Rapid Blaster Deco: Analysis and Thoughts

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

Rapid Blaster Deco

Lv Unlocked in Shop:
Lv 19

Cost:
14800

Shop Description:
"A decorated version of the Rapid Blaster. It's sub weapon can scatter opponents, and its special lets you maximize that potential. A great set for staving off aggressive foes."

Type:
Shooter

Stats:
Range: Low - Mid
Impact: Low
Fire Rate: Mid - Low

Sub:

Suction Bomb

Special:

Bomb Rush

Genreal Strategies:
-WIP-

Team Strategies:
-WIP-

Success/Tournaments won:
-WIP-

Extra:
Filename:
wst_shot_explight01

Update: We are now accepting general strategies about this weapon. Please note I'll only add the strategy if I see video evidence or it is generally agreed upon in the thread.

So, with all that out of the way, please discuss your thoughts on the Rapid Blaster Deco.

 

[meleesplatter]

This is the aggressive version of rapid blaster. Suction bombs easily force opponents to move when your shots fail to, and the rush can be devastating
as proven by the splash-o-matic.

Both this weapon and it's regular counterpart shine in towers since they can shoot further and their shots still have enough splash to easily hit people
on the tower, minimizing the need to approach and risk being splatted by rampant rollers. The range of the shots also gives it added flexibility
when dealing with enemy chargers.

One direct hit plus one splash hit is usually enough to splat.

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

This is the aggressive version of rapid blaster. Suction bombs easily force opponents to move when your shots fail to, and the rush can be devastating
as proven by the splash-o-matic.

Both this weapon and it's regular counterpart shine in towers since they can shoot further and their shots still have enough splash to easily hit people
on the tower, minimizing the need to approach and risk being splatted by rampant rollers. The range of the shots also gives it added flexibility
when dealing with enemy chargers.

One direct hit plus one splash hit is usually enough to splat.

Yeah, I find the Rapid blaster line are only really useful in Tower control due to the fact that the opponent is kinda forced to stay on the tower allowing you to get the shots in despite how weak they are. Helps that it also shoots so fast.

The suction bombs are a nice thing to have in tower control due to having to respect them. Though, I don't think they are the best bombs due to how long it takes to activate, it still is pretty nice. And the bomb rush version is just pure explosion chaos.

 

[meleesplatter]

Yeah, I find the Rapid blaster line are only really useful in Tower control due to the fact that the opponent is kinda forced to stay on the tower allowing you to get the shots in despite how weak they are. Helps that it also shoots so fast.

The suction bombs are a nice thing to have in tower control due to having to respect them. Though, I don't think they are the best bombs due to how long it takes to activate, it still is pretty nice. And the bomb rush version is just pure explosion chaos.

This blaster also benefits from vantage points far more than others (they just don't have the range to make them work), further adding to their safety.
It can't be stressed enough: to be successful with this weapon, you NEED to be good at staying at optimal range, because you WILL be defeated up close
(normal blaster can at least clutch a direct hit, and luna is designed for that range).

 

[Marraphy]

Everyone usually says Rapid Blasters are the worst weapons, so I've been trying this recently and I don't think it's that bad! I had a decent amount of turf covered with it in Turf War and was able to score plenty of kills. It's got a decent range and can hit around corners, so all you have to do is poke at your opponents until they splat. Suction Bomb rush is also a GREAT ability.

Question: What has more range, this or the Ranged Blaster?

 

[doritos29]

Everyone usually says Rapid Blasters are the worst weapons, so I've been trying this recently and I don't think it's that bad! I had a decent amount of turf covered with it in Turf War and was able to score plenty of kills. It's got a decent range and can hit around corners, so all you have to do is poke at your opponents until they splat. Suction Bomb rush is also a GREAT ability.

Question: What has more range, this or the Ranged Blaster?

Rapid Blaster has more range. Range Blaster barely improves its range from the Blaster.

 

[LMG]

Rapid Blaster has more range. Range Blaster barely improves its range from the Blaster.

