This weapon is not rendered obsolete by chargers, it functions much too differently. It is much better at repelling multiple assailants, while laying down a constant stream of ink that prevents them from advancing for a significant duration, giving your teammates lots of time to gain a favourable position.
If you suppress the enemy team well enough to force their sniper to chase you, your teammates can probably exploit the shifted focus of the sniper to advance.
Personally I'd argue that Defence Up is more important than Offence; the utility of this weapon is not just in splatting others, but preventing them from advancing with an almost never-ending stream of ink. Since they generally cannot get in a position to shoot you, they'll likely resort to throwing explosives instead, which defence up will do well to mitigate the offensiveness of. It also just might let you survive a less than fully charged sniper shot.WELL LOOK WHO'S LATE TO THE PARTY. THE MAKER OF THIS THREAD.
So I FINALLY got to try out the Hydra Splatling tonight, and as an E-Liter main, I had a ton of fun with this weapon. The range is great and I outranged every adversary except for an E-Liter I faced for a couple matches, but that was also on Urchin Underpass, which is NOT this weapon's map; too cluttered. I also enjoy the very fast time-to-kill compensated for its range, and I could tell how many people did NOT expect to die so quickly from such a slow-looking weapon. Now, the charge time is very slow to get it up to full charge, but I made up for that with doing many partial charges to cover turf and get quick kills in close quarters. Speaking of which, this weapon does have issues with close-range combat, which can be negated with short burst of charge but it is very hard to do. Splat Bombs also help in close range, but one should probably be better with them than I am. ;) Also concerning Splat Bombs, since this weapon consumes a lot of ink, Ink Saver (Sub) is very good where this weapon is concerned to keep the Splat Bombs coming. Ink Saver (Main) is also generally good because of how ink-hungry this weapon is. Oh, and Echolocator is just great for picking off targets and knowing if a sneaky Brush or Roller is going for the flank. And here are my recommended abilities, which, now that I know how to use emotes, are much easier to type:
Stackable:
Main-Exclusive:
The idea with Cold-Blooded is catching enemies off-guard from a camping spot, and them finding you in that spot is sure to be a pain to fend off. Well, it could be the maps I played on too. It was amazing on SSR, but UU not so much, and I really want to try it on MT and CT.
I just think a charger would suit a stealth role better, as their shots are much more inconspicuous, especially if you can manipulate the aiming laser so that they don't see it. That, and they're just as vulnerable, if not more so when caught at close range.
It's not that bad, and if anything I'd say it's one of the few maps that properly keep the game going even if one team has the advantage since the other can still try to go for alternate routes, keeping the matches from becoming stale one-sided stomps (at least most of the time
). The ramps that lead to the catwalks provide some good hull-down positions, and since they're all near your base you usually have somewhere to fall back to in the worst-case scenario. It's also fun to ink the middle area over the walls right in front of your spawn with long-range weapons ;). Finally, since the spawn is in a high, centric position, getting spawncamped with a mid-range weapon or better isn't the worst thing ever (unlike Moray Towers, where you literally have to make it through a no man's land to even contest anyone spawncamping you)
No, I inked their turf, and it helped. Problem was a lot of them were using super widespread inkers (SoOMs, ASes, SSs, etc.) so it was easy for them to recover. It would be more effective facing more accurate weapons like Chargers, other Splatlings, Squelchers, and Blasters, and it was, I just didn't see too many of them last night. What I forewarn in my post is refering to those widespread inkers who would not be so mitigated by the Hydra Splatling's fire.
Bubbler doesn't sound great on this weapon, you don't spend much time near inklings so you can't share it easily, and while it'll definitely help you survive an ambush the slow charge time gives them ample opportunity to escape. Though I guess if multiple inklings are bearing down on you with no backup being even more indestructible than usual could help. Not bad, but bubblers work better in aggression imo.
Just tested it out, Run Speed Up will still affect you when you're charging up/firing. Charging up still slows you down, but not as badly as when you have no Run Speed Ups equipped.
I wouldn't really call the Splatlings accurate, as their shots can not only go wide, but also high or low. I've already died twice to Dynamos in a point-blank with the Heavy Splatling because all my shots missed
. On the bright side, I've also seen a stray shot hit a guy mid-air, splatting him o_O
First off, a disclaimer: no weapon can truly hold off a group of assailants without backup, especially on wide open or maps with multiple flanking routes. Some maps like Bluefin Depot or Port Mackerel are simpler to defend without teammate support. But no matter what there will be gaps in your firing that the opposition can use to advance; it's up to you to make sure you have a defensible location, and up to your teammates to make good use of the time you've bought for them.
Hydra is still the most accurate of the Splatlings, which on top of the shots going further is what gives it such a long effective range.I wouldn't really call the Splatlings accurate, as their shots can not only go wide, but also high or low. I've already died twice to Dynamos in a point-blank with the Heavy Splatling because all my shots missed
I'd have to kind of disagree with you on them splatting you up close. It takes far longer to charge their shot for the kill than it does the Hydra. The Hydra doesn't have to fully charge in order to kill. It doesn't even have to be charged half way. Yea, it out ranges it, but ELiter outranges everything, it shouldn't be going toe-to-toe with the Eliter, and even if it is, it shouldn't be running right up on it. Splat bombs are there to force those exact ELiters to move out of their location or be splatted in the process. I still have to disagree with everyone saying the Custom will be better fit. It just doesn't have anything all too nice at its disposal. Bubbler I see better fit on weapons that move quickly, get up close and personal and can abuse that trump card. Not Weapons that take time to charge and are slow moving. I mean, yea, it's a cute little panic button, but it really doesn't fit the Hydra all that well. This will be much like the Heavy Splatling, losing that sub just doesn't seem worth it to me. Tack on the fact Echolocator shows if anyone is coming near you and you've got a pretty great supportive/defensive weapon. I may be wrong, and the Custom Hydra may far surpass the Vanilla. But after the two or three weeks or so of having it, and knowing how it works, I can't say that will be the case.
If you're close enough to splat bomb an Eliter then they'll probably just burst bomb you to death. Kelp & Splat Charger still wins without fully charging up close too and out ranges with scope. As far as Bubbler is concerned, you need a decently ranged weapon to use it effectively in most situations. Offensively, you can turn a trade into a win if you're close enough or out range the enemy. But if you use it defensively when the opponent has the advantage, the best you can do is run away if you can't out range them since it's even easier to be pushed back with shots than Kraken.