Refurbished mini splatling: Thoughts, Strategies and gear sets

[Smychavo]

Now that the new updade has come out, I'd like to hear your first impressions with the refurbished mini splatling while posting my own.
While giving the mini a vanilla splattershot loadout was a interesting choice, I believe that the Zink and vanilla mini fare better than the refurbished. Burst bombs have become more of a turfing tool than a utility for close combat situations. The 40% tank consumption forces you to be accurate with the two bombs to get the splat. Otherwise your tank runs low and you would either end up splattered or trading with your opponent. The special might minigate that problem as you build it up rather quickly. Nonetheless I'll keep using this weapon and I hope to prove myself wrong for the sole reason of liking its appearance.

 

[zugdude47]

I like it but I don't think it can replace that bubbler. With damage up ( 1 main + 2 subs or 6 subs) allows burst cancelling but that requires impeccable accuracy. Throwing a bomb at the start of an engagement takes away your charge time so that's not great without a direct hit. Burst bombs will be best for fighting on ramps because the gun really struggles when it's at the bottom of a ramp. I'm gonna try it more but that bubbler will be more essential in certain modes and maps while bb rush will help on other maps

 

[Nousha]

Kinda have to agree. The burst-bomb nerf was really hard.

 

[AriasFantasy]

I don't get what they were trying to do with this one. It could've been okay if they had a different special, but the burst-bombs hinder the splatling more than helping it. Kind of a shame, too. I was so excited for a new mini splat

 

[Yellowkirbyguy]

I get the feeling this Mini Splatling is just a Guns Blazing weapon, basically a reckless weapon that isn't too afraid of many fire fights. The Zink may out class the Refurbished because of the bubbler, but that's the only thing it outclasses it in... Well, that's actually a big thing in the meta but oh well. It really boils down to the player's preference, but i'm going to share what i want to say anyway.

I put it all in a spoiler because it was rather text heavy, it's basically a taking a look between all the Mini Splatlings with the Refurbished at the end. Which will be in Orange

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure The Mini Splatling is meant for agression the weapon is medium range, so it needs to get somewhat close to attack. It's charging time is good enough to 3/4 charge and earn you a splat and it inks really well. So it's a good pairing of the weapons abilities though longer range is always desired. But hey, now you have a single well thrown burst bomb that can help you put damage on that 96 gal! Or even that Dynamo flicker- i mean roller! Sounds stupid that you have only 1 burst bomb if you desire safe ink usage right? Yeah but that's what playing aggressive does to you. I wonder how Luna Blaster's make use of their time on the battlefield... But don't get me wrong, this weapon plays nothing like a luna blaster.

As a Vanilly Mini (Yes i'm well aware of that typo) Your suction bomb leaves you with... 2 full charges and a half charge left without any inksaver? Someone correct me on that. I'm not that good with suction bombs, nor do i know their full potential, but throwing a Suction bomb out takes up a big chunk of ink, It's explosion is fairly large which makes it powerful but it's slow to detonate. So the enemy is forced to retreat/divert their current course/reveal themselves or simply come challenge you head on. It's slow detonation means it's a constant pressuring threat. But if you can't make use of that, then well, at least you've got a bit of your special charged right? Oh so have they.... Well, Inkzooka's alright anyway. E-litres are annoying. Use an inkzooka to take them out rather safely. Want some long ranged splats? Inkzooka will take care of that. But it beomes rather unhelpful if the enemy knows how to hide from it. Guess my allies will help with that. If they're around. Just don't bring it into a museum. Funnily enough in a museum, it can only "reliably" take out Hyra's and perched E-liters.

As the Zink Mini Your Disrupter...Ahh it's very helpful, Only about half my ink goes, but that's still enough to cause a lot of havoc! Not only do rollers become Statues, but they can't get back the precious ink they used up as easily now... RM carriers, that pesky Octo/Ink brush, the poor Rapid blaster pro who can't aim. Chargers exluding squiffers... Sitting ducks...Well unless they can defend themselves. Now who's the one being "disrupted" now? Let's see, the ever so balanced Tentatek has the same range as the Mini i think, so in theory, it's a trade. You shouldn't be getting close to a roller anyway, but that flicker i mean roller can still attack, just because they're disrupted doesn't mean your safe. Nor does it mean that it'll turn the tides of a match. The RM carrier may need to charge up, but it could be enough to stop you. Otherwise, it's like ambushing an E-litre (with no charge) with a disrupter. They're goners if you follow up correctly.
Disrupting squids on the tower....Errr... Disrupting squids on splatzones is fairly nice if you splat them. But you NEED to follow up. Or atleast your teammates can if they're nearby. Oh yeah, you can also share your bubbler around too. I guess leading the charge with the Mini is a good thing, as i mentioned earlier, the main weapon can get a good splatting or two if you're handy with the weapon, but suppose your aim is pitch perfect, how's that going to help against weapon's with longer range? The Heavy Splatling can push you aside -and into the drink in some places- without too much fear. Enemy chargers with their charge pushes you aside if they actually charge. And most other long ranged weapons can simply avoid you all together. So, I guess it's a Scare tactic.... well, unless you're 5 seconds away from defeat and you activate it on the tower, while the enemy is occupying it. But that's all situational talk. With the way this weapon gains specials, I guess the bubbler is indeed the special of choice, if you favour protection over aggression.

