Building is the centre of everything in Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4. It's what sets it apart from other Battle Royales, and partly why it got so popular in the first place.
Watch any pro players, esports leagues, or even end up in the final circle of a regular Fortnite match, and the skyscrapers will loom above you.
If it's all looking a bit daunting, here are our top tips for building in the current meta.
Building Blocks
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You've got to start somewhere, and that somewhere is with materials. Hit anything on the map with your pickaxe to harvest materials from it.
Cars will give you metal, walls will give you brick, trees will give you wood. You get it.
This is a very loud process, so watch out for opponents sneaking up on you while you're farming, but it's always a good idea early game to grab as many materials as you can muster.
Pickaxe sofas, TVs, random rocks, everything you can to get those materials up - and then keep an eye on your inventory as you build.
Wooden structures are the quickest to build, but the weakest. Brick structures take a little longer but are stronger, and metal takes the longest but has the most hit points.
Start off by building simple walls or ramps. Ramps are useful for climbing up sheer cliffs or the outside of buildings, and walls are a good early defensive structure.
Press circle on PS4, B on Xbox One, or G on PC and Mac to select the wall. Then use your trigger or mouse button to build - providing you've got enough materials.
From here, you can also scroll through the different structures. For now, the wall and the ramp will be the most useful.
Forts
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Once you've got the hang of that - we recommend heading to Team Rumble to practise - you can start building simple forts.
Simply select your wall builder and spin on the spot, clicking as you go. You should be surrounded by four walls and protected on all sides.
Now, jump up and build a ramp beneath you. Keep practising this until you can do it in one motion.
From here, you can build four more walls, then another ramp, to keep raising your fort.
This is what's known as Panic Building - many players immediately build a small fort if they hear gunshots or take damage and need protection.
However, there are ways to make your forts even more deadly.
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Advanced Forts
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To turn defence into attack, we'd recommend building a funnel fort.
For this, build your regular fort as high as you need, and then build four ramps at the top, each heading outwards.
This gives you protection - almost like ramparts on a castle - but also a line of sight to opponents in every direction.
From this protected position, use a sniper rifle or long-ranged assault rifle to take out your enemies.
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Editing
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Editing is an advanced building technique to give you benefits from your fort or other building.
When you're fortified in a, well, fort, you can edit the walls of the structure to give you a sight of the enemy.
To do this, simply look at the wall you want to edit and press G on PC and Mac. On Xbox One, press and hold B, and on PS4 press and hold circle.
Then scroll through and select how you want to edit. Windows are very handy to give you a protected view, but doors and those diagonal walls can allow for tactical play as well.
What's more, once you're done with that window, you can re-edit so the wall is complete again for maximum protection.
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When To Build
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As we mentioned before, panic building can be a useful tactic to prevent an early death but keep an eye on those materials.
Yes, you want to higher ground to give you an advantage, but using up all your materials isn't a good idea, especially in the early game.
As the circle closes and changes, you don't want to have to leave behind a huge fort that you built on the edge of the map.
As a rule, save the biggest buildings for when the circle is small and there are only a few players left.
However, it is also worth building four walls around you any time you need to heal, loot, or collect a supply drop.
Even if made out of wood, the extra protection can be invaluable.
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Escaping
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Maybe you've built too early and the circle is coming to get you. Perhaps an opponent has the higher ground and has jumped onto your structure.
Whatever the reason, sometimes escaping structures is necessary.
The safest way out is to jump and place a Crash Mat at the bottom, so you can negate fall damage and go flying off to escape.
However, you won't always be lucky enough to find one.
Some game modes still use the Launch Pad, and it may well be returning at some point, so placing that on your structure can also provide a quick escape.
If the items aren't on your side, your best bet is editing a gap in the wall and jumping.
Make sure to build a little ramp as you fall - maybe multiple times - to stop any fall damage. Keep the jumps small and you should survive.
Then, try to find a car or other escape vehicle to get away from whatever bad situation you found yourself in. Alternatively, start building another fort...