Recycled Brella 24 Mk II
Man, I really like Recycle, but this was just one of the worst performances I've ever had on any of these weapons. Didn't take the longest but definitely had the least total wins (not sure how that works out). I don't even think I was playing all that poorly, though I went back to check and Mk I also took longer than average to complete. So either I'm bad at Recycle (unlikely
) or I think Recycle needs more buffs. The shield is too flimsy, give it more HP or let it cycle it even faster. Imagine having 2 shields out at once, that'd be kinda funny. Anyway, kit-wise Mist+Splashdown have some synergy, but Recycle+Mist don't. Mist is so expensive that you barely get any shots after using it, so you can't capitalize on it as much. I had to either ignore Mist or use it almost exclusively to support the team. So to me this kit is weaker than Mk I, that one at least has the fast kill combo with marker.
Clash Blaster Neo
Woooo I actually had fun with Clash this time! Which is funny because it's pretty clear the vanilla kit is stronger. Curling bomb isn't as good as Splat Bomb, but Clash does appreciate the movement tool. Chumps aren't beating Zooka, but they can also make it easier to move in, plus they provide damage to combo off of. So it's actually a pretty good kit for Clash's needs. I'm glad it was easy to finish, especially coming off of Recycle.
Big Swig Roller Express
I am officially a part of Swig Nation! I did stupidly well on this weapon, one of the fastest to finish (I did have a negligible amount of freshness on it previously, no wins tho). I only ever lost 7 games. Part of the success is likely because I found the perfect map mode rotation to play in: Zones on Flounder and Manta. Both have very small split zones that Swig can take very easily, and from a relatively safe high ground position. But also, this kit is just good. Ink Storm is the perfect special for Swig, it increases the already good paint but also gives valuable damage since it can take 2-3 hits to kill normally. Marker is ok, mostly useful to mark troublesome flankers for your team. It keeps the kit from being strong, but Swig itself is a great main weapon. Will be playing it more.
Neo Splash-o-matic
It's pretty weird to still have an S1 gun this late in the lineup, but when there's that many shooters it was bound to happen. Here's another instance where I don't really have much to say about it. It's been fairly common lately so everyone already knows its deal, plus it's one of many similar short range shooter options so it doesn't play all that distinctly either. It paints for strikes well, and it has a bomb to help it poke and such. Fairly standard stuff.
Heavy Edit Splatling Nouveau
I think this is the first time in this series where I've come back to a weapon post-nerf and actually felt the difference. Surprising since the Edit paint nerf wasn't substantial, but I had lower paint numbers than I expected on the results screens. Maybe I wasn't deliberately farming for special as often? But this is a great kit. Crab feels very natural on it, it's essentially a temporary range upgrade for the main. And Splat Bomb is nice for fast damage, especially since charging up for Edit's fast fire rate is pretty slow. Feels overall good, but enemy backlines can make your life rough, especially if you can't get your Crab ready and in position.
Snipewriter 5B
I'd been having a good time with the chargers lately, but I had to have one more painful charger run for the road. I think I had a hard time finding places to position where I wouldn't be bothered by shortrange stuff like blasters, dualies, or brushes since I had no way of dealing with them (5H at least has a Sprinkler to pressure them out a bit). It definitely was a skill issue tho, if I just locked in they wouldn't be able to get close enough. The kit's good, but maybe a bit boring.
Custom Douser Dualies FF
Yooo Burst Bomb is fire on this. Really helps with the long range mode to cut kill times in half. Strikes can do so much more than Wail can, so in the end this is just a much better kit. Main issue is that it doesn't paint quickly enough. It has a lot of painting range but it's very spotty. Since it has a dodge roll it doesn't really need its own paint as much to move, but for helping frontlines get in or painting zone it's a problem. Strikes help tho. Very fun.
Dread Wringer D
Yay the funny kit with all the "little structures". I figured this kit would be bad, but honestly it's not, it's just mid. You don't have a real sub weapon, but Dread is good for Beakons because it can claim and secure the area around them quickly, so jumps aren't as risky. Wavebreaker is underpowered but the location is nice, and more importantly it refills your ink so you can keep sloshing immediately. And it takes 1 hit off of people, so you only need 2 hits (or one slosh) to kill. Yeah, the kit is lacking power-wise, but if you just paint a lot and put Wave in annoying spots it actually works, somehow. Not the worst kit in the game (and I realize I can have a real opinion on that now).
S-BLAST '91
I had like 3 wins on this (enough for 1 star nowadays, but not before, so I didn't have it yet). Kinda funny that 2 burst bomb weapons got put so close together at the end, and wow it really helps a lot here too. The combos are fairly lenient, so it can kill much more easily, especially with the long range shots that really need the help. It's a bit difficult to charge for special, and Booyah Bomb can be a bit tricky to use effectively, but there's no doubt that it's better than Reefslider on vanilla S-BLAST. Burst and Booyah can both paint well too, so even if '92 isn't bad in Zones, '91 still has comparable paint. I had fun on this one too.
Annaki Splattershot Nova
Ok I came out of this with a different perspective on how Nova should be played. I previously just thought of it as "long aerospray", so you should just provide paint support and play it safe in fights by shooting at a distance. The problem is that second part doesn't work, the damage is too weak and the RNG too bad, so you'll either get run down or not survive long enough to kill. Instead, I now think it should be played something more like Sploosh, where you try to ambush people who aren't aware you've gotten close to them. This mitigates the bad RNG since its spread isn't actually that bad at shorter ranges compared to other short range shooters. It has nowhere near Sploosh's DPS, but it's serviceable, and instead you have ranged paint to help both yourself and teammates get in, as well as the ability to pressure with stray hits at a distance. Plus this kit can spam Jetpack pretty well, so combined with this playstyle it can get a decent KA. I still wouldn't call this kit strong, the damage is still too weak and means you sometimes lack impact, but it's pretty good IMO. At least I had fun playing it that way.