Best/Worst Specials in Splatoon?

[Splash]

With the hype of Spla2n's release coming out this summer, the Global Testfire coming up not long after the release of the Switch and with all new specials replacing the current specials of Splatoon for Spla2n, what do you think were some of the best and worst specials in the original Splatoon? I know everyone's opinion will likely differ in some way or another, but alot of people also share the same general consensus in terms of what specials were good and what ones could use some improvements. As for what my opinion is:

1. Bomb Rush: How could this not be #1, like seriously? Being able to throw a finite number of whatever bomb type your bomb rush allots for 6 seconds (longer with Special Duration Up equipped) will never not be a dull moment. And really all 4 of the bomb rushes are optimal in there own way, the Seeker Bomb Rush probably being the worst of the bunch since they can only move in a straight line, unless they lock onto another squid, and aren't used to ink much turf either, plus it also only exists on the Carbon Roller Deco, and I'm not much of a fan of rollers. Not much of a fan of the Burst Bomb Rush either since they don't splat in one bomb, but it makes up for it with being able to throw a maximum of 16 Burst Bombs, opposed to the 12 Suction and Splat Bombs, and 11 Seekers. As for Suction and Splat Bomb Rush, they are equal in my opinion. Suction can be used to splat a specific area more easily and Splat Bombs roll after throwing them, and are easy to corner and sneak attack other squids with. Only way you can suck with this special is if you are in close ranged combat or within sight of an E-liter or Charger. Bomb Range Up and this is a devastating combo and a force to reckon with!
2. Echolocator: Any special that can alert the position of my enemies and also give me an automatic reload is a beautiful thing to behold. I feel this special is very underappreciated since it's mostly used on long ranged weapons to help snipe off foes better. Just because this special doesn't grant immunity or any sort of weapon to splat squids more proficiently doesn't make it a bad sub. This sub is entirely meant for support, which shows since it reveals the location of all enemy squids to your team for 9 seconds. The ability Cold Blooded cuts this time limit in half however, which hinders it's effectiveness in a big way, but not many items carry Cold Blooded so it evens out. Still, that instant reload more than makes up for it.
3. Bubbler: Granting immunity for yourself, pretty awesome. Now being able to give immunity to your whole team, that's going the extra mile my friends! The Bubbler is a generic special in design. Using it forms a bubble around you granting you immunity from enemy fire for a short amount of time. Using it around an ally however, also gives them a bubble as well. Sounds great. Get surrounded? Bubbler. Going in for an ambush with your allies? Bubbler. Here's the kicker though: the Bubbler has terrible knockback on it, and getting shot by enemy fire can make firing yourself very difficult due to the knockback throwing off your accuracy. Not only that, but the duration for the Bubbler is rather short, at just 4.5 seconds, the third shortest special duration in the game, so your gonna want alot of special duration up to make this more of a viable special. I am terrible at using this special, which is why I call it the "Shame Bubble" because I usually wind up using this as a retreat option rather than being aggressive with it, and no one is ever around me when I use it. Regardless of that, the Bubbler still has many positives to it, I'm just not that great with it, but I won't let my inability to use it properly affect my opinion on it. It's powerful in the right hands.
4. Inkstrike: A special that's entirely meant for inking turf, this one is kinda middle of the road for me. It really only seems to be useful in Splat Zones and Turf Wars mostly, and even for Turf Wars, it still is an inconsequential special to have most of time, since it's only like a 4% difference. But it has other properties as well, like being useful to lure out enemies in hiding, keeping the other held back by firing it at their base for a brief period of time and scaring off a camping E-Liter or Charger from their sniping position. Again, not much in the way of splatting opponents, since launch has a two second delay, the radius of where is it gonna be launched is revealed beforehand and your a sitting duck trying to select where you launch it as well, but that's par for the course really with that kind of weapon. You get the occasional splat with the Inkstrike, I know I've been splatted by it many times before, but yeah, if your gonna use it, it's strength lies in turning the tide of a Splat Zone to be in your favor. A one-trick pony for sure, but at least it gets the job done.
5. Kraken: Alright, unpopular opinion time! Not a fan of these last three specials, at all! Kraken, for what it is named after, kinda comes off as a disappointment honestly. Yes, it's a one-hit kill. Yes, it's benefited from having Swim Speed Up and Comeback. Yes, enemy ink doesn't hinder its movement. And yes, you are invulnerable in this mode. But I have a lot of gripes with it, like I did Bubbler. Had to debate which I prefer, and I think Bubbler edges out Kraken for one reason. There are some stages that Kraken is just terrible for because much like the squid forms, Krakens can fall through grates. Stages like Hammerhead and Mahi-Mahi, not optimal for Kraken. So many Krakens have I seen fall into the water on Mahi-Mahi and it's funny to me every time I see it. This also doesn't help with the fact that Kraken also has knockback to it, so there are times you just straight up waste it because of enemy ink knocking you back before you can get close to them and then paying the price by being ambushed after the special ends. Seriously, for something named after a legendary sea monster, the fact that knockback screws over Kraken users so much, it's staggering. I know it would be busted otherwise, and honestly I don't see anyway else you could get around this either. I know I'll get alot of flak for putting Kraken this low, but it's also out of spite. I hate seeing Kraken users in Tower Control because the second someone gets their special, they go on top of the tower and Kraken, knowing you can't do anything about. Worse, the duration for Kraken is 5 seconds, longer with Special Duration Up, so for that amount of time, the tower is in the Kraken control and the rest of the team can jump to the Kraken's position. Mind you, this can be done with the Bubbler, but your likely to get knocked off the tower more likely than not, so Bubbler is kind of a gamble. Sad thing is, every time I try to do this, I always lose control and plummet anyways. I don't know, maybe I just suck with the Kraken, but for some reason, it just never stuck with me personally. As for when I going up against a team of rollers or brushes however, then Kraken would be #3 on this list, but sadly we don't all live in a perfect world.
6. Inkzooka: Now for a weapon I wish I didn't have to put up with having. And it's the special for my favourite weapon too, the Sploosh-O-Matic 7! Really not a fan of this one because it too has knockback, but in a worst way than the prior because it's the weapon's recoil that's the cause for alarm here. I've killed myself so many times with this stupid weapon because of knockback launching me off an edge. Seriously, using this on Moray or Mahi-Mahi or Triggerfish is asking for trouble if you use it too close to an edge! Not only that, but it has limited range, just shorter than the E-Liter, and it also has terrible ink coverage in terms of width, worse than the Rainmaker, and so splats would have to be direct hits to actually work. On the plus side, you can use your Sub Weapon still in this mode, but it consumes your 6 second time limit to fire off the Inkzooka and firing the Inkzooka still has between a .5 and a .9 second recoil to it as it stands. You want to make every shot with this count, cause it's also the most costly special, taking 220p of ink coverage to fill up. Also, activate this when your back is against a wall because last thing you want is to be ambushed with such a cumbersome weapon in hand. Honestly, the negative out-weight the good here, in a big way!
7. Killer Wail: There is kind of a reason this weapon is the cheapest to obtain. It just straight up isn't good. It seems to be more used to pressure then anything else really because the blast radius for it is pretty minuscule and while it seemingly has infinite range, your a sitting duck using it, and it's duration is rather short, so it can't even be used to stall somebody from advancing onto a specific objective or point for very long either. Actually, I think I already said the best three things I can about it. It's cheap, has infinite range and can be used to pressure, but even then that last statement is also achieved by using say an Inkzooka or Inkstrike, so can't even give it that really. I guess you could use it to camp the other teams spawn point, but that also doesn't work because your immune on spawn. Honestly though, it could be much worse. It could be the Sting Ray. That thing looks like absolute trash!

