This is my guide to doing pretty good in combat situations in Splatoon. Some of it may be common sense, but I’m just trying to include any tips I can think of. I’ll be talking about little quirks of the game mechanics, things to keep in mind (Offensively then defensively), and which weapons I think you can dominate opponents with. One thing I really like about Splatoon is that it’s a shooter where knowledge is half the battle. Even though it’s more of a guide to gameplay, I’m putting it in the weapons section because there doesn’t seem to be a more accurate section. This is written with the Splattershot-type weapons in mind. Also it's written without gyro controls in mind, I don't know how much of this still applies to gyro controls, but I'm assuming quite a bit. Also, I’m going to be completely honest and preface this by saying I’m not exactly great at articulating these kinds of things, so I hope you understand.
First of all, my "Credentials" (Aka an excuse for me to brag), I'm kind of really good at the killing part of Splatoon. My best game in the testfire was 22-1 and my best game in the full game was 24-1. I hope that shows I have a fair idea of what I'm talking about.
It's absolutely worth noting that Splatoon has a very unique "Auto Aim" or "Aim Assist", whichever you'd like to call it. Honestly I shouldn't be calling it either of those things, but I don't have a better word for it. It's actually so tiny that its possible to not even notice it, but how you handle aiming can EASILY make or break an encounter for you. There are some major differences between Splatoon's "Auto aim" and other games. The most obvious difference is probably the fact that looking at the ground acts just like aiming at an enemy, basically making you aim at the ground. The most important difference is the fact that IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY HELP YOU AIM AT ALL. Your reticle will move to the center of an opponent if you point at them, but it doesn't actually help you literally at all, it just serves to mess you up by how the game reacts when you're no longer aiming at the opponent. Also, it's worth keeping in mind you can walk around normally when "Aimed" at an opponent, as opposed to in most other games in which you'd need to be aiming down sights and moving slow.
This is what leads to the first actual piece of advice: try to limit your use of the right analog stick while in combat.
Once "aim assist" is on an opponent (Which has the visual cue of your reticle changing red), I'd highly recommend being very light on the right stick, and making an effort not to aim it up or down at all, it's a really good way to miss your opponent entirely. (I’m going to refer to having your reticle on an opponent as “Locked on”, despite it not being much of a lock) The reason I say this is because it's rather difficult to control your aiming when you're "Locked on", once you break the aim assist, the game will move your reticle quite a bit, entirely outside of your control. You get adjusted to how quickly the reticle moves, pretty much guaranteeing you'll make a mistake when it's suddenly locked onto an opponent, then not reacting how you've come to expect it to when you move it.
When you first "Lock on", moving the reticle can be VERY tempting, especially vertically. I often aim a little bit higher than the reticle aims when it is locked onto an opponent, and when it see it lock on and suddenly move down, I often panic and hit the right stick up, and then am shooting notably high above my opponents head. It's gotten me killed countless times. Try your hardest not to do this. In general, you once you’re aimed at the opponent, there’s a pretty good chance you don’t actually need to move the analog stick up or down at all, unless they fall down something. And if they’re walking down something, you probably need to use it less than you think you do.
I threw together a short video, just to showcase exactly what I’m talking about. Forgive me for the quality, but I think a visual example can help you understand what I mean
Notice how the locking onto a person can move your reticle downwards a lot. Fight the urge to aim it upwards. It can be something of a reaction, when you suddenly see your reticle move down you feel the urge to point it back up. This will cause you to miss a lot. Next, note how much the reticle is moved once you are no longer locked onto something, this is why it’s so important, a slight inaccuracy with the control stick can mean you can wind up shooting something you didn’t mean to at all.
Now my next piece of advice ties into this, try to get used to moving around with the left analog once you have your reticle on an opponent. This makes it easier to not get your aim messed up by breaking the “Lock on” with the opponent, as well as making you harder to hit.
One thing that’s worth keeping in mind is that you’ll be dishing out damage faster the closer you are to your opponent. Splatoons weapons tend to be fairly low accuracy, so at a distance a lot of ink blots will miss even if your aim is on point. The threshold at which all your shots will hit is different for each weapon, but it’s worth keeping in mind. This is something of a double edged sword since you’re as far from your opponent as he is to you, but it can give you a big lead if you start hitting him first.
