Fortnite : What You Need To Know !

Fortnite - the game that has captured everyone's attention from the media to your average gamer. Created by Epic Games, the game was released during 2011 but was officially released during 2017 with its Battle Royale mode. It is a paid early access ( for Save The World) but is expected to be free - to - play by late 2018. It has at least 125 MILLION players worldwide and approximately 3.2 MILLION concurrent players. But what's the big hype about it ?!

BREAKDOWN

Lets break down the core mechanics of the game it self and finally explain why is it so popular.

First of all , Fortnite is a free - to - play with no Pay 2 Win at all! It all just boils down to pure skill and teamwork. The game offers in-game skins and cosmetic items but they do not affect your skill and is purely just for appearance ! 

The game it self is F2P for the Battle Royale mode which already entices to a large range of people. It has a low ESRB of 12 which means that any over the age of 12 can play the game. It is available on all next generation consoles ( e.g. PS4 or XBOX 1) as well as the Nintendo Switch ! Also it is available on PC with relatively low system requirements. It is very easy to pick up and start playing and become better with the game with more practice.

However, I explained a lot about Fortnite but what is the basic game-play? Let us see:

• 100 players dive of a battle bus into the large island.
• They all have to collect and gather loot and materials
• They shoot each other until one is killed and the last one standing is the winner
• They gather materials which can be used to build structures such as walls or stairs
• The structures can be used as cover or to create a large fort !
• A storm is created which damages the player's health until they die
• Guns and other items come in varying rarity from lowest (Common) to the highest (Legendary)

These are the core mechanics but a lot more is at play in the game !

MAP

The map of Fortnite is a large island but there are no definite dimensions but is much smaller than PUBG's map : Sanhok ( 4 X 4 km). This means that the players are more closer together than you think. However , everyone doesn't land at random points. No , they land at what is called points of interests on the map!

The concentration of players are usually higher at named places rather than the plains but players can be found running across. Loot is usually higher at these places than the plains. You jump off the battle bus on to different locations. After a certain time , a storm comes in and you have to stay in a specific area to be safe. The storm gets bigger and more damaging.

GUNS

The New Drum gun added only a few days ago

To survive in the match , you will need to kill other players with weapons and traps. Weapons come in ascending rarity from the worse being common all the way to the best being Legendary. All weapons are adapted for a certain play style and do different damages , here are all the categories of weapons:

• Assault rifles - Burst and Automatic

• Submachine Guns

• Sniper rifles - Semi and Bolt

• Large Machine Guns

• Pistols & Revolvers 

• Launchers - Grenade and Rocket

• Shotguns - Semi and Pump

Each guns has a specific magazine capacity , damage drop off , range and fire rate as well as other factors. Choose your gun wisely according to your play style.

MODES

The new Playground mode allowing players to practice their skills

In Fortnite , your are given a selection of modes as well as limited time modes . The vanilla modes are Solo , Duos , Squads. 

Solo is when you play by yourself against 99 other players to become last man standing

Duos is when you play in teams of 2 whether it be a friends or another player on the Fortnite game.

Squads is a group of players , specifically 4 players, in a team versing other squads. Again it can be your friends or others playing with you.

However, you can play all modes by yourself however it can reduce your chances of winning in team modes as you are a lone wolf whereas others have team mates to support them.

Also , there are some limited time game modes as an extra to the normal modes :

• Solid Gold
• Snipers Shootout
• 50 V 50
• 20 V 20
• Playground Mode
• Infinity Gaunlet
• High Explosives
• Blitz

These are some examples of limited time modes!

SKINS & COSMETICS

The PvP aspect of Fortnite is completely free and the PvE Save The World portion will eventually be free during late 2018. 

So how do Fortnite make money?

They make it through skins and other purchasable cosmetic items such as skins and back bling. All items in the Fortnite Store is available to be bought by their currency called V-Bucks. The person has to buy it as shown in the picture above with real money. 

It can then in return be used to by : 

• Skins
• Back Bling
• Pick axes
• Emotes and Dances
• Battle Pass
• Gliders

Fortnite Store where different items can be bought

Skins and other cosmetic items such as the back bling or pick-axes don't give players any competitive advantage from other players and is just for looks. 
After all , that default skin can become an eye sore! 

The Battle Pass is a 'quest' idea of unlocking items. The Battle Pass can be purchased with 950 V - Bucks costing around $10. It doesn't give an advantage but it can reward you with skins , back bling , loading pages and even v - bucks plus XP Boosts to level up quicker. 

To progress in the Battle pass you need to level up and complete daily challenges to earn Battle Stars which can be used to complete a tier in the Battle Pass. There are 100 tiers each tier possibly giving a reward.

Battle Pass with each individual tiers giving rewards and skins

Season 4 is now coming to an end and I cannot wait for the next season. Comment down if I missed anything and share!