Now that's my opinion, but lemme me know what all of yours are:

 

[sammich]

thread title is "best/worst" but the poll is "favorite"

best (imo) are bomb rush and inkzooka.

inkzooka gets quick team wipes, shoots over things it shouldn't (that even chargers can't). against a decent (non-expert) team, pulling one out will effectively silence them unless they happen to have someone nearby or an e-liter who is ready (but generally the inkzooka player will know where the e-liter is and target them first before they can react).

bomb rush locks off an area, slows down the game (sorry chargers, good luck aiming), inks massively, generally kills anyone nearby (especially when used with an ally in the vicinity), repels/kills krakens and bubblers, and is basically the god of splatzones. seriously, when the enemy team has two or more bomb rush players, or even just a single player with bomb rush and a bunch of special charge up abilities who isn't terrible... (and bomb rush can be built up FAST).

favorite is probably the killer wail. it's not the best and it sometimes gets me killed (and other times nothing at all) but it's a cool special that can really help you push or repel in any mode without ever feeling over-powered. it's fun to use in conjunction as well.

 

[the]

I would say echolocator is my favorite. It's very useful for most weapon types, and the feeling of vulnerability when someone is tagged/often predictable movements when tags wear off are pretty exploitable.

And tbh I don't blame you for disliking kraken and inkzooka. Updates and nerfs did the kraken so dirty.... The added knockback made it only useful for surprise attacks, and if that wasn't enough they added the inability to attack when it wears off (which might have been fair if the kraken was useful anymore in the first place).
And the inkzooka, I'm not great at using it. The knockback when you shoot can get you stuck in the smallest puddle of enemy ink, which isn't great if an enemy starts to approach and you have pretty much any sub other than burst bombs.

