Brella: Good or Bad?

[sunaku]

(Mostly) Any weapon can be used well by a good player— but I want to get a feel of the overall opinions surrounding the Brella, one of the newer weapon types added to Splatoon 2.

After using it for a week or two now, I've kind of grown fond of it's shield functionality and mid-range effectiveness on the field; but seeing as how it's a shotgun type weapon, uses ink like there's no tomorrow— and the spread horizontally makes it a weird choice for turf war; however, launching the brella toward a cluster of opponents makes a great distraction as it leaves a trail of ink in it's wake.

The tech that comes with the brella plays to it's strengths as a medium range weapon, allowing a player to deter opponents from flanking or even creating a route to effectively predict where some opponents will go after trying to get around obstacles placed through special (Ink Storm) and Sub (sprinkler) placement.

Regardless, I love the weapon and want to hear other people's experiences with it, so what do you think? Good or Bad?

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

I like it and do think it's good, but I'm not a fan of it's inconsistent damage, where it deals between 15 and 90 damage. Reminds me of Splatoon 1 Rapid Blaster, but without range or any indication you got a full damage hit. The kit makes sense for it but I wish it had a sub to aid it's offense.

 

[Agent Z]

I like it and do think it's good, but I'm not a fan of it's inconsistent damage, where it deals between 15 and 90 damage. Reminds me of Splatoon 1 Rapid Blaster, but without range or any indication you got a full damage hit. The kit makes sense for it but I wish it had a sub to aid it's offense.

Inconsistent damage for any kind of scattergun/shotgun has always been a thing unless you're at point blank range.

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

Inconsistent damage for any kind of scattergun/shotgun has always been a thing unless you're at point blank range.

That's why I'm looking forward to the light Brella, it's lesser range shouldn't be much of issue when you need to be right in the enemy's face for the most reliable damage anyway.

 

[Agent Z]

That's why I'm looking forward to the light Brella, it's lesser range shouldn't be much of issue when you need to be right in the enemy's face for the most reliable damage anyway.

But the thing with Carbon or Light weapons is that they usually do half the damage, so its speed will give it an edge in ink coverage, but not combat. It will probably take two point blank shots before you can splatter their innards onto the pavement.

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

But the thing with Carbon or Light weapons is that they usually do half the damage, so its speed will give it an edge in ink coverage, but not combat. It will probably take two point blank shots before you can splatter their innards onto the pavement.

They don't do half damage, less damage sure, but not half. Also, light weapons are generally better at combat, atleast while the opponent is within their range. Tri-Slosher, Carbon Roller, Bamboozler, Mini-Splatling all kill faster than their heavier counterparts. Light Brella might do less damage but should still be a faster two shot kill than the regular Brella.

 

[Agent Z]

They don't do half damage, less damage sure, but not half. Also, light weapons are generally better at combat, atleast while the opponent is within their range. Tri-Slosher, Carbon Roller, Bamboozler, Mini-Splatling all kill faster than their heavier counterparts. Light Brella might do less damage but should still be a faster two shot kill than the regular Brella.

The Tri-Slosher is.... The Tri-Slosher. I don't really think it's a good comparison but to each their own.

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

The Tri-Slosher is.... The Tri-Slosher. I don't really think it's a good comparison but to each their own.

I don't understand your logic here, are you saying because a weapon is OP that somehow changes the type of weapon it is? The Tri-Slosher is a light variation of the Slosher class, just like the Mini-Splating is a light variation of the Splatling, so they're a perfect comparison to the Compact Brella, a light variation of the Splat Brella. My question now is what light weapons were you referring to when you said they do half damage?

 

[KayB]

I'd imagine you'd be able to pull off some fun possibly gimmicky strategies with it by using the ink trail of the brella to let fellow rollers or brushes push forward with little risk, provided you could choreograph it. Otherwise seems like a bit of a niche weapon that relies a quite a bit on your team composition and/or your opponent's team composition.

 

[Elecmaw]

Is it just me, or is shielding not that useful? Like, you pull out your shield against an attacker... and then what? You can't do much else while you are shielding.

 

[KayB]

Is it just me, or is shielding not that useful? Like, you pull out your shield against an attacker... and then what? You can't do much else while you are shielding.

Shielding pretty much negates charge weapons, you can just strafe to cover while shielding.

Otherwise yeah, it's not incredibly useful, especially compared to most other close to mid range weapons. It's decent against Jet Squelcher and as a panic option against bombs too.

 

[MindWanderer]

It's nice in team play, too, using the velociraptor tactic. Someone moves in on you, you shield, they try to hammer through it or flank you, and your ally comes in for the kill while they're distracted. That's gotten me killed more times than I'd like to admit.

 

[Lyn]

The ability is incredibly situational and the weapon itself doesn't really stand out as particularly useful to me, compared to some other options.

I want to like it, but as it is I just can't.

 

[Dessgeega]

It's a terror in league. Using voice chat to coordinate brella-boosted strikes has been effectively used against me more than once. It's more situational in solo que, but if you can coordinate with someone else there's vast potential for mayhem.

 

[sunaku]

Is it just me, or is shielding not that useful? Like, you pull out your shield against an attacker... and then what? You can't do much else while you are shielding.

It depends on how and when you use it.. also for how long! Using it for a second or two makes the opponent either want to power through it or find a way around, opening up a wide array of mind games! In many cases they'll also try to get up close to you, at which point you put the brella away, then take a quick point-blank shot or two free of charge*.

*Assuming you can pull that off while they're firing at you that is

 

[swimmingknife]

I played Turf for a bit with the Brella the other day and had a really good run. I managed to get from 0 freshness up to 10 with only a couple of losses, and was in the top two on my team fairly consistently. I think the trick in solo queue is to not get too caught up on the shield. It's really only useful if you can co-ordinate with your team, which isn't something you can really rely on. I just treated it like any other stealth weapon; sneak up on people when they're distracted and blast them. Though the ability to launch the shield off can sometimes be a good way to finish a match, letting you sneak a bit more turf in while the screen fades.

 

[Dessgeega]

This isn't quite as relevant, but the brella is phenomenal in Salmon Run. It shreds basic units and shooting the umbrella has the same function as a splat roller. Also, it shares the Blaster's perk of blowing off multiple pots of a Stinger at a time.

 

[Lonely_Dolphin]

Is it just me, or is shielding not that useful? Like, you pull out your shield against an attacker... and then what? You can't do much else while you are shielding.

If you didn't pull out the shield well ahead of time, then unless against a Charger or something with slow firerate it'll be destroyed before it pops off. Thus after blocking some hits you gotta drop the shield and immediately either shoot them or swim somewhere, the latter you can always do thanks to the Brella shield painting your feet. When they inevitably buff this thing, besides the obvious of making damage more consistent and making the shield last longer against shooters, I hope they make the shield pop off faster so you can more often take advantage of having a shield you can attack through.