Are rollers less used these days?

[Zombie Aladdin]

Something I've noticed is not a decrease in the number of rollers, but maybe it's because I see a lot of Japanese players. Rather, it's their style. I'm not seeing quite as many rollers used mainly to ink, but I am seeing a lot of ambush rollers. They are roller users less interested in inking a lot of turf and more interested in creating traps and waiting patiently for someone to come by, then splat them from an unexpected place and angle. I'm seeing player gets 8 or more plats per match while barely making 400p, if that.

 

[Miirisa]

This is unfortunately true, but there are some of us out there that want a little bit of challenge within the realm of mastering their weapon. I personally love the Splat Roller and can't stand the slow thrust of the dynamo. Granted, I've never really given the carbon roller a fair try. Honestly though, I like Splat Rollers because of the fact that they feel like a great middle ground of "wait and hide" as well as "push for ground". You just have to master that middle ground and sure you may die a few times here, but as long as you know when to do what you'll be able to power through it.

Rollers are amazing! Just a bit too weak...

 

[Award]

If you think that rollers are uncommon now, there is a chance that you're not facing enough Japanese players. :p In all seriousness... Rollers have become a bit less common among foreigners but they're still very popular among Japanese players. Since I play fairly late at night here in California, I face a lot of Japanese players. I have way too many matches where either my team or the other team has 3 or 4 rollers. When I'm playing during the day, these types of matches become increasingly rare. So the drop in popularity depending on region is definitely become fairly obvious.

I think the nerf does have a lot to do with foreign players abandoning the roller. After the update, you can't swing the roller blindly anymore and hope for a splat. You have to actually think about your movements and aim well. This change caused many people to abandon the roller because they didn't want to be bothered to actually learn the weapon. Players who were good with their rollers weren't effected by the nerf much at all. As a roller main, I can say that I noticed very little changes to my roller. The only real change I noticed was that my splash damage seemed a bit weaker and my hitbox is smaller. I'll miss occasionally even when it seems like my roller is coming down straight on top of them. The hitbox for rollers has been a bit odd since the update.

So yeah.

Rollers are more uncommon among people from North America and Europe but they're still extremely popular with the Japanese.

I see rollers pretty much all the time. Hordes of Krak-On's everywhere, a fair mix of splat rollers, and a fair number of carbon rollers. And the obligatory S+ ranked Dynamo every 5th match. I'd say there's at least 1 roller in about 60% of all matches I play. And some of them have 5. But, then I predominantly play Japanese players to the point that most of my lobbies are 7 Japanese players + me, so maybe that's why. I'm not sure I saw as many during Splatfest, though I get matched largely with higher rank players and so I saw a number of Dynamos.

I've pointed out a few times that the matchmaker seems to do weird things with grouping up multiple of the same weapon, or identifying what weapons you main. When I take a roller I see tons of rollers, when I take eliter I see tons of eliters. It's possible that some people that play mostly shooters are matched mostly with other shooters and thus see less rollers.

The nerf is almost certainly related though. It took what was a low skill floor weapon and turned it into a very high skill floor weapon so many understandably moved on to greener pastures. Not everyone is a masochist who seeks ONLY the high skill floor weapons like me ;)

I think that has a lot to do with it for North America and Europe. It's very common for NA and EU players to become a little bit lazy. If a weapon is hard, a lot of us won't put the time and effort into learning it so we move on in order to pick up an easier weapon. It's a bad habit that both our regions need to break. xP It's funny because a lot of people will eventually go back to rollers once they get owned by one in a match and it's just a vicious cycle haha. :p

It might be a bit incorrect to say that Westerners are "lazy" in their games compared to Japan. I think the West, and especially Nintendo players have more "casual" players who aren't interested in high challenge that still play on consoles & handhelds, while in Japan the casual users have moved squarely to mobile. The same "lazy" casual players exist in both places, it's just that they mostly play on a different platform in Japan. In the US a home console is still a family item of interest to anyone (it's on TV!) while handhelds are something for very dedicated game lovers (and, yes, kids.) In Japan I think if you buy a home console it's because you're VERY into your games, while handhelds and especially mobile attract that wider more casual pool. So it's a self sorting system. Japanese WiiU owners are going to be mostly "core gamers" who want challenge. Western WiiU owners are going to be a mix of "core gamers" and a lot of recreational gamers. I'm not sure it's really much of a cultural difference in this case that contributes - serious players are serious in both places. Though I still feel the Japanese serious players approach the game with a different, more friendly attitude while Western serious players are "all business."

