Water is an important part of Fortnite Chapter 2.
You can go fishing and get useful items for healing.
And you can also swim.
It’s super simple to swim. All you need to do is get in the water and start moving forward using your W-Key or analog stick.
But did you know you can swim much faster than running?
You see, with the huge reduction in the item pool in Chapter 2, you have much fewer mobility items available to use. There are no launch pads and boats are the only vehicle.
So anything that can improve your mobility to outrun the storm is going to be helpful. And could help you win more games.
How to swim faster
The thing affects your swimming speed the most is the direction the water is moving.
You see, there are 3 different types of water:
- Still water (not moving)
- Downstream (with the current)
- Upstream (against the current)
You want to swim downstream when possible because it’s the fastest. And avoid swimming upstream because it’s the slowest.
In the below picture I’ve used arrows to indicate the direction of the stream. But because it’s a photo you can’t actually see the water moving.
Obviously, when you’re playing Fortnite, it will be clear to you which direction the water is moving.
Not all streams are equal, either. In other words, some will be moving faster than others.
So now you know swimming downstream is faster, let me explain a technique that will allow you to boost your speed.
The dolphin dive technique
When you’re swimming you can use the jump key and your character will leap out of the water and dive back in, like a dolphin.
You can continually press your jump key to keep dolphin diving over and over again. Because there is no fatigue on this, as is the case with jump fatigue.
Anyway, it shouldn’t take you too long until you get the rhythm for this.
The interesting thing is that dolphin diving allows you to move through water much faster than you would when swimming normally.
An additional benefit of the dolphin dive technique is that you’ll be a lot harder to hit.
You see, your character will be in an awkward position, and you’ll be diving in and out of the water. So you will be very difficult to track.
How much faster is swimming than running?
Swimming in still water is almost the exact same speed as running.
But in the headline of this post, I said swimming was 212% faster than running. In other words, you can swim more than twice as fast as you can run.
Of course, this is only possible when you’re swimming downstream and using the dolphin dive technique.
The data for this is thanks to 1UpAnalytics and you can see the full infographic and speed statistics below:
Of course, swimming upstream is much slower than running.
But, when you use the dolphin diving technique we’ve already discussed, you can actually swim almost as fast upstream as you can when running.
Which should be useful if you’re ever forced to swim upstream.
Can you build underwater?
There will come times where you will be swimming to get away from enemies.
And they won’t stop shooting at you.
Fortunately, you can protect yourself by building in the water.
Sometimes the water is too deep and it’s not possible. But it’s always worth trying because you could avoid any unnecessary damage.
Once you’ve managed to place a wall, you can connect a floor and begin to start fighting again.
Or continue swimming away to safety. It’s your choice.
Conclusion
I really like that Fortnite has made water a more interactive element in this latest season. Fishing is a lot of fun, too.
You can even dive into deep water from a great height and avoid taking fall damage. This was shown in the Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 1 Battle Pass Trailer at the new Gorgeous Groves location (E5 on your map).
Just be careful you don’t miss the water entirely, though. Or you’ll end up splattering on the ground.
Anyway, I hope you’ve found this guide helpful and you’re now ready to use your new swimming skills to outrun the storm and win more games.
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