• Welcome to SquidBoards, the largest forum dedicated to Splatoon! Over 25,000 Splatoon fans from around the world have come to discuss this fantastic game with over 250,000 posts!

    Start on your journey in the Splatoon community!

  • Hey Guest, the Side Order expansion is now available!

    If you're playing the new DLC, please remember to keep your thread titles spoiler free, and use [spoiler] tags for any relevant spoilers in your posts.

Splatoon 2 pre-analysis: The Far Future of Competitive Splatoon

Kodidro

Full Squid
Content Team
Joined
Jun 3, 2015
Messages
39
Splatoon as a whole has impressed me in so many ways in terms of how the game has evolved. It's got fantastic game balance, a good deal of weapons & sets to choose from, and highly addictive. I'm pretty shocked that I ended up liking it as much as I do to be honest, but Nintendo does know a thing or three about putting out good games. Naturally after the crazy success of the Inkling's first release, Nintendo announced the sequel: Splatoon 2 (which I will be referring to as "Spla2n" from this point forward). At first glance, the biggest change we see right of the bat is the addition of a new weapon type: the Dualies. This alone is huge, but there were a good number of other changes that weren't necessarily noticed immediately, which I'll go over in no particular order, but that's what this post is about - all the changes we've seen, as well as a prediction of how this may affect the competitive gameplay.

Special Weapons

Let's cover the new special weapons we know about so far - reason being that we have ALL new specials, and none of the specials we have in the original game will be continuing into Spla2n (RIP Kraken).

Homing Rocket Launchers

This is the new special I'm most excited for, it just seems very annoying to deal with - lock on to any opponent(s) you can see, and barrage them with a plethora of rockets from the sky. If they're not moving, they're gonna get splatted.

Stingray

This was a really cool addition to the game; the Stingray is the laser-like ink weapon which can take out enemies hiding behind walls. Remember those players who would lead you behind a wall and set a trap? Don't fall for it anymore, just get them through the wall.

Bomb Launcher

This honestly doesn't seem too new, as we already have Bomb Rush from the original game. However, this weapon seems to overtake your current weapon, so you can't shoot your main while this is active. I would assume a gun dedicated to throwing bombs can launch them further than you could by hand as well, which is a good benefit considering the lack of protection being unable to use your main.

Splashdown

This is essentially a re-branded Inkstrike. The way the animation plays out, it looks like you may have a few frames of invincibility during the windup animation, as your inkling is completely coated in your ink's color. This attack is also smaller than the original Inkstrike, so it will likely be quicker to charge (and Inkstrike was never a very large charge time).

Jetpack Launcher

I'm also unsure of this name, but the description make it pretty obvious which one I'm talking about. Your have a jetpack that shoots ink to propel you into the air, and you launch what looks like Blaster style weapon shots a good distance.

Ink Cloud

I assume this is what this special is called, it's a giant cloud that rains down your color ink. It also looks like it moves, though I don't know exactly how it works, since there's only about three seconds worth of footage in the trailer showing it and no gameplay footage recorded shows the cloud.

Overview

As far as the competitive scene goes, Kraken and Bubbler were pretty common - invincibility is no joke, it'll change games. Interestingly enough, none of these (except maybe Splashdown) have any form of invincibility. That being said, we likely haven't seen all of the specials yet.

Going into specifics, I would be shocked if Homing Rocket Launchers aren't useful in Splat Zones or Tower Control, assuming those game modes will still be present. They deny area, and with good coordination can easily gain your team ground where you want it.

Bomb Launcher seems pretty solid. Instead of coating an area in bombs like normal, you can coat an area in bombs at range. Also good for controlling ground, definitely for holding a zone. It depends if this special works with other subs (Suction Bomb for instance) whether it will be good for Tower Control - those standard bombs are hard to keep on the tower.

Stingray has me genuinely curious in what mode this will be good in. It seems to me a very niche weapon, based on the level (for instance, if you're playing Splat Zones on a map where one of the zones is by a wall). In general, it doesn't seem too great on its own, but I can't really tell what the range actually is on it. It may very well be better than I expect.

Splashdown is a pretty nice change to the Inkstrike, in my opinion. Some tournaments do use Turf War as an official ranked mode, and those last second Inkstrikes in the enemy base can make a huge difference. This prevents those spontaneous turns of events, and also gives the player a bit of a panic button. It can also quickly take a Splat Zone if you can get into position safely.