Something I've noticed is not a decrease in the number of rollers, but maybe it's because I see a lot of Japanese players. Rather, it's their style. I'm not seeing quite as many rollers used mainly to ink, but I am seeing a lot of ambush rollers. They are roller users less interested in inking a lot of turf and more interested in creating traps and waiting patiently for someone to come by, then splat them from an unexpected place and angle. I'm seeing player gets 8 or more plats per match while barely making 400p, if that.

I've seen that too. I posted in the salt thread about that yesterday actually! It's mostly going to be carbons doing that, I haven't seen many splat/krak-ons doing that. I'm not sure if it's people that have simply adopted a (cheesy, cheap, dishonorable) camping strategy (that's, in my book, right next to spawn camping in the "total ahole" book of plays) with carbon rollers, or if there's more and more brush users trying out carbon rollers. I expect brushes to camp. I hate them for it, and loathe having to deal with them, but I understand due to their otherwise limited abilities, that's what brushes need to do. But rollers are just cheap if they do that.

Also of interest is that I don't think I've seen any Japanese players do the cheesy camping - it's always western players. And as a carbon main myself, I don't play it that way. I may lie in wait for 5-10 seconds or so if I see an enemy may be coming my way (which is what you have to do) and then continue rolling/flicking along, but I don't sit in their own base in random splotches of ink for upward to 40 seconds of a 3:00 TW match waiting for someone to kill. If I wanted to do that I'd just have brought eliter. If I'm done painting new ground, I might lurk around mid underwater like a shark - but that's mid, deep in our own ink, and they (should) know I'm there, not teeny tiny splotches on ledges within enemy ink. But, then, I mostly play the Japanese, so I've adopted mostly Japanese playstyles. :)

The camping strategy is kind of a "junior spawncamper" strategy. They don't sit at your spawn in force. They hide in random, undetectable, unflushable (short of echo/PS) locations but next to high traffic areas they know you will enter, WITHIN your base area. It SHOULD be a losing strategy in TW since a roller should be a main contributor to your team's turf coverage and recovery from failed pushes, but somehow it seems to win, because nobody ever knows which base exist is clear, and causes both hesitation and likely splatting on attempt to exit.

 

[Miirisa]

I see rollers pretty much all the time. Hordes of Krak-On's everywhere, a fair mix of splat rollers, and a fair number of carbon rollers. And the obligatory S+ ranked Dynamo every 5th match. I'd say there's at least 1 roller in about 60% of all matches I play. And some of them have 5. But, then I predominantly play Japanese players to the point that most of my lobbies are 7 Japanese players + me, so maybe that's why. I'm not sure I saw as many during Splatfest, though I get matched largely with higher rank players and so I saw a number of Dynamos.

I've pointed out a few times that the matchmaker seems to do weird things with grouping up multiple of the same weapon, or identifying what weapons you main. When I take a roller I see tons of rollers, when I take eliter I see tons of eliters. It's possible that some people that play mostly shooters are matched mostly with other shooters and thus see less rollers.

The nerf is almost certainly related though. It took what was a low skill floor weapon and turned it into a very high skill floor weapon so many understandably moved on to greener pastures. Not everyone is a masochist who seeks ONLY the high skill floor weapons like me ;)



It might be a bit incorrect to say that Westerners are "lazy" in their games compared to Japan. I think the West, and especially Nintendo players have more "casual" players who aren't interested in high challenge that still play on consoles & handhelds, while in Japan the casual users have moved squarely to mobile. The same "lazy" casual players exist in both places, it's just that they mostly play on a different platform in Japan. In the US a home console is still a family item of interest to anyone (it's on TV!) while handhelds are something for very dedicated game lovers (and, yes, kids.) In Japan I think if you buy a home console it's because you're VERY into your games, while handhelds and especially mobile attract that wider more casual pool. So it's a self sorting system. Japanese WiiU owners are going to be mostly "core gamers" who want challenge. Western WiiU owners are going to be a mix of "core gamers" and a lot of recreational gamers. I'm not sure it's really much of a cultural difference in this case that contributes - serious players are serious in both places. Though I still feel the Japanese serious players approach the game with a different, more friendly attitude while Western serious players are "all business."



