CHAOS GUIDE
CHAOS GUIDE: Rainmaker: Advanced Rainmaker (RM) Ranked Mode strategy guide.
WHAT IS A CHAOS GUIDE: in ranked battle you don't have chat, you can't coordinate, you have to strategize in a chaotic environment, this guide helps with strategy and will help you increase one rank 'guaranteed'.
TL, DR: In RM Play your role, your role is based upon your weapon, change your play style based upon weapons in your team or in other team. You're probably already doing it anyways.
SKILLZ/WEAPON CHOICE: this guide is about strategy not skills or weapon choice. My quick suggestion is that you play the entire single player mode and watch these videos Squid Kids and Nintendome.
ASSUMPTIONS
ASSUMPTIONS IN RAINMAKER: you know the mode, the map, your teams weapons and your opponents weapons, you can make assumptions based upon what you know and based upon those assumptions play better. You have 4 mates and you cannot put rainmaker on tower unless you work together but you can't talk to them. Generally the answer to "I can't seem to rank up" or "I kill 20 and I lose" or "My teammates make me lose" is to follow this guide play your role, know the map, etc.
MODE
MODE IS RAINMAKER: rainmaker is probably the hardest mode. you can make assumptions about what everyone is going to do based upon the mode, here are the common plans:
a. PLAN A: for most people the plan is to run to middle as fast as possible, splat the shield before the other team, one mate gets the rainmaker and the other three mates ink a path to the tower the mate with rainmaker never even leaves squid mode. Or push it forward as far as possible and play defense. Easy, right?
b. PLAN B: you and your mates race to the rainmaker and get splattted by the rainmaker shield, because some mate with an inkbrush is painting a daisy near the spawn point. The other team follows plan A and you lose.
c. PLAN C: race to rainmaker, see it turning the wrong color and run. Scoot around behind the opponent splat them from the side or behind, attacking the rainmaker from front might not be smart, steal rainmaker and follow plan A.
d. PLAN D: wait for splat zones because rainmaker is too hard. Am I right?
PLAN POINTERS:
1. Perfect plan is for rainmaker to never be in kid mode and just squid mode quickly to tower.
2. Be Aware of where mates are. Look at map at least every time the rainmaker is lost or captured. So you know whether to ink a line to tower or play defense.
3. Default plan is plan a.
4. Super jump near action, not smack into fighting.
5. Often becomes a matter of defense racing back to rainmaker over and over again to throw ink at opponents. DEFENSE huge I would doc you triple points if you are no where near the RM when they win, maybe a dunce cap for your character for next match. Tower is right next to respawn no excuse to be somewhere else.
MAP
MAP: you can make assumptions based upon the map as to what the other team and your mates are going to do. Honestly knowing the map really well is the best way make any increases in rank after you have a certain skill level. Do the map alone by pushing 'Y' before you pick 'ranked mode', study all ways to push rainmaker to tower, all the routes, then study all the defense points. Especially focus on the 'small' changes to map that make it different than Turf Wars, those small changes make a HUGE difference. Such as allowing a new route through map that wasn't there before.
MAP POINTERS
1. Don't get lost. Know where the rainmaker is at all times. Don't paint far away from rainmaker unless you are making a route for your mates to squid with rainmaker to tower.
2. Know which routes to paint to get rainmaker to tower. Know if there are one, two, three or four in a particular map. Some maps have two chokeholds at one level then four at the next.
3. Know which walls to ink to create another ink trail to tower or ink trail to flank rainmaker.
4. Know where typical charger nests are, know how to splat them from side or behind with your weapon.
5. Know all the routes through the map, choke points. You should know without thinking all routes to different parts of the map.
YOUR TEAM'S WEAPONS
YOUR TEAM'S WEAPONS: your weapon has certain things that it is good at and certain things that it sucks at. Your weapon determines your strengths and weaknesses and your teammates, you can assume your mates roles or compensate for missing roles:
A. Rollers: assume that they will brainlessly roll ahead and and die as often as they kill. What they should do: Fast rollers should lay ink to rainmaker and flick the shield. Slow rollers squid behind a faster teammate. Then take rainmaker or have mate take it and lay ink to the tower, straight ahead or a side route. Or flank other teams defense. Don't: follow rainmaker you are no help from behind.
