My personal 'rule of thumb' tier list

[Setu]

It amazes me how entitled people have become to their opinions.

I personally feel like tier lists do not work for a game like this as they do in smash bros.(unless maybe it's a rating of how easy it is to carry a random team). Clearly, the weapons that are "lowest tier" are the weapons that the raters haven't gotten acquainted with thoroughly enough to play to their strengths and avoid the weaknesses. (However, I don't know if the day will come when the inkbrush will size up to compete with other weapons)
Tier lists are just tools to making weapons overused or underused.

 

[Mister Chippy]

It amazes me how entitled people have become to their opinions.

I personally feel like tier lists do not work for a game like this as they do in smash bros.(unless maybe it's a rating of how easy it is to carry a random team). Clearly, the weapons that are "lowest tier" are the weapons that the raters haven't gotten acquainted with thoroughly enough to play to their strengths and avoid the weaknesses. (However, I don't know if the day will come when the inkbrush will size up to compete with other weapons)
Tier lists are just tools to making weapons overused or underused.

Tier lists just don't work in shooters period. However I'm pretty sure that most of this community comes directly from Smash and have never played a shooter before so they're just doing what they know.

 

[Eclipsc70]

Tier lists just don't work in shooters period. However I'm pretty sure that most of this community comes directly from Smash and have never played a shooter before so they're just doing what they know.

... im not too sure if I should be offended...

 

[EpicB13]

Ok, I'm starting to feel this thread is getting way too toxic. Everyone stop arguing and putting down lower ranks. Show some respect and stop whining over a game for children on the Internet.

 

[Mister Chippy]

... im not too sure if I should be offended...

You shouldn't be offended! There's nothing wrong with trying to apply knowledge you already had to a new situation! It's just that tier lists don't really work for shooters.

It's not that all weapons are balanced or that some things aren't better than others, but a tier list is simply incapable of including the nuance involved in rating weapons and isn't really of much use to people anyways. Here are some of the reasons why:

Weapons all fill different roles. It's not really possible to compare the E-Liter to the Splash-o-matic because they do completely different things.

You have teammates who can cover your weaknesses. You can't say "well this weapon is good at everything therefor it's better than that weapon which is amazing at this one thing but sucks at everything else" because being amazing at one thing might be enough to make a weapon more useful in some strategies than a strong allrounder. Some weapons which are also "bad" on their own might become used because they complement a "good" weapon.

Which weapons are strong can change drastically depending on the map, if you're attacking or defending, or any number of other circumstances. For example I imagine that if blasters become the meta we'll see blaster players all switch to the rapid blaster (or one of the other long range blasters coming out) when playing on arowana.

Unlike fighters, weapons take very little time to master. If you can use an N-Zap, you can probably use a SSP. In fact you're expected to know how to use all the weapons for your role. You'll also probably be expected to be able to play one or two other rolls too, in case your team wants to change things up in a match. In fighting games where it is a big time investment to learn a new character tier lists can be helpful for knowing which characters are good time investments, but you don't need that for a shooter.


I really wasn't meaning to offend anybody, all I was saying was that I've been playing competitive shooters for a good amount of time now and the way everyone is approaching Splatoon is really different from the way people typically approach shooters. I think this is pretty cool because looking at things from a new angle can help come up with new ideas, but it can also be problematic if people don't realize that you have to approach shooters in a different way than you approach fighting games.

 

[Eclipsc70]

Haha na dude. I mean I was being honest with not being sure if I should feel offended considering the last shooter i really got into was Halo 2 but even if i did get offended I would have assumed you said what you said for a reason. You are very right though, it is a similar concept with the MVC games considering its more team oriented and it is best to choose characters that compliment others in that game. Im personally sticking to my guns(brush) on this matter because if I learned anything from playing yugioh, or smash or SF or whatever its that even the most *** card/character/weapon can and probably will be nice/viable once someone finds hidden tech with it, THEN people will complain about it and thats when the patches(yugioh=banlists) come into play ala what happened to the Kraken. This is actually why I defended the ink brush so much because it has potential since it is the fastest weapon. Its the best in speed so that has to leave potential for something.

 

[Oatsy]

You shouldn't be offended! There's nothing wrong with trying to apply knowledge you already had to a new situation! It's just that tier lists don't really work for shooters.

It's not that all weapons are balanced or that some things aren't better than others, but a tier list is simply incapable of including the nuance involved in rating weapons and isn't really of much use to people anyways. Here are some of the reasons why:

Weapons all fill different roles. It's not really possible to compare the E-Liter to the Splash-o-matic because they do completely different things.

