Defensive Inking + Swimming

[InkyBlinky]

There's a lot of focus on offense in talks regarding the meta, but how about talk regarding how to best play defensively?

This does not necessarily mean utilizing a 'support' set as opposed to an offensive set. This thread is just meant to investigate the community's depth of knowledge and wisdom regarding all things defense in splatoon.

For instance, when outnumbered 2:1, what techniques do you employ to come out alive? Is there a particular way you ink the turf? A particular methodology to how and where you swim?

Please feel free to share.

 

[BlackZero]

For instance, when outnumbered 2:1, what techniques do you employ to come out alive?

1. Position head between knees
2. Proceed to kiss your *** goodbye

A particular methodology to how and where you swim?

Most of it is common sense stuff. Don't take the same paths all the time. Don't swim in a straight line if a charger is aiming at you. Don't "Halo Hop." Stuff like that.

Seriously though, defense depends a lot on what mode you're playing. In TC, it's very easy for a charger or splatling to pick a good vantage point on the tower's route and camp kill enemies riding the tower. The half-pipes in Blackbelly and the apartments looking at the central apartment building in Flounder are a great examples.

RM can be a little trickier, as there's no set route. In that case, you have to find a good position that can see all traffic, but is far enough away from your own goal that it isn't an automatic game over if you don't kill the carrier straight away.

Splat Zones depend on whether it's a single or double zone map. If single, You just have to keep enemies away from one spot. If it's double, you'll have to position yourself to cover both the SZ close to you and the one closer to the enemy. Make sure you keep an eye out for flankers when trying to cover the enemy's SZ. In either case, weapons like the Splatling and Dual Squelch do well because they have good coverage and range, so it's easier to cover the SZ from a safer position than higher risk weapons like Aeros and brushes. It's not a bad idea to use weapons with splat bombs so you can unleash the dreaded Splat Bomb Barrage For Great Justice that can steal a splat zone really fast.

 

[Fightersword]

defensive play is more about understanding what is about to happen and moving to counter it when possible. often that means making an offensive move, and often that's simply Sjumping or backing up. A good grasp on how players will mostly act is the first step needed to being good defensively. Also having good control of the area around you for space to work with and not overextending, though those two things are rather basic.

 

[Quilavaflare]

Like mentioned, defense is really all about first having map control, second knowing where your opponents are, and third knowing where they want to go.
The first is simply having inked turf and laying beakons and other support items down if possible. You need to be aware of and have your flank areas covered as well so that you can quickly stop flankers.
Knowing where your opponent is has a lot to do with weapons and habits. You can pretty well guess a sniper is going to camp above mid on Moray, a .52 is going to throw his Splash Wall down next to the tower on Walleye at the beginning of the match, etc. You should have a plan ready to counter these situations when they inevitably happen. Create a mental map of where your opponents should be at the beginning of the match, and if they don't fit this map they're probably going for a flank instead. Watch where people try to attack from througout the match. If someone flanks from a certain route, whether they fail or not, they will more than likely attempt to do so again at some point, or at least from a similar route.
Knowing where your opponent wants to be just means interpreting the objective and team play style. Defensive teams will likely try to reclaim their territory by pushing you slowly back from where you came from, but an agressive team or player is probably going to try to make a back door entrance and punch holes in your defense. Being aware of this makes it easier to know where to put your focus at. There's no sense in waiting for a flank that never comes when your team is getting slaughtered on the front lines, or having all of your hard work go to waist just because you forgot about that one guy.

That's my take on it anyway. Everyone handles things a little differently though, I think.

 

[Rellek]

I feel that the best TEAM strategy is to push the entirety of your team's ink forward BEFORE going offensive. Like one guy who makes a single path of ink into enemy territory is typically not going to last very long you know? Given the right timing and situation, it can devastate the opposing team but honestly, it doesn't happen often in high level play. And I'm mainly a support dude anyways with weapons that reach over into enemy territory and bombs to back up the front lines. So here's my list of defensive "dos" and my offensive "don'ts"

