Are you one to see deliberately not use Specials in Salmon runs? Why?

[mutantmagnet]

Aside from Stingray I don't see the reason people only use it for victory dances.

The risk is too high during the waves we are clearly losing.


Even Stingray has its place.

When Salmonids go berserk. Stingray when everyone huddles up around each other makes it easy for everyone else to focus on collecting eggs.

Also Sting ray is the best weapon to deal with wave 3 missle salmonoids because it can go through anything except the rain maker armor.

If you shoot at the center you can destroy both missile launchers at once.

 

[MINKUKEL]

I don't see that reason people only use it for victory.

Because you can't get more than the two you have at the beginning of the shift, it's tempting not to use them until it's absolutely necessary. For example, if you're in a bit of a pickle in wave 2 you COULD use it, but who's to say that wave 3 won't be even more crazy? That's why you see so many people using them at the last minute or even after clearing wave 3.

Sometimes I honestly forget to use them if everything's going smoothly.

 

[AllToonedUp]

I only use my specials in complete emergencies. It gets more hellish the higher your pay grade is and in later waves so why risk using it so soon?

Besides people not using Sting Ray during the Mothership round, I don't mind them not using it if things are okay and I'd rather have people save them than to waste them and get killed in wave 1.

 

[Cephalobro]

I don't use my Salmon Run specials until I feel like things get really bad like too many boss Salmonids (I especially hate the Flyfish and Stinger) or when I'm in desperate need to revive teammates that I can't get close to thanks to the stage being overrun by Scrapper pests.

 

[mutantmagnet]

. For example, if you're in a bit of a pickle in wave 2 you COULD use it, but who's to say that wave 3 won't be even more crazy? That's why you see so many people using them at the last minute or even after clearing wave 3.

Most of the time people simply don't use them. I can count on one hand the number of dozens of salmon runs where someone uses a special before me.

I save up when I can but I will always consider it for wave 2 because certain waves become a lot easier such as Sting Ray vs berserkers.

Another example is the Jet pack. Recently I figured out you can one hit KO whales if you hit their heads.

There is no need to hold back during wave 3 and risk being overwhelmed.

I only use my specials in complete emergencies. It gets more hellish the higher your pay grade is and in later waves so why risk using it so soon?

Besides people not using Sting Ray during the Mothership round, I don't mind them not using it if things are okay and I'd rather have people save them than to waste them and get killed in wave 1.

I could see why Sting Ray is useful when the mothership is tryng to suck up the eggs but that and the sewer event I feel are so easy regardless of wave level the team has to be making multiple huge mistakes to fail them.

 

[MINKUKEL]

There is no need to hold back during wave 3 and risk being overwhelmed.

No that's the thing, you risk being overwhelmed if you DON'T save them. It's better to never use your special than to use it in wave 2 while you really could've needed it in wave 3.

Of course it you lose a SR because one one used their special when they should've that's one thing, but most of the time, wave 3 is the hardest, and you never know if they decide to also throw a high tide or glowfly round or something like that in there.

 

[LiX]

Honestly, and there may be a bit of salt involved with this opinion: I think people are just freaking incompetent. That seems to be the reason 90% of the time why they are not using the special when it's obviously the smartest and most useful thing to do. There are SOOO many people on Profreshional rank who don't seem to even have a clue or the fighting skill to deserve that rank. It seems to be way too easy to get carried up there right now. I sometimes catch myself having the very egoistic though of tying SR to your Solo Rank. Which doesn't hold sense, of course, as SR is supposed to have its own rank. I just find this system to be too forgiving.

A little overview on what I think of the specials and my experience of what people do not do with them when they should do it.

Stingray:

I start with the most enraging one. Atleast 70% of the Profreshional playerbase does not seem to know that the stingray is ABSOLUTELY required to live through Mothership waves smoothly. You go back and launch it once the ship comes in. While you damage it, you can even destroy approaching enemies to farm eggs.
If you don't do it, you'll risk your other teammates investing their specials (inkjet, splashdown) because you are not doing your freaking JOB.

The second thing barely anyone seems to notice is that the Stingray can revive teammates ALL across the map. Only a handful of players seem to grasp the art of being the last man standing, launching the ray and saving the day by pulling off a double/triple revive.

Bomb Rush:

This is very situational. And it's more useful than you think. It can be a great asset for turfing area or reviving teammates that died close to each other. It's also great to hold off incoming enemies in glowfly waves. What peole do wrong a lot is just launch it for no reason because they think "its crap anyway" and that "i could use it in wave 1 to turf". NO!

