SECTION 5
SURVIVAL STRATEGIES AND FIGHTING TIPS
Starting when you land on the island, there are a ton of strategies you should use to help you stay alive longer, so you can make it into the End Game.
No two matches are ever the same. Thus, it’s important to adapt your strategy based on the location you’re in and the challenges you’re facing at any given moment. Making intelligent decisions, and then reacting instantly, will help you stay alive even during the most difficult and intense battles.
Anytime you’re out in the open and need to travel between locations, run (don’t walk) in a zig-zag pattern and keep jumping so that you don’t become an easy-to-hit target.
Whenever you come across a Chug Jug, grab it, but unless your heath and shields are dangerously low, save it for when you really need it. As you enter the End Game and know you’re about to encounter multiple enemies, this is a good time to replenish your health and shields to their maximum levels. A Chug Jug will fully replenish your health and shields, but it takes a full 15 seconds to consume, during which time you’re defenseless, since you can’t move or use a weapon. Make sure you’re in a safe place before consuming or using a health and/or shield powerup item.
Immediately after a particularly rough firefight, as soon as it’s safe, surround yourself with walls and consume or use a Med Kit, Bandages, or a Chug Jug, for example, in order to boost your health. If someone attacks you when your health is dangerously low, you’ll wind up being defeated with just one bullet hit, especially if you have no shields. During the End Game, this soldier’s health was at just 23 (out of 100), and there were still seven other enemies that could attack at any time.
Anytime you see someone quickly building a ramp that’s more than three levels tall, wait for the ramp to reach a decent height (as the enemy soldier runs upward), and then use a submachine gun, drum gun, or any gun with a fast fire rate and large magazine, to aim at the bottom or midsection of the ramp. You should be able to destroy it within a few seconds (with multiple direct bullet hits or with an explosive weapon). Doing this will send your enemy plummeting to their demise. Remember, a wooden ramp tile only offers 190 HP worth of protection (after it’s fully built), so shooting through it should be easy, even from a distance. If the tile isn’t fully built when you attack it, it’ll be even easier to destroy.
If you approach a house or building and the front door is already open, this could mean an enemy is still inside (and could ambush you), or that the structure has already been looted and everything worth collecting is now gone. Proceed inside with caution and be prepared for a firefight, especially if you hear footsteps or movement coming from inside. (Shown here on an iPad Pro.)
Before entering into a home or building you think might already be occupied, tiptoe up to a window and peak inside. If you see movement, shoot at enemies through the window. You’ll likely catch them by surprise. (Shown here on an iPad Pro.)
Another option, if you suspect someone is already inside a building, is to toss Grenades, for example, through the window. Here, the soldier is about to toss three Stink Bombs through the window in order to smoke out and harm the enemies inside. (Shown here on an iPad Pro.)
Whenever you discover a house with a cellar door on the outside, smash open these doors with a pickaxe (or shoot the door to destroy it), and then head into the basement. You’ll almost always find a chest, or at least one or two powerful weapons, along with some ammo. The basement you enter using the cellar door typically does not connect to the rest of the house, so you may need to exit the basement and then enter through the front or back door of the house in order to explore the rest of the house. (Shown here on an iPad Pro.)
At any given time, your soldier can harvest or collect and then carry up to 1,000 wood, 1,000 stone, and 1,000 metal. Anytime you’re traveling between locations, for example, take the time to harvest resources. Smashing wooden pallets with a pickaxe will generate more wood than an average tree. You’ll often find wooden pallets in and around buildings. An abundance of large and extra-thick trees (which also generate wood) can be found in and around Wailing Woods, as well as in between points of interest. (Shown here on an iPad Pro.)
Just after the storm expands, if you’re near the border, stay on the safe side, hide behind something, and be ready to shoot at enemies as they exit the storm-ravaged area. Anytime you encounter a vehicle, it can serve as a shield if you crouch down behind it when you’re under attack. When no enemies are around, any type of vehicle can also be smashed with a pickaxe in order to harvest and collect metal. (Shown here on an iPad Pro.)
