How to Get Balloons in Fortnite & What They Do
The Fortnite v6.21 patch dropped a little earlier today, making some tweaks to the Glider Re-deploy feature, as well as Vaulting some weapons (RIP Dual Pistols, you’ll be missed). However, the new headline addition of this update is the introduction of balloons in Fortnite. Here’s absolutely everything you need to know about how to get balloons in Fortnite, what they do, and other handy tips and knowledge.
What Balloons Do & How They Work
First things first, let’s run you through exactly what balloons do in Fortnite. After all, there’s no point telling you how to get them if you’re clueless on how to use them effectively. Balloons give players the ability to start floating up into the air. You can hold up to six of them at once, and you’ll inflate them once they’re in your inventory by pressing your primary fire button and let go of them by pressing the secondary fire button.
To clear that up for you, that means you’re going to be pressing R2 on PS4, RT on Xbox One, ZR on Switch, and whatever key you’ve bound fire to on PC in order to inflate. And to let go of them, press L2, LT, ZL, and whatever key you’ve bound to aim down sights on PC.
The more balloons you have hold of at once, the higher you’ll go. You’ll need about five or six to really reach any serious height in Fortnite. You’ll let go of balloons one at a time, which means you can slowly make a descent down to the lower ground rather than immediately plummeting there. You’ve probably got about 5 to 10 seconds with a balloon at max build height in Fortnite before they begin to pop, but you can always inflate another while you’re in the air.
Having spent some time with balloons in Fortnite, we can confirm that these are a pretty useful getaway tool, or as a means of quickly scaling mountains to get the high ground on your opponents during the late game. There are sure to be plenty of other excellent ways of using balloons in Fortnite, but it’s worth noting you can’t just hold six of them and stay at the max build height forever. Eventually, they’ll pop and you’ll come hurtling back down towards the ground.
How to Get Balloons in Fortnite
In terms of how to get balloons in Fortnite, it’s actually pretty straightforward. These can be got as floor loot, from supply drops, supply llamas, chests and vending machines. So, basically, any conceivable way you can get loot in Fortnite. Each time you pick them up, you’ll be given 20 deployable balloons, which can then be separated out and shared among your teammates if you’re feeling generous.
It’s worth noting, however, that balloons are an epic item in Fortnite, meaning they’re a purple drop. As such, these aren’t going to be the most common item you can find in a game, so don’t expect to easily find them in your first match following the v6.21 update.
Best Ways to Use Balloons
As we previously mentioned, balloons can be used for scaling tall buildings, structures, or mountains, especially if you’re running low on materials. We also found them a pretty handy way to cover ground quickly in Fortnite, which can be useful if you’re trying to escape the closing storm circle.
While it’s possible to share balloons with friends, the fact that you can inflate more balloons while you’re in the air, and let go of them to bring yourself slowly down to lower altitudes means you’ll probably want to keep all 20 for yourself. Unless, of course, you and your friend really need to get away quickly.
Outside of that, there’s not a whole lot more you need to know about how to get balloons in Fortnite and what they do. For more tips, tricks, and information on the current season of Epic’s battle royale title, be sure to check out our Fortnite Season 6 wiki.
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