The 90 degree turn is a staple building technique in Fortnite, and is one of the most well known “advanced” techniques in the community. The 90’s claim to fame is its ability to offer the fastest vertical movement in the game. This is in part because of two things: first, doing a 90 offers two opportunities for your character to phase upwards through builds, once through a floor, and once through a ramp, something that cannot be achieved while ramping forward. And second, turning 90 degrees allows you to conserve forward momentum while a more dramatic 180 degree turn does not. Because high ground is favorable in most shooters and Fortnite is a shooter that offers the opportunity to build your environment to fit your needs, it makes sense that the technique that creates vertical height the best would be so popular.
Definition and Properties
To begin doing a 90, you must be standing on a ramp and the space above you must be clear. There is only one build that is fundamental to the 90: the ramp. Since ramps cannot float at a 90 degree angle, however, you must find a way to connect one to begin. You can do this by using a floor, using one or more walls, or some combination of both. Any configuration that creates a ramp turned at 90 degrees above you is a theoretically viable 90. All 90s can be done either to the right or to the left. In my examples, I will do all my 90s to the right.
90s can be trivially composed together because they always start on a ramp and end on a ramp. Standard convention states that you can do three fast 90s in a row before jump fatigue sets in, however it’s worth understanding the nuance that comes with this common advice. Jump fatigue sets in after your second jump, so your third 90 will always be slightly less efficient. Furthermore, you can actually perform four 90s in a row before jump fatigue becomes too debilitating, but the second jump fatigue jump will make the fourth 90 quite meh. Later in this post, I’ll address some techniques that allow you to reasonably break this convention.
The most cut down 90 you can do consists of two builds: a ramp and a floor, or a ramp and a wall. The former is dramatically more popular because the latter requires an awkward angle to place your ramp. The most elaborate 90 you can do is effectively a two-story 1x1, and uses 11 builds. So, between the bare-bones 90 and the full 90, all other 90s fall somewhere in-between.
Of course, we don’t really think of every unique building structure as its own special 90. Two or more different building structures can fit the same mold and be considered the same “type” of 90. For example, a standard clockwise 90 can not include a lower wall or include a lower wall, and 99% of people would still consider the two 90s the same. Furthermore, the order in which builds are placed during a 90 also often determines what type of 90 you’re doing, even if two 90s have the same final structure. A counterclockwise and clockwise 90 can easily look identical after being performed, for example.
Because of this, it starts to become more useful to observe 90s in practice and consider their function rather than approaching them from a more mechanical perspective. I did exactly this during my research, and is how I informed the following two sections.
Different 90s
For this section, I’m going to walk through 90s in rough order of popularity. I have not actually measured the popularity of each of these, so this ordering is mostly just my personal evaluation. For each 90 I’ll link to a timestamp of me doing some variations, and a third person shot of the 90 from a distance. The video will also show a slow step through of each 90. I did not perform all of these 90s perfectly, so the examples should not be used as exact measures of speed.
Standard Clockwise 90, also sometimes known as “NA 90s”
The standard clockwise 90 is easily the most common form of 90. The name is derived from the clockwise motion that the player makes when they perform it, dragging the mouse from the walls in front of them, curving over to the walls to the side of them. Clockwise 90s can be done using 2–4 walls, and can be done with or without a floor. Clockwise 90s have the advantage of being relatively intuitive and therefore easier to perform.
Counterclockwise 90, also sometimes known as “EU 90s”
The counterclockwise 90 is a natural progression off the clockwise 90 and places its walls in the opposite direction, as the name implies. Counterclockwise 90s can be done using 3–4 walls, and can also be done with or without a floor. Because your cursor ends in the direction you were initially facing when you place all 4 walls, counterclockwise 90s often require you to move your mouse slightly more than clockwise 90s, making them slightly harder to perform. Counterclockwise 90s have the advantage of placing the side walls sooner than clockwise 90s, and are more comfortable for some players.
