Fortnite BR: Weapon Loadout Guide
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6 May 18

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Fortnite BR: Weapon Loadout Guide

Learn about the strongest weapon loadouts and why/when you should run them.

One of Fortnite's strongest assets as a Battle Royal game is the sheer amount of creativity that comes out of each match. On both a mechanical and theoretical level, the tools that every player has at their disposal are immense. With over 30 usable items and only five inventory spots, it's easy to get mind-flooded when trying to figure out what you should run.

First, I'd like to address the fact that any loadout is subject to your current material count and your overall loot quality. Maybe you don't have a Scar, but you have an M16 or a Three-burst. Imagine that in these perfect world scenarios, all the guns are of the highest grade.

The Classic

The Classic is the most well rounded of the Fortnite loadouts. Centered around three guns, its strength is its ability to handle any range. Limiting yourself to only three guns also leaves space for two healing items. Being able to carry both a shield item and a med kit gives you a lot of leeway in fights and can be a good safety net to have if things go wrong.

The weakness of the Classic is that it's rather one dimensional. Though the Sniper can be swapped out for a Rocket Launcher if-need-be, it can be rather hard to siege someone when your loadout lacks any utility items. This being said the Classic should be used in more defensive scenarios and by defensive players. Consequently, the Classic struggles at dealing with players who are always gung-ho; people who run Double Shotgun.

Double Shotgun

 

A Double Shotgun loadout is exactly what it sounds like. A totally offensive loadout thats core revolves around the Pump Shotgun and a complimenting Tactical Shotgun. The Pump can be a high damage threat that lacks consistency, rolling a second Shotgun makes up for this. Making the pump more viable means that this loadout has the most killing potential of any other. Which is very important considering that, with only one slot allotted to a healing item, most of your meds are going come from the fallen carcasses of the players you've slain.

The most obvious weakness of Double Shotgun is the lack of range. You can slot Sniper in your loadout to try and cover this, but it's kind of counter-intuitive when the whole point of Double Shotgun is to siege and be as close to your enemy as possible. Good building (so have lots of mats) and creative movement is the best way hide Double Shotgun's glaring weakness and also make it work to its fullest potential.

Mid-Ranger

 

Filling in the gap between the defensive Classic loadout and the offensive Double Shotgun loadout is the Mid-Ranger. Playing around mid-range is about making full use of your positional advantages and map awareness. Keeping your distance from your enemies without ever settling down for too long in one place. Though the Bolt Sniper has more burst, The Scoped Rifle is a great poking tool for setting up kills. You can knock away a player's shields with some well-placed shots, use your Grenade Launcher to inhibit healing, and swoop in with your Heavy Shotgun to finish the job.

Like the Classic, the Mid-Ranger can struggle when dealing with Double Shotgun. If you let someone close range gap and build their way over to you, it can be hard to win the Shotgun duel. Getting hit by a well-placed Pump shot can spell game over for you and your potential squadmates.

As mentioned in the beginning of this article there are over 30 items in Fortnite BR, some of them are extremely situational - which is essentially a less harsh way of saying some are just flat-out bad. There are some situational items though, that don't really fit any loadout, but aren't completely void of usefulness.

Tactical SMG

The Tact SMG can be both an early game monster and great late game sieging tool. Its quick fire rate can mow down both players and structures alike, though in a fight that more or less doesn't do you any good when you get one-shot headshot by a Shotgun.

Desert Eagle

The Deagle can be a fun mid-range option that offers a surprisingly monstrous amount of damage. After the recent changes to first shot accuracy, however, in the time it takes to line up a single potential shot you could have shot five plus normal rifle bullets.

Boogie Bomb

The Boogie Bomb can be a pretty clutch utility item when used in the right scenario. It's an option that can win you fights that you otherwise might not have. The downside is that against players, with at least halfway decent aim, the time it takes you to pull out the Boogie Bomb and throw it, is slower than getting one-shot headshot by... well any of the Shotguns.

As more and more items get added to the game loadouts will continue to change. And though some are obviously stronger than others, there is always room to experiment. Anyone can make low tier items work with some creative building and strategy. As much as winning is fun, sometimes it's ok to drop your Pump for an LMG. Who knows, maybe your unique discovery will change the way everyone plays the game.

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