Anytime your shields are low (or in this case at zero), drink a Shield Potion to replenish your Shield meter by 50 (up to 100). This soldier was out in the open when she drank the Shield Potion. This was not a smart strategy, because for about five seconds while this item was being consumed, she was defenseless. An enemy could easily have shot her from any distance and eliminated her from the match. In this situation, it would have been much smarter to build four walls around the soldier before consuming the Shield Potion.
If you need to boost your resources, go into any house or building and start smashing things with your pickaxe. Within a home, smashing the furniture and walls, for example, will generate wood. Smashing the appliances will generate metal. Smashing the stone fireplace (when there is one) will generate stone. Another way to build up resources, but that requires more risk, is to engage enemies in battle. Anytime you defeat an enemy soldier, you’re able to grab any of the weapons, ammo, loot items, and resources they were carrying before they got eliminated from the match. So, if the enemy was carrying 500 wood, 800 stone, and 600 metal, grab the resource icons you discover where the enemy was defeated, and those resources become yours.
When playing the Duos or Squads game play mode, you’re able to share weapons, ammo, loot items, and resources with your squad members. To share resources when one of your teammates is standing near you, access your Backpack Inventory screen. Select the resource you want to share (wood, stone, or metal), and then select the Drop option. From this pop-up slider, determine how much of the selected resource you’re holding that you want to share. Select the Drop option again and allow your teammate to pick up the resource icon from the ground. (Shown here on an iPad Pro.)
A sniper rifle with a scope allows you to really zoom in and target your enemies from a distance. When you have a rifle with a thermal scope, you’re able to zoom in and see your enemies from a distance, even when they’re hiding behind something or within a fortress. From outdoors, a thermal scope can also show you the glow of a chest that’s hidden within a building. Once you notice an enemy is hiding behind something, instead of wasting rifle bullets, use a long-range projectile weapon, such as a Rocket Launcher, to destroy the entire structure your enemy is hiding in. This strategy will help you conserve ammo and potentially defeat more enemies, especially during the End Game. When your enemies are clustered close together, they’re easier to defeat (or at least injure) when you blast them with an explosive weapon.
During firefights it’s almost always to your advantage to be higher up than your opponent, so that you’re shooting downward at your target. There are several ways to achieve this. For example, you can build a ramp, stand on a pre-existing object, or in this case, climb to a higher level of a building or mountain and then snipe at enemies below.
Refer back to the screenshot on the right, found on the previous page. A firefight took place during an End Game. There were three enemies remaining, and one was hiding inside the wooden fortress below his enemy. The soldier who had the height advantage bombarded the roof of the lower fortress with gunfire until it was destroyed and the enemy hiding was defeated.
Port-A-Forts are rare, but if you’ve found one and you’re carrying it, activate it if you get caught in a surprise attack and need instant protection.
Quickly get to the top of the fort by jumping on the tires.
Immediately build a metal floor piece to block the entrance to the fort’s upper area. This will prevent enemies from entering the fort and sneaking up on you.
For added protection, build a metal pyramid-shaped tile over the floor tile you just built, and then peek over the top edge of the fort and shoot at your enemies below.
To counter when an enemy creates a Port-A-Fort, as soon as you see this happening, quickly build a ramp that points directly toward the fort as it’s being built, get to a higher level than the fort, and then jump down into it. If you can do this before or at the same time your enemy reaches the top of the Port-A-Fort they just built, you’ll be in a great position to defeat them with your most powerful short-range weapon. You can also just shoot them from above, since a Port-A-Fort has no roof.
In this situation, an enemy created a basic fortress with four stone and wood walls around him to offer a fair level of protection. The fact that several different resources were used for such a small shelter could indicate that the soldier hiding inside is low on resources. What’s missing from this structure is a roof. This shelter can easily be spotted through the scope of a sniper rifle. At this point, the enemy holding the rifle has several choices.
One option is for the soldier holding the sniper rifle to wait for his enemy to peek their head over the top of the fortress. He can then use the sniper rifle to pick off his enemy with a headshot.
Another option would be to use a Rocket Launcher and aim for the inside of this small fortress (through the exposed top), so that the explosion defeats whoever is inside. A third option would be to sneak up closer and then toss a few Grenades or explosive weapons directly into this fortress. This is the riskiest option, but it can work well if you move fast.
