What is Arena Mode in Fortnite?

Arena mode in Fortnite is the main competitive mode where players can compete against other players of similar skill levels. The Arena playlist right now includes 3 game modes; Solos, Duos, and Trios and was added to the game in Chapter 1, Season 7. The mode has been modified multiple times since its release.

Arena mode is great for players to compare their skills to others and see what skill level they stand on, which can be seen by their “League”. To climb up to higher leagues, players must earn points in the game called “Hype”. These are earned through eliminations and placements. The best part is that having a certain amount of points can enable you to compete in tournaments and cash cups.

So it does pay to be a sweaty gamer.

The Arena Game mode is different from the normal mode. There are even some items available in the normal mode which cannot be found in the Arena mode. Here is the complete set of rules that are followed in Arena playlists and Tournaments:

• Competitive Loot Pool.
• Reboot Vans enabled.
• Building enabled.
• Overshield disabled.
• Siphon enabled.
• Storm Surge enabled.
• Standard Gravity.
• Standard HP rules.
• Glider Redeploy is disabled.
• Skilled Matchmaking based on Hype Points
• NPCs and Bars are enabled, Bars do not carry over.
• Competitive Storm Circle intervals, half in-half out Storm in Phase 5, full moving in Phase 6-9.
   

Siphon

Siphon mode once used to be in both normal and Arena playlists but then it was removed from the normal mode. Siphon means that players will receive 50 Health or Shield gain after getting a kill. This encourages players to take more fights as successfully winning a fight will increase your hp.

In Arena mode, you don’t have to necessarily spend a lot of time healing up after taking a fight. The Siphon settings mean that you will always be ready for the next fight!

Storm

The storm in this mode is more dangerous than in the normal Battle Royale mode. The first storm circle takes 30 seconds longer to close than usual while the rest of the circles take the same amount of time. There is, however, another modification to the later circles.

All Storm circles from the 5th one are called “moving” zones. This is because the zone doesn’t just shrink down in size, it also changes its position. The 5th circle takes place half-in and half-out of the circle and is known as the “Half-and-half” zone.

The 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th circles form completely out of the safe area and force all players to reposition. This discourages camping in the late game. Additionally, the 7th, 8th, and 9th circles start moving immediately after the current zone closes. They have no waiting time and the players must start moving immediately.

These storm circles are 8 -10 tick and can deal a lot of damage if you are caught outside the circle.

Storm Surge

Storm surge is a unique mechanic which was added into the game to encourage fighting and dealing damage to enemies. Storm Surge activates when there are more players alive than there should be in the later storm circles.

It shows a warning before it activates. After activating, it starts to deal 25 damage every 5 seconds to certain players who have a low damage output. And those players are immediately eliminated if they are less than 25 hp. In duos or trios playlists, these players are directly eliminated instead of being knocked, even if their teammates are still alive!

If you will be damaged by Storm Surge or not depends on the damage dealt. There is a certain threshold that you have to meet to be safe from storm surge damage. For the players who are below the threshold, there will be a pop-up on their in-game UI indicating how much damage they have to deal to meet the threshold.

Storm Surge does not activate in every match. It only activates when there are more than 70 players alive in the 3rd storm phase, 50 in the 5th storm phase, and 30 in the 7th, 8th, and 9th phases.

Bus Fare

Bus Fare is a mechanic in the game that punishes players for performing poorly in a match. Every time you start a match in Arena mode, there are some Hype Points deducted from your total score. This pressurizes players to perform in the match and encourages them to play more strategically. It also penalizes players who repeatedly play Arena games and die immediately only to start another game.

There is no Bus Fare in the first 3 divisions (1-3). This means that if you don’t perform well in a match, there will be no deduction in your total hype. However, from division 4 there will be a bus fare of 10, meaning for every match you play in division 4, you will lose 10 Hype Points. In Division 5, it's 20 points. Division 6 is 30 points. Division 7 is 50 points and so on. Every division you climb will add another 10 points to your Bus Fare.

Lastly, the bus fare is applied after entering the Battle Bus. Meaning you can safely back out of a game from Spawn Island without losing any Hype Points.

Ranking Based on Hype Points

If you want to check what League or Division you will be placed in based on your Hype Points, here is a detailed chart.