Bringing Back OG Bubbler

[OnePotWonder]

In the first Splatoon game, there was a special called Bubbler. This was the first special a player unlocked, included in the Splattershot Jr.'s kit. It was an aggressive/supportive special, one which could enable its team to take fights that would normally be too risky to consider, or as a way to solidify a position during a charge into enemy territory. These traits are recognizable in its descendants; Tacticooler and Big Bubbler. Yet I would argue that OG Bubbler is designed better than both of these specials.

The main issues with Bubbler's balance came from the overpowered nature of Splatoon 1's specials. Bubbler was a personal shield that could be activated instantly, making the user completely invulnerable at the cost of taking extreme knockback from attacks. Teammates who entered the area of a player's Bubbler received the effect themselves for its remaining duration.
Outside of the instant activation and complete invulnerability, this is an extremely well-designed special; good for beginners by offering them a safety net to push forward with, but also good for coordinated plays in higher ranks with its ability to be shared among teammates.

Here's my take: If Bubbler were to return with 60 frames of startup, a 5.5 second duration, and 100 HP with the ability to absorb all of the damage from a single hit, it would be the perfect support special.
Bubbler dials up Tacticooler's weakness of requiring players to clump together, it counters slayer specials without completely nullifying them; it works on a variety of weapons, aggressive and supportive alike. It's like Big Bubbler, but doesn't have an obscene amount of HP to chew through; it isn't hard countered by DPS specials, and it can't be ignored by simply walking though it.

If we're going to be bringing back past aspects of the series for the next game, I sincerely hope that the developers reconsider Bubbler.

Thanks for reading, feel free to discuss in the comments.
Have a wonderful day!

 

[missingno]

Did you just reinvent Ink Armor?

 

[OnePotWonder]

Did you just reinvent Ink Armor?

Kind of. No cross-map chaining and it’s not especially effective against one-shot weapons compared to DPS weapons, so long as its damage modifiers are done correctly. Honestly, it’s kind of funny how the devs came up with the god awfulness of Ink Armor when breakable Bubbler was an option.

 

[blind_solZ]

Its an ok idea but you made it very underpowered Agenst stuff like booyah bomb or tri-strike

 

[OnePotWonder]

Its an ok idea but you made it very underpowered Agenst stuff like booyah bomb or tri-strike

Those specials are good against a Crab Tank with 500 HP, I don't think there's any way to make breakable Bubbler better against them. They're designed with the idea that players are able to dodge them, anyway, and Bubbler doesn't restrict mobility.

 

[SAMICOM]

In the first Splatoon game, there was a special called Bubbler. This was the first special a player unlocked, included in the Splattershot Jr.'s kit. It was an aggressive/supportive special, one which could enable its team to take fights that would normally be too risky to consider, or as a way to solidify a position during a charge into enemy territory. These traits are recognizable in its descendants; Tacticooler and Big Bubbler. Yet I would argue that OG Bubbler is designed better than both of these specials.

The main issues with Bubbler's balance came from the overpowered nature of Splatoon 1's specials. Bubbler was a personal shield that could be activated instantly, making the user completely invulnerable at the cost of taking extreme knockback from attacks. Teammates who entered the area of a player's Bubbler received the effect themselves for its remaining duration.
Outside of the instant activation and complete invulnerability, this is an extremely well-designed special; good for beginners by offering them a safety net to push forward with, but also good for coordinated plays in higher ranks with its ability to be shared among teammates.

Here's my take: If Bubbler were to return with 15 frames of startup, a 6 second duration, and 100 HP with the ability to absorb all of the damage from a single hit, it would be the perfect support special.
Bubbler dials up Tacticooler's weakness of requiring players to clump together, it counters slayer specials without completely nullifying them; it works on a variety of weapons, aggressive and supportive alike. It's like Big Bubbler, but doesn't have an obscene amount of HP to chew through; it isn't hard countered by DPS specials, and it can't be ignored by simply walking though it.

If we're going to be bringing back past aspects of the series for the next game, I sincerely hope that the developers reconsider Bubbler.

Thanks for reading, feel free to discuss in the comments.
Have a wonderful day!

NO. STOP. WE ARE NOT. DOING. THIS. BRING BACK OG WAIL BUT IT CANT GO THROUGH WALLS OR BIG BUBBLER.

 

[SAMICOM]

Yet I would argue that OG Bubbler is designed better than both of these specials.

I don't like cooler, but What

 

[OnePotWonder]

NO. STOP. WE ARE NOT. DOING. THIS. BRING BACK OG WAIL BUT IT CANT GO THROUGH WALLS OR BIG BUBBLER.

Genuine question; what’s wrong with it? I figure the HP is fairly reasonable, especially compared to Big Bubbler’s.

 

[SAMICOM]

Genuine question; what’s wrong with it? I figure the HP is fairly reasonable, especially compared to Big Bubbler’s.

Rollers and Chargers can't counter it. That's insanely annoying for such weak and vulnerable weapons

 

[OnePotWonder]

Rollers and Chargers can't counter it. That's insanely annoying for such weak and vulnerable weapons

They can both break it in a single hit…? This isn’t Ink Armor, it’d be as tough for chip damage weapons to break it as it is for one-shot weapons. Not to mention Bubbler has a significantly larger hitbox than a player, making it incredibly easy for most chargers to nullify from a distance, and high-damage attacks knock Bubbler backward a good distance, giving rollers space to recover against fast-splatting slayers.

So, no, rollers and chargers can counter it fine. You could probably go as far as to call backline chargers an effective counter to the special.

