Overview
- Overview
- Intention
- Legacy
- Resolve
- Build recommendations
- Strengths and Weaknesses
- Code of Brushido
- Octobrush vs Carbon and Krak-on Rollers
- The Path of the Samurai
---------------------------------------------------
- Intention: For an insightful and in-depth guide on all things Octobrush. It is primarily aimed at competitive play at the higher ranks, including tournaments. I’m confident this guide will teach you something new. Keep in mind, this is a work in progress and I appreciate any feedback on what you’d like to see covered. Thanks and enjoy! Note: This is a standard Octobrush guide; not for the Octobrush Nouveau.
- Legacy: I’m an S+ rank player that has been on several top teams. I’ve played the Octobrush on and off, and it wasn’t until recently that everything “clicked” and I was able to perform very well with it. My teammates can all vouch for me ;)
- Resolve: My mindset for this weapon is to play as an elusive samurai with decent range, offers utility with fast ink coverage, and beacons for you and your team. The Kraken can be your “get out of jail free” card, or used to push and force a play. You should always be patient and constantly assess and reassess the situation, while never hesitating when an opportunity presents itself. Always know what weapons/ sub/ specials the enemy has, how many are alive/ dead, their routes, positions, and lines of sight so you know where and when you can sneakily work the angles and move in for kills. If an enemy knows where I am and is expecting me, I let my teammates get their attention before moving forward, or I simply change routes. Don’t be afraid of playing out a situation slowly, it allows you to cover ink/ gain ground, while simultaneously building up your Kraken to force a push.
- Build recommendations: There has been much debate as to how to build this weapon, especially with the Damage Up ability. I’m here to put the debate to rest once and for all. For competitive play, I strongly recommend 2 Damage Up main abilities (3 subs roughly equals 1 Damage Up main) for two big reasons:
- First, it becomes more consistent at 2HKO’s at around a 1 meter range (and less). As an Octobrush, you need to get in and get out as fast as possible, and that extra swipe could be the difference of getting a trade, rather than getting a kill and escaping alive.
- Second and most importantly, involves its max range (~2 meters w/o jumping) and damage fall off. Having 2 Damage Up equivalents (can also use 3 damage subs per 1 damage main) ensures that 3 blobs of ink from your brush will kill your opponent at the max range (each blob has damage fall off the further it goes, and this ensures at max range your blobs will do 34+ damage). There’ll be several situations where you cannot get as close to your enemy as you want, but you’re still close enough to hit them. This is where the 2 Damage Ups make a world of difference. I’ve won countless situations where I was out of the ideal range of this weapon but still was jumping and swiping around long enough for me to land 3 blobs of ink on the enemy (it takes 4 blobs to kill at max range with less than 2 Damage Ups) and kill or trade with them. Without these stacked damage up abilities, you would lose these situations far more than win them.
- I almost always run Cold-blooded. Your stealth and position are crucial. You lack range, so being tracked by the enemy puts you at a bigger disadvantage when trying to make plays.
- I always run at least 1 Swim Speed main, since it synchronizes with your kit very well. It allows you to approach your and kill your enemies faster, and also increases the speed of your Kraken which is excellent for hunting down people.
- Ink Resistance boots synergize nicely, although not vital as the previous abilities. In situations where you’re swimming through ink, if there are puddles of enemy ink you’re swimming near, Ink Resistance allows you to push through them with minimal slowing. Without this ability, occasionally there are times where my inkling would get stuck and completely reveal my position, making me a sitting duck. Staying elusive is everything with the Octobrush, and Ink Resistance helps preserve that. On certain maps/ game modes (typically Tower Control), I run Stealth Jump in place of Ink Resistance to get the battle fast and quickly take out one or more people or even slow down their push.
- As for leftover slots, you can choose whichever fits your playstyle. I recommend Quick Respawn since you benefit more from your trades than your opponent would since you respawn faster. Another great option would be Special Saver or Special Charge Up, for faster Kraken specials and playmaking potential. And of course, more Swim Speed!
- Note: I don’t run Ninja Squid since it slows down your Kraken and base swim speed. Point sensors and echolocator renders this ability useless, so it’s too risky running it.
5. Strengths and Weaknesses: This section builds off of “Resolve”.
- Strengths: Fast ink spreading, very fast close range kills, ability to compete with shooters at a max range of 2 meters, offer utility via beacons, and quick escapes with the brush running. Since this weapon has a wide horizontal splash radius, you can take out multiple near each other, which happens a lot in Rainmaker and Tower Control.
- Weaknesses: This weapon has several weaknesses, such as Splash Walls, any weapon that can fight from beyond a 2 meter range/ being zoned out, blasters (being hit when trying to be stealthy), head to head fights, RNG blobs, and certain Splat Zones maps. Knowing how to work around your weaknesses is essential for being an Octobrush player.
- If you know they have walls you must play more patient and wait for them to go away. The Splash Wall takes up a lot of ink, and it has a lengthy cooldown. The moment it goes down is your chance to make a move since they will need to refill their ink.
- As for blasters, knowing their firing pattern, and attacking between them is essential. Wait until theyre distracted (line of sight away from you) and have expended their shot, then quickly take them out.