I've seen that too. I posted in the salt thread about that yesterday actually! It's mostly going to be carbons doing that, I haven't seen many splat/krak-ons doing that. I'm not sure if it's people that have simply adopted a (cheesy, cheap, dishonorable) camping strategy (that's, in my book, right next to spawn camping in the "total ahole" book of plays) with carbon rollers, or if there's more and more brush users trying out carbon rollers. I expect brushes to camp. I hate them for it, and loathe having to deal with them, but I understand due to their otherwise limited abilities, that's what brushes need to do. But rollers are just cheap if they do that.

Also of interest is that I don't think I've seen any Japanese players do the cheesy camping - it's always western players. And as a carbon main myself, I don't play it that way. I may lie in wait for 5-10 seconds or so if I see an enemy may be coming my way (which is what you have to do) and then continue rolling/flicking along, but I don't sit in their own base in random splotches of ink for upward to 40 seconds of a 3:00 TW match waiting for someone to kill. If I wanted to do that I'd just have brought eliter. If I'm done painting new ground, I might lurk around mid underwater like a shark - but that's mid, deep in our own ink, and they (should) know I'm there, not teeny tiny splotches on ledges within enemy ink. But, then, I mostly play the Japanese, so I've adopted mostly Japanese playstyles. :)

The camping strategy is kind of a "junior spawncamper" strategy. They don't sit at your spawn in force. They hide in random, undetectable, unflushable (short of echo/PS) locations but next to high traffic areas they know you will enter, WITHIN your base area. It SHOULD be a losing strategy in TW since a roller should be a main contributor to your team's turf coverage and recovery from failed pushes, but somehow it seems to win, because nobody ever knows which base exist is clear, and causes both hesitation and likely splatting on attempt to exit.

Haha looks like our play experiences are different..I rarely see any rollers wich is why I play in a defensive way, even with a carbon :D

 

[Award]

Haha looks like our play experiences are different..I rarely see any rollers wich is why I play in a defensive way, even with a carbon :D

It sounds that way!

I'm naturally a defensive player but I'm a highly aggressive fighter, in a defensive role. though I'll take Carbon offensively depending on the map. Ironically, for me, the vanilla/krak-on rollers are the only weapons I REALLY have to watch out for and represent serious danger to me. Most shooters I can outrun, speed around, and close in for the ohko like a sploosh can - for everyone else there's burst cancelling. But regular rollers are dangerous. Too close and then can steamroll me, anywhere in site they can out-fling me. I worry most about regular rollers!

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

I've seen that too. I posted in the salt thread about that yesterday actually! It's mostly going to be carbons doing that, I haven't seen many splat/krak-ons doing that. I'm not sure if it's people that have simply adopted a (cheesy, cheap, dishonorable) camping strategy (that's, in my book, right next to spawn camping in the "total ahole" book of plays) with carbon rollers, or if there's more and more brush users trying out carbon rollers. I expect brushes to camp. I hate them for it, and loathe having to deal with them, but I understand due to their otherwise limited abilities, that's what brushes need to do. But rollers are just cheap if they do that.

Also of interest is that I don't think I've seen any Japanese players do the cheesy camping - it's always western players. And as a carbon main myself, I don't play it that way. I may lie in wait for 5-10 seconds or so if I see an enemy may be coming my way (which is what you have to do) and then continue rolling/flicking along, but I don't sit in their own base in random splotches of ink for upward to 40 seconds of a 3:00 TW match waiting for someone to kill. If I wanted to do that I'd just have brought eliter. If I'm done painting new ground, I might lurk around mid underwater like a shark - but that's mid, deep in our own ink, and they (should) know I'm there, not teeny tiny splotches on ledges within enemy ink. But, then, I mostly play the Japanese, so I've adopted mostly Japanese playstyles. :)

The camping strategy is kind of a "junior spawncamper" strategy. They don't sit at your spawn in force. They hide in random, undetectable, unflushable (short of echo/PS) locations but next to high traffic areas they know you will enter, WITHIN your base area. It SHOULD be a losing strategy in TW since a roller should be a main contributor to your team's turf coverage and recovery from failed pushes, but somehow it seems to win, because nobody ever knows which base exist is clear, and causes both hesitation and likely splatting on attempt to exit.

