Replacing Ninja Squid

[Eclipsc70]

So for those who have been living under a rock, we received a patch recently that did a number of things. One thing in particular was the nerf of Ninja Squid which turned off alot of people from the ability, myself included. Ive been trying to replace it with something, I tried Cold Blooded which did work wonders but I was really looking into trying out Haunt. Id like to know if anyone uses Haunt regularly and if they think it is viable. I know its nothing compared to Point Sensor or Echolocator but it's in the same family. Anyone have opinions or strats for Haunt?

 

[Twinkie]

Personally I think it might be better to focus on something like Special Duration Up or Special Charge. I feel Cold Blooded is pretty situational to the point that I don't find it very useful. And I don't think Haunt is all that great either.

 

[Davisonte]

I can't really help you out with this one considering I like squid from speed and Ink Saver (Primary).

 

[Ictoan]

I don't really like Haunt, mostly because it relies entirely on your teammates in order to be effective. If nobody ever follows up on your haunting, it's useless. This might be more useful once people can set up teams, but then they also have the possibility of third-party voice chat, which, when done properly, should make Haunt irrelevant.

 

[Robotoboy20]

Haunt is one of my favorites, while Tenacity, and Special add ons are my others. Ninja Squid is still really good though...

 

[TheMH]

I still like Ninja Squid a lot. It will actually tend to get "stronger", if less people use it now, because these people won't expect everyone using it any longer (makes this sense?).

Anyway. In my opinion the only thing which can match up Ninja Squid in competitive play will be Cold-Blooded.

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

People see the word, "nerf," and become startled and unnerved. Instantaneous they say, whatever has been nerfed, is now bad, without first pondering. Take a closer look at this, "nerf," that has the masses in complete distraught.

The penalty of using Ninja Squid was increased, from a deduction of 5% to 10% in Swim Speed.
Below I will post some information about the Swim Speed Up Ability.

• 1x Main = +10%

• 1x Sub = +5%

Translation, instead of one Swim Speed Up Sub, you will need one Swim Speed Up Main,to counter-act the negative aspect of this ability. This is a weak nerf at best. In retrospect, most players will aim for least one Swim Speed Up, whether it be by using 3 sub abilities or using one main ability.

Anyway. In my opinion the only thing which can match up Ninja Squid in competitive play will be Cold-Blooded.

Cold Blooded trumps Ninja Squid in competitive play.

 

[iTwAsLucK]

I love the concept of haunt, and it's a good feeling knowing that the stupid roller which just one-hit you will be marked for your team to extract revenge upon....
But realistically it's not that good since it is not a static effect, and only occurs upon death. If you don't die it doesn't activate, and is essentially a waste.

I use cold blooded in ranked, but in turf wars I've been leveling up some other stuff just to have (because I want to be ready for future nerfs/buffs).

 

[Robotoboy20]

I love the concept of haunt, and it's a good feeling knowing that the stupid roller which just one-hit you will be marked for your team to extract revenge upon....
But realistically it's not that good since it is not a static effect, and only occurs upon death. If you don't die it doesn't activate, and is essentially a waste.

I use cold blooded in ranked, but in turf wars I've been leveling up some other stuff just to have (because I want to be ready for future nerfs/buffs).

When I do run haunt it's on riskier weapons like the Custom Splattershot Jr.... Paired with that weapon it has been pretty good. I can always splat my splatter - by sneaking back up on them. It's like "Yeah you won this round... but I know where you are now >=]" lol, It's not a bad skill but it feel less versatile than other skills you could get.

 

[Eclipsc70]

True, the fact that it only activates upon death is kind of a huge hindrance especially considering my team mates tend to not take advantage of it. I am more of a supporter so I figured it would be kind of viable considering its like a nerfed version of Point Sensor. Considering I use a roller type weapon, y options are kind of limited on the skills I can use, Cold Blooded seems to be the only thing atm but the game is barely a month old and im sure there is some hidden tech for rollers that just hasnt been exploited yet considering how young the game is.

 

[Typhlosion09]

What I did was grab at hat that increased swim speed. Problem solved

 

[pinguino]

Love me some Cold-Blooded. It kind of depends on your opponents having plenty of locator abilities but in my experience, in the higher ranks at least, there's usually someone throwing out Echolocators or Point Sensors left and right. Not a fan of Haunt, both the fact that it only activates when you die and that I rarely see allies take advantage of it. I'd rather focus on not dying at all.

But really, if I used Ninja Squid more I don't think this nerf would be enough to turn me off of it. A couple of Swim Speed sub-abilities won't totally negate it anymore but it'll help.

 

[bluekentuckyboy]

I like using Opening Gambit, Recon and the invisible squid jump. I believe in a competitive setting, recon will be A GREAT assistance in figuring out where the team is, and with the invisible squid jump I can jump wherever I am needed without fear.

