Tier the Subs

[Plain]

It's probably a tad early to make one of these threads, as the meta will shift for splat zones, but I'd sure like to see your thoughts on the "Sub Weapons" based on practicality.

Tier 1
Suction Bomb
-My personal pick of all the subs. This one's personal preference, but it's a far more reliable OHKO that the other bombs, and can easily be hidden. I've gotten too many double frags from cornerspamming these. God, they're too satisfying to use. In terms of practicality, they have quite the stopping and kill power. Allows for great as heck mindgames.

Squid Beacon
-Your team just got wiped by a well placed suction bomb, in a choke near enemy territory. They have to fall back and sacrifice turf and lose the match soon afterwards. The Squid Beacon is essential for forward holds, backup plans, etc. Too many times I've been tunnelvisioned and ignored a flanking roller who wiped out team in a choke. I can see these guys DEFINING the meta, with them as key picks-taking them out basically takes out a team mate. Having them on flanks, and sneaky spots like in corners can really help with control too.

Ink Mine
-Great mindgame potential. See someone with a aerospray? The enemy team will have to tread carefully- it punishes over extenders. The chokes in Skatepark are a good example. You can basically teamwipe a choke.

Tier 2
Splash Wall
-They're pushing in. You've only 45 seconds left and there's time to manage a push if you can wipe their team.
No one has their special ready, but you pop a splash wall and it soaks up enough damage so that your team can wipe them allowing you to come back.

Seeker
-Acts as a mini charger for movement. It's good for rolling out in straight lines, like for some routes of saltspray. It homes in and insta's. Though this seems OP, it does expire, can be destroyed and moves pretty slowly. You can use it to put pressure on enemies, though you lose your ink fast enough to make you vulnerable.

Tier 3
Sprinkler
Fully defensive. Misses a lot. It can be used to claim turf, but you do it faster. It can kill overextenders though.

Splat Bomb
There are 2 radiuses. The "Graze" radius and the "OHKO" Radius. How original. However, it's rather hard to use it properly- In a game like this, these nades can be dodged easily. However, I have seen some great plays with it as a fall back deterrent- throwing a explosive behind the enemies can restrict their escape and allow for them to be picked. This is rare but, dangerous. It only works on maps with thin chokes.

Tier 4

Point Sensor
Some synergy with the inkzooka and inkstrike. Otherwise basically useless. It takes your sub so you can't even throw nades or kill. But, what about the wall hax? Not very useful for me, though that'll change as the meta progresses. The combat's more or less who has the
1st shot
Then
2 shots 3 shots or 4 shots.
However, running away also works and lets you set mindgames up.
While you can anticipate ambushes with this, it's more likely you'll trade. That's it really. If you're using a weapon like the junior you'll lose your charge anyway.

Tier 5
Disrupter
A somehow worse version of the Point sensor. It slows enemies down. Uhhhhhh....

Tier 4
Burst Bomb (Edit, it's preetty terrible, should be in T5)
Not a OHKO but spammable. All hits are in Graze radius. (30 damage, needs 4 for kill.)

Go ahead and post your own tierlist. I'm interested in seeing what y'all like to use.

 

[Grasp]

Eh, anything that lets me see the enemy before I see them I consider an advantage. I'd move the Burst Bomb down into the same tier as the Disrupter. To be frank... the Splattershot does the same freaking thing it does, only better. Coincidentally, the first Splattershot comes with burst bombs, so I swapped it with the campaign one first chance I got.

I liked the concept of the disrupter, and it does have a nice radius, but the duration is far too short, and if the enemy is planning to escape, they're still fast enough that I can't catch them on foot and I certainly can't pursue them through their own ink, so going squid form wouldn't do me any good. Basically, ink already serves the purpose of the disrupter. At best, it might give away the position of a hiding enemy in a large pool of enemy ink simply because the effect still applies. So basically it's a mini radar. In a game about inking though, if I'm worried about hiding hostiles, I'll ink properly and work my weapon like a flame thrower, sweeping the area thoroughly with my back right and back left always to my own ink. If another hostile comes along, retreating to high ground or simply hiding myself works wonders as a deterrent, especially when they know you're in waiting.