You have teammates who can cover your weaknesses. You can't say "well this weapon is good at everything therefor it's better than that weapon which is amazing at this one thing but sucks at everything else" because being amazing at one thing might be enough to make a weapon more useful in some strategies than a strong allrounder. Some weapons which are also "bad" on their own might become used because they complement a "good" weapon.

Which weapons are strong can change drastically depending on the map, if you're attacking or defending, or any number of other circumstances. For example I imagine that if blasters become the meta we'll see blaster players all switch to the rapid blaster (or one of the other long range blasters coming out) when playing on arowana.

Unlike fighters, weapons take very little time to master. If you can use an N-Zap, you can probably use a SSP. In fact you're expected to know how to use all the weapons for your role. You'll also probably be expected to be able to play one or two other rolls too, in case your team wants to change things up in a match. In fighting games where it is a big time investment to learn a new character tier lists can be helpful for knowing which characters are good time investments, but you don't need that for a shooter.


I really wasn't meaning to offend anybody, all I was saying was that I've been playing competitive shooters for a good amount of time now and the way everyone is approaching Splatoon is really different from the way people typically approach shooters. I think this is pretty cool because looking at things from a new angle can help come up with new ideas, but it can also be problematic if people don't realize that you have to approach shooters in a different way than you approach fighting games.

Coming from TF2, I assure you, there absolutely can be tiers within a shooter.

 

[Mister Chippy]

Coming from TF2, I assure you, there absolutely can be tiers within a shooter.

Ok, coming from TF2 as well I can say that that isn't 100% false but TF2 is also probably the worst balanced game I've ever played. It's a great game, but the difference in power levels between the weapons in comp was often so staggering that you might as well have just had 2 tiers: Usable and useless. When comparing weapons that were not absolute garbage to one another I wouldn't really say you could make a useful tier list.

 

[shane3x]

Care to explain?

• It can allow an entire team to make it to the splat zone incredibly fast at the very start of the match. Youll easily take out the enemy if they arrive in waves and if they arrive together youll be more prepared. In a game of roughly equally skilled players holding the zone for as long as possible is vital.
• Generally only when you see enemy ink do you consider yourself in any danger. Inkbrush allows you to be a threat anywhere regardless of how much of any teams ink is around
• It can easily breach enemy defences in turf war allowing you to ink huge amounts of enemy territory forcing them back to base while your team advances
• Enemy Ink will not slow you down or force you to take another route.

Yes, in direct combat when the opponent is aware youll most likely lose. If you end up in that situation though you are doing it wrong and yes the manual trigger is annoying for some to deal with but used properly in no way is the weapon bottom tier.

Also I think the ability to compensate for crap team mates is a crap argument. No gun is going to compensate for that. That doesn't affect the weapons ability itself to perform. Besides we are getting a friends update next month that will allow you to play with people you know are good so that becomes a mute point unless you want to do a casual tier list and a competitive tier list.

 

[Hitzel]

Tier lists are just tools to making weapons overused or underused.

Well it's actually the other way around, tier lists are a representatuon of what's being used to win the most at any given time (or a matchup chart of what is likely to win at a given time).

Tiers have never told people what to use, and the people who do what they say are the people who would be picking perceived "cheap" characters anyway.

 

[Achamo]

Ink brush and aerospray at the very bottom!?

Doesn't almost EVERYONE use Aerospray? --At least from what I've been seeing.
That and the GAL gun.-- Oh and splatter JR. for the bubble.

And... Ink brushes aren't THAT bad </3..
One just needs to understand its true potential!

 

[Squadaloo]

Ink brush and aerospray at the very bottom!?

Doesn't almost EVERYONE use Aerospray? --At least from what I've been seeing.
That and the GAL gun.-- Oh and splatter JR. for the bubble.

And... Ink brushes aren't THAT bad </3..
One just needs to understand its true potential!

This is for ranked modes, not Turf War. I use the Aerospray exclusively in Turf War, but I agree that it's just not good for Splat Zones or Tower Control due to the increased focus on splats.

 

[Achamo]

This is for ranked modes, not Turf War. I use the Aerospray exclusively in Turf War, but I agree that it's just not good for Splat Zones or Tower Control due to the increased focus on splats.

Ah, okay, that makes sense.
I also agree.

 

[Setu]

Well it's actually the other way around, tier lists are a representatuon of what's being used to win the most at any given time (or a matchup chart of what is likely to win at a given time).

Tiers have never told people what to use, and the people who do what they say are the people who would be picking perceived "cheap" characters anyway.

That honestly made no sense. I don't see how a tier list would balance what is being used over just keeping things neutral.

 

[Ryuji]

Well it's actually the other way around, tier lists are a representatuon of what's being used to win the most at any given time (or a matchup chart of what is likely to win at a given time).

Tiers have never told people what to use, and the people who do what they say are the people who would be picking perceived "cheap" characters anyway.

You sort of have the right idea, but not quite. It's not that tiers represent which weapons are you used to win the most, it tells you how effective they are overall in comparison to the rest of the weapons. Highest tiers are extremely effective and surpass the other weapons, whereas lowest tiers are either weak or haven't been used much. Of course nobody has to follow the tier list, but if they don't they may be gimping themselves. But at the same time, should they become adept with it, they might even be able to be on par with higher tier weapons. Only problem is that this is player-specific and in no way means the weapon is now viable. Higher tier weapons will still trounce it on many occasions.

That said, it's still best just to use whatever you prefer regardless of what tier it is.

 

[Hitzel]

You sort of have the right idea, but not quite. It's not that tiers represent which weapons are you used to win the most, it tells you how effective they are overall in comparison to the rest of the weapons. Highest tiers are extremely effective and surpass the other weapons, whereas lowest tiers are either weak or haven't been used much. Of course nobody has to follow the tier list, but if they don't they may be gimping themselves. But at the same time, should they become adept with it, they might even be able to be on par with higher tier weapons. Only problem is that this is player-specific and in no way means the weapon is now viable. Higher tier weapons will still trounce it on many occasions.

That said, it's still best just to use whatever you prefer regardless of what tier it is.

Erm.. yeah. The point I was trying to make to @Setu is that a tier list is influenced by what players do, and players aren't influenced by what a tier list does. People who pick "overused" or "cheap" characters are going to do so with or without a written tier list.

 

[Hari-Kuyo]

As a carbon roller user I really appreciate inkbrushes (when they don't suicide), since my weapon thrives on having lots of ink to move around in.

The inkbrush definitely has a unique roll in splat zones, you aren't really supposed to fight people. You maintain control of the map through use of your sprinkler and ink spreading capabilities, which in turn lets you support your team with inkstrike and mop up fights. You help your team roll out extremely fast, and also can annoy or distract enemies by running around in their base. Because of it's abundance of supportive qualities it is hard for an inkbrush to hard carry their team or make up for bad team mates, what it really does is compliment your team and support them. Notice I said hard carry, not carry. The inkbrush can carry, every weapon can, it's just that it cannot compensate for team mate inadequacy nearly as well as most other weapons because charging in and kill people isn't really what it does. This is why it is low tier in the solo queue ranked meta, not useless by any stretch, but just low tier.

This is highly accurate. But it can kill, provided that you maneuver yourself into a good place to strike. ;3

I pick the Inkbrush over Carbon Roller because:
-Both have a stealth focus
-For stealth to work well, you need territory to work with
-For the Carbon Roller to do its job taking territory, you need to roll around in human form, showing the enemy EXACTLY where you are.

But I still do love Carbon Rollers as a concept. They're just not the weapon for me. However, Inkbrush and Carbon can make a great team for the reason you said.

 

[Hitzel]

This is highly accurate. But it can kill, provided that you maneuver yourself into a good place to strike. ;3

I pick the Inkbrush over Carbon Roller because:
-Both have a stealth focus
-For stealth to work well, you need territory to work with
-For the Carbon Roller to do its job taking territory, you need to roll around in human form, showing the enemy EXACTLY where you are.

But I still do love Carbon Rollers as a concept. They're just not the weapon for me. However, Inkbrush and Carbon can make a great team for the reason you said.

The Carbon Roller does not have a "stealth role" moreso than any other roller. Maybe it would if it couldn't animation cancel shots into bombs, but it can so it doesn't nees to be shy about engaging.

That, and it gets Inkzookas very frequently.

 

[Hari-Kuyo]

The Carbon Roller does not have a "stealth role" moreso than any other roller. Maybe it would if it couldn't animation cancel shots into bombs, but it can so it doesn't nees to be shy about engaging.

That, and it gets Inkzookas very frequently.

Oh, of course that's not its only utility! The whole boon of the Carbon Roller seems to be its versatility to act both like a brush and a roller depending on the sitch. It can strike like either and plays completely like neither. I just prefer the more specialized options myself.

Spoiler

I'm actually kind of terrified for the upcoming Deco. Seeker Rush sounds hype. A ROLLER WITH SEEKERS

 

[Hope]

The Carbon Roller does not have a "stealth role" moreso than any other roller. Maybe it would if it couldn't animation cancel shots into bombs, but it can so it doesn't nees to be shy about engaging.

That, and it gets Inkzookas very frequently.

This couldn't be more wrong. You need to be VERY careful about how you engage as if someone sees you they can literally walk backwards out of your range, easily killing you.