Is the Splat Charger even worth it in Turf Wars?

[Youngster Skaymore]

I can't really find a reason to use it. What are your guys' opinions?

 

[jp4464]

The Splat Charger is much more suited for getting kills, though it's also very good for creating ink trails for your teammates.

In Splat Zones, this weapon is going to be a lot more effective, though Chargers are still a great support role in either game mode.

 

[Bonzi77]

I can see it being way more useful in ranked. Long distance kills stopping people from getting to the splat zones, covering long rows of territory (really good for filling in a rectangular shape!), among other things.

 

[suavevillain]

I feel like it is not good for turf war unless you understand your role and have a decent team. If in a party yes it is great with randoms not so much. You should be getting kills holding down important areas of the map and making paths for people and teammates if possible.

 

[Mr.HawK]

its good to use offensively. use the charger to eliminate your enemies so that your team gets the push. if you have a roller on your side sniping anyone who might have an advantage over the roller player, like a splattershot jr user, will allow the roller user to press forward and create a path. essentially you dont want to immediately go for the other teams side just yet because they can sneak around you and claim turf on your spawn area setting you up for spawn traps. the chargers main objective should be more of a lookout depending on which map your in. Walleye Warehouse is a great place for chargers and rollers due to the small size and since you dont have much to cover you need to keep an eye on your spawn base so that your team doesn't lose their side.

 

[DingDongMcDork]

It's abysmal in Turf. It may have some situational use if you play as an organized team but that's it. It looks way more useful in Splatterzone and Tower mode.

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

Yes, it is still worth using in Turf War. You just have to be more tactical about using it.

The charger isn't a weapon where you guns ablazing everywhere expecting to cover wide open areas with your ink. Rather, it is a support class.

There are a couple important things to understand.

1. Nests - One of the important aspects of Chargers is picking off enemies. Naturally, this weapon is very good at killing. Shoot a shot here, throw a grenade there. Nests are generally in high up places where enemies have to take their time aiming at you while you have a nice decent amount of time for a direct hit.

2. Knowing when to leave nests - Now, of course, this is a mode about covering territory. So staying in one spot all the time isn't really productive. But when do you leave and to what areas?

I'm going to use Saltspray rig as an example. So we all know the top middle of the stage is where chargers usually hang out. On each side is a high area you reach by climbing up walls. Gives you quite the vantage point and gives you the perfect opportunity to throw grenades over walls. Now looking to the other section on the upper level, (the farthest section from the spawn point), you may be tempted to go there. Don't. Your weapon isn't good at covering wide open areas like that, and if an enemy sees you, you are as good as dead. And if they are a non-charger class, they probably will clean up whatever damage you did in a matter of seconds. You also just lost a nest spot that was crucial to keeping them away from that area in the first place.

Does this mean not leave at all? No. On the lower level there are two great sections to leave the nest to go to. The first is of course the narrow passageways near the elevators. Aiming straight and/or diagonally gets some amazing ink coverage for your team. There is also another important spot. Here:

But the bottom area itself is too risky to stand in. What I'm referring to is the platforms to the right and left. Those are excellent sniping spots as it is very hard to reach you, and you can constantly provide more ground for fellow Inklings to stand on.

Of course, the main nest is still important, and the place where you spend a lot of your time, but you can't forget to help out your teams in other areas.

3. Super Jump/Knowing how far to stay away from potential danger: This is one of the more important things I noticed when playing the demo. The charger, due to where they are usually, are the perfect Super Jump points. Think about it. What could Shooters and Rollers potentially be in? Well, they can be in the middle of a shoot out. And if you super jump to one of your team mates during this, you could get caught up in the cross fire.

But now where are chargers? At high places, usually away from where enemies can normally see or shoot. This allows your allies to get more of a drop off on the enemy.

Also remember how I said you shouldn't try to take on open area as the charger. This is probably the most important reason why. Because your allies most likely have better weapons then you, and they can just super jump to your location, notice the uncleaned/enemy covered area, and do it themselves. AND while that happens, you are still at your nest, so you can still support your teammate by picking off enemies that try to stop them.

And that is the key. Like I said, Charger is a support class. Think about the sniper class in TF2. You aren't going to be capturing points, suitcases, pushing the cart with a sniper are you? Of course not. But you are going to sit back and try to stop the enemy from stopping your team from doing those things.

