Rainmaker tips

[Zero Emission]

These are the common mistakes in Rainmaker. A lot of these happen frequently in S Rank and cost games. Even B-level players should not be making these plays.

1. Attempt to advance through enemy ink, bad or insufficient map control. Grabbing the RM at the beginning of the game when the opponents are alive and in position.
2. Not using the charge shots to regain map control. Seriously, that inking potential.
3. RM carrier in front, no forward.
4. RM all the way in the back, everyone plays forward and no defender.
5. Climbing wall blind without proper support (i.e. Kraken).
6. Taking the uninked path when teammate has already made a path (T.T)
7. Rushing choke points without special spam or teammates clearing the path in general. The only time you should be doing that is if you're being cornered or chased after by a Kraken.
8. On the winning team, grabbing the RM in the last seconds of the match without an escape route, effectively giving the opponents a free overtime. It is best to take defensive position instead.
9. Superjumping to the SOLE surviving member when the enemy is in control of the RM. Superjumping to the carrier is often a bad idea too if there isn't at least somebody else with him. You're better off solidifying the team's defense. You should only super jump if the team has solid stage control

 

[Caitnip]

I wish more people would read this, I have stopped playing Rainmaker at all because it's just a gamble it seems.

People need to be aware of the map, I once lost a game where I was carrying the Rainmaker, got splatted near their base, my three team-mates remained around it, somehow let the other team grab it and let the single guy carrying it ink and swim his way to our base, no one saw it, no one tried to stop it, by the time I re-spawned, he was already planting the Rainmaker on the pedestal.

 

[Book Jacket]

I'm seeing it's been a while since there was discussion here, but I'm starting to hear people actually saying rainmaker is a bad competitive mode, and that just doesn't make sense to me. The issue I've heard so far is that either the game opens up with a knockout push, or stays a stalemate. That seems stupid.

I'm no competitive shooting expert, but it seems to me that if you properly defend the path of fastest advance, you should be fine, or better yet, set your team up to block an early game push by securing total map control on your half.

To condemn a mode for competitive play so soon into its meta seems stupid, and even more so if the issue is something as obvious as an early-game all-out rush. Thoughts?

 

[galacticremix]

I'm seeing it's been a while since there was discussion here, but I'm starting to hear people actually saying rainmaker is a bad competitive mode, and that just doesn't make sense to me. The issue I've heard so far is that either the game opens up with a knockout push, or stays a stalemate. That seems stupid.

I'm no competitive shooting expert, but it seems to me that if you properly defend the path of fastest advance, you should be fine, or better yet, set your team up to block an early game push by securing total map control on your half.

To condemn a mode for competitive play so soon into its meta seems stupid, and even more so if the issue is something as obvious as an early-game all-out rush. Thoughts?

I'm glad someone else agrees! I actually really enjoy rainmaker, since it really forces your team to cooperate and the amount of strategy you could think of in order to secure the easiest and fastest way to the goal is awesome! There have been many times where I've had those really quick matches that end in seconds, but I've really enjoyed those- win or lose. It's the sort of feeling of either "Wow we crushed em!" or "Woa they crushed us!" and I think lots of people get the latter which frustrates them. Factor in the maps, weapons and everyone's skill and it really is hard to tell who will win. I get how frustrating it could be to lose rank but even that shouldn't be the reason to say a mode is bad.. at least that's what i think.

 

[Lyre]

These are the common mistakes in Rainmaker. A lot of these happen frequently in S Rank and cost games. Even B-level players should not be making these plays.

These are okay tips, but I don't agree with all of them.

1: Attempt to advance through enemy ink, bad or insufficient map control. Grabbing the RM at the beginning of the game when the opponents are alive and in position.
While I agree with the first part, the second part I disagree with. In the situation where I am in range of the enemy rainmaker, seeing the enemy also in position, and my team is still scrambling to their positions, I will gladly unload all my subs, take the Rainmaker, and probably get splatted. This will reset the shield, and buy my team more time while the enemy has to re-burst the shield. It's better than letting them take it and form up into their defensive pushing formation.

2: Not using the charge shots to regain map control. Seriously, that inking potential.
Yes, it can recover some map control, No, it's not nearly as good as say a Kelp Charger that can leave lines of ink to navigate. The Rainmaker is a siege weapon, not a defensive one.

