Should the Kraken be Nerfed?

[MrL1193]

I'm honestly amazed that so many people are complaining about the Kraken. Surprising people with it is pretty much the only way you can splat them, because it's pretty easy to avoid by just swimming away (assuming you're not surrounded by enemy ink, in which case you would have been in trouble anyway). And let's not forget the fact that Aerosprays and their ilk can just spray the Kraken and laugh as it struggles to move forward. Of course, I hate getting splatted by laggy Krakens as much as anyone else, but that's not the fault of the Kraken itself.

 

[Griff]

I'm honestly amazed that so many people are complaining about the Kraken. Surprising people with it is pretty much the only way you can splat them, because it's pretty easy to avoid by just swimming away (assuming you're not surrounded by enemy ink, in which case you would have been in trouble anyway). And let's not forget the fact that Aerosprays and their ilk can just spray the Kraken and laugh as it struggles to move forward. Of course, I hate getting splatted by laggy Krakens as much as anyone else, but that's not the fault of the Kraken itself.

You have to consider the other factors other than just the fact that it can kill enemies. As I said earlier, it's a total get-out-of-jail-free card that removes a ton of risk that's inherent to using a short range weapon such as the Krak-On roller. Furthermore, it can force enemies out of position, causing them to retreat, delay their push for the objective, or just flat out scatter, which can be huge in determining the outcome of a match. Regardless of it's effect, a godmode button that can ink turf and that has a one shot kill tied to it might be a little strong considering how easy it is to get and how many are thrown out during a match.

 

[NikeXTC]

Bubbler can at times pull this off, but most experienced players are able to shoot it back or retreat effectively.

You can do the same against Krakens, even though it depends on your weapon. You can push back a Kraken if you have a weapon with high fire rate. Sure, Kraken can turn around your line of fire and get you by the side, but it's not always that easy to pull off and it takes time. I'm a Krak-On Roller user and several times my kraken was neutralized that way.

So in conclusion, bringing the special up 40p from 180p - 220p will not effect them at all.

Well, well.. it depends on how much the player relies on the kraken. Recently my equip is focused on charging up the kraken as fast as I can, so an increase in charge up time would have an impact. I believe I'd be able to keep using the same strategy, but less effectively than now, so "not effect at all" is a bit too much.

And by the way, I can see that an increase in charge up time would be a reasonable nerf for the kraken, especially since the inkzooka got to 220. I hope it won't happen, though, for obvious reasons :D

 

[Zoot]

"Krak Addicts"

Hahaha, I think I'm going to start using that too.

Yeah, I hate going up against the Krak-on Roller. It has so many ways to wipe you out before you've even realised it's there. Kraken is too powerful, but I think any nerf beside a longer charge time and/or being able to shoot it back even further would make it useless.

 

[Phobos]

I don't know that it needs a nerf. If I get splatted by a Kraken it's very often my own fault - either I engaged without paying attention to whether their special was charged, or I didn't retreat as soon as they popped it. Of course, if you don't see a Kraken coming then it's more or less a guaranteed splat, but then the same could be said for more or less anything. The only thing that irks me about the Kraken is the seeming inconsistency in how easy it is to repel - sometimes I can bat it away with ease, whilst other times the same weapon seems utterly ineffective. For this reason I very rarely try to push it back, which is a shame because it's hilarious when it works.

 

[Karonax]

In Squad Battles, in Splat Zones our team (mostly in A-S ranks) went up against a Japanese team of all Octobrush users outfitted for special duration up and special up, and we lost because there was literally not a moment that they didn't have a Kraken up. They rotated who was the Kraken the whole battle, and if we isolated one who wasn't, they'd simply pop their Kraken.

Seems like kind of lame strategy, we couldn't really do anything but retreat or die to the current Kraken chasing us.

A strategy like that shouldn't exist, what can you possibly do against a team like that?

 

[Macaque]

Maybe co-ordinate with a teammate to push the kraken player away together? If two people shoot a kraken at once then they can reliably push it back. If you hold a kraken back, it's helpless, it now only has the options to retreat or be killed.

I don't feel the kraken is particularly powerful, but A LOT of people use it, therefore it's a very common special to die to. It's also really annoying when combined with the laggy players.

People tend to save this particular special up so it is one of the easier specials to see coming.

 

[Elecmaw]

I don't see how it needs a nerf at all, aside from a cheap shot at the rainmaker i haven't seen games being won simply because one side had a kraken. You know you can hide in your ink and the kraken user won't see you, right? That's how i usually dodge them, and then pick them off when they transform back to normal. Sometimes i even follow them around!

 

[Karonax]

Unfortunately it wasn't so simple, if we were focusing on the Kraken then the Octobrushs killed us from behind and these Krakens weren't the kind to just rush straight at you, they knew what they were doing. It also didn't help they had Beakons everywhere, killing one barely took them out of the battle and we had no ability to take out twelve Beakons placed everywhere.

Our whole team was kind of stunned that we lost, we had a .96 Gal, two Tentateks, and a Dynamo. It was a gimmick team we didn't expect. We were pretty sure it would be a sweep victory for us.

