7 Tips That Will Make You an INSANE Controller Player
Are you a controller player who is looking to gain an edge over your competition? We’ve got you covered in today’s article, as we’re going to run through 7 different tips that are going to help you do just that. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer just learning the sticks, we’re sure that these tips are going to help you step it up.
Claw / Paddles
Changing up your controller or your grip may seem like a high entry price, but if you are serious about becoming an insane controller player, it’s one of the first steps to consider. Playing with a controller that allows you to either bind your face buttons or paddles or playing with a claw grip (where your thumb never leaves the right stick) will improve your controller play in the long run.
Consider the scenario where you’re playing with a normal grip on a standard controller; things are getting intense, and you find yourself in a build battle where you’re constantly jumping, building, switching modes, and trying to edit. Every time you do one of these actions, you have to move your thumb from your stick to press one of the face buttons, forcing you to lose control, as well as having the added travel time before the button is pressed, both of which could cost you that fight.
If you do decide to switch to a controller that features paddles, or play with the claw grip, it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment at first, but it’s worth the time that it will take to get comfortable. When you first start out on this journey, practice by building and editing on your own island. Once you feel comfortable with building and editing, hop into some actual games to force yourself out of that comfort zone, as you’ll end up in actual in-game scenarios which will help you get used to combat with the new controller setup.
Sensitivity
Finding sensitivity settings that you are comfortable with is a huge part of becoming an insane controller player. One bad habit that you may have or develop is changing your sensitivity far too often. You may believe that this is helping you, but in reality, each time that you change the sensitivity, you are throwing away all of the muscle memory you had built up and starting fresh.
The best practice is to choose a sensitivity that feels comfortable for you and stick to it no matter what. Over time, you will build up a ton of muscle memory on that setting, and your building and editing accuracy will get much better along with your aim.
If you’re wondering how you can find the best controller sensitivity, start out by taking a friend and going into your own creative island. Once you’re there, have them stand around 4 to 5 boxes away and get them to begin running around you in a circle. While they do this, you will track them without aiming down your sights. If you find that you’re constantly behind them, then you should raise the sensitivity slightly until it’s easier to track them. If you find that you’re over-shooting them, then lower it slightly to locate that sweet spot. You can do the same test for your ADS multipliers as well and adjust them with the same regimen.
When it comes to building and editing multipliers, you can test these out by simply free building on your creative island. Most controller players range from 1.6 to 2.2 build and edit multipliers because they find that the easiest to control. Anything above or below that range starts to get much harder to control, and it will likely mess up your crosshair placement while building and editing. If you notice you’re constantly making wide edits by accidentally over flicking while free building, try decreasing the multipliers a bit until you’re more comfortable.
Have a Solid Warm-up Routine
If you haven’t developed a solid warm-up routine for yourself yet, you could be really holding yourself back as a controller player. All of the top controller Pros like Mero, Dey, Reet, and Cam have plenty of things in common, but one of the key things they all do is they each have a warm-up routine that they use when they start playing each day.
A good warm-up routine typically lasts around 30-40 minutes and focuses on both your aim and your mechanics. Some great ways to warm up your mechanics are edit courses, Raider’s piece control map, 1v1 build fights, and free building in your own island. After you have your mechanics warmed up, it’s time to warm up your aim.
Great aim in Fortnite is arguably the most critical skill to have, so it’s extremely important that your aim is warmed up before you jump into your games. To warm up your aim, try Raider’s aim training map, or 1v1 aim duels. Both of these maps will help you warm up your long and short-range tracking and shotgun aim. You won’t need to use every one of these maps, so once you’ve figured out a few that work for you, you can toss them into your routine and use them accordingly.
Understand Meta / Controller Loadout
Each season, the meta adjusts, and shifts, and understanding these changes to the meta is another critical part of becoming an unstoppable controller player. The meta refers to the best strategies and skills used in the game to remain competitive. This includes knowledge of the best new guns, heals, and knowing what the best loadout is each season.
