Are Chargers bad

[sammich]

I feel Chargers are really hit or miss... no pun intended. Compared to the other weapons they are in a league of their own in terms of the skill required. Anyone can pick up a rapid fire weapon and do well with them due to how forgiving it is to miss with something that hits 5+ times a second. The same can be said for Rollers, all you have to do is roll or fling ink at people, though they are a little harder to use and some stages can be difficult to move around on. In the right hands a charger is amazing and your team will enjoy the relief of constantly having to watch their backs. I recently started using the Squiffer and I instantly loved the gun. Most of the chargers just feel too slow for the current game modes or maybe it's just me playing them wrong but Squiffer felt perfect for my play style.

Are chargers bad? No, but most of the people using them are ;)
Also... motion controls are not mandatory to be good with chargers. Not everyone plays the same way so if sticks work best for you then use them. I personally don't use motion control because it just feels really awkward. However, I have played a lot of shooters and I am pretty good at twitch shooting so that kinda makes up for it I guess lol. Here is some of my gameplay with the squiffer for anyone interested:

YASSSSS

thank you!! so far i've encountered no other good squiffers online, so i'm always looking for strategies myself :x

 

[OrenjiBoy135]

Today, I did excellently with the New Squiffer.

I simply inked the area with charged shots, and defensively used the Ink Mines. If I remembered to use my Inkzooka when it was ready, I'd mow down a couple of careless players.

 

[sammich]

I've gotten up to B rank using the new squiffer. problem is that on the upper levels, players using that long-ranged machine gun are hell.

though that's understandable since they're meant to counter chargers (i just wish i had a little MORE range than them if i'm hardly doing any damage with my quick shots). close to B+ rank now that i've gotten the hang of shooting aerospray players out of their bouncing better.

i have to say that ninja squid is INCREDIBLY helpful on a charger. without it, i'd pretty much always die if another player dodges a shot and gets close enough to shoot me. even if i try to squid away, they can pummel my poor fleeing self... but with ninja squid i noticed i could pretty regularly get away as long as i moved somewhat cautiously (aka making alternate branches and not just diving into the unknown with no way out but forward).

i'm still hoping for a better squiffer to come along through DLC. i have a lot of clothing with increased bomb distance and i'd rather simply have throwable bombs (not that terrible point sensor on the classic squiffer) than to pay to rescramble my abilities. *fingers crossed for full-stage radar special*

 

[Lag Chan]

The biggest problem with Chargers are how situational they are. Some maps are excellent for them, like Arowana Mall, which has a gigantic choke point everyone bunches up in, so it's pretty much like shooting fish in a barrel, and there's Port Mackerel where the inking capabilities of the Chargers truly shine.

And at the same time there's terrible maps for Chargers, like Urchin Underpass which is simply too close quarters and claustrophobic to do much with a Charger and Blackbelly Skatepark which usually results in you being overwhelmed by Shooters, plus the very few good sniping points.

Because of this no matter how good you are, there'll be cases where the map layout simply doesn't favour you and it's a real uphill struggle to do anything decent, usually leaving you reliant on teammates to get rid of targets you can't do much about. And if that doesn't happen, well good luck.

I still feel people sleep on Chargers too much and that as more maps come, the other variants will become more useful, like the underused Squiffer and E-Litre. I'm not much of a fan of them myself but if more viable maps crop up I might be tempted to give the E-Litre a shot at least.

 

[Chapter Serf]

The biggest problem with Chargers are how situational they are. Some maps are excellent for them, like Arowana Mall, which has a gigantic choke point everyone bunches up in, so it's pretty much like shooting fish in a barrel, and there's Port Mackerel where the inking capabilities of the Chargers truly shine.

And at the same time there's terrible maps for Chargers, like Urchin Underpass which is simply too close quarters and claustrophobic to do much with a Charger and Blackbelly Skatepark which usually results in you being overwhelmed by Shooters, plus the very few good sniping points.

Because of this no matter how good you are, there'll be cases where the map layout simply doesn't favour you and it's a real uphill struggle to do anything decent, usually leaving you reliant on teammates to get rid of targets you can't do much about. And if that doesn't happen, well good luck.

I still feel people sleep on Chargers too much and that as more maps come, the other variants will become more useful, like the underused Squiffer and E-Litre. I'm not much of a fan of them myself but if more viable maps crop up I might be tempted to give the E-Litre a shot at least.

I disagree in Underpass. In Splatzones, there are two vantage points (they're through the grates to the left of the start zones, the little arms that have the uninkable floor), that give a great over view of the map's single giant zone. Get a good sniper up there and he could pin down the entire other team and keep them from the zone.

 

[Lag Chan]

I disagree in Underpass. In Splatzones, there are two vantage points (they're through the grates to the left of the start zones, the little arms that have the uninkable floor), that give a great over view of the map's single giant zone. Get a good sniper up there and he could pin down the entire other team and keep them from the zone.

Might be a case of me just having horrible luck on there or me just not being defensive enough. Most of the time people can clearly spot me and hunt me down whenever I'm trying to snipe. Usually with Underpass I just skip on the Charger and use a Roller instead.

 

[ChivalRuse]

Why is New Squiffer preferred to Classic Squiffer? Isn't the splat bomb more useful for Splat Zones?

 

[Chapter Serf]

Why is New Squiffer preferred to Classic Squiffer? Isn't the splat bomb more useful for Splat Zones?

Ink mines allow you to cover your butt better. Bubblers are for fistfights and close quarters brawls. You're not getting into those with a sniper type weapon. New Squiffer has Inkzooka. You can never go wrong with an Inkzooka.