Two-Wall 90, also often known as “Mitr0 90s” and sometimes known as “Spider Climb 90s”
The two-wall 90 opts to place as few walls as possible when turning. Two-wall 90s are done by only placing the 2 side walls in the direction you are turning and can be done with or without a floor. You can either move your cursor up and down when you do these, or look straight forward right below the halfway point of the upper side wall to place your builds. Because two-wall 90s have no front wall to catch you, it is easier for your character to accidentally jump off the side of the ramp when turning. Two-wall 90s have the advantage of being cheaper to build and easier to do quickly because they don’t require the player to worry about unnecessary wall placement.
Zig-Zag 90, also sometimes known as “Mongraal 90s”
The zig-zag 90 takes an interesting placement route for the 4 corner walls compared to clockwise and counterclockwise 90s by making a “Z” motion with the mouse. Zig-Zag 90s can be done with or without a floor. Because you follow a mouse path that has a long diagonal segment, zig-zag 90s require a lot of mouse movement compared to other 90s and must be performed quickly to place all the builds in time. Zig-Zag 90s have the small advantage of having your cursor end in a favorable place and moving horizontally, making it easier to avoid accidentally flooring yourself. They also look very flashy and can be more comfortable for some players.
Straight 90
The straight 90 places its walls using efficient mouse movement. Straight 90s are done by placing 2–4 walls, although generally results in 3 walls, and can be done with or without a floor. The main advantage of straight 90s is that they require relatively low mouse movement to perform since you only need to drag your mouse in one direction. Due to the limited nature of this mouse movement, you must make sure that your cursor is placed below the halfway point of the upper walls to avoid flooring yourself, something you don’t need to worry about when you look down to place your floor. It is also harder to control exactly how many walls you place.
N 90, also can be called U 90
The N 90 is similar to the zig-zag 90 in that it takes a long diagonal on its wall placement path, going from the top front wall to the bottom side wall. N 90s can be done with or without a floor. Like zig-zag 90s, N 90s require more mouse movement than other 90s. Also like zig-zag 90s, N 90s have your cursor end in a nice place for follow up. Unlike zig-zag 90s, however, the side walls are placed in an upwards motion, forcing the player to either place their floor extremely quickly, or abruptly halt their cursor to avoid flooring themselves.
No-Wall 90
The no-wall 90 is the cheapest possible 90 you can perform without having to deal with any oddities, using only a floor and a ramp. No-wall 90s have similar advantages and disadvantages as two-wall 90s, offering almost no side protected in exchange for simple mouse movement and low material cost. No-wall 90s are particularly good for chaining at the end of other 90s as a cheap and efficient topper held up by other, more durable builds.
Backboard 90
The backboard 90 prioritizes a different set of walls than most conventional 90s by adding cover to the opposite side of your turn. Backboard 90s are done with 3–4 walls, and can be done with or without a floor. Backboard 90s have the advantage of providing protection where most other 90s do not. They additionally enable a scissor ramp immediately out of the 90 for vertical cover by simply looking upwards. Backboard 90s inevitably lose some forward momentum because they require you to look in the opposite direction you are turning, and are therefore slightly slower. Backboard 90s also require more mouse movement because they involve more exaggerated turns.
Back Cover 90
The back cover 90 is similar to the backboard 90 in that it also prioritizes a different set of walls than other 90s, protecting the player from behind. Back cover 90s are done with 3–4 walls, and can be done with or without a floor. Back cover 90s require about as much mouse movement as counterclockwise 90s. Back cover 90s are particularly useful when ramping away from opponents, especially when scissor ramping, because they protect you when you turn to gain height. Personally, I think back cover 90s are a little bit underrated, but that’s just my own opinion.