At the start of a match, instead of leaping from the Battle Bus and landing in the middle of a popular point of interest that you know will be populated by a bunch of enemy soldiers, consider landing on the outskirts and collecting weapons, ammo, loot items, and resources first, and then traveling to the desired point of interest. Not only will you be better prepared to engage in battle, but the enemy soldiers who have already been there for a few minutes will have defeated some of the other soldiers by the time you get there, so you’ll encounter fewer enemies. The hut that’s located at the top-left (which often contains a chest in its loft) can be found on a hill just outside of Tilted Towers (near map coordinates D6).
After collecting weapons, ammo, and potentially loot items, as well as resources, from this small hut, slide down the cliff and directly enter Tilted Towers. You’ll save time if you land directly on this hut’s roof and smash through it to discover what’s in the loft and on the floor on the main level.
Every point of interest has at least one structure on its outskirts that contains weapons, ammo, loot items, and/or resources you can use to build up your arsenal. The bottom screenshot above shows a decrepit house that can be found outside Paradise Palms, near the border between the green area of the island and the desert.
Whether you’re in a match alone in Solo mode, or you’re working with teammates in a Duos or Squads game, a Cozy Campfire offers a way to replenish your soldier’s health after a battle. Multiple soldiers can heal at the same time by standing close to the fire. Plus, if you pile two Cozy Campfires on top of each other, you can reap twice the healing benefit.
Because it takes 30 seconds to discover the full healing benefits of a Cozy Campfire, make sure you’re in a safe and secluded place when you activate it. Build walls around yourself for added protection. If multiple soldiers are standing close to the fire, have one person stand guard with their weapon drawn. Remember, any time you use a health or shields powerup, you can’t use a weapon at the same time and your soldier needs to be standing still. He or she is vulnerable to attack.
Throughout the island are many small huts. Inside, you’ll sometimes find weapons, ammo, loot items, or resource icons lying on the ground, although sometimes they’re empty. You can use these structures to hide in while you rest or replenish your health and shields using powerups. Another option is to hide inside and ambush an enemy when he or she opens the door and comes looking for you. You could also booby trap the inside of the cabin using a Trap or Remote Explosives, for example, and then leave (closing the door behind you). When the enemy enters, they’ll go boom.
There are many houses scattered throughout the island—not just within labeled points of interest on the map. If there’s a chest to be found inside, it’ll often be located in the attic, basement, or garage. In the various rooms, you’ll often discover weapons, ammo, loot items, and resource icons lying out in the open waiting to be grabbed (if you’re the first soldier to search the house).
From outside, listen carefully for enemy movement as you approach and enter any house, building, or structure. If you hear movement and don’t want to fight at the moment, consider moving on without entering that structure. If you do decide to enter, go in with your weapon drawn and be ready for an ambush. While you’re searching the house, feel free to smash everything inside to collect resources.
As you make your way between points of interest on the island and attempt to stay clear of the storm, you’ll discover many hills and mountains. Never leap off of a cliff, or you’ll wind up injured or worse. Instead, slide down the edge of the cliff and you’ll land on the ground safely, with no loss of HP.
When you encounter silos (like these two) in a farming area, or a metal water tower in one of the suburban areas, use your pickaxe to smash them. Inside, you’ll often (but not always) discover a chest. You’ll also harvest some metal.
You can’t smash or destroy piles of tires, but you can jump on them to reach a higher altitude. If the tires are near the side of a building or structure, you can often jump on the tires and reach the roof with one leap.
Several locations on the island contain junkyards, where you’ll find piles of crushed vehicles that create a maze-like area when you’re at ground level. There’s often useful loot to be collected on the ground, but you need to watch out for enemies who may be lurking around every turn. Plus, there’s always a threat from enemy snipers above you.
To stay safe, avoid the ground level of these congested, maze-like areas until you know they’re clear of enemies. The best way to accomplish this is to build a ramp and climb to the top of the tallest pile, or to go to a higher level in a building that surrounds the junkyard and shoot at enemies you spot below. Remember you always want a height advantage, if possible.
When you’re playing a Duos or Squads game and you get injured, all you can do is crawl around. You can’t build, fight, or use any of your loot items. At this point, hope one of your teammates will come to your rescue and revive you. While you’re waiting, whenever possible, crawl to somewhere safe. Hopefully, the enemy won’t approach and finish you off before help arrives.
