Fortnite Festival arrow notes, explained

The triangle notes in Fortnite Festival are there to help you.

A screenshot of Fortnite Festival's chart during Cake by the Ocean by DNCE.
Screenshot by Dot Esports

In Fortnite Festival, the white arrow notes are played by releasing a button you previously pressed. These are sometimes referred to as “pull-off notes,” a term borrowed from Guitar Hero mechanics—the game that served as an inspiration for Fortnite Festival.

When you first start playing the game, seeing these notes pop up can be daunting, especially if they’re not something you’ve encountered before. Fortunately, if you know what they are and how to play them, quickly you should be on your way to perfect songs.

What are the arrows in Fortnite Festival?

Arrow notes in Fortnite Festival are notes that can be played by releasing a button, which simplifies playing rapid note sequences, especially on instruments like the Lead. It’s still possible to play these arrow notes the regular way, by pressing. However, this demands quicker actions and can easily tire your hands out mid-song. Take the song “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE for example. During the chorus, when I tried pressing for the arrow notes instead of releasing, my hands quickly grew tired. In contrast, playing these notes by simply releasing them offered a much smoother experience.

Tip:

Practice with slower songs on medium difficulty so you can get the hang of it

If you find that pressing the arrow notes in Fortnite Festival works better for you, go for it. But be careful: if the sequence of notes is fast, the game might interpret your button release from a rectangle note as an early hit for the arrow note. By the time you press the button to hit the arrow note, the moment could have passed, and your press may be counted as an error. If you’re aiming for high scores or Flawless attempts, I’d advise against playing arrow notes with a button press due to this potential issue.

How to play the arrow notes in Fortnite Festival

Video by Dot Esports

In the video I recorded, you’ll see how to play the arrow notes in Fortnite Festival from a player’s perspective. These notes often follow a regular rectangle note. In such cases, just keep holding the button you pressed for the regular note, and release it precisely as the white arrow note hits the bottom bar.

That’s how you nail it. Watch the opening seconds of the chorus of DNCE’s “Cake by The Ocean” in my video. Notice how I press the buttons only twice for the rectangle notes, yet I also hit the arrow notes by releasing the keyboard buttons right as they cross the bar.

Like any new skill, it will take a little while for you to get the hang of playing arrow notes in Fortnite Festival, but you should soon be blitzing through these notes with ease.

Author

Bhernardo Viana
Esports and gaming specialist and strategist working in the industry for over 8 years. A fan of Pokémon since I was 6 and an avid Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch player. Also, Slay the Spire is the best game ever.

Author

Ryan Galloway
Ryan is a Senior Staff Writer for Dot Esports who has been working at GAMURS since 2020. He covers a wide variety of titles from across the gaming space, with a focus on Pokémon. He boasts a degree in Journalism from Murdoch University. Email: ryan@dotesports.com