Inking for Optimal Movement/Coverage

[Ranias]

I'm trying to figure out the best inking options for movement speed and ink coverage for every situation. The following is what I have gathered so far from my 2 hours of gameplay and this community.

Flat ground options:

• Splatdashing: alternating between shooting and swimming in quick succession
  • Pros: good ink coverage
  • Cons: not stealthy (long line of ink)
  • Best for travelling through uncontested territory.
• Splatterhopping: similar to splatdashing, but uses jumping as well
  • Pros: stealthy (small pools of ink)
  • Cons: bad ink coverage, only performable with shooter
  • Best for quickly travelling enemy territory.
• Rolling: move and hold ZR with a roller
  • Pros: best ink coverage, one-shots enemies
  • Cons: super obvious, slower movement than other options

Wall climbing options: coverage isn't as important here because only ground counts towards the turf total

• Paint a full line up the wall, squid up the wall, and Momentum Cancel (quickly switch out then back into squid) at the top. This causes you to not jump at the top like you would normally do.
  • Fastest movement possible
  • This should be utilized when climbing every fully painted wall.
• Paint a line up the wall except for at the very top, squid up the wall, and Ledge Hop (jump out of the ink and switch to human form at the top of the ledge).
  • Best option for shooting as soon as possible at the top of the wall
  • Good for sniper's nests and invading enemy territory

Ledge descending options: this is what I'm most unsure about

• Paint to the edge of the platform, squid to the end, shoot a path forward, land in ink
• Paint to the edge of the platform, squid to the end, JUMP, shoot a path forward, land in ink (as shown being performed here by the SplatoonJP livestream)

 

[FunkyLobster]

splatdashing and splatterhopping will probably be interchangeable depending on the situation. do you

• want to get to point a to point b as fast as possible?

splatterhopping would be ideal. however, do you

• need to move up but also need to cover territory?

then splatdashing would be ideal.

splatdashing is basically an inbetween of splatterhopping and shooter regularly, so for rollouts we'll probably see some players splatdashing and the others splatterhopping, depending on how crucial it is to their team that they get to the front lines

 

[IkkaRatto]

Splat dashing. Honestly while playing the test fire it was more useful then the other two in my opinion.

 

[RayneTheSkunk]

I think Splathopping is much more useful than splatdashing when retreating from a fight cause it has more maneuverability, but don't take my word for it till I have the opportunity to try it out.

 

[IkkaRatto]

I think Splathopping is much more useful than splatdashing when retreating from a fight cause it has more maneuverability, but don't take my word for it till I have the opportunity to try it out.

Im sleepy I meant splatter hopping is better then splatdashing mostly because it feels faster more natural and gets me across enemy ink.
This might be the wrong thread but any idea if transforming cancels grenade animations? that would be godlike

 

[Lyn]

I feel Splatter Hopping will be more useful overall, but everything will definitely be situational.

 

[UnhappyMaskSalesman]

Yeah, Splatterhopping seems to be the most useful in terms of maneuverability. Obviously not to be used for efficient ink coverage.

 

[FunkyLobster]

both are definitely useful

splatterhopping is definitely the rocket jump or wavedash of this game because it's simple in execution and has a huge boost in movement for you, and while splat dashing is slower, it has more ink coverage, which is the entire objective of the game's various modes, so it has that going for it

i'm more interesting in finding weapon-specific techniques than finding out more about these, because they seem very straight forward in their application and any real arguments we can make about them are going to make for a pretty circular discussion

 

[UnhappyMaskSalesman]

i'm more interesting in finding weapon-specific techniques than finding out more about these, because they seem very straight forward in their application and any real arguments we can make about them are going to make for a pretty circular discussion

I feel like the Roller will probably be a pretty static weapon in terms of techs. I can't really see past how straight-forward it is. Only time will tell, I suppose.

 

[Vayu]

both are definitely useful

splatterhopping is definitely the rocket jump or wavedash of this game because it's simple in execution and has a huge boost in movement for you, and while splat dashing is slower, it has more ink coverage, which is the entire objective of the game's various modes, so it has that going for it

i'm more interesting in finding weapon-specific techniques than finding out more about these, because they seem very straight forward in their application and any real arguments we can make about them are going to make for a pretty circular discussion

The thing is that Splatterhopping isn't a huge increase in speed.
It's faster than Splatdashing when going up an incline because you aren't subject to the incline's speed decrease as much.
It is only marginally faster than Splatdashing when going straight, and in exchange you cover much less ink.
It's actually slower than Splatterhopping going down a decline because you forgo the momentum going down the decline.