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

My favorite is also the Special I would say is the best being the Inkzooka! There is a reason it requires the most points to charge! Outranges everything besides E-Liter (where the patented "surprise zooka!" really shines) and is an instant 1-hit splat, enough said!

Worst and least favorite I'd have to say is the Inkstrike. Not that it's bad and doesn't have it's uses, but it has the most underwhelming effect of all specials, and you have to take yourself out of the action to safely use it. Definitely not gonna miss it in Splatoon 2.

 

[CapBoyAce]

My picks (I only really play Turf Wars, btw):

1. Inkstrike Great for pressuring the other team, and if used right in front of the turf line, you can push into the territory.
2. Kraken The Kraken is (again) great for pushing into enemy territory, and is just overall cool.
3. Bomb Rush Come on, it's a bunch of bombs! Who wouldn't like it?
4. Killer Wail I don't use it, but is cool in the fact that it can kill people quickly.
5. Echolocator I don't use this one either. Just with a gameplay that isn't focused on killing everyone, it doesn't seem that useful.
6. Inkzooka I just don't like it. It's that simple. It doesn't do good for me. I am not a fan of it.
7. Bubbler If you get killed often, then you need help, not a special weapon.

Again, my personal prefs, and I only play Turf Wars.

 

[Splash]

And the inkzooka, I'm not great at using it. The knockback when you shoot can get you stuck in the smallest puddle of enemy ink, which isn't great if an enemy starts to approach and you have pretty much any sub other than burst bombs.

Oh there are plenty more flaws to the inkzooka that make it not so good of a special weapon, like what you said, enemy ink renders you weakened and immobile, but also the fact you can't aim down with it and trees, well they just shouldn't exist, but I've wiped entire teams with inkzooka as well, so I can't really call it the worst either. Just that it's really situational in its effectiveness. Bluefin Depot, Saltspray Rig, Port Mackerel. Good for the inkzooka. Mahi-Mahi Resort, Urchin Underpass, Museum D'Alfonsino. Then the power of the inkzooka begins coming into question here.

 

[Splash]

thread title is "best/worst" but the poll is "favorite"

Was only allowed to submit one poll

 

[RelicRaider]

I picked bomb rush because I looked at the weapons I use the most for ranked and which special was the most common and it was indeed bomb rush. Burst bomb rush is just fun, and I find it hilarious when people get hit in the face with burst bombs, especially when it kills them, it's like a pie to the face, it's never not funny, until it happens to you.. Suction bomb rush is real pressure too. Personally whenever I see anyone glowing red chucking bombs I try to take them out as quickly as possible, as they tend to be too focused throwing said bombs to fire back, and less suction bombs in the splat zone is perfect.

Bubbler is also a great special in my opinion, I love taking it into somewhere with two splat zones, playing defensive, building it up then going on a charge and taking control. That one breakthrough is sometimes all you need.

I'm a fan of the Inkzooka too, being hassled by chargers? Just build up the special meter and surprise them. There's a sort of split in the specials, between ones you want to use in CQC, and others you want to move away from people as fast as possible, and the Inkzooka foals into the latter category, also unfortunately it become a really awkward to use in Museum D'Alfonsino and Ancho-V Games, with the tornados being cut off by the Rotating platforms and miiverse posts respectively.

I also am a fan of the Killer Wail in Tower Control and Rainmakers, especially the latter, waiting til the shield has burst by your team then placing it to build a tunnel to the goal to get as much distance as possible.

I don't tend to use Inkstrikes and Echolocators often but hopefully I'll use some weapons in the future that rely on them. Echolocator is very useful especially when a team member has it, perfect support, and the amount of times I've lost a zone or the tower to an inkstrike is very frutrating.

Last I haven't mentioned is Kraken. A good special I very much enjoy, Andy particularly love tricking them to falling down grates. I remember in Flounder Heights me and anteam member were making progress on the central tower when somebody Kraken'd. We ran to the other side of the grate and watched it fall through only to watch it climb all the way back up. I laughed and was killed pretty quickly. It's also very satisfying to successfully push back a Kraken all the way to the end. It's another special I don't tend to use very often but I'm getting into L3 Nozzlenose D perhaps to replace the L3 Nozzlenose in Rainmaker as it has my favourite sub too, Burst bombs.

