Splatoon 2 Playing Anchor

[Rau Le Creuset]

For a good while I have been playing League with my partner, she mains the Octobrush. Originally I was running splattershot, but found that I did less than help the team, she is a fantastic slayer and I was simply doing less being up front than I could elswhere. I decided that I should take the anchor position and serve to be a good turf sprayer, harasser, and point for jumping. I chose the original Jet Squelcher because the range and for ease of and spammability of the tenta missles. We found moderate success and for the most part we are able to get into the range of 1900-1980 league points when we play. But we can't progress and I feel as though I'm holding her back (she is clearly the better player). Are there any other backline players that could share a few tips? Many times I think team composition messes us up in pairs because often we will get a sniper or a splatling that is now competing for my spot as anchor and basically forcing me to play mid. causing me to die a little more than I should, but I suppose the only remedy for that is to have a 4 player team. How should I start the match? When do I move up? How many kills should I be getting? When to retreat? It is always hard to shake the feeling that I'm not doing enough, especially in the heat of the match.


Just because I feel like I should put this out there I'm running:


or


Thanks for your time.

 

[Mar$el]

Hello! This is a typical issue that I used to struggle with being a charger main. To answer your questions in order:

How should I start the match?
- You should begin by immediately moving to a snipe where you're safe but close enough to mid to pressure there and help out your team as they begin the battle.

When do I move up?
- Depending on how comfortable you are, move up when you have mid control and are ready to push or pressure (push referring to RM, TC, and CB while pressuring for SZ). Get in enough to still be backliner but where your shots can still reach people on the frontlines. If the enemy team is 3 down, move up. If they're all down, move up.

How many kills should I be getting?
- This doesn't matter as much as long as your K/D is positive. You can go 3-1 and play a good match on your part. You can go 12-3 and have a good match on your part. So long as you're staying alive most of the match and still getting kills that's a great game :p

When to retreat?
- Fall back when your slayer dies. If you have the number disadvantage (even if it's just 3v4), be wary and ready to move back if more people push through and become a threat to you. But the misunderstanding here is that people do this too quick. Don't be scared. Hold your ground if you think you can pick people off as they push through or rush you down. Sometimes the same snipe you go to at the start of a match close to mid won't be safe if your team wipes and it's just you (say a 1v3 or something). So let's say it's Manta Maria, fall back to that bunker up top at first but chances are you'll get pressured off of it in that situation. If you die, don't go to that area until you get a foothold in mid again. Rather, when you respawn go to the right side and paint with your good range and kill anyone hiding on that plat on the side there. At that point your slayers should be able to have some breathing room and find some more picks and you can take back control of mid.

Now for my own two cents:
- Part of being a helpful backliner/anchor player is still being confident getting rushed down and handling not so ideal situations with confidence. This gets a bit easier comparing close range combat from chargers to jets, but sometimes it can still be tricky with a slow killing weapon like the jet squelcher. Personally I would recommend practicing more with the splattershot like you said you used to use. This may just be a turf war thing or you can practice in ranked/league if you wish. Practice aiming up close so you can improve your ability to survive when you're in the same situations with a jet. I'm no jet main, so I'll let some of the experienced jet mains here add on but I think that's all I got.

EDIT: I want to explain the 3 typical modes an anchor player would be in (imo). First you would start off in a snipe close to mid. If you get pushed back past that, you find a safe spot further back. If you have total mid control, you move into mid and pressure from there. If you go from having total mid control to fighting for it, you fall back to the snipe close to mid, not the spot further back. If the other team takes mid, that's when you fall back to that spot. These positions vary map to map, and not all of them have decisive positions for these modes, so you kind of have to feel it out where you're comfortable.

 

[Hero of Lime]

First things first, don't sell your chosen role short! When playing a back line weapon it may indeed seem less glamorous. You usually get less kills, and you aren't on the front lines pushing the object as hard (at least it doesn't look like it) but the role is still super important.

I like to play front lines usually, using mid and short range weapons, and when I play back line I also use the Jet Squelcher. In my experience, the best matches with mine come down to me not getting a ton of kills, but when I make it easier to let my teammates get kills and push. With the Jet Squelcher map control is important, and easy to achieve so long as your teammates have a weapon composition to compliment it.

Mar$el covered the specific questions you had pretty well already. Keeping an eye on the battlefield and number of teammates alive is always essential. Knowing when to retreat is important as a team can make a great comeback together, funneling in alone leads to an easy win for the team in the middle.

Something slightly less orthodox should you keep using the Jet, you can play a more aggressive style with the weapon. Not so much getting into enemy's faces, but it handles short range combat better than you would think. Especially if you use the custom Jet with its burst bombs. This can be a strategy to employ in case your team is comprised of weapons much more prone to play in the back like you mentioned. Don't be afraid to use the weapon to push up, but you need to be careful about it.

