It’s not easy to make the perfect Fortnite fort, especially in the time it takes to save your butt from 360 degrees of bullets. Earlier this week, developer Epic Games gifted port-a-fort grenades to Fortnite players, which instantly spawn glorious defense towers right at players’ feet. Sure seems like a great way to defend yourself in a pinch—except that’s not all players are doing with them.
What makes Fortnite a great game is how malleable it feels. It’s got this “I can do anything” vibe that attracts the kind of minds who enjoy improvising. That also means that a pretty straightforward tool—like a portable fort—can be used in some unlikely contexts.
But first—let’s start with a basic use:
Port-a-forts are sturdy, tall structures with a bloom of four pathways that allow a player to look out in all directions. Tires at the bottom let players bounce up toward the top. Port-a-forts give players lots of good highground and visibility. That way, they can get a leg up over opponents, but also check to see whether there are other threats. It’s also a great way to close distance between two players while staying safe.
Fortnite streamer Ninja found a good use for it—along with the new guided missile. Here, he instantly creates some good highground for himself with the port-a-fort, but only after finding and zeroing in on an opponent:
Here’s another thought: port-a-forts are enclosed structures. They have a door, but it still takes a few seconds to get out of one. So, it’s totally possible to use one as a trap when opponents are stuck outside the playable area:
I would never have thought of using the port-a-fort grenade like that.
Another thing is that, since port-a-forts are so tall, they can negate fall damage. If you’re a freak like me who likes making so-called stairways to heaven, port-a-forts’ instant bouncy tires might come in handy if you fall:
I’d like to commend these guys for turning port-a-forts into what looks like a creative art project that doesn’t have a ton of practical use:
Port-a-forts are also pretty destructive. Toss a port-a-fort grenade into a house and it savages it. It can mess up opponents’ hideouts pretty bad, which can create openings for players to surprise them:
(via Reddit/Siin Gaming)
You can also totally wreck another person’s base in proper all-your-base-are-belong to-me fashion:
(via Reddit/D96T)
I’d tell you my favorite use of the port-a-fort, but the problem here is that—well—I have not yet encountered one.