Splatoon 2 Clam Blitz

[Saber]

So from what I have seem not all specials are great in clam blitz

Explosive special like ballers and splashdown will come at the cost of the clams you collected so pass these off before triggering your specials

Whereas special like inkjet and bomb-rush will allow you to pick up and throw clams while flying making it, ink storm and ink armor some of the most valuable special in the game
Clams tossed can only be power up by the enemy, while footballs just dissipate after a short time and nothing can stop it's trajectory as far as I have see
I find passing the football back and forth or on the ground so the enemy can't see you making it harder to keep track of the ball, but againt that is more of a strat for the future S+ players

Lastly find it kinda suprising but the squiffer, emperry dulies, and carbon are very useful in this game mode along with more common meta picks but overall I find this gamemode a unique and fun challege that I enjoy

 

[Mar$el]

When B- is S+...After trying many weapon and doing many things... I think I'll stick with the forge pro on this one, at least for now. I defend and the pro is a good killer. I don't really have that great of a use for succ bombs but bubble is great for holding people back on pushes and pushing yourself. I think DUDE made a pretty accurate assumption of the mode and how bubbler could be very useful. He also said people might be using QR for collecting clams but I don't think so or at least not yet. I think the biggest thing is that you need a defender and a slayer and people to collect. Still not sure exactly how to push most effectively but I just go in with bubbles and suicide for some points. There was one time where to break a 100-100 overtime game I had 6 clams and I jumped to someone near 4 clams and picked them up for a power clam so to clarify Sifu's point, you only lose them when you jump back to spawn. It looks like you go into overtime if the team in the lead was the last person to have their basket closed. I was surprised at how quickly people found ways to break free from someone defending using the map like on blackbelly you can climb up the side of the half-pipe completely hidden to anyone on the other side guarding the basket. Then you go up and jump and throw the power clam for 20 points.

Still gotta figure out if everyone should be collecting then passing to certain people, or when to form a power clam and all that jazz. There's a tournament coming soon with clam blitz in the rotation to exciting to see how top teams play it.

 

[Ansible]

Such... "wonders" I have seen. @_@

And lag too.

So, I decided to cruise around C- with the Inkbrush Nouveau, snatching clams then trying to pass them to teammates. Not an easy task if you don't predict their movements properly or they don't notice you're throwing them. Ever now and then I'd run a power clam forward or pick up the dropped clamball to drive it home. Got skipped to B- after the first hour then proceeded to lose about every match wielding the Gold Dynamo Roller, Hydra Splatling, and Tenta Brella in the next hour.

Still managed to enjoy myself in spite of the matter.

A few things I learned:

• can view all spawned clams on map any time
  • show up as green dots
• once clams are covered in ally ink they have a small read circle you can see from anywhere
• clams are drawn to you once you get near them
• clams hide in the ink with you
• throwing range of the power clam is very very very short
• super jumping
  • lose clams/power clam when jumping to spawn
  • keep clam/power clam when jumping to beakons and teammates
• baller
  • can't pick up clams/power clam after transforming
  • can keep already held clams/power clam until exploding then they drop nearby
• can keep clam/power clams after activating ink armor
• can't pick up opponent's power clam
• foe can still break goal if tossed power clam before getting splatted
• brief delay until goal breaks open once hit by power clam
• opposing team is unable to score points once their own goal is broken open
  • the basket retracts upwards
• this mode can really tire you out
• the dead-sea salt thread should be getting new material :p

Not sure how overtime works, so maybe I should read the blasted manual lol. Lagbelly Saltpark :p is about as lousy in this mode as it is in Rainmaker—once one team gets momentum, it's difficult to make a comeback. Overall the mode is utter chaos as expected. Skill level is an utter mishmash. Hardly any hint of team coordination. Hardly anyone bothers with defense, let alone passing clams or the power clam to each other. Everyone goes solo to clam gather or run the power clam. Most players will run to the enemy goal if they don't have enough clams thinking they can shoot it open, special it open, or collect more around the enemy base. Beware of any player seemingly competent and isn't on your team!

