Do Rollers naturally have low points?

[Dama624]

This is likely a case of "git gud", but I'm currently maining Roller and I often see myself at the bottom place of my team, even if we win. This is starting to make me feel like I'm not contributing much to my team... though I feel like rifles tend to get points much faster since they can cover enemy ink from range, unlike Rollers.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, either. I don't play Roller aggressively, since I understand being on the front line means certain death for me (since I can't fight against guns well, even with the flick attack). I tend to stay back and keep our side of the base our color; if the base is safe, I'll generally try to push through the sides until I see someone, then I retreat backwards. If the person tries pushing too far into our territory, though, I won't hesitate to stealth swim in from the side and attack.

I do tend to play more aggressively with default Roller, though. Having the suction bombs lets me forcibly deny areas like sniper nests, and if anyone jumps out I can usually get them with the Roller flick.

With the Krack-on, I tend to play safe, slowly pushing but staying on my own color while laying Radars as far from our spawn as we can. If I have enough for the Special, I'll definitely start pushing into enemy territory, especially since the Specials fully restock ink.

Does anyone have any tips? I don't want to feel like I'm letting my team down all the time.

 

[Howl]

You should be playing Roller aggressively imo. Try to reach as much mid turf as you can then invade the enemy base. Kind of like a Spy. Aim for big areas, you should get most of your points by painting them.

 

[Pink♡Ink☆RAVE]

Oh my. I'm not sure what to say. I had thought maybe it were easier to get points with rollers, since have a harder time inking territory and spaces fast with guns. And people had told me rollers are easy. So I thought maybe I was...

A-anyway. These things take time. I've gotten the number one points for my team many times with rollers. I think that probably all of the weapons are good for getting points. One time I even got something like 1800 points with my Krack-On roller, so I'm sure it's just fine. And here I was worried I was just getting points because.. because I was using a roller. But I guess all weapon are viable for points. ^^;

I find rollers working best when you simply have a nice long straightaway to roll. And to find ways to maximize your paths and find out where the enemy ink is going to happen soon. Hoping around and spreading ink as quickly as I can is something I do. Like sometimes I jump and spat ink in one direction and then roll the other direction when I hit the ground in order to try to maximize ink as quickly as I can.

Also, being kind of in the front-lines can be kind of okay, if you get try to stay away from attacks. There's a lot of dodging and running away sometimes. But the front lines ink can be a lot of the ink that determines matches. Out in the "front-lines" you often get the best of the enemies ink. Learning to anticipate your foes you can actually get quite a few splats and dodge most of the enemy fire if you start to get your bearings. At close range, you can really surprise your opponents.

I think that with rollers, it's a balance, you can't take our long range enemies unless you sneak up on them. But being on the "front-lines" can be really helpful if you can be sneaky. I think it's best to try to find a balance of sneaking into the front lines and inking enemy ink. Because I feel like playing defensively and only inking your base is limited because the most contentious ink is on the enemy field.

I would definitely try to experiment and get your bearings closer to the front lines. I've found one of the times I'm the best effective is when I sneak in and roll all around in the enemy base while the enemy are away. Though this kind of depends on the course.

I kind of like to look at the time and pay attention to my points to see how well I'm doing. And try to see if I can do better next time. Like, at 30 seconds in, I should definitely have 150 or more points. And at 2 minutes left, I should definitely have 300 or more points. And if I don't have more than 600 points by the time there's one minute left, I know I'm in trouble and I haven't played as well as I could have. I feel like paying attention to the time and how many points per thirty seconds I make has been really helpful at maximizing my points. Maybe that could be helpful for you, as well. ^^;

 

[Actilide]

You shouldn't be playing roller defensively imo, it's like a shotgun so you have to get in close to be effective. Sure, staying back you won't get killed but the game isn't mainly about kills, it's about turf covered so go for covering enemy turf deep

 

[Crucifigo]

I agree that the roller is best played aggressively. Charge in, smash inattentive Splattershots, break beacons, punish super jumpers, cause chaos in Kraken form. I find that it's easiest to charge the Krak-On during the first charge to the centre, then I pop the ult-I mean Kraken (dang ESO) and charge straight ahead into the end section or the enemy spawn point. You'll either scatter other players, build a fast squid-route to the opposition for the others, or have a chance to obliterate uncovered ground while the enemy is occupied elsewhere.

Play Kraken, charge, run in, drop beacon, pop Kraken, rampage, die, continue shotgun play and smacking chargers. The Kraken invincibility is very good as a support ability. Sure it can kill enemies in one hit, but it can also sweep past them and let you drop your jump beacon deep in their territory, where the rest of your group can leap in and start splatting.

tl;dr play aggressive, use kraken like a scout and do not forget to drop your beacons

 

[Pink♡Ink☆RAVE]

Ah, that's kind of my strategy, as well. Especially with the Kraken. The Kraken is so fun. ^^;

I like to start off the course on my own turf my noticing wherever my other allies are going, and then going in the opposite direction so I can maximize my turf. And then I try to take some kind of off pathway until I run out of ink. So that I can stealthily sneak in the middle section as best as I can. Then I either refill on ink a few times, or I use the Kraken when I run out of ink to have a straightaway from the middle section of a course straight to the enemies' base.

It's probably kind of a waste of a Kraken. But I like how it refills my ink and I can go invincible straight into enemy territory. You can often get there very quickly with the help of a Kraken. I usually either use the Kraken to get to the enemy base from the middle of a course, or when I spot any enemies in my way. It's neat when there are like three enemies right in front of you who didn't notice you because you were refilling ink, and then you surprise them with a Kraken all at once!

