Thanks to Fornite finally making its way to the Nintendo Switch a month ago and my 3 weeks of unemployment during that span, I was able to get a great feel for the most popular game on the planet. So what if I now get the DTs if I go more than 24 hours without playing it!??! I thoroughly enjoyed my first season, and I look forward to taking part in a full 10 week season to inflict maximum pwnage. Continue reading below for a recap of my time so far, as well as, tips for anyone looking to join the growing Fortnite  community.

Season Stats

Player Level: 57
Battle Tier: 80
Play Time: 75 Hours
Most Eliminations: 5
Victory Royales: 12

Favorite Moments

Top Moment 1

The coolest experience I had playing during Season 4 actually came in a loss. I made it down to the final 2 with low health and a pretty poor load-out. Instead of just simply dispatching me, my opponent continually built prisons around me that I would break out of just in time to reach the next storm circle. Eventually, though, there were no more storm circles to be had, and I got to witness the storm close in on us completely until it was simply a matter of who had the most health to survive the longest.

Top Moment 2

As previously chronicled, the Missile Launch was an incredible community event that I am confident they’ll somehow find a way to top in Season 5.

Top Moment 3

Earning my first Victory Royale was awesome. It gave me the confidence that I could hold my own in the game and set me well on the path of spending entirely too many hours playing Fortnite.

Top Moment 4

My first squad team-up with the wonderfully rhyming Kevin and Devin (and a random 4th) was unbelievably fun, reckless and ridiculous. We got great loot and made it to the final 8 with just our squad in addition to a full strength enemy squad. I ordered Kevin to take down their structure with a newly acquired rocket launcher, and we charged in to battle only to be swiftly killed since we didn’t do anything fancy like flank them and it turned out we only had the one rocket….

Victory Royale Recaps

Victory 1

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 2
Weapon: Hand Cannon + Tactical Shotgun
Bad-assery: 3/10
Luck: 4/10

Just like we learned in Revenge of the Sith, securing the high ground can end a battle quickly. I may have sucked terribly at actually hitting my opponent, but they never had a chance given my perch atop the mountain.

Victory 2

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 5
Weapon: Mini-gun
Bad-assery: 8/10
Luck: 2/10

It was at this point that I knew I loved both the mini-gun and destroying everyone else’s beautiful creations.

Victory 3

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 2
Weapon: Tactial Machine Gun + Suppressed Pistol
Bad-assery: 6/10
Luck: 9/10

If not for a lucky headshot at the end, I very well might have squandered this opportunity. At least I’d have gotten a fun game of ring around the rosie in with a conveniently located tree.

Victory 4

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 2
Weapon: Rocket Launcher
Bad-assery: 7/10
Luck: 8/10

Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. My terrible load-out was quickly saved by the rocket launcher I found after taking out #3, and one lucky shot was all it took for the victory.

Victory 5

Mode: Duo
Eliminations: 1
Weapon: Remote Explosives
Bad-assery: 9/10
Luck: 10/10

My first duo win! Unfortunately for Kevin, I left him to die early on when we were ambushed by 2 teams out in the open. This gambit paid off, as I someone stayed alive long enough to get my only kill when it mattered the most thanks to a perfectly placed explosive and a near miss from a rocket.

Victory 6

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 3
Weapon: Remote Explosives + Burst Assault Rifle
Bad-assery: 10/10
Luck: 5/10

I somehow managed to stay as cool as a cucumber with an expertly located remote explosive and some calm shots from a burst rifle guiding me to victory.

Victory 7

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 3
Weapon: Mini-gun
Bad-assery: 7/10
Luck: 7/10

I would not be denied of another win thanks to my best friend the mini-gun. More importantly, I finally managed to pull off a dance during the victory screen.

Victory 8

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 2
Weapon: Assault Rifle
Bad-assery: 10/10
Luck: 8/10

This might be my coolest win of all, as the ramps being built by my opponent turned the battlefield into an M.C. Escher dreamscape.

Victory 9

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 4
Weapon: Remote Explosives
Bad-assery: 9/10
Luck: 4/10

Anything you can build, I can blow up better.

Victory 10

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 2
Weapon: Assault Rifle + Clinger
Bad-assery: 6/10
Luck: 3/10

Seriously, how did this person think they were safe in such an exposed, enclosed space. Do they not know about my proclivity for pyrotechnics?

Victory 11

Mode: Duo
Eliminations: 1
Weapon: Assault Rifle
Bad-assery: 6/10
Luck: 6/10

This time, Kevin’s death would not be in vain as it provided just enough distraction to get off the final shot for the win.

Victory 12

Mode: Solo
Eliminations: 3
Weapon: Grenade Launcher + Mini-gun
Bad-assery: 8/10
Luck: 2/10

Since I had the high ground and zero clue where the final bad guy was, I decided to go with the scorched earth approach to great success.

Tips For Starting

Despite my normal aversion to online shooting games, I feel like I had a pretty successful first month playing Fortnite (and it made me much less crazy/angry than my previous go to multiplayer game Rocket League). Here are some things I have found useful if you’re looking to get started.

