While the game is now available on Play Store as well, it does not work on BlueStacks at this time. Please check this space for updates. 

Fortnite Mobile has just landed on Android via the Google Play Store and we honestly couldn’t be more excited about it. This new development will make it so much easier for users to simply download it and start playing without the hassle of manually installing it, not to mention without the security risk that the process entails. While we might like Fortnite a lot, we certainly don’t scoff at the prospect of having our device riddled with malware!

Needless to say, Fortnite Mobile’s arrival on the Play Store will make the game available to a much wider audience, including our loyal BlueStacks users. While the much-awaited battle royale still won’t be available for our emulator just yet, you can bet that we’re burning the midnight oil in order to make it compatible with BlueStacks. We’ll definitely keep you posted when the game is finally available for download on our App Center.

But in the meantime, we’re celebrating the occasion by writing guides on the basics of Fortnite. While it’s likely that some of you might already be familiar with Epic Games’ awesome battle royale title, its release on the Play Store will likely mean that there will be lots of newbies  just getting into the game for the first time. If you’re among one of these newcomers, or simply want to discover a new thing or two, then these tips are for you.

Descending Rapidly on Your Desired Location

Most battle royale games follow a similar format: Matches start when the players descend on the map via parachute, followed by the players scurrying about the field looking for weapons, armor, consumables, and other items, and finally ending when there’s only one player or squad remaining. While it takes lots of skill in many different tasks to win a match in Fortnite, there’s one aspect that is pivotal for getting a good start, being able to descend and land quickly in the location of your choice.

While your skills with the different weapons you’ll find in the field are crucial for winning firefights, there’s a point to be made in landing before others on certain locations. After all, it’s not a firefight if you’re the one who picks up all the weapons while your enemies run around, helplessly trying to take you down with melee swings. And all of this is achieved simply by mastering the art of landing quickly in Fortnite.

While the process is similar in all games, the mechanics of jumping and descending vary slightly in each title. In the case of Fortnite, while the speed at which you can descend is quite fast, it slows down to a crawl once you actually deploy your glider. Moreover, your glider deploys automatically once you reach a certain altitude. The idea is to get as close as you can to the ground before using your glider, and then floating towards your desired location.

If you want to optimize your descent on the field, here are some basic pointers:

• Never jump directly over the location you wish to land in. Always try to drop nearby so you can glide to your desired spot once your glider deploys.
• Avoid hills, mountains, or any other elevations as these will cause your glider to deploy sooner since it’s used automatically once your character drops to a certain altitude, and takes elevations into consideration when doing so.
• Once you reach your destination, you could aim to land on a rooftop or other high places to take a few additional seconds off your descent and load up on weapons extra fast.

Mastering the process of landing quickly takes a bit of practice, especially when learning exactly when to jump to quickly reach your location of choice.

Load Up on Building Materials

Fortnite is unique in the fact that it has a building mechanic  to supplement its intense, fast-paced gunplay. In fact, it’s this very mechanic that sets it apart from the other battle royale games as it presents a unique learning curve other than the standard point-and-shoot gameplay. Only the players who are truly proficient at the building are the ones who usually bask in the glory of the coveted Victory Royale.

However, before you’re able to actually get some practice with building, you’ll need to farm construction materials. Luckily, these are all readily available from the world and you can get them by hitting all sorts of stuff with your pickaxe. Whether it’s a wall, a tree, a bridge, or even vehicles and metal structures, everything can be destroyed and turned into materials in Fortnite. In this sense, it’s a good idea to develop farming habits early on. Whenever you have some downtime, remember to give the environment a few whacks to farm materials, which you will then use for constructing structures for defending, attacking, or simply for getting around the map.

Start With a Wall, and Then a Slope

And speaking of construction, the most basic structure that you should master when it comes to fighting in Fortnite is the standard “wall + slope” combo. This is the building of choice that will serve as the stepping stone for defending yourself, repositioning, or even engaging and outplaying the enemy in combat, and it all starts with a simple vertical wall with a slope attached to it.

If you’re going to engage an enemy in extended combat, then you will benefit greatly from constructing this basic building. If you’re on the defense, you can stay near the bottom of your slope, observe the enemy’s movements, and reposition accordingly either by building upwards or away from your opponent. Conversely, if you’re on the attack, you can peek or jump at the enemy from the top of your slope, or continue building horizontal walls to make your way towards them and flanking them using your position as a vantage point.

However, whatever your purpose, you need to move fast as these structures don’t fare well against sustained gunfire and you’ll always run the risk of falling down if the enemy manages to break your floor.

Use the Proximity Indicators to Your Advantage

One last general pointer you should consider if you want to do good in Fortnite Mobile is making use of the indicators that appear around your character when you’re walking around. These indicators point to nearby treasure chests, as well as serve as threat indicators for when enemies are walking around near you.

Since listening to enemy footsteps and spotting opponents on the field will be a bit difficult on your phone, compared to the PC version of the game (which will change once we manage to release Fortnite on BlueStacks—just sayin’), these indicators are paramount for staying alive and avoiding deaths from unseen hostiles on the field.

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