Survivor Basics Guide
Survivors are another card collecting system in Fortnite. They provide gains to your F.O.R.T. statistics and are the basis of the majority of your Power, formerly Power Level. The system is fairly easy to understand on the surface but can get complex quickly for new and old players alike.
The basics are simple. You get a Survivor card and you slot it into a Survivor Squad. This increases a specific F.O.R.T. statistic (like Fortitude to Health, etc.), which in turn improves your Power progression. Understanding this system is crucial to maximizing your Power and true potential within the game.
When you're ready to view your Survivors, you head on over to the, "COMMAND" tab in the menu system. Then select, "SURVIVORS" from the list. From there you can "MANAGE" your Survivors or optimize your existing "SQUADS" available by clicking those links.
The Basics of Survivors
There are two different types of Survivors to manage and slot into Squads. Lead Survivors and Subordinate Survivors. The two different Survivor types have a lot in common with each other and a few subtle differences. They all go into Survivor Squads in order to increase your F.O.R.T. stats and Power. All Survivors have a Personality Type you can match for bonuses to their Power Level. They all have the same leveling up Survivor Experience costs but Leads have a different Evolution material cost per Star Evolution level.
Leaders come in five different Rarity Levels. Starting at Uncommon, then Rare, Epic, Legendary and finally Mythic. Leads have Leader Types associated with them. They can match to specific Survivor Squads. Like a Doctor to the EMT Squad. They give you the biggest Power Level increases per level when applied to a matching Leader Type. They also have a Personality Type to match Subordinate Survivors with.
Subordinates come in six different Rarity Levels. Starting at Common, then Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary and finally Mythic. They can grant bonuses or penalties by being matched correctly or incorrectly according to their Personality Type. They can also give you unique Set Bonuses that can enhance specific statistics for your Heroes.
| Rarity Level | Starting Power Level | Evolution Increase | Level Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | 1 | 5 | 20 |
| Uncommon | 5 | 6 | 30 |
| Rare | 10 | 7 | 40 |
| Epic | 15 | 8 | 50 |
| Legendary | 20 | 9 | 50 |
| Mythic | 25 | 10 | 50 |
The higher the Rarity Level the higher the starting Power Levels, Power Level gains per level and max Power Level cap they will have. Acquiring all Mythic Lead Survivors and Mythic/Legendary Subordinate Survivors is the end goal.
General Squads, Slotting and Matching
Your survivors are used by slotting them into squads in the "Squads" tab of the menu under "Survivor Squads." Squads are teams of survivors that you can put together to boost your F.O.R.T. stats and Power through a trait matching system.
In addition to increasing your F.O.R.T. stats, Survivors can contribute Set Bonuses to your heroes. Set Bonuses are modifiers to existing statistics that enhance your heroes effectiveness. These can boost your base health, base shields, and/or base damage, among other things. Matches are done by a matching system we will later explain.
There are several factors at play when it comes to slotting survivors into teams and leveling up your Power. Among those include, the Squad Type, the Leader Type, the Personality Type and what slots you have available to put survivors into.
Squads and Leader Types
Survivors are grouped up into Squads. From there each Squad has a Leader with a Type and potentially seven other survivor slots you can add Subordinate Survivors into. There are eight total Squads available to your Survivors. Each one provides an increase to a specific F.O.R.T. statistic. Each F.O.R.T. stat is represented twice within the Squads.
There are eight total Leader Types. One for each Survivor Squad. Each Leader Type has several different options of people and personalities that can fill each role. Remember, these Lead Survivors give you the biggest gains to your F.O.R.T. stats when leveling up and evolving your survivors. They are very important to your progression.
The table below has the Squad with the matching Leader Type and the F.O.R.T. stat that Squad affects listed in the columns for ease of use.
| Squad Name | Leader Type | F.O.R.T. Stat |
|---|---|---|
| EMT Squad | Doctor | Fortitude |
| Fire Team Alpha | Marksman | Offense |
| Gadgeteers | Gadgeteer | Resistance |
| Corps of Engineering | Engineer | Tech |
| Training Team | Personal Trainer | Fortitude |
| Close Assault Squad | Martial Artist | Offense |
| Scouting Party | Explorer | Resistance |
| The Think Tank | Inventor | Tech |
You start the game out with one squad unlocked, the EMT Squad, representing the Fortitude stat. You continue to unlock more throughout the progression of the main storyline. You generally start off with three (out of the seven) Subordinate Survivor slots unlocked at first when you gain access to a new Squad and more unlock as you progress through the game.