5: Climbing wall blind without proper support (i.e. Kraken).
Or you could just fire a couple full charges in that direction. It can easily clear out anyone hiding up there. This tip more applies to rounding corners than going up walls.

6: Taking the uninked path when teammate has already made a path (T.T)
Depends, is the inked path leading right into an enemy defense? I've seen too many games where the two teams are locked into the halfpipe of Blackbelly, and the rainmaker just ups and goes around since everyone is rushing back to defend that area. A pre-inked path is a predictable one. Rainmaker is about outwitting and outplaying your opponents.

7: Rushing choke points without special spam or teammates clearing the path in general. The only time you should be doing that is if you're being cornered or chased after by a Kraken.
Or unless you need to breach that one point to take the lead in overtime.

8: On the winning team, grabbing the RM in the last seconds of the match without an escape route, effectively giving the opponents a free overtime. It is best to take defensive position instead.
On the other hand having ahold of the RM when overtime starts means an instant win. But I agree, at this point it's better to take a defensive position right next to the rainmaker, and keep the shield from popping in their favor. The moment overtime starts, burst it and snag it. If you retreat and hold next to your side of the map, you are giving the enemy free distance to cover. It's sometimes better to fight them for that range rather than forfeit it.

 

[Typhlosion09]

Although I agree with you, I'd like to point out that the same happened to turf war, and that was only after one tournament with it in. Seems pretty early in the meta to remove that mode, no?

 

[MintChipper]

Although I agree with you, I'd like to point out that the same happened to turf war, and that was only after one tournament with it in. Seems pretty early in the meta to remove that mode, no?

Well, everybody who actually played in tournaments was kind of in agreement that it should go, the flaws were pretty obvious.

 

[RadioactiveMoth]

Well, everybody who actually played in tournaments was kind of in agreement that it should go, the flaws were pretty obvious.

I think we should have a few more tournaments (not big ones with huge prizes, just smaller ones to continue advancing the meta) with rainmaker in them before we decide if it's a mode that we generally don't want in competitive matches.

 

[Relados]

Here's a tip that's worked for me a lot: When the opponents are about to break the shield, get just out of its range, and then as soon as it breaks, toss a bomb or seeker at the Rainmaker, regardless if you see anyone or not. Chances are, someone is running to the Rainmaker to grab and get into a defensive position, and won't be paying to the bomb right next to it (or already had too much momentum, if they jumped down to it or something). If no one grabs the Rainmaker, you at least threw some ink down around it, slowing them down or potentially allowing your team to grab it instead.

Another really good tactic is leaving a roller to defend the Rainmaker holder, while the other two teammates fight and distract the enemy. Rollers are optimal for making a path for the holder, because all they have to do is run forward while the Rainmaker swims just behind them. Even if it's just those two against the enemy team, they can go surprisingly far and grab a sudden lead. This also has the benefit that there's always someone nearby the Rainmaker while it moves (I've seen too many teams rush too far ahead and ignore that the holder was cut off from them). Chargers are a less viable substitute - they can make lines of ink fast, but it's easy for the enemy to cut these off and slow your advance.

There's also a lot of cool tricks you can pull with how bombs interact with the Rainmaker's shield. If someone's standing too close to it, you can get a sudden splat by tossing a splat bomb or suction bomb directly at the shield, making it instantly explode and killing the nearby opponent. You can also lay traps for opponents by laying a suction bomb at the bare max point of the Shield's radius, making it suddenly explode if it expands. You can sometimes do this inadvertently at the beginning of a match by tossing a bomb over the shield to where the enemy probably is.

Rainmaker's a lot about teamwork, more so than the other modes. In Splat Zones, a single player can defend a held zone pretty well if he's smart about survival, and a single person can carry the tower quite far in Tower Control, but it's much more difficult to take the Rainmaker and survive without some backup. I think that's why a lot of people get frustrated with it, at least with the random teams.

 

[Helio]

I disagree on a couple points. I've been working on a guide to rainmaker.

Main point i disagree with is that you can't rely on your teammates to do anything so I make my own ink lines with the RM and push it myself if team isn't doing it as far as I can go popping up to splat or make lines only. I find that standing, retreating or waiting for mates never helps. You can get splattted fast and from a blind location. If your mates are doing the right thing they will be faster than the RM and should get in the right position make lines and protecting flanks faster than RM can push forward.

