If you play Fortnite, you’ve probably heard the phrase “crank 90s” enough that it’s lost its meaning.
Unlike other battle royale games, Fortnite’s building mechanics and the necessity to “crank 90s” in a pinch make a player’s sensitivity settings of the utmost importance.
In other shooters, top-ranked players keep their sensitivity extremely low and rely on impeccable positioning. Whipping your mouse to turn 180 degrees is an infrequent occurrence, even in battle royale games where enemies can attack you from all sides.
But in Fortnite, the build mechanic makes it so that sometimes players are forced to spin around repeatedly as they speedily build structures against their nearby opponents.
While being able to rotate and build quickly is important, there are a few keys to think about while you’re preparing for battle.
X and Y axis
In Fortnite, players are allowed to set their X and Y axis mouse sensitivities separately. When the game originally released, Y axis sensitivity was automatically 75 percent of what the X sensitivity was. But with vertical building becoming more and more important in the game, players are allowed to adjust each.
Though you have the ability to make your X or Y axis sensitivity vastly different from one another, it’s advised that you keep them about the same. Most pro players keep their X and Y identical.
This is because, unlike in other games where vertical sensitivity is less important, Fortnite’s building mechanic’s require equally quick vertical and horizontal movements.
Mouse Targeting Sensitivity
Also known as “aim down scope” or ADS, this is perhaps the most important sensitivity setting in the game.
Many players and pros use a 1.0 setting for their ADS sensitivity. This means that their ADS sensitivity is identical to their normal sensitivity, which is a function of a players’ DPI, eDPI, and Windows settings.
Many players at the highest levels of professional play deviate from using 1.0, however, and choose instead to have a setting between 0.3-0.7. This means that top pro players prefer to have slightly less sensitivity once they ADS.
The ideology here is that building requires quick flicks of the wrist at times. But once it’s time to go in for the elimination, it’s more important to have a lower sensitivity and steady hand.
Ultimately, it’s up to each individual to figure out where they’d like to keep their Mouse Targeting Sensitivity. For a more casual player, 1.0 might do the trick, but if you’re looking to be highly competitive, finding your personal sweet spot at a lower setting will help you get more eliminations.
Scope Sensitivity
Not to be confused with ADS, the scope sensitivity is something that is reserved for sniper weapons.
Just the same as mouse targeting sensitivity, this setting adjusts a player’s sensitivity, but only while a player is aiming down sights on a scoped weapon.
For many players, this setting sits right at 1.0, just the same as the main ADS setting. For some of the highest level players though, this setting is turned down to a range of 0.3-0.7.
The thought process is exactly the same here as it is with mouse targeting sensitivity. Once it’s time to aim at an opponent, the steady shot is of the utmost importance.
Typically, top level players keep their scope sensitivity relatively close to where they have their normal ADS sensitivity for the sake of consistency.
Perhaps the most important determining factor in choosing your sensitivity settings is comfort. The variance between 0.3, 0.7 and 1.0 is large, meaning even players at the top end of the Fortnite competitive scene have widely differing preferences.
As long as you understand what your settings mean and how they affect your personal gameplay, finding the right settings for you personally won’t take too long, and you’ll be fragging out while cranking 90s in no time.