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

Oh there are plenty more flaws to the inkzooka that make it not so good of a special weapon, like what you said, enemy ink renders you weakened and immobile, but also the fact you can't aim down with it and trees, well they just shouldn't exist, but I've wiped entire teams with inkzooka as well, so I can't really call it the worst either. Just that it's really situational in its effectiveness. Bluefin Depot, Saltspray Rig, Port Mackerel. Good for the inkzooka. Mahi-Mahi Resort, Urchin Underpass, Museum D'Alfonsino. Then the power of the inkzooka begins coming into question here.

You can aim down with it, but yeah it won't hit directly below you. However that problem and pretty much all the ones mentioned can be remedied by having good movement, awareness, and timing.

In general you should always be aware of where each team's ink is thus knowing where it's safe to pull out the Zooka without risk of getting stuck. It has great range so you generally don't need to be so far forward where your ink meets theirs.

If the enemy is in a spot that your Inkzooka can't hit, move to get an angle you can hit from, or wait until the enemy moves into a more favorable position. It can be harder to use the Inkzooka on Museum with it's non-static spinners, but it can still be great there, and I'd say that's the only map that's tough for it.

I won't say I've never had shots blocked by Museum's Spinners or gotten stuck in ink, but those are pretty rare occurrences, way more often than not it puts in work!

 

[Creator438]

Oh my gosh, the lack of responses on this poll just shows how inactive this forum really is (feels bad man :( ).

I had my list here, but I reposted it into two posts because I messed up when trying to transfer the info to my computer via email so I could finish it. See my list below. :)

 

[Splash]

Oh my gosh, the lack of responses on this poll just shows how inactive this forum really is (feels bad man :( ).

Poll was just made yesterday, mate!

 

[Maave]

My favorite is either bomb rush or kraken because they're they 'safe'. There's no mobility downside when you bomb rush, I can selectively use it and totally ignore the special if I activate at the wrong time. And Kraken is the magic panic button.

 

[Creator438]

(Reposting because I forgot to delete what I was typing on the other post to continue this on my computer. Typing on a phone sucks!)

It's time for your boy, Creator438, to share my list of the top 10 best specials in the game with you guys. I've thought about it a lot over the months, my opinions have changed here, there, and everywhere, but this list is what I would say describes the best specials in this game (listed from greatest to least). This list encompass the effectiveness of specials as they perform in the Ranked Battle modes and not Turf War, because those modes are the modes that matter most to the competitive scene of Splatoon. And just a little disclaimer: if I offend anyone or make someone feel bad because I say a weapon they use isn't good, I'm not trying to be mean to anyone, but rather I'm saying what I feel is true based on my overall knowledge of this game. But let's not waste anymore time; let's get right into it! (btw: tl;dr? read the "Overall" sections of each)

1. Inkzooka. It's either this or Echo, but I'm putting Inkzooka above it because it has arguably the best and most reliable kill power of anything in the game, hands down. We've seen its deadly power many times before; whether it was in a solo queue match or a tournament match, you have at one point in your life seen someone get a wipe with an Inkzooka before. And it makes so much sense as to why; it comes out fast, it's pretty hard to dodge if you don't see it coming, and it has a crazy long range that only gets beaten out by E-Liter Scopes (but as per developments in the game's meta, those aren't exactly as good as they once were). We've seen weapons like Tentatek and Carbon Roller succeed in games in part because of this devastating special, and their ability to ink turf quickly makes it seem as if the 220 point charge to activate Zooka doesn't even exist. But hey, that's the benefit to being a good painter.

Overall, Inkzooka is #1 on this list because it takes out so many weapons that a given main weapon wouldn't always be able to take out on its own, it's capable of wiping teams in as many as 4 shots, and it has boosted the performance of many weapons to the point of giving them great competitive viability over others.

2. Echolocator. It's the closest thing to a free wipe. I'm not exactly sure why, but I believe this is the case because it becomes so much easier to take out enemies once you know where they are. In general, you become much more vulnerable to being flanked when tracked, it means you cannot shark, and you get a good idea of where enemies are retreating to if they can't win a fight. More to the point on flanking, you CANNOT flank if you're being tracked by an echo, which can mean the difference between keeping the objective and potentially losing the game to a flanking Tentatek, 52, or Luna Neo. It has a place on EVERY team in EVERY game mode, and it can be found on very strong weapons, the strongest of which are Dynamo, Hydra, and Bento Scope. On Dynamo Roller, you'll see at least 5 (maybe 6) Echos going out per game, which is a HUGE advantage for a team because they'll know where their enemies are nearly all the time. Hydra's also really good at painting, and it's essentially an E-Liter that can still do things if it's missing. Bento Scope is a little weaker than these other two, but it's still a wall user and paints faster than E-Liter could ever hope to do so.

