Does anyone even bother to use Squid Beakons anymore?

[DualSquelched]

What's the big deal? I scatter these things around smart places in Museum D' Alfonsino, Flounder Heights, Walleye Warehouse, but my teammates keep jumping to me or the swim to the front line. I don't waste my tanks putting these down for nothing! /rant

 

[LMG]

While I can't really speak for the players that keep on Super Jumping to whoever has the most enemies around, I tend to swim towards the battle instead of Super Jumping to an Ally or an offensively-positioned Squid Beakon because, as a Heavy Splatling user, I prefer to keep the enemy as far away as possible, and most of my allies tend to be in the middle of a flanking attack or a shootout, all of which do not really favor an uncharged Heavy Splatling. Although if I see one in a safe position and it's at a good distance (no point in Super Jumping if you can reach the same spot as fast or faster by swimming) I might jump to it whenever I get splatted >_>

 

[Inyo]

I jump to well-placed Beakons when I can, they are a much safer landing spot than teammates.

You could also just use the Beakons for your own benefit if your team isn't getting the message, putting them where you want to jump in case you die or get pinned down/Disrupted. You can even use them as a decoy or meat shield!

 

[Airi]

Over the course of time, I think that I've just subconsciously stopped looking for beakons on the map anymore. I've had so many experiences where the beakons were placed out in the open where it may have not been safe to super jump to them. So I guess that over time, I've lost faith in players with access to beakons because I've had so many team mates who have placed the beakons in just horrible places.

 

[Joseph Staleknight]

As far as my experiences go, Squid Beakons can be put into two major categories: Last Resorts in case of TPKs, and Quick Saves when your team has pushed sufficiently into enemy territory.

The first category is because as long as my teammates and I have someone to jump to who's defending themselves well (preferably someone who's gotten the upper hand and splatted all nearby enemies first), we can easily get back on our feet and try to take the match back. In that case the Beakons only find use when all four of us get splatted and need to get back ASAP. Of course, I'm aware of the possible pitfalls in that category--Beakons placed where someone can easily destroy one when they see it, or an ambush waiting to happen there. Those mishaps along with the relative ease of reaching certain areas without (as @LMG said) are probably a good reason many players might not trust or need the Beakons.

Quick Saves, on the other hand, usually happen when one team (either mine or theirs) has made a breakthrough into enemy territory (or the far end in Saltspray) and begins dominating the map. There, the guy with the Beakons will usually put them all over the furthest place possible at the enemy base. Should anyone get splatted while destroying the enemy team, they can just Super Jump back into the fray and have the Beakon guy do their thing again. It's especially effective in Saltspray; if someone gets well-placed Beakons onto the top area, their team can just come back to kick out the intruders so that the top half stays theirs. Yet another reason that map might need an overhaul. In that case, you shouldn't have as much of a problem getting your teammates to get to the Beakons.

That's not to say Last Resorts are fruitless, however. I've heard some stories about how full teams respawning then getting to a Beakon in time made epic turnarounds and won. As long as you can convince your teammates that Beakons are preferable to jumping to you/swimming to action, you'll certainly get some mileage out of them!

 

[Inyo]

Over the course of time, I think that I've just subconsciously stopped looking for beakons on the map anymore. I've had so many experiences where the beakons were placed out in the open where it may have not been safe to super jump to them. So I guess that over time, I've lost faith in players with access to beakons because I've had so many team mates who have placed the beakons in just horrible places.

A lot of this is probably due to Krak-On and Octobrush players who just picked up the weapons for the Kraken and have no idea how to use Beakons correctly. I've been on (and against...) teams with Level 50s who know where to put Beakons, and it really helps.

I've seen many a Krak-On user who never used a Beakon once. I imagine the developers anticipated how popular the Krak-On would be and gave it a sub that requires more finesse to use. Imagine if it had Disruptors or something equally nightmarish.

 

[Inyo]

As far as my experiences go, Squid Beakons can be put into two major categories: Last Resorts in case of TPKs, and Quick Saves when your team has pushed sufficiently into enemy territory.

The first category is because as long as my teammates and I have someone to jump to who's defending themselves well (preferably someone who's gotten the upper hand and splatted all nearby enemies first), we can easily get back on our feet and try to take the match back. In that case the Beakons only find use when all four of us get splatted and need to get back ASAP. Of course, I'm aware of the possible pitfalls in that category--Beakons placed where someone can easily destroy one when they see it, or an ambush waiting to happen there. Those mishaps along with the relative ease of reaching certain areas without (as @LMG said) are probably a good reason many players might not trust or need the Beakons.

Quick Saves, on the other hand, usually happen when one team (either mine or theirs) has made a breakthrough into enemy territory (or the far end in Saltspray) and begins dominating the map. There, the guy with the Beakons will usually put them all over the furthest place possible at the enemy base. Should anyone get splatted while destroying the enemy team, they can just Super Jump back into the fray and have the Beakon guy do their thing again. It's especially effective in Saltspray; if someone gets well-placed Beakons onto the top area, their team can just come back to kick out the intruders so that the top half stays theirs. Yet another reason that map might need an overhaul. In that case, you shouldn't have as much of a problem getting your teammates to get to the Beakons.

That's not to say Last Resorts are fruitless, however. I've heard some stories about how full teams respawning then getting to a Beakon in time made epic turnarounds and won. As long as you can convince your teammates that Beakons are preferable to jumping to you/swimming to action, you'll certainly get some mileage out of them!

