Key Takeaway
You can drop into a slide in Fortnite by pressing the crouch button while sprinting. You can slide across a range of surfaces, although you’ll gain more speed if you’re sliding down a steep incline.
Speed is of the essence when avoiding the storm and escaping from enemy fire in Fortnite. Fortunately, knowing how to slide is an excellent way to keep your mobility and pace up when traveling around the map.
Table Of Contents
How Does Sliding Work in Fortnite?
Being able to slide is still a relatively recent mechanic in Fortnite. It was introduced as part of the Battle Royale game’s Chapter Three. Ever since, players have been using their slide skills to get around the map faster and avoid opponents at speed.
Sliding is also an excellent way to conceal your position. Additionally, it’s something you can use across a variety of terrain types and elevations. You can slide across flat surfaces just as easily as you could down a sloped one. However, you probably won’t travel as far, or as fast, as if you were sliding down a steep incline, so that’s worth bearing in mind.
One other major benefit of sliding in Fortnite is that it can be used to mitigate damage taken from falls. So, if you find yourself about to drop over a hillside edge or rock face, try and drop into a slide first. It might prevent you from a potentially fatal fall.
You can also send opponents flying with a kick if you happen to collide with them mid-slide. However, this is definitely a bold tactic that could see you end up being eliminated if you’re not stealthy about it! Still, it’s nice to have options.
How to Slide
Sliding is a fairly straightforward mechanic, but it does take a bit of practice to master it properly. A quick slide out of danger is a really useful technique, so it’s worth taking some time to practice it. You can also shoot and build whilst sliding, although both of these definitely take some time to master effectively.
One way to get some practice under your belt is to take yourself off to a creative island and practice your range of motion, including lots of sliding maneuvers into your set of moves.
Of course, you can also throw yourself into a match and practice your slide technique in the heat of battle. The choice is yours.
Either way, you’ll need to know exactly how to slide so that you can use this tactic when the time comes.
Sliding in Fortnite
Essentially, all you need to do to enable a slide is to hold down the crouch button while sprinting.
On Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch, burst into a sprint by pressing down on the left analog stick. This is a key first step, as you’ll need to be running for sliding to work. Whilst sprinting, enter the crouch position by pressing down on the right analog stick. You’ll then see your character drop into a knee-slide.
On PC, you can start sprinting by holding down the left shift button whilst moving normally. Once running, hold down the left ctrl key to drop into a crouch position, which will then enable a sliding movement.
These are the default settings for running and crouching on these platforms. If you’ve configured your keybindings in Fortnite differently, you’ll need to check exactly which buttons you’ve opted for. However the bottom line here is to crouch mid-sprint, and it’ll send your character into a slide.
Sliding Tips
Sliding can’t be used as a permanent mode of moving around. It’ll only work for as long as you can maintain sprinting or sliding stamina. The exception to this is if you’re sliding down a steep slope. In that case, gravity will also lend a helping hand, elongating your slide’s duration and increasing the speed at which you’re skimming down that surface.
You can use a sliding motion to move silently from one area of safety to another. This can be especially useful if you’re in a built-up area or one of the map’s points of interest.
Be careful about jumping whilst sliding. You could end up causing yourself serious fall damage if you jump off an edge mid-slide, as opposed to letting yourself steadily glide down it.
If you want to cancel your slide before it’s completed, simply press the button to crouch for a second time. This will force your character back up onto their feet and back into a sprint if they’ve got enough stamina remaining for it.