Likewise, it isn't about covering territory with the charger. It's about making sure your team can cover territory. Is how the charger fire meh at covering areas? Yes. But the path it fires is perfect for you teams to travel in squid form and refill ink due to how straight and far it is. And killing enemies from afar allows your team to focus on covering territory instead of trying to defend themselves.

So with the charger, you can't think "how can I cover all this area?" You have to think, "how can I help my team cover all this area?"

 

[Mr.HawK]

Yes, it is still worth using in Turf War. You just have to be more tactical about using it.

The charger isn't a weapon where you guns ablazing everywhere expecting to cover wide open areas with your ink. Rather, it is a support class.

There are a couple important things to understand.

1. Nests - One of the important aspects of Chargers is picking off enemies. Naturally, this weapon is very good at killing. Shoot a shot here, throw a grenade there. Nests are generally in high up places where enemies have to take their time aiming at you while you have a nice decent amount of time for a direct hit.

2. Knowing when to leave nests - Now, of course, this is a mode about covering territory. So staying in one spot all the time isn't really productive. But when do you leave and to what areas?

I'm going to use Saltspray rig as an example. So we all know the top middle of the stage is where chargers usually hang out. On each side is a high area you reach by climbing up walls. Gives you quite the vantage point and gives you the perfect opportunity to throw grenades over walls. Now looking to the other section on the upper level, (the farthest section from the spawn point), you may be tempted to go there. Don't. Your weapon isn't good at covering wide open areas like that, and if an enemy sees you, you are as good as dead. And if they are a non-charger class, they probably will clean up whatever damage you did in a matter of seconds. You also just lost a nest spot that was crucial to keeping them away from that area in the first place.

Does this mean not leave at all? No. On the lower level there are two great sections to leave the nest to go to. The first is of course the narrow passageways near the elevators. Aiming straight and/or diagonally gets some amazing ink coverage for your team. There is also another important spot. Here:
View attachment 168
But the bottom area itself is too risky to stand in. What I'm referring to is the platforms to the right and left. Those are excellent sniping spots as it is very hard to reach you, and you can constantly provide more ground for fellow Inklings to stand on.

Of course, the main nest is still important, and the place where you spend a lot of your time, but you can't forget to help out your teams in other areas.

3. Super Jump/Knowing how far to stay away from potential danger: This is one of the more important things I noticed when playing the demo. The charger, due to where they are usually, are the perfect Super Jump points. Think about it. What could Shooters and Rollers potentially be in? Well, they can be in the middle of a shoot out. And if you super jump to one of your team mates during this, you could get caught up in the cross fire.

But now where are chargers? At high places, usually away from where enemies can normally see or shoot. This allows your allies to get more of a drop off on the enemy.

Also remember how I said you shouldn't try to take on open area as the charger. This is probably the most important reason why. Because your allies most likely have better weapons then you, and they can just super jump to your location, notice the uncleaned/enemy covered area, and do it themselves. AND while that happens, you are still at your nest, so you can still support your teammate by picking off enemies that try to stop them.

And that is the key. Like I said, Charger is a support class. Think about the sniper class in TF2. You aren't going to be capturing points, suitcases, pushing the cart with a sniper are you? Of course not. But you are going to sit back and try to stop the enemy from stopping your team from doing those things.

Likewise, it isn't about covering territory with the charger. It's about making sure your team can cover territory. Is how the charger fire meh at covering areas? Yes. But the path it fires is perfect for you teams to travel in squid form and refill ink due to how straight and far it is. And killing enemies from afar allows your team to focus on covering territory instead of trying to defend themselves.

So with the charger, you can't think "how can I cover all this area?" You have to think, "how can I help my team cover all this area?"

All of this, YES

 

[DingDongMcDork]

I think my biggest problem with this logic, although I do agree with it, is that it's really hard to make it work in 3 minutes with no preparation in a random team. it might just a problem with my playstyle but you make some great points.

 

[Draayder]

Yes, it is still worth using in Turf War. You just have to be more tactical about using it.

The charger isn't a weapon where you guns ablazing everywhere expecting to cover wide open areas with your ink. Rather, it is a support class.

There are a couple important things to understand.

1. Nests - One of the important aspects of Chargers is picking off enemies. Naturally, this weapon is very good at killing. Shoot a shot here, throw a grenade there. Nests are generally in high up places where enemies have to take their time aiming at you while you have a nice decent amount of time for a direct hit.

2. Knowing when to leave nests - Now, of course, this is a mode about covering territory. So staying in one spot all the time isn't really productive. But when do you leave and to what areas?

