How to not suck at this game?

[SyMag]

Any advice on how to improve in this game? I feel like I always let my team down because we almost always lose. I get killed too early and too often, and I can never kill anyone between laggy connections and my overall inability to hit anything six inches in front of me. Is it my playstyle, my choice of weapon, the type of battle I'm playing...what am I doing wrong and how can I fix it?

 

[Nero86]

Well, if laggy connection I suggest you to get wired connection or even a better internet connection.

My aim is not that good too, so I play as Rollers/Brushes, at first I tried splatter JR and aerosprays but the first time I tried those I changed. Have you tried using it?

 

[Rabite]

Dying too often probably means you're rushing in, and it's a serious contributor to lost games. Figure out where your enemy is and what they're doing first, and try to surprise them or attack from a position where you have an advantage. In fact, you don't want to ever engage in fair fights if you don't have to. Be the person who sucker punches that squid engaged in another fight already.

Ink is also a significant inhibitor, and games are usually won by teams with the most ink laid out on the map, especially in strategic areas. If you don't have much ink in a contested zone, you're not in control and are at a significant disadvantage. Try to identify where enemies are hiding and dispatch as many as possible before pushing in with team members. People with weapons like the sploosh-o-matic, carbon roller, and any form of inkbrush love to gank people who are isolated from their team.

Beyond that, try using weapons with a bubbler or kraken special and treat these as an escape button. You're a better asset to your team alive no matter how much of a burden you might believe you are.

 

[SyMag]

I haven't tried rollers or brushes too extensively. I'll try them out then and see what I think

 

[xXShadeXx]

As well as with what Nero and Rabite said, if your aim isn't decent, it's always good to test out your sensitivity to see if you can alter it to how fast, slow you need it to be. The testing room is always a decent way to try. Create situations for yourself and try and see if you can act accordingly or fast enough to see how good your aim is.

Another good thing is to play with people. Whether they be friends of yours or people on here, we can help and try and find a way for you to improve your play. Without much info, we can only give certain tips. But practice makes perfect. Not literally, but ya know.

Try and slow down your playstyle as well. If you don't have quick reflexes or know how to counter weapons your opponents have, high chance you're going to get splatted. Try to be more aware of your surroundings and pace yourself. You're no help to your team if you're respawning. Being a distraction is good, but not if you get splatted more than you help.

 

[Nero86]

Being careful on rush is also important, specially to notice when you're pushing yourself frenquently on unecessary dangerous situations. I'm still controlling this, but I'm an agressive player trying to weight situations and control this.

Do you tend to get more agressive as you lose more matches in a row? This happens with me, I stop playing ranked after 5 loses in a row, leave the row and play turf/do something else.

 

[SyMag]

Being careful on rush is also important, specially to notice when you're pushing yourself frenquently on unecessary dangerous situations. I'm still controlling this, but I'm an agressive player trying to weight situations and control this.

Do you tend to get more agressive as you lose more matches in a row? This happens with me, I stop playing ranked after 5 loses in a row, leave the row and play turf/do something else.

See that's how I play. I don't take time to think my options over, I just...do. Lately I haven't been playing many Ranked matches because:

A.) I've come to terms with the high unlikeliness of me ever reaching S+;
B.) Squad battles make up for that, but I don't go up or down in rank, and often I fail miserably regardless;
and C.) I really, REALLY don't want to go back to A+ hell, since I've had a difficult time getting back to S when it's happened in the past.

But before I had people to squad with I would usually stop if I lost 3 in a row, unless I'm extremely salty, then I won't stop until I win. You can imagine how that goes. I get more aggressive when I'm mad, which clouds my thoughts and leads to me going down two ranks in one sitting. I'd play Turf War but I'm awful at it lol

 

[xXShadeXx]

See that's how I play. I don't take time to think my options over, I just...do. Lately I haven't been playing many Ranked matches because:

A.) I've come to terms with the high unlikeliness of me ever reaching S+;
B.) Squad battles make up for that, but I don't go up or down in rank, and often I fail miserably regardless;
and C.) I really, REALLY don't want to go back to A+ hell, since I've had a difficult time getting back to S when it's happened in the past.

