Best Zipcaster Weapons

[Shakqy]

Yep, it’s time for this thread again. This is apart of my series where I rank all weapons of a certain special to how good & fun they are. (This is all in my opinion, and I could be wrong, but this is what I think) And also it’s a combination with how well the special works in it, and how good the weapon is.

Best Ultra Stamp: https://squidboards.com/threads/best-ultra-stamp-weapon.45334/
Best Cooler: https://squidboards.com/threads/best-cooler-weapons.45345/

There are a total of 7 different weapons with zipcaster. This special has the most order replicas with 3 different order replicas (This is actually wild) But here’s my ranking:

1: Splatana stamper, this is a pretty obvious choice. Works well with it, and it’s also an incredibally strong weapon with its kit
2. Light tetra dualies, this is pretty contested. But I think the ability to roll of of caster without dodge roller helps this weapon live longer. It’s sub is sub-par, but it’s a decently good main weapon with potential with zipcaster. Sprinkler isn’t good with it, no use cases that actually change how the game is played. (DzNutzKong)
3. Slosher Deco, a strong main weapon, with combo capability, but dart… This weapon is a strong main weapon. It has 2 different combos with zip as a weapon. But dart really hurts this weapon. I would put this in second but dart (Help from DzNutzKong)
4. Octobrush, this is what contests with tetra. It’s a really strong weapon overall. Having decent range for a brush,
High damage output. And a good kit. One of the best ways to learn how to use zipcaster.
5: New Squiffer, this is a debatable pick imo. All the zipcaster weapons besides stamper aren’t that great. But this one’s pretty good. Its charge in air speed helps it work with zipcaster. And it’s a decently strong weapon all around.
6. Luna Blaster: I don’t love putting Luna blaster here. I like it, it has a good kit. It feels like it just wasn’t mean for zipcaster with the jump rng. But still competes with the 2 above it.
7. Carbon Roller, a terrible weapon to go with zip, it just doesn’t really make that much sense, and if your jumping around and you only use verticals because of this, this hurts the weapon. Its sub is sub-par, but it’s a decently good main weapon. (DzNutzKong)

I could be convinced to switch up 3-5 or 6/7. Tell me what you guys think. Idk really, I don’t play slosh deco or carbon so I could be wrong

 

[briank913]

Octobrush is probably the easiest weapon to learn Zipcaster. It's just an easy weapon to learn in general too.
But if you're asking for the best, Stamper. Overall a pretty brutal weapon to learn and play for sure, but there's a reason this thing has seen results. Despite the nerfs to the main weapon, there's a reason why people at top level continue to use this.

 

[DzNutsKong]

Not a bad list but I have two pretty big gripes.

I think Squiffer is fine in second place in theory, but in practice it should be a lot lower, mainly because it is so incredibly difficult to work with in practice that even the strongest Squiffer diehards are struggling to get consistent use out of Zipcaster. If even the strongest Squiffer players are finding this kit too difficult then I wouldn't realistically call it the second best Zipcaster weapon. Maybe it will be some day but in practice it's not even close right now. Pretty telling when people didn't like the vanilla kit on launch but what few Squiffer players are still left have chosen to push that one instead. Would probably put this below Octobrush.

Slosher Deco being dead last feels like a bit of a harsh overreaction to Angle Shooter. Angle Shooter is not a good subweapon but does it really take Slosher and make it worse than Luna Blaster, which is an undertuned main weapon with a special that doesn't suit it, or especially the vanilla Carbon Roller, which is known to be one of the worst weapons in this game? Actually, I think part of the description you give for Light Tetra Dualies fits this weapon just as well...

It’s sub is sub-par, but it’s a decently good main weapon with potential with zipcaster.

Angle Shooter sucks. All of the perks it could give Slosher are taken down by how awful the subweapon is balance-wise. Sprinkler is okay, but for zero reasons that actually apply for Tetras. Not only does a Sprinkler not work on anything shorter-ranged to begin with, but Sprinkler breaks when its user dies, which is troublesome when Tetras want to die 15 times a game. Light Tetra Dualies physically cannot do any of the really annoying stuff that makes Sprinkler good because it is a Tetra and this leaves the subweapon with few to no practical use cases on that kit. I'd still argue both of them are strong enough main weapons and Zipcaster is a strong enough special that they're both good, Slosher even more so than Tetras. If both of their vanilla kits were worse than their Zipcaster ones I could see a timeline where Slosher Deco gets picked for teams at least sometimes and can't say the same about Tetras. I'd honestly put this as the new runner-up on this list just after Stamper but maaaaaybe you could leave it a spot below Tetras instead.

 

[Shakqy]

Not a bad list but I have two pretty big gripes.

I think Squiffer is fine in second place in theory, but in practice it should be a lot lower, mainly because it is so incredibly difficult to work with in practice that even the strongest Squiffer diehards are struggling to get consistent use out of Zipcaster. If even the strongest Squiffer players are finding this kit too difficult then I wouldn't realistically call it the second best Zipcaster weapon. Maybe it will be some day but in practice it's not even close right now. Pretty telling when people didn't like the vanilla kit on launch but what few Squiffer players are still left have chosen to push that one instead. Would probably put this below Octobrush.

