Do beacons need a buff?

[Magnus0]

Despite the fact that the ever so common krak-on splat roller has beacons, I rarely see people actually using them. And it's for pretty good reason, because beacons are basically giant 'FREE KILLS HERE' signs since you can see them on your map. any squid that looks at their map from time to time can see where the enemy beacons are and place a mine there, or an inkstrike, or they can even just wait there until the enemy jumps to their beacon for a surprise splat.

The only weapon that carries beacons that I can use are the dual squelcher and maybe the octobrush (I usually use the nouveau but I can sort of use the vanilla too). I have been doing great with those weapons, especially the dual squelcher. I got some quick super jump gear to get around quickly with my beacons, which was pretty fun and useful. But I noticed that my teammates didn't actually use the beacons that I placed. I was jumping around, charging up killer wales, but my teammates just didn't make use of the support I provided, probably because they were scared of jumping into a well aimed wale or inkstrike. This is not really the beacons fault, but if people are too scared to use a beacon that should provide a safe super jump, it's a pretty good sign that the beacons are redundant.

Having beacons also immediately handicaps a weapon by not having a throwable sub. This is not a very big problem for the e-litre and the dual squelcher, but the octobrush, krak-on roller and sploosh suffer greatly from this, since they have no range. splatlings and chargers can usually pick these weapons of quite easily.

So yeah, I think that it's pretty dumb that you can spot beacons on your map. My suggestion would be that beacons are only visible on the map when you use an echo-locator/point seeker, or when a beacon user kills an enemy inlking with haunt (the haunt would go to both the killer and all his beacons). This would do three things:

- beacons wouldn't be large 'FREE KILLS HERE' signs on the map for players that are only a little aware. You would have to actively hunt them down to eliminate them.
- echo-locator would be used a bit more. I rarely see echo-locaters these days tbh.
- haunt would get another small buff. nobody uses haunt anyway.

 

[Captain Woomy]

I'm not entirely sure. Of course buffing them wouldn't necessarily make them OP though. I personally will use others' beakons as long as it appears to be in a safe spot away from enemy ink on the map. I also try to put my beakons in areas like that as well if my weapon is equipped with them. They're also not always free kills if you don't jump to ones in the middle of enemy ink, though sometimes that is great for surprise attacks. But when I see an enemy beakon, I just destroy it rather than placing an ink mine by it to ensure that no one can jump there. But keeping enemy beakons hidden on the map doesn't sound like a bad idea if you reveal them with an echolocator. It would make the beakons and echolocator even more useful than before. Really, it's like all weapons. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. As for players with shorter range like the sploosh-o-matic, they definitely have to be careful about their next move, but it's still something they can manage if it's their play style.

In conclusion, while I don't 100% agree, I certainly am curious about how battles might play out if this was an actually a thing.

 

[Blue24]

Not knowing where beacons are imo would be op. I rather it does something else; consume less ink or any player with beakon as a sub weapon will have thier super jump time reduced by X%. But thats IF i had to buff it.

 

[Cyan]

I just want a notification for when people jump to your beakons, like the super jump one but with a different sound effect and onscreen image. Beakons don't get you killed, and generally people don't jump to them because they don't look at the touchscreen enough, they choose a teammate instead. There's already an issue with Beakons where everyone on the team can jump to the same Beakon and they get the same effect as Stealth Jump without the slower jump speed. As long as you tap the Beakon before it disappears you'll get a jump off, and often people don't stay around once they've destroyed it, as they assume that it's now out of action which enables the player who jumped to flank and get the surprise attack.

 

[Archæa]

I feel for you with the whole teammates not using your beakons thing, but in higher level play they are very useful for knowledgeable players/teams. If you are having issues with being splatted after jumping to beakons, then doing some recon on the active duty maps can help you to find good places that stay out of danger (i.e. somewhere so even of your enemy sees the beakon on map, they can't easily get to it). In higher level play beakons can become a key part of a team's strategy, pacing and playstyle.

There are a few good videos on youtube about this topic. The first one is about how to use beakons in a team support role (one that they excel at) and the second is some more advanced techniques.

Long story short OP, I think beakons fill a niche role that provides interesting implications and has far deeper potential than what is seen at first glance. As for some of the problems you've reported, (such as the lack of a throwable sub bothering you) that could suggest that beakons and support as a whole is not the playstyle for you, and that's fine! Everyone needs a different style and teams depend on this diversity.

Edit: If you're concerned about ink mines, avoid jumping to beakons surrounded by enemy ink.

 

[Magnus0]

I've seen both of those video's already. That's kinda the reason why I wanted to try beacons anyway.

Thanks for the tips though. I'm doing great with the dual squelcher, and I'm trying to utilize my beacons more effectively so that I can become even better. Support actually is my favorite role, although I'm more of an aggressive support I guess (inkbrushes, kelp chargers, aerosprays and the like).

I guess that most people just don't really know how to use beacons. It's rare to see beacons on the map despite the fact that some of the weapons that carry them are fairly popular, most notably the krak-on splatroller and the custom E-litre.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I love to use beacons on the Krakon and Octobrush, and I play with those weapons fairly often. I've never encountered anyone putting mines underneath them, so that's going to make me a bit paranoid going forward. That being said, most people just destroy them anyway, and mines are rarely used so it's not a big deal I feel.

Anyway, considering beakons used properly can literally mean a win in a match, I don't think they need much of a buff. People just need to know that they are a good thing to use, as I have many teammates ignore beacons placed in perfectly safe places. You don't know how many times I've put one down, and a few seconds later, someone jumps to me. It's even worse when the area is not safe. I find they are a much safer jump than actually jumping to a teammate, so I prefer doing that instead.

If I had to buff them, I would make the ink cost slightly less. I never put one down unless I know I'm safe, but having to be idle for a few moments while I wait for my ink to return feels frustrating, especially in a match where every second counts.

 

[Archæa]

If I had to buff them, I would make the ink cost slightly less. I never put one down unless I know I'm safe, but having to be idle for a few moments while I wait for my ink to return feels frustrating, especially in a match where every second counts.

I agree this is annoying, I've had the same thought myself. I do think that beakons as a whole are still balanced.

 

[SquiliamTentacles]

The main problem with beakons is that players in random battles either are unwilling to use them, or just don't know how to super jump to them. I would make it so that beakons glow a little more on the screen of the team that is using them to make it more obvious to newer players that these can be super jumped to. Probably would also want to add the fact that you can super jump to players AND beakons in the introductory info screen for Turf War.

Otherwise, I don't think they are overly underpowered, although I think minor buffs (less ink cost, removes slower Stealth Jump speed, more health) would help to make it more balanced. Also, I think part of the reason why they are not used much is that only 5 weapons use them (6 if you count both Custom E-Liters). This is less than any other sub weapon and beakons themselves are only limited to two shooters, two rollers, and a charger. If one of the new Sheldon's picks volume 2 weapons came with beakons and a good special, I think they would be more common.