• Welcome to SquidBoards, the largest forum dedicated to Splatoon! Over 25,000 Splatoon fans from around the world have come to discuss this fantastic game with over 250,000 posts!

    Start on your journey in the Splatoon community!

  • Hey Guest, the Side Order expansion is now available!

    If you're playing the new DLC, please remember to keep your thread titles spoiler free, and use [spoiler] tags for any relevant spoilers in your posts.

Anyone else think chargers are the least viable class?

River09

Inkling Cadet
Joined
May 27, 2015
Messages
217
Location
Australia
NNID
King_Felix
Again, as much as snipers are satisfying, they're only as great as your team. Apart from the occasions where 3 snipers on a team somehow beat a bad team I happen to be on, a sniper is a support class and it only hinges on how good your team is.

From looking over the thread, all that I keep seeing is "I want to get a big K/D" when that portion isn't even recorded in the game itself and is only for internet glory (take your biggest K/D match and parade it as if how ALL your normal games go
Unless you happen to be in A rank rooms or higher, it isn't really worth using. Sure they can be annoying to face and may make you want to take it up but eventually you will see them losing because you're too busy tryin to kill other active people and the sniper is wondering how the heck there's no support (and it's funny to see snipers squirm at close range).

That said, whenever I try to snipe, I end up being the major target; people keep coming up to me and putting inkstrikes on my locations...
Snipers can really carry a team. Support is not their only attribute. Hassling and annoying the other team is another thing they can do very well by breaking up their ink from a safe distance. Also, OHKO at range is always something to be wary of. Chargers aren't ink brushes. They are great at support but have so much more at their disposal that they will almost always be worth having at least 1 person playing with a charger on a team. Besides, they have few counters like squelchers, 96 gal and pros.
People who play chargers badly will lose. People who know how to play chargers will be more consistent.
 

Sol64

The RNG God of /r/Splatoon
Joined
May 9, 2015
Messages
459
Location
London
Snipers can really carry a team. Support is not their only attribute. Hassling and annoying the other team is another thing they can do very well by breaking up their ink from a safe distance. Also, OHKO at range is always something to be wary of. Chargers aren't ink brushes. They are great at support but have so much more at their disposal that they will almost always be worth having at least 1 person playing with a charger on a team. Besides, they have few counters like squelchers, 96 gal and pros.
People who play chargers badly will lose. People who know how to play chargers will be more consistent.
It's still very dependant on a good team, no matter how you look at it.
 

Sol64

The RNG God of /r/Splatoon
Joined
May 9, 2015
Messages
459
Location
London
Can't that be said for any weapon? A bad team is a bad team. One good player, charger or not, won't bring victory to a team alone.
Nope, it's more specific on charger type weapons because they cannot perform aggressive actions such as actually confronting people. On occasion i've somehow carried a team just by using shooter type or roller type weapons in ranked by just coming in and killing people because my team were doing naff all.
 

River09

Inkling Cadet
Joined
May 27, 2015
Messages
217
Location
Australia
NNID
King_Felix
Nope, it's more specific on charger type weapons because they cannot perform aggressive actions such as actually confronting people. On occasion i've somehow carried a team just by using shooter type or roller type weapons in ranked by just coming in and killing people because my team were doing naff all.
You can be aggressive with chargers. I think your confusing aggressive actions with being risky and setting yourself in a bad position. Most charger players play defensively by sticking to perches. It's an effective strategy for sure but doesn't really put so much pressure on the opposing team. Sure they can't get up close and be aggressive in the traditional sense but you can really limit the opponents options thus putting on pressure. I've secured quite a few kills from conditioning opponents into doing a certain action. The best part is you almost always out range them. The only chargers that I think struggle to play aggressively are E-Liters.

Edit: Although you are right to an extent. Having a good team will significantly help chargers because they are not front liners. The front liners will want to take attention away from chargers because otherwise the opposing team will pursue them setting them-self up for a bad situation.

But again, chargers really just have the most blatant weakness. Every weapon has some sort of weakness that can be exploited. A team that is can compensate for these weaknesses and capable will be more consistent.
 
Last edited:

EsoTeRiC

Inkster Jr.
Joined
May 17, 2015
Messages
21
Location
Squid land
You can be aggressive with chargers. I think your confusing aggressive actions with being risky and setting yourself in a bad position. Most charger players play defensively by sticking to perches. It's an effective strategy for sure but doesn't really put so much pressure on the opposing team. Sure they can't get up close and be aggressive in the traditional sense but you can really limit the opponents options thus putting on pressure. I've secured quite a few kills from conditioning opponents into doing a certain action. The best part is you almost always out range them. The only chargers that I think struggle to play aggressively are E-Liters.