But the Range Blaster does still keep the damage of the normal Blaster. I'd say it's the polar opposite of the Rapid Blaster

 

[HappyBear801]

So many people consider this the "worst" weapon in the game, even some who say it's worse than the normal Rapid Blaster. But I can't describe how much I love this weapon. And it's only my secondary, not my main! But I just love the playstyle of the weapon; rapid, ranged, and neat. The prpblem I had with the original Blaster when I tried to play with it is that it was just too slow and didn't show enough range for it, and the Range Blaater really doesn't help it in the speed department (worsens it actually); and I didn't really care about the one hit kills. So when I picked this up, it felt perfect. I could ink and travel efficiantly as I pleased, and the sub and special let me do many versitile zoning and baiting tactics, even area conquering ones. I can still grt plenty of kills despite it taking two hits to kill, because apparently some people online don't seem to think that the Rapid Blaster kills at all. Suction Bombs also help there as well; either the person gets killed by it by not knowing it was there, or the person gets hit by the edge of the explosion and runs away, only for me to finish him/her off. This is also one of the best weapons for Tower Control in my opinion, because the fire rate and certain degree of power allow the Tower to be grabbed quickly, the Suction Bombs make for a great defense option when placed on the spire, and the Suction Bomb Rush can greatly help in carving the path ahead for pushing the Tower. Need I mention that Suction Bomb Rush is also great for invading and capping zones in Splat Zones? I just adore this setup to death. I haven't tried Rainmaker yet, since I haven't been able to play for a couple weeks, but once I do (hopefully soon!) I can find the best maps and strategies with which to use this weapon in that mode.

 

[Yellowkirbyguy]

Alright, after basically switching to vanilla to deco to vanilla yadda yadda yadda. (TLDR at the end, i put the main information in a spoiler because the post is a bit long)

Spoiler

Yeah the Deco's better. I mean in if you're some person who's like "Whats a Rapid Blaster?" and decide to suddenly use it. You might want to try the standard Rapid Blaster first. And Just on Turf or low level Ranked. (C+ and lower). The standard Rapid doesn't really have a useful sub to be using all that reliably so it makes you get used to the main weapon itself and it's special The Bubbler.

As we all know the bubbler is good for saving Inkling butt since the day splatoon first came out. (Or technically Global test fire) so when you activate that in a dire situation, that means you're in a position, where with the deco, you would of most likely have been splatted. Yeah you can say that the bubbler can help push, but with the Normal Rapid blaster, unless if it is turf war (And to an lesser extent, tower control and even less extent, splat zones.), you're going to be wasting/"Spending" a lot of time on building up a Bubbler that might not even be worth it in the long run. Sure, you could run multiple special charge ups but according to what i've been hearing, you're only going to have 1 main and 3 sub special charge ups, and honestly, you're better off being any weapon that isn't the standard rapid blaster because every weapon outclasses it in the turfing department. Maybe except for the Custom blaster but that's about it.

So, once you learned how not to activate your bubbler and abuse your range, you're ready for the Deco! And this is where those special charge ups come in handy in my opinion. I mean i'm using a set which i'll never switch out of. So you might not get professional information here, FYI the set i have is:

Colourful Headphones: Main: Ink saver (Sub) Subs: Bomb range up x1 and Super Jump speed up x2
Squid Girl Tunic: Main: Power Up Subs: Special Charge up x2 and Super Jump speed up x1
Squid Girl Boots: Main: Swim speed up. Subs: Special Charge up x1 Ink recovery up x1 and if i remember correctly, Special Saver x1

I like to call it the "Ika Mikusume" set as the Colourful Headphones resemble Vocaloid's Miku Hatsune's and both their hair are very similar in terms of general looks, then you combine that with the Squid girl (Or Ika Musume) tunic and boots, you get Ika Mikusume.

ANYWAY excuse the minor personal touch i gave there. With Special charge up, you'll most likely have suction rush earlier than what the Deco would normally provide. Now in my opinion, using Suction rush would most likely gain a bigger reward then the bubbler. One suction Rush can clear out an entire area and it causes mayhem for the enemy team. AND Ink a solid area for your team to traverse through relatively safely under most circumstances. You could potentially clear/splat out the entire enemy team, ensure the rainmake/tower is heavily guarded by your suction bombs, take back a splat zone with spare bombs for your enemy. Basically, you'll get a better reward for using Suction rush than Bubbler in comparison of the two Rapid Blasters. And Special Charge would be more useful on the Deco than standard/vanilla because of this.

Spoiler

Oh and you can just fill the rest of the subs with Power ups. No further explaination. I only run 1 Main Power up, and let me tell you how the frustration can build if it takes five splash hits to splat the enemy who runs 2 defence up mains plus a few subs. Though it's laughable that they would even stay that long to get splatted anyway.

