Traps in Fortnite are among the strangest tools that any player has in their arsenal. A Spike Trap's function is obvious. As the name implies, they are supposed to trap unsuspecting players - a silent, creeping killer. The problem with this is that Spike Traps rarely ever find their mark. The idea of setting it and forgetting it, hoping it does something, more or less just means placing it so that it has no impact on the game. If you're lucky, one out of every ten Spike Traps might make contact with an enemy.

That being said, Spike Traps can actually be a really useful and powerful tool if used in a more "unconventional" way.

Offensive Traps

Offensively, Traps are useful for restricting your opponent's movement. When engaging in a large scale building war, placing Traps is a good way to control the pace. If you keep applying pressure to the enemy, they shouldn't have enough time to destroy your Traps. This means that you can effectively slow them down and cut off some of their viable movement paths. Even if the Traps inevitably don't deal any damage, their threat, or just the loud sound of them being placed, is a potent zoning tool. It's important to note that all of this takes into account your ability to play around your Traps. Playing around your Traps is about predicting enemy movement and putting them into positions where they could potentially fall victim to them. The more Traps you place, the easier it is in theory to corral someone into them. Also, it's important to keep in mind the relatively short time it takes for a Trap to arm itself before use.

Defensive Traps

Defensively, Traps are useful for baiting enemies who are overly hungry for a kill or a piece of loot. This idea aligns more with the traditional idea of how a Trap is supposed to function. However, you still want to avoid setting and forgetting. Just as you would do offensively, it's important to play around your Traps. Traps can be used as a sort of "get out of jail free" card when being pushed by an overwhelming force. If you've found yourself in a weakened state and backed into a corner, you can sometimes punish over-aggressive players with clever baits. If someone is completely tunnel-visioned on killing you, the odds are that they aren't really considering which walls they can edit and which walls you can edit. Quickly editing a wall/ceiling/floor and placing a trap on top of someone, can be a deadly surprise attack that, even though it's staring them in the face, most players won't see coming. 

Making full use of your Traps can turn the tide of any fight in an instant. Learning to play around and play with your Traps is a tactic that can punish both skilled and not so skilled opponents. As situational as they are, their potential is real, active, and worth something. So remember to place your Traps. Think about how to place them, where to place them, and when to place them. They are so much more than something that should be left behind, consumed by the storm without ever tasting battle.

Like our content? Support us by getting our merchandise in our shop