They have their own pros and cons, Splatdashing is only faster in two instances, and in one instance it isn't even all that much faster and you cover far less ground.

 

[sniper]

How does the game engine calculate coverage? That seems relevant to this topic; if you splat hop in just the right distance increments, do you get the same percentage coverage credit as if you'd painted more of the surface?

I doubt they're calculating percentages per surface pixel, that would be way too expensive. So internally, they must have the map represented as a grid. Knowing how big a grid unit is would be helpful.

 

[Vayu]

How does the game engine calculate coverage? That seems relevant to this topic; if you splat hop in just the right distance increments, do you get the same percentage coverage credit as if you'd painted more of the surface?

I doubt they're calculating percentages per surface pixel, that would be way too expensive. So internally, they must have the map represented as a grid. Knowing how big a grid unit is would be helpful.

If you can see it on the map, I'd imagine it's counted as part of the area percent.
And even using a grid system like that, I can't see splathopping being able to cover the same ground as just shooting.

So my conclusion is:
Splathopping is detrimental to going down a decline, because you don't get the speed increase that comes with Splatdashing down the incline.
On neutral surfaces, Splathopping is useful for confronting enemies directly, as it's more difficult to take down a Splathopping enemy than a Splatdashing one. It is also useful for reaching chokepoints early game, but it's use diminishes later on as you are able to super jump to allies. Unless you're rushing to assist a nearby ally, you'll be wanting to Splatdash mid to late game.

Splathopping shines on inclines, because you aren't subject to the decrease in speed like Splat Dashers are.

 

[Ranias]

How does the game engine calculate coverage? That seems relevant to this topic; if you splat hop in just the right distance increments, do you get the same percentage coverage credit as if you'd painted more of the surface?

I doubt they're calculating percentages per surface pixel, that would be way too expensive. So internally, they must have the map represented as a grid. Knowing how big a grid unit is would be helpful.

That's interesting to think about. The way the ink is distributed when it is spread on the surfaces is already complex looking though. I doubt that the Wii U can't handle adding up ink total precisely how it is spread out on the ground.

It also seems like a really huge pain to test for. Splathopping in specific patterns for it seems even more complex, and will probably slow your travel significantly depending on how the grid is distributed. It could also widely vary between maps.

 

[Gsnap]

That's interesting to think about. The way the ink is distributed when it is spread on the surfaces is already complex looking though. I doubt that the Wii U can't handle adding up ink total precisely how it is spread out on the ground.

It also seems like a really huge pain to test for. Splathopping in specific patterns for it seems even more complex, and will probably slow your travel significantly depending on how the grid is distributed. It could also widely vary between maps.

I don't think it's going to end up mattering how much ink spalthopping/dashing spreads. Since this is a team game, I imagine teams will want their S-hoppers to just be vanguards, getting to a specific spot at the very beginning of the match, and while their doing that, one or two of the other teammates will take time spreading ink further around spawn, etc.

 

[Ranias]

I don't think it's going to end up mattering how much ink spalthopping/dashing spreads. Since this is a team game, I imagine teams will want their S-hoppers to just be vanguards, getting to a specific spot at the very beginning of the match, and while their doing that, one or two of the other teammates will take time spreading ink further around spawn, etc.

I argue that the whole team should be pushing points/objectives until late game when easy spots can be filled in at the last moment for the turf total. I don't see a point in painting stuff you aren't going to be squidding over. Oh and it's good to save empty ground for filling up the special weapon gauge.

 

[Gsnap]

I argue that the whole team should be pushing points/objectives until late game when easy spots can be filled in at the last moment for the turf total. I don't see a point in painting stuff you aren't going to be squidding over.

Possibly. To me that seems like a bad idea to leave obvious stuff undone until the end because that's when the battle will be most heated. Your teammates will probably need you on the main battlefield more at the end than at the beginning.

But that's the kinda thing that we won't know until the game is out, so we'll see.

 

[SpecialtySake]

Ranged players: PLEASE ink up walls for rollers. Actually ink up walls in general. Don't neglect them!

 

[WydrA]

Ranged players: PLEASE ink up walls for rollers. Actually ink up walls in general. Don't neglect them!

We like to leave the uninked so we can watch you rollers pathetically struggle to ink them yourselves >: ) muahahaha

 

[SpecialtySake]

We like to leave the uninked so we can watch you rollers pathetically struggle to ink them yourselves >: ) muahahaha

It is pretty fun to witness... Haha