So most likely you would of played as a tentatek or Splash o matic before because that's mainstream and everything so i'm assuming that Regular Suction bomb strategies are a given. But this weapon is nothing like those two weapons so your bombing options are limited. What i tend to do is throw suctions near important places like next to the rainmaiker or on the tower. That's pretty much all you can do with just one Suction bomb. I mean, it does apparantly take two seconds to explode you can't use it defensively like a burst bomb. And even by the time the suction explodes, you could of actually super jumped away, or as some else said on the "Master blaster" thread, get splatted by a Splash-o-matic 6 times over. So defensively, it's like stupid bubbler that has a small chance of scaring your enemies and potentially splatting them. So if you find yourself using a suction bomb at your feet to get away, you're in a dire Bubbler situation. which you should avoid as a Rapid blaster player.

General strategy with the deco would probably be a more confident play style than the vanilla Rapid. You don't have to rely on bubbler, you can use suction bombs however you want and not necessarily every ten seconds , you got good poke range, and Suction rush is a complete nuisance for the enemy team. Also unlike other blasters, you can actually rush to the center of the stage faster than other blasters because of the Rapid's range and fire rate. And remember, with any blaster type weapon, you can strafe and still hit your target because of splash damage, but with the Rapid's range, you can even counter sniper fire to an extent! So it's better than the other blasters in that regard.

Now everything past the general strategy has too many variables to speak about so it comes down to your own playstyle from there on out. In my opinion, being aggressive with this weapon only happens when you have suction rush ready, otherwise you have to play passively and poke the enemy team. Being aggressive with a weapon that has no close quarters options other than 100% accuracy can put you in bad situations, you can't just waltz in the battlefield like the Luna blaster. Play it smart. and use basic rapid blaster strategies. You're an underrated weapon with plenty of reasons to back it up. Don't give up hope and The Rapid Blaster will surely aid you to become a benefit to your team!

I swear that was a guide's length of a post but oh well xD

TLDR: The Deco is a more versatile weapon than the Vanilla rapid blaster. But That doesn't mean the Deco is easier to play as. You might find it easier using the vanilla Rapid before using the Deco as the main weapon itself is the only thing you'll really need to get used to. Because of the increased versatility the Deco can handle itself better than the vanilla in most aspects which likely means that the Deco is better than the vanilla. But the vanilla isn't useless! I mean, you can reach 1000 points with it in Turf war with the win bonus! That's good right?

Oh and just a question to Rapid blaster (Deco or Vanilla) users though. How do you generally deal with chargers?

 

[Magix]

Oh and just a question to Rapid blaster (Deco or Vanilla) users though. How do you generally deal with chargers?

I would say that the Rapid Blaster Deco's main job is to protect your turf/side of the map. As long as you stay at a distance inside your own ink, you can slowly push the border from range and use your suction bombs as zoning tools. If you stand right next to enemy ink, you open yourself up to ambushes which you will have basically no chance of surviving. The point is, chargers should rarely appear in your natural habitat. They haven't bothered me much, really. But other than that, it's pretty much like with other weapons: if the laser is pointing in your direction, you move behind a wall; if the charger is overextending or there is an ink path available towards him/her, you can sneak up and quickly take two shots(especially if it's a scoped charger looking in the wrong direction); if the charger can't be hit by your blasts due to walls, you might still be able to reach him/her with a suction bomb(bomb range up is excellent for this and other reasons) and at least force movement.

Basically, it is not your job to take down chargers. Your job is to stay alive while taking out the enemies that are trying to push and getting your bomb rush. Only go for chargers if they let down their guard, or throw boms in their direction. Be patient, chargers will regularly overextend eventually due to their own impatience or because they feel forced to push when their teammates don't do it(because you splatted them).

 

[HappyBear801]

Basically, it is not your job to take down chargers. Your job is to stay alive while taking out the enemies that are trying to push and getting your bomb rush. Only go for chargers if they let down their guard, or throw boms in their direction. Be patient, chargers will regularly overextend eventually due to their own impatience or because they feel forced to push when their teammates don't do it(because you splatted them).

What this weapon is really good at is taking down Rollers. Especially grate-camping Rollers, and no Rollers do that more than the Dynamo Rollers. But for all those saying Dynamos are cheap, this is a weapon to really counter them. Especially if they're camping on grates (ugh we all get annoyed by those players).