Inkjet:

The inket is just great. At nearly everything. USE it! I can't count what you can do. You can take down any large amount of bosses, revive teammates, use it to stay alive safely, etc. All you have to do is "feel" when it's right to use it. Spoiler alert: It's almost never right to use it in wave 1. If your team struggles in wave 1, use your skill. It's very likely that you'll need your special at a later point if wave 1 already overburdens you guys.

Splashdown:

Splashdown is what it is in SR. It's an emergency button. You can take down enemies surrounding you, You can revive nearby teammates. You can use it to stall. The problem with this one is that people use it too early a lot. Be mindful that you only have 2 panic buttons. Don't waste them.

-----

It's good I got the message out there now. There is so much more that lately ruins my fun in SR. I start to have the feeling that it is not only related to ranking up being so easy. I have the feeling kids are starting to use that cheat tool to edit their SR rank. Because it is capable of doing that...

 

[Cephalobro]

The annoying thing about seeing my teammates using specials in Wave 1 is that they don't even use it when things get messy. To me, it's just better to do it when you know you can't save the game with your main weapon anymore. A perfect example of this method being successful was on Marooner's Bay, all three of my teammates are down and I was backed up into a corner. Decided to use my Stingray Special as a last ditch effort to survive, not only was I able to revive teammates with both this and Steelhead explosions, we were able to meet the quota instantly seeing that the Steelhead explosion combined with my Stingray beam splatted so many boss Salmonids at once.

 

[MINKUKEL]

Atleast 70% of the Profreshional playerbase does not seem to know that the stingray is ABSOLUTELY required to live through Mothership waves smoothly.

It's not, though.

Most of the time it's not necessary to use at all. And even if it is necessary to use it to prevent eggs from being stolen, quite often you can easily get the quote with the few eggs that you lose. Though in the latter situation I'd still use it.

But seriously, only use it if you think your team won't make it or if they screwed up on the first Mothership approach. And depending on the weapon you currently have, it sometimes barely even damages the ship more than your main.

 

[mutantmagnet]

No that's the thing, you risk being overwhelmed if you DON'T save them. It's better to never use your special than to use it in wave 2 while you really could've needed it in wave 3.

Of course it you lose a SR because one one used their special when they should've that's one thing, but most of the time, wave 3 is the hardest, and you never know if they decide to also throw a high tide or glowfly round or something like that in there.

The beresk mode is the gkowfly.

That's the best time to use Sting Ray even when it is wave 2.

Do you atleast get how maximizing circunstances like that are a greater benefit than holding?

 

[mutantmagnet]

Honestly, and there may be a bit of salt involved with this opinion: I think people are just freaking incompetent. That seems to be the reason 90% of the time why they are not using the special when it's obviously the smartest and most useful thing to do. There are SOOO many people on Profreshional rank who don't seem to even have a clue or the fighting skill to deserve that rank. It seems to be way too easy to get carried up there right now. I sometimes catch myself having the very egoistic though of tying SR to your Solo Rank. Which doesn't hold sense, of course, as SR is supposed to have its own rank. I just find this system to be too forgiving.

A little overview on what I think of the specials and my experience of what people do not do with them when they should do it.

Stingray:

I start with the most enraging one. Atleast 70% of the Profreshional playerbase does not seem to know that the stingray is ABSOLUTELY required to live through Mothership waves smoothly. You go back and launch it once the ship comes in. While you damage it, you can even destroy approaching enemies to farm eggs.
If you don't do it, you'll risk your other teammates investing their specials (inkjet, splashdown) because you are not doing your freaking JOB.

The second thing barely anyone seems to notice is that the Stingray can revive teammates ALL across the map. Only a handful of players seem to grasp the art of being the last man standing, launching the ray and saving the day by pulling off a double/triple revive.

Bomb Rush:

This is very situational. And it's more useful than you think. It can be a great asset for turfing area or reviving teammates that died close to each other. It's also great to hold off incoming enemies in glowfly waves. What peole do wrong a lot is just launch it for no reason because they think "its crap anyway" and that "i could use it in wave 1 to turf". NO!

Inkjet:

The inket is just great. At nearly everything. USE it! I can't count what you can do. You can take down any large amount of bosses, revive teammates, use it to stay alive safely, etc. All you have to do is "feel" when it's right to use it. Spoiler alert: It's almost never right to use it in wave 1. If your team struggles in wave 1, use your skill. It's very likely that you'll need your special at a later point if wave 1 already overburdens you guys.

