Power level is one of the more confusing elements when you first start playing Fortnite. The game does very little to explain what it does and how to alter it. It doesn’t become an issue until the game starts suggesting that you wait until you have a power level of X before doing the mission. At this point I found myself asking, what the hell is power level and how do I increase it?
Well the first thing to know about it is that it isn’t a level in a traditional RPG sense, it is more of a meter. It is a value that can go up and down depending on different variables, all of which are in your control. This leads to the question, what are the circumstances that influence the power level? Power level seems to be based off one thing, your F.O.R.T stats. This is short for Fortitude, Offense, Resistance and Tech, stats you are likely familiar with from the skill tree. The more you increase these 4 stats the higher your power level will go. You are likely here because you want to know how to increase your power level, so I will explain everything below on how to increase your power level in Fortnite.
Purchase Skill Tree Points
Your power levels is determined by the amount of points you have in any of the F.O.R.T stats, so purchasing upgrades to these will give you an immediate increase to your power level. The research tree is almost entirely made up of F.O.R.T stats and because of this, you should focus the spending on those stats in this skill tree only. In the main skill tree you should be spending your points unlocking slots in your squads. It took me a while to figure out the benefit of squads and after i did figure it out, I had regretted spending so many skill points increasing my F.O.R.T stats. So take my advice here, purchase the upgrades to increase the number of open slots in the squads. You will end up having to purchase some H.E.R.O points anyway, but the focus should be on the squads as this is where you get the greatest benefit. However, it is a 2 step process. You need to slots unlocked to assign squad members, but you also need to have members available to assign to the slots. You can juggle which skills you purchase based on how many available squad members you have to assign.
Level Up Squad Members
In the same way that you level up your heroes, leveling up squad members will increase their power and give further boosts to the bonus they provide you with.
Assign Relevant Squad Members
I have left this last as it is going to be the biggest aspect of this and it is not straight forward. The squad system has a fairly steep learning curve to it and the game does very little to explain it for you. Simply assigning random squad members to different squads will increase your power level overall, but it is not the most efficient way to do it. To give a broad example, lets say you have a person who is a trained chef and someone who is a trained builder. The builder could cook a meal and the chef could build a wall, but it wont be the best quality as it is not their specialist subject. Survivors in Fortnite work the same, they all have a skill they specialise in. You need to assign your survivors accordingly so that they are in a squad that fits their skill. If you look at the names of the different squads, you will see that there is a fairly specific name to each one. This determines what the squad does for your overall bonus, and further defines the type of character that should be placed in there. For example, the EMT squad (Emergency Medical Technician) will provide you with a bonus increase to your overall health or in Fortnite, an increase to your Fortitude. You will need to place survivors into this squad who have this skill. It of course doesn’t really matter as any squad member will work, but you will get a much larger increase if you assign a squad member with the relevant skill set to the team you are placing them into.
The squad system in Fortnite is not simple and it will take time. It takes a while to unlock all of the slots, so you will get more familiar with it as you progress. With each slot you unlock you will gain a better understanding of things, but the info above should be all you need to be able to set a roadmap.