 

[NamelessCrow]

Well, well.. it depends on how much the player relies on the kraken. Recently my equip is focused on charging up the kraken as fast as I can, so an increase in charge up time would have an impact. I believe I'd be able to keep using the same strategy, but less effectively than now, so "not effect at all" is a bit too much.

And by the way, I can see that an increase in charge up time would be a reasonable nerf for the kraken, especially since the inkzooka got to 220. I hope it won't happen, though, for obvious reasons :D

Right but in my post I was talking soecifically about the .96 gal and the Squelcher. That's what I meant by how it wouldn't affect them, not that it wouldn't affect anything. Since the most popular Kraken weapon is most definitely the Krak-On Roller, it doesn't have any problem at all covering turf. So, it wouldn't affect them either.
And as an end note, if anyone uses the Inkzooka a lot like I tend to do, you would see that 40p really doesn't make much of a difference, it's just enough to balance it perfectly. So I don't think the Kraken absolutely needs one, but if it were to get one, I would just increase the point values from 180p-220p.

 

[Beerox]

I think the way to nerf Specials is to force the player to use them within 6 or 8 (or whatever) seconds of full charge. People just walk around and wait for a skirmish, then pop the special after you hit them a couple times. That' what's annoying. I can handle Bubblers and Krakens all day, but the timely activation is the most frustrating part.

 

[MrL1193]

You have to consider the other factors other than just the fact that it can kill enemies. As I said earlier, it's a total get-out-of-jail-free card that removes a ton of risk that's inherent to using a short range weapon such as the Krak-On roller. Furthermore, it can force enemies out of position, causing them to retreat, delay their push for the objective, or just flat out scatter, which can be huge in determining the outcome of a match. Regardless of it's effect, a godmode button that can ink turf and that has a one shot kill tied to it might be a little strong considering how easy it is to get and how many are thrown out during a match.

Yes, of course it can be useful; it's a special weapon, after all. But I don't see how it does all that better than other special weapons. The Bubbler is also a get-out-of-jail-free card, and it doesn't restrict you to melee attacks. Bomb Rush exerts tremendous pressure on the enemy team and can ink a ton of turf to boot. The Inkzooka can outright kill off the enemy team before they know what hit them, and any survivors are usually reduced to cowering behind a wall until it runs out. When compared to all that, the Kraken just doesn't stand out to me as an unusually powerful special weapon. (And no, it does not ink a lot of turf. An Octobrush trail is far from impressive in that regard.)

 

[1o2]

I think it deserves a nerf in one of the few ways:

A half a second delay on when it activates. Literally every other special (except bubbler) has some sort of delay when using it. Inkzooka doesn't let you fire immediately, Inkstrike you can't immediately touch the screen, and even Echo has at least a quarter of a second where it finds the opponent.

Make it last a shorter amount of time. Honestly it's incredible how long this thing lasts in comparison to the Bubbler. Yes you can spread the Bubbler to your teammates, but the more you spread the shorter it lasts.

At least make the knockback hitbox bigger. The knockback hitbox on this thing is literally at the tip of the head, shooting the side barely does anything. On top of this, low fire rate weapons still don't knock it back enough.

Yes, it's very easy to swim away/hide in ink to avoid the Kraken, but then you are literally "trapped" into not playing the objective, which can literally make the difference between winning and losing in TC/RM. Kraken doesn't kill you? No problem, you're not playing the objective and his/her team is still pushing the point.

 

[PencilManners]

To be honest I hate both the kraken and the bubbler in the sense that it guarantees a win in a 1v1 scenario and about 70% of the time I have either not enough time or not enough room to make a getaway. Other special have obvious drawbacks or are not as effective;

-The Killer wail can reach the other side of the map and hit through cover but is heavily telegraphed and doesn't paint the target area
-Inkstrikes can hit anywhere including spawns but are also telegraphed and can be quickly covered up meaning it's mostly useful in the last ten seconds of a match
-The inkzooka has a good amount of range and can hit enemies on higher platforms without having to adjust your aim vertically (It's like your playing doom again) but it gets cut off by cover and will not usually hit enemies bellow you, limiting it's use to when you have the low ground.
-The echolocator will give away the enemies position but It won't kill them on their own
-The bomb rush's allow player to cover a large amount of turf in a short amount of time but there's still a delay before the bombs detonate with the exception of burst bombs which are much weaker and require multiple hits to kill

Meanwhile...

-The Bubbler grants invincibility to the player and any teammates that are near and the kraken allows you to be mobile and swim through enemy ink while still invincible and gives you a 1HKO attack, and their only trade-off is that they can be pushed back by weapons fire which is reliable depending on the loadout and the situation they're in

In my experience being able to avoid or even get the upperhand on a kraken/bubbler is very situational which contrasts with the other specials as they require specific situations to kill a competent player with them.

I like the idea of the kraken having a one or two second transformation that can buy anyone enough time to start running and makes it less of a panic button and more of an ability to help start pushing a team further up a map.

Now if you'll excuse me I'll just dive back into the salty sea...

