Seeker Rush: A New Special Weapon! Predictions, Thoughts, and Analysis

[Bowrock]

Imagine sneaking behind enemy team and unleashing storm of seekers at them...

 

[HappyBear801]

Imagine sneaking behind enemy team and unleashing storm of seekers at them...

Oh man. I just realized how much of a flanking god this special will be.

Now I'm going to make the thread for the Carbon Roller Deco itself, but anyone who wants to analyze this special itself should post thoughts here.

 

[Marigi174]

Now that I think of it, do seekers pass through other seekers, or not? If they don't, it might be a bit underwhelming seeing two swerve into each other right before another player.

I think they just collide and explode if the seeker is on the other team. IDK what happens when on the same team, but I'd imagine they collide and explode similarly to how you can't shoot through teammates.

 

[Helio]

Seekers always get me.

 

[1o2]

Seeker rush is great, but if only Carbon Roller didn't have to sacrifice their regular sub for it. Burst Bombs+Zooka is far more versatile and useful IMO. I mean Carbon rollers are so reliant on close quarters combat already, and seekers offer literally zero long ranged options to anyone who plays with sound and can press the x button. Burst bombs compliment a close quarters combat style weapon, but are also great for long ranged pressure. Obviously Zooka is zooka. I just don't see any reason to use Deco over the regular. At least Seeker rush will be an incredible nuisance on Port though.

 

[Marigi174]

Seeker rush is great, but if only Carbon Roller didn't have to sacrifice their regular sub for it. Burst Bombs+Zooka is far more versatile and useful IMO. I mean Carbon rollers are so reliant on close quarters combat already, and seekers offer literally zero long ranged options to anyone who plays with sound and can press the x button. Burst bombs compliment a close quarters combat style weapon, but are also great for long ranged pressure. Obviously Zooka is zooka. I just don't see any reason to use Deco over the regular. At least Seeker rush will be an incredible nuisance on Port though.

IDK. I think that the carbon roller benefits from the increased pressure that approaching with seekers provides - which is pretty big considering that the vanilla carbon roller has an irritatingly difficult time at approaching. The ability to not only advance on the seeker's ink, but to also cover their escape route, is a huge boon to the weapon, and it allows far a greater mix of approach options that simply aren't present otherwise (iirc burst canceling is the vanilla carbon roller's only consistent approach option when there isn't a pre-laid ink trail for it to swim through). The seekers also allow you to utilise a push-back strategy similar to that of the Aerospray MG, increasing its versatility for different squad builds.

 

[1o2]

IDK. I think that the carbon roller benefits from the increased pressure that approaching with seekers provides - which is pretty big considering that the vanilla carbon roller has an irritatingly difficult time at approaching. The ability to not only advance on the seeker's ink, but to also cover their escape route, is a huge boon to the weapon, and it allows far a greater mix of approach options that simply aren't present otherwise (iirc burst canceling is the vanilla carbon roller's only consistent approach option when there isn't a pre-laid ink trail for it to swim through). The seekers also allow you to utilise a push-back strategy similar to that of the Aerospray MG, increasing its versatility for different squad builds.

Burst bombs provide an easy escape route, as you can just splatterhop away using them, and go in any direction. If you use a seeker as an escape route, you're limited to a very straight line, or at risk of it finding in an enemy and going right into one. As I said earlier, to an aware player Seekers are pretty much a joke. If you see it coming, (or hear it coming) you can literally jump over it and shoot the trail it left behind, stopping any carbon roller dead in their tracks. Plus, why would you even be chancing swimming through the seeker's path when enemy ink would be completely surrounding you other then that path? This push back argument falls apart, as I don't even have to move to dodge a seeker. On top of this, if I am hidden in my own ink I believe the seeker goes right by the player.

