You survived the Zero Point event. You watched the battle bus explode. Now you’re surfing waves into a new island wondering why everything feels different.
Good news: I’ve been grinding this new chapter so you don’t have to figure it all out yourself. Here’s everything that actually matters for Zero Build players in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 1.
The Weapon Situation
Let’s talk about what you’re picking up off the ground, because the entire loot pool got flipped.
Assault Rifles
You’ve got two options: the Deadeye AR and the Enforcer AR.
The Deadeye AR is the one you want in Zero Build. It has a red dot sight, which makes tracking targets way easier when you can’t throw up a wall. The Enforcer AR has almost no bloom, so you can full-spray it without your shots flying everywhere. That makes it more underrated than people realize. Both are solid, but the Deadeye is going to be most players’ go-to.
Shotguns
Here’s where people get confused. The Iron Pump Shotgun is your classic pump. It hits hard, feels smooth, works exactly like you’d expect.
The Twin Hammer Shotguns are the “spammy” option this season. You can hold down the trigger and they fire automatically at the optimal rate. No timing required. For Zero Build specifically, the Twin Hammers are way better. You’re not building walls between shots, so that sustained fire rate matters more than raw burst damage.
I’ve barely touched the Iron Pump this season because the Twin Hammers just feel more consistent in open fights.
Spray Weapons
The Holo Rush SMG is the new SMG with a holographic sight. Fast fire rate, decent at close range. The Tactical Pistol is back if you prefer that. There’s also the Arc Lightning Gun, which is like a minigun that arcs damage to nearby players when you hit someone.
The Arc Lightning Gun can destroy bushes too. That’s a small detail that matters in Zero Build when someone’s camping.
Sniper
The Vengeful Sniper doesn’t one-shot headshot anymore. Still decent, but don’t expect to delete people from across the map like previous seasons.
Heals
Nothing crazy here. Bandages, Med Kits, Minis, Big Pots, Chug Jugs, Floppers, Shieldfish. The basics.
Here’s the thing though: I feel like shield spawns have been inconsistent. More on how to deal with that later.
Mobility Options (Three Solid Choices)
You’ve got three ways to get around:
Wingsuits launch you into the air and let you glide. They’re better for traveling than fighting. You leave a smoke trail, so enemies can spot you easily.
Shockwave Grenades are back and the spawn rate feels high. I rarely go a full match without finding some.
Forsaken Vow Blade comes from the yellow portals (training rifts) around the map. If you hit your ADS button while in the air, you get a mobility dash. It feels similar to the old Kinetic Blade if you remember that.
For in-fight mobility, Shockwaves and the Forsaken Vow Blade are way better than the Wingsuit.
The Big Change: ADS While Airborne
This is huge, and I didn’t even realize it at first.
You can now aim down sights while in the air. That includes while shockwaving. You can launch yourself with a shockwave, ADS with your scoped weapon, and track someone while flying.
You can also jump while aiming. It opens up pseudo bunny-hop plays.
This changes chases completely. If someone shockwaves away from you and you chase with your own shockwave, your ability to land shots on them is way higher now. This is going to affect the meta long-term.
My Recommended Loadout
After grinding the first week, here’s what I’ve been running:
- Deadeye AR
- Twin Hammer Shotguns
- Port-a-Bunker or Shield Bubble
- Heals
- Shockwave Grenades
Cover items feel more necessary right now than usual. The map has a lot of open space, and there aren’t as many cars as in previous chapters. Cars were mobile cover in past seasons. Without them everywhere, having a bunker in your inventory saves your life.
Early season games are sweatier too. Everyone’s trying to get that umbrella. Once things calm down, maybe cover items drop in priority. But for now, I’m keeping one.
The Wave Spawn (Temporary)
No Battle Bus right now. Instead, you spawn on a wave outside the map, surf around for 20 seconds picking your angle, then get launched into the air to glide in.
You can’t land anywhere you want. The wave determines your general area. You can move left or right on the wave to target different POIs, but you’re not crossing the whole map.
If you want more distance, drive your surfboard up the wave before it launches you. Being higher when you get airborne means you can glide further. Most people just drop low to hit the ground first, but the option exists.
Here’s the side effect: everyone lands on the edges and loots toward the middle. Mid-map POIs are often unlooted when you rotate through. Free refresh if you survive your drop.
The Battle Bus is coming back. Epic confirmed this is temporary.
Boss Kits (Not What You Remember)
Medallions got replaced by boss kits, and they work differently.
When you kill a boss, you get their mythic weapon AND their boss kit. The kit:
- Takes an inventory slot
- Cannot be dropped once you pick it up
- Shows your exact location on the map to everyone (not a circle, an exact pin)
- Gives you 125 health and 125 shield
- Gives you an ability you activate manually
Brutus’s ability makes you tanky. Other bosses have different powers.
Here’s my honest take: the information advantage you give to enemies by carrying a boss kit probably isn’t worth it. Every game I’ve won this season, neither I nor the final players had boss kits. That location ping gets you hunted.
The mythic weapons themselves are great. But you might want to kill the boss, grab the weapon, and leave the kit alone. You literally can’t drop it once you pick it up, and you’ll be a target all game.
Gold Got Reworked
Everyone starts every match with zero gold now. It doesn’t carry over between games.
But gold spawns everywhere. You’ll find way more of it in a single match than before.
This matters because vending machines are actually useful now. I’ve found it harder to get full shield just by looting my POI. Hitting a vending machine to top off with a Big Pot has saved me multiple times. You can also buy upgraded weapons.
Since gold resets each match, spend it. There’s no reason to save it.
Supply drops give gold now too. Sounds disappointing until you realize you take that gold to a vending machine and buy whatever you actually wanted anyway.
Self-Revive Is Real
There’s a Self-Revive Kit item that takes an inventory slot.
In solos, if you have one and get knocked, you go into a downed state instead of dying instantly. You can revive yourself.
In team modes, it lets you pick yourself up without a teammate.
How to play around this: thirst your knocks when you can. If you knock someone in solos, they 100% have self-revive, so finish them. In team modes, it’s more chaotic since not everyone has one, but assume they might.
Knocked players can also roll around now to dodge shots. They’re not stationary targets anymore.
Drivable Reboot Vans
The reboot van drives now. You can move it to a safer spot before rebooting teammates.
Even better: throw a knocked teammate into the van and it revives them while you drive. Saves a ton of time compared to the normal revive animation.
You can throw knocked players into regular cars now too. Drag someone to safety, then revive them.
Rift Anomalies
Random events can happen each storm phase. They drop bonus loot, apply match-wide effects, and more. I’ve seen one drop a special supply crate with high-rarity items.
Epic says more anomaly types are coming as the season progresses.
Quick Tips for Week One
Shield is inconsistent. Use vending machines more than you did in past seasons.
Carry cover. Port-a-Bunkers are clutch right now.
Spend your gold. It resets each match anyway.
Practice ADS in air. Shockwave, aim, shoot. It’s the new tech.
Skip the boss kit. Take the mythic weapon, leave the kit unless you want to be hunted.
Land edges, loot inward. Mid-map POIs are usually untouched.
The Bottom Line
Chapter 7 Season 1 feels fresh without being completely alien. The weapon changes are significant but learnable. The ADS-in-air mechanic is going to separate good players from great ones.
The wave spawn is weird but temporary. Boss kits sound cool, but might not be worth the target on your back. Gold actually matters now.
For Zero Build specifically, the Twin Hammer Shotguns and cover items are your best friends. Master those and you’ll be winning more games by the end of the week.
What’s your experience been with Chapter 7 so far? Drop into the comments and let us know what’s working for you.