 

[SAMICOM]

They can both break it in a single hit…? This isn’t Ink Armor, it’d be as tough for chip damage weapons to break it as it is for one-shot weapons. Not to mention Bubbler has a significantly larger hitbox than a player, making it incredibly easy for most chargers to nullify from a distance, and high-damage attacks knock Bubbler backward a good distance, giving rollers space to recover against fast-splatting slayers.

So, no, rollers and chargers can counter it fine. You could probably go as far as to call backline chargers an effective counter to the special.

Let's say a splattershot activated this. an e-liter shoots it and breaks it. the e-liter now needs another 2 seconds to charge.

it's worse for rollers, as they have a pathetic range and falloff that would make the armor way too strong. you hit someone with the bubble via roller, now the roller needs to swing again. the shot can then kill it because it was previously damaged from the shot. this is a bad idea.

 

[OnePotWonder]

Let's say a splattershot activated this. an e-liter shoots it and breaks it. the e-liter now needs another 2 seconds to charge.

it's worse for rollers, as they have a pathetic range and falloff that would make the armor way too strong. you hit someone with the bubble via roller, now the roller needs to swing again. the shot can then kill it because it was previously damaged from the shot. this is a bad idea.

Did you even read my comment? Yes, the Bubbler will block an E-liter's kill shot. That's the point. It's a shielding special. The E-liter is still presumably safely positioned at the back line, so it's not about to be splatted just because an opponent blocked it with Bubbler.

And rollers would not struggle into Bubbler because, as I very explicitly stated, they knock it backward. Yes, the roller will have to flick a second time, but the hypothetical Shot player will have been knocked back, disoriented, and then the fight is suddenly even.

 

[missingno]

This is the literal reason why Chargers and Blasters were kept out of the meta in S2. Ink Armor hard countered them.

There is, however, one Charger that would still thrive in this environment. You could even call this an indirect buff as it gets to be the new counter to Ink Armor 2 Electric Boogaloo.

 

[OnePotWonder]

This is the literal reason why Chargers and Blasters were kept out of the meta in S2. Ink Armor hard countered them.

Indeed it did, but I need not explain why this isn’t Ink Armor.

There is, however, one Charger that would still thrive in this environment. You could even call this an indirect buff as it gets to be the new counter to Ink Armor 2 Electric Boogaloo.

I genuinely can’t tell if you’re talking about E-liter, Charger, or Snipewriter. All three are good counters. The only charger I see struggling into it is Bamboozler, but with a 1.0x damage modifier against the special, it should be able to manage.

 

[SAMICOM]

Indeed it did, but I need not explain why this isn’t Ink Armor.


I genuinely can’t tell if you’re talking about E-liter, Charger, or Snipewriter. All three are good counters. The only charger I see struggling into it is Bamboozler, but with a 1.0x damage modifier against the special, it should be able to manage.

blasters? what do those do? this special is bad because some things literally are at an insane disadvantage to it. if you match with it, YOU JUST DIE. this is why people hate it. people hate cooler because it's too overpowered. people hate armour it LITERALLY MAKES THE GAME WORSE

your takes are hotter than Beltegeuse.

 

[Skibidiinkler]

you’re wrong lol

 

[missingno]

Indeed it did, but I need not explain why this isn’t Ink Armor.

But it is the same problem. OHKO weapons get invalidated by it, while other weapons won't always be affected as badly.

I genuinely can’t tell if you’re talking about E-liter, Charger, or Snipewriter.

The one that does not need to fully recharge after hitting one shot that only breaks the armor but doesn't kill.

 

[OnePotWonder]

But it is the same problem. OHKO weapons get invalidated by it, while other weapons won't always be affected as badly.

The one that does not need to fully recharge after hitting one shot that only breaks the armor but doesn't kill.

Breaking the armour with a one-shot knocks the player a good distance backward compared to chip damage, and it takes roughly the same amount of resources to break Bubbler with a one-shot as it does with a rapid-fire weapon, unlike Ink Armor, which breaks with a single shot from almost any weapon. Not to mention team Bubbler plays require players to clump together, making AoE attacks a more effective counter than with Ink Armor’s global chaining.

Armor isn’t inherently a problem, it’s just very difficult to balance. Ink Armor was horribly designed in a variety of aspects; I admit that this is very similar, but it fixes all of the glaring issues and compensates heavy attacks.

In case it wasn’t already obvious, by the way, most rapid fire weapons would have a negative damage modifier against the special; 0.8x damage or lower. As they have for every other breakable object.

 

[SAMICOM]

Breaking the armour with a one-shot knocks the player a good distance backward compared to chip damage, and it takes roughly the same amount of resources to break Bubbler with a one-shot as it does with a rapid-fire weapon, unlike Ink Armor, which breaks with a single shot from almost any weapon. Not to mention team Bubbler plays require players to clump together, making AoE attacks a more effective counter than with Ink Armor’s global chaining.

Armor isn’t inherently a problem, it’s just very difficult to balance. Ink Armor was horribly designed in a variety of aspects; I admit that this is very similar, but it fixes all of the glaring issues and compensates heavy attacks.

In case it wasn’t already obvious, by the way, most rapid fire weapons would have a negative damage modifier against the special; 0.8x damage or lower. As they have for every other breakable object.

Go back to splat 2 and play range Blaster. You will realize why this us a bad idea on a silver tentatek vest

 

[OnePotWonder]

Go back to splat 2 and play range Blaster. You will realize why this us a bad idea on a silver tentatek vest

THIS IS NOT INK ARMOR.