Beginners

Fortnite Ballistic is a new and fresh addition to Fortnite. It’s a tactical shooter mode with Fortnite’s spin on it. Fans of tactical shooters won’t have difficulty dominating in this new mode, as the gameplay is more or less similar. However, those who have never tried tactical shooters might have difficulty adjusting.

After all, a tactical shooter is a completely different genre than Battle Royale and requires a different skill level to be good at it. So, here are some tips and tricks for beginners in Fortnite Ballistic Mode.

Related: How To Play Fortnite: A Guide For Complete Beginners

1. Learn the Map

To be a good player in a tactical shooter, you need to have a solid understanding of the game’s maps. Fortunately, Fortnite Ballistic has only one map, making things a lot easier.

The best advice is to get familiar with the map, understand the layout, study the angles, and find the critical points. Of course, it will take time but be aware of it and observe these things in your matches.

Having a solid understanding of the map helps you make better strategies, predict enemy moves, find opportunities, and to be more strategic in the game. It is not even hard to do; it’s all about taking the time to study the map.

2. Manage Your Economy

One of (if not the) most important things in tactical shooters is economy, and Ballistic is no exception. You can’t just go around buying whatever you want every round, because sooner or later you will end up with no money.

That’s why you should learn to manage your economy. If you are low on funds, try saving for the next round. If you have extra, buy your teammate and help them save. Your and your team’s economies are the same.

To put it simply, always think about the next round, the buy menu will show you how much money you will get if you win or lose this round. Use that information to make the economic calls. If you are going to be poor next round, it’s better to save money.

3. Don’t Be Mindlessly Aggressive

Even though it’s a Fortnite mode, w-keying won’t work here. While aggression can be good in such a mode, mindlessly pushing will often lead you to lose rounds.

Play with patience and strategy. Don’t push just because you can, often enemies are waiting for the other team to show aggression so they can easily pick them off.

Secondly, this is a team-based mode, so pushing alone and dying brings nothing but disadvantages to your team. Because, if you end up dying without any kills, your team is left to face a 4v5. Or, even if you manage to get a kill and still die, it doesn’t bring any benefit since it will still be a 4v4.

In short, aggression is good, but not every time. It’s better to have a plan when you want to be aggressive rather than push mindlessly.

4. Learn to Use Utility

While utility might not be as important in other games, it’s one of the most important items in tactical shooters. Simple things like flashes and smokes help create opportunities to win rounds. This is why you need to learn to use your utility.

For starters, stop flashing your teammates. It’s annoying and often does more harm than good. Instead, just call before using a flash so your teammates know to dodge it. Similarly, stop throwing smokes and grenades mindlessly.

Smokes are essential for blocking sightlines and giving you cover to enter into sites. Use them to block enemies off, like blocking off a sniper, for instance. This goes the same for other utility,

Also, learn to save utility, you don’t need to use all your items at the start of the match. You never know when a smoke, flash, or grenade could come in handy at the last seconds of a round.

Lastly, it’s also a good idea to learn some easy lineups for flashes and smokes. There are tons of YouTube videos out there.

5. Communication Is Key

This goes for all team-based modes out there, but it’s still important to mention. Communication will help you win more rounds and lose less.

It doesn’t have to be super strategic. Simple callouts, when you spot enemies, use utility, or change your position, can help your team play much better.

For instance, if you are rotating from a location, just telling your team you are rotating will alert them to be careful of that area since no one is there. Similarly, telling your team when you are flashing can help them dodge it. Just doing simple callouts can be a good starting point.

6. Master Crosshair Placement

We all know how important crosshair placement is. But you might be surprised how impactful it is in a tactical shooter. The TTK (time-to-kill) in Fortnite Ballistic is very short. It takes only a handful of bullets to take someone down, earlier if you hit a headshot.

So, you don’t have time to adjust your crosshair when an enemy peeks. This is where crosshair placement comes in. It’s the habit of always keeping your crosshair at the enemy’s head level. This way, even if an enemy peeks, you will only have to do micro-adjustments to shoot them down.

7. Trading Is Key

If you have played tactical shooters before you might already know what trading is, butt on the chance you didn’t let me explain.

Trading simply means if your teammate dies while peeking at an enemy you peek to secure the kill to balance the numbers. Basically, “trading” your teammate. Consider this scenario, you and your teammate are peeking at an angle and your teammate peeks first. He does some damage and dies. You should also peek after him to kill the enemy that killed him.

If you don’t your team will end up at a number disadvantage. Of course, you can’t always trade for your teammates, but you should always try to.

Conclusion

While Ballistic Mode is quite different from Battle Royale, it’s still endlessly fun. It’s a bit more strategic and tactical than Battle Royale so adjusting to it might take some time. But, when you are familiar with the game mode, it’s almost addicting.