Splatoon 2 Raising Game-Awareness

[ϛ(°³°)/`]

Between Splatoon 1's final Splatfest and the release of Splatoon 2, there was a long period in which I was not playing at all. When our new game launched though, I found myself going back to watch old gameplay videos on YouTube, specifically the ones posted by @ThatSrb2DUDE . With a new HUD and pop-up minimap, there seems to be a lot of new ways to keep tags on the opposing team. Because I constantly find myself getting lost in this fast-paced game, I thought I'd open a discussion on the tactics people are using to maintain map awareness.

To start, one of the more confusing things I've seen is when people flash open the minimap for fractions of a second every so often. The minimap can tell you which teammates and opponents are alive, what the main abilities and weapons of each player are, if there are any Beakons sitting around, and if you're particularly astute you can see where new ink is being placed to figure out where your hidden opponents are. If opponents have touched your ink or were hit by an ally, you can also see them on this map. So in that brief 1/10 of a second, what should you be looking for? Does this change if you flash the map at the start of a game compared to the middle? How often do you do this? How would you go about learning this skillset?

The HUD shows which teammates are alive on the field and if they have their specials ready. How often do you glance at this to make sure things are shaping up in your favour? If you see a specific weapon with a prepared special weapon, either on your team or your opponents', does this affect what your next move is? I find that I can pretty frequently pay attention to active players, but watching for specials is something I've never practiced before.

At the start of a match, you can clearly see which weapons everyone is running. In the first few seconds, do you try to lay out in your mind what everyone's sub and special is? For example if you knew the opposing team was running a Krak-On, Splattershot, Splattershot Jr., and Forge Pro, and you saw a burst bomb fly nearby you, would you have the immediate awareness to realize that it MUST be the opposing Splattershot and approach accordingly?

Are there other things that you do to maintain control of your surroundings?

 

[vanille987]

1) I usually open the map whenever i’m ‘checking’ out my teams acquired territory for intruders both by checking the actual area we covered but also look if oppenents are approaching via the usual flanking paths and act accordingly. (Either by surprising the flankers or atleast warn my team)
I usually do this in 3-4 secs i’ll always make sure i can affordt it.
(and if i see ink appearing near my on the map, i directly close it)
Sometimes i ‘flash’ the map for a very quik look but that usually doesn’t help my much.
I’ll always look at both sides for beacons, looking if any teammate set one at a favorable place or if i can safely dispatch a enemy beacon.
Never really bother with my teams abolity’s or ‘flashing’ enemy’s.

2)
The hud is always my deciding factor if i schould push on or attempt to get a vantage point in the enemy territory.
If my teammates are down or the enemy team has alot of specials ready, i usually play more defensive and possible ‘bait’ specials.
Rarely if there are specials like stingray or bubble blower, i might decide to use this vulnerability window to take the special user out and get an advantage.

On the other hand, if the enemy team is thined, i don’t hesitiate to pull out a special if possible or just push on with the teammates availble.

3)
I always take long range and short range weapons in consideration.
When there’s a long range weapon, i tend to predict it’s vantage point and act accoardingly to minimize it’s damage and don’t make myself a sitting duck.
Short range weapons usually play more stealthy since they get outranged easely, so i make sure not to fall for a possible trap and flush them out of hiding.
The only sub i look out for is burst bombs since they can be very strong in the right hands due how fast they are used and usually you can expect quite a few of them flying around your head if someone has them.

As for other methods, i udually rely on the above but sometimes i pay attention if a teammate starts usng a special (and possible watch for the prompt that appears on-screen).
A disoriented team is usually open to an ambush.


That’s the gist, i usually play supportive so a good awareness is key in that role.