OurFortnite Beginners Guidewill get you started in this popular f2p game. This guide includes beginner’s information on gun rarity, guns, healing, building, and finding loot. We also go through each phase of the game so you will know how to approach the early, mid, and late game stages of Battle Royale!
Fortnite can be a tough game to fully grasp early on when you are just starting out. You have to adapt to the gunplay, but the biggest thing you’ll need to wrap your head around is the building. If you have just picked up the game, I would focus more on learning how to shoot straight and then slowly start integrating building into the game. If you want to work on getting a grasp on building, there’s a mode called “Playground” where you can jump into a game by yourself and get a feel for the controls.
If you have any technical questions,Fortnitehas a pretty large help database which you can find on theirsite!
What is Fortnite?
If you aren’t even really familiar with the concept of Fortnite then let me break it down a bit for you. Fortnite is a Battle Royale game. You might be familiar with this concept even if you’ve never played games before due to it borrowing heavily from The Hunger Games books/movies. The idea is that you are let loose on an island with a bunch of other players, your task is to survive and come out on top. This isn’t going to be easy, because not only do you have all of the other people on the map trying to eliminate you, you also have a circle of death approaching you from all sides. This circle, called “the storm” in Fortnite, will deal damage to you if you stand in it. It continues to periodically close in on you until one player is left standing.
That sounds fairly daunting, but there’s things you’ll find on the map to help you. Weapons are scattered everywhere and you can equip yourself with them to defend yourself, you can find bandage and shields to protect you from damage!
Item Rarity
If you’ve ever playedDiabloorWorld of Warcraftyou’ll be fairly familiar to rarity colors. Each color denotes the rarity of the particular item, and the more rare means the better it is. This is no different in Fortnite, each gun has a rarity assigned to it, however, one of the unique things about Fortnite is that some guns start in the middle of the rarity tier or don’t make it to the end of it. Here’s a list of the rarities available, as well as how they stack up against each from Weakest to Strongest:
Common (Gray) > Uncommon (Green) > Rare (Blue) > Epic (Purple) > Legendary (Orange)
When it comes to guns, if it’s a higher rarity it does more damage for that particular type of gun.
Keep in mind that all items have a rarity assigned to them. This includes items that heal you (Bandages, Medkits) as well as traps and grenades. These types of items only come in one rarity, so there’s no version that is better than another.
Gun Information
Most guns are pretty self-explanatory but I will briefly go over some of the strengths and weaknesses of each type.
Pistols
If you have to grab one in the early game it’s better than no gun, but generally you want to get rid of these asap. The Suppressed Pistol is a pretty good weapon, but ultimately just about every pistol is outclassed by shotguns or assault rifles.
Shotguns
Shotguns have just about always been the top tier weapon to have in the game. As long as you had one, you were in an okay spot. That’s largely due to the fact that you’re able to close ground on opponent’s by building your way towards them. If you can get good with the Shotguns, you’ll find that the game gets a whole lot easier.
SMGs
You can use these to rapidly deal damage to structures, and they are great for following up shotgun shots and finishing off an enemy.
Assault Rifles
One of the best all-purpose guns but can be a bit random. The spread can be somewhat problematic at longer ranges, but attempt to shoot in controlled bursts for the best accuracy. The SCAR is one of the best guns in the game, and can be accurate while dealing a good amount of damage.
Sniper Rifles
These take a bit of practice to get used to, but once you get the hang of it can be devastating for long distance shooting. Sniper Rifle’s have “Bullet Drop”, which means the shot does not instantly hit the target and will drop downwards the further the shot travels. If you’re trying to hit a moving target at range you’ll want to aim higher and in-front of them.
Explosive Weaponry
Very effective at destroying forts, but can also just be used to take out an opponent that’s close by. The Rocket Launcher takes time to get to its target so take that into account.
Other Weapons
There are a few other options available to you if you are looking for advanced ways to destroy your enemies.
Grenade
You can’t throw these very far, but they make for good ways to destroy your opponent’s walls/base. You can hold the throw button to get a path for where your grenade is going to land, this is very useful if you are trying to toss them inside a house or fort. You can’t “cook” a grenade, so you can hold the throw button as long as you want.
Traps
Traps used to kind of be items that were hard to use and you’d just put them around and hope to get an elimination. Now, however, they can be an integral part of your arsenal. If you box someone in with one of your builds, you can place a trap on the wall and possibly get an elimination. If you are just starting out, I wouldn’t worry too much about using them, but as you grow as a player you should definitely fit them into your play.
