Fortnite Slang and Terminology: 90s, Pots, Nerfs, Buffs, Dubs, More

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Epic Games has created a phenomenon with Fortnite battle royale and it has taken the world by storm. That said, there are still a lot of people who are just now checking the game out for the first time. This can make understanding the Fortnite slang and terminology difficult.

As such, we have come up with a brief guide to the Fortnite slang and terminology that you need to know about if you are starting out in the battle royale game for the first time. This will be especially helpful in making sure you understand what your teammates are saying in battle and for communicating quickly.

Fortnite Glossary List

fornite

Fortnite is an ever-growing battle royale game, so this means that there are tons of terms that players should know about. Some of these are general genre words that are used in various shooter games and battle royale titles, while others are specific to just Fortnite and its building aspects.

If you are interested in finding out more about each of the below terms, be sure to keep reading for details about what each and every one of them means. Otherwise, you can find the general list of the slang terms that you should know about when starting Fortnite below:

  • 90s
  • Buffs
  • Nerfs
  • Vault/Unvault
  • Pots and Chug
  • Dub
  • Rez
  • Hot spots/zones
  • Mats
  • ADS
  • OP
  • Ping
  • POI/Named Locations
  • NPCs
  • Stream sniper
  • TTK
  • Sweats
  • Camp
  • Knocked
  • Bot
  • Bot lobby
  • Break
  • Default
  • Team
  • Weapon colors

90s

90s are basically the bread-and-butter of building in Fortnite battle royale. What 90s, specifically, mean is a certain type of building mashup that is the foundation from which you can start to expertly defend yourself in combat.

The way to make 90s is by using at least two walls, a floor beneath you, and a ramp. The name “90s” comes from the fact that the ramp, floor, and walls make a triangle with a 90-degree angle on it. This basic defense mechanism is great for quickly fighting back against enemies.

Buffs

Buffs

Buffs are a general term used in many online multiplayer games that refers to something that is powered up. In Fortnite, there are weapons and items that may come out and be underpowered or underperform compared to other weapons.

In this case, developer Epic may “buff” that item to be more powerful stat-wise or utility-wise so that it is a better option for players.

Nerfs

Nerfs are the opposite of buffs. While there are some items that need to be more powerful, most of the time, there are items that are already too powerful. These weapons or items may dominate the overall game and you could be at a disadvantage if you are not using them.

As such, Epic will take those items and “nerf” them to make them less powerful or viable so that the overall balance of the game is better.

Vault/Unvault

Vault & Unvault

Another key part of the buff and nerf conversation is the vault in Fortnite. Whenever an item leaves the game for good for whatever reason, it is considered “vaulted.” This is an unfortunate occurrence but it happens all the time.

If a weapon is simply too powerful or at the end of a season, there are usually items that will be vaulted and gone. At the same time, there are some items that are “unvaulted” occasionally, which means that they return to the game for players to start using them again. Sometimes this occurs after buffing or nerfing has happened.

Pots and Chug

Pots are another name for the shield potions, or pots, that are a major part of the looting process in Fortnite. Players start out with 100 health and no shields, and consuming a shield potion or pot will allow you to gain shields.

A quick way to refer to shield potions in the game is to just call them pots, so you can sometimes hear your teammates say something like “there’s a pot over here for you” if they have a potion to give you.

Chug is another word that you will hear when it comes to pots. Chug, specifically, references the Chug Jug, which is one of the most popular and elusive Fortnite recovery items in the game. The Chug is an unbelievable item that will grant the player full health and full shields but it takes 15 seconds to, well, chug.

Dub

dub

A “dub” is another word for the letter “W”, which itself is short for the word “win.” So, when someone is talking about dubs, they are talking about wins. If you hear someone say something like “let’s get this dub”, they effectively mean “let’s get this win.”

Rez

You might be able to guess this one but a rez is short for resurrection or a revive in Fortnite. When someone says that they need a “rez”, they just need to be revived and brought back into the game. This can come in a couple of forms, being either downed or completely dead.

In Fortnite, if someone is downed, you can simply walk over to them and start reviving them. But if they are completely dead, you can pick up their revive card and bring them back. Rez is just a convenient way of communicating in these situations.

Hot spots/zones

Hot zones

Hot spots or zones are the places on the Fortnite island map where there are likely to be a lot of players. When you start a match of Fortnite, everyone jumps out of the battle bus and picks where to go. Hot spots are the most popular destinations and should be communicated well with teammates so that you know what you’re in for if you go there.

Mats

Mats is another shortened form of a word; this time, materials. Building is a major part of Fortnite but you cannot just start building right out of the gate. You need materials in the game in order to build and mats are the shortened form of this word.

Mats can mean all three building materials, including wood, stone, and metal. Players can use this word to communicate that they are low on mats or need to get more mats quickly in battle.

ADS

ADS

ADS is another term that is across multiple shooter games. It stands for aim down the sights and is the mechanic where the player zooms in on a gun and, well, aims down the iron sights or scope that they have equipped.

OP

When it comes to the powerful weapons that are in Fortnite, there is a way to note that something is too powerful and that is by using the term “OP.” This stands for overpowered and means that something is just too powerful right now.

