Stingray is bad.

[Elecmaw]

I'm sure some people have found some uses for it, but that's not the point. The point being is that the scenarios where the stingray may be useful are too little when you compare them to other specials.

 

[Dessgeega]

I think that part of the issue is the commitment. Once you use it you're unable to do anything besides sting ray and swim for 8 seconds. That is an eternity in this game. No other special takes away your main weapon for that long without something in return. An ill-timed Sting Ray is much more likely to render you dead or ineffectual than a Baller or Inkjet would.

 

[the]

I think that part of the issue is the commitment. Once you use it you're unable to do anything besides sting ray and swim for 8 seconds. That is an eternity in this game. No other special takes away your main weapon for that long without something in return. An ill-timed Sting Ray is much more likely to render you dead or ineffectual than a Baller or Inkjet would.

Plus this problem becomes worse when you consider that the special power up ability just makes the stingray last longer, possibly to the detriment of the wearer. It's sad that it's pretty much a wasted ability slot on stingray weaps when other specials get good bonuses off of it.

 

[Mawnster]

Its not though. I main the basic splatterscope class and the sintgray is amazing on tower control and rainmaker. I will admit that is the worst special in turf wars and splatzones, the lack of turf coverage it provides makes it hard to use in those modes.

 

[the]

Its not though. I main the basic splatterscope class and the sintgray is amazing on tower control and rainmaker. I will admit that is the worst special in turf wars and splatzones, the lack of turf coverage it provides makes it hard to use in those modes.

That's the thing, though. We've established that the stingray isn't completely unusable. But it has the least use in the fewest amount of modes. It's more situational than pretty much any other special, and it definitely needs some kind of buff in order to be viable in turf war and splat zones. I would argue that it's the only special that isn't just as useful in every game mode.

 

[Torloth]

It depends on the Stage Sometimes I love it others...no thanks. Port Mackerel I had some luck since most of the stage is mostly the same level. But I would rather have anything else.

 

[cm250]

I've had a great time with the sting ray on sturgeon shipyard because if I don't get the splat they just fall off
Plus I got 10 splats in two games altogether

 

[RelicRaider]

Who ever used the killer wail to splat exclusively wasn't using it right, and to an extent it's the same with the stingray, it feels good when you get a kill, but primarily, its area denial, and it pops the Rainmaker shield pretty fast too. Are people all sitting clumped on the tower? Stingray to scare them off and your team to recapture. And I'm pretty sure there's a use for splat zones too. It may seem underpowered, but it still does its job pretty well if you use it right.

 

[Leedika42]

Something I've found the stingray useful for is getting assists when a teammate is engaging someone

 

[LancerStaff]

Stingray isn't that bad. Definitely a lower end one but hardly unusable.

The specials in general are kinda... Eh. Some do little more than refill your ink and cover a minuscule amount of ground if used improperly, some make you a defenseless target, and others just limit your options. ...Uh, the Stingray isn't the only one with some overlap lol.

I really think a few more minor buffs would fix it. Already it's really good in certain situations... Honestly with how much people bash it I'm afraid of them overbuffing it.

 

[Maave]

Yeah it's pretty weak. It's like a Kill Me beacon and you can't even use sub weapons with it.
Tips:
-Special Power Up gear will increase the time that it's active, not the damage it does. Don't use Special Power Up with Stingray!
-fire in bursts so that you can re-target faster
-Target squids on even ground. Avoid firing upward or downward since it gives the enemy a lot more freedom of movement.
-Stand behind solid objects if you want full x-ray vision
-When possible, wait for a teammate to use Ink Storm
-Like Mawnster mentioned it's better on RM and TC where people group up. I've had good luck using it in Rainmaker since it passes through the rainmaker's shield

 

[Fullmental]

Yeah it's pretty weak. It's like a Kill Me beacon and you can't even use sub weapons with it.
Tips:
-Special Power Up gear will increase the time that it's active, not the damage it does. Don't use Special Power Up with Stingray!
-fire in bursts so that you can re-target faster
-Target squids on even ground. Avoid firing upward or downward since it gives the enemy a lot more freedom of movement.
-Stand behind solid objects if you want full x-ray vision
-When possible, wait for a teammate to use Ink Storm
-Like Mawnster mentioned it's better on RM and TC where people group up. I've had good luck using it in Rainmaker since it passes through the rainmaker's shield

I was disappointed myself when I found the special power just increased duration. I wasn't even expecting damage increase, I just wanted a tiny bit more mobility.

 

[Pain-ter]

Its not though. I main the basic splatterscope class and the sintgray is amazing on tower control and rainmaker. I will admit that is the worst special in turf wars and splatzones, the lack of turf coverage it provides makes it hard to use in those modes.

Personally, I've been playing it in S rank, and I find it harder to use on rainmaker than zones, just because in rainmaker, everyone is constantly moving over the whole map instead of being concentrated in one spot.
In any case, I end up using it about 4-5 times in a match, and I get 1 or 2 kills each time... I think people just need to be more open minded and get used to it.
(But hey a dmg boost or faster dmging would be nice)

 

[Eshuan]

I think you shouldn't think of the sting ray as a killer wail and as a suction bomb. From what I see, the suction bomb is used to make people move from a certain spot so they don't get splatted. I use the sting ray to either move someone from a spot, stop a base invasion or to get an assist if someone else is fighting an enemy.

 

[Elecmaw]

I also found out that you can use Stingray to harass E-Liters, which is somewhat useful because they outrange both Splat Chargers/Heavies with their default weapon.
Too bad the E-Liter has been a very rare sight so far.

 

[Eshuan]

I also found out that you can use Stingray to harass E-Liters, which is somewhat useful because they outrange both Splat Chargers/Heavies with their default weapon.
Too bad the E-Liter has been a very rare sight so far.

E-Liters are scarce because they are a level 30 unlock

 

[Spraylan]

Really all I want is 2 things for the Stingray:

1) When using it, have the thermal silhouettes show up while firing, and even when the squids are visible.

2) Make the silhouettes brighter

OPTIONAL: While my Stingray is active, give my teammates the thermal sight as well.

I feel like this would make the weapon much more viable for Turf War without making it unbalanced in other modes. Personally, I'd really like it if the Stingray was something you dropped off to slowly autotarget random squids, so as not to lock me down in squdding duck mode for an eternity. Make it attackable or whatever.

 

[mvsdkrocks]

E-Liters are scarce because they are a level 30 unlock

Well actually the E-Liter 4K Scope is a Level 30 unlock, I've seen plenty of standard Eliter 4Ks and I haven't seen many people above level 30 yet. I even tried to use it myself before realizing I can't play charging weapons XD.

I think the only use the stingray has is to make people on the other team more nervious because it looks intimidating. Other than that, I think even the Ink Storm has more kill potential than this, it's kinda sad.

I honestly sometimes feel like weapons that have stingray as their special aren't as viable because I feel stingray is a useless special. (It's almost as if those weapons don't even have a special at all.)

Some improvements could be to make the stingray move quicker (Like the ones in Salmon Run) or to maybe make it so that you can always see opponents during the Stingray. (Is that too broken? IDK)

 

[Eshuan]

Some improvements could be to make the stingray move quicker (Like the ones in Salmon Run)

The ones in salmon run are controlled by AI so they know where you are going, thats why they are spot on

 

[mvsdkrocks]

The ones in salmon run are controlled by AI so they know where you are going, thats why they are spot on

Well yeah thats true but they also are able to turn much faster than normal stingrays.