Splatoon 2 Thoughts on Ninja Squid?

[Drew Sebastino]

I don't know why I'm making a thread over this just now, because I've always thought that Ninja Squid was a highly underrated ability, and wanted to hear other people's thoughts on it. I was legitimately surprised that this was not removed like Damage Up in Splatoon 2's bid to be "more competitive," because I felt that it was ridiculous even in the first game, where it wasn't even as useful as it is here. It's definitely one of the things that helped me finally get to S+ in that game; maybe my playstyle just lends well to Ninja Squid, but after making it something I would regularly equip, I was playing noticeably better.

I think what makes it very valuable is that it, quite frankly, it allows you to survive in situations where you really shouldn't be able to, and survival is one of the most important things in either game. There have been numerous times where I've been surprised, which normally leads to death 99% of the time, but I actually escaped, albeit with 1% health, because my attacker couldn't find where I went. In addition, if you have a shorter range weapon, it is good for getting you past the "ideal range" of a longer range weapon in scenarios where it would normally be impossible to otherwise. Ninja Squid also pretty much invalidates Chargers for the fact they can't hit what they can't see.

 

[RelicRaider]

There is a way to spot people using ninja squid, but I will admit it takes a keen eye and a lot more difficult to spot than ink ripples. I think what takes it away for some people is the slow swim speed, which is a fair trade off, but I’m kind of one of those people that gets into movement flow and I love having fast swim speed, which I can either use the rest of my gear making up the deficit, or focus on something else.

 

[Elecmaw]

NS is a fair ability that does get used fairly often, most notably on Rollers who can appreciate the ability to zoom unnoticed on targets. It also really helps in duels, where if you quickly submerge you can throw off anyone who was directly firing at you. But it's speed debuff is not to be taken lightly, as inside and outside combat you'll feel that slowdown all the time.

It has a resurgence in S2 mostly because Echo is no longer a thing, and few meta weapons have sensors these days. Dualie Squelchers are getting more popular by the day though, so you always have to watch out getting marked by those.

 

[Drew Sebastino]

There is a way to spot people using ninja squid, but I will admit it takes a keen eye and a lot more difficult to spot than ink ripples.

It's virtually impossible to see during a fight though.

NS is a fair ability that does get used fairly often, most notably on Rollers who can appreciate the ability to zoom unnoticed on targets.

I see it a bit on Rollers, but not too much elsewhere, despite the fact that every weapon benefits from it pretty well, aside from Chargers and Splattlings. Short range weapons other than Rollers benefit from Ninja Squid in the same way Rollers do, and long range weapons like the Jet Squelcher benefit from it in that they can attempt to escape the range of a short range weapon if they get too close, or at least throw them off.

But it's speed debuff is not to be taken lightly, as inside and outside combat you'll feel that slowdown all the time.

A Swim Speed Up main will negate the difference, but of course, this is two mains being used instead of just one. I don't think this was as bad as it was in Splatoon 1, because gear abilities are generally less valuable in Splatoon 2; there is no Damage Up that was near essential for some weapons, (one of the many reasons why the E-Liter is only a shell of its former self) Quick Respawn is only good if you never kill anyone, Stealth Jump is not completely invisible anymore, and anything that deals with specials has been indirectly nerfed because specials themselves are less powerful.

 

[Nutmeat]

Most of my builds focus on Ninja Squid with mains of Swim Speed Up and ink saver sub-abilities. I would say that combat in this game comes down to this: in a fair fight between equally skilled opponents, the expcted outcome is a trade, therefore its always best to only engage when you have something to tip the scales in your favor, whether it be an advantage of range, skill, awareness, angle, whatever. Ninja Squid provides that advantage that can turn a trade into a one-way splat.

 

[Mar$el]

Slosher Build

Blaster Build

I find it quite helpful for closing gaps when they need to be (approaching longer range weapons) and help me to be able to pick more fights or giving me a chance to move out of the way unnoticed.

 

[Ansible]

I see it a bit on Rollers, but not too much elsewhere, despite the fact that every weapon benefits from it pretty well, aside from Chargers and Splattlings.

*surprise Bamboozler*

Splatted @Drew Sebastino

"No one expects the Bamboozler..." *slides back into ink*

Yes, I'm serious... sort of. But since you can hold a charge while swimming and it doesn't light up like a Christmas bulb, I can pretty much get away with it. It's almost the only weapon I bother using Ninja Squid on.

