Are you looking to get the most out of Fortnite on the Nintendo switch? If so, then this post is for you – giving you a comprehensive guide to all of the accessories that you can pick up to improve your Fortnite skills and start winning those Battle Royales.

The most important aspect to get dialled for your Fortnite Switch setup is the controls. Making sure you have the most precise and comfortable control setup will prove to be the key factor in boosting your Fortnite performance and, in turn, your winning ratio. It’s even more important as you’ll be facing players on PC and other consoles during cross-platform play that are equipped with pro controllers or a keyboard and mouse with which the Joy-Cons which ship with the Switch just can’t compete for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Joy-Con thumbsticks have a smaller surface area compared to those on conventional controllers, which results in a smaller contact area between your thumb and the sticks, making it more difficult to execute precise movements which are, of course, vital for accurate aiming in the game. I’ve also found the thumbsticks on the Joy-Cons to be a bit less grippy in comparison to those on a conventional controller which, again, can hinder precision and accuracy during play. Both of which are of course of paramount importance to your Fortnite success, or other first-person shooters on Switch for that matter, as good aim makes a good player. To guarantee you’re not at any more of a disadvantage then you already are on the Switch (due to the game running at a lowly 30fps by 2020 standards) you’ll need to be picking up a controller that competes accuracy-wise with the likes of Sony’s Dualshock and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X controllers.  Continue reading down below for our best picks of such controllers and, for our more in-depth buyer’s guide to Switch controllers, click this link here.

Best controller for Fortnite, regardless of budget: Nintendo Switch Pro Controller – $60/£60

Nintendo’s very own Switch Pro Controller takes the top spot for being the best Switch controller for players for whom money is no object! It’s not just the best way to play Fortnite docked on the Switch but any other game as well, especially for prolonged periods where the compact design of the Joy-Cons leads to many players (particularly those with large hands) experiencing hand and finger cramp. No such problem with the Switch Pro Controller – the larger design of which enables the inclusion of larger A, X, B and Y buttons which have the bonus of being a tad more spaced out than their Joy-Con counterparts, resulting in a much less cramped, fiddly experience. The nicely rounded edges and weighty feel of the controller in the hand also go a long way in increasing comfort, as well as ergonomically placing your hands and fingers in the ideal position for accessing all of the controls. Having a traditional D-Pad (which all of the controllers featured here have) is also a huge bonus over its four-button replica on the Joy-Cons – you don’t quite realize how nice it is to have a full D-Pad until you don’t, a conclusion I’ve come to over my time as a Switch owner. Nintendo also nailed the D-Pad on the Pro Controller, finding the perfect sweet spot between being too firm and too mushy, even after hours of use. What really sets the Pro Controller apart though from cheaper alternatives also featured here, however, is its battery. It charges via USB Type-C for fast charging times and averages out as having a battery life of approximately 40 hours, slightly bettering the Xbox One Controller and blowing Sony’s Dualshock 4 out of the water. Additionally, it also features HD rumble and amiibo support (via the NFC touchpoint on the controller).

Best mid-priced controller: POWERA Nintendo Switch Enhanced Wireless Controller – $50/£40

The POWERA Nintendo Switch Enhanced Wireless Controller offers many of the same features as the more expensive Pro Controller but at the lower price of $50 or £40. The saving compared to the Pro Controller is, evidently, greater for players in the UK compared to those in the US and this will ultimately influence how good value it is for the consumer – from our perspective, the Pro Controller is worth that extra $10 jump for US players, but the jury’s out on the £20 jump for UK players. The greatest difference between the two is the POWERA’s lack of HD rumble and amiibo support – potentially an immediate deal-breaker for some. For Fortnite, HD rumble can help you locate enemies and gunfire however many players have found it to actually be distracting and detrimental to play. Additionally, Fortnite on Switch is sadly not compatible with amiibo anyway, hence minimising the POWERA’s loss of functionality compared to the Pro Controller when playing Fortnite. However, aside from these two features the POWERA is almost identical to the Switch Pro Controller in terms of design and button layout and even adds functionality in the form of two extra buttons which POWERA dubs ‘Advanced Gaming Buttons’ that sit at the back of the controller and are used for on the fly button mapping – useful for faster access to the inventory or to change building material on Fortnite. The closeness in design to the Pro Controller means that players reap the same accuracy and comfort improvements over the Joy-Cons as with the Pro Controller, however, the POWERA does feel a bit cheaper, less weighty and more plasticky in the hand and the buttons feel less firm. These are minor issues though and really only noticeable in comparison to the excellent Pro Controller, but it is evident where POWERA managed to cut costs. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the controller runs off of AA batteries (included) and isn’t rechargeable, although it still has a nice long battery life of 30 hours. It’s also officially licensed for Nintendo Switch by Nintendo, meaning that it has gone through Nintendo’s rigorous testing and evaluation process.