What I've noticed is that ambush rollers are predominantly Carbon with a bit of Splat. I'd estimate I see about 70% Carbon and 30% Splat. Since they're using their rollers' abilities without their sub-weapons or special weapons, it's a total mix whether it's the vanilla or alternate forms. I actually see both Japanese and western players doing this ambushing, so I think it's a style that got picked up somewhere and copied by many people.

As for where they do it, while they're more likely to set an ambush on the opposing team's side, I rarely ever see them actually spawn-camp. The idea is to be as unpredictable as possible, so they lie in random areas, usually in a corner or by a wall but sometimes out in the open. Sometimes, they run, not ink, to make their hiding spots as subtle as possible, which mush explain why their ink score is so low at the end of a match. (I've seen some below 150p, meaning most of their score is from splats, even more pronounced than snipers.)

That being said, when they stick with this strategy, their biggest weakness is, besides the fact that they're not contributing to inking for their team, is that they cnanot switch to a different strategy. If their location is marked, whether via Echolocator, Point Sensor, Haunt, or a Disruptor, they will continue to hide where they are and attempt an ambush; they will almost certainly be splatted when detected. There are some who use Cold-Blooded for this purpose though.

 

[Award]

What I've noticed is that ambush rollers are predominantly Carbon with a bit of Splat. I'd estimate I see about 70% Carbon and 30% Splat. Since they're using their rollers' abilities without their sub-weapons or special weapons, it's a total mix whether it's the vanilla or alternate forms. I actually see both Japanese and western players doing this ambushing, so I think it's a style that got picked up somewhere and copied by many people.

As for where they do it, while they're more likely to set an ambush on the opposing team's side, I rarely ever see them actually spawn-camp. The idea is to be as unpredictable as possible, so they lie in random areas, usually in a corner or by a wall but sometimes out in the open. Sometimes, they run, not ink, to make their hiding spots as subtle as possible, which mush explain why their ink score is so low at the end of a match. (I've seen some below 150p, meaning most of their score is from splats, even more pronounced than snipers.)

That being said, when they stick with this strategy, their biggest weakness is, besides the fact that they're not contributing to inking for their team, is that they cnanot switch to a different strategy. If their location is marked, whether via Echolocator, Point Sensor, Haunt, or a Disruptor, they will continue to hide where they are and attempt an ambush; they will almost certainly be splatted when detected. There are some who use Cold-Blooded for this purpose though.

Yes, that's definitely the way I've seen it done. It's absolutely more likely on carbon roller because of it's speed. And exactly as you describe, they will rarely ink. They may do a single fling and hide in one of the spatter dots. These are brush strategies and I'd bet those using it are/were brush users who decided the ohko potential of a roller is even better than a brush for the job, though in reality the brushes are so fast there's little difference.

It's a cheap, annoying strategy when brushes use it, but I can accept that's part of the brushes play style. But it's just offensive when rollers do it. It relies on a trick the devs likely didn't think of regarding intentionally NOT painting your path and walking through enemy ink as well as being able to hide in ink dots SMALLER than the size of the whole squid - which is really a cheat, IMO. it wouldn't be nearly as effective if you had to be covered by ink to hide in ink.Instead if you center your squid over a droplet it disappears. It's annoying they do this, but it's more annoying that it seems to work.

Personally I do see it as a cousin of the spawncamp. The goal and methodology is the same, cut off your escape from spawn from within your base. I would not mind them camping that way in mid or in their own base. It's the fact that they make a point of doing it within your base that makes it so distasteful. If matches were 10:00 it wouldn't be bad. They'd get figured out and flushed. But in 3:00, if it takes the team 1:00 to figure out what's going on, you've already lost 1/3 your match to them. It's basically an equivalent of an eliter being able to snipe without lasers.

