Splatoon 2 Critique My Gear

[Enperry]

...But you do not need that much Bomb Defence; I only run one sub to counter Inkjet and Missiles. Also I'm not sure if this is for the Hydra or the Custom Hydra, because there's honestly no reason for you to use the vanilla over the custom in my opinion - the Custom highlights its role as a backliner infinitely better.

Going back to the gear, however, I also don't think you need that many Ink Saver Mains; I would instead substitute one main for a main of Ink Recovery just to balance out perks and ensure that you are receiving the highest return for your abilities. The Run Speed main is fine by me, as every Splatling does benefit from some mobility. -The Ballpoint, Mini, and Heavy all warrant 2x mains of Run Speed, but you can get away with 1x or less on the Hydras because it's more perch-oriented, but it really depends on how you play the weapon. I also don't feel like QSJ is necessary at all, because most of the time it'll be your team dying and jumping back to you, and if you do manage to die, the worst thing a backliner can do, then you won't want to jump back to teammates as they'll typically be in the heat of battle anyway. Speaking of being the last one alive, Tenacity finds great use on backliners, so consider that as well.

Here's what I run for the Custom Hydra (With the Neo Octoling Boots). The Special Charge is a no-brainer with Ink Armour, but Tenacity gets an honourable mention. I should honestly run both and scrap the Swim Speed, but the extra repositioning mobility really does help this weapon, otherwise you move unnecessarily slow. I also like to run Object Shredder because the CHydra is my go-to Splat Zones weapon and people just love their Bubble Blower in that mode. It's also nice for getting rid of Ballers that try to push straight into you. On occasion, I also run Respawn Punisher if I feel like the map doesn't let people flank me very easily, such as in Ancho V Games; you should only run Respawn Punisher if you get a K/D over 3/2, which if you're using this weapon, I should certainly hope you're getting (honestly 3/1 because your "lives" are more valuable than your typical front-liner, but use your discretion). Lastly I have had some success with Thermal Ink, but given that the Hydra reliably kills at max range with a full charge and 3HKO, it's less necessary. On the Ballpoint, I'd insist on it.

Loadout doesn't have the Custom, but I use it instead of the vanilla. According to my calculations, 18 AP of Bomb Defense allows for me to withstand 4 non direct Tenta Missiles, and a direct Inkjet blast - which is the reason I run it. I also prefer to have 9 AP of QSJ because it allows for quick escapes in tight situations where I wish I could super jump faster.

 

[ϛ(°³°)/`]

Alright, I’ll try one more time to get some feedback on my Ballpoint builds. I’ve refined them a bit more.

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Thermal Ink |
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Thermal Ink |
DR/OS. |

The top set is for general use, but comeback can be replaced with ink management of some kind. I opt for Comeback in game modes where being splatted happens frequently, like TC and RM. The bottom set is a modified general purpose set to allow for Drop Roller for safer Inkjet landings, because the Ballpoint can’t fire immediately after finishing its special, and I find that people are extremely good at sneaking around into my base and finding my launch point these days. Alternatively I have Object Shredder for Rainmaker; the 20 bullets/s is great at getting the pop. Thermal Ink is included to track people that escape the final bullet in long range mode, which happens rather often with the 12 b/s fire rate and lack of spread.

If the Nouveau comes with Beakons, swap the two Sp. Power subs for Sub Power and keep Comeback in the set while scrapping Drop Roller.

 

[Metasepia]

Alright, I’ll try one more time to get some feedback on my Ballpoint builds. I’ve refined them a bit more.

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Thermal Ink |
|

|
Thermal Ink |
DR/OS. |

The top set is for general use, but comeback can be replaced with ink management of some kind. I opt for Comeback in game modes where being splatted happens frequently, like TC and RM. The bottom set is a modified general purpose set to allow for Drop Roller for safer Inkjet landings, because the Ballpoint can’t fire immediately after finishing its special, and I find that people are extremely good at sneaking around into my base and finding my launch point these days. Alternatively I have Object Shredder for Rainmaker; the 20 bullets/s is great at getting the pop. Thermal Ink is included to track people that escape the final bullet in long range mode, which happens rather often with the 12 b/s fire rate and lack of spread.

If the Nouveau comes with Beakons, swap the two Sp. Power subs for Sub Power and keep Comeback in the set while scrapping Drop Roller.