While you’re being revived, both the injured soldier and the teammate who is doing the healing become vulnerable to attack, since neither can move or use a weapon during the revive process. Thus, you definitely want to revive someone only when it’s safe to do so.
Don’t forget, as long as you have resources, you’re able to build almost anywhere on the island, including directly on top of existing structures (or within them). This wooden fortress was built on top of the structure located in the center of Pleasant Park. From the top of this fortress, you’re able to see 360 degrees around you, so you can easily spot and then shoot at enemies.
Anytime you build a structure, think about how it will protect you, but also consider the location and choose a building spot that offers the best vantage point from which to launch attacks.
It’s often easier to reach the attic of a house if you get to the roof from the outside and then smash your way downward. You can do this by landing on a roof (after exiting the Battle Bus) or by building a ramp outside that goes from ground level directly to the roof.
The fastest way to travel across a large body of water, such as the lake in Loot Lake, is to build a wooden bridge over the water and run across it. You can just walk through the water, but this is a slow process. Anytime you’re out in the open, you’re exposed to potential attacks. Here, an enemy soldier can be hiding with a sniper rifle from anywhere along the edge of the lake and shoot at you as you cross. Be prepared to quickly build vertical walls to protect you from incoming bullets. As you cross the bridge, run in a zigzag pattern and keep jumping to make yourself a fast-moving and difficult target to hit.
When it comes to protecting yourself from incoming bullets, never underestimate the usefulness of a single metal pyramid-shaped tile. Each can withstand between 140 HP and 460 HP worth of damage (based on what it’s made from). These are easy to build. Just crouch down and hide behind it. Anytime you build with metal, keep in mind that until the tile is fully built it does not offer full protection. If you need instant protection, build with wood first, and then reinforce your structure with metal.
Instead of hiding behind a pyramid-shaped tile, you can crouch down and build one directly on top of yourself. This too offers protection. For even more protection, if you have time, first build four walls to surround yourself, add a pyramid-shaped roof to the structure, and then build another pyramid-shaped tile to hide under within the fort.
Remote Explosives offer a great way to booby trap an object or structure. Figure out where you want to place these explosives and then go hide. Wait for an enemy to approach, and then detonate the explosives. Make sure you’re far enough away to avoid the impact of the explosion, but that you have a good line of sight to the boobytrapped area, so you know when to set off the explosion. In this case, the door to a house’s basement was boobytrapped using multiple Remote Explosives.
Once Remote Explosives are placed and activated, they emit a flashing blue light. Take this into account and try to hide the explosives from view when you place them. Now move away from the explosives.
As you can see, the explosion from three Remote Explosives gutted the entire basement and most of the house’s first floor. If enemies had been in the house, they would have been injured or eliminated from the match instantly. Remember, as you’re exploring the island, if you notice flashing blue lights, stay away, or you could be the one about to get caught in an explosion.
Vending Machines are randomly scattered throughout the island. Using resources (wood, stone, or metal), you’re able to purchase rare and powerful weapons and/or loot items. These machines offer a great way to boost your arsenal. However, making purchases will quickly diminish your resources. To protect yourself when making a purchase, consider building walls around yourself and the Vending Machine.
Instead of making a purchase, hide near a Vending Machine with your gun drawn. Wait for an enemy soldier to approach the machine and make a purchase, and then launch a surprise attack. When you defeat that enemy, you’ll be able to collect everything he or she was carrying, including whatever was just purchased from the Vending Machine.
Points of interest like Shifty Shafts are fun to explore, because the underground tunnels contain lots of useful weapons, ammo, loot items, and resources to collect. As you explore these tunnels, you can’t see anything around the turns, so listen carefully for the movement of your enemies, and as you travel through the tunnels, crouch down and tiptoe, so you make the least amount of noise possible. Always keep your weapon drawn and ready to fire as you go around turns.
While in the underground tunnels of places like Shifty Shafts, listen carefully for the sound of chests. You’ll often find them hidden behind walls that you need to smash through in order to reach them. Sometimes, you can also see the glow of the chests from between the wood plank walls.