Burst bombs literally force someone to move, otherwise they will die. This provides tremendous long range pressure, because even if you see the burst bombs flying at you, you're forced to move to dodge instead of just jumping. Carbon Rollers shouldn't be looking for seekers as an approach option, carbon rollers should be looking for opportunities to lurk, force close quarters combat (ex: Tower Control/Rainmaker and some choke points), and pressure people with burst bombs/potential zooka.

 

[Marigi174]

Burst bombs provide an easy escape route, as you can just splatterhop away using them, and go in any direction. If you use a seeker as an escape route, you're limited to a very straight line, or at risk of it finding in an enemy and going right into one. As I said earlier, to an aware player Seekers are pretty much a joke. If you see it coming, (or hear it coming) you can literally jump over it and shoot the trail it left behind, stopping any carbon roller dead in their tracks. Plus, why would you even be chancing swimming through the seeker's path when enemy ink would be completely surrounding you other then that path? This push back argument falls apart, as I don't even have to move to dodge a seeker. On top of this, if I am hidden in my own ink I believe the seeker goes right by the player.

Burst bombs literally force someone to move, otherwise they will die. This provides tremendous long range pressure, because even if you see the burst bombs flying at you, you're forced to move to dodge instead of just jumping. Carbon Rollers shouldn't be looking for seekers as an approach option, carbon rollers should be looking for opportunities to lurk, force close quarters combat (ex: Tower Control/Rainmaker and some choke points), and pressure people with burst bombs/potential zooka.

True. I did miss a lot, and I was trying a little too hard to compare it to the aerospray mg in my head. Mind you, seekers are a joke in a single-seeker scenario, but seekers paths in conjunction with their explosion all contribute to the filling of the special gauge. The thing about the carbon roller is that it can use these to fill it very quickly in conjunction with its wide splash radius (from what I've found with this weapon I can get off around 4 specials per game without any abilities to make filling the gauge easier). If this rapid rate is combined with abilities like special charge up and tenacity, you can use seekers to exert a huge amount of pressure onto your opponent; while it is easy to avoid one seeker, it is hard to avoid two or three of them, and when combined with the overwhelming presence of the carbon roller it will often result in at least one splat. With the carbon roller, you aren't going to focus on that element of team support at all times like you would with the MG (on the MG, seekers+stupid power in conjunction with the inkzooka make it by far the best weapon holding the enemy team away from their objective), but rather you would use it whenever you get seeker rush (it is far more versatile than the inkzooka with the pressure it places on one area of the map due to their ability to home in on their targets and allowing the user to continue using their regular weapon with normal mobility).

At the end of the day, seeker rush carbon roller is a far more team-reliant weapon than the vanilla variant, but when on the correct build it can prove far more deadly than the vanilla variant is when used alongside a team-oriented, high-offensive-pressure approach. The best way to sum it up is inconsistently scary, and it is probably what will keep it outside of the "higher ranks" when it comes to choice of weapon.

 

[HappyBear801]

As I posted in my Carbon Roller Deco analysis thread, I got to try out this weapon last night, and that includes Seeker Rush, the new special itself, which I will analyze seperately here.

Well, I enjoy it! I wouldn't main it, which is why I stated that I will stick with the normal Carbon Roller, but the special is very enjoyable to pull out when going for wiping out the other team and covering a decent amount of turf simultaneously. Of course, the stages this is suited for are the flatter stages, such as Port Mackerel, Walleye Warehouse, and Kelp Dome. Also great for invading zones in stages with more compact zones in Splat Zones, such as Bluefin Depot or Urchin Underpass, as I predicted when I used it on the zone area of BD in Level 20 in the Single Player. Great for kills, great for invasion, decent for coverage, but not so great for height disadvantsges. But overall, I like it! Nintendo, if this game will get off-disc weapons, put this special on one of them. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I kind of hate this sub right now, but it's mostly bias because there's no longer an even number of special weapons and that's firing up my OCD.

 

[HappyBear801]

I kind of hate this sub right now, but it's mostly bias because there's no longer an even number of special weapons and that's firing up my OCD.