Something else to consider is using the normal Jet Squelcher on certain maps too. While the custom Jet has the better kit overall, some stages do not compliment the stingray as well, Moray towers comes to mind with its vertical design. Toxic mist also can allow for some devious traps with the Jet, allowing for easier splats.

 

[Flammie]

For a good while I have been playing League with my partner, she mains the Octobrush. Originally I was running splattershot, but found that I did less than help the team, she is a fantastic slayer and I was simply doing less being up front than I could elswhere. I decided that I should take the anchor position and serve to be a good turf sprayer, harasser, and point for jumping. I chose the original Jet Squelcher because the range and for ease of and spammability of the tenta missles. We found moderate success and for the most part we are able to get into the range of 1900-1980 league points when we play. But we can't progress and I feel as though I'm holding her back (she is clearly the better player). Are there any other backline players that could share a few tips? Many times I think team composition messes us up in pairs because often we will get a sniper or a splatling that is now competing for my spot as anchor and basically forcing me to play mid. causing me to die a little more than I should, but I suppose the only remedy for that is to have a 4 player team. How should I start the match? When do I move up? How many kills should I be getting? When to retreat? It is always hard to shake the feeling that I'm not doing enough, especially in the heat of the match.


Just because I feel like I should put this out there I'm running:


or


Thanks for your time.

Are you focusing on a specific line of League matches or are you doing all of them?

When it comes to main focus of teaming, if you are very defensive, and need offensive options, it would be wise to be at least inking range of your Brush ally, as you are co-op with that person most of the time, inking up walls and staying on high places and constantly keep moving so you are within range of your ally to protect them and so on, that should be your main goal when both of you are alive so you can work together to get to the target in the League matches.

Splat Zones:
Best bet here is to nail down any opponent that is on your side of the map and staying out of range from the zones, if you have the zones on your side and the opponent are down you go in and try to turf and outrange them, know which opponent have longer range than you, keep clear, if the opponent have the zones, you stay out of range, and try to harass turf the zones from a distance, they have to waste their time, turfing it back up, or try to splat you, in that manner, your brush can try to go from behind and attack them there, your special would be the Tenta Missiles, keep aiming those missiles on the enemy in the splat zones, and nowhere else, if you have special and your team is down, go back to spawn, fire the missiles when your allies respawn and then you keep going with what you have been doing so far.

Tower Control:
Since you are using a long range weapon for this, you should have your brush friend on the tower and you support it from a distance, most of the time the opponents are gonna do anything to blow of all competition for the tower, and you make sure they don't get on the tower at all or shoot them off yourself, if you are riding the tower, make sure you turf and aim on areas where enemies can come from and keeping them off from there at least, if they arrive at the tower, bail off and get better position to fight back, preferably on high places or farther back in your own ink.

Rainmaker:
It's very iffy here on what to do, since you are defending and attacking at the same time, if you are just belining for the rainmaker and not turfing, your squelcher may not be that useful at all since this mode is all about speed and mobility, but if you have the rainmaker or at least have taken it away from the opponents, destroy any other nearby, if you are free, turf turf turf turf turf, you don't want them to come back to quickly, so turf them away from the rainmaker, as your weapon may not be that good to protect the rainmaker from close range, especially when you may end up just shooting your teammates backs instead, if the opponent has it, stay in an area where you have an easy way of firing on it to prevent it from going further, charging after it is bad since your mobility is not good while you turf, so stay safe, and stay high when you are on the defense.

Clam Blitz:
I'm not very good myself on this as it requires almost an entire team to just score once, but you should play defensively when you the opponent have a big clam, and offensively when your ally has one, remember that the entire opposing team can see where the big clams are in your team too, and if someone is holding them. Juggle the ball between areas and such, to make sure you don't hold it all the time and reveal your location too much, if your allies have them, stay in inking range, and try taking off the opponents going for them, also if your ally with the clam goes down, there is still time to pick it up later, just keep splatting the opponents, when they are no one left or the time is going out for the clam, grab it and throw it somewhere else, preferably backwards to your base so other allies can pick them up.
Strategies here can very a lot, as it keeps changing depending what the opponents are doing and where they are.

That's the main gist i have since i mained the Squelcher myself at one point.