Overall, Echolocator is #2 on this list because it opens the door for so many ridiculous flanks and wipes, there are weapons that greatly excel with this weapon, and it hard counters flanks and sharking for 9 seconds. It has counters BECAUSE it is among the strongest specials in the game, and as such we need things like Cold Blooded and Haunt in the game so that there's some kind of precaution to using such a strong special.

3. Bubbler. Now ya see, Bubbler goes above Kraken for a few reasons. 1) It's an invincibility special that can be shared with your teammates, 2) you don't have to paint as much to get to it, and 3) it allows you to use your main weapon's original range, and you need that on some weapons. Things like Jr. and Zimi, for example, work much better with Bubbler than they would with Kraken because they already have very strong close range games, so what you see here is that Bubbler not only makes their close range game better, but it also makes their long range game (or lack thereof, in some cases) much stronger overall. Now let's go back to the sharing capability. The ability for a Bubbler user to share it's special with up to 3 other teammates for however long they can use their special for is actually kind of ridiculous. Not only is it basically a confirmed lead or potential knockout in Tower Control, but it's also the equivalent of having two specials on one kit, which is mad dumb when you think about it. A weapon should only have one special at a time, but give your teammates a Bubble, and if he's got an Inkzooka or Bomb Rush, he or she can even use two specials at once, which beats just having two specials by a longshot. Then you have the fact that there are weapons in this game that can get to it so quickly on top of the fact that it's a 180 point charge for no good reason. Jr., Zimi, and Custom Hydra especially come to mind when I refer to that. These weapons not only get it so fast, but they can also use it so effectively, which puts them at such good spots in the meta game (I mean, I see Jr. as high tier at best, but that's debatable).

Overall, Bubbler is #3 on this list because it gives multiple people two specials on top of protection, it gives so much flexibility to the play style of a weapon (especially by letting you stay to a range, if necessary), and the weapons that have it greatly benefit from, and abuse, Bubbler to it's highest capabilities.

4. Kraken. Kraken is kind of a weird special weapon, because it wasn't actually that good when the game first came out. Of course, we were all at a stage in our Splatoon career when we saw the Krak-On Roller and just said "OH MY GOD KRAKEN IS SO OP! WTF NINTENDO MADE A BROKEN GAME OH MY GOD!" But for about 6 weeks, the only game mode was Splat Zones, and Krakens have never really been that good in Splat Zones because a) their not good at painting and b) if the other team had hella control, they could just bait your Kraken, you'd go in with it, and then you'd get killed after wasting it. Not to mention, until the Custom E-Liter 3K came out, the only Kraken weapons in the game were Krak-On Roller which, although viable in solo-queue for quite some time, got eaten up by Tentatek, Dynamo, .52 Gal, and .96 Gal, and then there was Custom Jet Squelcher, which had a very good kit that made perfect sense on it, but it still couldn't paint, and even if you did Kraken with it, the most you could get out of it was 1-2 kills. Not all that helpful. But that was THEN my boys. Now fast forward to the release dates of some key Kraken using weapons, especially the release dates of Custom E-Liter 3K, .96 Gal Deco, CRB, and Custom E-Liter Scope. Although Custom E-Liter isn't a very good weapon in today's meta, it had been pretty decent back in the day. However, weapons like 96 Deco and CRB are still very strong weapons today, and Kraken has given them that extra boost in the meta game. When you think about Kraken, it's an invincibility special that can one-shot at point blank (which helps the close range games of many weapons, hence why I listed the weapons that I did), which means that weapons that have good long range games, but poor short range games, can still compete outside of their comfort zone. This is, in part, why a weapon like CRB can do basically everything, because it's long range tools aren't the only thing it has access to; it's special gives it something to keep from having to get clutch directs every time someone gets close to it. On another note, weapons like 96 Deco, Heavy Deco, and Slosher Deco don't need to rely on getting kills at close range with their main weapon (which isn't completely ideal, except for maybe Heavy Deco) and have Kraken to back them up in those areas. It just makes so much sense to have Kraken on them, because they're not all that good at fighting up close. Kraken is only really bad on weapons like Neo Sploosh, N-Zap '83, and Krak-On Roller, because those weapons can already fight at close range. Giving them invincibility that they're likely going to have to go in with and end up getting themselves killed will not help them. Onto another point, Kraken can ride tower for some extra points, and while this isn't as game-winning as getting your whole team on the tower with Bubbler (except you really need so much going right for your team and so much wrong going for your opponent's team for that to be effective), you're still moving the tower without people being able to **** with you.