Sprinkler is hit or miss. Like the wall, it's something of an area denier, only unlike the wall, while it doesn't double as a shield, it does force the enemy to take a moment focusing down the sprinkler if they want to ink an area. This can be invaluable on perch points like the central tower in the skate park, since naturally while being fired out, the ground beneath your feet and possibly behind you is changing colors, and if you need to retreat, it's a gamble.

 

[Technocrow]

I personally kind of like the Disrupter. Although when comparing it to all the other subs it DOES seem kind of weak. I sometimes use it effectively with the Blaster to stun-> kill. Even if you miss your shot and get splatted the duration lasts just long enough for a teammate to get a good shot at them. I don't think it's utter trash, but I mostly agree with your list otherwise.

 

[Reila]

I think the sprinkler is incredible, so I can't agree with it being placed on tier 3.

 

[FunkyLobster]

Tier 5
Disrupter
A somehow worse version of the Point sensor. It slows enemies down. Uhhhhhh....

if you think this is the worst sub my dude, you are in for a world of hurting when someone uses it on you

the disruptor is amazing because it slows other players down, which means they have to commit to the firefight. in splatoon, it's really important to not have to commit so that you can run away and get something else done if something goes awry, because the matches are so short and there's only four players on each team. you have a LOT of responsibility placed on you. if you respawn and superjump, that's still around 10 or 20 seconds down the drain, considering the amount of time it takes to get through the killcam, tap the gamepad to superjump, the amount of time superjumping and respawn, etc... even with quick respawn and the speedy super jump abilities, respawning takes so long and turns the game into a temporary 3v4.

so because the other player has to commit to the fight and can't run away... yeah. even if they don't panic and have strong aiming skills, you'll usually nab the kill since they can't be unpredictable with their movement. and even if you lose the fight, another player will come and clean up your dirty work, since the disruptor's effect lasts for around 10 seconds i'd have to guess and the particle effects of it makes them stand out really obviously from the background.

definitely one of the best subs in the game

 

[PerfektNerD]

Sprinkler is amazing for turf wars...I think the tiers should vary based on the game mode realistically.

 

[NineWholeGrains]

Beacon and Point Sensor are at the top of my list. Playing Ranked Battles last night showed me just how valuable having well-placed beacons can be. They're much better in Splat Zones than in Turf War because the objective never changes, and people aren't usually comfortable leaving the zone to go break a Beacon. I suppose Point Sensor depends on how much you value visibility, but as more and more people use Ninja Squid (and believe me, people are), it becomes all the more important to know exactly where they are and clean up the area before you get ambushed. If a .52 Gal gets the first shot on you, you're probably dead.

Other high tier options include Splash Wall (incredible blockage, underrated utility in firefights), the Seeker (in theory it's easy to dodge, but theory and reality are very different), and Suction Bomb.

 

[Howl]

Sprinkler, Disrupter and Burst Bombs are arguably the worst subs imo. Specially Burst Bombs though, I can't find any reason why they would be useful at all.

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

Disruptor
Is mad good. @FunkyLobster Just to add on to what ya said... When you get hit by that thing, very few abilities can stop you from being a free kill.
In addition to reducing their speed, Disruptor also increases the ink consumption of their weapons, while reducing the rate at which their ink tank is replenished. Oh, and it puts a stupid circle around the target. You can be seen in squid form and everything; free kill.

 

[Plain]

if you think this is the worst sub my dude, you are in for a world of hurting when someone uses it on you

the disruptor is amazing because it slows other players down, which means they have to commit to the firefight. in splatoon, it's really important to not have to commit so that you can run away and get something else done if something goes awry, because the matches are so short and there's only four players on each team. you have a LOT of responsibility placed on you. if you respawn and superjump, that's still around 10 or 20 seconds down the drain, considering the amount of time it takes to get through the killcam, tap the gamepad to superjump, the amount of time superjumping and respawn, etc... even with quick respawn and the speedy super jump abilities, respawning takes so long and turns the game into a temporary 3v4.

so because the other player has to commit to the fight and can't run away... yeah. even if they don't panic and have strong aiming skills, you'll usually nab the kill since they can't be unpredictable with their movement. and even if you lose the fight, another player will come and clean up your dirty work, since the disruptor's effect lasts for around 10 seconds i'd have to guess and the particle effects of it makes them stand out really obviously from the background.

definitely one of the best subs in the game

I don't think so. Chances are if you throw it, you've stopped shooting. If you've stopped shooting in a firefight, you're dead. I can see it on a roller, forcing enemies to stay and fight. If you initiate with it, you're going to trade kills because their dps/ttk is not reduced. If it did reduce dps/ttk it'd be a free kill. No one wins.