 

[MotorGamer]

For a good while I have been playing League with my partner, she mains the Octobrush. Originally I was running splattershot, but found that I did less than help the team, she is a fantastic slayer and I was simply doing less being up front than I could elswhere. I decided that I should take the anchor position and serve to be a good turf sprayer, harasser, and point for jumping. I chose the original Jet Squelcher because the range and for ease of and spammability of the tenta missles. We found moderate success and for the most part we are able to get into the range of 1900-1980 league points when we play. But we can't progress and I feel as though I'm holding her back (she is clearly the better player). Are there any other backline players that could share a few tips? Many times I think team composition messes us up in pairs because often we will get a sniper or a splatling that is now competing for my spot as anchor and basically forcing me to play mid. causing me to die a little more than I should, but I suppose the only remedy for that is to have a 4 player team. How should I start the match? When do I move up? How many kills should I be getting? When to retreat? It is always hard to shake the feeling that I'm not doing enough, especially in the heat of the match.


Just because I feel like I should put this out there I'm running:


or


Thanks for your time.

Well if you want Jet tips don’t ask me. But if you want more gene peal things,cheer are a few:
1.If you don’t feel like you are doing a lot, try out some other weapons and see if you like them more(how I went from SShot to Mini) and maybe you will find more space to be able to mesh with your friend. Although playing a support role is really helpful, so don’t completely trash that idea.
2.Maybe you should be more aggressive. The Octobrush is one of the most agressive weapons in the game. You have to pop out of the Ink at the right moment and surprise the enemy, then run around and start catching people off guard. Ask your friend on how you can play more aggressively.
3.Watch other Jet mains play, it can help you learn how to play the weapon more.

 

[Mar$el]

Tower Control:
Since you are using a long range weapon for this, you should have your brush friend on the tower and you support it from a distance, most of the time the opponents are gonna do anything to blow of all competition for the tower, and you make sure they don't get on the tower at all or shoot them off yourself, if you are riding the tower, make sure you turf and aim on areas where enemies can come from and keeping them off from there at least, if they arrive at the tower, bail off and get better position to fight back, preferably on high places or farther back in your own ink.

Actually the general rule in tower control is that the long range weapon (heavy, charger, jet, rapid/pro, etc.) should ride the tower and the other 3 teammates push up and slay to keep the tower out of reach for the enemy team. If your main slayer is sitting on tower, they won't be doing their job and will easily get killed on tower. As you're sitting on the tower with your jet you should be painting around for control so your teammates can have an easier time pushing up and then assisting with kills whenever an enemy is in your range.

 

[Rau Le Creuset]

All of this advice is awesome, thanks guys. I'm going to work on all of this stuff tonight. Any advice on other such weapons that could successfully intergrate into this team comp if we ever get an extra player or two?

I've also been wondering if I should add special power up to my build, I know what it does for tenta misses, I'm just not sure if it is worth it for someone behind most of the time.

I never used to be the one getting on the tower, ilI'be sure to fix that, can't wait!

 

[Rau Le Creuset]

I personally feel like the sloshing machine neo would be a great addition to the team, or the sorella brella. I think bomb rush would really benefit my partner and make pushes easier for us

 

[MotorGamer]

I personally feel like the sloshing machine neo would be a great addition to the team, or the sorella brella. I think bomb rush would really benefit my partner and make pushes easier for us

If you are looking for a bomb rush don’t go to the Sorella first. I would recommend Dapples if you wanted them, they cover really fast, and have some team support with beakons too

 

[Saber]

Usually team comps consist of 2 slayers a backliner and a all-rounder
A sloshing machine a splattershot pro or qny other midrange weapon with decent turf/ slaying potential usually fits in for an all rounder
The extra slayer help prolong a fight and allow you not have to retreat so quickly I agree with a choice of dapples or maybe even a vanilla N-zap to have a little support to sustain a push

***I also made a list called the Player Archtypes of splatoon
It gives a detailed list of how players act in spaltoon and which style the weapon player favor when they use them (it is still a wip due to updates)l

 

[Mar$el]

All of this advice is awesome, thanks guys. I'm going to work on all of this stuff tonight. Any advice on other such weapons that could successfully intergrate into this team comp if we ever get an extra player or two?

I've also been wondering if I should add special power up to my build, I know what it does for tenta misses, I'm just not sure if it is worth it for someone behind most of the time.

I never used to be the one getting on the tower, ilI'be sure to fix that, can't wait!

Don't bother with Special Power Up with missiles. You may want to use it for CJS which has stingray. Glad to hear you're excited! That's important! Good luck!

 

[Dessgeega]

Lots of good advice here... well, for the most part. Heh. Anyway, here's a tip I've yet to hear anyone mention. If you're using either Jet... PAINT. Part of why it makes good backline support is the constant sustained fire over a huge range. You've got good gear for this purpose, a Jet can take control of the map if the slayer kills 2 or more. Paint frequently and fire where your partner is, even if you can't get a clear shot on the enemy you can help them win the fight if the area around the 1v1 is entirely your color.