I'm going to use Saltspray rig as an example. So we all know the top middle of the stage is where chargers usually hang out. On each side is a high area you reach by climbing up walls. Gives you quite the vantage point and gives you the perfect opportunity to throw grenades over walls. Now looking to the other section on the upper level, (the farthest section from the spawn point), you may be tempted to go there. Don't. Your weapon isn't good at covering wide open areas like that, and if an enemy sees you, you are as good as dead. And if they are a non-charger class, they probably will clean up whatever damage you did in a matter of seconds. You also just lost a nest spot that was crucial to keeping them away from that area in the first place.

Does this mean not leave at all? No. On the lower level there are two great sections to leave the nest to go to. The first is of course the narrow passageways near the elevators. Aiming straight and/or diagonally gets some amazing ink coverage for your team. There is also another important spot. Here:
View attachment 168
But the bottom area itself is too risky to stand in. What I'm referring to is the platforms to the right and left. Those are excellent sniping spots as it is very hard to reach you, and you can constantly provide more ground for fellow Inklings to stand on.

Of course, the main nest is still important, and the place where you spend a lot of your time, but you can't forget to help out your teams in other areas.

3. Super Jump/Knowing how far to stay away from potential danger: This is one of the more important things I noticed when playing the demo. The charger, due to where they are usually, are the perfect Super Jump points. Think about it. What could Shooters and Rollers potentially be in? Well, they can be in the middle of a shoot out. And if you super jump to one of your team mates during this, you could get caught up in the cross fire.

But now where are chargers? At high places, usually away from where enemies can normally see or shoot. This allows your allies to get more of a drop off on the enemy.

Also remember how I said you shouldn't try to take on open area as the charger. This is probably the most important reason why. Because your allies most likely have better weapons then you, and they can just super jump to your location, notice the uncleaned/enemy covered area, and do it themselves. AND while that happens, you are still at your nest, so you can still support your teammate by picking off enemies that try to stop them.

And that is the key. Like I said, Charger is a support class. Think about the sniper class in TF2. You aren't going to be capturing points, suitcases, pushing the cart with a sniper are you? Of course not. But you are going to sit back and try to stop the enemy from stopping your team from doing those things.

Likewise, it isn't about covering territory with the charger. It's about making sure your team can cover territory. Is how the charger fire meh at covering areas? Yes. But the path it fires is perfect for you teams to travel in squid form and refill ink due to how straight and far it is. And killing enemies from afar allows your team to focus on covering territory instead of trying to defend themselves.

So with the charger, you can't think "how can I cover all this area?" You have to think, "how can I help my team cover all this area?"

I agree with all of this, Splat Charger can still do a lot of work but it's not as straight forward or obvious about it as a Splat Roller or Splattershot.

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

I think my biggest problem with this logic, although I do agree with it, is that it's really hard to make it work in 3 minutes with no preparation in a random team. it might just a problem with my playstyle but you make some great points.

That is the nature of the support class. Look at any support class in any shooter. Remember the sniper from TF2 I mentioned earlier? It doesn't matter how good a sniper you are, it means nothing if your team is bad.

With that said, a good sniper on a good team makes that good team now an amazing team.

 

[Youngster Skaymore]

Yea, I get what you guys are saying. One thing I think is good about it also is gaurding spawn points. This might not sound beneficial, but in Walleye Warehouse for example, if your team has almost all ink past the enemys base, you can sit on the edge of theiur base (preferrabkly at a high point) and pick them off as they try to leave it, so they can never get back to the middle to claim territory

 

[RoyLee]

I think that the Charger will be good for maps with wide open spaces for 2 reasons.

1. It can allow for easy killing of other inklings and can take them out a lot easier because of the freedom that you have in that space.

2. One of the techs that I developed from the TestFire, is that if you take the lower area on SaltSpary Rig, its just an open rectangle with one set of boxes in the middle. Basically just charge up the shot, fire it, move a little to the right, charge your shot fire, and repeat over and over again. It can cover ground quite well actually as long as the area is just big and open.

 

[squid enthusiast]

it has a steep learning curve, maybe even one nobody has reached yet. doesn't mean it's bad, it just takes some adjustment. i'll use smash 4 as an example. when the game first came out, it was chaotic. everyone though duck hunt dog was gonna be the best character or something, when in reality it's just that nobody knew how to deal with him. kinda like people saying the splat roller is OP.