And finally, the Refurbished. Ouch, Burst bombs you really got hit hard. 40% Ink cost, well, at least i wont have to worry about Burst bombs from E-litre Kamikaze's anymore. Though, a 2-direct hit K.O sounds promising. 4-5 indirect hits also mean's a splat..Are you sure it's not a Sub Rapid Blaster? Again, let me reiterate, That 96 gal deco is trolling you, my gosh it's wall is a nightmare paired with 2-hit K.O's, Approaching is out of the question. But hey, with the Burst Bomb, i can actually damage it ...Without a timer!...Well bomb range up is kinda needed but still it's a miracle! No longer can i just hope for them to go away by using a Suction bomb...I don't need to have the constant fears of how much ink he has left if he is disrupted....oh...Kraken....Ahem... Moving along, Longer ranged weapons now have a reason to respect you. I mean sure it was evident with the suction and Disruptor but now you get instant results! It's just a matter of hitting them! Just like aiming a gun, if it misses, well darn. Sure you still need to follow up which is kinda a pain, But you've now either one more hit away, or 3-4 more burst bomb hits away. Racking up damage is the only way to wipe a squid off the battlefield. But, you know, 2 direct hits? I don't have that kind of precision...well... That's just it really. "everything requires follow ups that's the main point blahblah blah". Yeah, Ink cost and the splash damage just doesn't cut it. But why do you want to throw away 40% of your ink if you think it's not going to be a direct hit? Well, perhaps that's why people will choose this weapon over the Zink, because the risks are higher, the reward is the same. you're not going to go and throw a bomb with a mindset "Oh it wont hit them" will you? So take that risk, and now it's just up to you and your offensive fist to bring down terror upon your opponents. The main weapon can do just that, Fast charge, okay range but still enough to be a threat ut now you can use Burst bombs to dish out damage more effectively(albeit small if you get splash damage). An inkredibly fast fire rate like a splatling should be. And what better Special to do that with than Burst bomb rush!.. Okay it's just multiple burst bombs. But i wouldn't want to be in the way of dozens of bombs now would I? Yeah i could explain Burst bomb rush for this weapon so much more, but i'm not too familiar with the special apart from kamikazing and turf covering.

It's that near "instant" damage from a burst bomb that can keep up your own momentum, without having to be reactive. The Burst bomb is a Proactive sub weapon now. Well, it technically was before the infamous nerf but now it's more aggressive. It's just that this set now requires you to be on the offence when in an engagement with an enemy.


Ultimately though, the weaknesses are still the same as Every Mini Splatling. It's Near Tentatek range is something left to be desired. And it needs to be charged up to fire. But if you chose to play the Mini in the first place, that shouldn't worry you.

In short.

The Refurbished has Burst bombs which are a (IMO) Proactive weapon. It's an aggressive -explode upon contact- 2 hit (or 4-5 hit) K.O Splat bomb It allows you to keep momentum while still being able to fire away like crazy .If you favour aggression, with the ability to deal with any opponent and push into enemy territory at the same with the Mini splatling, then choose the Refurbished Mini Splatling. If you want to have the safety net of a bubbler and be reactive, then go to the Zink. The refurbished weapon has no time to be waiting for invincibility. It's all or nothing.

Well i hope that helped somewhat on what the Refurbished is kinda meant to be. I know i talked about the other Mini's but I feel it was neccessary in order to get my point across....Wait a moment this is initial thoughts... Uhm... It's still hasn't been a month since the Patches release...so it kinda counts?

But yes, try as i Might, Bubbler has invincibility. I can't really argue that. I like to think of the Zink mini as an "aggressive protector" the Vanlly as "The Tentatek with something to be desired" and the refurbished is "Guns blaze 420" or you know...Just full aggression. Many people will favour invincibility. I can't blame them, it's far less risky. And more rewarding. That's just what invincibility does. Takes away risk, but still keeps the reward as high as ever. But honestly while it's fantastic on the Zink, it loses a lot of that aggression and bottles it up only for Bubbler. That's something that The Inkbrush Noveau should do. But that's a story for another subject entirely.

Thanks for sticking till the end! .

A TLDR for those don't like wall of texts.

I think the Refurbished is an astonishing risk taker and because no one likes risky business (unless one has confidence in there abilities but even then...), the Zink will be most likely(?) be favoured because bubbler.

 

[Nousha]

@Yellowkirbyguy I agree on some points. Keep this in mind: even though Burst bombs had their ink consumption increased in exchange for a bigger blast radius, burst bomb rush totally ignores ink consumption. Paired with special charge up and special duration up, it now has an extremely good offensive special (imo) compared to before. I consider this a significant redeeming quality, and think it has the potential to outshine Zinc in TW and Splatzones, while Zinc's bubbler comes in more handy for Tower control and would generally do a bit better in rainmaker (refurb still has it's merits here but I get the feeling disruptors would be pretty good for stunning the rainmaker holder.)