I would ditch Comeback on this weapon as you shouldn't be dying much with it, in TC you should just play conventional backliner whilst using the short range mode for painting and popping people off the tower if you're above it. If you're using comeback for the efficiency perks then I suggest you replace it with a main of ISM or InkRec for mist spam. The rest is more down to personal preference but I would swap Thermal Ink for a main of Run speed as this weapon's motto is 'Gotta go fast', this thing has a monstrous strafe speed and in this meta you always want to abuse the best aspects of your weapon. I would also run Special charge in it's place but if you're previous posts are anything to go by, I would just run an extra main of Run speed (sorry for making assumptions, but yeah the Ink jet is definitely not user friendly). On a side note; I've noticed that I reliably splat people in the long range mode thanks to the accuracy. Swim speed is unconventional in a splatling build so I'd like to hear why you'd put it on the splatling that best abuses run speed. Drop Roller and Object Shredder I agree on, and I'd throw in a sub of Special saver cuz why not? All in all, this is definitely an unconventional Ballpoint set, and obviously goes against the norm so do take what I said with a grain of salt.

 

[ϛ(°³°)/`]

I would ditch Comeback on this weapon as you shouldn't be dying much with it, in TC you should just play conventional backliner whilst using the short range mode for painting and popping people off the tower if you're above it. If you're using comeback for the efficiency perks then I suggest you replace it with a main of ISM or InkRec for mist spam. The rest is more down to personal preference but I would swap Thermal Ink for a main of Run speed as this weapon's motto is 'Gotta go fast', this thing has a monstrous strafe speed and in this meta you always want to abuse the best aspects of your weapon. I would also run Special charge in it's place but if you're previous posts are anything to go by, I would just run an extra main of Run speed (sorry for making assumptions, but yeah the Ink jet is definitely not user friendly). On a side note; I've noticed that I reliably splat people in the long range mode thanks to the accuracy. Swim speed is unconventional in a splatling build so I'd like to hear why you'd put it on the splatling that best abuses run speed. Drop Roller and Object Shredder I agree on, and I'd throw in a sub of Special saver cuz why not? All in all, this is definitely an unconventional Ballpoint set, and obviously goes against the norm so do take what I said with a grain of salt.

While I’m still getting used to playing this weapon, I do die a lot. Probably 40% of the time while using Inkjet, as expected. I’ve gotten a fair bit better with it, getting a few triples and a sick quad to save a Rainmaker game, but still not great. I have Comeback in place mostly to replace Beakons after dying, provided the Nouveau comes with them still, and also because my set is the Old-Timey clothes from Octo Expansion :V When I play Dapples, having comeback and Beakons together provides a lot of synergy with the Beakons letting you capitalize on the mobility buffs for longer, and Comeback making it cheaper to replace them and fire for a bit.

Swim Speed is there because my goal with this weapon is to constantly find a good place to take people out at range, which means repositioning exponentially more than I would with even the Heavy. I play it almost like a Jet with more kill potential and better paint coverage when needed.

I’m pretty hard-set on Thermal Ink because it provides me with information about where people retreat to and lets me observe their movements. At the moment I’m very oblivious to what short ranged weapons are doing, and I get flanked a lot. It’s a skill I never was able to grasp too well. The reason I do well with the Hydra is because I take a perch role, and on most maps that means flankers get funneled into one or two routes, making it easy to avoid being caught off guard. I also feel like Thermal Ink is highly underrated; the range you need to receive its effects is quite short and the Ballpoint works at Splat Charger range, the effect lasts for a solid 12 seconds, the effect does not disappear instantly when a person begins to swim and as such it gives you a brief opportunity to see which way they're headed, and it actually shows through ALL opaque objects and not just walls. This means you can see tagged opponents through grates above and below you, through bullets and splashes that appear in front of them (like splashdown), through Bubble Blower bubbles oddly enough, and through your own inkling. These are just examples, and I've found being able to see people through the Kelp Dome grating to be extremely useful, as it's difficult for me to follow them with the naked eye.

I feel like adding a third main of Run Speed is going to start showing diminishing returns past the point I’d be willing to reach, considering I’m running into 4-moveslot syndrome with this weapon already.
EDIT: Inkipedia says that the boosts are 15.2%, 27.6% (+12.4), and 37.4% (+9.8), so I retract my previous statement. 3x Run Speed does seem more viable than throwing in Swim Speed and I'll have to consider this option.

I’m down for replacing Comeback and adding some efficiency perks though. I’ll have to take a scan through my gear and see what I can whip up.

 

[Metasepia]

While I’m still getting used to playing this weapon, I do die a lot. Probably 40% of the time while using Inkjet, as expected. I’ve gotten a fair bit better with it, getting a few triples and a sick quad to save a Rainmaker game, but still not great. I have Comeback in place mostly to replace Beakons after dying, provided the Nouveau comes with them still, and also because my set is the Old-Timey clothes from Octo Expansion :V When I play Dapples, having comeback and Beakons together provides a lot of synergy with the Beakons letting you capitalize on the mobility buffs for longer, and Comeback making it cheaper to replace them and fire for a bit.

