would have left the battle bus early and started their gliding decent before you and then glide right onto the roof of a building while you are still helplessly floating. That will give them a head start to collect any items they can find, by the time you land, you might find yourself completely vulnerable.

12 Pros Don’t Rush Into The Safe Zone

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While it might be enticing to some, a lot of good players don’t necessarily rush into the safe zone as soon as possible. Once the storm is on the move, it can be pretty advantageous to camp yourself at or near the border. This will give them the opportunity to intercept any stragglers that are trying to escape the storm.

Patience is key to survival in Fortnite.

It’s important to be patient and take the time given before the storm hits to search for items, just make sure you don’t actually get caught too far away from the safe zone!

11 Noobs Can’t Tell When The Storm Moves Quickest

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While it certainly can be beneficial to take your time, some players might not have the luxury of exploring. The safe zone isn’t always going to be placed right in the middle. It could be placed on any of the corners of the map.

If you find yourself on the direct opposite end, you gotta move fast! The storm clouds will close in a lot faster towards the safe zone the further it has to cover. On the other hand, if you are on the close end when the storm is stationary, it will move very slowly, giving you more time to escape.

10 Pros Infiltrate Buildings From The Top

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Most of the treasure chests in Fortnite will be located near the top of a building, especially in houses where they are almost always found in the attic. It is much more efficient if you start your raid from the top going down.

If you just casually go in the front door, you probably won’t find much, just a few individual items that are likely not of any real quality. So build your way up to the roof and go wild with the pickaxe, you’ll even get extra materials from the roof as a bonus.

9 Noobs Think They Can Land Anywhere

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Fortnite’s map is pretty large for your standard multiplayer battle area. There are plenty of named areas that will attract the attention of other players. So you might think “I should land in this unnamed area because no one else will be there?” Well no, in fact, that would be taking a pretty big risk, those areas aren’t named for a reason, there isn’t much there.

This especially applies to those single shacks, you’ll never find anything good inside them. Nothing is worse than having to navigate through the map with only one item that isn’t even a weapon.

8 Pros Gather Materials From Stacks Of wood

One important thing players have to watch is their building material count, especially early on. Ideally, you would want to gather above 100 materials to at least carry you over until you can get an elimination and take all their loot. You could gather wood materials from trees, but you might need to cut down a few trees before you are content.

The best way to gather the wood materials is to find the stacks of wood.

You’ll gather plenty of wood just from one stack, almost reaching 100. Those are commonly found in areas with construction buildings in places like Tilted Tower and Junk Junction.

7 Noobs Try To Heal During A Skirmish

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When engaging in a firefight and you take damage, don’t try to heal unless you have lost your enemy and have plenty of cover around you. With how quick it can be to eliminate an opponent, it isn’t worth trying to risk healing yourself until you finish the fight.

Medkits will take over 8 seconds to use, that is plenty of time for an enemy to locate you, especially if they already know where you may be hiding. This especially applies to chug jugs, as to drink one of them takes a very long 15 seconds.

6 Pros Use Assault Rifles And Explosives

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While Fortnite constantly updates with new and adjusted weapons, the best weapons have always been assault rifles like the heavy assault rifle and explosive weapons like rocket launchers and grenades. Assault rifles are all around good choices and can be used in just about any situation.

Explosive weapons not only do massive damage, but it can also tear down opponents’ forts and nearby buildings, leaving them wide open for attack. While some shotguns and sniper rifles are also really strong choices, their uses may be limited to certain situations. You’ll be better prepared if you have a quality assault rifle and explosives.

5 Noobs Still Try To Slide Down Mountains

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If there is one thing noobs will continue to do is becoming a bit reckless with how they descend down a mountain or steep hill. Obviously, Fortnite does have fall damage, but when it comes to sliding, it can be applied rather inconsistently.

Sliding down a mountain is a risky strategy, unless you build as you slide.

Sometimes you’ll manage to slide down safely, others you’ll take noticeable damage. This is where it is best to just slide but build flat surfaces as you fall. You don’t want to have the embarrassment of having your name pop up showing that you “played yourself.”

4 Pros Love Using Balloons

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The addition of balloons has been one of the best item inclusions Fortnite has had. Equipping balloons will make you float in the air and slowly glide downwards. You can equip up to 3 at a time, but having that many will cause you to soar too fast, just having one or two are ideal. Not only do you no longer have to worry about fall damage, but your movement speed will increase. Letting the momentum of your jumps carry you as well as skillful aiming will make you a dangerous player in skirmishes.

3 Noobs Focus Only On Getting Eliminations

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While eliminating other players is often required for various challenges, they aren’t essential to getting victory royale in Fortnite. If your main goal is to simply be the last one standing, you can do so without engaging in any skirmishes until the end.

If you can get 10-15 eliminations in one match, but still lose, maybe you should play Call of Duty instead.

Just going in on an elimination spree in a very busy area just increases your likelihood of failing. Players have actually coined a term for it: "thirsting". Fortnite is all about survival, if you are great at getting a ton of eliminations, awesome, but keep in mind it doesn’t factor much in earning experience points.

2 Pros Avoid Getting Directly Involved In A Shootout

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When playing solo, you might eventually encounter two or more other players engaging in a firefight with each other. As covered earlier, noobs will probably get involved and catch the attention of the others. But if you want to survive, it would be best to let them fight it out, weaken each other and then swoop in and take out whoever is left.

Ideally, you could catch them while healing or they could wander over to where a player was eliminated to take the spoils. Either situation should give you a chance to sneak in and gain the upper hand.

1 Noobs Still Try To Use Shopping Carts

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A while back shopping carts became the first ever “vehicle” item to appear in Fortnite’s Battle Royale. It was a decent item that allowed you to move a bit quicker, especially downhill, if you need to get out of the storm’s path.

Other than that, it sucked. Sure a buddy could hop on, but the ride won’t be very smooth at all. Compared to all the other vehicles that are available now, the shopping cart should be ignored unless you have no other option.