A new Splatling player's thoughts on every splatling

[Catloafman]

So I have recently been getting into a weapon class I have never really considered before the Splatlings and oh boy am I loving this class almost as much as my favorite class of all time (Brella class) and so as a brand new Splatling player I decided I want to document I my thoughts publicly on every splatling

I will start with the splatlings I have played the most and then update the thread as I play more splatlings


Heavy Splatling Deco:

This was the first splatling I 4 starred and its so insanely fun
the main weapon of heavy splatling is a backline but compared to chargers it feels very flexible
you can defend your self pretty well even with partial charges and you are fairly mobile (with 2.2 rsu) meaning you can reasonably play a more midline role some times which is nice when you wanna just go in and get some frags

Heavy also feels like it teaches you a lot about the splatling class as a whole for example you learn pretty quick that a effective strategy for picking off unsuspecting players is charging up behind cover and releasing the charge on frontliners that didn't suspect a barrage to meet them moving up
this is something that you can use on every splatling (even mini to an extent)

And then we get to the kit, Point sensor makes sense you learn pretty quick that most splatlings don't really use their subs that much since they use a lot of ink and you want to have a charge ready as often as possible thankfully point sensor is very cheap
it's also a really good sub for an anchor because you will be sitting behind your team watching the battle from afar most of the time so being able to basically callout where the enemy is can really help your team especially against sharking weapons

Then we get to kraken royale this special is really really weird
remember when I said you want a charge ready as often as possible? well kraken removes your ability to get your long range charge for 7 seconds at least even more if you get to greedy with the kraken and die in the endlag

Now with this said the special is really fun not only just getting picks with it but learning when to use your invincibility special at the most disruptive time to the enemy is super rewarding
for example you don't even always need to get picks with the special sometimes you just need to scare the enemy to back off or threaten to camp jumps on respawning enemies

Overall I am a huge fan of this kit the main weapon is (albeit very simple) super enjoyable to learn and I had a great time learning it my only complaint about this weapon really is a am not a fan of the look the deco design is pretty painful to look at but otherwise very cool weapon

 

[QuagSass]

The propaganda is working >:)
Soon Squidboards shall reach it's ultimate form as the SplatlingBoards.

But jokes aside, that's awesome! Good to hear you've been enjoying them. Heavy is absolutely a fantastic start to anyone's Splatling journey. It does a very good job as an introductory weapon to the class. Glad to hear that you've been midlining with it too. I am very much a believer in midline-Heavy.
Splatlings as a whole have an insanely fast TTK regardless of charge and people just don't respect that enough (or maybe they're just not aware?). They are very strong and versatile fighters once you get the hang of using partials.

 

[Catloafman]

Alright time for my second splatling I 4 starred

Ballpoint Splatling:

If starting with heavy is dipping your toes in the water trying out Bp is like jumping in the deep end strapped to a irl gatling gun
this is a VERY complex weapon
To start ballpoint is one of the coolest looking weapons in the entire game I love pretty much every splatling design but bp is on another level

I would rant about why its so cool but I don't properly know how to word it something in my monkey brain sees BP and neurons fire off

Ballpoint splatling is unlike every other splatling because it has two firing modes, sure hydra and edit also change a bit when fully charged but those are more rewards for getting a full charge BP's firing modes are helpful in different situations

The short range mode SHREDS it shoots a shot every 3 FRAMES (for reference every other splatling fires every 4 frames with the exception of edit full charge which is also 3) now this doesn't sound like that big of a deal but trust me you can feel it especially when you just delete someone who didnt know you were even there
On top of this when your in short range mode you have mini splatling mobility however to balance these amazing strengths out we have some pretty big weaknesses such as it has the shortest range of any splatling and the short range only lasts for one quarter of a charge ring which allows you to only shoot 10 ink bullets before it switches to the other mode

Now you can stay in this mode pretty easily due to its fairly unique recharge gimmick but you gotta be careful using it I have recharged in the middle of a fight without needing too thus losing the fight way too many times
But the recharge mechanic is especially nice for swapping between the different modes speaking of let's talk about the long range mode

So you know how the short range mode fires every 3 frames yeah long range fires every 5...
on top of this long range is really bad at painting and your mobility gets far worse to just slightly faster than hydra's base strafe speed

You get more range than heavy and slightly more accuracy so it is useable but its very tricky to use especially against every other backline in the game

Ballpoint is very flexible but it doesn't do anything exceptionally well which allows you to have a very interesting variety of playstyles
You can play like a anchor and if somebody gets close to you, you can pull out the short range mode to defend yourself and mix up your movement
Or you could play like how I like to play and play really aggro and when you get in a good position swap to long range and basically turn into a turret

And the best part of this is you can swap between these playstyles mid game!