Overall, Kraken is #4 on this list because it gives weapons with otherwise crappy close range games a "stamp" that says "I'm a force to be reckoned with up close, pal; keep your distance or you'll get wrecked", it helps so many weapons that need that close range power (which has even helped some of these weapons reach a top-tier status), and it has roles in Tower Control and Rainmaker that Bubblers won't always be able to accomplish (simply because of reasons).

5. Suction Bomb Rush. This is the best Bomb Rush in the game. Just saying that right now. Out of all the bomb rushes, Suction Bomb Rush allows you to throw Suction Bombs. Yeah, go figure. But that's important to keep in mind for a couple of reasons. First, Suction Bombs paint better than any other bomb in the game; they have a wider blast radius than any other bomb (at least I think their radius is wider than Burst Bombs), which means the 12 Suctions that you throw with Suction Bomb Rush are going to be painting more than the 12 you throw with Splat Bomb Rush, and therefore if you need to take back some map control, you're going to do that much better with a Suction Bomb Rush in the long run because of the fact that they ink that much more combined AND because they keep people away for much longer, which leads into the next point. Suction Bombs also zone a given area longer than any other bomb does (because they "stick" around for so long (get it?) ), which not only means they're going to keep people away from that areas for a good two seconds PER BOMB, but it also means that every bomb left behind after the special is over adds to your special gauge as if the bombs weren't part of the rush at all. That adds more to your special gauge than left over Splat Bombs or Burst Bombs, and two Seekers left over from Seeker Bomb Rush won't do ****, because none of these subs stay on the field for a long enough time to add more to your special gauge. But going back to what I was saying, Suction Bombs from a Bomb rush are going to give you at least a third of your special back if they're used in the right place. And then it's a 180 point charge special on TOP of that? You can't tell me that's not powerful. Then you have the fact that the weapons that have this thing aren't even that bad. I'll even say that Splash-o-matic isn't that bad of a weapon, because there are really only a few things dragging that weapon down. But then there's Berry Pro and Rapid Deco, the former of which is really good, but the ladder of which is actually extremely overlooked and shouldn't be. These weapons are so much better than Splash-o-matic, and the fact that Splash-o-matic is still a pretty decent weapon DESPITE that says something about this special, because if all you can really do with your sub and special is throw bombs, and if these weapons are as good as people perform with them, that says a lot about the special itself.

Overall, Suction Bomb Rush is #5 on this list because you're throwing Suctions as your choice of Bomb. This means that you're going to be inking so much turf, you can take back map control or a zone because of that, you can zone really well with it and for a really long time, and because of THAT reason you get as close to half of your special gauge filled only to be able to do all of this a second time. Then you get half or a third of your gauge again... I think you know what happens next.

TBC...

 

[Creator438]

(Continued from the last one)

6. Killer Wail. Given how much Wail weapons have fallen off to an extent (I guess) even though the special itself is effective in just about any game mode, it's so hard to rank this thing over Splat Bomb Rush. But I do have a reason for doing that. We all know Killer Wail; it's great at zoning people away from areas for a long time, so long in fact that it alone is great at helping teams push up with the objective in TC and RM, and at keeping people off the zone in SZ. It could even help a team push into the enemy base in Splat Zones while keeping enemies away from the point through which the team pushes (even though going through that one point isn't too wise, unless it's required). It also helps get Chargers and Splatlings away from perches, and although it's not as effective as Inkstrike at doing so (yet I'm still ranking Inkstrike lower because Killer Wail has so much more utility), it can burst open the Rainmaker's shield at crucial times. It can even keep whoever's pushing the Rainmaker back, and can get multiple enemies off the tower in Tower Control. Not to mention, it's a 160 point charge. What could be wrong with it? Well, I think the reason why I'm putting it this low (even though about 6 months ago I would've put it at like, #5) is for two reasons. A) although it can get a lot done, it tends not to (for example, you may keep people from going into an area, but you may not be forcing anyone AWAY from that area, which a Wail user should intend to do), and b) it has a few good weapons (but it only makes the most sense on one of them), but the rest are kind of bad. I won't go into all of the bad wail weapons, but I'll go into the best ones; the best Wail users in my opinion are .52 Gal, Grim, and Heavy Remix. Wail works best on Heavy Remix because you're not supposed to be going into mid with it (you can, but you really shouldn't), and because of that, when you use Wail, you're going to use it in a position in which you're far away from the action and can make the most of it's extremely long range. 52 and Grim, however, are midrange weapons that need to be in mid to actually be doing something (seriously, if you're standing on a perch with a Grim, you're doing it wrong), and as such, if they're in a position where they COULD use Wail, they're likely not in the best position possible to actually use it. I think Wail is a great special on most maps in this game, but the special itself is held back by the weapons the game designers put it on.

