Fortnite competitive has returned with the Daily cash cups for both Solo & Duos. Apart from this, the Arena mode grind has been hotter than ever with everyone dedicating more time indoors. OG skins can be found all over the map hinting that the OG community is on the grind. In our previous guides, we covered the tips and tricks for box fighting along with simple drills to help you improve your edits and aim while box fighting. As much as we all love box fighting, the ultimate goal for any Fortnite player is to bring those same strategies into the Battle Royale island.
This guide is going to be based on late-game arena situations. During FNCS matches, you could notice moving storm-circles that had 60 players alive and active. It’s absolutely crazy what happens in the zone during that phase of the match. The hours and hours of box fighting practice comes into play during such big match situations. Keeping that in mind, we’ll also be covering the following in this guide,
- Early & smart in-game rotations
- Inventory suggestions
- Weapon combos you should master.
- Drills to help you conserve mats
Player/Team positioning and rotations.
The obvious strategy during rotations is to capture high-ground and keep the height. Despite the obvious, there’s a lot more to it that endless cranking and camping. The strategy players prefer to use these days involves tagging players and constantly trading shots while rotating. Storm surge plays such an important role that if you just keep contesting for height, you might fall victim to storm surge and end losing HP at an alarming rate.
Every team or solo player ideally has a pre-determined drop spot they prefer to land and loot. Once you’ve landed in your chosen spot and the first zone is determined, it’s critical for you to decide how and when to rotate. By default, players tend to opt to follow the white line which shows the shortest path to reach the zone.
Well, this is where were Pro-players are a step ahead. Following the given path might be a good strategy when the zone is very close to you. In scenarios where you have a long length to travel, players tend to panic right away and start rotating really early or really late. For many pro-players, they get excited to see a circle that is pretty far as it gives them many other options rather than rushing to the zone.
In the above scenario lets assume we’re at Sweaty Sands, the zone is considerably far and its the “first” circle. Here’s what you should be looking at straight away,
- The number of POI’s between you and the circle: In competitive matches, the drops are almost evenly spread out and it’s highly likely that every POI (Point of interest) has a team or two in it. If there are two or more busy locations, the best option would be to hop into boat early with floppers or meds and rotate smart even if you have to take some storm damage at the start. POIs involved in the above scenario include players rotating from Salty Springs and Pleasant Park (assuming you’re rotating using the waterways).
- Placement points are going to take you a long way in tournaments, hence make use of this opportunity and get the points. Though this is just the first circle, engaging in storm fights isn’t something you’d want to involve yourself in. Instead, keep prioritizing positions for the next circles and nothing more.
Shotgun & Inventory Suggestions
Weapon inventory is unique to each playing style and the game mode you’re in. Let’s assume you’re in a solo tournament and take a look and our options. The very first question you should be asking yourself is “How do you plan to take the enemy’s wall?”. If you’ve been accustomed to pick-axing the wall I’d suggest you start training yourself to take walls with a shotgun or an Assault rifle (AR). Taking walls with weapons is way faster and involves lesser actions.
Whichever weapon you have in your 1st slot is going to be the weapon you rely on while box fighting in late-game scenarios. Getting used to a tactical shotgun helps you save a slot by not picking up an SMG. Many controller players prefer the tactical shotgun to save up a slot and focus on hitting three shots as opposed to a single “pump” shot for the elimination. The only drawback here is that the tactical shotgun might result in trading shots as you might be exposed for too long. The pump shotgun has the advantage of landing fat shots and heavy damage followed by an SMG/AR spray for the elimination. The key difference in these two weapons is the approach players take. The pump shotgun is for the aggressive “in your box” game style, whereas the tactical shotgun is best suited to players who replace walls and prefer back to back right-hand peek shots.
In the present meta, holding on to big-shields and med-kits (late game) is certainly a waste of time. Ideally, two slots are always dedicated to heals and floppers. Slurp fishes and floppers are mandatory for any player who plans to take the match to full length and win it. In the final chaotic moments of any match, every player is bound to lose HP to storm-damage and the time needed for the normal shield/medkits is too much. Hence, don’t bother collecting any other forms of meds besides floppers or slurp fishes for end-game.
The 5th slot is ideally for a weapon/item each player personally considers “OP” (over-powered). Weapons that pro-players are often spotted with include Mythical grappler, heavy sniper, rocket launchers, grenades/c4s, and a harpoon gun. The harpoon gun may come in as a surprise to many but it’s often used to quickly steal loot from an elimination nearby. It can also be used to transport extra inventory items in length and boxing it up safely for future use.
Heavy snipers have also been used by a lot of players to enter a box rather than using it solely for long-range eliminations. In the end, players have to pre-determine the style they’ll be playing for each match individually. At times, the need for the hour might be to get more kills rather than just focussing on placements points. Such scenarios have to called-out before jumping out of the battle bus. Grappler is probably the go-to item for aggressive “elimination” based gameplay.
Rocket Launcher/Sniper Combos that every player needs to know.
Must need weapons for late-game must include either a Rocket launcher or a heavy sniper. Later game scenarios always involve opponents boxing up and relying completely on turbo builds. Weapon combos primarily focus on such scenarios especially late-game, just tagging a player can take you a long way. Keeping that in mind, let’s get straight to it.
Burst AR + Heavy Sniper/Rocket launchers: This works best you are boxed up in your base and you have the perfect angle on a boxed up opponent. Timing and monitoring the health of the builds are keys factors to pull this combo perfectly. The objective here is to break a wall and get the rocket to explode inside the box.
All you have to do here is shoot the rocket and spray the Burst AR on the wall. The burst AR is considered OP in this scenario because it takes down a wall pretty fast and its the easiest to sync. Wait for the rockets to almost reach the wall and time your shots perfectly to damage/eliminate the opponent. If your rockets do not make it through make sure you’re still spraying through the builds. The bullets will pass through turbo builds on explosion and can easily crack full shields on any player.
This same strategy can be used with a heavy sniper instead of a rifle. Time the heavy sniper shot to perfection and make sure it hits the wall right before the rockets hit the wall.
Rocket Launcher/Heavy sniper + SMG/Pump Combo: This is a strategy ofter used by pros while battling close range. Obviously, keep a one box distance before attempting any combos involving a rocket launcher. Rockets are used in scenarios where you don’t intend to deal damage on the opponent by entering directly into his box. Instead, you shoot the rocket at the corner of the box to break three builds and try to land a headshot with the pump shotgun.
With the right distance between you and your opponent, an SMG can be used to guarantee damage to any turtling opponent. Just make sure you start spraying and tracking your enemy at the same time, this is to be done immediately after you shoot the rocket. If you’re lucky enough, the rocket might pass through the wall amidst the spraying chaos and get you some elimination points.
Heavy Sniper + Pump/SMG combos are used to aggressively enter into an opponent’s box knowing that he’s weak or struggling to hit his shots. As the combo suggests, shoot your sniper while trying to sprint into the box and finish him with your close-range gun. Placing a ramp behind and jumping into the wall almost guarantees you to get inside the box. If you’re on low ping this is a strat you have perfect to make full use of the advantage you have.
Hope everyone is safe indoors. Stay home, game at home and sweat it out all you want in the battle royale island.
