is it worth bringing ark polaris back to s3 salmon run?

[reelrollsweat]

i played a ton of salmon run in s2 and ark polaris was one of my favorite maps back then. however, s3 has introduced some big improvements to salmon run, including the new map design, and i've since grown kinda disillusioned with ark polaris

over winter break i revisited s2 salmon run with some friends and played a couple games on polaris, and i noticed a bunch of issues with it that i didn't notice before. s2's only "lurable" bosses are maws and scrapper (compared to s3's maws, scrapper, flopper, lid) so it took a lot longer to get bosses up to basket. otherwise bosses would get killed close to shore, and since you can't egg throw/juggle eggs up to basket it takes forever to get individual eggs up to basket + get back down to retrieve another one. aside from the novelty of the grind rails it's just awkward to traverse on normal tide. low tide also feels very cramped, especially around basket and on the skinny shore areas

i think bringing back polaris for s3 would both improve it and make it worse lol. obviously egg throwing + big shot cannon + new lurable bosses would make it much easier to get eggs back up to basket, but i'm mainly worried abt how slammin lids would impact the map. on normal tide and low tide the paths are very skinny and it would be easy to create awkward blockages just by slammin lids existing. given how spawning grounds and marooners bay are basically unchanged from s2 to s3 im skeptical they would try to make the map wider/larger like they have with some returning pvp maps

i know ark polaris is a fan favorite map that a lot of people have requested for s3 so im curious abt others' opinions ^^

 

[SquidAbortions]

WAIT, IMAgiNE KILLING HORROBOROS ON ARK , comeone thats like really fun. shooting an egg into ts fat mouth while charging because u can ride the rails???

Also im sure like the devs could do some platform/layout tweaking would make less blockages

 

[Just Alex]

Isn't it the one with the rails? Yeah I think so

 

[reelrollsweat]

WAIT, IMAgiNE KILLING HORROBOROS ON ARK , comeone thats like really fun. shooting an egg into ts fat mouth while charging because u can ride the rails???

Also im sure like the devs could do some platform/layout tweaking would make less blockages

omg i didnt even consider the king salmonids imagine fighting joe on high tide polaris

 

[SquidAbortions]

omg i didnt even consider the king salmonids imagine fighting joe on high tide polaris

i feel like riding the rails to escape that thunderous fatso would be fun ???

 

[Wheatley_The_Moron]

i feel like riding the rails to escape that thunderous fatso would be fun ???

In general with the more hectic nature of Next Wave, it'd encourage using the grind rails to avoid danger and I love that idea.

 

[octo999]

i played a ton of salmon run in s2 and ark polaris was one of my favorite maps back then. however, s3 has introduced some big improvements to salmon run, including the new map design, and i've since grown kinda disillusioned with ark polaris

over winter break i revisited s2 salmon run with some friends and played a couple games on polaris, and i noticed a bunch of issues with it that i didn't notice before. s2's only "lurable" bosses are maws and scrapper (compared to s3's maws, scrapper, flopper, lid) so it took a lot longer to get bosses up to basket. otherwise bosses would get killed close to shore, and since you can't egg throw/juggle eggs up to basket it takes forever to get individual eggs up to basket + get back down to retrieve another one. aside from the novelty of the grind rails it's just awkward to traverse on normal tide. low tide also feels very cramped, especially around basket and on the skinny shore areas

i think bringing back polaris for s3 would both improve it and make it worse lol. obviously egg throwing + big shot cannon + new lurable bosses would make it much easier to get eggs back up to basket, but i'm mainly worried abt how slammin lids would impact the map. on normal tide and low tide the paths are very skinny and it would be easy to create awkward blockages just by slammin lids existing. given how spawning grounds and marooners bay are basically unchanged from s2 to s3 im skeptical they would try to make the map wider/larger like they have with some returning pvp maps

i know ark polaris is a fan favorite map that a lot of people have requested for s3 so im curious abt others' opinions ^^

