Inkmines finally getting a buff. Your thoughts?

[SkyBlue]

http://www.nintendo.com.au/support/files/Splatoon_Upcoming_software_update_April_13_2016.pdf
~credit to @Lonely_Dolphin (the first person I've found to link the notes anywhere)

I'm excited. Being able to detonate them ourselves will lead to some very fun mind games and enemy deaths. At least now they'll be more dangerous ^w^

Especialy tower control, have one on the tower and can detonate it as they're climbing up it instead of it and killing them instead of it activating and giving them time to get away. Idk, it could still be super simple to get away even with a planned detonation. Can't wait to find out and test it though!

EDIT: asflkjsfkljskfljslkjflksdjfksljfj Of course I see ink mine and get excited and misread disappear as detonate. Which, perhaps it could? I'm sorry everyone I jumped the gun a bit on that one. x_x

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

Hah that woulda been really good if that's how it worked though! Atleast they're more convenient to use for sure, but still my least favorite sub weapon. :L

 

[birdiebee]

I too first misinterpreted it as a detonation technique instead of disappearing. So I guess it will work how Sprinklers do, but still it wouldn't make much since for an explosive to simply vanish... oh well.

Still, not having to wait for it to explode to place another one is a huge improvement. So many times I have wanted to use one--whether it be in a better spot, where squids are approaching, or as a last-ditch attempt to trade--but couldn't because I'd already had an active mine set.

However, I now wish they'd extend or entirely eliminate the timer on the mines. There really isn't a need for it to be only 10 seconds now that we don't have to wait for it to place the next one. Maybe this is asking for too much, though.

 

[Yellowkirbyguy]

For us Vanilla Rapid Blaster Mains, this can result in some serious Minegames (I'm sorry, terrible pun i know >.< ). This is just too good.

Ink mine does need some respect. Not many people like the sub. But I've seen players in even S rank fall for them. Well, my mines anyway. During the short time I spent S rank xD

I think the 10 second timer is nice. It's purely situational, (As pretty much the entire game is) but I've had times where i place a mine under/close too an enemy beakon, and the enemy just happens to land when it detonates (Not when it starts lighting up, but right before the explosion). There are other times when the 10 timer helps for a bit of mind games, like when an enemy jumps into the mine as the timer ends, a dynamo starts to flick.... Yeah that's pretty much what could happen and more.

Also, Fun fact (In case you didn't know.)~ Right as soon as your ink mine explodes, I believe (Based on visuals) that as soon as the hitbox (or whatever technical term you like) of the explosion starts you can place another Mine immediately without having to wait for the whole explosion to finish.

 

[ParanoidDrone]

I really wish they would detonate when placing a fresh mine, and I don't even use the things. They're just...there. Like furniture. That can kill you.

 

[SkyBlue]

Yea they'll be more easily placed now at least. Idk why we don't get the power to detonate them manually, even then they're not guaranteed kills or anything. Maybe one day or in a sequel to splatoon I hope.

 

[Ashmia]

Ink mines are my favorite sub weapon, despite how you could only place one at a time. Since a lot of people didn't wear bomb sniffer, they would fall for my mines a lot. Now I can detonate one while placing another, and I am finally satisfied with this clearly needed adjustment.

 

[sammich]

reading the list of improvements for the inkmines to make them into a still not entirely convincing sub really makes it clear just HOW BAD they were before.

Ink mines are my favorite sub weapon, despite how you could only place one at a time. Since a lot of people didn't wear bomb sniffer, they would fall for my mines a lot. Now I can detonate one while placing another, and I am finally satisfied with this clearly needed adjustment.

they don't detonate when you place another, they just disappear. like a sprinkler.

 

[Ashmia]

reading the list of improvements for the inkmines to make them into a still not entirely convincing sub really makes it clear just HOW BAD they were before.

they don't detonate when you place another, they just disappear. like a sprinkler.

Well in that case, I retract my former statement. I guess it is an improvement but I wish they would detonate. This is my favorite sub weapon :(

 

[birdiebee]

I think the 10 second timer is nice. It's purely situational, (As pretty much the entire game is) but I've had times where i place a mine under/close too an enemy beakon, and the enemy just happens to land when it detonates (Not when it starts lighting up, but right before the explosion). There are other times when the 10 timer helps for a bit of mind games, like when an enemy jumps into the mine as the timer ends, a dynamo starts to flick.... Yeah that's pretty much what could happen and more.

That sounds less like situational and more like pure luck. :( A more common situation is your opponents see your mine detonate from a distance and now know that there is a clear path where there was a trap only seconds earlier.. and there's no time to reset the trap before they get through. Damn frustrating.

I realize that the art to inkmining is placing them in high traffic routes where there is bound to be an inkling within 10 seconds of planting it, but this is way too circumstantial compared to the versatility of other subs. Needs more.

 

[Garo]

I can't overstate how liberating it feels to now place an Ink Mine and not have it be a 10 second commitment. When you see a better opportunity arise, you don't need to regret that you placed your Ink Mine elsewhere a few moments ago. Instead, you can just place a new one. Oh joy.