- Splat Zones maps where the lines of sight watch over your flank routes, where flank routes aren’t prevalent on a map, or where the routes are easily watched, does cause this weapon to struggle a little bit. Maps such as Arowana Mall, Saltspray Rig, Camp Triggerfish, etc.
6. Code of Brushido: My personal tips that I’ve learned through all my Octobrush experiences.
- Usually in the opening push of a game, I like to take time and set up a beacon or two, build super, and/ or set up for a stealthy kill. You typically do not want to be on the front lines in the opening push of a match, but it’s map dependent. If you have safe flank routes you can play more aggressive, if not, then be patient and play the utility role.
- Try not to challenge people. In other words, if someone knows you’re there and is ready to fight you, unless you know you can kill them faster or you can maneuver around obstacles to get in close, do not fight them. Be patient and wait for the right time. It will come. The battles you want to fight are ones where you have the element of surprise on your side.
- Beacon baiting; when you place a beacon to lure someone to that area to shoot it, and while they shoot it you get a kill on them. It’s important that you put the beacon in a position where they have to get to expose themselves in order to destroy it.
- Leave yourself an exit. If you try to assassinate someone but something unexpected happens and forces you back, make sure you have a clean route to swim through and survive (swimming is faster than brush running).
- Special baiting; if you know someone has a special ready to be activated, get them in danger and run away before they activate it. Most of the time, they’ll activate their special as a knee-jerk reaction while you escape safely. Just know what special they have and know how to escape from it.
- Patience. I can’t stress this enough. It’s completely fine to just be inking around the area and building your special if you can’t move in close enough for a kill.
- Damage Up x3? I do not run a third damage up, because through my tests it doesn’t add anything significant to warrant its use. I much rather use a different ability instead. Damage Up x1 doesn’t add enough on its own, but Damage Up x2 is the sweet spot.
- Octobrush vs Kraken. As an Octobrush, you can singlehandedly fend of an entire Kraken attack on you. I’ve personally done this in matches where a Kraken tried to climb the tower my teammate was riding, so I jumped off and fended the Kraken off allowing my team to ride the tower long enough to get the lead. Clutch!
- Be the Kraken. As mentioned before, Swim Speed also affects Kraken, and the Kraken is a very essential part of your kit as an Octobrush wielder. Sometimes it’s better to take the death rather than activate a useless Kraken to save your super energy. But you must be sure your team can hold off their positions until your return.
- Destroying the enemy. This weapon truly excels when it can set up on the enemy’s side of the map. It causes a massive threat, especially when your Kraken special is up.
- Jumping is used only for hitting people a bit further away, as well as throwing off their aim while fighting them (staying off their line of sight). Otherwise, it’s better to stay grounded.
- Enemies running away while you swipe at them from range. This will happen frequently, so if you see an enemy about to move out of your range and out-range you, run back.
- Trading. Getting killed while getting a kill will happen frequently and there’s nothing wrong with that. To ensure that you benefit this more than they do, set up a beacon in a safe location where you can jump back to, or even run a Quick Respawn/ Special Saver set up.
- Rest. Yes, your finger will eventually get tired from playing this weapon a lot, so have back up weapons to play with! Or just take breaks ;)
7. Octobrush vs. Carbon and Splat Rollers: This section will cover some very interesting information regarding TTK (time to kill) with the Octobrush vs. the Carbon and Splat Rollers. I’d like to take a moment and give a big thanks to CalmAppleSnake for his research into the Octobrush and other roller TTK times. Please check out his YouTube video here:
- The Octobrush’s TTK is already fast, around a .55 sec kill with 3HKO. As a 2HKO, the Octobrush’s TTK becomes a .36 to .40 sec TTK time, which is faster than the Splat Roller, and nearly on par with the Carbon Roller (I don’t have an exact time for it). On top of this, The Octobrush can outrange both rollers consistently (Carbon’s TTK 1HKO max range is around 1 to 1.25 meter, while the Splat Roller’s is around 1.75 meters) being able to fight them off at a 2+ meter range.
- Overall, while the Carbon is king of close range fast TTK’s, and the Splat Roller has more consistent longer range 1HKO’s, the Octobrush combines elements from both while also adding quicker brush running speed, greater kill range, and faster ink coverage. I find myself using the Octobrush and Splat Roller variants interchangeably. For more open areas, Octobrush is better because it takes advantage of its wider attack pattern. Around corners, some of its ink blobs can hit the wall and result in your death. It is here I recommend switching to a Carbon or Splat Roller depending on how close you’re able to get to the enemy.
8. The Path of the Samurai: This weapon doesn’t play quite like any other weapon of its class. It combines attributes from other rollers and even close-range shooters, making it incredibly versatile, fun, and rewarding to play with. I recommend this weapon for more advanced players. The Octobrush shines when you become an experienced player and know how to adapt. With time and patience, you can master this weapon and become a force to be reckoned with. If you want to see the Octobrush in action, Aka Maple has created a great video guide which you can find here:
- Thanks to everyone reading this guide, and I hope you found it helpful. This is my first guide and I had a great time writing and researching things to bring you the best that I can offer. Keep in mind, this is always an open work in progress. So if you have any questions, suggestions, or any feedback at all, leave them in the comments below!