So my next tip offensive tip of advice is very situational, and may even sound a bit crazy. If you’re above an opponent, and don’t mind losing your position, I recommend jumping into them. While falling, it’s a lot easier for you to keep their reticle on them than it is for them to stay on you, and you get close, which I just laid out the advantages of. You should have time to kill your opponent before he is properly able to aim at you. It’s worth noting that you probably shouldn’t do this with the longer range guns. With them, keeping your distance is a sure fire way to win any encounter.
Walls seem mostly useless to be honest, but I’ve found one good way to use them offensively. If you’re expecting an opponent to drop down from a ledge, waiting on the wall they’re going to drop down on is usually a good plan. Waiting on the floor they’re going to land on can be a death sentence since they’re going to ink it, whether or not they know you’re there, but if you’re on the wall you won’t get inked and they’ll have their back to you. The only issue is that once you get off the wall you’ll still be facing it, and doing a 180 turn can be a bit slow. There’s a way to turn around really quickly with gyro controls, but I can’t speak on that as I don’t use them.
Keep in mind that your gun and subs use the same ammo. I know this one is common sense, but other games have gotten me into the mindset of “Unload the clip then throw a grenade”, which doesn’t work in Splatoon.
I’m putting this tip in the middle since I’m not sure if it’s more offensive or defensive. I’m sure almost everyone reading this knows when dealing with a roller, the best method to just walk backwards and fire at them. Well as it turns out, with any of the longer range splattershots, you can do the same exact thing to Splattershot Jrs. Seriously, if you get good at this they become easy kills. Of course this is notably harder to do than dealing with the rollers, but it’s something you should definitely keep in mind.
Now onto the defensive tips. If you’re going against two enemies and manage to kill one, immediately go into squid form and move around. You will NOT win if you stay in one spot against multiple enemies, but you have a great chance to win if you manage to get the drop on your second opponent. Also I might be wrong and it’s just an illusion, but I’m fairly certain your health recovers quicker when you’re in your own ink.
When going into squid form, you should pretty much always choose to move left/right as opposed to closer to/further from the enemy, seeing as they wont really need to re-aim if you just get closer or farther. Like I said, some of this will be common sense. But it’s also worth keeping in mind that you should move in closer, just go left or right first. If the enemy isn’t hitting you, you’ll probably be able to fire first once you leave squid form, and like I pointed out earlier, you’ll be landing more shots if you’re closer, and likely be able to kill your opponent before he can start even hitting you.
If you splatterhop (Or whatever we’re calling it now) away from Krakens, they can’t move fast enough to get you. Sometimes normal swimming away won’t be an option. I’d just recommend keeping that in mind when you see one. Also it’s probably worth noting how short the Kraken and Bubbler specials are. When an opponent uses them, I usually try to get far enough away that they can’t kill be, but not so far that I can’t kill them as soon as their power up ends. It’s really satisfying to kill a Kraken who was just chasing you, but lost their special.
So I guess now we’re onto the part where I talk about weapon choice.
I’m going to be honest. I don’t recommend the Splattershot Jr if you’re going for kills (Which honestly you should be in ranked), or the Aerospray for that matter. With either of them, you’re only pretty much only going to win a firefight when you have the drop on the opponent. They’re nice weapons, but their low accuracy and low range means you can’t ever really become all that good with them. A low skill ceiling, I’d say. Something I’ve said a few times that I stand by is that using the Jr is like playing the game with training wheels on. If you’re just getting use to shooters, it can be pretty nice, but if you want to become skilled, you’ll need something else. I could go further into why I think this, but it’s hard to explain without coming off as rude.
