Fortnite storm

Fortnite for Boomers: Surviving the Storm

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The Storm” – what the?

OK, so I’ve mentioned the storm a few times – what is it?

Fortnite has an ingenious twist that gives the game its real frisson. Without it, game times would take forever as surviving players scoured the length and breadth – imagine getting down to two on the whole island. What the storm does is round up dwindling survivor numbers into an ever-diminishing field of battle.

It’s shown as a large, at first, circle on the map. Actually, there are 2 circles. The inner circle is a simple white outline and inside that is ‘safe’. The outside circle is shaded from its outer edge of the map in all directions. Anywhere in a shaded area is not safe. You can survive, but the longer you spend in there, the more your health is eroded.

When the bus first sets off at the beginning of each game there is no hint of where the storm will zero in on. The first ‘safe’ circle appears about a half minute later and it could be anywhere on the map. It will be large and reachable – just – on foot from anywhere on the island.

If you happen to be outside the first white outline, a straight line will indicate the quickest path to safety. A countdown then begins as the shaded area closes in to meet the white outline – where it will temporarily halt. Then a new outline within that shows where the next safe area will be. It never follows a predictable path so you can’t second guess an advantageous location.

At first, the storm has a long way to go and moves in quite quickly – faster than you can run. But, while the early storms are damaging, if you’re caught inside (you’ll know) you can go for a long time before running out of health. Those bandages you picked up will be handy here. You can buy more time by stopping and applying them, then running on. Even early on, you want to get no lower than about 25 health before stopping and administering bandages – until their effect kicks in, you’ll keep losing health. Be mindful also that the storm doesn’t slow down until it hits the inner circle.

Each time the storm closes in, a new inner circle is randomly generated

As the game progresses, the storm gets tighter, more frequent and more deadly. Which means you pretty much need to ensure you move inside the safe area quicksmart. At the beginning you have about a minute and a half to make your next move. But by the last couple of tightening areas you’ll have a scant few seconds – although it does move slower, you can easily outrun it on foot. On top of that, even at full health you won’t last more than a couple of breaths inside.

The upshot is that everyone who battled their way this far is corralled into a tiny arena for the final showdown – “The End Game”. Surveying the terrain for the optimum vantage point is crucial. You do not want to get caught out in the open with all these hotshots about. I’ve often been one of two in an area that equates to about a square metre – usually on different levels – a cool head is required to prevail. Bloody exciting though.

#BadassDad Tip: Outrunning the storm

In the back of your mind at all times is the need to outrun the storm (if you’re outside the safe area). What can easily outrun the storm? A vehicle!

There are many locations around the island with a high likelihood of finding a vehicle. These can range from dirty big lorries, to sports cars to pickup trucks.

They all handle like they would in real life. Lorries are slow and lumbering. Cars are quick on the road but struggle off it. Pickup trucks are almost as quick and make light work of rugged terrain.

No prizes for guessing what I go for. Yep, your all-purpose pickup. Generally a bit random in placement, there are still a couple of places where you can guarantee to find a fully-fuelled vehicle. Yeah, they have working petrol gauges and when you run out – thhpth…

So, discovering these high-likelihood places means you can stock up on loot nearby, jump in and race off to the safe area within the storm from anywhere, at any time. Just watch out for yellow wheel clamps – if that car you’ve run excitedly over to has one on its front wheel, you ain’t going nowhere.

(Footnote: It defies logic, but you can drive a considerable distance over water – ignore that river, plough on! (also, you can take a boat over land – but not recommended))

#BadassDad Tip: Strategies for the final storm showdown #1

OK – so this is the strategy that I credit with being the most influential on my wins.

I’ve been saying you need to make your way towards the centre of the safe area to survive. This is true and what most people do. Most people lose too. You need to think how most people don’t get to the edge.

Taking the indirect route to safety is your surest way to surviving longer

Especially in the later stages, click on the map overview for a lay of the land and your options for moving in. You want to consider ‘what is the direction to approach the final showdown that would be least expected?’ Often this will entail running along the edge of the storm for as long as you dare to gain a high-ground position with a low chance of encountering other players. As seen in the above example, your best bet is to choose a course that takes you through, and arrives at, the least occupied territory.

Success is usually down to who sees who first – and fires first. If you can chart a course that provides you the element of surprise, you have the upper hand. Hotshots will be racing straight to the storm’s eye and constructing forts like crazy. To me that just makes them targets.

If you’ve chosen well, you can often catch your breath and watch all the hard chargers clashing below and wiping each other out. Leaving you fully healthed and shielded to take on who’s left.

#BadassDad Tip: Strategies for the final storm showdown #2

When I first started playing, whenever I heard gunfire I ran away and hid. Hiding has its place but it’s ultimately not a winning strategy.

Now when I hear a heated battle, I run towards it – cautiously. Not into it. You’re trying to grab a vantage point where you can watch and hopefully strike.

Players shooting it out are going to be very distracted with saving their skins. Their desperate exchange will generally leave one eliminated and the other severely depleted. You, on the other hand, have placed yourself in an easily defensible position, chosen your best mid to long-range weapon and can calmly pick off the exhausted victor. Fighting dirty? This game is last-man-standing, baby…

The ideal scenario: You have a scope and your vantage point is high above the battle scene in a bush. A cluster of rocks is good too. Or a building. Or, you get the idea…

Players looting an eliminated opponent’s weapons can be sitting ducks

Anyway, the survivor of the stoush will almost always move in on the loot dropped by the player they just eliminated. And, they will almost always need to top up their shield. And to do that they need to be stationary. Remember?

Here’s where your patience pays off. You follow them with the scope until they stop. Their head goes back to gulp down the shield potion. You calmly put a bullet through it. Good night, Irene. That tickles me every time. (Except when it happens to me – see: ‘A few deadly mistakes to avoid’)


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