I do not participate in my team's spawncamps, and I do not camp my roller. I'll evade, flank, or wait out a nearby enemy on their approach for several seconds, but I will not camp. I realize Splatoon is different and the ink mechanic promotes camping to a degree, but I come from an era of online shooters (Quake) where camping was considered dishonorable, distasteful, and in clan matches, campers would be thrown out (possibly out of the entire tournament.)

 

[Silver]

Haha I actually played against some japanese players today.. and yeah there was a roller in every single match but in europe people don`t use the rollers...I wonder why..

Be careful with the double posting please :)

 

[Airi]

I see rollers pretty much all the time. Hordes of Krak-On's everywhere, a fair mix of splat rollers, and a fair number of carbon rollers. And the obligatory S+ ranked Dynamo every 5th match. I'd say there's at least 1 roller in about 60% of all matches I play. And some of them have 5. But, then I predominantly play Japanese players to the point that most of my lobbies are 7 Japanese players + me, so maybe that's why. I'm not sure I saw as many during Splatfest, though I get matched largely with higher rank players and so I saw a number of Dynamos.

I've pointed out a few times that the matchmaker seems to do weird things with grouping up multiple of the same weapon, or identifying what weapons you main. When I take a roller I see tons of rollers, when I take eliter I see tons of eliters. It's possible that some people that play mostly shooters are matched mostly with other shooters and thus see less rollers.

The nerf is almost certainly related though. It took what was a low skill floor weapon and turned it into a very high skill floor weapon so many understandably moved on to greener pastures. Not everyone is a masochist who seeks ONLY the high skill floor weapons like me ;).

It's seems like lately, you can't go a Ranked match without seeing a Dynamo. Earlier, I was on a team with three Dynamos. Thankfully, it was Splat Zones on Mahi-Mahi so the win was extremely easy but that could have spelled disaster on another course. A few matches later, the opposing team had three Dynamos but that was on Camp Triggerfish. A little more doable but still extremely annoying. o_O This was all in on my side account that is still A+. I guess people are learning earlier these days. :P

The Carbon Rollers are still pretty popular among everyone in Turf War I've been noticing. The good thing is that most don't know how to use it so they're easy targets. :P Or maybe it's because the Carbon is my main so I know every trick they could pull. :v They're probably more popular due to the faster inking than the other weapons - but they're always dying constantly because they never use stealth to get around. x) The Splat Roller has dyed down a little now that the newbies have moved onto the guns. x)

The matchmaking system definitely needs a way to filter weapons. It's not impossible to win with three or four snipers/rollers on your team but it is incredibly annoying to have a match like that.

 

[Blair ✩]

I still see the same amount of rollers as I used to see :'0 Maybe it depends on the time of day your playing?? 'Dunno.

 

[aceofscarabs]

Krakon Roller Ninja from Tokyo are still a fearsome opponent. Ran into one whom I SWEAR trounced me several times over a number of Turf and Ranked matches last year.

 

[Award]

It's seems like lately, you can't go a Ranked match without seeing a Dynamo. Earlier, I was on a team with three Dynamos. Thankfully, it was Splat Zones on Mahi-Mahi so the win was extremely easy but that could have spelled disaster on another course. A few matches later, the opposing team had three Dynamos but that was on Camp Triggerfish. A little more doable but still extremely annoying. o_O This was all in on my side account that is still A+. I guess people are learning earlier these days. :p

The Carbon Rollers are still pretty popular among everyone in Turf War I've been noticing. The good thing is that most don't know how to use it so they're easy targets. :p Or maybe it's because the Carbon is my main so I know every trick they could pull. :v They're probably more popular due to the faster inking than the other weapons - but they're always dying constantly because they never use stealth to get around. x) The Splat Roller has dyed down a little now that the newbies have moved onto the guns. x)

The matchmaking system definitely needs a way to filter weapons. It's not impossible to win with three or four snipers/rollers on your team but it is incredibly annoying to have a match like that.