So now, things are pretty WILD! Best to just let go and enjoy the ride when you join.

 

[Sifu]

I’m pretty sure overtime kicks in when the losing team still has a power clam, or when the basket is open

 

[MINKUKEL]

Fun mode. Once you get the details down, it's not nearly as complicated or chaotic as I thought.

While I don't really have a problem with the mode, I will say that the amount of time you spend and the amount of points you get at the end of a match, really doesn't match up. If I play for 5-and-a-half minute and I get 150p, I just feel like I just wasted my time. Even wins only give you about 1250-1500 points. And while most Splat Zones matches I play end in a KO, so far, it barely happened in Clam Blitz, so this really needs fixing.

 

[Sifu]

I think as you work your way into higher ranks, you will find more KO’s... but yeah, the average CB round is longer than other modes

Also, I tested to see if the power clam can be weaponized, and it just flies through them.

So... something interesting just happened. My teammate threw the power clam at the basket, and as I got ready to throw my clams in the basket, the power clam just kept spinning for 6 seconds. I got splatted in the meantime, then once the barrier did break, the score stayed at 100. Turns out, the player DC’d while throwing

 

[ChaosChao]

My issue with this mode is that no one seems to PAY ATTENTION TO THE RULES OF THE MODE nor do they pay attention to the UI. Every match I've been in not a single player has passed clams to other teammates except myself because I looked up the rules. Almost no one I've played with on Ranked pays attention to the UI to see who has the football (yeah I'm not calling that a Power Clam, it's a football) and no one pays attention to signals to move to certain areas. I feel this will not be an issue in League Battles but good lord I know they say "No one reads the manual!" but people need to read the rules and look up the ins and outs of this otherwise there won't be any semblance of coordination in Ranked Battle. Like I said, League Battles is another story as more than likely squads are using voicechat and communicating which greatly mitigates the issues. I like the mode, it's hectic, but it's frustrating when every one of your teammates is scattered across the battlefield not paying attention to their teammates or the UI.

 

[ChaosChao]

Not sure how overtime works, so maybe I should read the blasted manual lol. Lagbelly Saltpark :p is about as lousy in this mode as it is in Rainmaker—once one team gets momentum, it's difficult to make a comeback. Overall the mode is utter chaos as expected. Skill level is an utter mishmash. Hardly any hint of team coordination. Hardly anyone bothers with defense, let alone passing clams or the power clam to each other. Everyone goes solo to clam gather or run the power clam. Most players will run to the enemy goal if they don't have enough clams thinking they can shoot it open, special it open, or collect more around the enemy base. Beware of any player seemingly competent and isn't on your team!

If the currently losing team has a football on hand when time runs out Overtime kicks in and they have the opportunity to make one last push to the currently winning team's basket and bust it open. If they do then once the barrier returns on the currently winning team's basket or the currently losing team takes the lead, the match ends. Also if too much time is spent in Overtime without anything happening, the match also ends.

 

[Sifu]

I once got stuck in overtime for at least a minute and a half, because nobody managed to open the basket on either team for the entire match. I was so happy once we got their basket open.

 

[AllToonedUp]

I love the new mode. It's frantic and requires team synergy to push and win, I was worried it would be super complicated but its simple once you play and read the rules. I'm not a big fan of people that just wander around the battlefield or rush by themselves with the power clam and getting killed though, but it's new so i'm not expecting spectacular results right away.

 

[J'Wiz]

I was finally able to catch a Clam Blitz rotation while I was off work. Admittedly I'm still not sure on how to properly approach it. I'm thinking of just following a teammate and playing bodyguard. I'm using SS Pro, so I think I can do that.

I'm curious about good weapon ideas for the mode. My first idea was Splattershot Pro. The range and damage make it great for killing. It can play both defense and offense effectively as well. Ink Storm seems good for making that final push toward the goal. I just think it might need some speed augmentations to keep up with the flow of battle.

I had fun with it the 4 times I got to play. I also got to carry my team on my first match. Don't worry baby birds. I got ya!

