Advanced Inkbrush Video Guide

The Art of the Ink Brush


Welcome to the complete strategic guide on using the Ink Brush weapon in Splatoon!


Before we get into the complicated stuff, let's paint a picture of what exactly this weapon is, and how it works.


The Ink Brush is a roller class weapon that was added to Splatoon via free DLC. It was highly anticipated due to it's unique qualities and blazing speed.


The weapon features nearly perfect inking speed and mobility, at the cost of very poor range and offensive power.


At first glance, the objective seems simple, roll around the map inking at the speed of sound right? With such poor range, might as well keep the brush on the ground and cover turf that way.


But, it's actually the opposite. As you can see, using the Ink Brush like a roller weapon doesn’t really cover turf that well, and it's not that great of a mobility tool compared to swimming in ink.


The easiest way to start using the ink brush properly is to throw away anything you have heard about it. The ink brush is not a roller, it's not a shooter, and it's not a charger. The ink brush is...the ink brush! It's in a class all it's own.


Instead of rolling around, you should be flinging ink around, and then swimming in the ink you just layed down. Flinging with this weapon actually uses less ink than your standard roller. This is the weapon's major advantage, and what makes it so unique. When using the brush this way, you can quickly skate back and forth through the map while covering turf.


Now if you are thinking about inking with this weapon, you should know a couple disclaimers.


First off, you will be using the ZR button. A LOT. The ink brush has the coverage capabilities of an Aerospray, but just imagine having to press ZR everytime you fired each aerospray shot. In short, this weapon takes alot of endurance to use. If you lack the skills of button mashing, this weapon might not be your best choice.


Secondly, this weapon has the ability of playing offensively and defensively, but is best played stealthily. Think of everyone else having a gun, while you have a knife. You need to play smart to move around unnoticed, and you need to take precautions when going for kills, which we will discuss more later.


Now, in order to unlock the brushes' full potential, your sub and special weapons will be key. This is important for deciding which gear abilities to equip. You will want to focus on things like Special Charge Up, Special Saver, Tenacity, Ink Savers over Ink and Walking Speed or Ninja Squid. You wont be doing much walking or squidding, since you'll be skating around trying to get your special up as quickly as possible. All Abilties are up to your personal preference, but ink resistance should be part of your set. Ink resistance is very important for brush users. For the times you are rolling away to escape, having ink resistance can help in a pinch. Since the brush is held slightly on the inklings right, you can easily get caught in ink making tight turns or veering to the left. Damage up can also help you, as sometimes swinging your brush on someone could take a few less hits, which we will discuss shortly. Lastly, special charge up and ink saver (main) are great abilities to have. They both allow your tank to live longer, letting you ink more turf.


The standard Ink Brush comes with two of the best sub and special weapons in the game. Sprinkler, and Ink Strike. Both cover the same amount of turf, but the sprinkler can be set or thrown anywhere and will keep spraying until it gets destroyed, you throw another, or you die. The ink strike however, is an all at once tornado strike of ink that can be used in the middle of a map offensively, or can be strategically placed in enemy territory. This sub and special allow you to cover alot of ground, and keep your enemies at bay. You'll find thatthat there are lots of neat places you can stick your sprinkler that will really help support your team.


The Ink Brush itself does 20 damage when rolling into someone, and varies in damage with each fling. Sometimes three globs of ink will hit your enemy, while other times only one or two will. This makes damage up beneficial for this weapon, as your killing speed comes down to how fast you can press ZR while positioning yourself at the best angle getting as much ink on the enemy as you can. Each fling averages about 20-35 damage. With perfect positioning, you can kill your enemy with three hits, but usually you will have to land four.


Now that we know the basic stats and strategies for the weapon, lets review a Turf War match to break down some of the more advanced and strategic techniques of the ink brush.


(Turf War footage breakdown) SEE VIDEO


Now, I know you’re wondering, what about the other game modes?


Unfortunately for the Ink Brush, Splat Zones and Tower Control force players to battle in a confined space.


With the brushes stealthy nature, these modes become very challenging. You are forced to play extremely cautiously and defensively. You can still succeed as a team supporter, but it’ll be very hard to contribute to the action. With both modes, any time you enter the zone or the tower area, if you do land a kill or two, all your enemies know where you are, and you are outranged by most weapons. You become a sitting duck.


The ink brush excels so much in Turf War because there is more free space, and much less 4 on 4 combat. You can quickly move around, sneaking behind people, covering turf and surprising your foes.


In Splat Zones and Tower Control, you are limited in your movements and have to play super safe inside a constricted area.


That said, the brush is still viable in these modes, it’ll just take alot of practice and hard work to get used to playing it there. You can sneak behind enemy lines and assassinate players left and right while your team takes the zone and tower with ease. The ink brush also allows the quickest access to the zone and tower for your teammates, but if you aren’t careful, you could be leading your team into an early hole.


Perhaps the brush will excel more in the upcoming rainmaker mode, but for now it’s true power lies in turf wars.


That’s all for this guide, let me know any questions or comments you have, and I'll be sure to answer them!

-Rocket