Fortnite Battle Royale - Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing & Fortnite Festival out now.

I might be interested in a no-build mode. I was never any good at it. Could never hope to use it to defend myself as easily as others do. On the other hand, I can't deny that it made for an excellent traversal method at times. I guess I could always jump on and see.

Only bad thing about zero build is it highlights how bland and flat the map is to accommodate for build battles.

It's genuinely boring as gooseberry fool to traverse the world, especially compared to Apex for example.

Not to mention there's no cover I'm between POIs other than trees

The no-build feature has been a welcome change of pace for me, although I am pretty competent at the building aspect nonetheless. I can't make lightning fast edits however, and I can barely be arsed to prolong a 'build war' for more than 10 seconds; it's kind of exhausting and not especially fun either, leading to me either attempting to get the strawberry float out of it or conceding altogether.

Yeah, the no-build mode is great. Had some great fights last night, though I've got no idea who were bots and who were real people.

DarkRula wrote:I might be interested in a no-build mode. I was never any good at it. Could never hope to use it to defend myself as easily as others do. On the other hand, I can't deny that it made for an excellent traversal method at times.

That was always my problem with building - thought it was great for traversal and even for building up a defensible position, but thought mid-combat building made combat unfun. I think there are ways to fix that better than "just turn it off" but I'll take "just turn it off" over leaving it as it is.

OrangeRKN wrote:

DarkRula wrote:I might be interested in a no-build mode. I was never any good at it. Could never hope to use it to defend myself as easily as others do. On the other hand, I can't deny that it made for an excellent traversal method at times.

That was always my problem with building - thought it was great for traversal and even for building up a defensible position, but thought mid-combat building made combat unfun. I think there are ways to fix that better than "just turn it off" but I'll take "just turn it off" over leaving it as it is.

I think there have been a few LTMs where they limited you to 30 of each material so that you basically just had enough for traversal and the odd wall for cover when you're out in the open, if they bring those back semi-regularly then it'd be a nice middle ground for people who don't enjoy full-on build battles but still want the option to build where necessary.

DarkRula wrote:Yeah, the no-build mode is great. Had some great fights last night, though I've got no idea who were bots and who were real people.

The best way to tell with bots is if you don't gain a spectator after you kill them, almost all players will spectate for at least a few seconds before their next match starts (unless they immediately quit to lobby) but bots will never spectate you.

Fade wrote:Only bad thing about zero build is it highlights how bland and flat the map is to accommodate for build battles.

It's genuinely boring as gooseberry fool to traverse the world, especially compared to Apex for example.

Not to mention there's no cover I'm between POIs other than trees

I think this is more of a problem with the Chapter 3 map - Chapter 2 had much more interesting terrain differences and POIs but Chapter 3 is a lot flatter and more generic. A bigger problem traversal-wise in no-builds mode is that parts of the map are designed specifically to be unreachable without builds or traversal items - there was a game I won the other day because the other last person alive physically couldn't get up the slight hill that I was on in the last few circles so they were at a huge disadvantage being pressed up against a wall with the storm at their back. Instances like this are where it would maybe be helpful to have extremely limited build resources instead of outright no-building so that people don't get stuck in impossible situations.

I've played other seasons of Fortnite and they've also been really flat.

In Apex there's choke points that force you to take specific routes and basically every bit of terrain is kind of interesting.

Fornite without building just feels like a knock off Apex with a worse map. The only plus being the cool interactables like fishing, cars/tanks etc that apex doesn't have.

I was never a huge fan of building but without it Fortnite gunplay is really god damn bland. I would have preferred they make builds take more bullet damage or limit materials to like 200 or something.

But yeah, genuinely can't see a reason to play the no-build mode over a different battle royale.

Absolutely loving it since getting back on it. Plenty of close battles and shootouts, and I even managed a victory royale for the first time. The high ground was with me for that one.

I've been playing solo on and off now that No Build Mode has become a thing. Quite fun to just run around and shoot and not worry about lil jimmy suddenly creating the empire state building in front of you. Managed to get a few wins as well which I never managed when building was a thing.

Apparently the game has seen a huge surge in returning and new players now that the no building mode has been created.

Who would have thought that people actually like firing their bullets into people instead of walls?

