This is a sneaking mission.
- Introduction
Hello, and welcome to my new and improved Custom Splattershot Jr. guide! That name's a mouthful though, and I really don't like typing it every time I refer to this weapon. So I'll be simply calling it the Custom.
Let's get this thing underway. First off I'd like to talk about my history with the weapon. This was one of my go to weapons until the L-3, Splash-O-Matic, and the Luna Blaster were released. I don't use it as often as I used to, but it's still a solid weapon, though it's not for everyone.
One of the important things to note about this weapon is it's niche role. The Custom is equipped with disruptors as its sub-weapon, and the echolocator as its special. This forces the weapon to abandon the more assault/aggressive based playstyle it's vanilla sibling is usually praised for. The loss of the bubbler (the vanilla renditions ace in the hole, for heavy pushes) and the splat bombs (which gave the weapon a ranged offensive options) makes this weapon unsuited for an aggressive player.
- Range, and Weaknesses
The Splattershot Jr. has some of the worst range in the game
The biggest weakness of your main weapon is the less than great accuracy, range, and damage. This means you need to be relatively close to splat with it. This weakness is actually worsened by the Customs alternative sub, and special. Without a bubbler, kraken, or a long ranged alternative you have no way to counter this. The other big problem with the gun is how long it actually takes to splat. It's base damage is 28 per bullet. This means you'll need 4 wholey connected shots to splat your opponent. If the opponent is equipped with 3 main Defense Ups this turns the weapon into a 5 shot splat. This coupled the awful spread, means that you will often have a very hard time combating opponents from the max distance of the weapon.
Here you can see the sub-par range.
The effective combat range can be very deceptive. As you can see in the above picture, it looks as though the weapon has good range? However the spread is what makes it look like this. The actual fighting range for the weapon is depicted below.
This is your effective splat range.
As you can see in this picture, The effective splatting distance of the weapon is essentially half that of what it appears to be in the previous screenshot. This means you need to close a lot of distance to effectively splat your opponent.
- Fire rate, Coverage, and Mobility
The Splattershot Jr. has one of the faster fire rates in the game falling just behind the Aerospray, and the NZAP. The fire rate means that if you connect all of your shots, you'll splat your opponent much faster than they can usually react. The biggest problem is that the spread of your weapon is a huge hinderance to hitting consistently. A decent strategy for the Jr. is simply to strafe when you've reach your prime combat distance. While strafing you can utilize the horizontal spread of the weapon to hit with a good majority of your bullets.
Instead of relying on precision to splat you should rely on your own momentum and mobility. This brings me to the next subject - Coverage. This is important because since the Jr. is quite ink efficient, it can build it's special meter much faster than other weapons. It's spread allows you to cover a wide radius fairly far. While it can't splat that far away, it does make it easier for approaching, and movement. The entire purpose of the weapon seems to be aimed at Turf Wars, but often coverage capabilities are ignored in weapon choice for Ranked mode. This is often what causes most opposing teams issues. If you have more breathing room (lots of ink to swim in) you've got an advantage as far as battleground goes.
Utilizing the mobility of this weapon is the key to getting within range to take out your opposition. It's a tough job though as many people who play at higher ranks will know how your weapon works, and won't let you get in so close very easily. That's fine and all but this Custom variant is very reliant on it's sub and special, just in very different ways from the Vanilla rendition.
Utilization of it's amazing coverage has another very important feature. For the custom variant you'll come equipped with the echolocator. The Custom can build meter faster than most other weapons and utilize this a lot more frequently. I'll go into why it's so important later but for now just know that this special is part of your core strategy.
- Disruptor, and how it applies
The disruptor sub-weapon is part of your core strategy. You'll want to be using this more than your main weapon in combat. A quick summary of what it does.
- Slows movement as if they were in enemy ink.
- Slows swim speed, and causes them to glow while submerged.
- Slows ink recovery rate.
- Limits jump height as if they were standing in enemy ink.
The maximum radius of the disruptor.
The disruptor explodes upon impact into a sphere. This sphere ignores solid objects and hit through them. This means you can hit enemies from around corners or hiding behind thin walls. Functioning in way similar to the blasters AoE. Using this in conjunction with echolocator is important, since you can anticipate where the opposition will be coming from and ambush them with a disruptor and can also be used to aid in quick escapes.
- Echolocator is vital
One of the most vital parts of your arsenal is the echolocator. Being coupled with a weapon that can build meter so fast means you should be making near constant use of this special.
We've gone over the horrid combat range of the weapon, so because you are equipped to deal with that in a more tactical manner instead of an all or nothing, aggressive one - you'll rely on your sub/special for different purposes. The Custom focuses on pre-emptive tactical decisions. Knowing where you're enemies are at all times is vital. This particular loadout is focused on ambushing, and stealth. It's almost an entirely stealth based role. Causing havoc psychologically to the opposing team. Being able to gimp incoming offense because you knew it was coming can really mess with your opponents heads. The big trick to this weapon is coping with the fact that you won't be in the thick of it very often.
The echolocator is very easy to use with this weapon. Constantly activating it will make your opponents think twice on any aggressive choices they make.
Extra: Bonus Tips!
- Mode applications
The Custom Jr. is built for a purely supportive role in Ranked, however in Turf War you can be a lot more offensive with it. Covering enemy work before they can blink is where the Jr. shines. The alternate loadout that the Custom comes with however will usually throw a lot of people off. You can be a lot more haphazard in this mode, since you're weakness won't be exploited as often. It's still important to ere on the side of caution, and utilize disruptors for escapes. Echolocator will also help your team counter sneaky enemies attempting to push into your own base.
Splat Zones is fairly self explanatory. You'll be decently equipped to take a point, but you're also a huge target since your range is super short. Using the echolocator liberally here is important, however most people will be running Cold-Blooded to counter your echolocator. You're mostly going to want to support teammates with disruptors, while taking the zones when they've wiped everyone out. Overall this mode is very hard for the Custom, since it requires a more aggressive approach. Be ready to fulfill a mostly supportive role. Your special, and sub are super useful for teammates better equipped for splatting, so keep that in mind.
Tower Control is a pretty chaotic mode, filled with blasters, ink mines, and Dynamo's. A good strategy for team synergy is that if any of your allies are equipped with ink mines, you can wait for an enemy to try and mount the tower and hit them with a disruptor. You can also use the disruptor to slow approaches by enemies attempting to mount the tower. The goal here is to use your disruptors to stop your opponents from controlling the tower, or stick them to it so your teammates can run in and splat them. This loadout can be played a little more aggressively in this mode.
- Abilities
Some abilities you should consider are:
- Cold-Blooded
- Ink Saver Sub
- Bomb Range Up
- Swim Speed Up
- Ninja Squid
- Defense Up
The Custom Splattershot Jr. is an unpopular loadout because it throws away aggression for tactical minded gameplay. This isn't to say it's a bad weapon, it's just meant for the more tactically/stealth minded individual. The disruptors are a big part of your game, and you want to be using and relying on those as much as possible. Spacial awareness and quick thinking are super necessary for this unique loadout, but your team will thank you for the constant echolocator, and the disruptors!