Personally, I recommend the Splattershot pro. The Splattershot Pro has all of its stats about in the same point, and that point is pretty high. The ability to hit your opponent with a lot of your shots from a far distance gives it a very high skill ceiling, and unlike some of the other long range guns it has a nice amount of damage so that you are actually rewarded for properly hitting your opponent. The Pro also has a really nice load out for ranked battle play, with both the sub and special managing to be pretty good at both covering and killing people in the target zone. If you’re good enough with accuracy, perhaps one of the longer ranged (but weaker) splattershots is for you. It’s worth trying all the guns, and seeing which one feels best for you. There is no “Ideal” gun, but some are less lacking than others.
First of all, my "Credentials" (Aka an excuse for me to brag), I'm kind of really good at the killing part of Splatoon. My best game in the testfire was 22-1 and my best game in the full game was 24-1. I hope that shows I have a fair idea of what I'm talking about.
It's absolutely worth noting that Splatoon has a very unique "Auto Aim" or "Aim Assist", whichever you'd like to call it. Honestly I shouldn't be calling it either of those things, but I don't have a better word for it. It's actually so tiny that its possible to not even notice it, but how you handle aiming can EASILY make or break an encounter for you. There are some major differences between Splatoon's "Auto aim" and other games. The most obvious difference is probably the fact that looking at the ground acts just like aiming at an enemy, basically making you aim at the ground. The most important difference is the fact that IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY HELP YOU AIM AT ALL. Your reticle will move to the center of an opponent if you point at them, but it doesn't actually help you literally at all, it just serves to mess you up by how the game reacts when you're no longer aiming at the opponent. Also, it's worth keeping in mind you can walk around normally when "Aimed" at an opponent, as opposed to in most other games in which you'd need to be aiming down sights and moving slow.
This is what leads to the first actual piece of advice: try to limit your use of the right analog stick while in combat.
Once "aim assist" is on an opponent (Which has the visual cue of your reticle changing red), I'd highly recommend being very light on the right stick, and making an effort not to aim it up or down at all, it's a really good way to miss your opponent entirely. (I’m going to refer to having your reticle on an opponent as “Locked on”, despite it not being much of a lock) The reason I say this is because it's rather difficult to control your aiming when you're "Locked on", once you break the aim assist, the game will move your reticle quite a bit, entirely outside of your control. You get adjusted to how quickly the reticle moves, pretty much guaranteeing you'll make a mistake when it's suddenly locked onto an opponent, then not reacting how you've come to expect it to when you move it.
When you first "Lock on", moving the reticle can be VERY tempting, especially vertically. I often aim a little bit higher than the reticle aims when it is locked onto an opponent, and when it see it lock on and suddenly move down, I often panic and hit the right stick up, and then am shooting notably high above my opponents head. It's gotten me killed countless times. Try your hardest not to do this. In general, you once you’re aimed at the opponent, there’s a pretty good chance you don’t actually need to move the analog stick up or down at all, unless they fall down something. And if they’re walking down something, you probably need to use it less than you think you do.
I threw together a short video, just to showcase exactly what I’m talking about. Forgive me for the quality, but I think a visual example can help you understand what I mean
Notice how the locking onto a person can move your reticle downwards a lot. Fight the urge to aim it upwards. It can be something of a reaction, when you suddenly see your reticle move down you feel the urge to point it back up. This will cause you to miss a lot. Next, note how much the reticle is moved once you are no longer locked onto something, this is why it’s so important, a slight inaccuracy with the control stick can mean you can wind up shooting something you didn’t mean to at all.
Now my next piece of advice ties into this, try to get used to moving around with the left analog once you have your reticle on an opponent. This makes it easier to not get your aim messed up by breaking the “Lock on” with the opponent, as well as making you harder to hit.
One thing that’s worth keeping in mind is that you’ll be dishing out damage faster the closer you are to your opponent. Splatoons weapons tend to be fairly low accuracy, so at a distance a lot of ink blots will miss even if your aim is on point. The threshold at which all your shots will hit is different for each weapon, but it’s worth keeping in mind. This is something of a double edged sword since you’re as far from your opponent as he is to you, but it can give you a big lead if you start hitting him first.