 

[zugdude47]

After more time to try out the refurbished I gotta say I don't like it as much as the zink. That bubbler is really hard to overcome but not having the disruptor is painful. I need that to fight try super fast splattershot builds and that really helps sure up closer combat while providing excellent support capabilities. Refurbished definitely has a place but for that will be whenever zinks kit is bad because I flat out don't like the new burst bombs

 

[Cyan]

Here's my opinion on things, whilst I haven't used it all that much since the update (the Soda Slosher stole the show for me for Volume 1), I quite like the weapon. I refuse to use the Zimi, I hate everything about it, mainly due to the ridiculous set it has and how players use it. That set worked on the Tri-Slosher, as it allows the Tri to approach and get within range to get the splat, but on a weapon with that much range its ridiculous. Even when you get close to take them out, they use their Bubbler and get you instead. It's obnoxious, and I won't touch it due to how easy it is to use and do well. I did pick it up a few times and did ridiculously well with little to no experience on Splatlings as a whole. The Refurbished on the other hand is something that I value highly, it has no invincible special, and with the nerf/buffs to the Burst Bombs, it has a high learning curve, but one that is immensely rewarding when played well.

I like playing weapons that aren't mainstream, because they are harder to learn, have more options to play with, and are harder to deal with, because how do you deal with a weapon you scarcely see? It's more rewarding to use "low-tier" weapons (I hate weapon tiers, it's the player who makes the weapon good or bad), because it shows you're the better player because you can put time and effort into making a weapon look great and be good with it (look at Dude and his Tearing it Up series, and how much he changes weapons on stream). The Refurbished Mini has lots of potential, you just need to tap into it in the right way, rather than go "well this weapon is nice, but I'll use this variant because x special is better than y special" and the same for the sub. So many Zimis are around because people are magnetised to Bubbler/Kraken specials, which is incredibly silly. It's why people thought and assumed that Kraken/Bubbler are the most used special kit wise when it's actually Inkzooka, yet Bubbler/Kraken is one of the least used in kits (and for a good reason).

The potential behind this one is to harass players from afar, and Bomb Range, Ink Saver Sub and Run Speed gives out a good balance of abilities. Run Speed for the same reasons as the other Minis (high strafe speed), Bomb Range to get people out of range and force them into the open, and Ink Saver Sub so you can throw 3 Burst Bombs from a full tank (still wouldn't do it though) or throw 2 and have more ink left to charge shots. It's more of a support weapon than the Zimi is, (Zimi is all about throwing Disruptors and closing in for the splat, and Bubbling when it panics and has to) as the Zimi has a set that allows it to be very aggressive and can hold its own very well. The Refurbished uses the main weapon to splat those in range, and the Burst Bombs to attack those outside its range, and to assist a teammate for the splat. When it activates its Bomb Rush Special, that's the time for the other team to take cover, since with the buffs, the Refurbished can cover turf pretty fast, and can get super fast splats too (again, all due to the Burst Bomb buffs and directs). In fact, in a squad a while back, I threw 3 or 4 Burst Bombs at a Luna who was close and splatted them so fast they didn't even have time to react (Splat Zones on Piranha was when this happened). Due to my new shiny, I now have a perfect build set for the Refurbished, and it should look like this:

| -
| - (Purple since added in 2.0.0)
| - Traditional Sandals (will need to level these up and roll for it first)

I would have liked to have had 1 main/3 subs more of Bomb Range, but I would like at least 1 main of Damage and that's more important to me than more bomb throwing range, especially since the Mini has decent range and mobility and Damage boosts both the main weapon's shots and the Burst Bombs. Obviously the shoes are the issue, since I don't have them yet, however this build will play to the strengths of the Mini (mobility by increasing it), and the strengths of Burst Bombs without cutting off the main weapon (being able to throw 2 and having sufficient ink left) as well as boosting them by increasing range and damage, and increasing the damage output of the Mini along with it.

This is a huge wall of text, but at the end of the day, this weapon has potential to do great things (as does every weapon in the game, even H3), it just needs to be in the hands of someone willing to give it the attention it deserves. You're more than welcome to take my build idea and modify it how you see fit too. I just hope we can give it the love it deserves, especially since the Zimi is overrated (controversial opinion :P).

 

[Skoodge]

. I just hope we can give it the love it deserves, especially since the Zimi is overrated (controversial opinion :p).

I think the Zimi is only overrated a bit, and mainly due to the fact that few people play the weapon, at least in my circles (which is many tournaments, I've hardly seen any)

I think that the refurb just has no real practical uses, like why anyone would pick the H-3 D over the Forge, when both do the same damage per shot, with the same kit. The weapon already covers so much turf, that the burst bombs overlap there, and it has no practical burst cancel without a lot of damage up.

It is just not practical to me, to me it is a splatling I will never pick, the kit is not cohesive, and the other two minis are already so good, this has no place in pretty much every team comp.

I like playing underrated weapons, which is why I continued playing splatlings ever since they were released, we weren't always in a meta with splatlings on about 33% of all teams.