I get the insane skill that goes into building. But it comes at the cost of literally every single other aspect of the game. Building counters everything which means that in build mode terrain changes barely have any impact on the gameplay since you have zero reason to use natural cover, in fact it's disadvantageous to do so.

Building just seems like one of those things that got out of hand and by the time they realised they should have balanced it a bit it was too late so they just left it alone as to not upset the hardcore players.

Outside of the reinforced panels you can pick up, build mode isn't so bad. I don't build and use natural cover and win most of the games I play by doing so. Building is very easy to counter and is a big arrow to where they are. Try using a rocket launcher, fireflies, or shoot out the bottom panels of whatever they've built and watch it collapse.

I hate how they've upped the shields from 100% to 150% in no build mode. I prefer people building to that in most cases. And by introducing no build mode it has seemingly made anyone who semi built move over to that mode, leaving the build modes skewed towards the heavy builders.

Right but building just kind of invalidates most of the long range weapons unless you're playing against noobs.

Basically every time you die it's to a shotgun because it's so easy to just keep building and force close range encounters.

I don't mind building in concept, it's just FAR too loose. The fact it's instant and each panel has like a player's worth of health is just annoying to play against.

Whenever I played build mode and someone would just turbo build in the same spot to block all of my bullets I'd just want to stop playing. It's just two people holding R2 and nothing happening. Worse it's one of the best strategies in the game

Fade wrote:Right but building just kind of invalidates most of the long range weapons unless you're playing against noobs.

Basically every time you die it's to a shotgun because it's so easy to just keep building and force close range encounters.

I don't mind building in concept, it's just FAR too loose. The fact it's instant and each panel has like a player's worth of health is just annoying to play against.

Whenever I played build mode and someone would just turbo build in the same spot to block all of my bullets I'd just want to stop playing. It's just two people holding R2 and nothing happening. Worse it's one of the best strategies in the game

I haven't interacted with building panels enough to know for sure, but aren't they low health when they are first placed until the panel placed has finished building? This takes about 10 seconds to be completed, plenty of time to be shot out and killing the person behind it.

The barrel shotgun introduced recently will kill you at close range whether you're in build mode or not.

And I find ranged weapons such as the sniper or any scoped weapons are less useful in no build mode when everyone has a rechargeable shield on top of their regular health and shield meters.

BID0 wrote:

Fade wrote:Right but building just kind of invalidates most of the long range weapons unless you're playing against noobs.

Basically every time you die it's to a shotgun because it's so easy to just keep building and force close range encounters.

I don't mind building in concept, it's just FAR too loose. The fact it's instant and each panel has like a player's worth of health is just annoying to play against.

Whenever I played build mode and someone would just turbo build in the same spot to block all of my bullets I'd just want to stop playing. It's just two people holding R2 and nothing happening. Worse it's one of the best strategies in the game

I haven't interacted with building panels enough to know for sure, but aren't they low health when they are first placed until the panel placed has finished building? This takes about 10 seconds to be completed, plenty of time to be shot out and killing the person behind it.

The barrel shotgun introduced recently will kill you at close range whether you're in build mode or not.

And I find ranged weapons such as the sniper or any scoped weapons are less useful in no build mode when everyone has a rechargeable shield on top of their regular health and shield meters.

Wood starts with 100 health, brick with 90 and metal with 80. One wood panel (that can appear instantly and be replaced instantly) has the same health as a player and grows to 200 if it's lefts to finish building. So no that's not really practical. That's why you see good players just building around each other till one gets trapped. It's the only viable counter play. Trying to destroy builds when someone can place 5 panels in less than a second is a waste of time unless you're third partying and can make the other two people fall.

You're missing my point. Shotguns are good at close range, in build mode you're basically forced into close range encounters all the time because building is so powerful. Thus the meta becomes: trap the other person and get in close with a shotgun in basically every single fight beyond drop.

Yes they do the same damage in both modes but the lack of builds makes longer range weapons far more effective.

Not sure how you came to the conclusion that 50 extra health somehow trump's the 100+ health a single panel can block, but okay.

In build mode if you get a headshot the other person will just build a fort and gide and there's nothing you can do. In no build you can continue to fire on them, especially if they aren't near any natural cover.

Plus they can't build a fort to hide inside which allows you to pretty safely push them while they try to heal.

