Fortnite Custom diagonal keyboard movement explained: How it works, settings, and more

Movement mechanics in Fortnite have evolved over time as the gameplay demands players to traverse the island in newer ways. From classic parkour techniques to actual mantling across ledges, loopers have witnessed the evolution of gameplay styles across the three chapters in the game.

However, there is still a fine line that differentiates console players who use controllers vs PC players relying on a keyboard and mouse to play the game. The latter is often seen dissing controller players for their double movement mechanics and a stronger aim assist that can overpower PC players.

But in their defense, players who use controllers have always justified their reasons for the advantage by a slightly higher input latency on their devices vs a much lesser input latency on the traditional PC keyboard and mouse. Nevertheless, ever since Zero Build was introduced to Fortnite, there has been quite an active debate on the uniformity of movement mechanics across all platforms.

For several years, players handling controllers have enjoyed double/diagonal movement at their perusal. However, PC players finally have the option to now experience and use their methods to improve upon gameplay with the latest update.

---

PC players finally get Diagonal Movement mechanics in recent Fortnite update

With the FortniteMares 2022 update, Epic Games has made a major change that could either be an advantage or just another feature for its competitive player base that is highly vocal about every single game mechanic.

Players can now adjust their Custom Diagonal Movement in the Settings Menu under the Keyboard and Mouse settings icon tab. Once players navigate to the new option in the settings, they will need to turn it on to adjust the value of the angle that their character can turn while performing diagonal movement.

Diagonal Movement settings can now be customized in-game (Image via Sportskeeda)

By default, the Forward Diagonal Angle is set to 45 degrees whereas the Backward Diagonal Angle is set to 135 degrees. This can be changed by moving the blue slider left or right, depending upon the player's sensitivity settings in the game.

---

What is Diagonal Movement in Fortnite?

Diagonal Movement (also called Double Movement) is a movement technique that is often used by OG Fortnite players who play on a controller to move dynamically across diagonals to see a wider field of view while building or hipfiring a target. As this allows players to build straight, even if they are moving sideways, it is often considered to be an overpowered technique that is highly advantageous during build fights/box fights.

Also note in the video above that players have their look axis fixed while their movement axis shifts diagonally and they are able to walk and perform certain actions faster while they strafe in either direction. To perform this action, PC players will need to first turn custom diagonal movement on in their game settings and adjust their values.

Once that's done, they need to press the forward button or W to move and then press the left or right directional button (A or S) to move in either direction. This will then result in them moving diagonally while performing an action and having their look axis fixed wherever they choose to look.

Diagonal Movement also separates the look and movement axis that is often merged between the keyboard and mouse and allows players to use them both independently according to their choice for an advantage in gameplay.