Do Fortnite Pros Use Mouse or Controller?

The vast majority of professional Fortnite players use a controller rather than mouse and keyboard. Over 80% of participants in recent major Fortnite tournaments used a controller, according to statistics aggregated from various events. This divergence from other top esports titles like Valorant or CS:GO comes down primarily to one factor – Fortnite‘s extremely powerful controller aim assist.

Fortnite‘s Aim Assist Makes Controllers Dominant for Aiming

Fortnite‘s aim assist causes players‘ reticles to snap onto enemies in a stronger way compared to other popular shooter franchises. When aiming down sights (ADS), aim assist temporarily moves the crosshair towards the opponent‘s head or body. This sticky effect and "tracking" helps controller players line up shots much easier.

As described by prominent Fortnite content creator Jerian:

"Fortnite‘s aim assist is absolutely broken…No other game has aim assist like Fortnite."

He demonstrates in this video how aim assist perfectly tracks enemies even when strafing randomly. Compilation clips of controller players "laser beaming" opponents thanks to the snap-on effect are also prevalent in the community.

This aim assist has a dramatic influence in close quarters combat. Within 30-50 meters, the controller‘s precision and target acquisition outperforms even the best mouse and keyboard players. This advantage in box fighting and mid-range skirmishes makes up the majority of combat scenarios.

Mouse Precision – The Long Range Advantage

However, mouse and keyboard precision still shines at long distances. Precision weapons like sniper rifles and certain projectile weapons require leading shots and pinpoint accuracy. The wider range of motion and dexterity in mice aim movements allows better success hitting these shots.

As elite controller player Sway explains:

"I‘ll take a controller over a mouse any day up close, but at long range a mouse will always be better."

Statistics from tournaments back up this phenomenon – fights tend to end much quicker at close range on controller, while more mouse and keyboard eliminations happen from fall damage or storm damage, indicative of long distance poke wars.

Building and Editing – Mouse Movement Speed Wins

The other main advantage of using mouse and keyboard is faster building and editing. Constructing towering forts in seconds and editing structures to surprise opponents is integral to competitive play.

The wide sweeping arm movements and precise flicks enabled by using your entire desk space generally allows faster building than relying just on thumbs with a controller. Most estimate mouse building and editing to have roughly 25% higher speeds on average.

However, some elite controller players like Sway and Reet have proven you can still build extremely quickly using high sensitivity settings. And for most, the aim assist trade-off makes it worthwhile.

A Minority of Pros Still Compete at the Top Level with Mouse & Keyboard

Despite the ubiquitous use of controller among the top Fortnite leaderboards, a small subset of professional mouse and keyboard warriors have managed to qualify for recent tournaments like the FNCS. Here are two standout examples:

Arkhram

• Signed to NRG Esports
• Qualified for 2022 FNCS Grand Finals
• Known for incredible mechanics and building

EpikWhale

• Winner of several Cash Cups in 2022
• Qualified for multiple FNCS Finals
• Regarded as one of the best mouse and keyboard players

However these players would likely perform even better switching to controller based on community perceptions and analysis. They represent outliers at the peak level of performance.

Key Specs for Popular Fortnite Pro Mice and Controllers

Conclusion

In summary, Fortnite‘s uniquely overpowered aim assist has made controller the input device of choice for over 80% of pro players and nearly all top competitors. The snap-on effect gives a critical edge in the majority of box fighting and close range battles. Mouse does retain some benefits for long distance precision and quicker building/editing movements. But a handful of top mouse and keyboard warriors have proven it‘s still viable to compete against the best on this input. Ultimately controller reigns supreme in Fortnite esports thanks to epic aiming assistance.