That said, I do hope the weapon gets further buffed in the future. I'd rather the mine wasn't on a timer at all, but it should be extended to 20-30 seconds at least. Another thing I'm hoping is that they make it so that if a player super jumps on an Ink Mine, it explodes instantly. This would make it a lot scarier and allow a team with Ink Mines to handle super jump circles much quicker, since instead of waiting and firing at one (which seems to be at least a 2-man job many times) you can just lay a mine and focus on the main objective. Otherwise I don't really know if the range or speed of the explosion should be improved, as I'm sure the line between "nearly unavoidable" and "nearly impossible to hit with" is very thin.

 

[Floating Eyeball]

I'm really hoping for more buffs to the Ink Mine, there's so much that could be done for them.

• Tap a mine on the map to make it explode (in this situation, someone with could see it on the map in addition to having the skull icon)
• Place more than one at a time
• Remove the timer
• Instant detonation when super jumped on

(sorry to restate your points, I just like having them together as a list)
It wouldn't have to become OP, but I feel like adding more to it could create new strategies and encourage more variety in gameplay and weapons. (and more )

• Rainmaker and Tower Control could have last-second saves with a mine on the goal or tower to prevent a knockout. (they kind of do already, but it would let you anticipate enemies and try to surprise them from afar)
• Allows you to apply pressure in multiple areas

• The could have an entirely different strategy to it with multiple mines and remote detonation, and one that would make use of sub, special, and main together, and great with .
• The would be able to put multiple ink mines to great use with its speed, but it would still have some drawbacks: You'd be traveling around a lot in enemy territory with a short range, five-hit weapon, and you would still need to recover ink with all that traveling and planting. Bubbler would help you in a pinch, but you' d end up in the same danger you were before if that were to happen. And though your mines are hidden, they still have your lines showing where you went, so it's not hard to guess.
• It'd also let you charge up a special in safety, since you're still inking up that turf.

There's still some weaknesses to balance it.

• You have to actually go to where you want to plant it (and high traffic areas can be dangerous)
• You have to find a safe place to look at the map a lot (the spawn is nice, but you can't stay far away for a huge amount of time)
• Mines still flicker before detonating, so it's not guaranteed to work
• It has to be timed just right, and you only have one chance to do so

And if necessary, extra weaknesses could be added:

• Being splatted causes all mines to explode, like sprinklers
• A slight delay between putting mines, so you can't stack a bunch of and and spam ink mines in one area. (Splat Zones could have been a nightmare)

This ended up being much longer than I intended and more hypothetical, sorry about that! I just really feel like there's a lot of cool things that could come from ink mines.

 

[ultra777]

I'm really hoping for more buffs to the Ink Mine, there's so much that could be done for them.

• Tap a mine on the map to make it explode (in this situation, someone with could see it on the map in addition to having the skull icon)
• Place more than one at a time
• Remove the timer
• Instant detonation when super jumped on

(sorry to restate your points, I just like having them together as a list)
It wouldn't have to become OP, but I feel like adding more to it could create new strategies and encourage more variety in gameplay and weapons. (and more )

• Rainmaker and Tower Control could have last-second saves with a mine on the goal or tower to prevent a knockout. (they kind of do already, but it would let you anticipate enemies and try to surprise them from afar)
• Allows you to apply pressure in multiple areas

• The could have an entirely different strategy to it with multiple mines and remote detonation, and one that would make use of sub, special, and main together, and great with .
• The would be able to put multiple ink mines to great use with its speed, but it would still have some drawbacks: You'd be traveling around a lot in enemy territory with a short range, five-hit weapon, and you would still need to recover ink with all that traveling and planting. Bubbler would help you in a pinch, but you' d end up in the same danger you were before if that were to happen. And though your mines are hidden, they still have your lines showing where you went, so it's not hard to guess.
• It'd also let you charge up a special in safety, since you're still inking up that turf.

There's still some weaknesses to balance it.

• You have to actually go to where you want to plant it (and high traffic areas can be dangerous)
• You have to find a safe place to look at the map a lot (the spawn is nice, but you can't stay far away for a huge amount of time)
• Mines still flicker before detonating, so it's not guaranteed to work
• It has to be timed just right, and you only have one chance to do so

And if necessary, extra weaknesses could be added:

• Being splatted causes all mines to explode, like sprinklers
• A slight delay between putting mines, so you can't stack a bunch of and and spam ink mines in one area. (Splat Zones could have been a nightmare)

This ended up being much longer than I intended and more hypothetical, sorry about that! I just really feel like there's a lot of cool things that could come from ink mines.

I think they reason that we're not allowed to put multiple ink mines is because then we would be able to cover a whole area with ink mines. Imagine putting multiple inkmines in Port Mackerel. You would be able to fill up most of the pathways that are in the center of the map with 9 mines give or take a few.

 

[Floating Eyeball]

Hm, yeah, that could be a problem in Port Mackerel, but I don't think it'd be a huge issue. To totally fill up a path, someone would have to plant, refill, and move forward over and over without getting splatted or having someone step on it and get off or shoot at it to active it. You're also spending a lot of time just in that one passage, which won't really help the goal much, and if you're only focusing on blocking off one path, your opponents will just take the other. I think it'd just be like Seekers or Killer Wails: The map does make it stronger, but it can't totally overwhelm people.

 

[mercenariez]

It's a little less annoying now that you can place your 2nd one more easily if you misplace your 1st one. That said, no one in in high ranked matches really falls for this gimmicky sub weapon. So overall I think it still sucks compared to the other subs.