Slosher Deco being dead last feels like a bit of a harsh overreaction to Angle Shooter. Angle Shooter is not a good subweapon but does it really take Slosher and make it worse than Luna Blaster, which is an undertuned main weapon with a special that doesn't suit it, or especially the vanilla Carbon Roller, which is known to be one of the worst weapons in this game? Actually, I think part of the description you give for Light Tetra Dualies fits this weapon just as well...Angle Shooter sucks. All of the perks it could give Slosher are taken down by how awful the subweapon is balance-wise. Sprinkler is okay, but for zero reasons that actually apply for Tetras. Not only does a Sprinkler not work on anything shorter-ranged to begin with, but Sprinkler breaks when its user dies, which is troublesome when Tetras want to die 15 times a game. Light Tetra Dualies physically cannot do any of the really annoying stuff that makes Sprinkler good because it is a Tetra and this leaves the subweapon with few to no practical use cases on that kit. I'd still argue both of them are strong enough main weapons and Zipcaster is a strong enough special that they're both good, Slosher even more so than Tetras. If both of their vanilla kits were worse than their Zipcaster ones I could see a timeline where Slosher Deco gets picked for teams at least sometimes and can't say the same about Tetras. I'd honestly put this as the new runner-up on this list just after Stamper but maaaaaybe you could leave it a spot below Tetras instead.

I really like this. This is incredibly intresting and kinda eye opening. I’m gonna update my list by quite a bit.

 

[sly_snivy]

I've got to agree with DzNutzKong a lot here. I'm a Slosher Deco main, so I have got a lot of experience with how Zip works with the weapon. It does combo well when you get the chance to weave a main weapon hit in while you Zip, and loves the high ground angles that Zip can give it. I would say, just in terms of using Zipcaster, it ranks in the #2 position. Where it gets more complicated is that Zip on Octobrush, while less focused on combos, does work well at enhancing what the weapon does well - skirmishing. For that reason and the fact that it can get a free suction bomb every time it Zips (not nearly as useful as a free Dart or two) leave them close in terms of power, and the fact that Slosher is often picked for its other kit really makes it a toss up as to which gets 2/3. I'll quickly list my version for the list after this: Luna, Squiffer, Tetra, Carbon. These weapons all share the fact that their other kit is more preferred, usually due having a more synergistic kit, and in Squiffer's case, a more meta-relevant special.

I'll end with another little tidbit. Sometimes I will pop Zipcaster as Slosher Deco just to refill ink, and not Zip. Stamper can do this as well, but no other weapons can really get away with this due to the small amount of delay you get from popping Caster since it makes you do a backflip. This is really helpful in fights for these two weapons, but closer ranged weapons can't get away with this as easily (and Squiffer since it has to interrupt its charge and start over)

 

[Shakqy]

I've got to agree with DzNutzKong a lot here. I'm a Slosher Deco main, so I have got a lot of experience with how Zip works with the weapon. It does combo well when you get the chance to weave a main weapon hit in while you Zip, and loves the high ground angles that Zip can give it. I would say, just in terms of using Zipcaster, it ranks in the #2 position. Where it gets more complicated is that Zip on Octobrush, while less focused on combos, does work well at enhancing what the weapon does well - skirmishing. For that reason and the fact that it can get a free suction bomb every time it Zips (not nearly as useful as a free Dart or two) leave them close in terms of power, and the fact that Slosher is often picked for its other kit really makes it a toss up as to which gets 2/3. I'll quickly list my version for the list after this: Luna, Squiffer, Tetra, Carbon. These weapons all share the fact that their other kit is more preferred, usually due having a more synergistic kit, and in Squiffer's case, a more meta-relevant special.

I'll end with another little tidbit. Sometimes I will pop Zipcaster as Slosher Deco just to refill ink, and not Zip. Stamper can do this as well, but no other weapons can really get away with this due to the small amount of delay you get from popping Caster since it makes you do a backflip. This is really helpful in fights for these two weapons, but closer ranged weapons can't get away with this as easily (and Squiffer since it has to interrupt its charge and start over)

I see that. And it all makes sense. I’m going to keep my list though. Like you said almost all of these have another kit that’s more preferred. But honostely tetra imo can be ok because of its strength in main weapons. If I’m going off of strength of the main weapon overall it’s Stamper, Slosher, Tetra, Squiffer, Carbon, and then Brush. Obviously I say this off my opinion, and I very well can be wrong. But I feel like dart hurts slosh, but sprinkler doesn’t hurt tetra. If you know what I mean. But that’s just me

 

[☆Scottie☆]

Really good list! As a Splatana Stamper Main I agree with it at number one, however I personally would put octobrush above deco slosher. I find that it has a better synergy than deco slosh. I love the list nonetheless!

 

[TwoBadNeighbors]

I haven't played any of the other weapons, so I can't form a good ranking, but I played order blaster (Luna) for a while and I personally really liked the combo with zip. It worked well for either going on a wall below your opponent and jumping and shooting, or going above them and shooting down. The blaster shot explosion works well for chip damage, and because the blaster shots are pretty strong if you hit them with the zip you can combo off that pretty well. Splatanna and brush definitely seem like better weapons for zip, but I liked it on the Luna.