Fortnite BR: Sieging Past Explosives

Out of all the weapons in Fortnite, the heavy-duty launchers hold the most power. They may not be as core to any match as the Shotguns, but their impact is no less than monolithic.

 

When you're on the receiving end of constant rocket or grenade spam, it can feel as though there is no counter-play. You've been put in a chokehold with no chance to escape and eventually you're gonna have to tap out. Now what if I told you there is an answer. Push! 

Bringing the fight to the person spamming is a pretty obvious strategy. They have a prominent range advantage so in order to even out the playing field you should close that distance. The problem is that this is way easier said than done.

 

Rocket Launcher

The Rocket Launcher fires a slow-moving projectile with devastating impact. The "slow-moving" in this case is your window to counter-attack. When pushing someone with a Rocket Launcher, it's important to always be switching up your elevation. Build up a staircase (that isn't high enough for you to take fall damage) while moving forward constantly. Moving up and down perpetually makes it hard for the slow traveling rockets to land a meaningful hit. Moreover, it's important to stay off the ground because of the threat of splash damage. A well-placed rocket's splash damage can sometimes even hit you around the corner of a wall.

As you get closer and closer to the player spamming rockets, you enter a sort of Danger Zone. As you are now in closer proximity to them and the rocket, even though it's slow, has a way shorter travel time. This means it's now a highly lethal killing machine, not just a building destroyer. The key to staying safe is to layer your buildings and making sure that you succeed in taking control of the high ground. Layering your buildings means to never leave a single building unprotected. Make sure you're pushing with a two or even three wide staircase that is always shielded by a wall. Never trap yourself in a corner where your only defense is a single ceiling or floor. Make sure you use your materials to cover every angle to avoid potential splash damage while continuing to move up. 

 

Grenade Launcher

 

Though the Grenade Launcher doesn't cover as much ground as the Rocket Launcher, that doesn't make it any less deadly. The Grenade Launcher's randomness and high damage make it a serious threat for both buildings and players. The goal when playing around grenade spam is to avoid the Launcher's "sweet spot". The sweet spot is when the grenades travel just far enough that they explode after one bounce or on contact. Avoiding the sweet spot means playing out of its range, either up close or far away. At a distance, you should be looking to take potshots when the grenade spammer peeks to fire off some rounds. You should avoid building yourself into any tight spaces. Make sure your buildings give you room to move in case the grenade spammer begins to push up. When sieging, you want to move as quickly as possible. Avoid trapping yourself with bad wall placement and, much like when playing around rockets, make sure to stay off the ground. Bad ricochets and unlucky bounces are more likely to happen the closer you are to the ground.

The closer and closer you get to a Grenade Launcher, the worse the weapon gets. It becomes easier to use your ears to tell where the grenades are falling and it takes longer for them to explode. As long as you layer your buildings properly and avoid trapping yourself in a box, you've succeeded in forcing the grenade spammers hand. Now the fight has gone from you at a clear disadvantage, narrowly avoiding explosives, to a more even classic one on one CQC build off.

Playing around explosives is like walking a thin tightrope. It's a straight forward route, but with plenty of room for error. These errors can cost you the high price of your life. But with quick wit, ingenuity, and this article - anyone can put a grenade or rocket spammer in their place.

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