Full 90, also can be called 1x1 90
The full 90 is the most protected 90 you can do. Full 90s are done with a complete 8 walls, and can be done with or without a floor. Full 90s are done in one large sweeping motion and must follow a path along the border between the upper and lower wall’s placement areas to place all 8 walls at once. The obvious advantage of the full 90 is that is provides you will maximum cover very quickly. The obvious disadvantage of the full 90 is that it is extremely expensive in material cost. Full 90s are also slightly slower because they require your character to briefly turn away from the direction you are turning. As far as I know, I am the first person to have footage of someone doing one of these, so if you’re feeling generous you can also call these RESPRiT 90s. Here’s an alternate angle of the 90 to show that all walls are placed.
Wall-Ramp 90
The wall-ramp 90 is the shitty version of the no-wall 90. It also only costs 2 builds, but requires you to look at the wall at an angle to place the ramp, as opposed to directly in front of you. This suboptimal angle causes the wall-ramp 90 to be slower than the no-wall 90. The only advantage the wall-ramp 90 has over the no-wall 90 is that it provides cover on one side. There is actually an even shitter version of the wall-ramp 90 where you place a single wall on the lower side wall opposite of where you are ramping, but it has an even worse ramp placement angle — you have to look straight up because there are no builds to look at, and it offers no cover. Don’t do these, they’re awful.
Dorito 90, Credit goes to Parallel Cnnr for this type of 90
It’s Doritos.
Optimizations and Variants
In this section, I’m going to go through different movement and building optimizations and variants you can do alongside your 90s to improve or change them. The reason some of these are in their own section is because they can apply to multiple different 90 techniques, and are therefore easier to think of as additions or augmentations rather than their own 90s.
Directional Movement
Directional movement refers to left, right, forward, and backward strafing that you can do while jumping. Beaks has already created a good video that discusses this and provides examples, but the tl;dw is that you should strafe right using “D” when doing 90s to the right, and strafe left using “A” when doing 90s to the left. You should always hold “W” when doing 90s to keep forward momentum. Some players may find that it is difficult or impossible to hold strafe while doing 90s because they press their build keys using the same finger they strafe left or right with. Besides changing your build keybinds, one small trick to fix this is to map an extra key to left or right movement that you can press while doing a 90. I actually recently started doing this myself with shift when strafing to the right because I use my pointer finger for all my builds besides ramps.
Cursor Placement
Cursor placement is the angle that your player looks while doing a 90. Beaks also briefly addresses this in his directional movement video, but essentially you should try to look inwards while doing 90s to avoid hitting against your wall and losing momentum. Turning too far can put you at risk of placing ramps in the wrong direction, though.
No-Jump 90, also sometimes known as one of the “Infinite 90s”
The no-jump 90 is self-explanatory based on its name and is a movement variant for 90s; no-jump 90s are solely dependent on the ramp you place, and therefore can be done using any 90 structure. Because your character phases upwards through floors and ramps, 90s can be performed without jumping as long as you are high enough along your ramp. No-jump 90s are easier to perform with floors but can be done without them. The main advantage of no-jump 90s is that they reset your jump fatigue and therefore can be used to chain 90s indefinitely. After performing a no-jump 90, any subsequent 90s will have jump fatigue as if they were from a clean slate. No-jump 90s lose the vertical momentum you gain from jumping, and are therefore one of the slowest 90s you can perform.
Anti-Jump Fatigue 90, also sometimes known as the other form of “Infinite 90”
The anti-jump fatigue 90 is a jumping 90 that still is able to reset jump fatigue and is a movement variant for 90s; anti-jump fatigue 90s are also solely dependent on the ramp you place, and therefore can be done using any 90 structure. Because jump fatigue resets approximately 1 second after your started your last jump, you can reset jump fatigue while doing 90s as long as you wait until this time has passed before jumping. By running up the top of your ramp and along the edge for a brief moment, you can buy just barely enough time to reach 1 second since your last jump. Like no-jump 90s, the main advantage of anti-jump fatigue 90 is that they can be used to chain 90s indefinitely. Unlike no-jump 90s, because you jump once after your jump fatigue resets, only your next two jumps will be as effective as usual. Anti-jump fatigue 90s are faster than no-jump 90s but buy you one less non-jump fatigue jump after performing them.