OMG YOU MADE THAT LITTLE BUDDY CREATER ON PICREW, I love it

Anyway yeah it would mostly improve going into s3, being able to throw eggs up and with the big shots. I am also worried about the thin paths on this map though, it may cause issues, or it might make specials like wavebreaker/kraken/reefslider/wail much stronger

 

[Hippo555467]

Yes I loved ark Polaris

 

[Birb the Bird]

Ark Polaris is in my opinion very overrated.
Yes it looks nice but it's bay but dropping down tl the shore isn't a death sentence but just not smart. It doesn't have a lot of variety when it comes to moving up, since the rails are actually not that fast and there aren't a lot of Inkable walls. Also: the main reason all Splatoon 2 Salmon run stages but one in my opnion is the increased difficulty. Polaris worked in Splatoon 2 but imagine King Salmonids, Lids and the increased number of Salmonids on it. It would be a pain.

 

[TheEggoEffect]

My biggest issue with Ark in S2 was how difficult getting eggs to the basket was on low tide; it made overfishing (and just meeting quota in solo) harder than it needed to be. As you said, changes made in S3 like egg throw and big shot cannons would largely alleviate this problem. I also think having bosses like flopper that could take more direct paths to the basket would help a lot. As for lids, I don't think they would be as much of a problem since they can easily be taken out from the map's ample high ground, although they might need to add more inkable walls. (Squid surge might speed up climbing these walls as well, further alleviating the issue of getting eggs to the basket.)

However, with how many more bosses can spawn at higher hazard levels, I think high tide might genuinely be an issue. It could already get pretty cramped and hectic without a good comp in S2; in this game I can easily see it being unplayable without either perfect play or at least one or two Grizzco or similarly strong weapons.

 

[Pineapple Death Match]

I can toss my hat into the ring as someone who's only played S3, but I think seeing Ark Polaris return would be neat if for no other reasons than its connection to RotM. It sounds like the stage itself might need some tweaking but as I've never played it I can't make a judgement call on that, haha. The only other thought I had about this would be, since Ark Polaris had ties to RotM, would it make sense to have another map (for salmon run or otherwise) that ties into S4's Hero Mode?

 

[9DB]

For gameplay reasons yes.

For lore reasons, probably not

 

[profreshional-squidiot]

it'd be neat for lore reasons, but in terms of actual gameplay, probably not.
none of the kings would really work well (coho and joe wouldn't even fit on the stage besides maybe low tide, and i'm not quite sure where boris could be positioned that wouldn't feel awkward to play around), and with how many more lessers and bosses tend to be on the map at once compared to 2, alongside how small and cramped the stage is, it'd be a bit of a nightmare to play on unless you had a near-perfect team comp (specials included!) for reliably clearing out large hordes, bosses included (lids...).
not to mention how ark polaris already had issues with frame drops in 2 at higher hazard levels. hell, even stages that were fine in 2 have that issue in 3 sometimes, imagine how much worse it might be if they do bring it back.
i loved the stage in 2, but it really wouldn't be as good in 3 unless they rework it in some form, and given they've barely touched any other returning salmon stages (like marooner's bay, which also has a lot of these same issues!), i doubt they'd make any big adjustments for ark polaris, so it's probably better if it just stays in 2. kind of a shame though, i bet it'd have a sweet badge lol

 

[oofie]

I don't think Ark should return in 3 mainly cause it's just too cramped as is and given how much happens now (there's a reason the S2 maps aren't very popular) on top of king salmons it'd genuinely be really painful trying to play this map unless it underwent major changes.

 

[Linneus]

Honestly, I would love an Ark Polaris inspired map, but bringing back the S2 map wholesale? That thing's gonna get destroyed by Next Wave. It'd be terrifying.

 

[GreenJupiter]

I think with some reworks it'd be pretty fun

 

[Bubbsart]

OMG YOU MADE THAT LITTLE BUDDY CREATER ON PICREW

I want to know the link to the little buddy picrew because it looks fun :)