Opening gambit is self explanatory, I believe rollouts are crucial to establishing an aggressive playstyle against the enemy.

 

[Eclipsc70]

Im not too sure how I feel about Recon though tbh. Though I have thought about recon and in theory it seems great but the fact that it only activates when youre on spawn is kind of a deal breaker for me. I considered Haunt because it links you and your team to at least one member on the opposing team wherever you may be, Currently I use Tenacity for the headgear, Body is up in the air, and Ink Resistance for the shoes and I wanted to make a special oriented build.

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

I personally like using Special Savers. Haunt could be pretty good, but that is also more of a support type deal. Opening gambit can be pretty good, especially for rollers. Allows them to get to the offensive more easily.

You could also stick with ninja squid since the nerf wasn't too bad. Rollers are excellent at the hide and kill strategy.

 

[TheMH]

I played a few matches without Ninja Squid yesterday and man, people just attacked me left and right while I tried to be sneaky... it makes really a big difference, once you got used to it, so I probably won't turn it down just yet.

 

[UnLucky]

Ninja Squid was barely affected. Just slot one or two more subs and you're good to go.

Stealth Jump, on the other hand, was nerfed HARD. You need like two main abilities to counteract the effect, but it will now always be a terrible idea to use this outside of spawn no matter how much Quick Jump you stack. It's essentially worthless and effectively takes you out of the fight. For the slots it takes to break even, you'd be much better off with Respawn and Swim Speed then simply not jump, or stack the Quick Jump without Stealth and don't be an idiot.

Ink Resistance still does its job well, and if you considered it mandatory, it still is. If you couldn't see why everyone loved it so much, then nothing's changed. Basically the only thing you can't really do anymore is walk halfway across the map in enemy ink for sneak attacks, but it's still good for short pathways against avid map readers. Perhaps you should paint more walls instead?

 

[Kaliafornia]

Cold Blooded trumps Ninja Squid in competitive play.

I'm partial to Ninja Squid as a E-liter user. Depending on the map, there aren't too many optimal places for me to be and its more about holding position and killing anyone who approaches so often its obvious where I am. Ninja Squid makes it so if I do have to flee I'm not traceable in my ink which is a lot more valuable to me than a shooter. Rarely (struggling to remember a time) does an Echolocator go out the few times I actually need to flee. I've actually been using ink recovery and damage up a lot more depending on map scenario.

But re: OP I would agree that Haunt isn't that useful. It might be more once we can communicate and set up private rooms but as of now you are assuming your teammates will be able to take them out.

I personally like using Special Savers.

Whats your average K/D ratio? I used to like using them too then as I moved up ranks I realized I really wasn't dying all that much so they aren't as useful. Might come in handy in modes like Tower where splat probability is higher.

 

[iTwAsLucK]

I like using Opening Gambit, Recon and the invisible squid jump. I believe in a competitive setting, recon will be A GREAT assistance in figuring out where the team is, and with the invisible squid jump I can jump wherever I am needed without fear.

Opening gambit is self explanatory, I believe rollouts are crucial to establishing an aggressive playstyle against the enemy.

I don't think Invisible jump is that great of a skill. Firstly because of how long it takes, and secondly because you should rarely be squid jumping anyways. But if it works for you then go for it....

However:
If you're already running recon then you should be able to see where to jump to safely, and the invisible jump is redundant and not needed.

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

I'm partial to Ninja Squid as a E-liter user. Depending on the map, there aren't too many optimal places for me to be and its more about holding position and killing anyone who approaches so often its obvious where I am. Ninja Squid makes it so if I do have to flee I'm not traceable in my ink which is a lot more valuable to me than a shooter. Rarely (struggling to remember a time) does an Echolocator go out the few times I actually need to flee. I've actually been using ink recovery and damage up a lot more depending on map scenario.

But re: OP I would agree that Haunt isn't that useful. It might be more once we can communicate and set up private rooms but as of now you are assuming your teammates will be able to take them out.




Whats your average K/D ratio? I used to like using them too then as I moved up ranks I realized I really wasn't dying all that much so they aren't as useful. Might come in handy in modes like Tower where splat probability is higher.

The only thing about ninja that sucks, negative aspects aside, it gets hard countered by echolocator. Once teams become a thing, everyone and their will have at least one echolocator on there team. I'm sure some teams will run more than one of those bad boys to. In the higher rank lobbies(like A), they go up pretty often. I do love ninja squid, but echolocator is getting more and more popular by the day.

Also, if you aren't runnin tenacity, special saver really is the only other ability that does something useful for specials. So even if you don't die a lot, you can get more mileage out of it, then the other abilities that have to do with specials.

you should rarely be squid jumping anyways.

This statement is very much so untrue. Super Jump is an amazing tool, when mastered. You probably haven't explored it enough.