Arena Mode in Fortnite: How to Play, Ranks, Tips

Ever since Fortnite BR was originally released by Epic Games back in 2017, it has had an astronomical rise to the top within the gaming industry. With its popularity, there has also been a lot for the developers to manage, especially with an ever-growing fanbase.

 
For the longest time, a large portion of Fortnite players expected Epic Games to cater to the game’s competitive elements through a dedicated system made just for the players that enjoy the highest level of gaming. Because of that, arena mode was announced. This mode was finally brought to the live service game back in 2019 with the launch of Season 7. The arena is similar to Ranked leagues that can be seen in other video games. However, it also comes with the possibility of challenging the world’s best Fortnite players in competitions with prize money to wager.

Following the original launch of Arena, multiple reiterations have come along to address concerns from the player base. These updates mainly focused on the point system, and how it is used to determine the way various gameplay elements contribute to your improvement on the leaderboards. So far, we’ve seen a revamp in Season X, Chapter 2: Season 7, Chapter 2: Season 8, and Chapter 3: Season 3.

Currently, Fortnite Arena Mode and Ranks in Fortnite are in a pretty decent spot within the minds of players. It is evident that Epic Games is unable to satisfy every single player, and that should not be their goal. Still, they’ve done a decent job with their experimental attempts.

Competitive Fortnite (Arena Mode) Explained

Fortnite Ranks are determined in a pretty unconventional way compared to other shooter games. Rather than being categorized within different tiers and placements, eliminations are determined by “Hype” points. In classic Gen Z terminology, Hype in Fortnite is a fancy way of claiming style points while playing the game. Hype is also the main factor that determines what League you get to play in while enjoying the Fortnite Arena Mode. There is a certain amount of Hype Points you need in order to successfully meet the requirements for cash cups and tournaments.

While Arena mirrors the main version of Fortnite: Battle Royale, there is an arsenal of items that are not present in this mode. For example, Grenades and Rocket Launchers are excluded, leaving you to face opponents with the more traditional tools littered around your map. While some weapons are unavailable in Arenas, there are a few other things missing including vehicles, some throwables, and consumables.

Fortnite Arenas Playlists

The Fortnite Arena mode comes with three types of queues you can play in. These are Solo, Duos, and Trios. Each of the modes is governed by a particular rule set for players to follow. While Fortnite BR may feel very liberal with the rules, Arena is where you’ll find the balancing and strategic mindset of the Epic Games team on full display.

A few of the rules in Arenas include a 100-player limit, competitive loot pool, Standard Gravity, and HP rules, no respawns, no over shields, and a few other balance changes.

Additionally, there is Skill Based Matchmaking enabled in the game, making it so that players will be queued up for games according to the number of Hype points that they have gathered over the years.

Features of Competitive Fortnite

Fortnite Ranks may seem like a bit of a nerf compared to the regular mode, but there are a few features that are designed to please players who need a kick to take on the competitive arena.

Siphon

Unlike regular BR, Arena actively encourages you to pick fights and get eliminations at most opportunities. This is mainly done through the presence of Siphon which is essentially a way for players to regenerate 50 health/shields after eliminating an opponent. In Solos, your Siphons are basically guaranteed since depleting opponent HP results in an instant kill upon 0 health.

However, this isn’t the case with Duos and Trios. In those modes, you must finish off downed opponents before you can enjoy the benefits of a Siphon.

As a competitive player, Siphons can work as an important trump card for your gameplay. By using them strategically, you’ll be capable of blazing through rows of opponents without issue. This is especially nice since many people tend to enjoy the risk vs. reward element present in this type of feature.

Siphons are guaranteed to make lobbies tense and feel engaging.

The Storm

In the Fortnite Arena mode, escaping the storm is more of a life/death type of thing compared to the main BR mode. Here, you’ll need to be as careful as possible with your placement strategies. The first storm takes 30 seconds longer compared to regular BR, but the other phases are exactly the same length of time. Later storm circles are known as moving zones and they are especially treacherous if you fail to respect their limits.

By the 5th zone, the circle forms half outside and half inside, creating a “half-and-half” zone.
Additionally, the 6th to 9th storm circles form the current Storm circle rather than being inside of it.

For the 7th to 9th storm circles, there is no wait time and they simply begin to move/shrink. In order to avoid being caught up in this, you’ll always need to be aware of what is going on around you.

Be warned though, that the final storm phases are capable of dealing a lot of damage with 8-10 damage per second in the cards. This can quickly spell doom for unsuspecting players looking to climb the Fortnite Ranks.

Storm Surge

A mechanic that was brilliantly introduced, the Storm Surge in Fortnite is one that changes things completely for players that prioritize passive gameplay and camping. The surge encourages fighting in an interesting way. If a certain number of players are alive during a Storm phase, those with the least amount of damage within a threshold will be slowly eliminated. A warning is announced before the surge and when it is activated, the damage will be periodically dealt with. For example, 25 damage to certain players every 5 seconds. For team-based game modes like Duos and Trios, players with less than 25 health are instantly eliminated (it does not trigger a knockdown). 

While being below the threshold is bad news, not all hope is lost. The game provides a quick UI element when the surge is active which tells you when you are above or below the threshold. You can still make things right by doing enough damage to get above the threshold before you are completely eliminated by the Storm Surge.

Bus Fare

The Bus Fare is a distinctive Arena mechanic and its Hype system. Players are not able to play infinite arena matches for free using Bus Fare. In Divisions 1-3, there is no bus ticket, so your overall hype will remain constant if you play a match but do not receive any hype points for placement or elimination. However, there is a bus charge of 10, which entails that for each game you play in division 4, you forfeit 10 points. It is 20 points in Division 5. 30 points make up Division 6. Level 7 is worth 50 points, and each subsequent division adds an additional 10. The bus fare amounts for each division are listed in the Hype Scoring Format.

Arena Rankings

The Arena rankings are divided in the following ways:

Open League

• Open League: Division I 0 - 399 Hype Points
• Open League: Division II 400 - 799 Hype Points
• Open League: Division III 800 - 1,199 Hype Points
• Open League: Division IV 1,200 - 1,999 Hype Points

Contender League

• Contender League: Division I 2,000 - 2,999 Hype Points
• Contender League: Division II 3,000 - 4,999 Hype Points
• Contender League: Division III 5,000 - 7,499 Hype Points

Champion League

• Champion League: Division I 7,500 - 9,999 Hype Points
• Champion League: Division II 10,000 - 14,999 Hype Points
• Champion League: Division III 15,000+ Hype Points

Before the current Fortnite season concludes, you must advance to at least Division 1 of the Contender League in order to get Arena awards. Therefore, you must accumulate a minimum of 2,000 Hype Points overall.

Strategy

In order to excel in arenas, you should have a mentality that focuses on fighting every player you see. This will rapidly improve your gameplay mechanics faster than playing passively. Play for placements and try your best to get as many hype points.

Farming in Arena gives you more materials compared to other modes in Fortnite. You get a lot of crafting opportunities that will let you get new constructs and improve your building skills.
Arenas are probably the best mode to use if you want to practice for tournaments or generally improve at Fortnite. You can even increase your chances of becoming a professional eSports player or a Streamer. At the end of the day, you’ll be a much better player at Fortnite if you try to climb the Fortnite Ranks with Arenas.