robably need to try this weapon out vs a whole bunch of S+ ranked players or something because I almost always get at least one critical hit on anyone with my playstyle (a reckless one at that), which means that I usually earn 2HKOs with this weapon, 3-4HKOs probably means you were dealing all your damage via vortex hits.
For the blasters I think the main difference is that they perform differently based on their designated range whilst the sloshing machines perform well throughout their entire range (as long as you aren't getting taken by surprise) and the blasters don't do as well over vertical obstacles.
Not saying you can't deal damage over them, but if your blaster is a longer ranged one you need to space yourself first whilst for the sloshing machine you just need to change your vertical angle and sometimes getting a lucky critical which informs you that the enemy is one more hit away from death: RUSH THAT SQUID DOWN!!!
I'm a master-masher because after starting out on the Splat Roller, I went to the Inkbrush, then L-3, then H-3, then some slosher then sloshing machines :p
LOL, with it's slow RoF I've found it's kind of hard to reliably land criticals against fast moving targets. Not that the same isn't true of blasters, but personally I don't think many people would view an SM as something that works well at any range. To me it's something you abuse the range as much as you can and only fire it close in an absolute act of desperation. A blaster can still be a one hit kill up close. An RB is probably harder to use up close than smn, true, but between blasters, rb's and sm's I'd go with blasters in a close pinch before anything. SM, like RB has too slow a ttk for a 2hko up close against any fast weapon (nzap, sploosh, splash, splattershot, rollers, brushes, aeros, jrs, chargers, etc.) It lives and dies on its range. It's thin line inking is as problematic as rapid blasters (but more mashy/fatiguing) but normal blasters give more room to maneuver.
Ouch, that's a lot of button mashing! Not so much with rollers, but Carbon is as
Basically the difference between Splat Bombs and Burst Bombs where the amount of hits to kill are concerned. Since the Sloshing Machine Neo is bad at close range as already established, it should try to retreat to its kill zone before the second Burst Bomb hits (unless the guy REALLY rushes you down, which Custom Jets don't normally do too much). With Splat Bombs, it's a 1-hit KO, and they don't take too long to explode. However, luckily, their radius isn't TOO big, but big enough to where it can be very hard to escape. Kraken is just a "you're dead" sign for the SMN already. XD If you see one, than just run. Oh, also Inkzooka does counter them both at range.
I think I quoted the wrong portion above, oh well. But I was going to say I'd personally prefer the vanilla RnB to the Custom - the splat bombs buy you some hope but I see that as a more defensive alternative to an arguably more offensive vanilla RnB - splash walls set up the absolute line of skirmish. Yeah, I know the arc can land on your head of the SM user is that good, but in all likelyhood, as with most artillery it'll take a test shot or two to dial in the range, and by then you can ohko them.
I see it differently. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think the sloshing machines do well almost throughout their entire range meaning you basically should be hitting your opponent whether they're point blank or 3 lines away. I said 'almost' because I think right at the maximum tip of the range you don't do enough damage and the hitbox is basically the tip.
I can't imagine using an SMN at anything closer than its maximum range and living to tell about it. It's just too slow for that!
I'll just briefly repeat what I said about Inkzooka: it's one of the best (and only ways) to deal with snipers, to lock down tight chokepoints, to harass and ultimately I consider it a bonus (unless it's Moray Towers with enemy E-Liters and my team has no one else capable of countering).
I still say I'm a lot more afraid of a slosher/blaster's main weapon as an eliter than I am of an inkzooka. Sure I've been nailed by a surprise tornado sometimes (and have nailed other snipers with a 'zooka shot) but in general if you're being observant as a sniper, you'll see that inkzooka deploy and get out of the way in time (or while that slow tornado glides toward you . A slosher/blaster that sneaks under me and hits me from below is something much more frightening!
(3 Mains and 3 Subs in my case), as this weapon becomes capable of scratch damage KOs with that much investment, but, partly from experimenting in Splat Zones, I've found that I can battle much more successfully with focus on ink efficiency. Today, I wore some potentially useful gear that still had empty slots, so wasn't full, but roughly had