The other important aspect of traps is listening for them and being aware of the possibility of them. Traps are loud when they are placed, if you don’t know what it sounds like then head to Playground and try one out. They have a distinct sound, so if you hear it you know to be extra careful when running around. The other part is running around the map, if you enter an area that has been looted (doors are open, structures are built) then there’s a high possibility someone has placed a trap. You’ll need to always check every ceiling and area you enter for traps so you don’t get caught.
Healing and Shields
With healing and shields, it’s very important to know each of the strengths and weaknesses of each item.
Bandages
Bandages are the most basic of ways to heal yourself back up. Each Bandage restores 15 health and you’re able to only heal yourself up to 75 with them. You can only hold 15 bandages in a single item slot.
Med Kit
A Med Kit will restore you back to full health. If you find one of these, it’s usually best to just replace your bandages with it. Med Kits are slow and take a full 10 seconds to use, so be sure you are in a safe spot if you are going to use them.
Bandage Bazooka
you may shoot your friend or yourself with this gun to regain health. It has unlimited ammo, but it will require a cooldown period so that it can recharge.
Mini Shield Potion
Mini Shields are for quickly shielding yourself. You get 25 shield for each one and can only use them up to 50 shield. If you have these and a full Shield Potion then it’s important to pop these first so you can go to the full 100 shield. These are more available than the standard Shield Potion, and they only take 2 seconds to consume!
Shield Potion
A Shield Potion gives you 50 shield, you can use two of these to get to the max 100 shield. These take 5 seconds to drink, so don’t try guzzling one of these if you are in a firefight. You can hold up to three of these now, so if you find a health stack they are worth holding over a couple of Mini Shield Potions.
Environmental Consumables
You can find apples, mushrooms, or coconuts lying around the map in certain areas. Eat these to gain health, shield, or both!
Fish
A new addition to the game is the ability to fish around the map! This is worthwhile because you can obtain fish that will give you health and/or shield. The speed in which you can consume these is a lot faster than any of the other healing options.
Slurp Barrels & Areas
In Chapter 2: Season 1 of the game there are Slurp Kegs (Barrels) that can be broken that will splash you with some healing. you’re able to also walk around in water that is glowing blue, this will slowly heal you and give you shields.
Building Basics
One of the biggest differences between Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (besides it being F2P) is the ability to build. On the surface, it might seem like this is only somewhat useful, but you’d be very mistaken. Building might be the most crucial element to success in Fortnite. You use it to get on top of mountains, make cover, reach chests, slow your drop rate from high places, and then usually to build yourself a nice fort at the end of the game.
If you’re playing on PC the first thing you do is bind your building hotkeys to better keys (check thispostfor the most popular ones). You will want to have wall, floor, and ramp easily accessible, because you will be using these ALL THE TIME. Practice building as much as possible to get better, because of any skill this is the most invaluable in Fortnite. If you are taking any type of gunfire that isn’t right in your face your first instinct should be to build a wall or a ramp.
The Ramp Box
One of the most useful things you may learn how to build quickly is what I’m calling “The Ramp Box”. It is literally just four walls and a ramp, but being able to throw this together in a few seconds is extremely helpful in a lot of situations. It gives you cover from all sides, and allows you to peak out and throw shots at your enemy. You can also continue to stack on top of it and grow it higher using the same exact design.
Finding the Best Loot
You can find loot out in the open, but one of the best options for finding loot is in chests. The absolute best items can more reliably come out of Supply Drops.
Chests
You will find these throughout the world and they make a signature alluring sing-songy sound when you are near one. They also glow yellow when they haven’t been looted yet. When you go to open a chest it takes a second to open it, so it’s not a good idea to attempt to open one when there’s another person around.
Chest Locations
Supply Drops
Supply drops are harder to get because they will drop in random spots all over the map! However, these have some of the best loot you can come across.
It’s usually best not to just rush towards the area where it’s going to drop. If it’s early in the game, however, then you are more likely to get one without being spotted. The later in the game, however, more players will be keeping an eye on where they fall. If you don’t want to wait and scope out the area, it’s usually a good idea to wall around the area where it’s going to drop so you are protected from gunfire.
Hot Spots (Not in the Game Currently)
When you’re flying into the island on the Battle Bus, take a look at the map. You should see some locations that have had their name color changed to yellow. These denote a Hot Spot. If you go to this location, you’ll see floating drones called Loot Carriers. Shoot these down and they will drop a Rare or higher quality weapon with two stacks of ammo!
General Tips
I’m going to try and cover some of the smaller things that will help improve your game or are good to know if you are just starting out.