Splashdown:

Splashdown is what it is in SR. It's an emergency button. You can take down enemies surrounding you, You can revive nearby teammates. You can use it to stall. The problem with this one is that people use it too early a lot. Be mindful that you only have 2 panic buttons. Don't waste them.

-----

It's good I got the message out there now. There is so much more that lately ruins my fun in SR. I start to have the feeling that it is not only related to ranking up being so easy. I have the feeling kids are starting to use that cheat tool to edit their SR rank. Because it is capable of doing that...

Cool run down. You have given me some more thoughts on Sting Ray usage. Keep in mind they are better than ink jets at destroying the missile launchers. Stingray goes through the head allowing it to hit both bays at once.

I learned the hard way that ink jet can be blocked by the head if you try shooting at it from the side.

IMO if a special has to be used in wave 1 your team is very unlikely to survive the 3rd wave. I still persist but I've only cleared 2 runs with groups starting like that.

 

[LiX]

It's not, though.

I have no idea in what power level lobbies you play, so I of course cannot comment of if it is required for you. But I usually have to get 20 golden eggs in Mothership waves, since my being Profresh 400+ influences the required egg score to rise up severely. And given the inability of my teammates to sometimes take down the copters to get eggs, it seems inevitable to use the stingray. Both of them, in most cases.

Don't get me wrong. I know there is good teams that could go without a stingray. But assuming your SR mates will be good if you're playing solo and get teamed with strangers is just very, very blue eyed...

But seriously, only use it if you think your team won't make it or if they screwed up on the first Mothership approach. And depending on the weapon you currently have, it sometimes barely even damages the ship more than your main.

What? Especially on the first Mothership approach it is vital to use the Ray. I can see good points going for not using it on the second run if you have already fullfilled the quota cause your team is good. But on the first one, you want to provide some safety for your team so they can get busy collecting while you damage the Mothership.

Also, when timed right, the stingray does insane damage to the Mothership. Usually only a few more ink drops are needed to send it running when used properly.

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IMO if a special has to be used in wave 1 your team is very unlikely to survive the 3rd wave. I still persist but I've only cleared 2 runs with groups starting like that.

Oh yes, absolutely. Good point. In situations where you already know in wave 1 that these people are just awful and are not going to get you anywhere, do everything to live through wave 1 atleast and if possible, wave 2 to prevent your score from being ruined by them. Good point.

 

[MINKUKEL]

Well, first of all, it's not the end of the world if one or two eggs get stolen from the basket. That's a risk worth taking IMO, especially since most of the times nobody used the ray that doesn't even happen.

But really, if your team has proven to be competent in a previous wave (or even a previous shift), if they're already gathering near the basket in advance, or if multiple people are already 'this way-ing', there's zero reason to go into a panic and use the Sting Ray. Most of the time not using the Sting Ray is good enough because it's not actually hard to block the mothership and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that you have to go to the basket whenever it approaches. You don't even need all four people at the basket to stop the ship in time.

I am usually at 200/300/400 profresh and I honestly can't remember the last time I lost a Mothership wave.

I'm not saying that using the Sting Ray is bad per definition. If you don't trust your team or if the loadout isn't strong enough to reliably do the job, naturally you should use it. But most of the time it's simply a waste of a special.

 

[mutantmagnet]

.

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Oh yes, absolutely. Good point. In situations where you already know in wave 1 that these people are just awful and are not going to get you anywhere, do everything to live through wave 1 atleast and if possible, wave 2 to prevent your score from being ruined by them. Good point.

Tbf on occasion I'll do a dumb move and the one thing that I feel need to develop most is my situational awareness. Sometimes it gets hilarious how I get surrounded because all 3 escape paths I had in mind get blocked in 3 seconds.

There are other aspects of salmon runs worth analyzing but I'm left frustrated the most when I think players are holding back on their most powerful tools.

 

[J'Wiz]

I have a decent idea on when to use my specials, and that's all that really matters to me. If teammates don't use theirs, and we end up losing, I simply blame my inability to control the situation or use my special effectively enough.

Most people, including me, wait until the later waves to use their special. If things get hairy in an earlier wave, and a special will bail us out, I'll probably use one. However there's alot of times where things go rather smoothly, or we can simply get by without them. I often end up using my specials near the end of wave 3 to clear the area by the basket so we can rack up on eggs.

I have seen some...non-optimal ways of using specials. I remember watching a Japanese stream, and as soon as wave 1 started, one of the streamer's teammates used Stingray to take out a Stinger that appeared rather close to the basket....the streamer wasn't too happy. I remember when climbing the ranks with my alt, and I had some teammates spam Splashdown to try to take out a Smallfry. Because of moments like this, I would rather them just not use specials and save them for when we really need them.

 

[Либра]

The only time you'll see me use a special in wave 1 is when it's glowflies, the loadout doesn't really work well for glowflies and I'm the only one alive and need to do a mass-rez and fight off the horde for a bit. Other than that I tend to save my specials for wave 2 and 3 and use them accordingly. Though sometimes the loadout is just so good that my crew doesn't struggle enough and I end up forgetting I had a special in the first place. Once you're past the 500-600 mark however you're more likely to fire the specials to do a clutch-save or get in some extra eggs by the end of wave 3, that's for sure.

Regarding the Stinkray during Mothership waves I'm torn. It helps a great deal but when the loadout has enough mobile weapons with a decent enough range you'll be able to gather a surplus of eggs and fend off the blasted ship without having to waste one of your specials. It all boils down to your crewmates though, so just keep an eye on the quota when it first approaches, then decide where to go from there. I've found that "Randos" can be surprisingly competent if you give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Elecmaw]

You /may/ save it for a later wave, but don't forget that losing wave 1 costs you 20 points while in wave 3 you won't lose anything at all. There are frequent times where we lost wave 1 and half my team of randos were still packing all their specials. Even if things go to hell in wave 1 twice in a row just use up your specials, it's better to lose wave 2 with -10 instead of -20.

Point is, don't be too frugal and especially don't save your special to celebrate in the end, like that stuff's just stupid.

 

[MeTaGross]

Well, first of all, it's not the end of the world if one or two eggs get stolen from the basket. That's a risk worth taking IMO, especially since most of the times nobody used the ray that doesn't even happen.

But really, if your team has proven to be competent in a previous wave (or even a previous shift), if they're already gathering near the basket in advance, or if multiple people are already 'this way-ing', there's zero reason to go into a panic and use the Sting Ray. Most of the time not using the Sting Ray is good enough because it's not actually hard to block the mothership and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that you have to go to the basket whenever it approaches. You don't even need all four people at the basket to stop the ship in time.

I am usually at 200/300/400 profresh and I honestly can't remember the last time I lost a Mothership wave.

I'm not saying that using the Sting Ray is bad per definition. If you don't trust your team or if the loadout isn't strong enough to reliably do the job, naturally you should use it. But most of the time it's simply a waste of a special.

I have been over 400 in SR since they introduced the 100/200/300/400 checkpoint mechanic and just last week I lost a mothership round in the first wave! The quota was only 15 or 16, but guess what, the player with the stingray didn't use it. The benefit of using the stingray on mothership rounds is not to push it back, though it does help, because when you fire the stingray at a descending mothership you can splat all of the copters as soon as they spawn, leading to lots of eggs dropping from the sky.

As for special use, is there any bonus for not using them at all? I don't remember exactly, but I remember the intro saying something about saving them and I wonder if they give you extra points or something.

 

[MINKUKEL]

Point is, don't be too frugal and especially don't save your special to celebrate in the end

People don't save them in order to celebrate at the end, people just use them to celebrate because they happen to have them left over.

As for special use, is there any bonus for not using them at all? I don't remember exactly, but I remember the intro saying something about saving them and I wonder if they give you extra points or something.

I'd think it would be explicitly noted at the end of the round if there was some way to get bonus points.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Unless we're about to wipe wave 1, I try to conserve my specials at least till wave 2, just to make sure I have at least one to work with in case I need it. Of course it all depends on the kinds of waves, weapons, and special I have to begin with. In some rounds specials are not necessary, I finish all three remembering at the end I never used it. Other times, since I play SR with friends over voice chat, one of us will start asking who has what in case we need some special spams to save our run.

I'm only guilty of not using the bomb rush much when I get it, because it rarely will come in handy unless I am the last one alive and need to revive everyone by flinging a ton of bombs everywhere. And sometimes a wave can get so bad where you can't use stingray without getting immediately ganged up on.

As long as you are smart about using specials, it will help a ton no matter what. No use sitting on them when an inkjet can save the wave, or a stingray can take down two distant flyfish giving you trouble. Just be sure not to be too eager and waste them either~