It's actually pretty funny to trap a team in Saltspray who are so focused on retaking the top area that they jump to it repeatedly even though they are getting mauled one by one. Just let them keep dropping Beakons and let them waste their time, says I.

Edit: Dangit, double post, can a mod merge them or something?

 

[Fightersword]

People just don't think about it tbh. It takes a second to realize that there's a beakon for people who aren't trained in jumping them, and by the time they think about it they're usually already jumping or they've started moving and aren't thinking about it anymore.

pretty much since most random games there won't be beakons, very few people think to use them in games where there are beakons, other than people who are setting them.

 

[Coleo&Idea]

I feel with you. Just today I had placed all 3 beacons and none of my teammates jumped to one, only me. And the enemy destroying them :|
But in the other match I took a look at the map and suddenly all 3 were gone (no enemy ink around though), I placed 3 more and at the end they were all gone again and my teammates did a good job. Pew, I was credit to team!

Since I started to like and practise the Kalligraf (Octobrush in english) I always think and search for some nice beacon spots on each map. When not for my teammates then for me.

 

[Spiderface]

I use beakons regularly because I always play my Krak On Roller in rainmaker which is my favourite ranked mode. I only bother putting them in places that the enemy finds it difficult to reach...except I also like to put them on the spot where the opposing team need to put the rainmaker, in case of emergencies.

It took me a while to cotton on to the fact that there's no point putting them in the middle of the action because a) They just get destroyed and b) It's easy to jump to one and be slightly disorientated and get splatted.

 

[Flareth]

I've played many a Turf War on Camp Triggerfish where somebody on the other team puts a Beakon near our spawn point (always the upper area that's inaccessible until the last minute) in an attempt to spawmcamp us. Most of the time, it works—much to my chagrin.

Lately I've been trying to counteract this by doing the same, then sneaking around to where they put their Beakons, destroying them, and putting one of my own in their place.

What is this supposed to accomplish? Well... I dunno, really. I'd hope it would stop the spawncamping, but by the time I get there there's usually only 30 seconds until the gtes come down anyway. I tried to speed it up by foregoing putting a Beakon by their spawn point, but I don't remember how much time that saved. That and I've found both the Krak-On Roller and the Octobrush to be rather unhelpful in this regard. I wonder if the Custom Dual Squelcher would to it better.

Moving on... Moray Towers is a place where those are a necessity. Even if it's just me using them, it beats falling down the 3 stories or so just to get to the main area. (Though I faintly remember a few matches wherein somebody else was using those that I placed besides me.)

 

[Wiebenjijzeg]

Perhaps some people do not know the use of beacons. I personally only found out about a month (or something) after playing Splatoon that you could jump to them, haha....

 

[Mateiüsthesquidwarrior]

I use them all the time! The weapons I use that have beakons are the Krak-on Roller and occasionally the Sploosh-o-matic.

I think that a lot of people don't fully understand the possible benefits/strategy of beakons, some maybe don't know what they're for at all (that was me two months ago xD).

But even if you're the only one using beakons in a random lobby, I think it's still worth it (though it is nice if you can get an effective system going).

 

[Cyntehl]

Nobody seems to put more than one squid beakon, so I never use it in leu of "wasting" it by jumping and immediately getting splatted, and whoever placed it, is now unable to repalce it.

 

[BlackZero]

They are great if people use them wisely. If people put them in crappy locations, of course others aren't going to use them.

 

[Claus]

Alright guys, Confession time.

I am so very very guilty of completely forgetting to use squid beakons whenever I can. Whenever I do though I play a greater role in my team, so I try to force my tiny brain to remember to plop down a few in advantageous points. Unfortunately I have a secondary problem in that I use the custom E-Litre, which means I'm never really on the front lines to be able to place said beakons which in turn leads me to completely forget that I need to put them down in the first place!

The most vicious of cycles

 

[Las7]

The truth of the matter is as a user that mains a lot of weapons with Beacon sub - there are certain maps which don't work for Beacons. You got to realize that for example placing one down does put you out of the fight and makes you vulnerable. Currently Museum D' Alfonsino is the map which I don't find Beacons to be especially useful. You need to place Beacons only while you are safe. Personally whenever I use Krak-on/E-liter if it's on a larger map I tried to get two beacons up before even engaging the enemy.
Personally playing in S the majority of time - I see multiple Beacons whenever I play with people with that sub.

 

[Lorbeerprinz]

I think another point as to why people might not use that many beacons anymore could be that by now, people are aware of where the best spots for becons are - that is, the user knows, but the enemies also, meaning that they're gonna destroyed sooner or later. For example, when I play on Arowana and use the right hand way towards the centrer, I always look out for enemy beacons in the narrow passage because that's a very classic place to put them.
But I also have to admit that when using a weapon that comes with beacons, I sometimes forget to use them too. The thing is, I only have them when using an E-Liter, so I mainly use them as my personal backup to quickly get back to my position after being splatted. I know that's not the way I'm supposed to use them, but considering E-Liter Chargers aren't neccessarily the most mobile players... yeah, yeah, I know.

 

[CK3]

It's frustrating when they don't use them. More frustrating when your team is trapped at spawn. that one beacon you put out across the map is there for you. you use it. then use "cmon" over and over. But no one comes. Last few seconds you have to push yourself.

 

[Pinko]

then use "cmon" over and over. But no one comes.

even worse when you have the "to me" ping instead...