 

[meleesplatter]

Why is New Squiffer preferred to Classic Squiffer? Isn't the splat bomb more useful for Splat Zones?

Classic gets a point sensor, not splat bombs.

Squiffers can snipe a bit but they are best played somewhat in the thick of things since their fast charge gives them more forgiving close range
performance and a better shot at repelling multiple attackers. Very rewarding if you're accurate, and it's better at covering wide areas than other chargers too.

 

[LancerStaff]

Might be a case of me just having horrible luck on there or me just not being defensive enough. Most of the time people can clearly spot me and hunt me down whenever I'm trying to snipe. Usually with Underpass I just skip on the Charger and use a Roller instead.

Probably the number one thing keeping people from using the E-liter is that it just about requires attack ups. It's actually really fun with 'em, but my equipment with attack ups isn't really good otherwise so I stick with my normal set.

Squiffer? No idea how it's gotten the reputation it has. I think it's great of course, but I don't think people put very much effort into trying it.

 

[OrenjiBoy135]

Squiffer? No idea how it's gotten the reputation it has. I think it's great of course, but I don't think people put very much effort into trying it.

...Well.

Squiffers can snipe a bit but they are best played somewhat in the thick of things since their fast charge gives them more forgiving close range performance and a better shot at repelling multiple attackers. Very rewarding if you're accurate, and it's better at covering wide areas than other chargers too.

 

[LancerStaff]

...Well.

...Outside of this topic.

 

[° Moteki]

Dome is not as great for snipers as i thought. The area of the map forces you to move a lot more then a long range sniper should be. You sacrifice a lot of ink coverage in order to position . That is a stage simply for shooters and rollers.

Urchin underpass has proven to be very good for snipers. You can choke the enemy team really easy on that map provided you land your shots ( I too at first thought this map was a little to chaotic for snipers but took a lot of practice to see how well it plays out for snipers)

Rig is another map that I personally just don't like to snipe with (on turf). On splat-zone its great. :).
I'm currently working on a build for snipers and may make a thread sometime in the future if it proves to be a viable set up.

edit: To answer OP. chargers are not "bad"

 

[meleesplatter]

Dome is not as great for snipers as i thought. The area of the map forces you to move a lot more then a long range sniper should be. You sacrifice a lot of ink coverage in order to position . That is a stage simply for shooters and rollers.

Urchin underpass has proven to be very good for snipers. You can choke the enemy team really easy on that map provided you land your shots ( I too at first thought this map was a little to chaotic for snipers but took a lot of practice to see how well it plays out for snipers)

Rig is another map that I personally just don't like to snipe with (on turf). On splat-zone its great. :).
I'm currently working on a build for snipers and may make a thread sometime in the future if it proves to be a viable set up.

edit: To answer OP. chargers are not "bad"

Squiffers work better as chargers if you need to move a lot. Plus their range is just right for a lot of the corridors in Dome.

 

[° Moteki]

Squiffers work better as chargers if you need to move a lot. Plus their range is just right for a lot of the corridors in Dome.

in theory yes but in my opinion focusing mianly on ink coverage is more important then kills and coverage. people get like 2k bp on that stage with Rg lol.

Just to clarify again. Squiffers does answer the moving problem but not so much coverage.

 

[meleesplatter]

Probably the number one thing keeping people from using the E-liter is that it just about requires attack ups. It's actually really fun with 'em, but my equipment with attack ups isn't really good otherwise so I stick with my normal set.

Squiffer? No idea how it's gotten the reputation it has. I think it's great of course, but I don't think people put very much effort into trying it.

I wouldn't say the e-liter NEEDS offence ups (unless everybody else is running defence ups), it's just the one that benefits the most from them.
The second-most benefitted being .52 gals to ensure defence ups don't turn them into three shot kills.

 

[LancerStaff]

I wouldn't say the e-liter NEEDS offence ups (unless everybody else is running defence ups), it's just the one that benefits the most from them.
The second-most benefitted being .52 gals to ensure defence ups don't turn them into three shot kills.

It has a significant effect on the minimum charge time, bringing it down to somewhere around where a normal Splat Charger is with a main skill. It ends up saving more ink then Ink Saver does if I'm seeing things correctly. Necessary? Perhaps not. Is it huge? I'd say so.

 

[Szion]

So yea, chargers are hard to use. It requires the hands of competent players that know why they exist.

people playing online will see my mii name... I renamed myself [SaltS]Gus. I just got done playing some matches in an effort of reaching Lv 20... which i did an hour ago, but I digress.

I am a sniper. I use the Classic Squiffer. Many people were driven back to their base today because of my ability to stop momentum. This is the point of the charger to me. it is a one hit kill granted to those who can be the most accurate. by stopping the enemy from moving forward, it allows my allies to ink everywhere else.

This is not to say I don't go around inking the floor, as a charger, I can produce LONG LINES of ink, that is a crucial aspect of this gun. Instead of moving forward like a splattershot, I move side to side to ink the floor. Oftentimes I use my range to get ahead faster than others.

also, I use motion controllers... I don't know how others feel about motion controls when it comes to the charger, but I feel WAY more accurate with it on. I have more agency with my own arms than to be at the whim of the sensitivity I gave myself.

Agreed with all of this here. alot of my friends think chargers are lacking, and while they might be right i perform very well in turf war with classic squiffer. enough so to call it my main. while i find myself in many issues due to the visibility of my line of fire and how nice movement is...(i'd love a charger with ink wall.) i perform my best with this weapon.