Swim speed deficit? I often don't bother making up for it. If I get in trouble and can't escape, it's my own fault. Consequently though, I despise having to be the one picking up the rainmaker.

 

[Drew Sebastino]

But since you can hold a charge while swimming and it doesn't light up like a Christmas bulb

I actually never knew that... Of course, I haven't even bought it, despite being level 42.

Swim speed deficit? I often don't bother making up for it. If I get in trouble and can't escape, it's my own fault.

I still like it for the fact that I can get from point A to point B faster; it feels like every other time I super jump, there's someone other than my teammate to greet me when I land.

Consequently though, I despise having to be the one picking up the rainmaker.

I forgot about Rainmaker; that's the one time I often don't have it equipped. You will almost never find me with anything other than Run Speed Up or Swim Speed Up in that mode; the number of times where I have grabbed the Rainmaker at the start of the match and brought it all the way to the enemy team's base (in S+ nonetheless) is embarrassing.

 

[Paladerp]

Best unique ability, 10/10.
I run it on both my mains (Tenta Brella and Octobrush Noveau) and it frequently blesses me opportunities for almost-free splats or retreats.
Simailarly to @Ansible, I don't try to mitigate the Swim Speed debuff or anything by adding Swim Speed Up, I just try to be patient, get better at staying alive/killing them before they kill me, and set beakons in places that help me get back into the battle quicker.

 

[RelicRaider]

Tbh whenever I play bamboozler I just have to go all in for the damp ghillie hat, suit and boots, but they don’t carry ninja squid, so it tends to get ignored.

Thing is, it’s tough to get the subs you want on a ninja squid shirt, as there’s no krak on branded ninja squid shirt, so I tend to ignore it. May give it a try though as I recently found out the Roller was my most used weapon

 

[Mr Hemulen]

But since you can hold a charge while swimming and it doesn't light up like a Christmas bulb, I can pretty much get away with it.

Is this charge holding mechanic without lightbulb unique to the Bamboo? Or does Ninja squid also surpress the glow on other chargers swimming with held charge, particularly gootuber?

 

[Paladerp]

Is this charge holding mechanic without lightbulb unique to the Bamboo? Or does Ninja squid also surpress the glow on other chargers swimming with held charge, particularly gootuber?

I don't believe the Bamboozler can even hold a charge while swimming, can it? It just charges really really fast.

 

[the]

I don't believe the Bamboozler can even hold a charge while swimming, can it? It just charges really really fast.

Yeah, I didn’t wanna say anything in case it had changed in an update but iirc bamboozler can’t hold a charge. But with it’s charge time I guess it doesn’t really have to?

 

[saint_kthulhu]

*surprise Bamboozler*


"No one expects the Bamboozler..." *slides back into ink*

Yes, I'm serious... sort of. But since you can hold a charge while swimming and it doesn't light up like a Christmas bulb, I can pretty much get away with it. It's almost the only weapon I bother using Ninja Squid on.

Swim speed deficit? I often don't bother making up for it. If I get in trouble and can't escape, it's my own fault. Consequently though, I despise having to be the one picking up the rainmaker.

I ran into a splat charger in ranked who uses ninja. At first I thought it was dumb because that’s what I’ve read everywhere.

But then kept swimming behind me and shooting me in the back.

He’s my friend now. XD

 

[Ansible]

Yep, among chargers the Bamboozler has an interesting theme going for it. Can't hold a charge while swimming. Can't light up because it's a stick. Short charge time (30 something frames?) for -80hp max and -30hp when tapped (while maintaining max distance) means you don't have to move around with a full charge at the ready like other chargers.

Tbh whenever I play bamboozler I just have to go all in for the damp ghillie hat, suit and boots, but they don’t carry ninja squid, so it tends to get ignored.

Thing is, it’s tough to get the subs you want on a ninja squid shirt, as there’s no krak on branded ninja squid shirt, so I tend to ignore it. May give it a try though as I recently found out the Roller was my most used weapon

lol, would be awesome to get the ghillie suit with ninja squid to kit out the ghillie outfit!

But it is hard to get it with swim speed. Currently my personal favorites are a pink hoodie with ink saver main and the green (matcha?) jacket with bomb defense up.