Fortnite Leveling Guide: How to Level in Fortnite

How to Level in Fortnite
Fortnite, EpicGames


New to Fortnite and want to know the best ways to raise your level? Bellow is a guide that can help you learn the best ways to level up in Fortnite.

The already popular game, Fortnite, has gained a new surge of popularity in recent months by capturing headline attention throughout the internet. With publicity gained from the lawsuit between the PUBG and Fortnite developers, the new release of Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch platform, and the recent start of the new competitive season, it’s no wonder that many new players are hopping on the battle bus. With all the new players, however, one important question does arise – how are players supposed to keep up level-wise against their new competitors in the new season?

The answer is pretty straightforward actually, and this article will explain how best to level-up through the ranks quickly by following a few simple steps. These steps come in two sections; the first, which is designed to help people just starting out at level 1,  will have advice that works great for getting from level 1 to 10 in no time, While the second section will take a look at slightly more in-depth strategies about what to do once you hit the teen and low-twenty levels to give you that push to catch up to the higher levels. The steps for the first ten levels can also be helpful for intermediate and vetran players when applied to higher levels.

Section 1 – The Beginner Levels

So, you’ve just loaded Fortnite for the first time, or maybe you’re brand new and decided to finally try that Fortnite game everyone is playing. Either way, you find yourself at a clean start – 0 games played, no gear, no exp, nothing, but you want to make it big and catch up to those players who are already way up there in levels. What do you do?

Keep out of the storm or you will end up eliminated.

Step 1: Play (and lose) your first games

This may appear to be a pretty obvious first step, “play your first game – duh.” But, for completely new players, there is an art to this first step. Your goal is not to do well in these first few games, the real ticket is getting in and out of these games so that you can unlock the starter challenges as quickly as possible.

Strangely, the starter challenges are not all available when you first start, you have to play a few games and level up at least once to unlock them  – unlocking (and then completing) these challenges should be your primary goal when you start out in order to level up fast. So, here’s the strategy:

  • - Enter your first game. It may be a little jarring since it will be your first time seeing the map and the battle bus, so try to take it in slowly. Open the map, look around, see what direction the bus is moving, appreciate the art, etc.
  • - Roughly 30-40 seconds into the game, jump out of the battle bus and aim for somewhere in the back 1/3rd of the island. This part of the island will be less densely populated allowing you to find weapons, ammo, and the highly valued foods of the island (mushrooms, apples, and rock candy) without running into anyone else immediately
  • - Open EVERY chest and ammo box you see and pick up weapons and shield potions
  • - If you see a person somewhat close to you, try to kill them.
  • - Do your best to make it to the top 50 and then once you’re in the top 50 don’t try too hard and get out when you are eliminated. Then quit back to the lobby

Here’s why – exp is earned from playing games by participating, getting kills, opening up chests and ammo boxes, and surviving. Because level 1 only requires a minimal amount of exp to complete, you want to do just enough in your first games to get a sense of what’s going on and to level up to those challenges. Anything else won’t count towards the next step, which can lead to some frustration.

Certain challenges have you deal damage to other players, while others require different weapons to be used.

Step 2: Starter challenge rewards

Once you’ve leveled up to the point where you gain access to the starter challenges, the real fun begins. These challenges are designed to get  players to start participating in the game and usually involve dealing damage with certain types of weapons, outlasting enemies, and, of course, the lofty challenge of getting first place in a solo game. Luckily, you do not need to complete every challenge to get the big reward – 5,000xp – you only need to beat four of the listed ones.

At this point, you probably have seen a few other challenges listed – these usually include the daily challenges and the weekly challenges. I’ll talk a bit more about those in the next section, but for now you should work on completing those if they help you complete the starter challenges. For instance, say you have a daily challenge to get two pistol eliminations, and one of your starter challenges is get eliminations, pick yourself up a pistol in your next game and get shooting.

On average, completing the starter challenges and getting the 5,000xp will earn you two or three level ups immediately upon completion – this assumes that you complete the challenges quickly, which you should if your goal is to quickly level up. A good way to approach this feat is to group the challenges into what you can do in one game. So, say you have one challenge that is to outlast opponents, and another that is open a certain number of ammo boxes – a great strategy that would allow you to work on both of those would be to deploy to a far away location, off to the sides of the map away from the path of the battle bus. That way you are earning progress towards multiple challenges at once.

Each season the map changes slightly, so you're always finding new things.

Step 3: Learn the game

So far, we’ve talked about playing your first games, where I mentioned that opening boxes, killing enemies, and surviving earn you exp, and we talked about the starter challenges, where I mentioned that completing them quickly and grouping them together is the biggest key to leveling up. That just leaves one last thing for the early levels of the game – learning the game.

While completing these challenges and earning exp, the most important thing you need to do in order to be a good player is to learn how the game works. By the time you reach level 10, you should know what nearly every area on the map looks like from a distance, how to build a fort, and what kinds of weapons you prefer. Learning these things and other basics is the key to doing well in the matches you will be playing as you continue to level up. Without learning these basics by really engaging with the game, you’ll end up more frustrated  than anything else.

