Splatoon 2 The Support Role

[Vitezen]

This topic came to me after I noticed a certain pattern in posts pertaining to improving at Splatoon. It seemed that whenever a player came looking for general advice in playing the game, they always identified themselves as a support player. I wouldn't see posts saying things like "I'm an aggressive player, how do I get better deathmatch skills?" or "I'm a defensive player, how do I hold my position better?"

I did a lot of thinking about what I consider to be a support player, in relation to other games and to Splatoon. I'm not going to post that here right now, as it would involve me explaining a lot about other games. But the conclusion to which I came is a bold and possibly controversial statement: The support role as many people understand it doesn't exist in Splatoon. Instead, each weapon in the game is defined by its ability to threaten opponents with death. There is no weapon whose goal is only to perform a passive activity.

Here are the ways in which I would classify weapons, as well as some examples in the categories.

Offensive: If you let me approach you correctly, I win. These weapons utilize mobility and fast kills to approach opponents from a variety of angles. If they do play defensively, it usually takes the form of lying in wait in a hidden position, waiting for the opponent to come dangerously close before appearing for the kill.
Sploosh-o-matic, Splat Roller, Dapple Dualies, Luna Blaster, Octobrush

Defensive: If you approach me incorrectly, I win. These weapons work best when given an entrenched position to defend. They don't have to worry about hiding because they can openly bully shorter-ranged weapons who enter their sight. Because of their advantage when approached incorrectly, offensive weapons use their mobility options to thwart their defensive positioning and force them out of it.
Jet Squelcher, Dynamo Roller, Splat Charger, E-liter 4K, Rapid Blaster

Special / Support: I can't come up with a catchy way to phrase the philosophy behind these weapons. These weapons are lacking in the previous criteria. They generally are outranged by other weapons, and don't have as much mobility. What these weapons do have is the ability to quickly build specials. Because of this, their preferred method of engaging with opponents is to start by quickly getting their special ready, and then popping it to attack the enemy alongside their team. Generally, if these weapons aren't starting a fight by popping their special, something has gone wrong.
Splattershot Jr. / Custom, Aerospray RG, Splash-o-matic, Splat Dualies, Splat Brella

As I said, the important thing to note in these categories is that every weapon is defined by its method of threatening to kill opponents. For example, there is nothing like a pure painting weapon. As long as every weapon has even a decent ability to paint the ground, when working together with a team, the ground will be painted in no time. There's no point in focusing solely on painting the ground when enemies are alive, and with no interruptions, there should be no problem doing it anyway. Also, while I posted the most iconic weapons for each of these categories, they function as a spectrum. A blaster will play defensively against a sploosh, while playing offensively against an e-liter. Many weapons are somewhere in the middle.

Please discuss and post your feedback on these theories. I understand they may be wrong, but these conclusions are what I reached after many hours playing and watching the Splatoon games.

 

[Flopps]

Does the Jet Squelcher count a support weapon too?

 

[Dessgeega]

Support's a wide umbrella. It's an appealing term for people who people who traditionally don't play competitive shooters and want to contribute to battles despite their lacking combat skills. Killing isn't everything, even in this combat-heavy meta. "Support" includes painting to control the map, backing up allies to make fights uneven in their favor, zoning, and so on. I've won matches many times simply because the enemy couldn't make progress to gain any ground even when they're all alive. But then, I'd consider myself "aggro support" - I hang back and do all of the above, but I can and will go for the throat when I get the chance.

 

[Vitezen]

@Flopps I rank the jet squelcher as a defensive weapon because it will do well enough in a strong position, and doesn't need to farm special to succeed. It can usually win a fight without using the missiles, and can't get the missiles as quickly as other weapons.

Support's a wide umbrella. It's an appealing term for people who people who traditionally don't play competitive shooters and want to contribute to battles despite their lacking combat skills. Killing isn't everything, even in this combat-heavy meta. "Support" includes painting to control the map, backing up allies to make fights uneven in their favor, zoning, and so on. I've won matches many times simply because the enemy couldn't make progress to gain any ground even when they're all alive. But then, I'd consider myself "aggro support" - I hang back and do all of the above, but I can and will go for the throat when I get the chance.

I think those are all important, but every weapon can do them to some extent. A coordinated team can quickly paint the entire middle area of a map in a few seconds, and therefore having a dedicated "painting" player on a team isn't that useful. As for backing up allies and zoning, these strengths only exist because of the threat of death. You can't zone someone if they can simply ignore your zoning and kill you. Basically the distinction between support and offensive / defensive as I define them is that a support player MUST build his special before he can reliably reach the power of the other weapons, but his ability to quickly build that special allows him to contribute to the team in ways beyond his face-to-face combat. Of course, like I said, this is a spectrum. The Nzap is more of an offensive weapon compared to the Jr, but there are plenty of times where you'll want to hang back a few seconds to top off your ink armor; the difference is that this isn't as required or common as it would be for the Jr. I'm not saying that certain weapons should just never worry about inking or building special; a player needs to know their priorities when they pick a weapon, how success with that weapon looks.

