Storm Eye is a gameplay mechanic in Fortnite Battle Royale.
It is meant to keep the game flowing and prevent people from just hiding in the edge of the map the entire match.
Your goal is to stay inside the eye of the storm.
The storm forms over the entire map, EXCEPT in that specified section
The eye of the storm keeps shrinking.
There are two phases for this shrinking, each with its own timer:
First, the map marks the area in which the storm eye shrinks to
Second, the storm eye actually shrinks.
If you get caught in the storm, you take damage over time until you die.
Your only possible action is to sprint as fast as you can towards the storm eye.
Here is how this looks on the map:
- The striped purple area is the storm itself.
- The blue circle is the current eye of the storm
- The white circle is the next eye of the storm
- If you are outside the eye of the storm, you will also see a straight white line indicating the shortest path from your location into the eye of the storm.
Mechanics
The destination of the eye (white circle) can be anywhere within the previous destination. The first circle can be anywhere in the entire map (bounded by a square grid, so it can be partially in the outside ocean). While shrinking, at every side, the eye gradually moves towards the destination, such that when the countdown timer hits zero, the eye will be exactly on the destination. If one side of the circle is further away from the destination, it will move faster. Because of this, depending on the circle, it can be possible to run faster than the circle if you're on a side that has less space between the eye and the destination.
Each time an eye is declared, there is a countdown until it starts shrinking, which takes another amount of time to shrink.
At the beginning of the game, there is a variable countdown around 20-40 seconds while the bus runs. Next there is a 1 minute countdown. Next the storm's first destination (white circle) is declared, and there is a 3:20 minute timer until it starts shrinking. It then takes 3 minutes for the eye to shrink to this first destination. After that 3 minutes, the next destination (white circle) is declared and a new countdown begins until the next shrinking.
Full storm timings [1] and damage [2]
The storm was updated in patch 5.1 and the times were reduces by 30 seconds in the time before the storm starts shrinking.
| Stage | Grace Period (minutes) | Shrink Time (minutes) | damage while shrinking | damage after shrinking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:20 | 3:00 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1 | 2 | |
| 3 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 2 | 5 | |
| 4 | 1:20 | 1:10 | 5 | 7 | |
| 5 | 1:10 | 1:00 | 7 | 10 | |
| 6 | 0:30 | 1:00 | 10 | 10 | |
| 7 | 0:20 | 0:50 | 10 | 10 | |
| 8 | 0:15 | 0:40 | 10 | 10 | |
| 9 | 0:15 | 0:40 | 10 | 10 |
The storm does more damage at later stages. Each time it starts shrinking, it does the same damage as the previous stage. Once it fully closes in, it does a new higher damage. For example, at the first stage, the storm does 1 damage per second (DPS), and still does 1 DPS after fully closing. At the second stage, it does 1 DPS and 2 DPS after fully closing. At the third stage, it does 2 DPS and 5 DPS after fully closing.
Strategy Guide/Tips
- The Eye of the Storm moves in a random direction which can be different every match.
- The storm ignores armor and damages health directly. So a Shield Potion is useless against it.
- The storm will not interrupt actions that require uninterrupted focus such as applying bandages or using a med kit.
- Plan your moves ahead so that you don't get caught in the storm, don't let the storm force your moves.
- Launch pads and impulse grenades are useful for getting out of the storm. Impulse grenades can be used to help boost DBNO teammates out of the storm.
- Campfires, medkits, slurp juice, and bandages are all useful to help survive the storm. Multiple campfires can be used at once.
- At the first and second stages, it's possible to run faster than the storm if the distance between the storm behind you is adequately close to the destination (white circle). At later stages, the eye closes slower so it's possible to outrun it from any side.
- Building a bridge across a valley is a viable way to save time in cases where you're reasonably sure it wont be knocked by enemies