B. Medium to Short Range Shooters: assume that they'll mindlessly shoot things. What they should do: race to rainmaker or squid behind a faster mate. Splat the shield and either ink a line quickly with all your mates to the tower or flank around the side, not too far, to kill their defense or take rainmaker. It is not a bad idea to stand behind the rainmaker, or to the side, and mindlessly shoot ink over your mates shoulder at the opponent's coming in. You are going to be super important for defense and splatting the opponent rainmaker. It is your job to ink important walls that open up routes to the tower also to attack charger nests. Don't: disappear or go further from the rainmaker than your range. Don't Attack rainmaker from the front.
C. Charger and Longer Range Shooters: assume that they will sit in their favorite spot far away from the action and shoot things that walk into their cross hairs. What they should do: a charger in RM really needs to be within range of RM at all times and maybe pinch off a chokehold. Don't: hide away from action, sacrifice your safety because you need to be closer to the action. (Long range shooters being Squiffer or longer)
D. RM: assume that RM will follow you toward tower. What they should do: if team is not making lines then make your own, fire a couple times, squid toward tower, fire a couple more squid toward tower. You walk so SLOW, even squid slow. Don't: back up or wait, cause your mates might not show up, just push it forward. My style is typically more aggressive but with random mates you can't rely on a strategy for pushing RM.
Your Team's Weapon Type Pointers:
1. Know the map. (Just so important)
2. Different maps do lend themselves to different weapons.
3. Don't waste ink on subs that suck. Good sub weapons are: bombs, beacons, walls and seekers. Your main weapon throws more ink.
4. You have to compensate for missing weapon types. Best team is well rounded and is generally one or two short range/rollers, one or two short/med shooters and one chargers/long range. But at least one charger and at least two rollers/short range weapons good at short range combat.
5. If your team has more than two chargers, and you're a charger you should get more aggressive and be closer to action than normal. Assume the other charger will do typical charger things.
6. If your team is all rollers then, kiss or a$$ goodbye? Or maybe play more defensive because you'll assume that they're going to brainlessly roll/kill/die.
YOUR OPPONENT'S WEAPONS
YOUR OPPONENTS WEAPONS: tells you a little about what to expect in the battle.
Opponent Weapon Type Pointers:
1. The main point is whether there is a charger/long range shooter or not. Some chargers are like gods and need special attention to be voided. If there is a charger you have to splat the charger nests. Use your Sub, Special or rush the nest, in that order.
Thanks. Keep in mind this is for ranked mode and doesn't exactly apply to competitive.
CHAOS GUIDE: Rainmaker: Advanced Rainmaker (RM) Ranked Mode strategy guide.
WHAT IS A CHAOS GUIDE: in ranked battle you don't have chat, you can't coordinate, you have to strategize in a chaotic environment, this guide helps with strategy and will help you increase one rank 'guaranteed'.
TL, DR: In RM Play your role, your role is based upon your weapon, change your play style based upon weapons in your team or in other team. You're probably already doing it anyways.
SKILLZ/WEAPON CHOICE: this guide is about strategy not skills or weapon choice. My quick suggestion is that you play the entire single player mode and watch these videos Squid Kids and Nintendome.
ASSUMPTIONS
ASSUMPTIONS IN RAINMAKER: you know the mode, the map, your teams weapons and your opponents weapons, you can make assumptions based upon what you know and based upon those assumptions play better. You have 4 mates and you cannot put rainmaker on tower unless you work together but you can't talk to them. Generally the answer to "I can't seem to rank up" or "I kill 20 and I lose" or "My teammates make me lose" is to follow this guide play your role, know the map, etc.
MODE
MODE IS RAINMAKER: rainmaker is probably the hardest mode. you can make assumptions about what everyone is going to do based upon the mode, here are the common plans:
a. PLAN A: for most people the plan is to run to middle as fast as possible, splat the shield before the other team, one mate gets the rainmaker and the other three mates ink a path to the tower the mate with rainmaker never even leaves squid mode. Or push it forward as far as possible and play defense. Easy, right?
b. PLAN B: you and your mates race to the rainmaker and get splattted by the rainmaker shield, because some mate with an inkbrush is painting a daisy near the spawn point. The other team follows plan A and you lose.
c. PLAN C: race to rainmaker, see it turning the wrong color and run. Scoot around behind the opponent splat them from the side or behind, attacking the rainmaker from front might not be smart, steal rainmaker and follow plan A.
d. PLAN D: wait for splat zones because rainmaker is too hard. Am I right?
PLAN POINTERS:
1. Perfect plan is for rainmaker to never be in kid mode and just squid mode quickly to tower.
2. Be Aware of where mates are. Look at map at least every time the rainmaker is lost or captured. So you know whether to ink a line to tower or play defense.