As you travel in between points of interest, you’ll sometimes come across red Apples or blue Mushrooms on the ground. When you pick up and consume an Apple, your Health meter gets a 5HP boost (up to a maximum of 100). When you consume a Mushroom, your Shield meter gets a 5HP boost (up to a maximum of 100). You can’t pick up and collect these powerups, store them in your backpack, and then use them when you need them. Instead, you must consume these items when and where you discover them.
From the Item Shop, you can purchase a vast selection of outfits to customize the appearance of your soldier. It’s assumed that the gamers who showcase the rarest, “legendary,” and most elaborate outfits, with a separate pickaxe design and backpack design, are the best, most experienced players.
If you get really good playing Fortnite: Battle Royale, forego the fancy outfits and dress your soldier in the default (free) outfit, use the default pickaxe, and don’t add back bling. This way, your adversaries will often assume you’re a noob and pay less attention to you in the game.
After stepping into a Rift, you’ll be catapulted into the sky and able to glide back toward land using your glider. While airborne, you can cover a lot of territory. The drawback is that while you’re using your glider and still in the air, enemy soldiers can shoot at you from the ground and you’re basically defenseless. Try to avoid flying over heavily populated areas. Rifts-to-Go loot items can be collected and used anywhere.
When you’re caught in the storm running toward the safe area of the island, participating in a firefight is seldom a smart strategy. If you decide to confront an enemy while in the storm, make sure your Health meter is maxed out when you start. Try to finish the battle quickly, and then use a Bouncer, Launch Pad, Shopping Kart, or ideally an ATK to help you escape the storm faster. Stepping into a Rift can also be helpful when it comes to making a quick exit from your current location.
While still in the storm, you can replenish some health HP by consuming or using a powerup, but this often takes time. If you wait too long to use it, you’ll be burning away your health at the same time you’re replenishing it, and you’ll wind up stuck in the storm and perishing with zero health. If you use a health powerup while in the storm, your Health meter should still be at 40 or higher.
As soon as you exit the storm, find a safe place to hide, and then use a Cozy Campfire or a Med Kit, for example, to fully replenish your Health meter before moving on to your next challenge or battle.
Shooting at the bottom or mid-section of a tall ramp will cause it to come crashing down, and whoever is standing on it will likely be injured or perish from the fall.
These “No Dancing” signs are scattered around the island. When you see one, you’re going to want to dance. Your enemies will too! Find a nearby place to hide that’s in line of sight to the sign. Wait for one of your enemies to approach the sign and start dancing, then shoot him. While a soldier is dancing, he can’t use a weapon or build, so for a few seconds he’s vulnerable to attack. Make one successful headshot, and the enemy will be history.
Lazy Links tends to be a popular area on the island. Instead of landing in the heart of it, stay in the outskirts. Within the golf course’s sand traps, you’ll often find weapons, ammo, and/or loot items if you’re the first soldier to get there.
If you’re riding in an ATK alone, you can’t drive and use a weapon at the same time, but you can run over enemies and smash through certain objects. Keep in mind, enemies can shoot at the ATK while it’s moving, so drive fast and in a zigzag pattern to avoid getting hit. If you’re trying to shoot at someone else driving an ATK, using a projectile weapon, such as a Rocket Launcher, is easier than trying to make a direct hit on a fast-moving target with a gun.
ATKs truly are all-terrain vehicles. In fact, they can go airborne if you drive over a jump or directly into a Rift. Shown here is an ATK in a Rift. When you land, you won’t take damage from the Rift, and you could potentially cover a lot of territory. With practice, when an ATK is on land, you can leap out of it at any time and immediately begin shooting your weapon.
One of the most perfect places to land if you’re looking for a spot that’s secluded, away from the popular points of interest, and that’s chock full of weapons, ammo, loot items, and resources, is the roof of this house that already has a wooden tower built on top of it. You’ll find it by the coastline outside of Wailing Woods (between map coordinates I2.5 and J2.5). Once you’ve collected everything you need from this house, check its garage. Sometimes there’s an ATK parked inside. If not, start running toward Wailing Woods, and harvest wood from the trees along the way. Pay attention to the direction the storm is moving and then decide where to go next.