This season brought a ton of new items in, such as the Havoc shotgun, the Kinetic Blade, and ODM gear, as well as new best-in-slot healing items like the legendary Slurp Juice, which is arguably the best healing item added to Fortnite so far. For movement, the Kinetic BLade and ODM gear are great, but what a lot of players don’t yet know is how good ODM gear can be in combat.
ODM gear has an attack option that launches through any build and can hit your opponent for up to 70 damage per hit. When it comes to the best controller loadouts currently, you definitely want to have the ODM gear in there.
In the case of shotguns, there are a few solid options. The strongest secondary this season is the Mythic Pulse Rifle. This is one of the most overpowered guns they’ve ever added, but there’s only enough for 1 team each game. Every game, an island spawns after the 3rd storm circle, which adds a flag that you need to capture, which drops the Mythic Pulse Rifle and Slurp Juices. If you can get this, then definitely keep it in your loadout.
More practically, however, you’re going to want either a twin mag SMG or a high-rarity pistol. The twin mag hits for a ton of damage and even offers some range. The pistol is also great, as it comes with a fast reload and high damage. For the last spot in your loadout, you’re going to want some minis, splashes, or big pots.
Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
If you’re working to reach your full potential in Fortnite, you’re going to need to step out of your comfort zone and try things that you’ve never tried before, as well as things that you have struggled with. For example, if you really only play in pubs, start playing some arena games to face off with better competition. It may not go so well at first, but over time, it will make you a significantly better player.
If you’re a player who tends to hide until the endgame phase and you don’t stack up too many kills, step out of your comfort zone and start pushing people and going for more high-kill wins. You may struggle at first, but it’s for the greater good, as you need to push yourself outside of your comfort zone to reach your full potential.
VOD Review
Reviewing VODs, also known as rewatching gameplay, is a huge part of improving as a player in any game. Reviewing your own VODs can really help as you’re able to look back and see your own mistakes, which you may not have even registered as you were making them.
We would recommend watching a game that didn’t go well for you so you’re able to see exactly where things went wrong. For example, if you die mid-game, you may not have farmed enough mats early, you may have made a bad rotation, or you may not have looted enough off of spawn.
We would also suggest pairing that practice up with watching VODs from Pro controller players as well, as you will be able to identify the habits that they have or specific ways that they approach situations which you could add to your own gameplay. If you find that you struggle with getting kills, try reviewing some of Reet’s gameplay to see what he does that is leading to more kills than you typically achieve. Try to pick up on things like how Reet rotates to find players or the way that he fights with right-hand peeks. You could even learn from how a player like Reet disengages from losing battles.
As you watch these players, ask yourself, what are they doing in the situation that helped them, and what would you have done differently? Once you find yourself in situations in-game that you have already reviewed in VODs, you’ll know exactly what to do and how you can make better decisions.
Creative Training
Our last tip that we will leave you with on your path to becoming a better controller player is just to train. You must train in things like crosshair placement, piece control, mechanics, and aim.
The best way to train these types of skills in Fortnite is through creative mode. Practicing these skills through creative allows you to have an infinite amount of repetitions, all without the stress of losing a game. If you mess up, the only person who will know is you, so don’t be afraid to try new things.
One great way to practice piece control and mechanics is through Raider’s piece control map. This map will allow you to go through 25 different in-game scenarios where you have to piece control your opponent in order to secure the elimination. As you go through these scenarios, work on consistency in your builds and edits before you work on speeding up your controls.
The best way to train your aim is with the same maps that we talked about using for warm-ups, as those aim training regimens have a ton of different scenarios that you can go through, such as shotgun flicks, close-range shotguns, long and mid-range tracking, and more. While you’re on aim training maps, focus on whatever you know that you’re struggling with.
Regarding 1v1 aim duels, the aim training maps are a great way to work on close-range SMG tracking. As a controller player, being in a box with your SMG should be familiar. With the 1v1 aim duel map, you can set your HP from 2,000 to 10,000 and hop into a head-to-head scenario where it’s just you and an opponent. Focus on controlling your crosshair and always keeping it towards your enemy’s head. Train with these maps daily, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a top-tier controller player.