Overall, Killer Wail is #6 because it has tons of utility, it's the fastest special to charge in the game, and it works in many situations on many maps and modes. However, it doesn't always accomplish what it's intended to do, and the weapons the game designers "assigned" it either have some kind of issue as a result of having it as their special, or just flat out suck. Except Heavy Remix, which is actually the best Wail weapon in the game.

7. Splat Bomb Rush. Man I'm getting a little bored of typing, but w/e. Can't stop now! Anyway, Splat Bomb Rush is really just a watered down Suction Bomb Rush. I'll say that the main thing that Splat Bomb Rush has over Suction Bomb Rush is this: if you need to ink turf to get map control quickly, or if you need a quick zone cap, Splat Bomb Rush is great. When you use this special over Suction Bomb Rush, you're essentially sacrificing more control of an area for a faster rate at which you steal or maintain that control. Now I say it's faster because Splat Bombs explode much faster than Suctions do, meaning you're going to get a zone back (or ink more turf) much faster than you would if you were to use a Suction Bomb Rush. I can't really say much more about Splat Bomb Rush, except for the idea that I guess it gets held back by the fact that four weapons that have it are Heavy Depletion (and for some reason, two of those weapons are Splat Charger and Hero Charger Replica for no reason, whereas I completely understand Splatterscope and Luna Neo having Heavy Depletion). The only weapon with Light Depletion Splat Rush is Sloshing Machine, which isn't that great of a weapon (unfortunately). It's kind of a simple special; there's not much to it. Idk.

Overall, Splat Bomb Rush is #7 on this list because it's good, but it doesn't do anything too different from Suction Bomb Rush. Moreover, it's a watered-down version of Suction Rush that lets you do exactly what it does, just faster, though at the cost of less zoning time, less turf coverage, and the ability to give you up to half of your special gauge back after use.

8. Inkstrike. Not much to say about Inkstrike. Except for that it's kind of a Killer Wail that can paint, yet still isn't that great. It helps cap zones in Splat Zones, it can pop Rainmaker Shields better than anything else can, and it can help get back some map control if you're lacking in it. But it leaves you unable to defend yourself, you're required to use it either out of the action or after you kill someone (assuming there's nobody else around), and as such you can't move to save your life. And for what? To stop the counter on a zone that'll probably just be taken back by the enemy team? To get some enemies off the tower when you should be using either suctions or Killer Wail to do that? To Ink some turf because you need map control, yet it means **** because you're probably losing anyway (I mean, come on; you're using an Inkstrike to get MAP CONTROL. You don't do that under normal circumstances!)? ...You can see why this thing isn't that effective. It just doesn't really do enough, and most things in this game can do an Inkstrike's job much better than it can. Even if you use it to cap a zone or stop it's counter, all you really need is for at least two people to shoot the tornado it makes, and it's effect is nullified. If you have it in Rainmaker, it's only most effective for bursting the shield if you're in a tug-of-war situation where you need that extra popping power to get the Rainmaker for your team, and to not lose it to the enemies. Then it's not even that good at zoning; it can get chargers away from a perch for like, 3 seconds. Charger mains, you know what I mean. You see an Inkstrike, you leave your perch for 3 or so seconds, then you go back and continue going about your day. It's that simple. Inkstrike is no more effective at inking a zone than Suction Bomb Rush is, nor is it more effective for dealing with chargers or long-range weapons than Inkzooka is. And then it doesn't even help most weapons that have it do a better job at painting. The best examples are Bamboo MK III, Range Blaster, and Jet Squelcher; these weapons have a special that is meant to help them paint the ground (which they normally suck at doing), and yet, they still can't paint to save their lives.

Overall, Inkstrike is #8 on this list because there are too many specials that do it's job better, it doesn't help the weapons that it's on all that much (if at all), you have to be way too careful about where you use it even though most weapons that have it NEED to be in mid to do their thing, and even in Splat Zones (perhaps it's strongest game mode), it's too easily made obsolete by the fact that all you need to do is have two people shoot the tornado to make it so it does nothing (and these people are most likely defending the zone anyway, so it's not even a huge setback to pay attention to the Inkstrike).