Edit: Although you are right to an extent. Having a good team will significantly help chargers because they are not front liners. The front liners will want to take attention away from chargers because otherwise the opposing team will pursue them setting them-self up for a bad situation.

But again, chargers really just have the most blatant weakness. Every weapon has some sort of weakness that can be exploited. A team that is can compensate for these weaknesses and capable will be more consistent.
This guy knows what he's talking about.
 

Kaliafornia

Splatin' through Inkopolis with my woes....
Joined
Jun 1, 2015
Messages
346
Location
Seattle/L.A.
NNID
Kaliafornia
On those three maps? Maybe so, it really depends on the map. I'd say the maps, from best to worst for Chargers are:
9. Kelp Dome
8. Blackbelly Skatepark
7. Walleye Warehouse
6. Urchin Underpass
5. Port Mackerel
4. Bluefin Depot
3. Arowana Mall
2. Moray Towers
1. Saltspray Rig

Soon to be #1: Camp Triggerfish. If you've seen clips of that stage there is so much ridiculously high ground that the ELiter-3K is going to rek. shop. here.

Arowana Mall should be #1 imo. I have won every time I get placed on an all charger team. It's the one map where a team of chargers (albeit skilled) can completely shut the other team down. Even on Tower Control.

My list (based on Turf and Splat Zones) would be:

9. Blackbelly Skatepark
8. Urchin Underpass
7. Kelp Dome
6. Wallye Warehouse
5. Port Mackerel
4. Moray Towers
3. Bluefin Depot
2. Saltspray Rig
1. Arowana Mall
 

Las7

Semi-Pro Squid
Joined
Jun 8, 2015
Messages
93
NNID
Las7man
They're hard to use, and 95% of people online suck with them, but when mastered....they're scary.
Yep, I'm learning to play with Charger and I've dropped down quite a bit from A+99 all the way down to A-30.

It's much harder to carry team mates, you have to constantly be able to look at the mini map and have great awareness.
Compared to other classes - chargers require pinpoint aiming - mastering gyro(being able to snap charge is key) - knowing how much you need to charge for different distance - either being able to charge people close range or using secondary skills well to deal with anyone who gets too close.
The weapon is definitely my personally most satisfying but also the most difficult to dominate with.

Chargers for me are the best weapon but only few people are mastering them.
 

Box

Pro Squid
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
140
Right now it looks like the E-liter scoop is the 20XX of this game.
 

Keith Nova

Inkling
Joined
Jun 11, 2015
Messages
1
NNID
esaloch
I thought they'd be great on Moray Towers, but I just can't win with them in Splat Zones. And they're next to useless on Blackbelly Skatepark (at least in Turf War) and Bluefin Depot if the enemy gets in your base. And even when I get a lot of kills in Ranked Battle, my team still loses most of the time.
They kill it in Tower Control. Especially on Arowana Mall where I've gone 16-2 with an E-Litre Scope. Although there is a little bit of a wall you hit as you go up the ranks and play with more and more people who know how to deal with a charger,
 

E-Liter Elite

Senior Squid
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
63
NNID
DroseraC
I thought they'd be great on Moray Towers, but I just can't win with them in Splat Zones. And they're next to useless on Blackbelly Skatepark (at least in Turf War) and Bluefin Depot if the enemy gets in your base. And even when I get a lot of kills in Ranked Battle, my team still loses most of the time.
You're a support, why are you trying to get kills?

I think the reason so many people dislike Chargers is because they try to play them like Sniper rifles.

But you're not a Sniper. You CAN Snipe, and when you need to getting a kill that way could be what your team needs.

But it's not your job. Your job is long ranged support. You create paths for your allies to sneak behind opponents. You cut up enemies pathways to force them to jump, revealing themselves, or ink it back, making themselves even more vulnerable. You spread ink from a safe distance to stop their counter.

And finally, yes, you can Snipe. But the only time this is your "main" job in my experience is TC. Where you need to do two things: Splat enemies on the tower, and Splat enemy Chargers before they Splat your allies on the tower.

Sitting at a high point doing nothing while waiting for a cheap splat will cause you to lose with ANY weapon. Don't blame the Charger.
 