 

[Mawnster]

Great post, I really think you are on to something with this new lens of exmaining weapons.
My behavior with the SplatBrella is as you mentioned, if I begin a push without Inkstorm, then I have made a mistake. Without that storm there isn't enough chaos for a Brella to take advantage of. I may be considered "supporting" but really I ebb and flow between intense moments of turf defense to aggresive pushing with the storm.

 

[Flopps]

@Flopps I rank the jet squelcher as a defensive weapon because it will do well enough in a strong position, and doesn't need to farm special to succeed. It can usually win a fight without using the missiles, and can't get the missiles as quickly as other weapons.


I think those are all important, but every weapon can do them to some extent. A coordinated team can quickly paint the entire middle area of a map in a few seconds, and therefore having a dedicated "painting" player on a team isn't that useful. As for backing up allies and zoning, these strengths only exist because of the threat of death. You can't zone someone if they can simply ignore your zoning and kill you. Basically the distinction between support and offensive / defensive as I define them is that a support player MUST build his special before he can reliably reach the power of the other weapons, but his ability to quickly build that special allows him to contribute to the team in ways beyond his face-to-face combat. Of course, like I said, this is a spectrum. The Nzap is more of an offensive weapon compared to the Jr, but there are plenty of times where you'll want to hang back a few seconds to top off your ink armor; the difference is that this isn't as required or common as it would be for the Jr. I'm not saying that certain weapons should just never worry about inking or building special; a player needs to know their priorities when they pick a weapon, how success with that weapon looks.

Okay. Just wondering since some guy said that it was a support weapon.

 

[Saber]

@Vitzen
You bring some great points in this thread especially which the weapons that fit into which category

I Created a thread similar to this, but it goes into more specific detail on how each player roles an how they go about playing a match as well as some tips on how to improve, but I was wondering if you could ID some of the weapons that work better in the roles I made, some of them I some feel might be a little off

Here's the link
https://squidboards.com/threads/player-archetypes-in-splatoon.31739/#post-241789

 

[Dark Sage Walker]

Weapons like the Heavy Splatling and the Jet Squelcher are my jam. I guess that makes me a defensive player usually?

 

[The Salamander King]

Weapons like the Heavy Splatling and the Jet Squelcher are my jam. I guess that makes me a defensive player usually?

Same. I would say that a good Jet can kind of slip through the defence and support easily.

 

[The Salamander King]

Does the Jet Squelcher count a support weapon too?

In my opinion, a lot of the time Jet falls into the grey area between Defence and Support depending n how you use it. I play a more defensive Jet, whereas Rockenberg plays a much more aggressive Jet. It depends on the player.

 

[the]

I can't speak on whether this is the proper definition, but I've always seen a support weapon in splatoon as a weapon that not only can't carry, but actually needs its teammates to be pulling their weight before it can offer them extra assistance. So it's kinda like a higher-risk-higher-payoff type of thing. Which is probably why teams with more than one sniper, etc often lose to teams of four midrange shooters, especially if the chargers aren't 100% accurate at the start of the game. Weapons like the tenta brella and eliter like to have map control to be useful, so if the rest of the team can't get their foot in the door, the support weapon's potential drops by a lot. The dynamo is good at throwing around ink, but slow and fairly inaccurate with killing, so charging forward without your team is bad news waiting to happen.
But if the other team members can gain control of an area, the eliter can pick off opponents with more safety, the tenta brella can set up and launch its shield, and the dynamo can supress pushes with its huge coverage. That kind of risk/reward is usually what defines something as a "support weapon" to me.

Support's a wide umbrella.

Well, that's true..... The tenta brella certainly *is* a support weapon :p

 

[Vitezen]

@the To me, defensive weapons are those that need a secure position to make their stand. This applies to many chargers, who can't be pressured by enemies and need a good angle in order to snipe properly. They have an easy time defending a good position, but a harder time acquiring it.
Offensive weapons don't really care about the map state. They're built to push and ambush, so they'll have no problem approaching the enemy.
Support weapons are more nuanced. They're still fairly mobile, and can push alongside the offensive weapons. However, when pushed back to their own spawn, they can actually benefit from this. The abundance of enemy ink on the ground just means that a support weapon can more easily gain access to its specials repeatedly, making for an easier comeback.
When looking at more defensive weapons, I think a great idea is to consider how easily they can aid in a push to regain their favored territory. If they can't directly target the enemy due to bad positioning, they may be able to use enemy ink to build special to help their offensive players.

