How to win Fortnite – Tips to get better & secure a Victory Royale

Fortnite rose in popularity due to the simplicity of its Battle Royale format, making it accessible to a wide audience — but to stand a chance of winning your next match, mastering its mechanics and strategies is vital for gaining that competitive edge.

Whether you’re aiming to dominate the classic Battle Royale mode, excel in Zero Build, or rise through the ranks in Ranked, here are 14 essential tips and tricks to help you get better, win Fortnite, and claim that coveted Victory Royale in your matches.

1. Find the best landing spots

If you’re still finding your feet in Fortnite, we’d recommend leaving the Battle Bus later than everyone else and landing somewhere quiet. This will give you extra time to gather weapons, stock up on ammo, and farm materials, rather than flying headfirst into a battle that you might not win.

Whenever you decide to leave the Battle Bus, you’ll want to at least land near a POI or landmark as they have more weapons and ammo than desolate areas. Choose one far away from the Battle Bus’ flight path and there will be fewer people there. Avoid popular locations like Crime City and Lonewolf Lair — we’d suggest landing at Outlaw Oasis.

For more recommendation s on where to land, check out the best landing spots in Fortnite.

2. Keep a good range of weapons in your loadout

As soon as you land on the Island, the first thing you should be doing is looking for weapons. You’ll need at least one to defend yourself, but why stop there? You should keep searching chests to find the most powerful weapons as you progress through the match to help you win Fortnite.

A balanced loadout will ensure you can handle any situation. We’d recommend an Assault Rifle to handle medium-distance opponents, an SMG or Shotgun to damage enemies at close range, either a Sniper Rifle to take out faraway targets, or an Explosive weapon to blast down walls, vehicles, and enemies at varied ranges, and finally pair these with healing items that boost Shield and Health.

Check out our tier list of the best Fortnite weapons you can get during your matches.

3. Learn how to build properly

One of the most unique aspects of Fortnite that sets it apart from other Battle Royale games is building. It might seem intimidating or even a waste of time at first, but mastering the art of building could be the difference between losing and getting that all-important Victory Royale.

You’ll need to farm materials early on in the match so you’ve got a handy stock built up for battles later on. You can do this by attacking almost any structure or item in the game with your pickaxe.

There are three types of material: Wood, Stone, and Metal. Wood is weak but builds faster, while Metal is strong but builds slower. Stone is also an effective middle ground.

Building ramps can get you to high places – which is useful if you’re caught between the storm and a mountain – while walls can defend you and your teammates from enemy fire. A basic tip is to build a cube around yourself, which is especially handy when healing or reviving teammates at a Reboot Van.

A good time to practice building is while you’re waiting for a match to start, or early in a match when there are no enemies around. Alternatively, you could just play Zero Build mode which gets rid of the building aspect altogether if you can’t get to grips with this mechanism.

4. Listen out for enemy footsteps

When you’re in the heat of a match, it’s easy to forget some of the simple things you can do to gain an advantage over your opponents. The sound design in Epic’s Battle Royale is great; an opponent’s footsteps can let you know when they’re nearby, and even reveal if they’re above or below you in a building.

If you really want to take advantage of the sounds, we’d recommend you play with a decent pair of headphones. This way you’ll be able to shut out distractions and hear the game in greater clarity, which could give you the edge you need to win at Fortnite.

5. Change sensitivity settings

While Fortnite’s default settings are a solid starting point for most players, tweaking them to suit your unique playstyle can significantly enhance your performance. After all, no two players are the same.

One of the biggest changes you can make is the sensitivity of your controller or mouse. This will help steady your movement when aiming and get those all-important headshots, which deal a lot more damage than regular body shots. You can also change your building preferences.

To access these settings, click the gear icon in the top right corner while you’re in-game or waiting in the lobby. Here, you can adjust sensitivity levels, but don’t stop there—explore the other settings as well. A simple tweak could make a significant difference in your gameplay.

6. Hide until the final moments of a match

Whether you agree with this method or not, there’s no denying that playing it safe and being sneaky is a great way to increase your chances of winning Fortnite. The best way to do this is to avoid busy POIs and stay as close to the storm as possible, only moving to the next circle at the last minute.

Use your time in the shadows (or tall grass) to focus on building up the perfect loadout, maximizing your Health and Shield, and collecting material to build with. Once there are only a few players left, it’s time to go on the offensive – although you should still be cautious about your approach.

A good tip is to get to the highest vantage point inside the circle so you can scout the area. If you can’t do this, look for a building, rocks, or trees for some extra defense. Then, wait for other players to engage in gunfights first so you can discover their locations and ambush them.

7. Take cover as much as possible

If you want to win in Fortnite, mastering the art of taking cover is crucial. Whether you’re out in the open or navigating a POI, make the most of your surroundings to stay hidden. Crouching can help you avoid detection, but keep in mind that Fortnite doesn’t offer a prone option.