 

[MindWanderer]

If you like the SS Pro, try the Forge. Watching some videos, I can see that Bubble Blower is insanely strong in this mode--you can stand inside a bubble and throw clams with impunity, plus a lot of the maps feature contained areas around the goal that are easy to fill with bubbles.

I'm thinking my old friend the Tri-Slosher will suit me well. One of the issues is that enemies zip by really fast in this mode (not slowed down like they are with the Rainmaker, or tied to a fixed location like in Splat Zones), so your aim has to be really spot-on. Which mine isn't. Plus Ink Armor is really useful for the same reason--just an extra second of survival often means the difference between sinking the football and not.

Be careful with the Baller and Splashdown. They seem like they'd be really useful, but using them makes you drop all your clams on the ground. Best bet with the Baller is to pass your clams to an ally, then clear the way for them.

 

[Dessgeega]

I'll be waiting for the inevitable patch before touching this further. There's definitely balance issues here. Who could imagine that there is a mode where achieving a team wipe doesn't matter? If the enemy broke your basket and clams are scattered there is literally nothing you can do to advance your score while they respawn. Doesn't seem like the greatest design choice to me.

Oh, and there's people complaining that they rushed to S+ and can't find matches now, to which I say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The mode's only been out for 2 days and the non-Japanese playerbase isn't enormous, if you do this it's kind of a problem of your own creation.

 

[Spreevaki]

I'll be waiting for the inevitable patch before touching this further. There's definitely balance issues here. Who could imagine that there is a mode where achieving a team wipe doesn't matter? If the enemy broke your basket and clams are scattered there is literally nothing you can do to advance your score while they respawn. Doesn't seem like the greatest design choice to me.

Oh, and there's people complaining that they rushed to S+ and can't find matches now, to which I say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The mode's only been out for 2 days and the non-Japanese playerbase isn't enormous, if you do this it's kind of a problem of your own creation.

yeah, i got to S in it not too long ago, sucks though because i wanted to stay around B+ - A but it wouldn't be possible without purposely losing, so i just did my thing
anyway, i like this mode. my friends and i like to pass the super clam things and sometimes that confuses the enemy. pretty nice, in my opinion.

 

[Sifu]

Who could imagine that there is a mode where achieving a team wipe doesn't matter?

I feel team wipes do matter - turf control is vital in this mode, and you can make a good dent in where they can comfortably swim, even when you can’t break their basket.

Not to mention, that’s only a problem when you’ve let your basket fall in the first place

 

[Dessgeega]

I feel team wipes do matter - turf control is vital in this mode, and you can make a good dent in where they can comfortably swim, even when you can’t break their basket.

That's true of any mode, but that doesn't actually earn you points. Even a pressured enemy can push back, and if they already have the lead then your effort doesn't amount to much.

 

[Elecmaw]

In the roughly 2 games i got to play this mode i feel like it could be a very interesting gamemode, just not in it's current state.

It's way too hard and punishing to score points- the goal is a vulnerable position to begin with(that can get easily blocked off by a single special), and people who hold power clams will get tracked constantly. Scoring a single point in an entire game can be a big struggle sometimes, and with the weird overtime rules in this mode make matches drag on way too long with nothing happening.

Comparing it to the other modes where it's more of a countdown, you get points for holding the zone, sitting on the tower or approaching their pedestal with the RM. In here, you have to get in deep while being tracked to toss your ball against a very well protected target to score your first point.

And once you crack the shield you want everyone to gather nicely around the shield and toss in as many clams as possible, which is a perfect way to get crushed by a single special.

 

[Sifu]

Turns out a single clam is worth 3 points. That means that a power clam is actually worth less than its parts- interesting.

 

[Mar$el]

Turns out a single clam is worth 3 points. That means that a power clam is actually worth less than its parts- interesting.

But also takes way longer to throw 7-10 clams than a power clam

 

[MindWanderer]

Also Power Clams can't be stolen by the opposing team. It's rare that I'd rather have 9 normal clams than 1 power clam, even when the barrier is already down.