kiwi_tea
Inkster Jr.
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2015
- Messages
- 30
- NNID
- kiwi_tea
When I first started playing Splatoon 1 I was new to online shooters. I consulted a range of guides, and most of them began with one key statement: Don't die. I suspect a lot of players underestimate how important this is, especially players who are adept at wracking up multiple kills ending in a trade, ie, players with a hyper-aggressive playstyle. Splatoon is ultimately, however, a team sport. Each death we incur means several things:
1. Roughly 8 seconds downtime, if respawn times resemble S1.
2. Your teammates lack protection from flank attacks.
3. You lose map control, and have to get back into position either manually or by a potentially risky super-jump.
Example:
Imagine a team who lost a match, ending with KD (kills/deaths) as follows. This is very general, we're making assumptions based on very limited information, set aside concerns about who had what weapon etc:
P1: 22/13
P2: 14/8
P3: 8/3
P4: 1/11
Now, imagine we are P1. We've worked our arse off. We wracked up 22 kills. We were *carrying* right? Let's think about that claim.
As P1 we died a full 13 times, more than any other player. That effectively means we were absent from the field for just barely under 2 minutes, busy watching the respawn animation when we might have been holding down some key points on the map. Now, to be fair, it might have been that P1 was just saddled with bad teammates, and was overrun by the other team, but judging from the other players KD we could make some guesses about their performance as well. It is possible that P3 is a very competent player, a less reckless player than P1, who could not advance or get flanks because their teammates were dead so much. Notice they only died 3 times. This could indicate they were timid, but most competitive players are not. It could indicate they were a ranged weapon and the other team could not reach them. Or it could indicate that they were taking care not to die wherever possible: maximising their time on the field, holding down key areas of the map, and retreating when necessary. It is also possible that P2 is an okay player who found themselves consistently flanked due to the field absence of P1. As for P4, perhaps they are not a great player, but this is only amplified by the absence of their more competent teammates. As P1 we might take a lot of pride of in our 22 kills, and feel our teammates let us down, but it is just as possible that we were the bad teammate who let down P2 and P3. And if we died a full 13 times, it is very unlikely we were ever carrying the team, especially given we were forcing our teammates to expend a lot more ink than if we had remained on the field. It is even possible we made P2 run out of ink at every crucial moment, leading to their high number of deaths.
How can we minimise deaths?
1: Don't over-extend
Instead of thinking of yourself as a finely honed killing machine, think of your team as a defensive formation. If they stay too far back, or you advance too far ahead, you become an easier target to be picked off by a group of the enemy. Stay a decent distance from your teammates, but don't get ****y and rush ahead thinking you can mow the other team down at A+ the way you can mow down scrubs at C-. Even if you *are* that good, and the tactic often pays off, it's a bad habit to get into in terms of surviving and supporting teammates.
1: Be patient
A lot of players advise extreme aggression in the early seconds of the match, but this should always be tempered with care, and awareness of what the rest of your team is doing. It is very easy to over-extend at the start. Don't be afraid to stop, duck down in your ink in a safe spot, assess the map and think about your next move.
2: Move well
You've probably seen the Youtubers who can dance around other players avoiding death, dropping a bomb to pick off the enemy. This is a useful skill in a pinch. Mobility is crucial not just for aggression, but also for defense and retreat. Find some tutorials on movement techs and practice them.
3: Don't pick fair fights
Most players know this these days, but you should be killing the people who are trying to kill your teammates, not taking people on head-to-head unless you've no choice.
4: Range
It's a lot harder for them to kill what they can't get close to, but the trade-off is usually that once a melee-style weapon gets close to a slow-firing ranged weapon, the latter is done. Teams can be carried by a good ranged weapon that stands back and picks off anyone that comes for their teammates, ensuring minimal casualties not just for themselves, but for the whole team.
5: Fall back
If you have the whole enemy team on you, don't get fancy. Don't try to take them all down, sure, you might single-handedly sustain a wipe, but you might also just run out of ink and die. Fall back to a safe position, wait for your other teammates to come online, then find them and support them.