Dynamos and eliters are a similar club of "hard to learn, difficult to use, but utterly dominating when used by skilled players, and completely worthless with a team stacked with them" I often see teams of 3 eliters or 2 eliters and a splatterscope (or the dreaded 4 sniper team.) I think I've won maybe 2 of those matches, and It was definitely not me who carried the victory but some ace Japanese sniper that got triple the kills I did and thankfully was on my team! I'm not a dynamo afficianado (though I'd like to get into it at some point) but I know they have the same struggles! It won't stop me from resenting good dynamos though. I still think dynamos are in need of a nerf. I know they're hard to wield but that 50 degree arc of ohko across the entire length of mid is just a little wrong. Why can't my eliter have a hitbox the diameter of a rapid blaster AoE while they're at it? :p It could be coincidence but I've noted on other threads that I almost see a pattern that it actually DOES filter weapons in the matchmaker, and actually seems to intentionally try to match same weapons. I've found many times that when I use weapon X, there will suddenly be many more of weapon type X in the lobby.

Interesting about carbon being popular (and unskilled) in TW. I haven't seen many unskilled carbons (and haven playing mostly TW.) I still see unskilled krak-ons/splats that try to steamroll me (and I rage so much when I actually let them succeed! :p) and I agree, dedicated inkers should love carbons because they spread ink and move so fast! (Yet carbon seems to not rate as high in total ink coverage as you'd think it would!) But I haven't seen too many carbons that just zip around and try to steamroll. I've seen some that aren't knowledgeable in avoiding snipers, but CQC they seem capable (or campy...ugh.) What I don't see too much is a ton of burst bomb use from other carbons which is surprising, though I picked up being a "burst bomb main" y vanilla eliter run ;) When I first started playing carbon I could NOT get used to using bursts so much. I was playing Carbon in Bluefin yesterday (and, yes, there was another carbon on my team, it matchmakes me with same weapons all the time!) He took the left pit, I took right. He didn't have the better score ;), but, then, my score wasn't as good as I'm used to (I usually go 5/0-7/2, this time I had 5/3 and 3/2. But I think there were two krak-on/splats on the other team (and dancing around that little quad wall in the pit with a roller with more range leads to some trades. But I was dividing my time between covering my pit and throwing bursts across to the other pit to keep invaders from going up the wall. Got a splat or two out of that! That set had at least 4 rollers in the lobby. I'm fairly skilled, one of the krak-ons was pretty skilled. the other carbon, not good but not awful, and the other splat/krak I'd say the same.

 

[MasterSaruwatari]

I think the Rollers are the best in the game still. Granted, I got the game....and console on black friday 2015..so it would be nice to fill me in all the nerfs to it since once I unlock I decided to find my rhythm and pacing with the game. I think the rollers can work in all modes and can beat any weapon in a 1v1. The ability to get one shot kills never left it so I feel it will never be bad. I will say the nerf that I did witness is nerf the hitbox on the splat move. You basically have to make sure you are dead center now. So no more splating people popping in and out with the splat move.

But as someone who is C and level 16...I pretty much can't use anything else in the game. I have taken teams of level 40s out by myself with the splat roller/krak-on...which in my opinion is such a dumb sub weapon it's great. It's pretty a get out of jail free card to save you from dying and can help you wipe out a team. I hope the other roller I unlock can live up to the hype of the splat roller. Also if I can suggest the roller is even stronger if you have movement buffs on ground and ink. You become sanic the squid.

 

[Miirisa]

Dynamos and eliters are a similar club of "hard to learn, difficult to use, but utterly dominating when used by skilled players, and completely worthless with a team stacked with them" I often see teams of 3 eliters or 2 eliters and a splatterscope (or the dreaded 4 sniper team.) I think I've won maybe 2 of those matches, and It was definitely not me who carried the victory but some ace Japanese sniper that got triple the kills I did and thankfully was on my team! I'm not a dynamo afficianado (though I'd like to get into it at some point) but I know they have the same struggles! It won't stop me from resenting good dynamos though. I still think dynamos are in need of a nerf. I know they're hard to wield but that 50 degree arc of ohko across the entire length of mid is just a little wrong. Why can't my eliter have a hitbox the diameter of a rapid blaster AoE while they're at it? :p It could be coincidence but I've noted on other threads that I almost see a pattern that it actually DOES filter weapons in the matchmaker, and actually seems to intentionally try to match same weapons. I've found many times that when I use weapon X, there will suddenly be many more of weapon type X in the lobby.

