Charger builds?

[Neva]

I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on the best gear abilities for chargers? (or more specifically splat charger and/or splatterscope)

I'm thinking run speed would be useful but I'd love to hear opinions on that. I've also had ninja squid for easier get aways from people trying to get close but there's probably something more useful to replace that with? I'm mostly interested in something that would work best for splat zones or tower control.

 

[seaWEED]

I would run Swim speed due to the hold charge mechanic.

 

[Padre]

I use Special Charge Up, Swim Speed and Thermal Ink. I am happy with all of them so far. I use Splatterscope.

 

[precastzero180]

I personally use...

Ink Recovery Up: A single charged shot consumes quiet a bit of ink and I like to get it back as quick as possible. Ink Savor Main is also useful but not quite as helpful since you won't be in the middle of the fray too often.

Special Saver and Special Power Up: Stingray is a great special, especially in Rainmaker (it's good in the other modes too, but not as helpful with inking the splat zones). I find a mixture of both these abilities strikes a good balance between building the special quickly while also giving you enough time with the special to splat an inkling or two.

Ink Savor Sub: A big reason why the Splat Charger/Splatterscope sees much more use than the other Chargers is because it has bombs. Splat Bombs are a very valuable tool for a number of reasons. They give Chargers a way to better defend themselves against close-ranged weapons which are powerful in Splatoon 2 and have a lot more ways to approach Chargers than they did in the first game. Splat Bombs also give Chargers a way to be a threat over inclines, ledges, and barriers as they can only fire in a straight line and splat from direct hits. You will want to use these often.

 

[Либра]

This is my current setup. It works perfectly fine for me for multiple weapons (Splatterscope, Firefin Splatterscope, Bamboozler, Squiffer, Jet, Blaster-Types...) but take it with a mountain of salt since playstyles differ by a lot:

Bomb Defense: Pure. Reduces damage from everything that is not a main weapon and pretty much doubles my survivability as indirects don't hit me as hard. I run this headpiece for multiple weapons and it has proven quite useful on all modes as I can really "push" it sometimes as long as I watch my "Healthpoints". Once you've faced multiple opponents spamming Burst Bombs, Autobombs, Tenta Missiles and the like you'll really learn to appreciate that extra bit of defense.

Swim Speed: Pure. Greatly enhances my mobility for quick repositioning and gives me the ability to take over the position as a RM carrier when needed. Since I need plenty of mobility on hand for my playstyle on multiple weapons including my chargers, Swim Speed was a good investment.

Special Power Up (Main) + 3 Subs of Ink Refill: Special Power Up upps the duration of the Stingray which is great for TC and RM as you get to re-deploy the beam when needed and can really push it. For the Firefin, it means more Suction bombs I can throw at people for longer area control. For Missiles, it makes my targetting recticle larger and makes it easier to target multiple enemies in a split-second.
As for Ink Refill, similarly to what precastzero 180 said, it speeds up Ink Recovery since full charges and Subs draw lot of ink from your tank and you'll want to make sure to speed this process up. When you count your shots, three subs are plenty. The advantage I see in Ink Refill over a Saver is that it enhances ink efficiency for both Main and Sub as long as you make sure to watch your ink tank.

Like I already said, remember guys: This is my personal setup for my personal playstyle, there's no clear-cut right and wrong with abilities. See what works best for you and go from there.

 

[Elecmaw]

I use Special Charge Up, Swim Speed and Thermal Ink. I am happy with all of them so far. I use Splatterscope.

There is no point in running thermal on Chargers, as at max range it'll always OHKO someone meaning you'll never get to mark the target. It's an allright ability for Heavies/Jets, though.

Are all very helpful for chargers. It'd take over as chargers are already in a safe position to begin with, plus chargers can't always afford to reveal themselves by painting the ground.

If you play as Firefin, Sub Power Up and Special Power Up will also come in useful. Sub Power Up allows you to throw bombs from Bomb Launcher further (Just hold the R button rather than tapping it and your inkling will throw it at max range) while Special Power Up will allow you to throw a bomb or two extra.

Bomb Defense Up may also be useful, but in general directs from Burst Bombs shouldn't be as much of a concern as with other weapons, unless you really like getting up close with charge hold shots.

You can also try out Respawn Punisher if you're feeling really risky, as chargers themselves are safe enough to make that ability somewhat worthwhile. You have to consistently get 2/1 KD ratios or higher though.

I wouldn't use Ninja Squid at all. If you hold charge it'll show you anyway, and the ability itself slows you down which means a lot of slowdown during the game whenever you move from point A to point B.
Run Speed Up isn't terribly useful unless it's on maps with a lot of walkable grid on it (Kelp Dome), except for Splatlings as the ability itself got nerfed for reason i really don't know.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Neva]

Thank you everyone for all the very helpful tips! :)

I'm running and bomb defence now, I'm trying to get some subs there too, but I'll still have to see what works best for me.. ^^

 

[Gekko]

Currently I have swim speed (20 pts) and special charge up (29 pts) with little ink recovery (9 pts).

Some run speed could work if you want to - you are slightly harder to hit while strafing. But strafing is not that necessary now that there's the hold mechanic. If you are using scopeless, that is.

Respawn punisher is fine if you kill more than die. Or at least put in some special savers to counter the effect on yourself.

Ink saver subs for bombs.

Depends what you are looking for.

 

[Spraylan]

Splatterscope here.