6. Try a less aggressive weapon
My main example is always the Inkbrush. It simply *can't* play as head-to-head aggressively as a lot of other weapons, but it can still be incredibly effective when you learn how to use it. It forces you to learn patience and mobility, which is why many players can't get it to work, and think it's a "bad weapon".
1. Roughly 8 seconds downtime, if respawn times resemble S1.
2. Your teammates lack protection from flank attacks.
3. You lose map control, and have to get back into position either manually or by a potentially risky super-jump.
Example:
Imagine a team who lost a match, ending with KD (kills/deaths) as follows. This is very general, we're making assumptions based on very limited information, set aside concerns about who had what weapon etc:
P1: 22/13
P2: 14/8
P3: 8/3
P4: 1/11
Now, imagine we are P1. We've worked our arse off. We wracked up 22 kills. We were *carrying* right? Let's think about that claim.
As P1 we died a full 13 times, more than any other player. That effectively means we were absent from the field for just barely under 2 minutes, busy watching the respawn animation when we might have been holding down some key points on the map. Now, to be fair, it might have been that P1 was just saddled with bad teammates, and was overrun by the other team, but judging from the other players KD we could make some guesses about their performance as well. It is possible that P3 is a very competent player, a less reckless player than P1, who could not advance or get flanks because their teammates were dead so much. Notice they only died 3 times. This could indicate they were timid, but most competitive players are not. It could indicate they were a ranged weapon and the other team could not reach them. Or it could indicate that they were taking care not to die wherever possible: maximising their time on the field, holding down key areas of the map, and retreating when necessary. It is also possible that P2 is an okay player who found themselves consistently flanked due to the field absence of P1. As for P4, perhaps they are not a great player, but this is only amplified by the absence of their more competent teammates. As P1 we might take a lot of pride of in our 22 kills, and feel our teammates let us down, but it is just as possible that we were the bad teammate who let down P2 and P3. And if we died a full 13 times, it is very unlikely we were ever carrying the team, especially given we were forcing our teammates to expend a lot more ink than if we had remained on the field. It is even possible we made P2 run out of ink at every crucial moment, leading to their high number of deaths.
How can we minimise deaths?
1: Don't over-extend
Instead of thinking of yourself as a finely honed killing machine, think of your team as a defensive formation. If they stay too far back, or you advance too far ahead, you become an easier target to be picked off by a group of the enemy. Stay a decent distance from your teammates, but don't get ****y and rush ahead thinking you can mow the other team down at A+ the way you can mow down scrubs at C-. Even if you *are* that good, and the tactic often pays off, it's a bad habit to get into in terms of surviving and supporting teammates.
1: Be patient
A lot of players advise extreme aggression in the early seconds of the match, but this should always be tempered with care, and awareness of what the rest of your team is doing. It is very easy to over-extend at the start. Don't be afraid to stop, duck down in your ink in a safe spot, assess the map and think about your next move.
2: Move well
You've probably seen the Youtubers who can dance around other players avoiding death, dropping a bomb to pick off the enemy. This is a useful skill in a pinch. Mobility is crucial not just for aggression, but also for defense and retreat. Find some tutorials on movement techs and practice them.
3: Don't pick fair fights
Most players know this these days, but you should be killing the people who are trying to kill your teammates, not taking people on head-to-head unless you've no choice.
4: Range
It's a lot harder for them to kill what they can't get close to, but the trade-off is usually that once a melee-style weapon gets close to a slow-firing ranged weapon, the latter is done. Teams can be carried by a good ranged weapon that stands back and picks off anyone that comes for their teammates, ensuring minimal casualties not just for themselves, but for the whole team.
5: Fall back
If you have the whole enemy team on you, don't get fancy. Don't try to take them all down, sure, you might single-handedly sustain a wipe, but you might also just run out of ink and die. Fall back to a safe position, wait for your other teammates to come online, then find them and support them.
6. Try a less aggressive weapon
My main example is always the Inkbrush. It simply *can't* play as head-to-head aggressively as a lot of other weapons, but it can still be incredibly effective when you learn how to use it. It forces you to learn patience and mobility, which is why many players can't get it to work, and think it's a "bad weapon".
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