Swim Speed is there because my goal with this weapon is to constantly find a good place to take people out at range, which means repositioning exponentially more than I would with even the Heavy. I play it almost like a Jet with more kill potential and better paint coverage when needed.

I’m pretty hard-set on Thermal Ink because it provides me with information about where people retreat to and lets me observe their movements. At the moment I’m very oblivious to what short ranged weapons are doing, and I get flanked a lot. It’s a skill I never was able to grasp too well. The reason I do well with the Hydra is because I take a perch role, and on most maps that means flankers get funneled into one or two routes, making it easy to avoid being caught off guard. I also feel like Thermal Ink is highly underrated; the range you need to receive its effects is quite short and the Ballpoint works at Splat Charger range, the effect lasts for a solid 12 seconds, the effect does not disappear instantly when a person begins to swim and as such it gives you a brief opportunity to see which way they're headed, and it actually shows through ALL opaque objects and not just walls. This means you can see tagged opponents through grates above and below you, through bullets and splashes that appear in front of them (like splashdown), through Bubble Blower bubbles oddly enough, and through your own inkling. These are just examples, and I've found being able to see people through the Kelp Dome grating to be extremely useful, as it's difficult for me to follow them with the naked eye.

I feel like adding a third main of Run Speed is going to start showing diminishing returns past the point I’d be willing to reach, considering I’m running into 4-moveslot syndrome with this weapon already.
EDIT: Inkipedia says that the boosts are 15.2%, 27.6% (+12.4), and 37.4% (+9.8), so I retract my previous statement. 3x Run Speed does seem more viable than throwing in Swim Speed and I'll have to consider this option.

I’m down for replacing Comeback and adding some efficiency perks though. I’ll have to take a scan through my gear and see what I can whip up.

I mean, if you're that hard pressed on Thermal then I don't see it as that much of an issue since the ballpoint is quite flexible and only really needs Run speed to be successful. And don't worry about dying too much, this weapon definitely takes a bit of time to 'click in' butt if you do get good at it, then I will assure you suppressing people and shanking them with pens will certainly be from the fruits of your labours. ;)

 

[ϛ(°³°)/`]

I mean, if you're that hard pressed on Thermal then I don't see it as that much of an issue since the ballpoint is quite flexible and only really needs Run speed to be successful. And don't worry about dying too much, this weapon definitely takes a bit of time to 'click in' butt if you do get good at it, then I will assure you suppressing people and shanking them with pens will certainly be from the fruits of your labours. ;)

While we're on the Inkjet conversation, let's go back to those two subs of Special Power Up I've got on. I added those because I see a lot of Inkjet users run it, some competitive players as well, and I can't figure out why. It doesn't extend the duration very much, and even a max stack of Special Power doesn't increase damage radii very much; it seems to improve the 50 damage radius from 4 "dashes" to 5 if your blast is targeted exactly on those dashed lines in the test arena. The 30 damage radius seems to go from 9 to 11 dashes. The improvement truly is tiny and I feel like adding 2x ISM subs would provide more utility in maintaining fire.

 

[Metasepia]

While we're on the Inkjet conversation, let's go back to those two subs of Special Power Up I've got on. I added those because I see a lot of Inkjet users run it, some competitive players as well, and I can't figure out why. It doesn't extend the duration very much, and even a max stack of Special Power doesn't increase damage radii very much; it seems to improve the 50 damage radius from 4 "dashes" to 5 if your blast is targeted exactly on those dashed lines in the test arena. The 30 damage radius seems to go from 9 to 11 dashes. The improvement truly is tiny and I feel like adding 2x ISM subs would provide more utility in maintaining fire.

I myself am not that informed as to why but I believe they run 2 subs to get an extra shot off.

 

[Metasepia]

These are some Slosher Deco loadouts that I was curious if they needed to be tweaked for the current meta, whatever it is right now.

 

[Irves]

Hello! I want to create a gear set for the N-Zap 89. What do you think about my set below? Head is Kyonshi Hat but it isn't in the database on loadout.ink until now.

 

[BreadBandit]

@Metasepia I would go for some special power up on the build, just because the baller won't get popped so easily, and it increases the 55 damage radius, allowing you to combo into a slosh easier. But those builds should work just fine in 4.2.0. Comeback + Quick Respawn makes for a nice aggressive bucket build.