9. Burst Bomb Rush. I personally wish Burst Bomb Rush wasn't so awful. In fact, I think it's an interesting special and I was GLAD to see Refurbished Mini Splatling get this special when Sheldon's Picks volume 1 dropped in April of last year. I even thought Refurb was viable with Burst Bomb Rush on it. After all, the people who were using it seemed to be doing quite well with it, so maybe it was good, right? Well, no. Not at all. It's really hard to define how effective Burst Bomb Rush really is, because it's on three weapons that are all pretty much garbage (two of which are even the exact same weapon), but it's not on anything else. As such, it's very hard to envision other weapons that could effectively utilize Burst Bomb Rush because Nintendo never made any weapons that could (and they never will, as Sheldon's Picks 3 and 4 won't happen, even though they totally should!). But Burst Bomb Rush's downsides aren't only in the weapons that possess it, so what can it do? Well, it can kill, that's for sure, but are you really going to get a wipe with a Burst Bomb Rush? I'm sure someone has done it before, but it's probably not common that you'll see it. At most, you're going to get like, two kills with it because people are going to see your bombs and run in most scenarios, and hide during the 6 seconds during which you're trying to kill them. This is because they know you're not going to try and paint with it; after all, why would you? Painting with Burst Bombs is kind of awkward, and your main weapon (no matter which one it is) paints pretty well anyway. You're using a bomb rush that's geared toward getting kills when most people are going to find a way to either lay low while you're trying to kill people, or get out of position as you're still trying to kill, and you're not actually painting or focusing on any kind of objective while you're doing all that.

Overall, Burst Bomb Rush is #9 on this list because... well, it's kind of hard to say, but if I had to say why, it's because you're not going to paint with it (or focus on the objective), and if you're not going to do that, you're going to try to kill with it. But by doing that, you're causing people to hide or get out of your range, and once you're done, you've accomplished jack. Then you're dead (maybe). Also, the weapons that have it just aren't good.

10. Seeker Bomb Rush. And the one special that I think is the absolute worst special weapon of them all... is Seeker Bomb Rush. Seeker Bomb Rush sounds okay in principle. It's a bomb rush that you can use to ink an area, you can pop a RM shield with it, you can cap a zone, and you don't need to kill people with it. So why is it worse than every special I've listed in the order that I did? Because a) they're Seekers, and b) Nintendo gave the Carbon Roller Deco this special. The mother f-ing Carbon Roller Deco. Let's go into reason "a" first. Because you throw Seekers with this thing, you have to take everything about Seekers into account when both using a Seeker Bomb Rush and when considering a Carbon Deco for a slot on a team comp. A few things to note about them are the following: they take awhile to come out, they're way too map dependent, and if they're not painting, chances are they're being useless because they need to kill, which Seekers can't do at all. Therefore, when you look at Seeker Bomb Rush, you have a Bomb Rush that sucks because it can only do things on certain maps, you aren't going to be able to throw all 11 of your Seekers if you're trying to move around as you're using it (which you SHOULD be doing with Bomb Rush anyway), and if you're not painting with it, you're going for kills on people that you're not going to get because Seekers are extremely easy to avoid dying to. Then you have the fact that it doesn't even allow you to throw more subs than any of the other three bomb rushes, and you can't even refill your special gauge like with Suction Bomb Rush. That'll be important to remember for my next reason as to why this special is trash: the fact that it's on the Carbon Deco. I've heard people like Dude say this weapon is good, and FLC gave it the "benefit of the doubt" on one of his streams, but I can't see why. The Carbon Roller Deco has no range, it can only work with Seekers (which means it can only do stuff on some maps), and there are so many weapons that are infinitely better than it at its job. If I want to use a Carbon Roller as my choice of roller, I'm picking the vanilla Carbon because it's kit is so strong with the main weapon (it has long range options, whereas the Carbon Deco doesn't have any good long range options). If I want a bomb rush weapon on my team, I'm going to advise my buddy to use a Suction Rush weapon (preferably Berry Pro, or if possible, Rapid Deco if it's TC. Hell, he could use Luna Neo and I wouldn't *****). Now he can do whatever he wants, but he should know that if even if we're playing on Mahi Mahi zones, he's still going to get much more out of a Suction Bomb Rush on the zone than he ever would with a Seeker Bomb Rush, which will only allow him to throw a few Seekers out because he's likely not going to be moving very fast, and if he's going through his ink, he's going to be throwing even less of them because they have so much start-up lag that it's ridiculous!

Overall, Seeker Bomb Rush is #10 on this list because you throw Seekers and it's ONLY on Carbon Deco. This means that the Carbon Deco is not going to have any reliable range options, it's only going to be useful on some maps (whereas things like Suction Bomb Rush, or even Splat Bomb Rush, can be used on every map), you're suffering more lag overall when throwing your Seekers, you have to be in front of the area that you want your Seekers to "focus in on" (you can't just lob them over things like with Suctions and Splat Bombs), and if you're not doing something to either push or snatch the objective, you're going for kills with this special (which is a terrible idea as Seekers do not kill anyone at all).


Well, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed me getting this out to the 'boards.

 

[Creator438]

Poll was just made yesterday, mate!

The point still stands ;)