How to Build Like a Pro in Fortnite

Building. It’s a defining feature of the Fortnite brand and a hallmark of its gameplay. It’s a simple yet deeply layered mechanic that offers the player endless gameplay possibilities for traversal and combat. Like all great mechanics, it hides its complexity at first, making it very simple and straightforward for new players to pick up and use but deeply difficult to master. That impeccable balance plus the level of freedom that the in-game building promotes make it one of the best video game mechanics of our generation. Learning to master and weaponize your building is the main thing that will set you apart from casual players and allow you to take the next step into competitive play.

Sadly, whichever way you look at it, PC players will always have the upper hand when it comes to building over those who play on console. But of course, there are a few ways to narrow the gap and give yourself a fighting chance against the PC sweats. In this article, we’ll give you the tips and tricks you need as a console player to take your building to the next level and start dominating 1v1 encounters.

Keeping Builds Out

This may seem self-explanatory but it’s important to keep your builds out the entire time when you’re engaged in a build fight. This will allow you to build with greater fluidity and not be interrupted by having to switch back and forth between your loadout and your build menu. The trick is to hold off on taking out your weapon until you’re sure you have a clean shot at the opponent and you’re ready to execute. If you learn to demonstrate composure and incorporate this tiny change into your game it should allow you to build and edit with greater speed and accuracy.

Console Settings

It’s hard to argue the fact that playing on a console is an undeniable handicap for those who rely on their building to win fights. In fact, there are many reasons why console players are slower and less effective builders than their PC counterparts. One of those reasons is that the original building setting on console is unintuitive and sluggish, forcing you to manually switch between different pieces before placing them. Fortunately, changing this is as simple as going into the settings and switching to the builder pro setting. This setting assigns each different piece—wall, ramp, cone and floor—to a single button input on the controller. From there you can even go deeper and customize which buttons correspond with which pieces allowing you to take full ownership of your building controls.

Another thing that's critical to building smoothly is sensitivity. Sensitivity essentially dictates how responsive the camera is to your joystick input. The higher the sensitivity the faster and more frantic the camera moves. High sensitivity is usually the preferred option for competitive shooters such as Fortnite and Warzone but it depends on how it’s used. In a sense, high sensitivity can be a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s great because it allows you to react faster to unexpected danger and make sharp turns to shoot your opponents. But on the flip side if the sensitivity is too high to the point where you lose control you'll end up sacrificing aim and become less of a threat in 1v1 firefights. For Fortnite console players we recommend starting out with around 30-35% sensitivity on both the horizontal and vertical look speeds.

Additionally, to make your building faster you’ll want to increase the ‘build mode sensitivity multiplier’ and the ‘edit mode’ multiplier to somewhere between 2-2.5x.

Finally, make sure to switch on advanced options because it will give your more settings to experiment with. Some of the settings will probably be useless but others might be personal game-changers for you. The most important thing when customizing your settings is mixing and matching to find something that you’re comfortable with but that also elevates your game in ways you previously couldn’t. 

Piece Control

Piece control is one of the most important concepts in competitive Fortnite. In a nutshell, piece control is the act of owning nearby building pieces to control a fight. One tactic to ensure good piece control is building cones. Cones are special because you can build them further in front of you than any other piece. Cones are especially effective when used to block off enemies who are ramping up or side-jumping out of a structure.

After the cone, the next thing you want to focus on is boxing in your enemy. Trapping your opponent in a full box is the best way to ensure an easy elimination. Doing this requires good anticipation of your opponent’s next move and lighting fast building. Essentially piece control is about owning the most build pieces around your opponent so that you can edit them in favorable ways to find the perfect shot. If you want to weaponize your building and get really good at the game you first have to understand piece control and become skilled at reading your opponent. In the end, piece control is that secret ingredient that turns an amateur build fight into a strategic chess match between professionals.

Basic Pro Moves

Part of the magic of Fortnite’s building system is the way it gives the player full freedom and control to experiment with the tools at his disposal. In the early days of Fortnite, the building mechanic was at its best because of the way it rewarded in-game creativity instead of condemning it. But now we’re past the age of discovery where players would experiment and find out new building techniques every day and share their findings with the community. Nowadays all the best moves are known parts of the competitive meta and top players rarely deviate from those select moves. These are the basic fundamental moves that all pros use and that you need to perfect in order to optimize your building:

The Double 90

The Double 90or ‘90ing’ as it’s often referred to is the act of building vertical towers within a 90 degree tilt to gain positional advantage. To perform a 90 you have to build a ramp, 2 walls around you within the 90 degree tilt and crucially a floor below the ramp to give the structure extra support. Once you’ve built the first structure you’ll want to run up the ramp build two walls above you then simply jump and simultaneously build a floor and ramp below you while rotating 90 degrees. If you do this correctly then you will have successfully built a double 90 which is practical as it can be repeated infinitely to gain crucial high-ground over your enemy.

The Ramping Double Edit

Another meta trick in the pro Fortnite community is the use of double or triple editing when ramping up. To double edit while ramping up you will have to build a floor and a cone at the top of the ramp you are currently running on. This may seem counterintuitive as the floor and cone block you from running any further but that’s where the double editing comes into play. First you’ll want to edit the floor by removing either the left or right column from the edit grid—this depends on which side of the ramp you are planning to run up. Directly afterwards you’ll want to do the exact same thing with the cone by editing out a column on the same side of the previous edit. If you do this correctly the path will open up and allow you to run up the ramp unobstructed. From there, you can build another ramp, floor and cone and repeat the steps in quick succession to continue building towards your target. The advantage of this move is that it allows you rush players at high speed while also ensuring that your back is covered from unexpected gunfire.

The Mongraal Classic

This move popularised by the notorious streamer and pro Fortnite player Mongraal is one of the most useful ways to land a killing blow on your opponent. Before you can perform the Mongraal classic you need to have your opponent in a full box meaning that he’s trapped in a box of walls and floors that all belong to you. In short, this means that your opponent can’t edit any wall or floor to escape the box. Once you have him boxed in what you need to do is edit the bottom corner of the wall so it opens up and then quickly build a ramp in the box and reset the wall which will close the box off again. From there you have to quickly double edit a window in the wall and change the ramp into a half ramp while flipping it in the opposite direction. This should expose your opponent and give you a clean shot to the head. If your opponent has built a cone in the box then this technique will not be useful as you won’t be able to build the ramp.

The High Wall 

To perform the high wall all you need to do is build a wall one layer above your normal protective wall when doing 90’s or doing a 180 side jump from a ramp. Building a wall one layer up is perfect for scenarios where your opponent is directly above you because it blocks off his building options and allows you to run up and easily trap him in a full box. If you do this properly you will surprise your opponent and limit his chances of escaping and gaining further high-ground. Sometimes this move can be effective when your opponent is still below you and building up. Setting the high wall trap and waiting is a good way to outwit opponents who build faster than you.

Best Fortnite Building Tips for Console Players 

In the end, there’s no escaping the fact that building is an essential for players that want to dominate gunfights and occupy the best strategic positions. To thrive online and reach a higher threshold of Fortnite skill you have to first master building. By implementing these tips in your game and closely studying pro players you will feel a noticeable improvement. However, it takes more than that to become a really good player. It takes practice. Practice is king when it comes to building. We recommend trying out our list of basic pro moves and attempting them over and over in creative mode until they become embedded in your muscle memory and you’re able to build them instinctively with your eyes closed.