@Irves This build is pretty solid, but I would get rid of a main of run speed an opt to go for something else. This would probably be Comeback, Stealth Jump or Object Shredder, but I think it's best to test things out yourself and see what works. But 3 mains of run speed is kind of redundant. Just stay away from main saver, cold blooded, and other things that don't really make sense for n-zap.

 

[Stardust]

What do you think of this set for Kensa Dynamo?

 

[Wetboy >.<]

What do you think of this set for Kensa Dynamo?
View attachment 6693

I think it’s pretty good! May I ask for the purpose of Sub Power Up?

 

[Wetboy >.<]

Hey, this is my gear for Carbon Roller Deco. What should I change the shirt to?

 

[Stardust]

I think it’s pretty good! May I ask for the purpose of Sub Power Up?

I put on Sub Power because I wanted my sprinkler to paint more. (I THINK it paints more) Is there anything you'd recommend?

Also, sorry for the late reply

 

[ϛ(°³°)/`]

I put on Sub Power because I wanted my sprinkler to paint more. (I THINK it paints more) Is there anything you'd recommend?

Also, sorry for the late reply

From what I gather, Sprinklers have several “modes” of painting; they start at 15 drops/s, then transition to 10 drops/s, and finally they hit low-power mode and stay at 6 drops/s until it’s destroyed or you get splatted. Sub power up increases the time the Sprinkler stays in high-power mode, so if you think your Sprinkler will last longer than 5.5 seconds, you’ll get an improved performance from this ability.

In my experience, sprinklers get broken pretty fast and I would suggest another ability in its place. That said, I’m not sure I’ve ever used a Dynamo, despite being a heavy weapon guy myself. I might recommend a main of Swim Speed, just because the weapon gives you movement penalties right off the bat. The Hydra almost never swims around and repositions, yet I still run a main of Swim Speed on it just for convenience and retreating purposes - you’ll get more bang for your buck on the Dynamo for sure.

You could also consider Special Charge, because the Booyah Bomb seems to be one of those specials that’s always used to pressure the objective. From what I can tell, Special Power Up also makes it easier to charge the bomb, which you might appreciate.

 

[Stardust]

From what I gather, Sprinklers have several “modes” of painting; they start at 15 drops/s, then transition to 10 drops/s, and finally they hit low-power mode and stay at 6 drops/s until it’s destroyed or you get splatted. Sub power up increases the time the Sprinkler stays in high-power mode, so if you think your Sprinkler will last longer than 5.5 seconds, you’ll get an improved performance from this ability.

In my experience, sprinklers get broken pretty fast and I would suggest another ability in its place. That said, I’m not sure I’ve ever used a Dynamo, despite being a heavy weapon guy myself. I might recommend a main of Swim Speed, just because the weapon gives you movement penalties right off the bat. The Hydra almost never swims around and repositions, yet I still run a main of Swim Speed on it just for convenience and retreating purposes - you’ll get more bang for your buck on the Dynamo for sure.

You could also consider Special Charge, because the Booyah Bomb seems to be one of those specials that’s always used to pressure the objective. From what I can tell, Special Power Up also makes it easier to charge the bomb, which you might appreciate.

I didn't know that! I tend to place it somewhere else constantly, so I might not get the most out of it. I switched to using special charge earlier, it's a lot more effective than Sub Power, so I'll be using that more. I'll also try swim speed in place of Special Charge or Main Saver. Thank you!

 

[AisforAnon]

hi! please rate my Range Blaster build~

Headgear: Enperry Octoking Facemask (Tenacity)
Sub Power x3

Clothes: Squidforce Black Layered LS (Ink Saver (Main))
Ink Resistance x3

Shoes: Tentatek White Norimaki 750s (Swim Speed)
Ink Recovery x3

and uhh my (heh) H-3 D build

Headgear: Enperry Octoking Facemask (Tenacity)
Sub Power x3

Clothes: SquidForce Black Tee (Special Power Up)
Ink Resistance x3

Shoes: Tentatek White Norimaki 750s (Swim Speed)
Ink Recovery x3

(yes I like tenacity why do you ask?)

 

[Mar$el]

hi! please rate my Range Blaster build~

Headgear: Enperry Octoking Facemask (Tenacity)
Sub Power x3

Clothes: Squidforce Black Layered LS (Ink Saver (Main))
Ink Resistance x3

Shoes: Tentatek White Norimaki 750s (Swim Speed)
Ink Recovery x3

and uhh my (heh) H-3 D build

Headgear: Enperry Octoking Facemask (Tenacity)
Sub Power x3

Clothes: SquidForce Black Tee (Special Power Up)
Ink Resistance x3

Shoes: Tentatek White Norimaki 750s (Swim Speed)
Ink Recovery x3

(yes I like tenacity why do you ask?)