Jetpack Launcher makes me think of Inkzooka. It obviously doesn't shoot a little tornado of ink, but it's another offensive special that seems pretty versatile all around. It also has the nice feature of sending you back where you originally started using it when the time expires. Being so versatile, I have a hard time imagining it won't be useful in some way in any game mode. Just be sure to splat anybody who saw you pop your special, they may wait for you back where you're going to land when you're finished.

Ink Cloud looks fun, and has strong uses in both Turf War and Splat Zones. It rains your team's ink in an area, what else can I really say about it?


Dualies


So the Dualies are close range weapons with two aiming reticles right beside each other, showing off the fact that this is a spread style weapon. This new class of weapons come with the ability to roll dodge, which in Spla2n is a very quick maneuver which moves your inkling around at crazy speeds. This also changes your two targeting reticles to one, removing the spread from your weapon as well as increasing the rate of fire, allowing you to quickly take out players before giving them a chance to react (which honestly makes this weapon pretty terrifying). We know one set comes with the well loved Suction Bomb sub weapon, which is just a great tool all around, and with the Jetpack Launcher special.


In terms of competitive use, these weapons remind me of Aerospray, but notably better. It has the same spread and probably range as the single barreled counterpart, and lets you roll around and close the gap efficiently. It makes facing a Charger player easier for sure: if you're spotted, you can actually dodge, whereas the Aerosprays just kind of had to swim around and hope you miss? Not a great plan. Aerosprays in general were never really good at competitive play, they mostly just covered turf and waited for their specials, maybe sneak up successfully on the enemy team on occasion. The Dualies are a fantastic spin on the outdated shooter, and I'm certain these weapons will be common everywhere given the versatility.


Chargers

Chargers got a nice buff, which is being able to store the charge for your shot. All around, it's a pretty minor buff, but there's a few good exploits to be done with it. For instance, instead of having to charge behind the wall, then peek, and then release the shot, you'll be able to come clear out from behind the wall to condition your opponent's expectations. Another example is holding a charge, and if somebody sneaks up on you, you have time to swim away and retaliate with a full charge.


One thing to note is that the charge decays over time, if I understand correctly, so it can't just be indefinitely held. However, it's a nice new tool for us Charger mains that I am thoroughly excited for.



Rollers



Rollers got a change as well, and one that will likely be extremely useful to players who can utilize it right. While jumping, instead of the standard flick animation, the inkling turns the roller sideways and flicks, giving a notable amount of range to the hit. It does sacrifice the width of the standard flick, however.


This new sideways flick gives Rollers a new way to deal with far off or high up enemies (like Chargers, or players using the new Jetpack special, or even players just up on a high platform). It removes some of the limitation that they had trouble with on levels like Moray Towers, where enemies above would have a complete advantage and rollers had no way to fight back.



Bumper Bomb


I just made that name up because I'm unsure what it's actually called. However, these seem to be an improvement to Seekers, and look very fun to use.


These new sub weapons are very fun area control. Toss them into an enclosed space - my immediate thought is either of the Splat Zones on Blackbelly Skatepark - and it'll force them out pretty quickly.


Level Changes

One extra change I'm pretty excited about is the Ink railways.


These will add just another dimension to maps, allowing for easier flanks, mobility, and control options each match.



Final Notes

This last section is my overall thoughts on how all these particular changes will affect how we play, so take it with a grain of salt.

The game here looks a bit more fast paced than the Splatoon we know right now. Without invincibility specials to stall the tower or overtake the objectives, it becomes less of an expectation to "save the special" for the last minute. In a lot of streams and videos of tournaments, it's common to see Kraken on Tower Control, solely because once you have it you guarantee that you have control of the tower for 6 seconds at least, unless the opponent has Kraken as well. Removing this and Bubbler is a smart move for that reason, and the new specials force new creativity to securing the objectives.
I'm hesitant to go into a whole lot more detail than that, just because we don't have much information beyond what we saw. We know Suction Bombs are returning as well as Burst Bombs, but we don't know how many other subs are coming back. That being said, Dualies and lack of invincibility will shake the game up some, though overall it will still be the same game we know and love so well.

All that being said, the most important change here to the game that will shake the foundation of how we play are the hairstyles. If you don't have the right one, you just can't win.



Let me know what you're most excited for, and stay fresh all
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom