Arowana Mall Splat Zones?

[Knightmare82]

I don't know if it's just me, but if there is one combination that seems to be broken above all, it's Arowana Mall on Splat Zones.

Now don't get me wrong, I am definitely salty.

But the way Arowana Mall is laid out allow teams to camp super hard.

If you look at this map, you could put two people in both (3), one at (4) to protect the main ramp, and the last squid to invade their base sealing off specials and taking away any map coverage you originally had. In Tower Control this isn't so much of a problem, at least there you could go up the left or right high platform (1) and kamikaze as a roller from above Kappa.

Don't even get me started when snipers come into play. When you play at the competitive level, this map is just far too open. There's only so much a wall can do for gals to defend themselves with the wall nerf. This is practically a sniper's favorite playground due to the open space allowing them to pick people off as if they were standing targets.

I die a little inside every time I see this rotation. At least with Rainmaker it's not as bad, or even Tower Control. I say the map should be given the Urchin Underpass treatment, or have the zones split so the battle isn't concentrated on such a small space. Having two smaller zones around the (2) areas.

What are your thoughts on this map in Splat Zones? Or even in general really. What steps could be taken to avoid teams getting choked?

 

[Metarai]

It really depends on your team comp, chargers are common here so its likely that you have at least one sniper to free up on of the positions. If you don't have a charger then this map is already disadvantageous from the start. What I would do is try to secure our closed (3) if i'm a shooter, or try to splat the person at 2 or 4 from the left side if I'm playing a charger. I honestly don't think it's as broken as Walleye (even though its my favorite stage), since there are only three openings there that the opponents can use and are easily covered by one shooter. I do agree that it is a very strong stage for chargers, which can be a problem in solo ranked. In competitive squads there is most likely at least one sniper (I don't know what squad wouldn't on this stage) so it's less of a problem in my mind.

 

[redacteddd]

the side entrance to the center has a grate bridge to the leftmost sniper perch in ranked configurations.

 

[Blue24]

Why so salty Night?

But I beg to differ at least what I mean is that its as campable as most maps are when one team has advantage I recently played this today and had our camp broken quite a few times which was from either someone losing a 1v1 fight or 2 people taking one of those routes. In solo ranked, people for w/e odd reason are less likely to check thier flank so one break through can be the only push you need. I also broke the camp quite a bit but its not that difficult as a CSJ for me on that map.

As a matter of fact...when I was ranting on discord it was because people were taking the 1 and 2 poisitons WAY too committedly and didn't notice that 3 got taken down by two ppl and me (4) is fighting for my life trying to keep the zone and attack two ppl at the same time. The amount of times my zone got taken when my counter was under 10 seconds is ridicoulous.

 

[Mateiüsthesquidwarrior]

In general I definitely would agree with you (though I found more success than usual today playing the splatterscope with some damage up, swim speed up, and bomb range up).

I think it's having six elevated perches surrounding the zone that makes this map somewhat broken for splat zones. On top of that, the entire middle of the map is elevated slightly (big ramps in center, slopes leading up to sniper perches).

To play 'the devil's advocate' as they say, one might argue that part of playing this stage well is being able to completely lock out the other team. But in random ranked lobbies it's very unlikely that the teams will ever be completely balanced as far as weaponry and abilities go, so I don't think it's fair to make this argument for general online battles.

For squad battles/tournament battles though I feel like the stage is more viable, as both teams can carefully plan their strategy in advance if they want.

All that said, from my personal experience, I think it is essential in this mode to always (to the best of your ability) be aware of snipers, and if you can, ink the enemy hallway so that you can see on the map if anyone is coming that way.

 

[Ayasha89]

I'm not that good with Splatlings, but the first thing I did was try SZ on Arowana with the Hydra after it dropped. I may not get many kills, but I don't die much either and keep pressure where it needs to, towards the zone from a sniper perch. Haven't tried it in a double zone, But I expect that I'd have to guard one or push to the enemy zone. That thing is amazing in Ranked, though the E-liters are a big obstacle.

 

[VideoGameVirtuoso]

To start off my reply, I use the Krak-On Roller. We have to deal with chargers all the time. On this map, it sure can look bad, but I have developed multiple counters to campy play.

For solo play, you can use Swim Speed Up (at least one Main ability) and dive towards the marked 'X's on the map. At the edge, jump and get a good shot. It is still possible even after all the Roller nerfs, it just takes practice and confidence. If you miss, you do not fall into the water, rather you either fall near the tree on the right, or that elevated grate on the left.

For team play, someone needs to distract the charger while the other one kills it off. Another possibility are bombs. Chargers do not like being pressured, so make sure you know how to aim those bombs so then the lockdown ceases.

 

[LMG]

This is one of my most hated maps. Partly because the team that captures the middle area at the start pretty much has the game won unless they screw up big-time (like you said), and partly because there's pretty much no cover. However, the Hydra Splatling has made the map a bit less frustrating on defense, but I still think it could use a redesign