The Fortnite Storm Surge mechanic has been around for some time now. Many welcomed the change as a way to stop players from camping. The Surge encourages players to go after their rivals or be targeted by the ominous Storm Surge.
The Storm Surge is implemented in competitive modes in the popular battle royale title. The Fortnite Storm Surge also acts as a way to narrow the playing field if it’s still too big as the surge closes in. If the Storm Surge has ever happened to you, or you are simply afraid it might, we’ve collected all the information to answer the question “what is the Storm Surge?” to help you avoid it.
What is the Fortnite Storm Surge?
So first off, what is the Storm Surge? The Storm Surge is a mechanic which deals 25 damage to a player’s health per tick. 25 damage per tick is nothing to sniff at so you really want to avoid being one of the less aggressive players targeted by the Fortnite Storm Surge. If the Storm Surge hits you, you should go all out to deal some damage and get out of being one of the targeted few.
The surge bypasses shields so don’t expect any help there (although there has been some suggestion the Surge occasionally does affect shields rather than help but this is unconfirmed). A Fortnite Storm surge happens to players when the game decides there are too many players left in the circle and needs to thin the herd. Depending on how you see it, the unfortunate or cagey players are punished. The Fortnite Storm Surge deals damage to the players who have dished out the least damage to other players.
Fortnite decides when to activate the Storm Surge according to a sliding scale of players to circle size, you can see them all below:
- Circle 1: 60 Players Remaining
- Circle 2: 44 Players Remaining
- Circle 3: 30 Players Remaining
- Circle 4: 20 Players Remaining
- Circle 5: 16 Players Remaining
- Circle 6: 14 Players Remaining
- Circle 7: 12 Players Remaining
- Circle 8: 6 Players Remaining
- Circle 9: 2 Players Remaining