With about one month left of Fortnite: Absolute Doom, now is the time for Disney and Marvel fans to board the Battle Bus and join in on the Battle Royale fun. We are gonna go over some of the basic information you need to jump into the free-to-play game.
For those who are unaware of the ultra-popular video game, Fortnite is a robust online multiplayer experience by Epic Games with several different game modes and thousands of user created maps. Today, we are gonna focus on where it all started. Fortnite’s main gamemode is Battle Royale, which has two variations with regular and zero-build. For players jumping into the game, zero-build is where I recommend you start. Battle Royale consists of a 100 player match. Your goal in the match is to be the sole survivor. In order to do that, you’ll need to find weapons located throughout the map to take down other players while avoiding the storm circle. Sounds pretty simple, right? For the most part, it is! But jumping into the game can be a tad overwhelming so let’s walk through what you can expect when you play your first round of Fortnite Zero-Build Battle Royale.
Once you open the game on your gaming console, mobile device, or PC, you’ll find yourself in the lobby. Up at the top, you’ll see several different tabs that will take you to different areas in the game’s main menu. For those interested in grabbing one of the magnificent new Marvel skins or newly released The Incredibles skins, head to the shop and grab them while they are available. Heading to the “Locker” tab will allow you to go through and change your cosmetics. For right now, we are gonna ignore the other tabs. At the bottom of the screen under “Library” click the icon that says “ZERO BUILD,” which will then lower down the library tab and allow you to start matchmaking.
Once you click “Play,” it won’t take long before you’ll begin loading into the Battle Royale lobby. Separate from the game’s map, players of the round will all start on a smaller island where you can run around, test weapons, emote, and wait for the Battle Bus to take off. Once the timer at the top of the screen runs out, you’ll board the Battle Bus automatically. This is where the game really begins.
You can land anywhere on the map, but it’s always good to have an idea of where you are going. The named locations will have lots of loot to pick up, but you may encounter a large number of players making it easy to get eliminated quickly. Landing in a barren area will leave you vulnerable and without access to many weapons. I recommend finding a smaller building you can land in initially, there will most likely be places where you can collect weapons. In the bottom right hand corner, you’ll see 5 translucent boxes. This represents your inventory.
These will showcase your items you pick up during the match. I am sure you are wondering where to look for weapons and items? Well I am glad you asked! The best place to find weapons is in chests. Standard chests glow gold, which should contain at least one weapon, some ammo, and another item. Rare chests are blue and they will contain better weapons and items as they are harder to find. During this season, there are speciality chests with Doom Chests, Avengers Chests, and Stark Industries chest, which contain higher rarity weapons and Marvel items. There are five standard item rarities, and they do affect how much damage you deal! Starting with common, these items glow gray. Pick these up if it's your only option, but otherwise, don't trade out other weapons. Uncommon will glow green, these are sufficient and worth carrying if you are looking for a specific type of weapon. Rare glows blue, anything rare and above is worth keeping in your inventory. Next is Epic, which glows purple. Finally, we have Legendary, which glows orange. Special items for the season, such as Iron Man’s Combat Kit, will glow gold indicating its Mythic rarity. I know this is a lot of information, but, trust me, you’ll pick it up quickly by just jumping into the game.
Now that we’ve got all our basics down, let’s talk about gameplay. The Battle Royale island will slowly be taken over by the storm during matches. The storm is a circular barrier that closes in periodically, forcing players into smaller regions of the map. In the upper right hand corner, the minimap will display a timer. When the timer indicator is white, it means the storm isn’t actively moving. When it’s purple, the storm will close in. The storm circle will show as a purple circle on the map, with a white circle indicating where the storm is closing to. You won’t need to guess where the storm is moving, so make sure you are paying attention to those circles to make sure you don’t get swallowed by the storm. If you end up in the storm, you’ll slowly start losing health. You will eventually be eliminated if you don’t escape the storm circle, but if you make it out alive, you’ll definitely wanna find some healing items.
If you take damage at any point during a match, it is imperative to heal yourself to prepare for your next encounter. So let’s talk about health! You start with 100 health as a baseline. You can protect yourself further by finding shield potions, which, when full, will give you an extra 100 points of damage. Healing items can be found in Bandages and Med-Kits. Bandages can only heal you back up to 75 health, while Med-Kits can fully heal you. For shield, Small Shiel Potions are worth 25 shield each and can bring up your shield to a max of 50, but regular Shield Potions will provide you with 50 points of shield and can bring you all the way to 100 points. Flowberry Fizz can fully restore shield. It is always smart to carry a Med-Kit or Shield Pots with you during a match.
So in summary, this is how I would start a match:
- Pick somewhere to land that has buildings but isn’t a named location.
- Find weapons and use shields.
- Start exploring and pay attention to the storm.
- Have fun!
Now, you have everything you need to play. One of the best parts about Fortnite is that no game is the same. The Battle Bus’ path changes each map, the storm circle zeros in on different areas, and you are always matched with new players. So explore the map, find places you like to hangout, try different weapons, just don’t let yourself get discouraged. Your first few matches might be short, but just jump back in and try again. Once you get your first elimination, you’ll be hooked. And with all the amazing Marvel content this season, there is so much for MCU and Marvel Comics fans to explore and experience.
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