Ping

Ping

Ping is a specific system that Fortnite has that is mostly taken from Apex Legends and is also featured in other games. You are able to “ping” items and even enemies on the map to let your teammates know.

Pinging is great for sharing information across the team, so it is helpful to know that your teammate is trying to point something out to you when they say something like “I’ve pinged someone” or “I just pinged an item for you.”

POI/Named Locations

Like other battle royale games, Fortnite has major areas that players are able to visit in matches. These places are known by a few names but the central point is that you can see their names on the map itself.

Places like Chonker’s Speedway and The Sanctuary are POIs or points of interest and can also be known as named locations.

NPCs

NPCs

NPCs are found throughout various video games and they stand for non-player characters. In the case of Fortnite, NPCs can mean a couple of different things.

For one, some NPCs are friendly and have a chat bubble icon above their heads. This means that you can interact with them and buy items. Other NPCs are enemies on the map that you can take out in order to gain better loot.

Stream sniper

A stream sniper is someone who watches live streams of players on Twitch, YouTube, and the like and then finds them in the game itself. They will see where they are headed on the stream, go to that same location, and take them out when they least expect it.

Stream sniping is a form of cheating and no one should engage in it.

TTK

gameplay

TTK means the “time to kill”, which is the amount of time that it takes for a weapon to take out an enemy in a fight.

Sweats

When you try your best to win in any sport or esport, it is likely that you will exert energy and start to sweat. Take that idea and apply it to Fortnite and you have “sweats” or players who play every match like their life depends on it.

These sweats can be anyone from the most popular streamers to someone who just wants to be like them. While sweats are understandable in places like the competitive scene, the problem with these types of people who are looked down upon is when they are sweats in the unranked matches.

Sweats will try hard no matter what the game mode is, making some of the community frustrated in unranked matches as it raises the skill level necessary there to match that of Arena and other competitive modes. Hence the reason that sweats are not well-liked in the Fortnite community.

Camp

Camp

Camping is a major issue in any online multiplayer game and Fortnite is no different. This catch-all term basically means someone who sticks to the same spot throughout most of the match, hides there, and waits for someone to come by to take them out.

Camping is a huge issue in Fortnite since you could just run into a house that has all of the doors closed and little do you know that someone is hiding behind the doorway, waiting to take out your weakened self.

Camp can also mean these days the tents system that was introduced in Chapter 3. Tents allow the player to store items and weapons for future use in later matches, which is a fantastic way to gear up quickly. Setting up camp using a tent is a great way to start a match right.

Knocked

Knocked is a shortened term for knocked down in which the player is downed by an enemy in battle. In any match that is not a solo one, losing all health will cause your character to fall down and crawl on the floor until someone saves you or the enemy finishes you off for good.

Bot

Bot

A bot is not necessarily a person but a computer program that is helping a player to unfairly cheat and win in a match. When someone is botting, this means that it seems that they are using bot programs to help them in battle.

This can take form in a number of ways, including invincibility, aim botting or basically perfect accuracy, shooting someone through walls, and more. Bots are a huge problem, especially when it comes to competitive modes where it really matters so players should watch out.

There are times when bots can just mean NPC enemies who pose as real players, but this is not the meaning that is typically used. Epic Games will fill some empty lobbies with bots to make sure that it is a large enough match size.

Bot lobby

Bot lobby is taking the idea of Epic introducing bot enemies for players to face in matches to an extreme. Sometimes a player will encounter a lobby where almost the entire match is filled with nothing but actual bots, or fake players that are rather easy to eliminate compared to actual people.

It is not always easy to find a bot lobby where you can probably get an easy win, but you can up your chances by playing on a server when most players are asleep and on weird days of the week where the game is not going to be played as much.

Break

Break

The Fortnite Break or Breakin’ is a popular emote that launched in Season 3 towards the very beginning of the game. It features the player break dancing and was popular because of that. It costs around 800 V-Bucks when it is in the item shop, which it could return to in the future.

Default

Speaking of emotes, the “default” in Fortnite is the default dance emote that every single player has available to them. Controversially taken possibly from a TV show where a character performed the dance, it has a long history since the start of the game.

Team

A team in Fortnite is when you have one or more player on a team together. At the same time, “teaming” can indicate that there are two enemy players who are cheating by teaming up together temporarily in order to take out everyone else in the match so one of them wins unfairly.

Weapon colors

Weapon colors

The weapon colors in Fortnite are as follows: white, green, blue, purple, and gold. These are the five main colors that you will see in the game when you are picking up items and weapons, and it is important to keep in mind which is better than the other one.

White is the least powerful and represents the common items in the game. Uncommon items are green and are better than the white ones. Blue is up next and means rare, which are better than both white and green. Purple means epic and is better than the three preceding ones.

And last but not least, there is gold, which means legendary. It is better than all four of the previous ones and is the rarity of weapons and items that players should always be aiming for by the end of a match.

Conclusion

Learning more about the various Fortnite slang and terminology alone will not be able to make you into a master of playing Fortnite battle royale. This will simply get you through the doors of the game and know what is going on within it.

If you would like to find out more about the Fortnite battle royale gameplay and how to actually get good at playing it, we highly recommend checking out our lengthy gameplay basics guide to Fortnite. This will get you started on your journey to not just knowing what players are talking about, but how to play Fortnite yourself.

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