silly
Inkster Jr.
Hey, I'm Ivy I play comp and I main Carbon/Shot. I thought it'd be fun to make some posts going over builds for my main weapons for newer players, before I'm a Splatoon player I'm a nerd who likes to min max things that don't matter at all
If you want to ignore all the talk about why each ability is good and jump straight down to the builds and build explanations, you can skip past this post and look at the posts further down in the thread.
My credentials:
❀ ıvy ❀ | sendou.ink
sendou.ink
- Played comp for Oceans Eclipse and Seishin Chitai back in S2
- Played on several mid level S3 teams and high level pickups
Abilities:
Splattershot isn't a weapon that needs a lot, it doesn't have many major downsides that need to be compensated for, but there are still some abilities I suggest you use no matter what. Here's a general rundown of each of the usable abilities in my opinion.
Comeback is a staple ability for Splattershot, and almost any frontline weapon for that matter. Especially in cooler meta, it's not unusual to see a shot die enough to where Comeback is active over half the game. It also gives you almost everything you need movement/ink consumption wise and special charge. Having Ink Saver Sub and Special Charge active after respawning can be really useful if you're in a lockdown scenario and need to throw bombs at the objective or get your special quickly to stop a push.
Opening Gambit is another ocnsideration for your headgear ability. I don't recommend it for most players, since Comeback will usually be active for more of the game then Gambit, and it's hard to get Gambit to last until the end of a match which is the most important time to have all your abilities active. With the buffs it gained in Splatoon 3 it IS a playable ability in conjuction with Quick Respawn and Stealth Jump, but unless you are the next M(elon)ichael Jordan of Splatoon it's usually not worth it.
Last Ditch Effort is an extremely strong abilty on Splat Zones, and is useable on certain Tower Control and Rainmaker maps. I recommend using Comeback over Last Ditch Effort unless you're playing Splat Zones, or if you're playing a more supportive Splattershot which is usually unoptimal in my opinion. Even on Zones Comeback often be just as good or even better as Last Ditch Effort, if you're the primary painter or you have the only painting bomb on your team then I would consider running Last Ditch Effort.
Ninja Squid has seen some play on Splattershot, but I don't think it's generally worth it. It can definitely be used and is a somewhat useful on Splattershot, but after the nerfs to Ninja Squid it's only really worth running if you have an extremely shark heavy playstyle and are okay with having minimal movement. Even as a Carbon main, I don't even like using the ability sometimes so I think there's better options for Splattershot.
Stealth Jump is a crucial ability for almost any frontliner, you absolutely need to be using Stealth Jump with no exceptions, the ability to jump in without being seen until up close saves you an incredible amount of time swimming from spawn and allows you to play more agressive as a frontliner. It's significantly better than drop roller since it hides the jump indicator and helps you live against bombs and one shot weapons.
Swim Speed Up is a really strong movement ability for Splattershot, and also one of the best abilities in the game. Being able to quickly move in and out of fights as well as having the ability to swim strafe in a firefight is incredibly useful. As a general rule of thumb I like to stack a lot Swim Speed Up, but some players prefer to run more utility abilities over a ton of Swim Speed Up.
Run Speed Up is another movement ability that's sometimes used on Splattershot. It's not as necessary as Swim Speed Up in my opinion but it can still be strong as it helps your strafing ability in fights. I usually don't run any Run Speed Up, since I get enough out of Comeback
Special Charge Up is a pretty good ability on Splattershot, Trizooka is one of the strongest specials in the game currently and being able to get it more efficiently can be extremely beneficial. It can be used in small counts just to get a faster Trizooka, or it can be stacked to let you spam the special which usually isn't optimal but it can be used if your tema doesn't have a consistent way to get in or a way to deal with an annoying backline.
Quick Respawn can be used in high counts of the ability, you need to stack at least 1m2s of Quick Respawn for it to be useful. I only recommend going Quick Respawn if you plan on fighting a lot, the ability doesn't give you an excuse to feed and die but it can be really useful insurance if you plan on taking risky fights or are the main engager on your team. Quick Respawn isn't something you can just slap onto any build, it definitely requires a specific playstyle to get the most use out of it.
Intensify Action is a super useful ability on Splattershot, reducing jump rng can help you win so many fights and the extra movement is helpful as well. At the very least, I would use either specifically 1m1s or 2-4s of Intesify Action on every shot build. I like builds with a lot of Intesify Action since it lets me play fights more like a Splash-O-Matic would, but I often use less to prioritize mobility or utility.
[Bomb Defense Up]These are all strong utility subs that have powerful effects using only 1 to 2 subs. Quick Super Jump and Ink Resistence Up are required, these abilities are extremely strong with even just one sub. Special saver is generally pretty high value at just 1 sub, and unless you're really tight on space I recommend using it. Ink Recovery Up and Bomb Defense Up are usable, but are too build or matchup specific to recommend for the most part.
Skeleton Build:
Almost every good shot build will use at least these abilities, except for Last Ditch Effort or Ninja Squid builds. If you don't know where to start with your build, start here and build up the rest to see how you like it. I change small things in my builds all the time, it's a constant cycle of learning, figuring out whats best for me, and adapting, this is all my opinion and it's totally okay to use abilities outside of this guide! Abilities like object shredder and haunt can both see niche use, and there's probably a cool application for Shot I haven't even thought of yet.
Sample Builds are In the posts below, all of these builds I've constructed in game and in Sendou.Ink's analyzer tool, I highly suggest you check it out and use it for your builds if you aren't already. While you can take a build you like here and use it without any changes, I highly recommend tweaking counts of subs and mains, and figuring out what works best for your specific playstyle. If anyone has any questions, or comments they'd like to add feel free to post them in the thread!
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