Splatoon 2 Are Tenta Missles now competitivly viable?

[hoo]

Now with the patch I saw on a scrim that now tenta missles can pressure stingray and ink jet users out of their positions.
Is this just a fad that will die off or will this special no longer be memed?

 

[OctoKid]

So far, I've found this special a little bit better. Will need to play more to see just how effective the changes make it. I still dislike it, but it is on the N-ZAP '89 and I choose that variant for the Auto-bombs. Those have improved a little, too, in my opinion. The reduction in ink usage is very welcome and despite the time reduction, they remain effective. Overall, this makes the N-ZAP '89 a bit better.

 

[AllToonedUp]

I would say yes because unlike Stingray, missiles lock on to the opponent and it forces you to move. Not only is that great vs ranged weapons, but you after you launch them, your gauge is gone and you can gain more special points unlike Inkstorm where there's a timer on the gauge and you can't gain more points to refill it. Not only that, but it can also paint the stage unlike Stingray which not only helps with turf control, but also to pressure your opponents.

If you and your team has missiles and keep launching them, it's really hard for the other team to focus on the objective and that's super valuable on modes such as Tower Control.

 

[Weavile]

I think they're pretty good now. The 10 missiles on a single target can almost stop a rainmaker push immediately now, they can also disrupt rays more often and force the other team out of the splat zone. Never really liked them much before might pick up the N-Zap 89, Mini or vSlosher now.

 

[Spaceswitchmars]

I said this in another thread, but it's worth repeating... Tentas were always viable. It's just that most people don't know how to properly use them. A tenta user is deadly if they know how to time them so their team can hunt down the targeted players. And a tenta user can harass snipers and certain specials (sting ray, ink jet -- as previously mentioned) to nullify their effects.

The issue with tentas that hasn't changed is that so often tenta users seem to only want to shoot off as many tentas as they can, so they paint away from the objectively and/or fire them far away from the objective, effectively removing themselves from the game completely.

More so than any other special, tenta users seem to think that the most important thing in the game is getting and firing off tentas and that, in fact, that may be the entire objective of the game. They put themselves above anything else in the game, which is not optimal for a team game with strong objective-based gameplay.

Top this off with the fact that the kinds of players who tend to tenta spam over all other things also tend to shoot off tentas when there is no strategic reason to do so, and you get a special that has a bad name due to misuse when the special itself was already pretty good.

But the truth is they always had a echolocator effect that was even stronger in competitive play with voice chat, so I find it weird that a community that loved echolocator so much hasn't found a use for tentas as a kind of offensive, chaotic echo.

 

[st. nicholas]

I would say yes because unlike Stingray, missiles lock on to the opponent and it forces you to move.
...
If you and your team has missiles and keep launching them, it's really hard for the other team to focus on the objective and that's super valuable on modes such as Tower Control.

totally agree with all of this. speaking of other modes, tentas seem especially busted on stages with lots of nooks and crannies where you can trap opponents... thinking particularly of ranked stages here: under the threat of tentas, the choice either becomes get backed into a corner and die or run screamin' into the water/abyss and die

 

[calamaro]

If you jump back to spawn to use them the answer is no.

 

[Spaceswitchmars]

If you jump back to spawn to use them the answer is no.

*And/or fire them off when nobody is around the enemy to take advantage of the chaos.

 

[One FM]

Missiles everywhere now. It's getting ridiculous. They should've buffed the curling bomb instead.

 

[Elecmaw]

In a competitive environment? No. The 10 Missiles are still very easy for a single target to dodge. Stingray and Inkjet don't move your targets out of the way, it straight-up sends them back to the respawn point. Getting shot by missiles only happens in the rare freak accident. You can use it to displace a push, but other specials (Most notably Ink Storm) can do exactly the same.

Missiles are hard to balance, simply because there's no prompt required during the activation of the special. Yeah you can strat when and where to use them, and on whom, but the only imput it demands from the player is locking on targets. The missile launch and landing themselves are completely random. Compared to having to trace people with Stingray or score directs with Inkjets, the Missiles only require you to activate and you're good to go. This makes it difficult to balance across all ranks, as it'll mean a X rank player using Missiles is little different than a B rank player using one.

This is probably why missiles are a threat in the lower rank lobbies while it's still nothing serious in S+ and up lobbies, and why they can end up being too hard to balance. If they end up becoming a threat in S+ lobbies they'll become absolutely dominating in A+ and lower lobbies. Nerf them enough and the B rank players will think they're okay but they become a meme in S+ and beyond.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Missles are just not consistent enough to be considered a huge threat. They're helpful for sure, as they guarantee the enemies moving around (Whether that be just past the missles, or dead at the spawn point) (Unless they're under a grate). Which makes them useful for pausing a push for a couple seconds.

But tentamissles have always struggled whenever the enemies are far away, especially when locked onto >3 players. As they become easily the weakest special in the game when spread out. They're not painting, killing, or assisting your teammates much if they're easy for the enemies to avoid. Even if you have perfect timing, you're not aiming them at anyone. The game's rng decides where they land, and the slow activation time is so bad for tentamissles. Literally every other special starts going to work in a second or two, tentamissles just take too long to come down and start getting work done.

It's just the point where you go "Why not use stingray or inkstorm as a disruptive special?" At least you know where these specials are going, and you can control the outcome of them. And as a matter of fact, they're much more consistent than tentamissles.

"Oh @ThatOneGuy stop being so r00d to tentamissles, I liek them"
To be fair, tentamissles are excellent as a check to stingray / other anchor type weapons. As they're not mobile, and can be reached without putting yourself at risk. But they're definitely not making the big plays inkjet, stingray, and bubble blower are capable of making. And they're too inconsistent at making smaller plays as well (neutralizing zone, inking a path, assisting teammates) to be considered really good. But this buff has made them (in my opinion) a lot more consistent when it comes to killing, so maybe we'll see more missiles in the future. But they're definitely not shaking up the meta right now.

 

[One FM]

They are easy to dodge, but I'm seeing more multiple players with missiles now, and they are back-to-back firing them. They have become more viable when you are in the middle of a busy mess. Heck, the buff has made me start picking them more often, and I don't even like them.

 

[OctoPie5]

It definitely won’t be a meme anymore. However, the only area the buff really touched is targeting one or two people. Targeting three or four fires the same amount, so...without special power up, you won’t feel a difference there.

But honestly, dealing with 10 missiles on you at once is the most annoying thing I’ve ever dealt with in the competitive scene, especially when you are pushing or are generally near enemy ink. With a lot of map control, it isn’t a problem.

 

[chubbypickle]

Missiles everywhere now. It's getting ridiculous. They should've buffed the curling bomb instead.

well in my opinion all the specials are too strong, i wish they were all scaled back a bit and allow for more bang bang pew pew

 

[Metasepia]

well in my opinion all the specials are too strong, i wish they were all scaled back a bit and allow for more bang bang pew pew

Actually, all the specials are quite tame compared to the the Splat1 special. It was quite horrid needing only one person to merely pop an Inkzooka and quickly kill your teammates and halt a push. With the new Splat2n specials, one not need to worry as much as the era of Krakens and Zookas. Inkjet increases your hitbox and makes you an incredibly obvious target for long range weapons, Baller can be destroyed rather easily with OS, Stingray can't turn quickly enough at close range, and the other specials have their downfalls if not used correctly. Although I do see where you are coming from with a meta where Specials feel over prevelant in making plays and can make or break a weapon (with VSplattershot vs Ttek being an example).

 

[Hiro Protagonest]

The more deliberate Splatoon 1 meta was cool with its larger maps and how exactly the maps were designed, but it was also designed around waiting to build up those super-strong specials to make a real push and then the counter was defending with specials... you can't just remove that element and keep the maps either, they're tied.

Anyway, Tenta Missiles are not the fastest fire-and-forget special and the data for enemy positions isn't the most precise. I think they're destined to not be great because they do things halfway; faster than Stingray but not fast enough to be safe if an enemy rounds the corner like Ink Armor or maybe Ink Storm (and Bomb Launchers still let you use your main gun), worse than the Stingray at tracking and pressure.