Now for the kit fizzy only really started to make sense recently
sure its nice for occasionally being used as a movement tool but really it shines in being used for your team supportively like while your repositioning and you notice your teammates in a fight chuck a fizzy! still you don't wanna use it too often cause its a sub weapon on a splatling but its not half bad

And then inkjet is inkjet I play two inkjet weapons and I am pretty decent at this special but this was the first ever inkjet option I have seriously used drop roller on and it is SO satisfying rolling on your landing and protecting your inkjet the rsu and ssu you get from the ability is shockingly really nice too

 

[reelrollsweat]

splatling fan here im pulling up a chair

 

[Catloafman]

Not a update on any specific weapon today but I did just finish making a build for every single splatling (some share a build) https://sendou.ink/u/catloafman/builds
I actually have all of these made in game and oh boy am I broke in terms of chunks now

 

[Catloafman]

Alright now time to talk about the Zink Mini Splatling!
I don't quite have 4 stars yet on this weapon but I am getting pretty close so I want to start talking about it

So the Zink mini splatling in Splatoon 1 is one of my favorite weapons to play in that game

Ok ok maybe thats not really saying that much the weapon was one of the most brainless top tier weapons to ever exist mainly due to the kit (disrupter and bubbler) being very easy to use and VERY good
But the concept of the weapon was also very cool

You have a kit with can be both supportive and aggressive on a weapon that swaps between those playstyles a lot

And now fast forward to Splatoon 3 Zimi (why do we call it zimi when its called mini shouldn't it be called zini? idk man)
has a brand new look in this game which I am quite fond of

(again idk why I like it I just see it and monkey brain fires off)

However while this weapon looks really cool the kit...
Ok so the parts are very similar to the splatoon 1 zimi being Toxic mist and Big bubbler and these pieces still do the same thing they did in Splatoon 1 with being supportive in fights and aggressive when you need to
But the difference is these parts are way WAY weaker then what they used to be

Mist is to expensive imo for this weapon like you want to be painting a lot but if you throw a mist you cant
And big bubbler isn't a panic button and I'm glad because it makes you use it more for your team or on flanks which actually requires brainpower
Also fighting in a bubble with a mini feels really good due to your mobility
Honestly I like the bubble but I very much dislike the mist especially since the actual closest sub in the game to disrupter is actually burst bomb
Its cheap it traps people it can be used for team fights its PERFECT for mini but they gave that kit hammer so oh well...

 

[DVDo]

(why do we call it zimi when its called mini shouldn't it be called zini? idk man)

Pretty sure it's because instead of taking Zink Mini it's taking Zink Mini.

 

[QuagSass]

Zimi just sounds cooler man. If you have the opportunity to give your weapon a really cool nickname, you're gonna take it.

 

[technobyte]

Glad you're liking the class! I only really got into a few of the weapons from it but it's pretty great overall imo.

Naturally I will be waiting in anticipation for your heavy edit splatling review >:)
(please play whichever splatling you want though no pressure!)

 

[Catloafman]

Glad you're liking the class! I only really got into a few of the weapons from it but it's pretty great overall imo.

Naturally I will be waiting in anticipation for your heavy edit splatling review >:)
(please play whichever splatling you want though no pressure!)

oh I've got a lot to say about it (spoilers it might be my favorite splatling)

 

[QuagSass]

Everyone loves Hydra! Even the people that dont love Hydra, love baby Hydra!

The people yearn for incredible fire power after a little bit of charging! The people love being the slowly approaching doomsday device!

 

[technobyte]

spoilers it might be my favorite splatling

Yippee! ^^

 

[Catloafman]

The heavy edit splatling... not gonna lie I had no idea how this weapon even worked before I decided to pick up the splatling class I just thought it was a nautilus with slightly faster running mobility

Yeah turns out its a bit more then that (AND I LOVE IT)

<-- I love these


So like Quag said it is baby hydra you have one of the longest charge times in the game and you are heavily (no pun intended) rewarded for getting a full charge but while Hydra turns into a 3 shot when fully charged Heavy edit goes from 4 frames between shots (splatling standard) to 3 frames between shots, which like I said when talking about ballpoint might not sound like that big of a deal but you can FEEL it
The full charge legitimately feels like a laser its crazy

However this weapon differs from hydra quite a lot in the range and mobility department
Instead of being the longest range splatling in the game you are one of the shortest (which combined with your LONG charge time feels pretty rough)
But the weapon makes up for it with its mobility cause it actually shares the same base run speed that mini and (short range) BP have
and you can use this mobility to close the gap on longer range weapons AND MOW THEM DOWN WITH YOUR LASER
I mean send them back to their spawn

Now while your mobility is nice for mid range matchups it doesn't help for being a backline weapon cause this weapon can't really play like a backline... (oh we will get to talking about the crab kit in a minute)

So overall I am actually a HUGE fan of this main weapon especially since its not a super complicated shorter range splaling you don't have a lightning fast charge time, no charge hold, no recharge gimmick, no extra modes
You just charge up the weapon in good positions and shoot, its as simple as that

AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE KITS (yeah imma talk about both in one post)

So the vEdit comes equiped with th... CURLING BOMB TACTICOOLER?!??!?!
"Splatlings aren't too picky with their subs" blah blah blah you've heard it a million times but seriously curling is awesome for this weapon
It's cheap so you can use it pretty often and it gives edit some easy burst paint for mobility which is great when your in a pinch