These controllers above are of course intended to be used with the Switch either in docked mode or in tabletop mode. In handheld mode, you’ve got two options for upgrading your controller setup over the stock Joy-Cons: either a third-party Joy-Con replacement controller or a Switch grip. Both of these options have their own respective advantages and disadvantages, outlined below.

Grips for your Switch are designed so that the console (with the Joy-Cons attached) slots into the grip’s middle section and then the player holds the ergonomic, rounded edges of the grip, rather than the Switch directly, during gameplay. The grip we recommend getting for your Switch is the Satisfye ZenGrip Pro, which we’ve found to really have nailed the shape and feel of the grip in your hand to optimise comfort for extended periods of gameplay for players of all hand sizes. The rounded edges of the grip mimic the ergonomic design of dedicated controllers like the Switch Pro Controller and just feel so much better in the hand than the flat, sharper edges of the console on its own which has led many players, especially those with larger hands, to experience hand cramps during prolonged periods of gameplay. The ZenGrip Pro also has the added feature of what Satisfye dubs ‘exclusive float technology’, whereby the Switch isn’t in direct contact with the plastic body of the grip but is separated by two rows of silicone dots attached to the inside of the grip. These dots minimise wear and tear when your Switch is taken in and out of the grip as the console slides along the silicone dots and doesn’t rub against the grip’s plastic body. They also create a layer of air between the grip and your Switch which helps improve airflow, especially over prolonged use. It’s one of our favourite Switch accessories as it offers great ‘bang for your buck’ in terms of improving gameplay experience for a reasonable price. All of these benefits in comfort are particularly noticeable in intense FPS games such as Fortnite, where the grip positions your hands in the optimal position to access the Joy-Con controls and especially the thumbsticks, in turn helping to improve your aiming accuracy.

Another upgrade you can make to your Switch handheld setup is to invest in the Hori Split Pad Pro. The Split Pad Pro controllers essentially replace the Switch’s Joy-Cons for gaming in handheld mode and provide a more ergonomic and comfortable gaming experience. The best way to describe the Split Pad Pro is the term ‘pro-level Joy-Cons’ or ‘Pro-Cons’ for short, thanks to the way in which they take all of the benefits that the Pro Controller offers over the Joy-Cons and translate them to handheld mode. In fact, the Hori Split Pad Pro very much resembles the Pro Controller chopped into two, giving you a full-size controller experience on the go, with the triggers, buttons and thumbsticks all matching their counterparts on dedicated controllers in terms of size as well as feel and accuracy. The big gain over the Joy-Cons, especially for FPS games such as Fortnite, is seen with the thumbsticks which are larger than on the Joy-Cons but also concave inwards, like seen on full-sized controllers, so that your thumbs rest on the stick’s indented centre, in turn reducing the chance of them slipping off. These thumbsticks as well as the inclusion of a good old-fashioned proper D-Pad are the key areas of improvement gained with the Split Pad Pro compared to the Joy-Cons in terms of button interface. Additionally, the whole feel and ergonomics of the Switch in your hand is far superior when played with the Split Pad Pro to with the Joy-Cons, due to the rounded, bulkier (in a good way) nature of the controllers compared to the thinner, flatter Joy-Cons. It enables you to hold the Switch handheld like you would a full-sized controller, with your hands moulded around it and the weight of the console resting in your palms, instead of how you awkwardly have to hold the Switch between your thumb and forefinger with the Joy-Cons attached. Consequently, playing with the Split Pad Pro makes handheld gameplay much more comfortable and tolerable for hours on end, without the hand cramping and pins and needles caused by prolonged gaming periods using the Joy-Cons.

It’s worth noting that the Hori Split Pad Pro controllers do lack rumble and aren’t wireless like the Joy-Cons are (meaning they can only be used when directly attached to the Switch) but they would still be my pick over a Switch grip to improve handheld gameplay experience, particularly for Fortnite. For one, the Split Pad Pro offers a much less bulky experience than grips like the ZenGrip, keeping your Switch’s portable setup as portable as possible – from experience, the ZenGrip’s bulkiness will just mean I leave it off the Switch for many games and leave it behind entirely if I’m going somewhere and travelling light, say if I’m not taking a bag. On the other hand, I just leave the Split Pad Pro on my Switch now as my go-to setup, so that everywhere my Switch goes the Split Pad Pro goes with it. Additionally, with the ZenGrip it doesn’t actually improve the controller interface, just how comfortable the Switch-Joy-Con setup feels in the hand, the Split Pad Pro, on the other hand, improves both comfort and the controller interface, albeit at a greater cost. The Satisye Zengrip retails for $30, compared to $50 for the Hori Split Pad Pro, which I have seen to be discounted regularly at a number of outlets.

All of these benefits in comfort are particularly noticeable in intense FPS games such as Fortnite, where the grip positions your hands in the optimal position to access the Joy-Con controls and especially the thumbsticks, in turn helping to improve your aiming accuracy.