 

[CoconutTank]

Hey I use Custom Jet Squelcher (my fav!) and .96 Gal Deco quite a bit, so I say I have a stake in this despite it being a sort of dumb subject since Krakens got nerfed enough imo. I don't think it's that difficult to evade an enemy Kraken as long as I stay within an area that's covered in my ink. In fact the only time I get kills with Kraken is in any of the following cases:

a) I'm fighting an enemy that overextended and gets trapped
b) The enemy doesn't notice me coming from the side or behind
c) The enemy forgot which weapon I'm using and didn't adjust distance between us

You are likely to die in case (a) or (b) anyway regardless of what weapon I'm using. Case (c) is starting to happen less and less as players figure out how to properly keep a good distance or angle against me.

Take a look at the weapons that your enemies are using or check out what main weapons and sub weapons come out of them, and make sure you know the proper approach for those enemies. I do this for Inkzooka and Kraken loadouts, and I'm sure Kraken is much more evadable than Inkzooka. In particular if you lure greedy Krakens into your own ink then they're basically going to die.

@NamelessCrow: I generally stack a bunch of Ink Saver Mains when I'm using either the CJS or the 96 Deco, but really it's tactics that matter more than perks. Both weapons are not great at charging meter, but if you play them right you will live so long that you'll eventually charge Kraken anyway. This is more true for the 96 Deco than the CJS.

For the 96 Deco, you actually don't want to be using Kraken that often. The main and sub weapon are usually more useful than the Kraken itself.

For the CJS, I sometimes go with a build that stacks more Special Charge Ups. If I do that though I have to play more conservatively in order to make sure I don't run out of ink mid fight.

@PencilManners: I don't like the idea of adding a delay Bubbler and Kraken, particularly if the user is still vulnerable during the delay. Bubbler and Kraken are reactionary specials that are designed to keep you alive, whereas other specials have a lot more offensive initiative. Being invincible won't guarantee a kill, but dealing a lot of damage or having better information is pretty likely to guarantee a kill.

With the exception of Custom Blaster, the loadouts that use Bubbler don't have strong long ranged options. When a user activates Kraken, the user's loadout is replaced with the shortest ranged weapon in the game. If Bubbler was on a Dynamo Roller or Charger besides Squiffer, then I would be more concerned.

 

[PencilManners]

@PencilManners: I don't like the idea of adding a delay Bubbler and Kraken, particularly if the user is still vulnerable during the delay. Bubbler and Kraken are reactionary specials that are designed to keep you alive, whereas other specials have a lot more offensive initiative. Being invincible won't guarantee a kill, but dealing a lot of damage or having better information is pretty likely to guarantee a kill.

With the exception of Custom Blaster, the loadouts that use Bubbler don't have strong long ranged options. When a user activates Kraken, the user's loadout is replaced with the shortest ranged weapon in the game. If Bubbler was on a Dynamo Roller or Charger besides Squiffer, then I would be more concerned.

Actually I wanted the player to be invincible as well as immovable during transformation, it's more of a fair warning/telegraph to give enemies an opportunity to flee, and while I agree that the bubbler is a more defensive ability, Krakens can be used offensively to push through footholds and allow the team to advance (which I'm fine with)

 

[Kryzz]

The first Kraken nerf was already too much. The combination of the loud sound, the fact it can be pushed back by any weapon with a decent fire rate and even some without if they have high enough power (gets shot off the tower in one reasonable strength hit too), and it's completely useless if used in any area where there's a lot of enemy ink, all in all means it's pretty subpar when compared to echolocator, bomb rush and inkzooka. Maybe it's just because I use it a lot I realise it's flaws more though. If they were to nerf it any more I would be finding new mains. Right now I'm expecting they'll nerf the inkzooka more first.

 

[Schnitzel On A Stick]

I could see an good nerf- the Kraken could start getting paler or darker as the kraken's time progresses. Therefore you can time and destroy.
To compensate for this nerf, weapons should be able to knock the Kraken back a tad less.

 

[EarthBoundEnigma]

Just shoot at the Kraken until it dies. Ratatatatata!
You need fire rate if you're dying to them. Otherwise, just swim away, walk over mesh, run around on tarp, or put up a splash wall.

Escaping one of these players is not difficult if you learn how it works. Bubbler is far more dangerous when used at the last second of an engagement.

 

[Marmalade]

It really isn't that hard to escape a kraken.
I just don't understand how people would want to nerf the kraken and not the bubbler.
You can a) share the bubbler with other team mates, b) get to keep using your main weapon which means you keep your fire rate, range and spread from the weapon you are using c) unlike the kraken, running from a bubbler is much harder, especially when you are exchanging shots and they pull a last second bubbler.

The kraken has a very narrow hitbox, and when pushed back with a weapon can't do anything (unlike bubble users who can still shoot and use their sub weapons).
Also, don't forget that the kraken is a squid, and therefor suffers from falling through walkways with holes. On a couple maps, depending on where you stand, you are completely safe from the kraken because it won't be able to reach you. The bubbler also doesn't have to worry about such a thing.

In summary, the kraken doesn't need a nerf because it actually has some weaknesses, especially when compared to bubblers.