1. Ink the ground. Always. More maneuverability for you and your allies and hinders the enemy's movement and progression into your territory.
2. Bombs scare people. This is a fact. When throwing a bomb they have 3 options: Blow up, come at you bro or, most likely, run away.
3. Areas with high traffic; avoid them. Now, sitting next to them and snatching whoever comes by, that's perfectly acceptable.
4. If you're the only squid trying to hold the zone/tower, save yourself. You have a better chance retreating to the mid-map than starting at the spawn after a few seconds to think about how you should have ran away.
5. Ink your allies. All too often do I see dudes trying to help me out in a duel when their weapon doesn't even reach. Ink me please, so that I'm not standing in enemy ink and I have more options.
6. Being aware of your surroundings. Just pay attention man.
7. You are good enough. There are advantages and disadvantages. Just because you're losing doesn't mean you suck. **** happens.

And I'll tell you about a technique that works 80% of the time when running away from a threat. Ink around a corner, then wait for them to follow, ink them or just swim right by back around where you came. Seriously, it works.

 

[DekuKitty]

Use the stage to your advantage, attack from places your enemy won't expect. For example, I tend to take the path to the left on Flounder heights and climb up to the opponent's side, they never seem to expect anyone to attack from there early on in the match. I also like going to the area under the bridge and shooting crossing inklings. I like having multiple routes like these if possible and using them all in a single match. If you don't know any routes like these for some stages, using recon is great help.

Also I don't know if this is actually a viable set, but I like to use ninja squid and swim speed up on my Octobrush. Considering it's already a great weapon for getting around quickly, I like to use the set to flank my opponents and take them out before they know what hit them.

 

[maximumtherayray]

Sometimes when my team dies and I'm the only one left I get to ink as much turf add possible while retreating to gain special that way if the team starts pushing too forward at least I have a chance to fend them off. If I can't I just simply wait for my team but it really depends on the situation.

 

[KayB]

Important note about escaping and defensive play: retreating backwards isn't always safer, and swimming forwards isn't always more dangerous

 

[sammich]

Important note about escaping and defensive play: retreating backwards isn't always safer, and swimming forwards isn't always more dangerous

heyyyy, *i* was gonna post this. :v

of course, swimming directly AT enemy fire will almost always get you killed, but if you go towards them just to the side, oftentimes you can slip through their offenses and wipe them out before they know what hit em. if you're not confident you can take them out, then you can flee AFTER passing by them.

some other defensive tips:
1. throw subs around corners to weed out surprises.
2. if you have a more offensive-based ally (usually a roller), occasionally tag behind them at a distance and use them as bait to sweep out sneaky opponents.
3. always have your own ink behind you even if you know where the opponents are. sometimes they pull out a special or something and you have to make a retreat -- better to have a large area to fall back.
4. make a mental note of all corners/objects/walls you pass and whether they're inkable or not. if you need to make a quick getaway, you'll want to slip behind one of these on your way (otherwise your retreat often leaves you quite vulnerable).

 

[yoyo]

One of the most important things for staying alive I've learned is making sure to cut off enemy ink paths around you, and ink in front of every choke point. Make sure they have to show themselves if they want to try to get close.

 

[Mateiüsthesquidwarrior]

Well, there isn't much left to say at this point, but @Rellek brought up many good points:

-Use your subs!! Bombs of all kinds, splash walls, and maybe even disruptors are very useful in escaping an ugly situation.

-Always cover the opposing team's ink. Especially in critical spots/passageways. And, especially if your team is on the offensive, covering important areas is completely worth it because if/when you lose control, it is then very easy then to hide and defend against the approaching enemy.

-And finally, something that people never seem to think of is inking the areas around stranded teammates (or super jumping teammates for that matter. It only takes a second for the enemy to see the circle and get in position to splat them as they land).

 

[Rellek]

I also want to add that inking into enemy territory when you have free time and the tower is in the middle would SEEM to be a bad idea since it gives the enemy ground to convert into Special meter, BUT making it harder for your enemy to get to the actual zone or tower as well as trying not to get caught up in the mess you made certainly gives you a huge advantage. I find that in matches with a perch of some kind, when I just make a mess of the opponent's turf, they have a harder time pushing back the tower or rainmaker. Those crucial areas for standing and defending the objective are areas that you should litter with ink even if it seems like a disavantage since you're giving SLIGHTLY more special to your opponent (Even though you're getting it too)