New heatmap shows the deadliest places in Fortnite

Fortnite data crunchers have uncovered where the most and least dangerous places in Fortnite are.

a better death heatmaplarger sample size of 50k~ deaths and a improved(?) heatmap generationv15.00 and later pic.twitter.com/VbqxuEewHP

— Lucas7yoshi - Fortnite Leaks (@Lucas7yoshi) January 26, 2021

The new heatmap identifies where most eliminations take place, and it comes as no surprise that each of the map’s biggest points of interest come with their own increase in risk. The risk-reward structure in Fortnite is a major part of how the game encourages players to encounter one another.

High-risk areas in Fortnite

There is a clear central spot on the map that is the most dangerous location in Fortnite: Salty Towers. This location is likely overrepresented in part due to its central location. As the storm closes in, Salty Towers has a higher chance of being included in the ever shrinking circles that force players together.

As a result, unlike locations on the periphery, Salty Towers gets a number of its eliminations from the middle and later stages of the game. When the circle closes, players forced towards the middle move into Salty Towers in order to find cover and score some late loot.

Other locations on the Fortnite heatmap earned their hotspots in part because of the high concentrations of loot. Players swarm into these points of interest in order to get a good start to their games and go from there.

Outliers and interesting places of note

If you’d asked me to draw this up in photoshop purely based on my own instincts, this is pretty much exactly what I’d have produced, right down to specific buildings in each location.

— Nigel Morrison (@nigeljmorrison) January 26, 2021

While there isn’t too much that couldn’t have been guessed from the data, it is sometimes useful to have hard numbers to back up what players mostly assume. No one will be surprised to learn that points of interest with high loot concentrations are more risky than empty fields.

Even so, there are a few outliers on this Fortnite heatmap. Notably, the locations on the far edges seem downright peaceful compared to their more central locations. Dirty Docks, Steamy Stacks, and the Coral Castle have very little activity and might make for a good landing location for players interested in a more slow paced game.

Another place worth pointing out is the anomaly at the center of the map. Although there isn’t as much loot compared to other points of interest, the Zero Point draws players in for other reasons, and has a similar increase in risk.

Overall, this map will be useful to players eager to find a new place to drop in, or curious about where to find the most action.