How to Improve at Fortnite on PS4

Last Updated: April 21, 2022 References

Fortnite rapidly has become one of the most popular games in the country and has gripped an entire generation in its cartoonish grasp. From kids to adults, people from all over the world have grown to love this game and have made it one of the most successful video games in history. With such success comes competition, and as time has passed the quality of that competition has steadily increased and made it more difficult for novice or inexperienced players to have as much of an impact, or even to have as much fun.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Updating the Settings

1
Change the game settings. From the Battle Royale lobby, press options on your controller to open a menu then go to the settings menu and change several of the options under the Game submenu. Some of these settings are critical to gameplay and some of these are quality of life improvements and are optional. The critical settings that need to be changed to on are:
- Turbo Building and Builder Pro: Build Immediately, both of which will greatly improve your ability to build well.
- The quality of life improvements are: Tap to Search/Interact, Controller Autorun, Auto Pick Up Weapons, and Auto Sort Consumables to Right, all of which should be switched to on.
2
Change the wireless controller layout. Go to the settings menu, then the Wireless Controller submenu and change your Wireless Controller Configurations to Builder Pro, the most common configuration among high-level play.
- Only use a custom Wireless Controller Configuration if you are highly confident in a specific custom layout and have practiced it as custom layouts can be very difficult to use.
- After changing this setting, spend some time learning the controls making sure to look at both combat and build controls.
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3
Change your sensitivity settings. Go to the settings menu, then the Controller Sensitivity submenu, where you are going to change various sensitivity settings.
- A good starting point for most early players is 4-5 for look sensitivity, 4-5 for aim sensitivity, and 1.5X-2.0X for both the build mode and edit mode sensitivity multiplier.
- If these speeds are too fast, change them to 3 for look and aim sensitivity and 1-1.25X for build mode and edit mode sensitivity multipliers. Over time, increase these settings gradually until you are at your fastest comfortable speed to improve your play.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Playing the Game

1
Vary your drop locations to improve your play. Using the drop is a great way to learn and improve your gameplay. Drop in different locations from game to game to become familiar with the map. The end of the game can be anywhere on the map due to the storm so an intricate knowledge of all locations will be very helpful.
- Use busy drop locations (locations close to the bus path and towards the center of the map) to get better at gunfighting and build battles.
- Use edge of map drop locations to learn how best to navigate the map and maximize looting.^{[1]
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2
Be prepared as soon as you land. Landing on top of a building is a great way to start. Immediately after landing find a gun (either by itself or from a chest) and figure out if other players landed near you and where they are at. Others are going to try and rush you as soon as they have a gun so be prepared for very early fights.
- On occasion, someone may try to kill you with the pickaxe. In that situation, run and find a gun before them, don’t try and out-pickaxe them.^{[2]
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3
Harvest and maintain resources throughout the game. Resources are needed to build and are therefore one of the most important things to track and take care of in-game. Begin harvesting as soon as you land. Never go more than a minute without harvesting some resources. Have at least 100 total resources, and over 300 is best. Increase your heavy materials (stone and metal) more as the game progresses, as they are vitally important in late-game situations.^{[3]
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4
Build in almost every situation. Building is the most powerful tool at your disposal in Fortnite and you need to use it constantly. When an enemy engages you, build to defend yourself from enemy fire and give instant cover. Build ramps in order to reach areas previously unreachable on foot. Build ramps and walls to gain instant high ground on an enemy. Build a 1x1 box with ramps upward to give yourself a tower to fight from, 1x1 towers are quite useful for defense, attaining high ground, and conserving resources.
- Watch videos demonstrating build techniques that work well in-game if you are unsure of how to build well.^{[4]
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5
Be deliberate with encounters. Do not just run towards fighting without regard. Take stock of the situation by looking at how many teams are engaging, how the engagement is tracking and where the storm is. Only engage if the conditions are favorable to you, for instance, only two teams are engaging, you have an advantageous position, and the storm isn’t going to kill you during the encounter.^{[5]
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6
Get high ground. Attain high ground as early as you can both before and during a fight. High ground gives you a significant advantage over your enemies and is a large determinant of a player’s success.
- During later stages in the game get the highest ground you can, as its importance is even higher later.
7
Be aware of the storm’s location and timer. The storm is a large determinant on the flow of the game and slowly closes in on players as the game progresses, damaging those caught in it. As soon as the storm forms and every time it stops, look at its next location and plan how you are going to get there.
- The farther you are going to have to move to be in the next storm, the earlier you need to move towards it.
8
Try different weapons/items/traps to become familiar with them. Fortnite has a large selection of weapons, usable items, and traps to choose from and they all have strengths and drawbacks. Weapons and usable items are things that take up one of your five inventory spots. Traps are kept in the trap spot in your inventory and don’t have limits to the number you can have. Use them all and understand every single item. Almost every item can have a use in-game.^{[6]
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9
Maximize inventory space. Using your inventory space wisely is highly important to success in Fortnite. Use one slot for a close-range weapon like a submachine gun or a shotgun and use another slot for a medium-range weapon like an assault rifle or burst rifle. Put some combination of a sniper rifle, explosives, a healing item, or a random gun of the user’s choice in slots three and four. For the fifth spot, always have a healing item.^{[7]
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Evaluating Your Performance

1
Evaluate your own gameplay. After finishing a game or several games, take stock of your abilities. Write down specifically what you are good, neutral, or bad at regarding gunfighting, building, resource harvesting, storm avoidance, battle positioning and item usage. Be honest about your abilities and be aware of how they change from evaluation to evaluation.^{[8]
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2
Practice with purpose. Using the evaluations from the previous step, work on the specific skills you identified as being bad at during new games. Only work on one to two things each game otherwise the practice may be stretched too thin to yield concrete results.^{[9]
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3
Watch professionals play. Professional gamers will often stream their games live as well as record them, allowing others to watch them play. Watch these videos and learn the techniques, habits, and thought-processes of people who are the best at this game.
- Pay special attention to areas of your game you previously highlighted as needing work.
- Try to learn new techniques for building and editing. These are some of the most difficult parts of the game to learn and pros know the best moves and when to use them.