Fortunately, Fortnite’s Battle Royale island is full of objects you can use for cover, such as buildings, walls, trees, rocks and even non-moving vehicles. This becomes even more critical when trying to win solo matches, where you don’t have teammates to watch your back.

8. Learn from your mistakes

One of the most important things you can do in Fortnite is to embrace the learning curve. In your first few games, you’ll likely make plenty of mistakes—landing in high-traffic areas only to be eliminated quickly or accidentally building structures when you meant to shoot (trust us, we’ve been there).

The best way to improve is by reviewing your replays, which you can find in the ‘Career’ section of the lobby. Here, you’ll see recordings of your recent matches, allowing you to analyze what went wrong and identify areas for improvement.

9. Use utility items

Let’s be honest. How many times have you thrown away a utility item just so you can add another weapon to your slot? While it’s true that, ideally, you should carry some of the best weapons, utility items can also offer a lot of advantages during fights.

Fortnite is more than just loading your gun and start shooting at your enemies. You’ll need to outsmart them as well, and that’s where these items come in handy. For example, you can use the Boogie Bomb to stop them from attacking you, and if they happen to be standing near a cliff, slide-kick them to their death.

Port-A-Fort is also a solid choice, especially if you often find yourself stuck in an awkward location in the final circle. You can either use this as a cover or to scout your surroundings — and you’ll know if someone is coming after you from below because they’ll have to jump on the tires.

10. Hire NPCs

Some of Fortnite’s NPCs can be located and hired to help you out in battles. They also often have different useful abilities, such as being able to heal you, reveal enemies, and so much more, making them an excellent addition to your team.

Additionally, if none of your teammates are around when you’re downed, you can have the NPC revive you instead. You’ll just have to head to their POI and either spend gold or defeat them and hire them.

The only downside of having an NPC joining you is that sometimes they may accidentally reveal your position.

11. Know when to engage

Just because you’ve heard a gunfight nearby, it doesn’t mean that you have to join the fight immediately. Let’s say you heard a gunfight nearby. When this happens, you’ll want to check your surroundings before you engage.

Most of the time, when you think you can join to finish them off, another player will likely pop out behind you and finish you off, sending you back to the lobby. So, it’s always important to be patient and know when you should engage.

12. Be aware of the storm circle at all times

The number one rule of winning the Battle Royale is simple: you have to be the last one standing. But while that’s the case, oftentimes, we’d find ourselves being so focused on eliminating other players and looting that we don’t realize the storm circle is creeping in, which deals more damage as the game progresses.

Well, avoiding the storm is easy at first glance — you just have to move away from it or use a mobility item if you have to. Simple, right? But if you really want to make it to the final circle, it’s best that you plan ahead on where you are going on the map based on where the next circle will be.

The smaller the circle is, the harder it will be for you to rotate without getting noticed. Ideally, you’ll want to check the map often to see where you can keep yourself safe before the circle closes in. Maybe there’s a house nearby or a bush within the next circle area. Either way, you’ll want to make sure to get there before anyone else does.

13. Watch professional players

There’s a reason why pro players earn their titles and popularity in the competitive scene: They are just really good at the game. Of course, trying to learn from your mistakes by watching your replay is great, but it’s also ideal to check out how professional Fortnite players secure Victory Royales.

It’s not just about seeing which guns they pick or taking notes of their strategies. By watching these kinds of players, you’ll also get to see how they make decisions throughout the game.

This is really important as Fortnite isn’t just about having the best aim in the lobby. Knowing whether or not you should rotate to another POI or position yourself can be crucial to outlasting all the other players.

14. Don’t force yourself to reboot unless necessary

We’ve all been there before. You hear gunfights while looting a location when suddenly all your teammates are dead before you can even help. It is extremely tempting to go where they died and retrieve their cards so you can reboot them in a nearby van.

However, this isn’t really a good idea. First, the enemy team would know if you’re around as they’re likely camping at that location waiting for you, expecting you to waltz in to get the reboot cards. Depending on the situation, you’ll have to think twice whether or not doing so is worth it.

Even when you manage to grab their reboot cards, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to bring them all back in the Reboot Van since it’s really loud. In a worst-case scenario, you’re better off trying to clutch the game by playing stealthily and third-partying if you can. All your teammates will still win, even if you’re the only one who made it.

Ultimately, winning Fortnite really comes down to practice, practice, and more practice — but with these tips and tricks, you’ll be well on your way to racking up those Victory Royales.

You’ll also need to keep updated on any changes to Fortnite, which you can do by checking out our complete lists on every new, unvaulted, and vaulted weapon, as well as where to find all NPC characters and mythic weapons during your matches.