About choke holds, if you can push it past a chokehold (with or without mates assistance) than it will be difficult for opponent to push it back even if near their spawn point and you can defend the gains you've made.

 

[Typhlosion09]

Well, everybody who actually played in tournaments was kind of in agreement that it should go, the flaws were pretty obvious.

If you're trying to say you have more tournament experience then me you are sadly mistaken. Anyway, I know for a fact that only one tournament had turf war. Immeadiately after it was removed. That's a little unfair to get rid of it immeadiately, especially in a tournament that had tons of other problems. Although I do agree, it probably should be banned, I think we should've given it a bigger chance than use it once in a "testfire"

 

[Helio]

Why is turf wars not viable?

 

[MintChipper]

If you're trying to say you have more tournament experience then me you are sadly mistaken.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I didn't even know you attended tournaments.

 

[Njok]

Guys the problems being adressed here are problems in unorganized play (ie solo queue) and should in no way be reasons to ban the mode from tournament play. Not sure how it got on that subject. It has huge other problems which are being discussed in another thread atm, but afaik no TO is banning rainmaker completely yet.

As for the comparison to turf wars, imo it became pretty clear what the problem with that mode was and aside from that tourney there is also pages and pages of discussion on that. (Side note: i fail to see how IoS having other problems has got anything to do with whether or not turf war should be a tournament mode). In the end, every TO is free to use whatever game modes they want. Just as every team is free to skip any tourney if they don't like the rules of that tourney.

 

[ProphetEyes]

The problem with turf war as a competitive mode is that it really only comes down to the last 30 seconds or so. Whoever gets the triple in the last minute wins. No matter how strong of a hold they had on the map for the first 2/3 of the match.

 

[Relados]

See, I wish Turf War took into account how long you held large amounts of area, or how much total turf was covered and recovered rather than just the last amount - a combination of factors like that could fix the issue.

Back to Rainmaker tips, you can stall out winning matches on stages like Saltspray Rig. Pushing to that top platform where the goal is can be difficult, but if your team has the lead and there's only about a minute left, you can take the Rainmaker and then run to the large square everyone likes in Turf War and entrench yourself - it's easy to defend if your teammates pick up on what you're doing and secures the win (not very honorably, but all's fair in war). Other matches have similar, though usually not as effective strategies - you can run up near your spawn point in a lot of maps, where the enemy has difficulty going all that way, but unlike Saltspray Rig any failure means that the Rainmaker is suddenly very close to your own goal.

Speaking of Saltspray Rig and Rainmaker, it seems like that's the map everyone likes to experiment with unconventional strategies on it. I once witnessed a friend play a match where two of his enemies with the .96 Gal ignored the Rainmaker and ran straight up to my friend's spawn point, splatting one or two people along the way. Then, they both alternated throwing Splash Walls in front of the spawn, preventing anyone from leaving since they could refresh it about as quickly as the one or two players there could destroy them. By the time a third player had been splatted and respawned, the enemy team had taken the Rainmaker and casually walked it to the goal without any interference. It's not an unbeatable strategy, but it was so unexpected and such a giant middle finger to my friend's team that it deserves a mention.

 

[Caitnip]

Speaking of Saltspray Rig and Rainmaker, it seems like that's the map everyone likes to experiment with unconventional strategies on it. I once witnessed a friend play a match where two of his enemies with the .96 Gal ignored the Rainmaker and ran straight up to my friend's spawn point, splatting one or two people along the way. Then, they both alternated throwing Splash Walls in front of the spawn, preventing anyone from leaving since they could refresh it about as quickly as the one or two players there could destroy them. By the time a third player had been splatted and respawned, the enemy team had taken the Rainmaker and casually walked it to the goal without any interference. It's not an unbeatable strategy, but it was so unexpected and such a giant middle finger to my friend's team that it deserves a mention.

I was playing some private battles with some friends and we had a game on the Rig, sadly my team got a disconnect and it was a 3v4, somehow we were pushing it though and this very same idea sparked in my mind, it was only me, but I had the .52 Gal, so I had Splash Wall and Killer Wail instead. I remember tossing the Wail out to their spawn first then standing in front of it, tossing Walls whenever possible, I got splatted in the end because it was only me, but I managed to buy enough time for my team to land the win.