Headgear: Main - Ink Saver (Sub)/Subs - Bomb Defense Up x3
Shirt: Main - Ink Recovery Up/Subs - Ink Recovery Up x3
Shoes: Main - Ink Saver (Main)/Subs Ink Saver (Main) x3

 

[Nerezza]

I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on the best gear abilities for chargers? (or more specifically splat charger and/or splatterscope)

I'm thinking run speed would be useful but I'd love to hear opinions on that. I've also had ninja squid for easier get aways from people trying to get close but there's probably something more useful to replace that with? I'm mostly interested in something that would work best for splat zones or tower control.

Chargers are weapons that are hard to use all round. First, you have to understand, that running a scope is situational, and that your build while running one will differ. However, like all weapons, the build stays similar.

Scoped Charger: I recommend using this on maps like moray towers, as the range is a gift. Focus is another essential, and scope helps with this (just remember to check for flanks). Your build on a splatterscope depends on which you would like to use. If you're playing vanilla scope, it's a good idea to run some ink resistance and swim speed, not only if you need a getaway, but this is also useful to make sure your positions aren't compromised.
Your play style also influences what I recommend. If you play defence, consider tenacity, special charge up, ink recovery up and ink saver sub. A defence build for me should be: Tenacity, 1 main and 6 subs of special charge up, 1 main of ink recovery up and 3 subs of ink saver sub.
An aggressive build should be: 1 main and 6 subs of swim speed, 1 main and 3 subs of ink res and 1 main of ink recovery.
Firefin splatterscope is a little different, where you should focus more on your special rather than your sub.
Defence build: same as defence except - insetad of 1 main and 6 subs of special charge up, run 9 subs of it, and substitute the main of special charge up with respawn punisher.
Aggressive build: same as aggro build for vanilla scope, except you should run 1 main of special power up over ink recovery.

Unscoped - These should be much more aggressive. It's charge save mechanic is a big influence, so the builds are built around it.
splat charger - 2 mains and 3 subs of swim speed, 6 subs of run speed up and 1 main of ink resistance.
firefin splat charger - run same as above, except run 3 subs of special charge up over the 3 subs of swim speed.

Hope this helps!

 

[Mar$el]

I don't think we should be saying what someone's build should be as there's no perfect set for the charger. It honestly depends on map and mode for which of the 4 splat chargers/splatterscopes to use. On zones I prefer the firefin scope with a ton of special charge and some ink recovery. On tower and rain def vanilla where I also focus on special and sub saver. I personally wouldn't use all the swim speed or main saver but that's just me b/c I don't feel the need to be super fast at swimming or needing main saver. But that's just me. My favorite abilities for chargers in general are special charge, sub saver, bomb defense, and ink recovery. Some honorable mentions are special power up and swim speed.

 

[zzmorg82]

I prefer ink saver whenever I use the Splatterscope.

 

[Ansible]

Currently I've been tinkering with my old, quizzical bamboozler lulz build. (Bamboozler counts as a charger, right?)

The main piece in the build is Ninja Squid, but I'm not sure if I wanna bother adding swim speed anywhere in the build. For shoes I'm debating on bringing back Stealth Jump or swapping for Drop Roller. But Sub-ability investment is leaning on Ink Resistance Up and Bomb Resistance Up.

As for what I'm doing with this setup? From my bamboozlinng efforts thus far, often getting into trouble or causing it!

Meanwhile, kinda still missing my kelp charger...

 

[Mar$el]

Currently I've been tinkering with my old, quizzical bamboozler lulz build. (Bamboozler counts as a charger, right?)

The main piece in the build is Ninja Squid, but I'm not sure if I wanna bother adding swim speed anywhere in the build. For shoes I'm debating on bringing back Stealth Jump or swapping for Drop Roller. But Sub-ability investment is leaning on Ink Resistance Up and Bomb Resistance Up.

As for what I'm doing with this setup? From my bamboozlinng efforts thus far, often getting into trouble or causing it!

Meanwhile, kinda still missing my kelp charger...

Sounds fun. Kinda wanna mess around with that... I really hope they release another version of the charger/splatterscopes. So far there's no sign of a third version but hopefull we'll get one. I doubt they'd give any charger burst bombs again (although Bamboo Mk II is supposed to have burst bomb launcher? Might change but still...), but if they did that would be fantastic. I think it sucks that mid-range shooters dominate the game I wish there was more variety in the meta...

 

[Charlie Francisco]

Are you sure this really works?

 

[Charlie Francisco]

Are you sure this really works?

 

[BBGrenorange]

Tenacity is your best friend here - if you’re playing correctly, you should be dying a lot less than your teammates and chargers have difficulty covering turf so what’s not to love?

Once you git gud respawn punisher is Also a fun one to use.

 

[Charlie Francisco]

Tenacity is your best friend here - if you’re playing correctly, you should be dying a lot less than your teammates and chargers have difficulty covering turf so what’s not to love?

Once you git gud respawn punisher is Also a fun one to use.
So with Tenacity it makes you stronger right or not really I'm just asking?

 

[Mar$el]

What Tenacity does is automatically fill your special gauge when your team has less people alive than the enemy team. It's kinda useful but isn't necessarily the strongest ability tbh.

 

[Charlie Francisco]

What Tenacity does is automatically fill your special gauge when your team has less people alive than the enemy team. It's kinda useful but isn't necessarily the strongest ability tbh.

oh ok thanks btw i'm new to the squidborads to be honest