 

[Flammie]

Actually the general rule in tower control is that the long range weapon (heavy, charger, jet, rapid/pro, etc.) should ride the tower and the other 3 teammates push up and slay to keep the tower out of reach for the enemy team. If your main slayer is sitting on tower, they won't be doing their job and will easily get killed on tower. As you're sitting on the tower with your jet you should be painting around for control so your teammates can have an easier time pushing up and then assisting with kills whenever an enemy is in your range.

Whenever i have been on the tower with my JetSqe, i tend to get slammed by Ninja Rollers or snipers who are waiting for the opponent to make their first turn with a full charge shot on standby, just for the tower, i find myself more useful walking side by side the tower while someone else is on it, with my Squelcher.

 

[Mar$el]

Whenever i have been on the tower with my JetSqe, i tend to get slammed by Ninja Rollers or snipers who are waiting for the opponent to make their first turn with a full charge shot on standby, just for the tower, i find myself more useful walking side by side the tower while someone else is on it, with my Squelcher.

Well you get killed on tower because your teammates aren't actually pushing up very well. In solo it's hard to coordinate but if you take tower first (depending on how good your lobbies are) then it should send a signal to your teammates to move up (so long as you hop on when you have a number advantage of at least 2). I would advise to wait until 3 are down (iffy when you get on during a 2v4 but a 1v3 is fine). But yeah sometimes in solo I don't ride tower and snipe people up high waiting to kill people on the tower. I'm just saying in coordinated team play where you have a planned comp with one backliner, they would ride tower while everyone else kills.

 

[Rau Le Creuset]

Does anybody have experience with the hydra splatling? The custom set that is coming looks to be very promising, it's supposed to have ink armour. I understand that the hydra isn't used much, but I presume it would be an interesting anchor as well. Seems to have a barrier of entry as many seem to say that it really requires runspeed, but I don't see how an anchor would need runspeed. But I'm ignorant when it comes to the splatling class.

 

[The Salamander King]

A wild Jet main has appeared!

My best recommendation is to almost never push objective. That is what your team is for. (assuming you're playing with people you are friends with and have voice chat) You should hang back and try and get picks on unsuspecting enemies or punish overly aggressive players. On certain maps like Kelp Dome, I flank around the right side, get a few early picks, and spend the entire game controlling their grates and court area. When done correctly, this limits the enemy to only 1 main path out of spawn, leading to a cramped hallway, perfect for Ballers, Splashdowns, and Rainmaker shots.

I have seen a lot of people say that you should jump back to your spawn when you have Missiles/Stingray, but I wouldn't advise it. Generally as an anchor, you are already far back enough anyway, so you probably shouldn't have to jump back to spawn.

Be sure to paint the map and make paths for your team. This should be your main objective as a backline. Paint the map, punish overly-aggressive enemies (and trust me, there are A LOT of them in normal ranked) and most importantly:

DON'T GET SPLATTED

The name says it all. The anchor holds the team in place, controlling the speed at which the game plays out. An anchor that dies a lot is nothing more than a detriment to the team. You should be a safe super jumping point 90% of the time.

I have seen people in this thread talk about how you shouldn't expect to see high K/D's when playing backline, but I beg to differ. I commonly (and this may be only me) get K/D'd upwards of 8/1. It is for this reason that I like to run Respawn Punisher. Since I die very few times per game, I find it worth the risk.

As for modes, I run the CJS in Zones, Rainmaker, and Clam Blitz. Tower is the only mode I don't recommend running it in because it is just objectively inferior to the other 2 good backliners in this game, those being Heavy and Splat Charger.

Let me explore those 2 a bit as well.

Heavy and CJS are often compared, and it is easy to see why. As of now, I would say Heavy is better overall because it paints better and has an easier time being aggressive with its faster killtime, but CJS isn't very far behind. Splat Charger is the most unique of the 3, and I don't have much experience with it myself. Learn to abuse your charge hold, and a good Splat Charger is a scary thing indeed.

As for gear, I run Ink Saver main, Thermal Ink, and Ink Saver Sub with 3 subs for Mainsaver and Quick Respawn. This isn't the most ideal build, but I've gotten too used to it to drop it.
My Clam build is better, with the same main of Mainsaver, but Respawn Punisher and Object Shredder mains as well, with Ink Recovery and Subsaver as my subs.
As for gear that is good for backliners in general, Tenacity, Special Charge, Special Power, Special Saver, Respawn Punisher, Quick Super Jump, and Ink Saver Sub is good for all of them.

Have fun reading all of that.