A tactic in Fortnite: Battle Royale is becoming increasingly popular: building stairs to the sky and spending the match in the air until the end. Not a good idea, according to our author Robert.
This tactic is called “Stairway to heaven,” where players build a gigantic staircase at the edge of the map to reach high into the air, from where they can build to the center of the safe zone and win a game. An opponent who cannot be seen cannot be killed, right?
Even though the strategy sounds good in theory, it has significant weaknesses.
Stairway to heaven? More like highway to hell!
As Polygon writes, the “Stairway to heaven” tactic offers great opportunities to win a game.
Unfortunately, structures in Fortnite are tricky: they have the unfortunate property of being completely destroyed as soon as they lose connection to a solid object. This solid object can be something mundane like the ground, but also slopes or fortifications placed on buildings.
Anyone building a gigantic staircase to the sky risks being spotted. Since a staircase cannot fight back, it is usually destroyed.
If you are on the staircase, you will not survive the fall. The other player now has access to the loot of the fallen player, who could not defend themselves. Nice!
Freedom may be limitless above the clouds – but the fall has a limit, and it’s a pretty painful one. Therefore, anyone building a large staircase must hope that no other player is nearby – an unnecessary risk, as games can also be decided with firepower.
The problem with resources
Furthermore, you need to gather massive amounts of resources. There are not many places that offer such resources in abundance. Other than Wailing Woods, the Trailer Park, and Moisty Mire, there are hardly any places that promise many resources in a short time. If the starting zone is unfavorable, you also have to deal with the storm.
The streamer Zerkaa tried this tactic in the following video (warning: Spoiler alert: It did not go well):
Stairs are nothing but deceptive shadows
What many players are not aware of: Stairs and floors cast shadows on the ground beneath them, regardless of the height at which they are built. Observant players on the ground can notice these and react accordingly.
The following video illustrates this clearly:
So before you try this “trick,” consider whether you want to fight the opponent on the ground instead. In this way, you may still lose – but at least you’re giving your opponent a fair fight!
Who has been successful with the “Stairway to heaven” strategy?