There's a limit to how "offensively" you can play as a roller. It's not a good idea to jump to another allies position if they're in the line of fire. Especially if there are snipers. We're no match for long ranged gun users unless we can sneak up on them. To me it seems like, being in the middle of big battle as a roller is all about stealth. The gun users can't shoot you if they don't notice you. So it's all best about trying to sneak in while keeping a low profile. And trying to get as many ink straightaways and taking out enemies without being noticed too much. Or at least being in the sight of someone's weapon.

There are definitely times I've taken the long way into battle just to avoid someone's sniper rifle.

 

[flc]

Like, at 30 seconds in, I should definitely have 150 or more points. And at 2 minutes left, I should definitely have 300 or more points. And if I don't have more than 600 points by the time there's one minute left, I know I'm in trouble and I haven't played as well as I could have. I feel like paying attention to the time and how many points per thirty seconds I make has been really helpful at maximizing my points.

or your team is stomping and you can't ink anything at all, which is a common problem

shoutouts to 80-10 matches where nobody breaks 700

 

[SmashChu]

Actually, you should have the most points when using a roller.

With a roller, you should be moving forward. This is why you are slightly faster than normally walking. You goal is to be ink a lot of terrain so just go out there and roll. I personally use the Kraken to push in. Also, use your ranged attack when you can. It's incredibly effective.

 

[Kris]

On some maps, there are less potential points to be had. You have virtually no range. There is also a lot of areas you are probably not going to paint either. Take Salt Spray Rig , For example. leading up to the big area in the middle up top. You probably wont paint the part that leads to it, with the steps, You also wont paint the railing that comes off of said staps. Then you have the T fork right infront of that massive area. You probably won't paint the top of that either. Nor will you paint the top of the crates. You also can't paint in the enemies area unless you have a special or super that will let you.


Take the skate park as another example. it's not practical for you to get on top of that huge hill thing in the middle either. The time it takes for you to flick paint is too long to justify the amount of paint flung off your brush in comparison to someone who is using a spraying gun. It's also too short compared to a charger, that lays out long streams.

Also inking down through grates isn't practical either, It'd be more practical to just drop down, and roll ink below. Then you take again it's short range, and you are less likely going to be able to flick ink into enemy ink from a distance, so you'll lose some points.



it's also very bad to go into very congested areas. The first person I will more than likely go after, is a splat roller. There is virtually nothing they can do to me. Occasionally they may kill me with a kraken, but more times than not, Even if they do come across one that uses kraken, I just run away and kill them. The move speed are low enough it's very easy to escape.



Point's don't necessarily win you games. A roller can very easily win a game, at the end. Your job is to keep rolling. You come across an enemy, go roll somewhere else. If you retreat, retreat towards your team, if possible. You aren't really good for combat. An quick thinking person, is not going to lose to a roller. The time it takes you to r un up to them, is too long, You don't have any tenacity for when it comes to being hit with enemy ink. The time it takes you to fling your ink is too long. You can just side swim it, or if you have a beefier gun like .52 Gal, Splattershot pro, Blaster, .96gal you can straight up kill the roller.


You should back door as much as possible. When you feel you are unsafe, and Have inked all you can in that area, Super jump out of it. Place beacons. That's another crucial job. Place them initially in impossible to reach areas. As your team gains more territory, place your beacon farther. As far as kills go, the only time you should be really getting/worrying about them is if you spot someone's landing path. Other than that' your kills are going to come from rolling someone around a corner who didn't know you were there. You shouldn't risk going after kills, You never know if there is a second inkling.



Sprayers will likely have more points. But a good roller can win a game in those last 30 seconds.Rollers are also more thorough in their inking, though they maybe slower. .1% for % It adds up, leading to a win. Sometimes the team that loses, only lost because their base or w/e wasn't thoroughly inked. Some times they win because their enemy didn't thoroughly re-ink their territory. This is a huge area where roller's shine. If you have no where to ink and can't advance, then at least make sure everything is thoroughly inked, so when you do have an opportunity , your team has a much more thoroughly inked territory, so if it does come down to the wire, you are going to win by those tiny lil spots you can easily fill that a blaster or a charge gun won't/shouldn't bother



Rollers are good, They have a different roll. You can think of the Sprayers, like the guitar player/singer. They get more attention because their role is more showy/apparent. But without the other guys, that performance, wouldn't have been that good, even if the player was quite good.



So if you are going for points/cash to LVLup/Buy gear. Stick with the sprayers. If you are going to play win games. Pick whatever gun best suites your style and teams needs.

 

[Kaliafornia]

I usually top my team in points and kills with the roller. Been using .52 deco a bit more recently but the Krak-On is easily one of the best weapons and I have gotten 10 kills plenty games and usually average 6-7 and minimum of 900 pts. Key for me is to find and charge forward on side areas that lead you into enemy territory but more discreet than playing in the middle. Once you are charged up for Kraken, push forward and kill anyone near you. Never take on a gun head on, they will usually follow you and its pretty easy to swim away and regroup in your ink trail, circle back and kill them. I've taken out plenty snipers with the kraken as it scales up walls easily and you can also sneak up and blast them. The locator sub weapon is also highly useful to place in off-the-main-road areas for getting back into the game I only cover my own territory in the beginning always advance forward and roll and run.

I find a lot of people greatly underestimate rollers I've killed 3 opposing team members in a row with splatter and spray guns in a single area who all were trying to kill me and I was slightly above them and use the spray and hide tactic. Being above the enemy with a roller is a key advantage but I would likely run if we were on level ground. You can do serious damage but you have to rethink how you play.

 

[Lyn]

Just try to be more aggressive. I believe someone told me rollers get points scaled down because of how easily they cover turf but I don't know if that's true or not.