 

[zmop]

i am dubious about its usefulness turf wars all together. all the people who picked the sniper rifle were the most ineffective teammates who did next to nothing as far as contribution goes for the team. admittedly, i don't remove myself from that equation when I used it however like i've said in pasts posts, i am totally not one for anything that has a charge mechanic in pvp so i purposly ****ed around and did nothing but still ended up with over 300 points unlike most other players i encountered (and yes i get that people were just learning but that kind of thing will persist even after launch.) i don't know if it would be even worth while to have in ranked yet. obviously, once the game has come out, we will see some people who are skilled with the sniper rifles just mopping the floor as far as kills go but still not contributing much to their teams. the only mode that will benefit from sniping will definitely be tower. this is a we'll see kind of thing. i don't want to see the continued (but most likely inevitable) trend of useless snipers on my team in turf wars.

 

[LinkJr]

While I believe they are more useful at Ranked modes, they have their uses on Turf too. It is really great at creating lanes for better movement, you also don't need to move too much to ink a larger area, you can use high spots and ink while having a good view of the map, also with the right gear abilities they could be even more effective. The opposing team wasn't very good, but I did get a great score on this match using a Charger:

I think it all depends on the map and team strategy, high points are really great for chargers.

 

[FunkyLobster]

it's probably more suited to turf wars and low level ranked battles than true competitive play, since you're going to want a more adaptable and versatile weapon

the only weapons i can really see being used often are shooters, some rollers, and charge weapons that have a fast rate of fire or high base damage. having to commit to one specific playstyle is going to hurt your team in competitive matches, since if your team isn't compensating for it and/or you're doing poorly, you're turning the game into a 3v4

it's not a bad weapon, it's just that it can't compete due to no fault of its own

 

[KniteLyfe]

I could see it being used in Tower Control and Splat Zones, but not as much in Turf War.

 

[ProjectQ]

i am dubious about its usefulness turf wars all together. all the people who picked the sniper rifle were the most ineffective teammates who did next to nothing as far as contribution goes for the team. admittedly, i don't remove myself from that equation when I used it however like i've said in pasts posts, i am totally not one for anything that has a charge mechanic in pvp so i purposly ****ed around and did nothing but still ended up with over 300 points unlike most other players i encountered (and yes i get that people were just learning but that kind of thing will persist even after launch.) i don't know if it would be even worth while to have in ranked yet. obviously, once the game has come out, we will see some people who are skilled with the sniper rifles just mopping the floor as far as kills go but still not contributing much to their teams. the only mode that will benefit from sniping will definitely be tower. this is a we'll see kind of thing. i don't want to see the continued (but most likely inevitable) trend of useless snipers on my team in turf wars.

Remember: score is measured based on how much ink you cover, not total quality of play. Chargers aren't meant to be the spotlight players with the big points because they aren't made for covering zone in turf war. This creates the illusion that snipers aren't contributing, when the real stat one should be paying attention to is the kill-death ratio. I acknowledge the fact that it has a high learning curve, and people don't understand it yet.

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

Remember: score is measured based on how much ink you cover, not total quality of play. Chargers aren't meant to be the spotlight players with the big points because they aren't made for covering zone in turf war. This creates the illusion that snipers aren't contributing, when the real stat one should be paying attention to is the kill-death ratio. I acknowledge the fact that it has a high learning curve, and people don't understand it yet.

I will agree that the charger's score isn't going to be the biggest indication of how much they contributed. However, I don't think kills are either. Chargers are more than just kills. Killing the wrong person at the wrong place certainly won't help anyone.

It really is hard to notice all the charger can do for you. But it is still an excellent support.

it's probably more suited to turf wars and low level ranked battles than true competitive play, since you're going to want a more adaptable and versatile weapon

the only weapons i can really see being used often are shooters, some rollers, and charge weapons that have a fast rate of fire or high base damage. having to commit to one specific playstyle is going to hurt your team in competitive matches, since if your team isn't compensating for it and/or you're doing poorly, you're turning the game into a 3v4

it's not a bad weapon, it's just that it can't compete due to no fault of its own

Can't agree with this. The charger's support abilities are amazing. Killing enemies easily, provide a nice line of ink for team mates to swim through and the enemy to have problems crossing, keeping enemies out of important spots, providing excellent super jump spots, are all super valuable. It gets better in ranked matches since it can actually help even more so with covering the specific spot of the stage with ink.