Phase Pop 90, also often known as “Booty 90s,” Credit goes to Booty Clap KC for this variant
The phase pop 90 is a positioning variant for 90s that exploits the boosting properties of phasing through builds as much as possible. Booty Clap KC has a good video
where he introduces this type of 90 and explains how it works, but the main advantage of this variant is maximizing how much vertical momentum you can get from phasing through your floor and ramp. In his video, Booty does straight 90s while phasing to capitalize on directional movement and cursor placement, but phase pop 90s can be done with any 90 that has a floor and a ramp.
Vo 90, also can be called Optimal 90, Credit goes to Parallel Vo for this variant
The Vo 90 is an interesting 90 optimization that focuses more on getting the most out of your jumps than other things like directional movement. Parallel Cnnr has a good video where he shows the timing of these compared to other 90s and explains how to do them. In effect, Vo 90s work by starting your jump from as low as possible and then placing your ramp as late as possible to allow you to land at the highest point possible. The main advantage that Vo 90s offer over other optimization variants is that they allow your character to complete longer and higher jumps, which ultimately is the fastest way to gain vertical height. This advantage is so large, in fact, that optimizations like directional movement are irrelevant while doing Vo 90s. Currently, they are the fastest known technique for performing 90s.
Covered 90, also can be called Protected 90
The covered 90 is a simple building variant that can be coupled with almost any 90 to create cover above you. By placing a floor above you at the end of your 90, you can protect yourself from enemies above you. Players often accidentally cover their 90s when they place their cursor too high, above the midway point of their walls. After placing the floor over you, simply edit through to continue moving.
Half-Ramp Double 90, also can be called Cnnr Double 90, Credit goes to Parallel Cnnr for this variant.
The half-ramp double 90 is a clever 90 variant that allows you to reliably perform two 90s in one jump. Parallel Cnnr has a good video where he breaks down the different parts of this technique. The way that half-ramp double 90s work is somewhat explained in the name: the railing on the half-ramp lets your character start their jump high enough up on the ramp to perform two 90s back to back before landing. In his video, Cnnr does two clockwise 90s while jumping, but like other variants in this section, you can do this with any 90s as long as the second 90 has a floor. Half-ramp double 90s allow you to make the most of your jump height, and also save you one story of jump fatigue while gaining vertical height, but can only be done at the beginning of a set of 90s.
Double 90
The double 90 is an alternate approach to doing two 90s in one jump. By jumping from just the right spot on your ramp, you can perform two quick 90s and phase upwards through your builds to land two stories high. This variant allows you to avoid having to do the half-ramp trick that Cnnr does for his double 90s, but requires a tighter, more difficult jump. Like the half-ramp double 90, the double 90 has the same benefits of saving on jump fatigue and maximizing jump height. Unlike the half-ramp double 90, this can be performed at any time during 90s, and therefore can be chained for infinite 90s. I believe double 90s are possible with any set of two 90s that have floors.
Conclusion
So, that’s it. That’s everything I know and have gathered about 90s all in one place. There are actually a few building techniques I found that synergize well with 90s, but I’ll go over those in a later post. Hopefully you found this guide to be useful and were able to learn something new from it. If you’re interested in more content like this, I’ll be continuing this series with more categories of building techniques that I’ve researched, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading!
Sources:
- Cnnr Dorito 90s: https://twitter.com/ParallelCnnr/status/1061150970980122624
- Beaks Directional Movement and Cursor Placement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_n-yHjEIAk
- Booty Clap KC Phase 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-Mnrm3zyLs
- Vo 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlBNBrlhdP0
- Cnnr Half-Ramp Double 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfGvHnk72dM
Further Reading:
- 90s explained in 1min: https://www.reddit.com/r/FortniteCompetitive/comments/bl07zc/90s_explained_in_1min/
- Beak’s video on 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JvI0gWRHUQ