Well Tenacity is REALLY bad, especially on those weapons. I don't play Range Blaster much anymore, but most top players if they ever bother using it they usually go with a meta QR build. Either way I strongly suggest 1-2 subs qsj and special saver, and a sub of bomb defense on pretty much every weapon. Oh and Stealth Jump unless you're a backline

As for H3D, a weapon I do have experience playing in competitive, I know most people go with a QR build, but I don't find it that great on the weapon considering it's a midline. This is my build. I would recommend Stealth Jump on most weapons that aren't backliners for safer jumping, and the qsj ss bd I talked about above. I really like having a good amount of swim speed, and special saver/sub saver are really great for H3D since a midlines job is to paint a lot, utilize tons of bomb pressure, and get lots of support specials and use them properly.

 

[blep]

welp...so I made an account and promptly forgot my password so

anyway thanks for the critique. HOWEVER I prefer to run Tenacity over SC and SS especially SS because I am in fact a backliner and can also keep a good K/D. I don't like running abilities that require me to die to have effect in general, and I don't use QR. Ever. I've considered running a sub of QR with RP to cancel the respawn time penalty if necessary, but right now I don't.

In general I prefer to run IR over ISM because again I'm a backliner but the Range Blaster is so ink needy I made an exception. I could probably do without the SPU, tho~ generally I either run it with bombs on mid-long-range weapons or with beakons.

What if I ran RB with Tenacity, 3s IR, 1m ISM, 3s the other IR, SJ, 2s QSJ, and 1s BDU? It'd work, but I still like my swim speed.

Also why only one BDU? and why only one SS?

Agreed on QR with H-3. Cool build, btw~ I see you also like your swim speed~ However, again, I prefer Tenacity over SC/SS. I also don't run ISS with the H-3, but I guess that's personal preference. I'm in the ink a lot (almost enough to benefit from ninja squid but not quite) so I run IR most of the time.

I suppose if I really wanted, I could do without the resistance on the H-3, but not the RB since it paints so badly.

what if I ran Tenacity, 3s IR, 1m IR, 3s SSU, SJ, 2s QSJ, 1s BDU with h-3 D? My only problem with that is I don't have any SPU for armor. I only run SPU on bomb rush, armor, and occasionally bubbles.

(I'm so sorry I really like Tenacity esp in solo queue when people constantly die and disconnect)

(Obviously in a competitive setting I'd have to be a little more careful (bc in most tournaments sub abilities are banned))

 

[Mar$el]

welp...so I made an account and promptly forgot my password so

anyway thanks for the critique. HOWEVER I prefer to run Tenacity over SC and SS especially SS because I am in fact a backliner and can also keep a good K/D. I don't like running abilities that require me to die to have effect in general, and I don't use QR. Ever. I've considered running a sub of QR with RP to cancel the respawn time penalty if necessary, but right now I don't.

In general I prefer to run IR over ISM because again I'm a backliner but the Range Blaster is so ink needy I made an exception. I could probably do without the SPU, tho~ generally I either run it with bombs on mid-long-range weapons or with beakons.

What if I ran RB with Tenacity, 3s IR, 1m ISM, 3s the other IR, SJ, 2s QSJ, and 1s BDU? It'd work, but I still like my swim speed.

Also why only one BDU? and why only one SS?

Agreed on QR with H-3. Cool build, btw~ I see you also like your swim speed~ However, again, I prefer Tenacity over SC/SS. I also don't run ISS with the H-3, but I guess that's personal preference. I'm in the ink a lot (almost enough to benefit from ninja squid but not quite) so I run IR most of the time.

I suppose if I really wanted, I could do without the resistance on the H-3, but not the RB since it paints so badly.

what if I ran Tenacity, 3s IR, 1m IR, 3s SSU, SJ, 2s QSJ, 1s BDU with h-3 D? My only problem with that is I don't have any SPU for armor. I only run SPU on bomb rush, armor, and occasionally bubbles.

(I'm so sorry I really like Tenacity esp in solo queue when people constantly die and disconnect)

(Obviously in a competitive setting I'd have to be a little more careful (bc in most tournaments sub abilities are banned))

Wait what lol subs are only banned in very rare Nintendo JP tourneys like Platinum Cup and the Inkling Open. Literally every other tournament allows sub abilities. Also Tenacity is still really bad even for backliners, and, H3D and Range Blaster are midline weapons, not backlines. Try charger, splatlings, jet, explo, etc. Anyways I explained bomb defense and special saver in another thread. I would recommend only running like 2 subs of Ink Res. if you're gonna use it. Dedicating a whole pure to it is pretty iffy, but it's personal preference so go for it lol.