My idea for reworking Ultra Stamp

[Grushi]

Ultra Stamp has been in low tier limbo for a while, ever since Splatoon 2 somehow, to the point where it feels like the devs don't know what to do with it.
They've buffed the shockwave radius in this game, which, while nice, feels more annoying than anything, and it doesn't help the special where it matters.

The main idea that's going around is to make it invincible from the front. Don't let any weapons shoot it through the rush mode, and then it'll be balanced!
I have mixed feelings about this to be honest. I think the reason Nintendo still hasn't done this is because the special is very good at low levels. It's kind of a risky one to buff, since it could easily get overwhelming there, Triple Splashdown is also in the same boat, in my opinion. (I might make another post for that one, the more I think about it) So buffing Rush mode again could make it annoying for newer players.
It's also already quite extreme in some situations, if the enemy team is cramped together, Ultra Stamp can easily get a multi kill, and it can feel a bit cheap at times.

If you give it full frontal cover, I actually don't think it'd be that bad for weapon matchups, since sloshers, blasters, rollers, brellas etc... already can't shoot through it anyway, so it doesn't make these matchups worse. The one thing it does though is make the special more common, which actually does hurt them indirectly. So I'd still like Nintendo to avoid that route.

And I'll be honest, I just think this special is... kind of annoying?
Look this may be my PTSD from having to run from Ultra Stamps talking, but getting chased by an invincible hammer you can't shoot through is not very Fun.

So I'd like to give it more back and forth, a way to keep its identity while reducing its effectiveness at low levels, and making it less oppressive to fight for slow weapons... And I think I found an idea.


Without further ado...

• Ultra Stamp can now no longer be shot through the front while in rush mode.
  The obvious idea, but it shouldn't be invincible right on the first swing, since that's a fair window to counter it. At this point, this change is kind of required
• Stamp size increased by 10%
  This wouldn't affect the shockwaves of the stamp, but it'd make its one shot hitbox bigger, make it better at protecting itself, and most importantly, make it a better long range counter. It would still be hard to hit, hammer throws are kind of a skill shot as is, but I want it to be better at this, since it's a pretty cool aspect of the special. (Seriously, hammer throw splats are SICK)

Now, these are common ideas, but I have one important downside to give it.

• Rush Mode now slows down gradually after 2 seconds, until it reaches Splat Roller rolling speed, during which it will swing slower.
  When it slows down, you'd actually be able to shoot it from the front again, and it'd output less shockwaves.

This is the big rework. I think Rush mode is simply too good at low levels and when the enemy team cramps up.
And that's the mode that feels really overwhelming to fight as a bad matchup. Have you ever fought an Ultra Stamp as a Tenta Brella, being forced to swim around for 6 seconds because it matches your swim speed? I have, and it's not very fun.
If you make it slow down, that encourages mixing up your swim form alongside your improved Rush mode, that way you'd get clear openings to play around. It'd be very back and forth, and sounds more fun on both ends. It also makes holding Rush mode for a long time pretty punishable, since you'll be easier to pick off from the sides.
It'll still be good into objects, but not for an extended period, which mainly affects its rainmaker shield DPS. It'll be good at popping it quickly, but if the enemy team can contest it long enough, they may be able to get the pop against you.



Now I know these changes would make the special feel quite different. But at high levels, I already see hammer users mixing up a lot of swim form and sharking to make up for the special's vulnerability, which is actually pretty cool to watch. So it would be better at that playstyle in particular.
Stamp's got a lot of redeeming qualities, and it has its hype moments.

I'm honestly pretty proud of this idea, it sounds really fun to play around, which kind of speaks to how well designed the special is as is, it just needs some slight tweaks. It might need another buff to make up for the speed deceleration, but maybe the added skill expression would be enough? I'm not sure

Hell, I think if this version of hammer was brought into s4, I wouldn't even mind it, we need good aggressive specials in the game, and I think this sounds much better than Kraken, I won't lie.

 

[isaac4]

I'm glad to see an idea for buffing Ultra Stamp that isn't just "make the front invincible".
I understand why that's the main option everyone goes to but I do think that the special also needs a lot more than that to balance it out for casual players.
The concept also fixes one of my biggest problems with Ultra Stamp.
Despite the special itself having some freedom in how it can be utilized, the counterplay against it for a lot of classes is simply to just swim away.
Sloshers and Blasters especially suffer from their weaker mobility against rush mode and in a game where most maps only have two linear paths out of mid, there's not a lot these weapons can actually do which I think goes against the point of the special being vulnerable from behind.

I'm surprised you didn't nerf the outside radius though since that seems to be the most annoying part about the special but since you are significantly nerfing rush mode, it makes sense.

Nerfing its effectiveness against objects is really nice though. I never liked how a lot of specials will just instantly pop the RM shield with almost no way to stop it.

 

[briank913]

From what I hear, when Nintendo improved their netcode with the last patch, Ultra Stamp became an unintended winner. But even then it still is inconsistent. Earlier today I blocked 3 Trizooka shots but last night I couldn't block an E-Liter shot.
I think people are using Stamp either as a last ditch/clutch range weapon for Sploosh and/or as a Niche RM Special.

Frontal immunity is a great start, but it needs more.

One area I would buff it in also is its startup time. Many people use the jump swing to "speed up" the hammering as well. Now the jump swing also has its uses, but I would love to just start hammering my problems away asap.
In turn, I would nerf the stamp duration to make sure we're not abusing hammer or just farming GG Stamp on hammer weapons.