The Splatoon 2 Inkbrush...

[Jimbob]

Having more time with the game, I have encountered some great Inkbrush users who put in great work. Buuuuuuuuuuuut most of the time, they just can't keep up and contribute like most weapons can. And this is between both ranked and turf nowadays. In almost every case where one team has an inkbrush, chances are they will lose, kinda like the Aerospray now that I think about it. :p

I would beg to differ. I never played Splatoon 1, and just got into splatoon 2. I sucked with the guns and found my groove with the inkbrush. In turf war I tend to win quite often and get the most kills. I’m amazed the inkbrush isn’t more popular.

 

[The Salamander King]

The Inkbrush was bad in the 1st game, and not much has changed in the 2nd. The brush itself has horrible range and a slow TTK when compared to other weapons who have the same or greater range, such as the Sploosh, Splattershot, Splash, and .52 Gal. The only reason the Inkbrush even stayed semi-relevant in the first game was because of the Permanent Inkbrush and It's Kracken. This weapon no longer exists, and the kits of the new Inkbrushes are some of the worst in the game. It is good at painting, but similarly to the Aerospray, that's basically all it can do well. It will lose in most fights as well. Just about every weapon outranges Inkbrush, and since the only thing it can use to pressure at long range is the slow Splat Bomb, all the opposing weapon has to do is walk backwards and shoot. Overall, the vanilla Octobrush is a much better choice in almost every way. You sacrifice a little bit of speed, but you actually have range and killing potential with Octo.

 

[Spaceswitchmars]

I've been getting a bunch of ink brushes on team lately in TC/2P league, and my question is... why? In TC, that's a comp killer. I hate to be the guy complaining about the weapon choice of the other pair in 2P league, but TC is the mode where ink brush helps the least. There's literally nothing it does that actually helps win TC games better than any other weapon in the game.

On the flip side, I've been pleasantly surprised with ink brush in clams (for obvious reasons) and zones recently.

Overall, when someone picks a weapon like this, my feeling is -- earn it. I won't shade someone for picking a weapon that's generally considered bottom tier if they make it work. If it works, it works. The issue is when someone picks this weapon, it destroys the comp and the player's individual performance also doesn't justify the pick. Fact is, someone playing a splattershot badly probably helps winning more than someone playing ink brush so-so... so earn it and there's no issue.

I know this comes off as harsh, and it don't mean for that to be the case, but Splatoon does match making based on power level and awards or punishes wins and loses based on power level. It does not account for when you're matched with a 2P team that picks comp destroying weapons. I can't choose who is or isn't the other 2P team playing with me, so I just hope that team chooses weapons that doesn't put my team at a huge disadvantage.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

The inkbrush will unfortunately always stay in a bad position. This is thanks to it's awful range, and just pitiful 5 flick kill that makes the opponent feel tickled instead of threatened. While it sure is fast, and it can cover turf, many other weapons can do the same, with workable range + respectable combat abilities, and a better support kit as well.

Weapons like: the Splattershot Jr. , the Sploosh-o-matic, the splash-o-matic, the N-Zap (obviously), and even the aerospray can do what the inkbrush is supposed to do much more effectively. As they can all cover turf just as fast, or faster, and help their team doing so. The splattershot jr and the N-Zap cover just as much turf and they can support their team with their specials. Which is what the inkbrush is supposed to be anyway, a support weapon. The splash-o-matic and sploosh cover just as much turf and their combat abilities are much better with their range and superior firepower. Finally, the aerospray replaces the inkbrush as a special spammer, being able to grab it's specials faster than the inkbrush and being much better in combat as well. Even though the aerospray was a pathetic combat weapon to begin with.

And all this is not even considering that the Octobrush directly counters the inkbrush in every combat scenario, and it actually can kill people without having a teammate close by to it. The only sacrifice you make for using an octobrush over an inkbrush is a reduction in speed, but even then, the octobrush still moves fast and can still cover turf respectably well. Making the inkbrush a weapon that's hard to use, and is unrewarding since it's role on a team can be so easily replaced.

 

[Ansible]

I gotta agree with GG Gabriel's video on weapon stereotypes. Inkbrush: I like pain

In Splatoon 1 and 2 it's an extremely high-risk low-reward weapon that practically requires a different mindset or playstyle compared to other short-range weapons. Especially short-range shooters.

Wounds me every time I see an inkbrush (even myself) attempt to slug it out head-on or stand in place instead of using its gifted mobility, speed, and turfing. It's almost as painful as the Octobrush getting the "Herobrush" label and hero skin instead of it. *wince*

It's not something for the faint of patience and high salt intolerant, that's for certain! Personally, if anyone wanted to use a brush weapon I'd strongly aim them towards the Octobrush series as using it is not too far from a shooter for many players.

 

[UnChosen]

The Inkbrush was bad in the 1st game, and not much has changed in the 2nd. The brush itself has horrible range and a slow TTK when compared to other weapons who have the same or greater range, such as the Sploosh, Splattershot, Splash, and .52 Gal. The only reason the Inkbrush even stayed semi-relevant in the first game was because of the Permanent Inkbrush and It's Kracken. This weapon no longer exists, and the kits of the new Inkbrushes are some of the worst in the game. It is good at painting, but similarly to the Aerospray, that's basically all it can do well. It will lose in most fights as well. Just about every weapon outranges Inkbrush, and since the only thing it can use to pressure at long range is the slow Splat Bomb, all the opposing weapon has to do is walk backwards and shoot. Overall, the vanilla Octobrush is a much better choice in almost every way. You sacrifice a little bit of speed, but you actually have range and killing potential with Octo.

Actually the Inkbrush in this game is not even that good at painting because it no longer has the Sprinkler+Inkstrike kit. Just the Inkbrush by itself is actually pretty mediocre at painting because of its terrible movement while flicking. All the ink just falls near the same spot, and having to constantly swim forward make it so much slower at inking compared to fast firing shooters.

I have achieved some success by alternating between rolling and flicking and haphazardly spraying ink deep into the enemy territory without worrying about making solid coverage to swim in...but it is incredibly risky not to mention ink hungry so I have to stack massive amount of ink saver and ink recovery. Meanwhile, the Sploosh has far superior inking, curling bomb is better than rolling, and I can actually splat someone when in range.

 

[Saltqueen]

I main a brush and it's honestly one of the best weapons for my play style.

I can average 8 to 14 kills a game and also being able to cover turf super quick.

One match in TW, Port Mackerel, all of my team makes were standing back in the lanes too scared to get killed as they shot at the opponents down the other end ((and failed)). I took it upon myself to dash in there and ended up killing their whole team giving us an advantage and winning.

This shows that it's a sneak and close play weapon, and you need to be quick and slick when playing. I guess it all comes with practice.