1. Purchase the Battle Pass

Battle Royale mode in Fortnite is free, so you can challenge 99 other individuals to insanity without any cost to yourself. I decided to take a chance on the ~$10 (950 V-bucks) battle pass, and I’m so glad that I did. The battle pass gives out plenty of great stuff (all cosmetic, so don’t worry you will not be at a disadvantage if you skip it), and it includes weekly and daily challenges to help mix things up and keep play interesting. Aside from that, among the many rewards you get for leveling up with the battle pass are more V-bucks, so my one time investment of $10 already generated more than enough V-bucks (1250 to be exact) for Season 5 meaning you don’t have to pay for it ever again as long as you put the time in.

2. Learn How to be Sneaky

I’m a little spastic when it comes to aiming especially when the pressure is on and I’m at risk for being exposed as a n00b. I have found that my greatest success has come while sneaking like crazy (I only averaged a measly 2.5 eliminations in my wins). While everyone else is playing Rambo, you can find plenty of loot and stay alive by sneaking into random structures. Additionally, you can use things like bushes and trees as cover if you find yourself stuck in the open. For additional luck, try charting paths along the coasts to add an extra layer of protection as you easily eliminate one side that enemies can come from.

3. Pick Your Landing Spot Well

How your match is going to go often comes down to where you land. If you choose a spot too close to the Party Bus’s path, you’re likely to encounter tons of other combatants who will both compete with you for loot and have a decent shot of killing you before you’re properly equipped to handle the threat. Seek places toward the edge of the map that are less likely to be inhabited, or pick a nice unnamed location that tends to be ignored like the motel or prison. It also helps if you can chain together locations giving you even more chances for loot. Junk Junction to the tv set to the stadium or Wailing Woods to Risky Reels are two good examples of this.

Examples of places to avoid unless you’re looking for a firefight right off the bat are Tilted Towers, Dusty Divot, Loot Lake, and any location included in the weekly challenges.

4. Mix Up Your Play-style

As I mentioned above, I like being a stealth assassin, but this can sometimes get boring as you might not even see another player until the final 10. Every few matches, I decide to roll the dice and land someplace popular to keep things lively (until I very quickly die).

5. Determine if You’re a Builder or a Demolition Expert

Aside from constructing ramps to make my way up mountains, I can’t build for shit. Unfortunately, some of the best players (and often the winners) are savants when it comes to building. Since I know I can’t hope to compete with them without tons of practice, I have focused my efforts on blowing their shit up. By playing around with explosives and looking for weak points in their structures, I have achieved quite a few victories that should have safely belonged to others.

6. Figure Out Your Favorite Weapons

Most likely you’ll either find you’re a shotgun fan or a machine gun/assault rifle lover. Play around with the two and see what suits your play style best in battle. Like I mentioned above, I’m quite spastic when the heat gets turned up, so the spray-and-pray approach of a machine gun suits me well. When I find the light machine gun, an epic or legendary assault rifle, or this game’s BFG the Mini-gun, I know I have a great chance to come out on top.

7. Use Downtime to Reload, Heal Up and Arrange Your Backpack

There’s nothing worse than having to reload mid-battle or not being able to reach the weapon you need before you’re quickly crushed by an opponent. If I’ve found a good spot to stay unnoticed for a minute, I take the time to make sure all my weapons are fully loaded and to organize my backpack around my play-style. I tend to put explosives directly to the left and right of my main weapon, so I can easily switch between the three depending on the situation.

8. Play with Friends

There are two great reasons to play with friends. First, it’s crazy fun as now new strategies like flanking and reviving come into play. Second, it also seriously improves your skills when you’re teaching or working with others to master the game. Just be sure to have some sort of communication method in place. My friends and I have found that audio only Facetime has worked the best for us.

9. Use Markers Like Crazy

The last thing you want to be doing is checking your map constantly. Fortnite has a great marking system where a giant light shines from your destination, and the marker’s color appears in your compass (more on that later).

Aside from just helping you avoid your map, it’s a great way to communicate to any teammates what the plan is even if you or they don’t have a means of speaking to each other directly.

10. Call Things Out Via Compass

It can get confusing trying to point to things of interest via standard clock or left-right style directions. Instead, learn to utilize the compass on top of your screen that shows continuous numbers from 0-360. Once you get the hang of it, saying “enemies at 135” is a lot easier and faster to understand than “over there!”.

11. Learn How to Time the Storm Circles

There is one terrible downside to my landing approach of finding a corner of the map far from the path of the bus. Sometimes, it means I have a long ways to go before I can get to the safe zone after the first storm circle. If I get too caught up looting, I might find my match ending early as the storm overtakes me with too much distance to make up. Don’t always wait until the circle starts moving to leave depending on how far you have to go. Also, make sure you account for any big obstacles in your path like a mountain that may add time to your journey.

That being said, it’s not all about avoiding the storm. Sometimes, late in a match, it’s a great idea to slowly creep with the storm just behind you to provide some extra cover and avoid the initial onslaught of others moving. And keep in mind that the storm moves at different speeds depending on which side of it you’re on (if you’re on the side with more ground to cover during the closing period, it’s going to move a lot faster). Occasionally, it’s even worth taking a little damage from the storm to use it as super cover if you have a med kit to heal yourself. Just beware since the damage from the storm increases over time.

That’s all, readers. With one season in the books, I now have a new mainstay game to play daily that it turns out I don’t completely suck at. I can’t wait to see what exciting challenges and new features Season 5 brings, and I hope to see you out there. Feel free to add me “terryducken” for some battle royale insanity.