Whether you’re new to Fortnite or moving from Zero Build, building will be the first hurdle in getting good. It’s definitely not easy, but learning how to build makes the game significantly more enjoyable. After all, building is what sets Fortnite apart from other Battle Royales like PUBG and Apex Legends.

Of course, for absolute beginners, it will take you some time to master building. You will need consistent practice in order to get comfortable and good at building. It requires patience and hard work, but we can help by providing you with a good roadmap and tips to improve.

With that said, let’s start with some basics.

Starting with the Basics

Before you get into learning to build, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the game. How it works, the map, the weapons, etc. If you have already done that or played Zero Build, then you can skip this step.

It is also a good idea to set up your building binds. You are going to be using them for a long time so it’s best to find some good binds for yourself. If you are a controller player then try optimizing the controller settings.

This also includes messing around with your building/editing sensitivity and other related options.

With that covered, let’s get to the main topic. Building in Fortnite can be used offensively and defensively. Being able to build to protect yourself and place offensive builds to overcome opponents is the core aspect of building.

Builds and Materials

It should go without saying that materials are required for building. Fortnite consists primarily of three materials: wood, brick, and metal. With wood being the weakest and metal being the strongest.

Almost everything in the environment can be destroyed, so farming materials is not a difficult task. You can obtain these materials by using your pickaxe to break down furniture, houses, cars, boulders, trees, and pretty much anything. Here are the stats of each material.

• Wood builds have a starting health of 90 with a max health of 150, and can fully build in four seconds.
• Stone builds have a starting health of 99 with a max health of 300, and can fully heal in 11.5 seconds.
• Metal builds have a starting health of 110 with a max health of 500, and take nearly 25 seconds to build.

Wood is the most readily available material. usually being the first to be used in a fight as it builds quickly. This being a battle royale, taking your time and gathering the maximum quantity of each material leaves you in an advantageous position.

Now, how do you use these mats to build for yourself? Well, there are four types of builds in Fortnite,

• Walls
• Ramps
• Cones
• Floor

Each build takes 10 materials to build. Building isn’t the only thing in Fortnite, there is also editing, which goes hand in hand with building.

Editing Your Builds

Editing is another mechanic you should be aware of, as it helps customize your builds to your needs. Builds can be edited before and after you place them. Walls can be edited into having windows and doors, stairs can be edited halfway or into spiral stairs; and cones can be made into ramps. The more you practice editing and building, the more proficient you become with them.

These various edit types assist you in getting out of difficult situations and forcing enemies to make mistakes so that you can capitalize. For instance, if you break an opponent's wall and replace it with yours, you can edit it for a quick shot. Taking the pieces of your opponent and making them yours is called piece control and is very advantageous.

Building Techniques

With the basics covered, let’s actually start talking about building. Building generally means combining all the build types to be defensive or offensive toward the enemy. It could be as simple as placing a wall to block shots or ramping up to gain a height advantage. The combination of these build types is what we generally call build techniques.

Before starting to learn the basic building techniques, try getting comfortable with your building binds. Practice placing walls, ramps, cones, and floors until you can easily build them without thinking. Once you have mastered that then you can move on to these basic building techniques.

The 1x1 Box

The 1x1 Box is perhaps the most basic use of builds imaginable. As the name suggests, it’s a 1 x 1 box of builds around you. To make it, first place four walls around you, then a floor and cone on top. Finally, finish it with either a cone or a ramp at the bottom. You can refer to the image below to see how it looks.

The 1x1 Box is one of the most important fundamentals of building in Fortnite. So much so, that there is a dedicated fighting style made around it called box fighting which is one of the most important advanced skills to master to be a good Fortnite player. You don’t need to worry about it right now.

Ramp Rushes

The goal of a Ramp Rush is to make your builds fortified to close the distance between you and the enemy and gain height simultaneously.

The most basic Ramp Rush is just placing a staircase of ramps and trying to get close to the opponent. However, the enemy will break down your ramps, causing you to fall and take damage. To prevent this you add a wall behind each ramp for added protection. And, finally, add a floor below the ramp and wall to complete a full Ramp Rush.

Ramp Rushing is all about timing; you must place each building one after the other. Starting with the ramp, moving on to the wall, and finally to the floor. In the beginning, you will obstruct yourself significantly by placing a wall or floor over the ramp. To avoid this, simply look down on the ramp where you are placing the wall and floor.

Doing this consistently and flawlessly gives the opponent a hard time in shooting you down and defending themselves.

The 90

The 90 is well-known among the Fortnite community as the mechanic to learn if you want to improve yourself.

To do a 90, place a ramp with a wall behind it then rotate 90 degrees and place another wall, Repeat this process until you have a tower. It’s like doing a ramp rush, but in a straight vertical line. If you are confused you can refer to the video below to understand it better.

To further fortify a 90, build a floor before placing every ramp. Remember to jump on top of the ramps when placing other builds so that you don't get stuck under your ramp and mess up the timing.

In the beginning, this might seem hard but with time, the movement and binds will be ingrained into your muscle memory.

Side Jumps

Side Jumps are the first advanced building mechanics you have to practice dozens of times to master. The goal of a Side Jump is to land on a floor beside a ramped cone/floor. You will often find when you are trying to take height on an opponent, he will block you off with a cone or floor, Side Jumps allow you to quickly avoid that and quickly take height.

To do a Side Jump, practice jumping sideways from a ramp that has a floor on top of it. When you get the hang of that, try placing a floor beneath you at the height of your jump. Only placing a floor can be dangerous, as an enemy can still get a shot at you, so a better way to protect yourselves is to build a wall and floor together, that way, you are safe from multiple angles.

High Ground Retakes

A retake basically means to take height back from the opponent. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds. You can’t just do 90 or ramp rush to get it back, as the enemy will just spray you down from the top.

A good retake allows you to take height from the opponent while being protected as well. Sadly, there is no perfect retake. There are many different situations where you need to retake it differently. For starters, you can master 2-3 basic retakes, to get you started.

However, the better approach is to watch pros and study how they approach retaking height. Ideally, you want to master retakes that work with your building style. You can find tons of videos on YouTube of beginner retakes, like this for example.

Tunneling

Last but not least, tunneling is one of the most significant mechanics for being a good player. Basically, Tunneling is to make a sequence of boxes to cover yourself and a teammate from multiple angles. Tunneling is extremely important in endgame situations where the circle is small and congested and players fight for control over their surroundings.

Controlling the pieces around you gives you immense command over any immediate threat.

To build tunnels, start by placing floors on top and below yourselves, after that, add walls to your sides while moving forward while building. Another way would be to build a wall in front as well as to your sides, then edit out the wall and continue your tunnel.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, honing these mechanics will take a lot of time and effort on your part. Consistently practicing these mechanics will in time become muscle memory and carry you to victory royales all around.

Watch YouTube videos of professional players and learn as much as you can from their playstyle, and decision-making on when to take fights or retreat. Incorporate these habits into your gameplay, and you’ll quickly see results.

Now take these tips and dominate your lobbies, while also styling on all your opponents.