But before I had people to squad with I would usually stop if I lost 3 in a row, unless I'm extremely salty, then I won't stop until I win. You can imagine how that goes. I get more aggressive when I'm mad, which clouds my thoughts and leads to me going down two ranks in one sitting. I'd play Turf War but I'm awful at it lol

Coming from an aggressive player, sometimes forcing yourself to slow down is never a bad idea. Something that taught me that I need to slow down my pace is when I play as a charger or one of the mini splatlings. If I go in too fast as a charger, I'm bound to get splatted on the dot. And with a mini splatling, I can't just waste my ink away carelessly. Those helped me slow myself down when I play (Cept in squads, as I can't really lose in those cuz I'm an S rank).

If you have a hard time forcing yourself to slow down your pace, it wouldn't be a bad idea to choose a weapon that would alter your playstyle. One that needs more slower approaches. Not permanently, but just for a few rounds to see if it would help you. If not, then I guess the only way to learn is to get punished over and over again until you finally do.

For point C, some people play better when salty. some play worse. I would assume your're the latter. I recommend when you do get mad, put the gamepad down, and walk away/do something else for maybe 10 minutes. Do NOT continue to play at all as it'll make things worse. TW is also a good way to practice skills. So maybe practice in that every so often as TW has been pretty competitive for a while now. And to reiterate, playing with people who can help you is not a bad idea either.

 

[Ansible]

Your mileage may vary, but I repeatedly remind myself of these.

• BREATH. Really, remember to breath.
• No matter how good or bad you are, trust in yourself. You will do the best you can in the moment.
• No matter how good or bad your teammates are, trust them. They will do the best they can in the moment.
• Read the map. Then learn to read the map quickly.
• Think in a sphere! Not a plane. The game's mechanics allows you to do more than just move left & right and back & forth.
• What happened in your last match? Doesn't matter! Now, you're playing this match.
• How do you feel about your last match? Doesn't matter! Now, you're playing this match.
• Enjoy yourself. Even in defeat. What's the use in playing a game, in having fun, if playing becomes a chore, if playing makes you angry?
• Netflix Splatoon and chill. 8-)

(Quick! Someone deflate my Pollyanna optimism!)

I haven't tried rollers or brushes too extensively. I'll try them out then and see what I think

Cool, just don't expect immediate quick results from them--especially since you haven't tried them before. They can be rewarding nonetheless, but you will likely need to become accustomed to them first.

 

[Jei-Cos]

I have a feeling you might be doing the same thing my friend does. We both traded off playing for a video I uploaded of us playing Splatfest last month. And he always went head first, trying to kill and thinking of it like a shooter game. And honestly, the best thing to do is forget about it being a shooter game. I don't know for sure that this is what's going on with you, but it sounds the same as my friend so..On the other hand, I come from JRPGs..Waiting is like, usually mandatory..Like you literally can't move, you have to wait..And while waiting, you are you can think about what to do next.
One thing I do if I die, is while on the spawn point, look at teh map and see where people are and what's happening and quickly plan out a strategy. It doesn't always work, but that also means sometimes it does.

 

[SyMag]

nd he always went head first, trying to kill and thinking of it like a shooter game. And honestly, the best thing to do is forget about it being a shooter game. I don't know for sure that this is what's going on with you, but it sounds the same as my friend so..

Well considering I used to play a lot of CoD...as in that was the last shooting game I played before Splatoon came along...this would make a lot of sense.

Also thanks to all of you so far for the advice, I'll definitely keep all of this in mind as I play from here on. Basically what I'm getting out of this thread is slow down and think things through. Obviously that won't happen overnight, but it's a good starting point