Not only this but because you can play this weapon pretty supportively you can support weapons that need to get close to the enemy (like rollers) with a free ink trail that the enemy now has to be afraid of

and then you have tacticooler which yeah is the best special in the game on a decent painting weapon you know where this is going
its really good
I never really liked any of the tacticooler options in this game but I gotta say this one is pretty fun so learning to use tacticooler has been pretty interesting

And then the 2nd kit has splat bomb crab tank IS THAT A CRAB
Yeah remember how I said you can't play backline with this weapon? well when you get special you can turn into one of the most threatening backlines in the game
and you also have splat bomb which is splat bomb really what is there to say besides i t s g o o d

I LOVE this weapon it embodies a lot of what I love about the splatling class (and its actually really good!)

and one last thing I love the design of the weapon and unlike the other splatling posts I can actually explain why (or at least one reason why)

(image from the splatoon wiki)
When your firing the main weapon the bullet thingies (idk what they are called) fall out of the weapon and way more fall out of the weapon when you full charge it which looks SO COOL

 

[technobyte]

Simply inkredible review with peak editing thank you!

 

[Catloafman]

Before I get to the Hydra splatling and Nautilus I first want to go back over the Splatling kits I haven't talked about yet being the
vHeavy vMini and BPn

Vanilla heavy splatling might just be... my least favorite splatling
Now hear me out Sprinkler makes sense on heavy for paint up time and for the rare body blocking plays I don't have a problem with sprinkler
And then there is wavebreaker which is great for sustaining the main weapon and is really nice in fights with shorter range weapons

This kit actually feels really good for keeping heavy constantly painting and fighting so whats the problem?
what do you even do when this

exists?
Sure I understand that charger counters heavy but this kit makes the matchup feel so SO much worse
at the very least I can throw point sensors at the charger with the deco kit to say HEY PLEASE MOVE THIS GUY or I can use kraken to fight the chargers teammates in the chargers sightline but the vanilla kit feels like it completely shuts you down
(I like the order splatling skin tho)

I'm gonna keep vMini short burst is the perfect sub weapon for mini it traps people it combos with the main weapon you can even use it to pester things outside your range this weapon is perfe...

ok to be honest stamp doesn't feel THAT bad but idk man i've been enjoying bubbler more and more recently so I don't really see myself playing this weapon that much but who knows maybe I will give it another try and fall in love with it I just kind of don't want to because I really don't want to put up with stamp


And then theirs Ballpoint nouveau I actually really like this kit! im sad it didn't kit beacon back but I am a sucker for inkvac in this game (pun not intended) and the synergy of a splatling which likes to run a lot of RSU and inkvac is super fun
and then you have inkmine which im also a big fan of. Very fun kit
Oh also I almost forgot I LOVE the way BPN looks in this game the sorta inverted color scheme is EYE CANDY

 

[Catloafman]

<- I like this one so much I drew it

So the Hydra Splatling ngl I didn't have high hopes going into this one
I knew it attracted a cult following but I never really understood it if anything I thought pretty negatively of the weapon,
I thought hydra was nothing more than a noob stomper weapon which was only good against people who don't know the counter play to a hydra

BUT BOY WAS I WRONG

For starters hydra is NOT as one dimensional as I thought it was, I thought before that playing around hydra was very easy just wait out the charge and ignore them while they are charging

But here's the thing while the full charge takes 2.5 seconds you don't need to commit to a full charge, sure the weapon HIGHLY encourages it (more on this in a minute) but you are still a 4 frames between shots long ranged weapon you SHRED

Now I know that this isn't anything new for splatling players, playing around the partial charges are a large part of playing splatlings
but when I was learning hydra I figured because the full charge is so good you should always be going for a full charge
and yeah you should always want a full charge but you shouldn't underestimate the power of your partials

But man that full charge tho is quite nice, 40 damage when fully charged is insane especially for how long the full charge lasts

Honestly the best way I can describe hydra is "Well if you can put up with being slightly slower you basically can do everything a heavy does and potentially even more"
Not to say hydra is a strait upgrade to heavy (that slower movement speed on top of heavyweight hurts a lot) but I personally enjoy this one much more than heavy

So now I got to talk about the kits I'm quite a fan of these actually my only complaint is that none of the parts are super strong if you get what I mean

Starting with vHydra auto bomb is...
jokes aside auto works weirdly well for hydra???? its nice for moving people out of under a ledge or quickly scouting an area before you move up to play midline hydra over all its quite useful

And booyah bomb is OK for survivability mainly against the long ranged chargers its nice to clear them out so your teammates can move around for a bit

Then you have the custom kit
Inkmine is amazing for hydra, its already one of my favorite subs in the game and it compliments hydra so well its awesome
and screen is... interesting to say the least
it can be hilarious for letting you frontline with hydra and if you have some teammates who like to play around screen its fun to know where to stick it for them
overall I think this is my preferred kit but its pretty close

I understand why so many people love this weapon and I can now say I am a hydra lover

(the hydra brainrot is very real btw)

 

[QuagSass]

We got another one for the Hydra Hivemind!!!!