 

[Elecmaw]

Yeah, i've noticed the term support gets thrown around far too much lol. It gets kinda weird when Chargers get described as a support weapon when they are a defensive weapon by nature(They ink less, they dump all their power in one lethal shot so they can't really finish stragglers like Jet does).

I describe myself as a defensive/aggressive player, but i readily will switch between roles whenever necessary. Support is nice, but what if you are locked in a duel between a ttek? Or you are the last squid standing and there's 2-3 enemies trying to take back ground? What if you are in solo queue and your team underpreforms compared to you? Even if you have something like a Jet Squelcher a support playstyle will not help there.

Support weapons in this game IMHO, are weapons that make it worse for enemy players to play properly and easier for your own to play successfully. While support roles in this game don't exist in a moba sense (thank god), you can still support your team in some way or another.

 

[vanille987]

Support is a weird case in splatoon.
I mean, there's no buffing or healing to speak off and you still (or better said schould) get in lots of combat situations.

To my, its a mix between defensive and offensive.
You won't be pushing nor standing in vantage spots to make the most out of your main weapon 24/7.
More like both pushing or seizing vantage spots.
A support weapon doesn't have both the pros and cons as much as defensive/offensive weapons.
Keeping this in mind, support weapons stand in the middle of things and you can take this quite literary on the battlefield.
You make sure everything that needs to be is under ink.
You make sure to ambush oppenents that sneak beyond the front line's (or ATLEAST warn your team)
You make your teammates job easier by picking enemy's from afar, use subs, ambush them while they are busy with a teammate, bring cover fire for added pressure, create weak points in an enemy team, soften them up beforehand etc.
Hel, going against an enemy team that defeated the rest of your team but is considerable weakened as a result, is a valid strategy if you now what your doing.

So although you schouldn't effectively seek combat, you schouldn't shy away from any combat also and take your chance and play 'aggresively' once the need arrives.
Like when your team pushes, bring back-up fire, pressure, seek openings to sieze major results (like sneak to a vantage point in the enemy base during a push)...
Supports schould still have a considerable kill count at the end of day too.

I play mostly support and thats how i would describe it.
A mix between defensive and offensive that sees and seizes oppertunity's by quikly switching to a defensive or offensive role.
Its a complicated manner at first but its pretty natural once you have expierence with it.
Some good support weapons are imo:
Carbon roller, bamboozler, (duallie) sqeulchers, Long barrel nozzlenose, vanila rapid blaster, both heavy splatlings.

 

[Spaceswitchmars]

Some good support weapons are imo:
Carbon roller, bamboozler, (duallie) sqeulchers, Long barrel nozzlenose, vanila rapid blaster, both heavy splatlings.

I'll add to this: SSP (mostly vanilla but also the Forge) and the rapid pro. Ink storm is an excellent support special. Point sensors and toxic mist are both really good support subs (that I also, admittedly, under-utilize). The weapons themselves can ink more than you think and provide defense/support for your buds.

 

[RoronoaTREY15]

This topic came to me after I noticed a certain pattern in posts pertaining to improving at Splatoon. It seemed that whenever a player came looking for general advice in playing the game, they always identified themselves as a support player. I wouldn't see posts saying things like "I'm an aggressive player, how do I get better deathmatch skills?" or "I'm a defensive player, how do I hold my position better?"

I did a lot of thinking about what I consider to be a support player, in relation to other games and to Splatoon. I'm not going to post that here right now, as it would involve me explaining a lot about other games. But the conclusion to which I came is a bold and possibly controversial statement: The support role as many people understand it doesn't exist in Splatoon. Instead, each weapon in the game is defined by its ability to threaten opponents with death. There is no weapon whose goal is only to perform a passive activity.

Here are the ways in which I would classify weapons, as well as some examples in the categories.

Offensive: If you let me approach you correctly, I win. These weapons utilize mobility and fast kills to approach opponents from a variety of angles. If they do play defensively, it usually takes the form of lying in wait in a hidden position, waiting for the opponent to come dangerously close before appearing for the kill.
Sploosh-o-matic, Splat Roller, Dapple Dualies, Luna Blaster, Octobrush

Defensive: If you approach me incorrectly, I win. These weapons work best when given an entrenched position to defend. They don't have to worry about hiding because they can openly bully shorter-ranged weapons who enter their sight. Because of their advantage when approached incorrectly, offensive weapons use their mobility options to thwart their defensive positioning and force them out of it.
Jet Squelcher, Dynamo Roller, Splat Charger, E-liter 4K, Rapid Blaster