After you get to Plankerton you will unlock only two Subordinate slots in your new Squads. Make sure you do your Storm Shield Defenses to continue to unlock more Survivor slots. Only up until Storm Shield Defense 6 in each zone.
Personality Type
This is the type of Personality each Survivor has. Every Survivor has one. Personality Matches give bonuses to your Survivors Power Level which means increases to your F.O.R.T. statistics. There are eight Personality Types in the game currently.
- Adventurous
- Analytical
- Competitive
- Cooperative
- Curious
- Dependable
- Dreamer
- Pragmatic
How much of a bonus your Survivors receive from Personality Matches depends directly on the Rarity Level of the Lead Survivor that matches the Leader Type. A higher Rarity Level gives more bonus points. Some Leader Types have penalties imposed on Subordinate Survivors for non-matches to Personality. Let's examine those details in the table below.
| Rarity Level | Power Level Bonus | Power Level Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Uncommon | +2 | 0 |
| Rare | +3 | 0 |
| Epic | +4 | 0 |
| Legendary | +5 | 0 |
| Mythic | +8 | -2 |
This means when you have a Lead Survivor of Uncommon Rarity it will give Subordinate Survivors with the same matching Personality Type of the Leader a +2 bonus to it's Power Level. Like some icing on a cake. As we can see, Mythic Lead Survivors give a huge bonus. Almost doubling that of a Legendary Lead. This is note-worthy. They are also the only Leads with a penalty for Non-Matching Survivors, creating a +10 differential between a matching and non-matching Survivor.
No matter the level of the Subordinate Survivor, they will always receive the same Personality Match bonus to their Power Level from the Lead Survivor. This means a Mythic Lead will always give a Subordinate Survivor Personality match a +8 bonus to it's Power Level whether it's level 1, level 50 or anywhere inbetween.
Set Bonuses
Set Bonuses are small bonuses your character receives to their base F.O.R.T. statistics and a few other select modifiers. Damage Bonuses require three Survivor Set Bonus matches to unlock the benefits. All of the others require two Set Bonus matches to unlock the benefits.
- +5% Ability Damage Bonus
- +5% Health Bonus
- +5% Melee Damage Bonus
- +5% Ranged Damage Bonus
- +5% Shield Bonus
- +5% Shield Regen Bonus
- +5% Trap Damage Bonus
- +8% Trap Durability
There are plus sides and down sides to Set Bonuses. It's beneficial to understand advantages and pitfalls in order to make the best use of the system.
Pros
- Can increase your statistics beyond their Power Level caps for the ultimate edge.
- Offers unique bonuses like Trap Durability and Shield Regen.
- Offers a customization and specialization aspect to your heroes. Weapon focused? Trap focused? Ability focused?
Cons
Often times you won't have the optimal setup you'd like. It's a huge grind to get the perfect set of Survivors with the desired Personality Matches and Set Bonuses. One of the most daunting feats in the whole game.
You get bigger gains to your F.O.R.T. stats (like Fortitude --> Health) by slotting higher Power Level Subordinate Survivors than you do by using lower level people to match a specific Set Bonus (like a Base +5% Health Modifier --> Health).
The system is setup to give you some customization options and allows you to specialize a little more in specific areas of enhancing different play styles. Are you more weapon focused as a Soldier main? You might want to prioritize doing more Ranged Weapon Damage and gaining more Health. A melee Ninja might want more Melee Weapon Damage and Shields/Health. A Constructor or Outlander might want more Ability Damage. Everybody could use more Trap Damage!
Trap Durability and Shield Regen Rate are unique modifiers that might be worth prioritizing over the others. Depending on your play style.
Conclusion
From here on you have two options for doing something with your Survivors. You can let Autofill do the job entirely for you or you can take some control for yourself and do the slotting manually. Autofill will give you immediate results but manually slotting will give you the most optimized setup. Especially the later in the game you are. We cover manual slotting in the Beginner Squads and Advanced Squads sections of the Survivor Guides.