Are Blasters Ruined?

[Smarty1two]

So, there are a lot of little tweaks and changes that have taken place in Splatoon 2, but the one that's currently annoying me the most would be the small but possibly most devastating alteration, is the change they've done to the blaster. Now at first, I didn't notice it (in fact I just thought that my aim was crap) but it turns out that with the blaster if you jump and shoot your accuracy decreases. To explain it in another way, with the roller when you jump this activates the longer flat reticle and this change is shown as your reticle changes from a wide one to a long and skinny one (quite fitting). How this relates to the blaster is that when you jump the reticle also changes and goes from a very accurate shot to a wider more inaccurate shot.

This change is big because it changes the way blasters have to be used in order for them to be effective and also makes it harder for movement options. In the first game, the blaster was great because you were able to keep the momentum from jumping and shooting. This gave the blaster a quite refined and usable mode of movement as it allowed you to engage your opponents while still being able to move. Now in the first game, this could be abused by adding swim speed and damage up to give you a bigger blast radius and faster swim speed but as most of us already know with Splatoon 2 is that there is no damage up so this aspect cannot be abused.

How splatoon 2 wants people to use the blaster is to swim, shoot (not jump) and then swim and repeat. This kills the whole momentum aspect that made the blaster great in the first place. Splatoon 2 reinforces the way it wants you to use the blaster by punishing you when you decide to jump and shoot by making your shots more inaccurate. There is a ray of sunshine to this matter though, as I've experimented there is a way to kind predict/control where your shot is going to land after jumping. Basically, if you're moving the camera to the left and you jump + shoot then your shot would be on the left side of the reticle and the faster/more dramatic your movement is the more off centre the shot will be.

In conclusion, if you want to be an effective blaster user you will have to suck up the new changes and readjust to account for your shots not landing 50% of the time.

 

[Dessgeega]

I understand your concerns, and I went into the firing range to see what you mean, but at the same time, this is a sequel. A lot's changed and we all have to adapt. Not to mention this is just the first week, it's a bit early to call anything "ruined" when the inevitable balance patches are en route.

So bunny hopping blasters are a thing of the past, like damage and defense and the viability of quick respawn. Find something new and crush your enemies!

 

[Smarty1two]

Find something new and crush your enemies!

that 'new' thing would be the rapid blaster, it's so much more effective and useful compared to the first game.

 

[Ansible]

Unless I'm overlooking some detail, I thought the blasters were always inaccurate when jumping? It's just that people learned to adjust their aim to compensate for it and further compensated with the addition of damage up.

 

[Smarty1two]

Unless I'm overlooking some detail, I thought the blasters were always inaccurate when jumping? It's just that people learned to adjust their aim to compensate for it and further compensated with the addition of damage up.

kinda, in the first game jumping made it harder to aim but in the second your shots are more off centre.

 

[mercenariez]

Well Rapid Blaster seems better right now idk why (in terms of gameplay not jump aim), but regular Blaster and Luna don't seem that good to me atm.

I do notice that the accuracy seems worse than in Splat 1 when jumping.

I could be wrong but I think Luna's fire rate has decreased.

 

[Smarty1two]

from what I've seen the fire rate seems unchanged but the lunas might be a little bit slower I'm honestly not sure. the other major problem with these weapons is the ink consumption, these new blasters take up more ink than the previous one but luckily this can be fixed through gear abilities.

 

[Leedika42]

Luna is the same, all guns in splatoon (blasters, splattershot, etc) lose accuracy in the air. It has always been this way. People in splatoon 1 would always hit with the indirects is how range blaster still worked out. If you wanted a direct you either got lucky and it traveled straight, were close enough for it not to matter, or stood on the ground

 

[MindWanderer]

So, no more bunny-blasting. It was a ridiculous and unintended strategy anyway. Now blasters have to keep their feet on the ground while aiming like anyone else. It hardly "ruins" them.

 

[Dessgeega]

So, no more bunny-blasting. It was a ridiculous and unintended strategy anyway. Now blasters have to keep their feet on the ground while aiming like anyone else. It hardly "ruins" them.

I'm inclined to agree with this. Solid aim still wins the day.

 

[Smarty1two]

but you guys are still ignoring the factor of movement in regards to blasters. If you have to stop moving in order to get a shot in then that makes you a bigger target and more likely useless in a match. Also, blasters getting directs for most people can be considered just 'luck' but for people who have actually trained with the weapon will know it takes a lot of skill in both movement, positioning and accuracy and if I have to stand still to shot well then that kills movement it slows my ability to position myself and if I do jump and shoot then there goes my accuracy.

 

[Dessgeega]

...And? Every weapon slows down when firing, and blasters are no exception. Chargers in particular have the choice of slowing to a crawl or becoming a giant glowing target. And the Blaster's foot speed is on par with the slosher and the Splattershot pro, it's hardly coming to a full stop. If bunny hopping was the only way you were able to perform with these weapons, you might need to rethink your approach.

 

[Smarty1two]

Every weapon slows down when firing.

um, have you heard of rollers and brushes? Also, chargers coming to a halt to shoot is part of how the weapon is used. For a weapon with such limited range like the blaster becoming slower is something that you don't want for a weapon.

 

[Dessgeega]

um, have you heard of rollers and brushes? Also, chargers coming to a halt to shoot is part of how the weapon is used. For a weapon with such limited range like the blaster becoming slower is something that you don't want for a weapon.

Yeah, those weapons also slow down to varying degrees when swung instead of rolled. Anyway, I loaded up the first game out of curiosity, and the reticle does the exact same thing in that game, the only difference is that this time the reticle stays open until you land and the first game's starts closing immediately. Furthermore, almost all weapons do this now by the looks of it, exceptions being chargers and sloshers for sensible reasons. It really looks like this was done to punish bunny hopping across the board. Sorry if you don't like that, but that seems to be how it is now.

 

[Smarty1two]

a reticle change is pure aesthetic in the first game. Flimsy accuracy is the fault of the user when jumping in the first game compared to the second.

 

[Dessgeega]

Incorrect. Your shots do go wider when jumping in the first game, regardless of the weapon. You can go on the firing range and test this yourself if you don't believe me.

 

[Smarty1two]

question are you shooting before or after the jump?

 

[Dessgeega]

Both, remember that this applies to all weapons, not just blasters. I can see shot deviations on all blasters that I've tried in the S1 firing range.

 

[Smarty1two]

I think you'll find that firing after jumping has almost zero inaccuracy opposed to firing beforehand.

 

[Dessgeega]

Do you want me to get footage of the shots veering off course in S1? Because I can if that's what it will take :P