Nerfs and a few buffs to the 9.1.0 top tiers

[LemonBoy]

(I say 9.1.0 because idk the 9.2.0 tier list)

The title is self-explanatory. This is what I think should be nerfed and buffed. Using this tier list from 9.1.0

Spoiler: Tier list

Credit to ProChara on Youtube

I'll also explain why the nerfs and buffs are there after each weapon. Oh one last thing, I'll just put the variant that is better in the meta instead of typing Splash-o-matic/Neo Splash-o-matic. Both variants will be affected by the nerfs and buffs as usual.

Snipewriter 5H (pencil)
Points for special: 210-->220
Decreased strafe speed when at full charge by 20%

The first is pretty obvious, PFS should have been 220 for a long time. Though I think that the strafe decrease is important, as it starting on one side of the zone and firing all 5 shots while strafing right is one of the reasons that pencil can cap or stall a zone by itself. Decreasing the strafe speed makes it harder to get as much value out of each line.

Slosher
Decreased paint from one slosh by 7%

This weapon is one of the bigger tri striker spammers, even if less than neo splash, so I wanted to decrease the paint.

Neo splash-o-matic
Decreased paint by 10%
Points for special 200-->220

Strike spam bye bye. Strike spam is one of the bigger problems in the meta right now and is very controversial, and it also didn't get nerfed in 9.2.0 (what the heck Nintendo)

.52 gal
Decreased the range by about 5%

Another controversial weapon, I just wanted to keep this one simpler.

N-Zap 85
Decreased paint by 10%
Points for special 200-->210

Same as neo splash, the spam ability is too much. I think that all cooler weapons should be around the 200-210 range, so that 1. it's not as spamable and 2. It's more rewarding when you do get it, especially in a game where even just staying in base and painting for cooler for too long can decrease your chances of winning.

And that's all! Let me know what you think and give me suggestions if you have any!

 

[QuagSass]

Thanks, I hate that Mini nerf.
Currently it takes the Mini 0.33 seconds to charge 1 ring and 0.5 seconds to fully charge. Adding 10 frames means it takes an extra 0.16 seconds to charge it's first ring. So partials would now take 0.49 seconds to charge and full charges 0.83 seconds. You're nearly doubling Mini's charge time.
For a weapon that doesn't have the luxury of being able to stay as far back as it's fellow Splatlings, that's basically a death sentence.
The extra 8/16 frames to it's firing time are not anywhere close enough for a proper compensation because of how much shorter Mini's firing time would still be when compared to others in the class.
Edit would still fire for double the time that Mini does while having more range and a strong fullcharge gimmick.

If you want to nerf Mini, easiest way is to nerf it's kits, which is the main reason it's a top tier in the first place. Charge time is not the way to go.

 

[isaac4]

Some really interesting ideas being proposed here.
I'll go through each one right now but these are all just suggestions.

Snipewriter 5H (pencil)
Points for special: 210-->220
Decreased strafe speed when at full charge by 20%

I rather have a range nerf since that would also nerf its ability to bully other backlines out of their position as easily as it currently does. Less range also means less paint and it forces Pencil to move forward more if it wants to be able to support its team with chip damage.
220p Cooler works for it though if it's not going to get a range nerf so I'd be okay with that as well.
Only thing I wouldn't nerf is the strafe speed since that sets it apart from the other backline chargers and good mobility lets weapons move forward more reliably.

Slosher
Decreased paint from one slosh by 7%

Neo splash-o-matic
Decreased paint by 10%
Points for special 200-->220

I'm putting these two together since while I do agree that Strike needs to be nerfed, instead of having to change the main weapons that farm for it you could just give the special cooldown. This would make it significantly harder for a weapon like Slosher to farm for Strikes and even Neo Splash would be impacted by the change.
The cooldown could be around 6 or 7 seconds so in that amount of time Neo Splash wouldn't be able to continue painting for its next special.
I would still nerf its pfs though from 200p > 210p.

.52 gal
Decreased the range by about 5%

N-Zap 85
Decreased paint by 10%
Points for special 200-->210

Grouping the last two shooters together as well since I don't have much to say about them.
.52 Gal range nerf would be great but I just don't see it happening with the recent Shot range buff. You wouldn't see me complaining if it did happen though lol.
I also don't think N-Zap needs to be 210p but it's a shooter so it'll be fine as long as Pencil gets nerfed.
Paint nerf could afford to be a slightly lower percentage but besides that, I don't mind.


Overall, good thread and I'll probably make a separate post here soon detailing which specific changes I want and actually think could happen.

 

[OnePotWonder]

As much as I'd love to participate, I have more thoughts than can (and should) be feasibly shared in a comment.

One thing I will share is a major change I really want to see in the future that relates to those you've listed here: Nerfing the explosion and paint radii of bombs by about 30%, which nerfs their effective area coverage by half.

The main reason weapons like shooters can cover so much turf is because they can throw out bombs to paint at the same time as their main weapons, often with minimal consequences due to their overbearing ink efficiency. Buffing utility sub weapons (with the exception of Splash Wall) to the level of bombs is practically impossible. Gutting bombs' explosion radii alleviates both problems.

 

[isaac4]

Finally coming back to list some of the balance changes I'd want for the next patch.

Snipewriter
- Decreased range (same range as Splat Charger now)

.52 Gal
- Decreased damage dealt to brella shields
- Reduced ink spread from shots
- Increased ink cost from 1.3% per shot > 1.9% per shot
- PFS increased from 200p > 210p

Neo Splash-o-matic
- PFS increased from 200p > 210p

Splattershot Jr.
- PFS increased from 180p > 190p

Tri-Slosher Nouveau
- PFS decreased from 210p > 190p

Sloshing Machine
- PFS decreased from 220p > 210p (I'm not even going to bother hoping for a fire rate buff)

Toxic Mist
. Ink cost reduced from 60% > 55%

Curling Bomb
. Ink cost reduced from 65% > 60%

Point Sensor
. Ink cost reduced from 45% > 40%

Big Bubbler
. Base duration decreased from 16 seconds > 12 seconds
. Damage dealt to barrier from main weapons significantly increased

Triple Inkstrike
. Damage dealt to Big Bubbler decreased
. Added 7 second cooldown after using special
. Throwing range decreased

Trizooka
. Increased startup

Reefslider
. Explosion damage radius decreased
. Ink radius from explosion decreased

Booyah Bomb
. Object damage will not carry over to the user after the special has ended


Almost all of my changes here are nerfs but I'm only listing what I would personally consider a priority which is why I didn't bother mentioning smaller things such as a vertical flick damage buff for Swig. There's some bias here as you can tell from a few of my options but I do think Booyah Bomb becoming a real counter against Bubble warrant them being here.
While I tried to keep my changes small to be a little more realistic, some of these are clearly asking for too much from the devs such as my .52 nerfs which would never happen even if I don't think they'd end up dropping the weapon from top tier.