Special / Support: I can't come up with a catchy way to phrase the philosophy behind these weapons. These weapons are lacking in the previous criteria. They generally are outranged by other weapons, and don't have as much mobility. What these weapons do have is the ability to quickly build specials. Because of this, their preferred method of engaging with opponents is to start by quickly getting their special ready, and then popping it to attack the enemy alongside their team. Generally, if these weapons aren't starting a fight by popping their special, something has gone wrong.
Splattershot Jr. / Custom, Aerospray RG, Splash-o-matic, Splat Dualies, Splat Brella

As I said, the important thing to note in these categories is that every weapon is defined by its method of threatening to kill opponents. For example, there is nothing like a pure painting weapon. As long as every weapon has even a decent ability to paint the ground, when working together with a team, the ground will be painted in no time. There's no point in focusing solely on painting the ground when enemies are alive, and with no interruptions, there should be no problem doing it anyway. Also, while I posted the most iconic weapons for each of these categories, they function as a spectrum. A blaster will play defensively against a sploosh, while playing offensively against an e-liter. Many weapons are somewhere in the middle.

Please discuss and post your feedback on these theories. I understand they may be wrong, but these conclusions are what I reached after many hours playing and watching the Splatoon games.

First, what is your in game name? Someone that finally gets it. I'll take it a step further.
If you have sprinkler, ink mine, pointsensor, or toxic mist as your sub. You are PROBABLY support or defense.
This means if you want to help your team, YOU MUST USE YOUR SUB. Im not going to name names, but there are a couple of .52's online that throw sensor like twice a match. When they aren't on my team I laugh. When they are on my team I want to throw my controller. That point sensor should be spammed like crazy. YOU KNOW an octobrush, luna, ttek, has to go in eventually, spamming point sensor makes their life rough.
Spam that toxic mist! Spam that sprinkler!
Also if u are placing mines on your half of the map.... YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG! Place ink mines in aggressive places! Place then in the middle of the map, or suicide squad it to there side! Ink mines on your side of the map do nothing! It just means when you are getting beat, they are located and no o e can punish them!

Also jet squelchers..... YOU ARE ALLOWED TO SHOOT PEOPLE WITHOUT TENTAMISSILLES! If you see your teammate fighting, stop building special and go help! If you see there is 4 down, waste special and grab rm, or ride tower and shoot special! If three are down on your team, get down from that high spot and squid jump back! You are just going to die otherwise! Sorry I'm venting cause there is like only one helpful squelcher online lol

 

[Dark Sage Walker]

If you have sprinkler, ink mine, pointsensor, or toxic mist as your sub. You are PROBABLY support or defense.
This means if you want to help your team, YOU MUST USE YOUR SUB. Im not going to name names, but there are a couple of .52's online that throw sensor like twice a match. When they aren't on my team I laugh. When they are on my team I want to throw my controller. That point sensor should be spammed like crazy. YOU KNOW an octobrush, luna, ttek, has to go in eventually, spamming point sensor makes their life rough.
Spam that toxic mist! Spam that sprinkler!
Also if u are placing mines on your half of the map.... YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG! Place ink mines in aggressive places! Place then in the middle of the map, or suicide squad it to there side! Ink mines on your side of the map do nothing! It just means when you are getting beat, they are located and no o e can punish them!

This. Support is having a role that is not purely aggresive or purely defensive. It does the job of, surprisingly enough, supporting the team. I've been using the Rapid Blaster Pro a lot as of late and I simply love the Toxic Mist. Mobile opponent making things difficult? Toxic Mist! Getting pressured by an opponent chasing you down? Toxic Mist! Making a late payment on your rent? Toxic Mist! Why the heck not? It fills a role that would otherwise be missing with the exclusion of the Disruptor.

 

[Mawnster]

@roronoatrey15 That’s a really great way of looking at weapons and trying to figure out what their purpose is. For example, purpose of the heavy splatling vs it’s deco counter part is defined by their subs. A sprinkler indicates that you should be focusing on turf covering, while the deco’s splash wall tells you that you should focus on controlling choke points and making space for your team.

 

[MindWanderer]

Also if u are placing mines on your half of the map.... YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG! Place ink mines in aggressive places! Place then in the middle of the map, or suicide squad it to there side! Ink mines on your side of the map do nothing! It just means when you are getting beat, they are located and no o e can punish them!

I won't agree with this. Ink Mines on your side in Rainmaker can be incredibly helpful. They help actually killing opponents at chokepoints (especially with "partial damage" weapons like blasters and most specials) and they let you know when that one guy has snuck behind you and is trying to ink a path when the Rainmaker isn't there yet.

Tower Control and Splat Zones, agreed. If mines on your side go off in those modes, it's usually old news and doesn't help.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

and they let you know when that one guy has snuck behind you and is trying to ink a path when the Rainmaker isn't there yet.

u wot, are you trying to accuse me of something I clearly didn't do?