Fade wrote:

BID0 wrote:

Fade wrote:Right but building just kind of invalidates most of the long range weapons unless you're playing against noobs.

Basically every time you die it's to a shotgun because it's so easy to just keep building and force close range encounters.

I don't mind building in concept, it's just FAR too loose. The fact it's instant and each panel has like a player's worth of health is just annoying to play against.

Whenever I played build mode and someone would just turbo build in the same spot to block all of my bullets I'd just want to stop playing. It's just two people holding R2 and nothing happening. Worse it's one of the best strategies in the game

I haven't interacted with building panels enough to know for sure, but aren't they low health when they are first placed until the panel placed has finished building? This takes about 10 seconds to be completed, plenty of time to be shot out and killing the person behind it.

The barrel shotgun introduced recently will kill you at close range whether you're in build mode or not.

And I find ranged weapons such as the sniper or any scoped weapons are less useful in no build mode when everyone has a rechargeable shield on top of their regular health and shield meters.

Wood starts with 100 health, brick with 90 and metal with 80. One wood panel (that can appear instantly and be replaced instantly) has the same health as a player and grows to 200 if it's lefts to finish building. So no that's not really practical. That's why you see good players just building around each other till one gets trapped. It's the only viable counter play. Trying to destroy builds when someone can place 5 panels in less than a second is a waste of time unless you're third partying and can make the other two people fall.

You're missing my point. Shotguns are good at close range, in build mode you're basically forced into close range encounters all the time because building is so powerful. Thus the meta becomes: trap the other person and get in close with a shotgun in basically every single fight beyond drop.

Yes they do the same damage in both modes but the lack of builds makes longer range weapons far more effective.

Not sure how you came to the conclusion that 50 extra health somehow trump's the 100+ health a single panel can block, but okay.

In build mode if you get a headshot the other person will just build a fort and gide and there's nothing you can do. In no build you can continue to fire on them, especially if they aren't near any natural cover.

Plus they can't build a fort to hide inside which allows you to pretty safely push them while they try to heal.

It sounds like your problem is you get too close to people and that's why you're getting destroyed by shotguns and getting built in to a box. You're definitely not forced in to close range matches because I manage to play medium to long most times.

The problem with the 50 rechargeable shield is that it always recharges. At least with building you need to collect materials which you can run out of. The hotel builders are a pain, but equally so is anyone who runs off as soon as they get hit by a bullet or two. Don't you find the rechargeable shields have made the longer range weapons less effective? You need to deal 250% in a few seconds before they realise what is happening.

Perhaps it comes down to how many people you're playing with. No building is more of problem when you're playing duos, trios or squads. It's difficult to focus on more than one enemy at a time when shields recharge. That's less of a problem in solos when your targets have no backup.

It's good to see more people are now playing this now that Zero Build is a permanent game mode. I'm enjoying the mode, but I'm not enjoying the current map or un-vaulted guns that much. I'll echo the thoughts of others in here and say the current map definitely isn't as good as previous chapters. It's just very flat and bland. The current battle pass rewards are a bit weak too, or at least not my cup of tea.

I'm finding the weapons a bit hit and miss too. I don't like the rifles with iron sights - they are very twitchy. I just want my trusty, bog-standard, burst assault rifle back

I'm happy with a pistol. I've made many a kill with one. Especially the revolvers, which feel as powerful as a shotgun at times.

Yeah the pistols are still nice and reliable. I find them really good at medium range. I haven't quite gelled with the revolvers yet - the lower clip size always catches me out. I generally find myself carrying a pistol, an SMG and an assault rifle. Or a pistol, assault rifle and a longer distance gun. Last two slots are always a shield item and a health item. I'm not one of those people who can just wing it - I have to be prepared

I find I get caught out in longer gun fights as I quickly swap weapon as soon as the clip is emptied, then to the next, then to the next, and then find I have no weapons that don't need a reload. As I'm stuck reloading the other just empties everything they have into me at close range knowing there's no danger for those few critical seconds. I have to remind myself not to do that at times, but it's so easy to fall into that trap when you have so many weapons on you.

DarkRula wrote:I'm happy with a pistol. I've made many a kill with one. Especially the revolvers, which feel as powerful as a shotgun at times.

The revolvers pack a really strong punch whether at range or up close and I love them - practically a hand cannon compared to the regular side-arm variant.