Wait...

1. Inkzooka
2. Inkstrike
3. Splat Bomb Rush
4. Burst Bomb Rush
5. Suction Bomb Rush
6. Seeker Rush
7. Bubbler
8. Killer Wail
9. Echolocator
10. Kraken

(this isn't a top 10 or anything I'm just counting)

But...isn't that 10? Which one am I missing?

Question for thread! I need responses. For my poll on people's preferred Bomb Rush, should I update the already existing thread, or make a new one to start with people's opinions on all four from scratch? Personally I'm leaning towards the latter, but what does everyone here think?

 

[Marigi174]

Depends if you're talking about the standalone special or the special in conjunction with its distribution. If the former, you should post a new thread; if the latter, you should update the existing thread.

 

[HappyBear801]

Depends if you're talking about the standalone special or the special in conjunction with its distribution. If the former, you should post a new thread; if the latter, you should update the existing thread.

Oh no the standalone special entirely. This assumes we get off-disc weapons, others which have Burst Bomb Rush and Seeker Rush.

 

[LMG]

So I saw that seekers can travel through Grating floors the other day; it makes me wonder how a Seeker Rush would work on Hammerhead Bridge or Kelp Dome >_>

 

[HappyBear801]

So I saw that seekers can travel through Grating floors the other day; it makes me wonder how a Seeker Rush would work on Hammerhead Bridge or Kelp Dome >_>

Probably very hard to use because of the limited view that grates provide.

 

[LMG]

Probably very hard to use because of the limited view that grates provide.

I meant something like using them up an enemy's ramp in Hammerhead Bridge or into the enemy's spawn on Kelp Dome

 

[TheReflexWonder]

Interesting interaction where using the Seeker Rush caused an instant disconnect ("communcation error" rather than being stopped for a few seconds in "unstable connection" before being booted) just happened three times in a row and got me ranked down to A+.

I have a pretty bad connection as it is, and so I get a fair amount of teleporting around, ink showing up late, people being splatted late, etc. If your connection isn't good, the game doesn't have constant location data on the enemies, so I think because the Seekers lock onto opponents, the game doesn't know what to do when multiple Seekers lose and regain the data like that all at once. It's likely a failsafe of some sort, hence why it's booting me immediately instead of giving the "unstable connection" bit.

Pretty sure it isn't trouble with resources in-game, because other stuff can cause the frame rate to drop but I've never just been dropped from a game like this before using the Seeker Rush and getting to aim a bunch toward enemies. My first experience with using this special was not a good one as a result. :(

 

[HappyBear801]

Interesting interaction where using the Seeker Rush caused an instant disconnect ("communcation error" rather than being stopped for a few seconds in "unstable connection" before being booted) just happened three times in a row and got me ranked down to A+.

I have a pretty bad connection as it is, and so I get a fair amount of teleporting around, ink showing up late, people being splatted late, etc. If your connection isn't good, the game doesn't have constant location data on the enemies, so I think because the Seekers lock onto opponents, the game doesn't know what to do when multiple Seekers lose and regain the data like that all at once. It's likely a failsafe of some sort, hence why it's booting me immediately instead of giving the "unstable connection" bit.

Pretty sure it isn't trouble with resources in-game, because other stuff can cause the frame rate to drop but I've never just been dropped from a game like this before using the Seeker Rush and getting to aim a bunch toward enemies. My first experience with using this special was not a good one as a result. :(

Well hey, that's not the only weapon vulnerable to bad internet. Point Sensors, Disruptors, and Echolocator all have lock-on lag at times. Even the TOWER can lag. Now THAT is annoying. But I disgress, as usual.

 

[LMG]

Even the TOWER can lag. Now THAT is annoying. But I disgress, as usual.

It'd be funny to watch it glitch out like vehicles in other games where they start jumping all over the place and killing (splatting) everyone ;)

 

[PK21]

I honestly still see no use for this special.
I may even go and say it's the worst special.