To ensure that you get a good sense of these basics, I recommend landing in a different spot on the map for each of your first ten games and trying at least one new weapon each game until you’ve encountered them all. It’s a great way for finding out just how diverse Fortnite is and how much fun you can have with it by exploring different options. If you’re  hesitant about the learning curve, though, you may want to take a look at a Youtube or Twitch stream of some higher level Fortnite players – watching the pros will give you a clear view at how the game works, and just might inspire you to try and be as good as they are.

If you really want to be as good as the pros, though, you’re going to have to make it higher than level 10. Way higher. So, without further ado, here’s section 2.

Section 2 – Higher Leveling

Alright, so you’ve gotten out of newbie territory. Congratulations! What’s next, though? You’re in the teens, level-wise, but you’ve run out of beginner challenges and you’re probably noticing that your opponents have been getting tougher. Here’s how to speed up the leveling process so you can start catching up to Ninja’s level.

Step 1:  Daily and Weekly challenges

In the early levels of the game, starter challenges are the bread and butter for leveling up. Once you’ve completed those challenges though, it is your daily and weekly challenges that will give you the next big boost.

By now, you know how the game works (mostly),  what the challenges all mean, and how best to go about attempting them. Put that knowledge to work and make sure that you beat all of the challenges available to you. They will almost always offer you exp and battle stars as rewards, which are essential to getting those rewards and leveling up.

NOTE: If you happen to get a quest that you really hate – say, for instance, eliminations with your least favorite weapon, you may replace one challenge each day. This can be ideal for those days when you just want a simple challenge but get a bad RNG on the ones delivered.

As with the starter challenges, the best way to approach daily and weekly challenges is to group them together so you can  complete multiple at once. A great way to do this is to get some friends to play with on squad or duo mode. Not only will this make it easier to get the weapons you need for the challenges, but it will also up the exp you get in those games.

The BEST thing you can do, however, is complete challenges while playing with friends during special double exp weekends. Performing this feat and doing it well can result in a player flying through the levels with ease while also having a blast with some gamer friends.

Step 2: Developing your player strategy

Going back to the basics for just a moment, remember how getting kills, and surviving are two of the main ways that exp is earned? Well, the short way of saying this whole thing is that – the better you are at the game, the more exp you will earn. So, one thing that you should be considering as a player is how best to get better at the game. The answer is – improve your reflexes and your strategy.

While we can’t really help you improve your reflexes with just an article, we can offer some pointers on strategy:

Learning a strategy that works for you can mean the difference between being eliminated early or surviving to number one.

- First, decide what kind of player you are – aggressor, scavenger, or survivalist.

An aggressor is usually the first off the bus. They are the player that hit the ground running, literally, and enter into PvP combat as fast as possible. You can usually find them fighting someone pickaxe to pickaxe or dashing to a loose weapon on the ground to shoot at still landing players. They get the best equipment from the get-go… if they survive.

A scavenger is someone who tries to stay on the edge combat at the beginning of the match. They usually jump shortly after the gate opens and  aim for areas adjacent to the main path of the bus, then grab the nearest weapon and immediately go after the aggressors. This allows them to pick up dropped or left-behind items while increasing the chances of facing opponents with lower health, but does mean they are unlikely to get the best weapons.

Lastly, a survivalist will wait before jumping and go into the deadlands of the map, usually far away from the first storm boundary, away from almost any other player. Survivalists can then get equipment in peace without too much threat of enemies, but at the cost of usually having to make a very long first trip to reach the rest of the combatants before the storm closes in on them.

- Next, get to know your preferred loadout. This is to say – what would you ideally want in your equipment slots. Personally, I like a very balanced slew of equipment and so, when I play, I look for a shotgun, an assault rifle, bandages, a long-range weapon if I can find one, and any special/explosive item. This way I can be prepared for any situation. Some players prefer a more specialized build though – finding the style you like best will make it easier for you to do well.

- Finally, decide on your movement plan. You know what areas of the map you like best, and you should know whether you prefer sneaking around on the ground under mountains or building long bridges to get from area to area. Figure out how you like to move so that you can make the battlefield feel comfortable to you, as that will make it that much harder for enemies to catch you outside of your comfort zone.

Thinking about these things will help you gain a sense of yourself as a player and, more importantly, will help you make decisions in the game that will bring you closer to that first-place spot.

Learn your inventory layout, it'll help when you need to look at it quickly.

Step 3: Buy the Battle Pass

We’ve reached the end of this guide on leveling fast and, as is tradition, I’ve saved the “best” for last. If you are the type of person who desperately wants to fly through the levels in Fortnite and who enjoys the game – the battle pass is what you need most.

Buying the battle pass unlocks all of the rewards and extra challenges each season, and those rewards include things like exp multipliers, extra battle stars, and challenges that give A LOT of exp as rewards. It may cost ten dollars, but that ten dollars will nearly triple the speed at which you can gain levels.

I hope this guide has given you some ideas on how to better level up in Fortnite and that it’ll help you and your friends going forward. If you’re looking for more tips and guides about Fortnite, you should also check out the related articles below. And, if you found this article helpful, please drop a comment or share it with others who you think will appreciate it. Thanks for reading!

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A forest nymph from the mystical land of Oregon, Victoria has traveled many lands and garnered knowledge of games, movies, books, all to share with those she comes across.
Gamer Since: 2012
Favorite Genre: RPG
Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2
Top 3 Favorite Games:Guild Wars 2, Transistor, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dragonborn