 

[Magix]

What this weapon is really good at is taking down Rollers. Especially grate-camping Rollers, and no Rollers do that more than the Dynamo Rollers. But for all those saying Dynamos are cheap, this is a weapon to really counter them. Especially if they're camping on grates (ugh we all get annoyed by those players).

Not that it's bad, but I wouldn't call it outstanding. Dynamos tend to abuse their range or obstacles, both of which can be an issue for the Rapid Blaster. Against a visible Dynamo, I'd prefer something with longer range and more mobility; splash wall is very helpful as well. But an E-Liter on the team is an excellent way to deal with these rollers. Against a Dynamo hiding, the extra blast radius of a standard blaster or Luna Blaster is very helpful.
But like with any other weapon, if you can get into a situation in which you have the advantage in the fight, you take it.

 

[Yellowkirbyguy]

Managed to reach A- with this weapon, pretty happy with myself. Not exactly S+ but oh well xD It'll be a while till i reach there.

The point is, chargers should rarely appear in your natural habitat. They haven't bothered me much, really. But other than that, it's pretty much like with other weapons: if the laser is pointing in your direction, you move behind a wall; if the charger is overextending or there is an ink path available towards him/her, you can sneak up and quickly take two shots(especially if it's a scoped charger looking in the wrong direction); if the charger can't be hit by your blasts due to walls, you might still be able to reach him/her with a suction bomb(bomb range up is excellent for this and other reasons) and at least force movement.

Basically, it is not your job to take down chargers.

Ahh yes that makes sense. In some of my games, Chargers tend to be the poison ivy that splats all my teammates. I just feel the need to stop the Charger before they decimate my team. But i see what you mean, generally they'll be (probably) hardly in the area, if they do decimate my teammates, they need someone to spam Superjump/squidjump to. And someone to hold down the fort while they're gone. Thanks for the info!

Edit: Also am i the only one in love with the rhythm of shooting that the Rapid blaster produces?

 

[Box]

It's the fastest blaster. That means with sufficient damage up, it actually has the fastest time to kill of all blasters for any two-hit AOE scenario. It's also currently the longest range blaster, the only one capable of zoning the 96/ds/pro. Rapid fire means the shortest amount of time stuck to the ground after a shot. It's also the longest range weapon with a suction bomb. And it has, on some gametypes, the strongest special in the game.

Best Blaster? Best Blaster.

 

[Sunstone]

Ya'll are making me want to go back to my Rapid Blaster days.

I never used the Deco as I had disliked bomb rush specials, but these tips are intriguing. I'll have to mess with it when I get home!

 

[HappyBear801]

It's the fastest blaster. That means with sufficient damage up, it actually has the fastest time to kill of all blasters for any two-hit AOE scenario. It's also currently the longest range blaster, the only one capable of zoning the 96/ds/pro. Rapid fire means the shortest amount of time stuck to the ground after a shot. It's also the longest range weapon with a suction bomb. And it has, on some gametypes, the strongest special in the game.

Best Blaster? Best Blaster.

BEST BLASTER.


(Suction Bomb Rush is just too good)

 

[MakesDream]

I'd disagree with the statement about dealing with chargers. You have range comparable to the higher range shooters like pro and .96 and have the added benefit of aoe damage. Chargers can't peek blaster because they'll be taking damage from around the wall. Plus since chargers don't generally strafe around while they charge it's super easy to get direct hits. I think one of the biggest advantages of the rapid blaster is it's ability to challenge chargers And I honestly think it's the best antisnipe weapon besides MAYBE other chargers.

 

[Magix]

Shoot a charger twice and it's dead. Of course you can kill chargers, but the issue is that they usually stand far away from the front line, which means you have to overextend before you can shoot at the charger, putting yourself in great danger. Other weapons are better equipped to handle that danger. It all comes down to the circumstances. If you're controlling the zone area on Kelp Dome or Saltspray Rig, for example, the Rapid Blaster (Deco) is amazing for shooting at the entrance points and snipe spots, but if you move into enemy territory to reach a charger player, you're likely to put yourself in more danger than the enemy charger. Unless you're already down and need to catch a break to even have a chance for victory, you should not go for such risky plays; you're better off staying alive, playing the objective and getting your special charged up.

 

[Box]

Well it's the best blaster now anyhow.

 

[Andre]

I wonder if anyone noticed that the RBD has LESS range than a lot of weapons (even the Tentateks) with a range of only 45