So my next tip offensive tip of advice is very situational, and may even sound a bit crazy. If you’re above an opponent, and don’t mind losing your position, I recommend jumping into them. While falling, it’s a lot easier for you to keep their reticle on them than it is for them to stay on you, and you get close, which I just laid out the advantages of. You should have time to kill your opponent before he is properly able to aim at you. It’s worth noting that you probably shouldn’t do this with the longer range guns. With them, keeping your distance is a sure fire way to win any encounter.
Walls seem mostly useless to be honest, but I’ve found one good way to use them offensively. If you’re expecting an opponent to drop down from a ledge, waiting on the wall they’re going to drop down on is usually a good plan. Waiting on the floor they’re going to land on can be a death sentence since they’re going to ink it, whether or not they know you’re there, but if you’re on the wall you won’t get inked and they’ll have their back to you. The only issue is that once you get off the wall you’ll still be facing it, and doing a 180 turn can be a bit slow. There’s a way to turn around really quickly with gyro controls, but I can’t speak on that as I don’t use them.
Keep in mind that your gun and subs use the same ammo. I know this one is common sense, but other games have gotten me into the mindset of “Unload the clip then throw a grenade”, which doesn’t work in Splatoon.
I’m putting this tip in the middle since I’m not sure if it’s more offensive or defensive. I’m sure almost everyone reading this knows when dealing with a roller, the best method to just walk backwards and fire at them. Well as it turns out, with any of the longer range splattershots, you can do the same exact thing to Splattershot Jrs. Seriously, if you get good at this they become easy kills. Of course this is notably harder to do than dealing with the rollers, but it’s something you should definitely keep in mind.
Now onto the defensive tips. If you’re going against two enemies and manage to kill one, immediately go into squid form and move around. You will NOT win if you stay in one spot against multiple enemies, but you have a great chance to win if you manage to get the drop on your second opponent. Also I might be wrong and it’s just an illusion, but I’m fairly certain your health recovers quicker when you’re in your own ink.
When going into squid form, you should pretty much always choose to move left/right as opposed to closer to/further from the enemy, seeing as they wont really need to re-aim if you just get closer or farther. Like I said, some of this will be common sense. But it’s also worth keeping in mind that you should move in closer, just go left or right first. If the enemy isn’t hitting you, you’ll probably be able to fire first once you leave squid form, and like I pointed out earlier, you’ll be landing more shots if you’re closer, and likely be able to kill your opponent before he can start even hitting you.
If you splatterhop (Or whatever we’re calling it now) away from Krakens, they can’t move fast enough to get you. Sometimes normal swimming away won’t be an option. I’d just recommend keeping that in mind when you see one. Also it’s probably worth noting how short the Kraken and Bubbler specials are. When an opponent uses them, I usually try to get far enough away that they can’t kill be, but not so far that I can’t kill them as soon as their power up ends. It’s really satisfying to kill a Kraken who was just chasing you, but lost their special.
So I guess now we’re onto the part where I talk about weapon choice.
I’m going to be honest. I don’t recommend the Splattershot Jr if you’re going for kills (Which honestly you should be in ranked), or the Aerospray for that matter. With either of them, you’re only pretty much only going to win a firefight when you have the drop on the opponent. They’re nice weapons, but their low accuracy and low range means you can’t ever really become all that good with them. A low skill ceiling, I’d say. Something I’ve said a few times that I stand by is that using the Jr is like playing the game with training wheels on. If you’re just getting use to shooters, it can be pretty nice, but if you want to become skilled, you’ll need something else. I could go further into why I think this, but it’s hard to explain without coming off as rude.
Personally, I recommend the Splattershot pro. The Splattershot Pro has all of its stats about in the same point, and that point is pretty high. The ability to hit your opponent with a lot of your shots from a far distance gives it a very high skill ceiling, and unlike some of the other long range guns it has a nice amount of damage so that you are actually rewarded for properly hitting your opponent. The Pro also has a really nice load out for ranked battle play, with both the sub and special managing to be pretty good at both covering and killing people in the target zone. If you’re good enough with accuracy, perhaps one of the longer ranged (but weaker) splattershots is for you. It’s worth trying all the guns, and seeing which one feels best for you. There is no “Ideal” gun, but some are less lacking than others.