Sprinkler is amazing for turf wars...I think the tiers should vary based on the game mode realistically.

I've had this debate with someone in a stream, and we did trade ideas about the sprinkler. He talked about it's defensive usage, but honestly I'd rather use a splash wall-it's larger, takes more damage and nullifies enemy fire if they don't aim directly at the ink tank.
When it's used offensively it has a 4 shot splat/kill/whatever. It's not very effective, but can be for inking. I have seen some good spots, but if you don't notice the ink coming out, you're probably doing it wrong.

Disruptor
Is mad good. @FunkyLobster Just to add on to what ya said... When you get hit by that thing, very few abilities can stop you from being a free kill.
In addition to reducing their speed, Disruptor also increases the ink consumption of their weapons, while reducing the rate at which their ink tank is replenished. Oh, and it puts a stupid circle around the target. You can be seen in squid form and everything; free kill.

Whew, just saw your post. The ink used rate doesn't matter-if you're in a firefight with low enough ink to fire a shot, you're already dead. It doesn't make much of a different. The circle is like a non wallhax version of the point sensor for me-still bad.

I'm liking this discussion. I don't remember the last time I've had a vaguely civil one on a forum. Would still like to see another tier list.

EDIT-I'll reconsider the Disrupter on my personal tier list.

 

[jam1garner]

if you think this is the worst sub my dude, you are in for a world of hurting when someone uses it on you

the disruptor is amazing because it slows other players down, which means they have to commit to the firefight. in splatoon, it's really important to not have to commit so that you can run away and get something else done if something goes awry, because the matches are so short and there's only four players on each team. you have a LOT of responsibility placed on you. if you respawn and superjump, that's still around 10 or 20 seconds down the drain, considering the amount of time it takes to get through the killcam, tap the gamepad to superjump, the amount of time superjumping and respawn, etc... even with quick respawn and the speedy super jump abilities, respawning takes so long and turns the game into a temporary 3v4.

so because the other player has to commit to the fight and can't run away... yeah. even if they don't panic and have strong aiming skills, you'll usually nab the kill since they can't be unpredictable with their movement. and even if you lose the fight, another player will come and clean up your dirty work, since the disruptor's effect lasts for around 10 seconds i'd have to guess and the particle effects of it makes them stand out really obviously from the background.

definitely one of the best subs in the game

See the only problem with that is that using it requires teamwork afterwards.

 

[ChivalRuse]

Sprinkler is useful when your line of sight is obstructed. It buys you some time to cover other fronts or simply to cut off flight paths.

 

[Totho]

The disruptor is a lot better than you're giving it credit for. It may still belong in a lower tier when compared to the other subs, but depending on the main weapon it can be very useful. It's easy to chuck in, and it immediately goes off. In a team fight that can mean the difference between you or your opponents getting a full wipe, and you can also repeatedly throw it in front of you as you swim to scan for enemies in the ink. When it's paired with the blaster you can set up for easy kills by going for the ohko on a slowed opponent, or double or triple kills with the AoE. A regular grenade will scatter an enemy team, flanking with the disruptor gives you an in before they even have a chance to move. Like I said, other subs may be inherently more useful by themselves or with a bigger variety of weapons, but the disruptor is very good at what it does.

 

[SolarTrifle]

I like the seeker depending on the maps. Usually in maps with a lot of hills or sharp turns, the seeker can be lacking. Although in places with lots of straightways like Port Mackerel or big areas like Walleye Warehouse, I find that the seeker does wonders during teamfights when your opponent is focusing on someone else.

The sprinkler is also pretty situational. Placing it in locations hard to see from your enemies' side works wonders. For example, placing it on walls that face you but not the enemy and then being able to focus on other pathways is nice for turf war. Even more so, placing it on walls facing the zone but away from your enemy is great for contesting and defending a zone since it provides constant ink for a very long time if unnoticed.

Point sensors really also depend on the skill of the user and the organization of your team. I use the point sensor with the squiffer and always use it to snipe enemies who try to hide behind corners or in a puddle of their own ink. In conjunction with an aware team, point sensors thrown at a chokepoint can be essentially an echolocator and lead to effective teamwipes.