Splatling Appreciation Thread

[QuagSass]

It's been on my mind a bit now, but there really isn't enough appreciation for the Splatlings on this board of squids. So, I'm fixing that by making an entire thread about the single greatest weapon class in the entire franchise ever of all time and forever!
(This post is like 50% hyperbole. I just want to gush about my precious spinny guns for a bit)

So ~Splatlings~, yeah? They got fantastic range, the fastest fire rates in the game, fantastic DPS, decent ink efficiency and good painting capabilities. All while being quite mobile! What other class can boast to have such strengths? Even Shooters, the most versatile class, lack the range and fire rate to match a Splatling's onslaught of bullets.
Splatlings are so reliable. Despite the RNG, you can always trust Splatlings to hit their shots quickly and still have bullets left to paint half the map. The RNG in fact serves the Splatlings, being the thing that allows them to have good paint. Something that is a downside for other weapons, ends up being a strength for Splatlings. Isn't that kinda insane? God, these weapons are so awesome!
Fighting with a Splatling feels so good. They have good enough mobility and ink efficiency to hold their own in close quarters combat. Not to mention the fact that they can splat opponents so quickly that the fights tend to be over before you can even blink. There are only a precious few weapons that can splat a Splatling without trading. Usually it's another Splatling.

And yet, they're not the most overpowered class in the game? Indeed, Splatlings are so amazing, that even with all these strengths they are balanced wonderfully. Never drowning out any other class, always leaving room for other weapons to shine. The ever humble Splatling's goal is to help it's teammates instead of hogging all the glory. A true team player in this team-based game.

The charge mechanic. What is a limiting factor for Chargers, becomes a fun feature for Splatlings. Do you charge all the way for the maximum amount of bullets or do you only charge halfway so you can start painting and fighting faster? Every Splatling wants to use their partial charges for different reasons. Learning the intricasies of a specific Splatling's charge can be challenging, but is quite rewarding once mastered.
The charge mechanic works not only as a chance for other weapon classes to get a leg up on Splatlings, thus preserving balance, but also as an extra mechanic for Splatling players to master. If you were overpowered with no downsides, then the game would be quite boring. And yet, with this single feature, the Splatlings have managed to keep their power without losing the fun factor.

The fact that Splatlings have a charge mechanic has also led to some interesting variations on the class. Nautilus with it's chargehold and Ballpoint with it's charge-dependant firing modes are the two obvious examples. But even Splatoon 1 gave us a Splatling with an extra charge-based mechanic, being the Hydra Splatling (<3) with it's full-charge damage boost. Each and every Splatling has something unique to bring to the table, be it something simple or complex. The sheer variety in this class is mindboggling, yet somehow not too overwhelming. How could one possibly get bored of playing Splatlings? The answer is you don't.

I have so much more to say, but I think I'll cut it short for now.

But in short; Splatlings are perfectly imperfect. And that makes them perfect

 

[OCTöHEAD]

ti's been a joy to come to this sermon!

 

[youre_a_squib_now]

I have so much more to say, but I think I'll cut it short for now.

for now.

this is my favorite part

 

[QuagSass]

this is my favorite part

I'll add more to this thread when I feel like the boards need more splatling appreciation :)

 

[QuagSass]

Surprise nerds! Bet you thought you'd seen the last of this thread. Well if you thought that then clearly I haven't been glazing Splatlings enough. Time to fix that <3

Let's talk about ~versatility~ today. I touched on it in my first post, but let's get more in depth.

Were it not for the Shooters, Splatlings would 100% be the most versatile class in the game. After all, at their core Splatlings are just Shooters with a charge gimmick. They shoot normal ink bullets that travel the exact same way a Shooter's bullets do. For this reason, Splatlings are generally considered strong painters. However, Splatlings also possess incredible fire power, shooting their bullets much faster than the Shooters. This lends them superior slaying capabilities while still possessing strong supportive potential. And while their mobility is more restricted due to their charge gimmick, Splatlings are still quite mobile. Fast strafing speed is one of the key features of the class! You can easily hold your ground and dance around enemy fire with a Splatling. And if things get really dicey? Well you can bunny hop to safety similarly to a Shooter, if not quite as fast. A good Splatling player can rival an Inkbrush in how slippery they are.

To aid with their mobility, Splatlings are also very ink-efficient all things considered. It's not often that you will run into a situation where you feel like you run out of ink at a critical moment. The only Splatling that could be considered ink-hungry is the Hydra Splatling, but that gun makes up for it by being the single most threatening weapon in the game when fully charged. The one weapon that can comfortably win a 1v4. The one weapon that can, in theory, solo an enemy team twice in one charge.

Of course with what I just said you might think that Splatlings are just a jack of all trades, master of none. But what Splatlings truly excels at is long-lasting pressure. Splatlings keep up paint control and push away anything shorter ranged than themselves while their fire lasts. And there's a lot of weapons that are short-ranged compared to Splatlings.
Even when they're not actively firing, approaching a Splatling head on is a death sentence since they can unleash their partials at any time without worry. A Splatling that is in position is always a threat. Always something that has to be treated with respect.