E-Liter Elite

Senior Squid
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
63
NNID
DroseraC
Arowana Mall should be #1 imo. I have won every time I get placed on an all charger team. It's the one map where a team of chargers (albeit skilled) can completely shut the other team down. Even on Tower Control.

My list (based on Turf and Splat Zones) would be:

9. Blackbelly Skatepark
8. Urchin Underpass
7. Kelp Dome
6. Wallye Warehouse
5. Port Mackerel
4. Moray Towers
3. Bluefin Depot
2. Saltspray Rig
1. Arowana Mall
I might be misreading your list but I think Urchin Underpass is the worst map for Chargers. Blackbelly at least has a lot of visibility from the sides, and I can think of at least 3 spots that are easy to survey the field from, excluding the central tower.

Urchin has really poor visibility and everything is pretty close together vertically so it's easy to make it to a Charger's perch before they can notice you.
 

Kaliafornia

Splatin' through Inkopolis with my woes....
Joined
Jun 1, 2015
Messages
346
Location
Seattle/L.A.
NNID
Kaliafornia
I might be misreading your list but I think Urchin Underpass is the worst map for Chargers. Blackbelly at least has a lot of visibility from the sides, and I can think of at least 3 spots that are easy to survey the field from, excluding the central tower.

Urchin has really poor visibility and everything is pretty close together vertically so it's easy to make it to a Charger's perch before they can notice you.
Ah yeah sorry. That was a worst to best list for splat zones. Actually for Tower Control Urchin is pretty good for chargers imo.
 

E-Liter Elite

Senior Squid
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
63
NNID
DroseraC
I know anecdotal evidence is a poor indicator, but I've won one match ever in Urchin in ranked on a Charger. And my contribution was still minimal, only helping by getting a double Splat through the grate in their base.

It's too easy for opponents to get to you quickly, and even the best spots to sit don't give much visibility of the the tower's full path.

My argument, boiled down, is that Blackbelly has options for Chargers. It's definitely not ideal, but there are choices. Urchin just doesn't have them from what I can see.

I don't play ranked anymore if Urchin is up, but I'll play Blackbelly gladly.

Just my two cents, though. I'm aware your list is also just an opinion.
 

Tinkalila

Inkling
Joined
Jul 4, 2015
Messages
5
Location
New York
NNID
Tinkalila
Whenever I use a charger and lose, I feel awful about it because I know we probably could've won if I used a regular gun instead.
 

Kaliafornia

Splatin' through Inkopolis with my woes....
Joined
Jun 1, 2015
Messages
346
Location
Seattle/L.A.
NNID
Kaliafornia
I know anecdotal evidence is a poor indicator, but I've won one match ever in Urchin in ranked on a Charger. And my contribution was still minimal, only helping by getting a double Splat through the grate in their base.

It's too easy for opponents to get to you quickly, and even the best spots to sit don't give much visibility of the the tower's full path.

My argument, boiled down, is that Blackbelly has options for Chargers. It's definitely not ideal, but there are choices. Urchin just doesn't have them from what I can see.

I don't play ranked anymore if Urchin is up, but I'll play Blackbelly gladly.

Just my two cents, though. I'm aware your list is also just an opinion.
I assume you are using E-liter? E-liter is tougher on Urchin then Splatterscope/charger in SZ. You don't need the range of E-liter and charge time is too long (especially if you don't have enough damage ups to kill on half charge). Have you tried utilizing burst bombs more? I usually only have 2-3 deaths max a game even when losing playing the E-liter because I can either kill or gtfo of a situation using my burst bombs.


Whenever I use a charger and lose, I feel awful about it because I know we probably could've won if I used a regular gun instead.
Don't feel awful. A charger's ability to carry is dependent on whether their team can take advantage of the holes they open up. I got 2 triple kills in a row (15/1 K/D ratio) and we lost cause my team was too busy charging specials/ spawn camping and not covering zones. Of course missing shots or having a bad game may be your fault but some of my best games I lost because of my team not focusing on the goal.
 

telite2

Inkling
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
3
NNID
chocolatedino
I've been playing charger since the game came out. I love the the range, that I can get a one hit kill, and it's good at basically creating lanes on the map to move through. Obviously it has it's disadvantages and I've considered switching to the squiff for the quicker charge-up, but I can't make that sacrifice for the range. Also, I can't get rid of my sprinkler it's way too useful to me as a defensive or offensive tool.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom