Personal opinions on buffs/nerfs that should happen

[Agosta44]

I've played around 300 hours of Splatoon thus far and spent a whole lot of time in A+ (about 90% of my ranked play). I've seen all types of loadouts and I'd like to share some opinions on sub weapons and abilities, and what I think are either too strong or too weak.

Ink Resistance:

This is the major skill that basically everyone is forced to run, just because of how good it is. In my opinion, 2 changes need to be made.

-Basic ink mechanics need to be buffed. You should be able to have a small amount of time where you can swim/jump in opponent ink before being completely stopped. Right now the moment you touch enemy ink you're a sitting duck, which is one of the reason so many people run this ability.

-Ink Resistance should be based on hp loss reduction, and not swim/jump as well as hp loss.

Bomb Sniffer:

Right now next to Ink resist, there's basically no point in running this ability. Majority of the time you will see the bombs anyways and move. In my opinion, I think that the ability should have a bomb damage decrease of 10-25%. This would not be gamebreaking, but make the ability more desirable.

Splash Walls:

This weapon. Jesus christ. Currently it takes 60% of your ink tank and has somewhere between 180-220hp. It lasts forever if you don't shoot at it and it sticks around after you die.

In my opinion, it needs changes. Either:

-Increase the degradation time by 33% OR decrease the HP to 150. It still keeps its use, but it is nowhere near as powerful as it currently is. If you have multiple people running Splash Wall, you can see just how strong its current form is.

Suction Bombs:

This is an absolute fantastic sub weapon. My biggest issue with it is how far away from the center of the explosion it kills at. My opinion differs from most, but I believe that the damage should drop off much more than it currently does the further from the center of the blast you are.

Inzooka:

Not necessarily a nerf or buff. The hitboxes seem wonky and they need some cleaning up.

 

[Blue24]

Your not forced to run Ink Resistance.
I use Splash Walls alot, the ink usage can be mitigated with the ink savers and recoveries.

As for bomb sniffer, Defense up reduces the damage you take from all sources including enemy ink, combine that with your suggestion which would make some bombs not OHKO anymore, Snipers and other classes could maintain thier position way more effectively even if they have a bomb stuck on thier face.

 

[ndayadn]

Your not forced to run Ink Resistance.
I use Splash Walls alot, the ink usage can be mitigated with the ink savers and recoveries.

As for bomb sniffer, Defense up reduces the damage you take from all sources including enemy ink, combine that with your suggestion which would make some bombs not OHKO anymore, Snipers and other classes could maintain thier position way more effectively even if they have a bomb stuck on thier face.

I have no idea why you wouldn't run Ink Res. Like Agosta said, the slowdown the moment you hit a pixel of enemy ink is just overwhelming without it. Ink Res used to be even better, but even nerfed it's still something you are basically forced to wear. The health buff you get is also extremely helpful in tons of situations.

Also I haven't seen Def Up explained as reducing damage from enemy ink, is there a source or something you have? Isn't it just enemy damage, not ink?

For the topic, I don't like to speak on whether things should be buffed or nerfed, but I do agree that Splash Walls are strong. And I don't like being restricted to 3 shoes, but not sure if making the enemy ink more forgiving is a good route.

Suction Bombs:

This is an absolute fantastic special. My biggest issue with it is how far away from the center of the explosion it kills at. My opinion differs from most, but I believe that the damage should drop off much more than it currently does the further from the center of the blast you are.

It is. Splash damage gets you for like ~30 health each time and that adds up quick when there are 5 bombs around you, plus the ink damage you might be taking (this is also a situation where Ink Res helps for anyone reading, otherwise you'd be stuck in a drop of ink getting completely hammered). I could see the range being nerfed a bit, or possibly a damage decrease, but not sure how much would still be fair for the bombs. I think perhaps being surrounded by 4~5 bombs is a situation you shouldn't be able to escape, so I'd lean towards not messing with this.

 

[Blue24]

I have no idea why you wouldn't run Ink Res. Like Agosta said, the slowdown the moment you hit a pixel of enemy ink is just overwhelming without it. Ink Res used to be even better, but even nerfed it's still something you are basically forced to wear. The health buff you get is also extremely helpful in tons of situations.

Also I haven't seen Def Up explained as reducing damage from enemy ink, is there a source or something you have? Isn't it just enemy damage, not ink?

For the topic, I don't like to speak on whether things should be buffed or nerfed, but I do agree that Splash Walls are strong. And I don't like being restricted to 3 shoes, but not sure if making the enemy ink more forgiving is a good route.

It is. Splash damage gets you for like ~30 health each time and that adds up quick when there are 5 bombs around you, plus the ink damage you might be taking (this is also a situation where Ink Res helps for anyone reading, otherwise you'd be stuck in a drop of ink getting completely surrounded). I could see the range being nerfed a bit, or possibly a damage decrease, but not sure how much would still be fair for the bombs. I think perhaps being surrounded by 4~5 bombs is a situation you shouldn't be able to escape, so I'd lean towards not messing with this.

There are some maps/modes that I play incredibly fine without it; Triggerfish being one of those maps. Def UP says "all attacks" on the ability. It is one of the best abilities if not the best, but it definitly isn't something that needs to be run all the time.

 

[_Red_X_]

I completely agree with you about bomb sniffer being useless. Not only does it have to compete with ink resistance and to a lesser extent stealth jump, but the main thing its supposed to counter, ink mines, are not a huge threat.

Honestly that's something I might do if I could: buff ink mines. Whether it be by changing the number you can place, how long they last, or how quickly they explode. If ink mines were a little more of a threat (and had better weapon distribution) then bomb sniffer would have a greater payoff.

But then again I guess I'm biased since I main the Luna. I'll love you anyway ink mines. <3

 

[Kaze]

I think Ink Mine should be buffed, I have seen a lot of rollers just run over one and survive & just shooting ink on it reveals it so quickly...
Ink Mine feels kinda useless most of the time. (kinda nice in tower control, but splash wall seem superior to it)
it would also make bomb sniffer more useful since that would be the counter to it.

EDIT: I would not mind if the Ink Mine cosumed 80% ~ 100% Ink if it was just a bit more threathening,
because every time I see a opponent just walk slowly past one and survive it feels like they're thinking
(what was that? pffft!! just a silly Ink Mine)

 

[Dreamy Luigi]

Definitely Ink Mines should be buffed, whether it's a quicker explosion, wider explosion, or even get rid of the beep and have to react to the glow. Or, of course, make it last longer.

 

[River09]

I agree with all these suggestions.

I would also buff seekers. They are extremely predictable, loud, avoidable. Their offensive capabilities are just extremely lacking. All you have to do is jump over it and even if it is chasing someone they can change into squid form and wait till it passes because it only chases things in kid form. Also if someone can't see it they will be tipped off by its loud noise.

I say make it so that it is a lot faster and get rid of that audio.

 

[DeeWee UNub]

I agree that some things need buffs to make them actually usable like what you guys have already given examples for,but are nerfs really neccesary? I know there are some annoying things in the game which could be called OP,but from my experience from other shooters,nerfing things will just make other weapons and abilities stand out as OP. The community will never be happy to be honest. This is just my point of view and will respect what others have to say.

 

[Poxnixles]

I know there are some annoying things in the game which could be called OP,but from my experience from other shooters,nerfing things will just make other weapons and abilities stand out.

That's a little bit of the point. People like to have more viable options in their gameplan. Nothing should be nerfed into oblivion, of course. Splatoon has plenty of time to even things out as best it can. Never perfectly, of course, but it's already in a good place that can only keep improving.

 

[DeeWee UNub]

That's a little bit of the point. People like to have more viable options in their gameplan. Nothing should be nerfed into oblivion, of course. Splatoon has plenty of time to even things out as best it can. Never perfectly, of course, but it's already in a good place that can only keep improving.

Very good point. But with the game only being out over 2 months,I believe that nothing needs to be done yet. The game however I think is pretty balanced as lots of different weapons are viable to use. And I definitely agree,the game will only keep improving.

 

[FrostedHawk]

As far as primary weapons go, the Tentatek and rollers I think some sort of fix. It may just be bad playing on my part or maybe I just get unlucky and go against people who know how to control the weapon, but I think that the Tentatek is too good with how fast it kills (even without strength up abilities).

As for rollers, it's not like they're too good or anything, but their hitboxes are really silly. More often than not, encounters when I'm far out of range of a roller still result in a death. A recent example is a match I played on Walleye Warehouse. I was in one of the narrow passages on the sides at the enemy base and a roller was just... y'know, rolling (no flicking or anything). I killed him from the slightly elevated area and I guess just a bit of my shoe touched the top of the roller and I instantly died from it.

Other than that, I agree with everything else, except maybe the splash wall (slight bias because I use it). However, I think it all depends on the situation, personally.

 

[Rhode]

Attack Up should be a permanent effect that reduces the amount of shots you need for the kill, but in exchange decrease your defense. Defense Up should also be a permanent effect that increases your maximum HP to 120, and lowers your attack to an extra shot for the kill. Both would be body-specific abilities and cannot be used together.

Ink Resistance Up should not exist. It should be innate ability.

Cold Blooded should make you completely impervious to any sensors, instead of only highlighting for 2 seconds. In exchange, running Cold Blooded will also make subs/abilities that you or your team use to make the opponents visible, not work for you. Eg, if you run Cold Blooded, you can't be detected and you won't be able to detect others.

Last-Ditch Effort should be left unchanged for the most part, but maybe make it so the effect lasts throughout Overtime in Ranked Battle.

Recon isn't really that useful outside of seeing where opponents are when you are respawning. You can generally have an idea where enemies are moving at the beginning of a battle due to ink trails on the gamepad, making it not even useful beforehand. Perhaps make it so that having the Recon ability makes sensor effects like Echolocator last for 2x as long.

Haunt could be a really awesome ability if tweaked just a bit. Make it so if you get splatted by someone, and then you splat them later on before being splatted again, you get a buff of speed and attack power, and it keeps stacking until you get splatted where it returns to 0. Conversely, if an opponent splats a player who has the Haunt ability multiple times in a row, they get the buff instead until they die.

Bomb Sniffer, instead of "sniffer", it could be like "Weapons Expert" or something of the sort, and reduces the amount of damage taken from sub weapons (minus Inkstrike and Killer Wail). Or, if you prefer the detection method, they could make it so you can see the sub weapons your opponents place on the gamepad from anywhere.

In addition to these changes, they could make an ability that works like a counter to other abilities/sub weapons. Example, they could make an ability called "After You", which would be a permanent effect (on body piece) where if you're hit with a Disruptor, Point Sensor, or tracked by a Seeker; they would malfunction and the effect would occur on the one who used them instead (the seeker would just disappear like if it tried hitting a base).

 

[° Moteki]

Nothing but this

Splash Walls:
Currently it takes 60% of your ink tank and has somewhere between 180-220hp. It lasts forever if you don't shoot at it and it sticks around after you die.
increase the degradation time by 33% OR decrease the HP to 150. It still keeps its use, but it is nowhere near as powerful as it currently is. If you have multiple people running Splash Wall, you can see just how strong its current form is.

 

[TheMH]

Cold-Blooded should be nerfed to 50%. Really, 75% is crazy. There is currently no other shirt ability which is worth playing without Cold-Blooded apart from a possible suicide or max damage built, but these builts aren't very versatile.

Ink Wall is too powerful in it's current form and should be nerfed a little in the ways people described already.

 

[Shalnark]

Some weapons rely on suction bombs, so I don't think its damage should be nerfed; if you could stay in the bomb's blast radius and survive, its area denial ability would be reduced, making the sub not extremely threatening.

 

[LMG]

The only one I agree with is the Inkzooka. The tornado seems to have a larger hitbox than what it seems, so even if you're not on the path it crosses it still hits you for some reason. It's either that or lag, but either way please fix T_T

 

[° Moteki]

I wish recon made opponents visible to your own teams on game pad too. That would be so helpful especially in solo q's where call outs aren't going to happen. That'd be hands down the ultimate support ability

 

[Dragoomba]

Suction Bombs:

This is an absolute fantastic sub weapon. My biggest issue with it is how far away from the center of the explosion it kills at. My opinion differs from most, but I believe that the damage should drop off much more than it currently does the further from the center of the blast you are..

Really? With how slow and noticeable they are? I personally think suction bombs are really bad.

 

[TheMH]

The tornado seems to have a larger hitbox than what it seems, so even if you're not on the path it crosses it still hits you for some reason. It's either that or lag, but either way please fix T_T

That's lag. The tornado hits you on the attackers screen before you even see it on your screen which means he will get the kill no matter what you do.