I haven't talked about kits yet and that is for good reason. I wanted to highlight how capable Splatlings are on their own. Really they're so amazing they don't even need a kit to be strong and adaptable!
Not that having a kit hurts...
But even when looking at kits you can see that the main is the star here. And yeah, that's technically true for all weapons, but I feel like for Splatlings especially the kits are there to highlight the main.
Heavy Splatling and Nautilus 47 are good examples of this. Sprinkler and Wavebreaker extend vHeavy's uptime drastically while also working as meatshields when used well. And Naut 47 has a cheap sub that highlights opponents and an entry special that remedies the main's middling paint with Point Sensor/Ink Storm. What more could a slayer Splatling want? a poking tool, but ah well.
Looking at the kits on their own, they might seem rather weak but when paired with something as reliable and amazing as a Splatling they become so much stronger.

And Splatlings have such unique synergy with weaker/utility based subs, it's amazing. Ballpoint doesn't want Splat Bomb, it doesn't want Fizzy Bomb. It wants Squid Beakon and Ink Mines. Similarly I will never shut up about how Angle Shooter (Angle Shooter!) would be a rich man's Burst Bomb to Hydra. It's difficult to be dissappointed with kits when bad subs are good and good subs can work because the mains are insane.

Really, I think it says a lot about how amazing these weapons are that even with some nerfs, weaker kits and a meta that favours their counters, the Splatlings are still considered high tiers and some even see consistent usage at the top. It would take multiple nerfs specifically targeted to Splatlings to take these bad boys out. And who would want that? The answer is no one, if you know what's good for you ^w^

Splatlings are so awesome and you should use them all the time

 

[Mp3]

@QuagSass LOOK AT THIS YES

 

[solz]

Whoh

 

[QuagSass]

While I wont be able to play the Splatling-challenge this time around, I figured I could write down some tips and recommendations for those who are interested.

First things first, Flounder Heights is a bad, bad, BAD Splatling map. I still wonder why they insist on having it as an option for this challenge. So before you pick a Splatling for this challenge, it's good to figure out how to play on this map.

When I did play this challenge the first time it rolled around, I saw a lot of people picking the Hydra for this. Most likely people thought most range = best option. However on these mapmodes, Hydra is probably the last Splatling I would suggest to someone who doesn't normally play the class. Unless you're already comfortable with the weapon, it's gonna be rough to play on Flounder. Indeed, when I played this challenge, nearly every Hydra I saw were Struggling.

Edit or Nautilus are probably the best option if you want to have the smoothest time in this challenge. Both of these are highly mobile and can work around the vertical terrain of Flounder. Nautilus especially has an edge due to it's chargehold mechanic letting it climb the walls unlike the other Splatlings. Edit and Naut also have enough range/other tools to not get completely bullied by the longer range Splatlings on Undertow. With Naut you want to make good use of your chargehold and flank the long-range Splatlings a lot. With Edit you're better off poking at them with bombs and painting for special. You can use the Tacticooler as a makeshift shield to approach the long-range Splatlings.
The Mini Splatling is also a good choice, being yet another Splatling that can work on Flounder. However, Mini has a rough time going againts other Splatlings and needs to play more carefully. Burst Bombs will be your best friend on Vimi. And when you pop Ultra Stamp, I highly recommend just chucking it instead of using the rush attack. Even with all the changes to the special, Splatlings can still easily shred through it, even if you activate the special close to them. It's not worth it to challenge them, unless you just saw them finish their charge. Even then it can be risky, depending on the Splatling. Zimi can fortunately use it's Bubbler to enable it's longer ranged teammates, if you want to use that kit instead. Both are about equal in this challenge though.
The Heavy Splatling is a perfectly fine Splatling to go for if you want to have the range advantage over Edit and Naut. It's mobile enough to be able to hold it's own in Flounder, though it will struggle in defence due to it's kits. It's a generally versatile Splatling that should serve you well enough either way.

But hey! If you're interested in using Hydra or Ballpoint, go ahead and use them. Just know what you're getting into if you do. Both Hydra and BP will have a good time in Undertow, being able to use their range to bully the other Splatlings. But both will struggle in Flounder. Ballpoint does have it's short-range mode to fall back on, but it can't always switch to it fast enough.
For Ballpoint, remember that the vanilla kit's Fizzy Bomb is there to help it with it's long-range paint and to give it an option for the midlines. This will be especially helpful againts the Nautilus, as that weapon relies quite heavily on it's teammates to paint for it. Use fizzies to discourage it from approaching you. With Ballpoint Nouveau identify the routes that Edit, Mini and Naut like to use and plant your mines there. Unfortunately the Nouveau's kit is going to have a rough time againts Splatlings as a whole, though it is going to be very good at shutting down Hydra. Just be careful about letting Hydra fill your Vac as Hydra's fullcharge fire duration is longer than Vac's suction duration.
For Hydra the Custom kit is probably the better one to go for. Splattercolour Screen can block the entirety of mid in Flounder and half of the mid in Undertow. Ink Mines are good at catching the short-ranged Splatlings that are trying to flank. Booyah Bomb can be useful for clearing certain areas in Flounder, but Splatlings are very good at shredding it's armor so you need to be certain you're safe before you use it. Autobomb would be mostly used to annoy other long-range Splatlings, though most of them have enough strafing speed to not be too bothered by it.

Regardless of the Splatling you pick, maybe your games be filled with Undertow Spillway and nothing else.

 

[OCTöHEAD]

tips from the pro! thanks~