Interesting about carbon being popular (and unskilled) in TW. I haven't seen many unskilled carbons (and haven playing mostly TW.) I still see unskilled krak-ons/splats that try to steamroll me (and I rage so much when I actually let them succeed! :p) and I agree, dedicated inkers should love carbons because they spread ink and move so fast! (Yet carbon seems to not rate as high in total ink coverage as you'd think it would!) But I haven't seen too many carbons that just zip around and try to steamroll. I've seen some that aren't knowledgeable in avoiding snipers, but CQC they seem capable (or campy...ugh.) What I don't see too much is a ton of burst bomb use from other carbons which is surprising, though I picked up being a "burst bomb main" y vanilla eliter run ;) When I first started playing carbon I could NOT get used to using bursts so much. I was playing Carbon in Bluefin yesterday (and, yes, there was another carbon on my team, it matchmakes me with same weapons all the time!) He took the left pit, I took right. He didn't have the better score ;), but, then, my score wasn't as good as I'm used to (I usually go 5/0-7/2, this time I had 5/3 and 3/2. But I think there were two krak-on/splats on the other team (and dancing around that little quad wall in the pit with a roller with more range leads to some trades. But I was dividing my time between covering my pit and throwing bursts across to the other pit to keep invaders from going up the wall. Got a splat or two out of that! That set had at least 4 rollers in the lobby. I'm fairly skilled, one of the krak-ons was pretty skilled. the other carbon, not good but not awful, and the other splat/krak I'd say the same.

The dynamos are very strong but they`re sooooo sloooowww...And carbon users are probably more experienced with rollers since they are so fast but weak :D

 

[Tewn]

Personally, I main Krak-On roller.
Sounds odd but works for me.

 

[Celeste]

I do still see people using carbon rollers but I feel like they're so easy to take out nowadays, I'm more focused on trying to avoid snipers. It depends really. I think as people level up they realise how easy it is to avoid a roller and how to kill them (I mean, when I look at old Splatoon testfire videos, I see how people who were using rollers were getting all of the kills), plus with more powerful weapons being unlocked as you level up, a roller seems like a less desirable option.

I have encountered a few people who use the dynamo roller and I will admit if they're good at using it they can be a real pain. I remember once my whole team were basically blocked into our spawn point on Piranha Pit because of one dynamo roller that was getting 10+ kills each match. They were amazing tbh.

 

[Award]

The dynamos are very strong but they`re sooooo sloooowww...And carbon users are probably more experienced with rollers since they are so fast but weak :D

I still haven't unlocked the dynamo yet! I keep saving the last bits of the campaign for when Splatoon is down for maintenance....it saves me from Splatoon Withdrawl :p I have a backlog of other games to get to, but i just can't seem to get to them!

I do still see people using carbon rollers but I feel like they're so easy to take out nowadays, I'm more focused on trying to avoid snipers. It depends really. I think as people level up they realise how easy it is to avoid a roller and how to kill them (I mean, when I look at old Splatoon testfire videos, I see how people who were using rollers were getting all of the kills), plus with more powerful weapons being unlocked as you level up, a roller seems like a less desirable option.

I have encountered a few people who use the dynamo roller and I will admit if they're good at using it they can be a real pain. I remember once my whole team were basically blocked into our spawn point on Piranha Pit because of one dynamo roller that was getting 10+ kills each match. They were amazing tbh.

Rollers played poorly are easy to take out. Rollers played well can be a nightmare to face. Carbons are kind of a cousin to Sploosh-o-Matic. They're kind of weak since they can't do much in range, but they're not played straight-on they're played much like Sploosh - you stealthily flank, and it's a fast firing ohko weapon at a range you can't escape once it's near you. And their fast movement makes them hard to hit for snipers too.