3. Default plan is plan a.
4. Super jump near action, not smack into fighting.
5. Often becomes a matter of defense racing back to rainmaker over and over again to throw ink at opponents. DEFENSE huge I would doc you triple points if you are no where near the RM when they win, maybe a dunce cap for your character for next match. Tower is right next to respawn no excuse to be somewhere else.
MAP
MAP: you can make assumptions based upon the map as to what the other team and your mates are going to do. Honestly knowing the map really well is the best way make any increases in rank after you have a certain skill level. Do the map alone by pushing 'Y' before you pick 'ranked mode', study all ways to push rainmaker to tower, all the routes, then study all the defense points. Especially focus on the 'small' changes to map that make it different than Turf Wars, those small changes make a HUGE difference. Such as allowing a new route through map that wasn't there before.
MAP POINTERS
1. Don't get lost. Know where the rainmaker is at all times. Don't paint far away from rainmaker unless you are making a route for your mates to squid with rainmaker to tower.
2. Know which routes to paint to get rainmaker to tower. Know if there are one, two, three or four in a particular map. Some maps have two chokeholds at one level then four at the next.
3. Know which walls to ink to create another ink trail to tower or ink trail to flank rainmaker.
4. Know where typical charger nests are, know how to splat them from side or behind with your weapon.
5. Know all the routes through the map, choke points. You should know without thinking all routes to different parts of the map.
YOUR TEAM'S WEAPONS
YOUR TEAM'S WEAPONS: your weapon has certain things that it is good at and certain things that it sucks at. Your weapon determines your strengths and weaknesses and your teammates, you can assume your mates roles or compensate for missing roles:
A. Rollers: assume that they will brainlessly roll ahead and and die as often as they kill. What they should do: Fast rollers should lay ink to rainmaker and flick the shield. Slow rollers squid behind a faster teammate. Then take rainmaker or have mate take it and lay ink to the tower, straight ahead or a side route. Or flank other teams defense. Don't: follow rainmaker you are no help from behind.
B. Medium to Short Range Shooters: assume that they'll mindlessly shoot things. What they should do: race to rainmaker or squid behind a faster mate. Splat the shield and either ink a line quickly with all your mates to the tower or flank around the side, not too far, to kill their defense or take rainmaker. It is not a bad idea to stand behind the rainmaker, or to the side, and mindlessly shoot ink over your mates shoulder at the opponent's coming in. You are going to be super important for defense and splatting the opponent rainmaker. It is your job to ink important walls that open up routes to the tower also to attack charger nests. Don't: disappear or go further from the rainmaker than your range. Don't Attack rainmaker from the front.
C. Charger and Longer Range Shooters: assume that they will sit in their favorite spot far away from the action and shoot things that walk into their cross hairs. What they should do: a charger in RM really needs to be within range of RM at all times and maybe pinch off a chokehold. Don't: hide away from action, sacrifice your safety because you need to be closer to the action. (Long range shooters being Squiffer or longer)
D. RM: assume that RM will follow you toward tower. What they should do: if team is not making lines then make your own, fire a couple times, squid toward tower, fire a couple more squid toward tower. You walk so SLOW, even squid slow. Don't: back up or wait, cause your mates might not show up, just push it forward. My style is typically more aggressive but with random mates you can't rely on a strategy for pushing RM.
Your Team's Weapon Type Pointers:
1. Know the map. (Just so important)
2. Different maps do lend themselves to different weapons.
3. Don't waste ink on subs that suck. Good sub weapons are: bombs, beacons, walls and seekers. Your main weapon throws more ink.
4. You have to compensate for missing weapon types. Best team is well rounded and is generally one or two short range/rollers, one or two short/med shooters and one chargers/long range. But at least one charger and at least two rollers/short range weapons good at short range combat.
5. If your team has more than two chargers, and you're a charger you should get more aggressive and be closer to action than normal. Assume the other charger will do typical charger things.
6. If your team is all rollers then, kiss or a$$ goodbye? Or maybe play more defensive because you'll assume that they're going to brainlessly roll/kill/die.
YOUR OPPONENT'S WEAPONS
YOUR OPPONENTS WEAPONS: tells you a little about what to expect in the battle.
Opponent Weapon Type Pointers:
1. The main point is whether there is a charger/long range shooter or not. Some chargers are like gods and need special attention to be voided. If there is a charger you have to splat the charger nests. Use your Sub, Special or rush the nest, in that order.
Thanks. Keep in mind this is for ranked mode and doesn't exactly apply to competitive.