The splat/krak rollers are easier for snipers to hit if they roll, but in hostile territory, it's not wise to roll it - the real power is the flick. It spreads a lot of ink, a lot of distance making it difficult (and deadly) to attempt to approach head-on. Add in Krak-On's beacons and a well coordinate team can pop up at any time. The trouble is when they were seen more frequently, people thought they were easy like the testfire days and don't understand why they keep getting splatted (while moving in straight lines.) When thought of more as "shotguns" in other games, they make a lot more sense ;) But it's a higher skill floor than shooters from a weapon people expect to be easier so it turns a lot of people off early I think. When you see what some of the advanced Japanese players can do with a roller, they become a lot more interesting!

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

Yeah, the Carbon Rollers are used mainly in two ways, as I see it. The first, more common one is people who are focused on inking and not at all concerned about splatting, and the Carbon Roller appeals to them due to its rapid inking. (I don't know how it compares to the Aerosprays though.) The second, less common but definitely more troublesome, is the ambush roller, who hide in little patches of ink in high-traffic areas, pop out, splat, and jump back in or change locations. In both cases, the appeal of the Carbon Roller is its speed: The former uses it for defense, and the latter uses it for offense.

You get the third rarer type who uses the Carbon Roller Deco and relies on Seeker Bomb Rush for splats. Usually, they're not that good, but I've seen some really dangerous people who use this technique: They stay out of the conflict until Seeker Bomb Rush becomes available, then manipulate their targets into areas where they can't easily escape from Seeker stampedes or can't see them until they're close by.

 

[Award]

Yeah, the Carbon Rollers are used mainly in two ways, as I see it. The first, more common one is people who are focused on inking and not at all concerned about splatting, and the Carbon Roller appeals to them due to its rapid inking. (I don't know how it compares to the Aerosprays though.) The second, less common but definitely more troublesome, is the ambush roller, who hide in little patches of ink in high-traffic areas, pop out, splat, and jump back in or change locations. In both cases, the appeal of the Carbon Roller is its speed: The former uses it for defense, and the latter uses it for offense.

You get the third rarer type who uses the Carbon Roller Deco and relies on Seeker Bomb Rush for splats. Usually, they're not that good, but I've seen some really dangerous people who use this technique: They stay out of the conflict until Seeker Bomb Rush becomes available, then manipulate their targets into areas where they can't easily escape from Seeker stampedes or can't see them until they're close by.

Carbon doesn't come close to comparing with aero/sploosh for turfinig - especially aero. I'm not sure it competes well with splash-o either. Because of the big fling splat/krak-on roller seems to ink more easily as well.

I'd say there's 4 types of Carbon rollers. The inkers that speed by are the one, and they're not bad if they're devensive in their maneuvering. They can actually wreak havok on the field in TW.

Then there's the ambush rollers (they main the Red Winnebago) who think Camp Triggerfish is the objective tutorial, not the map name. These people are probably brush mains or former brush mains. These people suck. Full stop.

I forgot about the third type, you're right about the Deco users that seem to always have a seeker rush charged whenever you see them. I've seen those, however the effective ones I've seen are really a subset of type 2. They camp long enough for the smores to cool but ALSO have a seeker rush readied in between.

Then there's the forth: Everybody else. Or "Carbon rollers who play the objective." We ink when there's time to ink, then either retreat within our defensive perimiter camping not in splotches of our ink but within the ocean of our own ink lurking for intruders. We'll push - eating away at the fringe of the front line with flings and/or rolls, boxing in a new defensive line and enforcing it, creeping ever forward through mid and beyond. We stay near the front line unless we're adding to it. In Zones, I'll stay on the zone the entire match, running back and forth between split zones, clearing them, taking control, retreating only to reassess and refill, or to chase down/cover up ink trails from flank attempts by the enemy. Flanking (not camping) to sieze the RM, etc. The first three types are the types that don't really play the objective (except the first one in TW - that one could be a support role in ranked though. #2 and #3 are playing their own game. They may help the objective by accident though.

 

[Sparkly Ink]

I personally inked over 300k with the gold dynamo in the turf wars, but I recently started using the splashomatic because I wanted to do ranks and I was not doing well there with a roller at all