Tower Control: Splash Wall Ricochet Opportunities & Positioning (Current Analysis: Kelp Dome)

[Egregore]

Inkoming wall of text.

"Ricocheting" refers to using your Splash Wall in such a way that when it is thrown against a structure or wall it will bounce off and return at the same angle, and back onto the tower.

This technique can be used to position the Splash Wall on the tower itself, helping to guard you or a teammate that is occupying the tower, or to prevent and restrict incoming attacks, your opponent's movement, and tower advancement.

In this thread I will be detailing key areas that allow for this technique to be utilized.

Additionally, I will be abbreviating a few terms, so I'd like to go over their meaning now:

• "LS" & RS" stand for "left side" and "right side" respectively.
• "R" by itself stands for "rear", and "F" stands for "front".
• "PA" stands for "parallel", and "PE" stands for "perpendicular".

When describing the general position of the Splash Wall, these abbreviations refer to its location on the tower specifically.

Kelp Dome might be one of the very best (like no one ever was) stages for this technique next to Port Mackerel. While there aren't actually too many structures or walls, per se, the nature of this stage and the tower's pathing allow for many different setups where available.

From neutral position you will begin to descend off of the elevated platform. Here you are able to setup an LS-PA which should block any incoming attacks from the very common entry point (on your left) to the center stage.

As you begin to advance thru the only truly open area phase for this map you actually have four setup opportunities. Circled in red is the first which is another LS-PA. Circled in green is a corner which can setup either an RS-PA or R-PE depending on when you decide to throw out your Splash Wall.

Keep in mind that because of the rounded nature of these two particular walls that your Splash Wall may actually slide on top of the wall and not ricochet off. To avoid this you will want to be positioned behind the black pole when you throw out your Splash Wall so it will in fact ricochet and not slide upwards.

Tower perspectives get a bit funky here, so bare with me on some of the labeling. Next is typically your game securing phase, or close to it. The structure circled in green can be used a few different ways depend on the tower's position. Before actually entering our phase three, you can use the small corner of this structure to setup nicely for an LS-PA. Just a moment afterwards you can use the wider side to setup the more advantageous F-PE as you will begin moving forward thru the narrow lane.

Directly behind you is a tree that's enclosed within some sort of paneled construction tarp. It is possible to land an R-PE here, but it's quite difficult, and ultimately lends little to no advantage at this phase. The tricky part here is not hitting the tree itself as the Splash Wall will actually disappear. The rod or bottom portion of the Splash Wall has to hit the flat surface of this "tarp" (whatever you want to call it) in order to land the ricochet setup.

On the other side, also in green, is another LS-PE setup. Though, the optimal choice here is still the F-PE as you begin to move forward.

The final phase is advancing thru the narrow lane. To your right you have another rounded wall. Of course, the entire length of it you can land an RS-PA, so keep that option open for when your Splash Wall is inevitably taken down. The only other setup available in this phase is an LS-PA on the small corner circled in red. Ultimately, in this situation, the best option may be just to throw the Splash Wall out in front of you if not going for the RS-PA.

Maybe you're already familiar with this technique? Share your tips and tricks here. Stay tuned!

Credits: Reddit for the map & @flc for the still.

 

[Egregore]

Past Map Analyses​

Port Mackerel

Spoiler

I chose Port Mackerel for my first analysis because it's a very wall-heavy map with narrow corridors, and because of this the player will find many opportunities to understand and practice this technique. Being that the tower follows a rail that mirrors its path on both sides of the map, I will only focus on areas from neutral tower position and onward.

At the start of the match, or from neutral tower position, you will see these two large structures to your left and right only about a quarter-line distance away. The structure on the right extends out a bit further, while the structure on the left dips inward. Thus, the structure on the right is better suited for ricocheting as you have more time to throw it out, ultimately allowing your Splash Wall to last longer until the tower reaches the next set of structures. Keep in mind that positioning directly behind the black pole, relative to incoming attacks, will act as a shield. Couple this with a PA setup and your shield grows.

In this section you have two options: 1.) you can throw the Splash Wall to either your right or left which will land an RS-PA or LS-PA, or 2.) you can wait until the tower turns the corner allowing you to land an R-PE on the structure behind you. I believe R-PE to be the better option here. Typically your opponents will be attacking from a frontal position at this transition, so it's better to have the wall facing perpendicular as it moves forward. If the tower is being heavily contested, it may be smart to just get the Splash Wall out sooner and opt for the former options.

Next, the tower begins to move into the enemy base and thru its' narrow corridors. This is most certainly the best phase for this map as an Splash Wall user. You have both a large structure to your right, and a wall to your left that allow for RS-PA and LS-PA throws. Though, in this situation you may want to consider opting out of a ricochet and just throwing the Splash Wall out in front of you for overall better coverage.

As the tower turns right you will almost immediately have a large structure in front of you, and a structure behind you about half as wide. You will 100% want to land an F-PE here every time, but try to wait just until the very edge of the structure to throw out the Splash Wall so you can maximize the amount of time it's out as you turn left into the straight path. Having the Splash Wall in an F-PE position here negates nearly all incoming attacks just long enough for it to move into the elevation phase where the match is all but won.

 

[Thebluehero]

Huh, never thought about ricocheting. I always thought it was a bummer that the ink wall couldn't really be placed on the tower.

 

[Egregore]

Huh, never thought about ricocheting. I always thought it was a bummer that the ink wall couldn't really be placed on the tower.

It most certainly can! That's why it's important to know all the locations (walls, structures, etc) that take advantage of this super useful technique on every map.

 

[yaminokaabii]

Sorry, I'm blanking out and still don't understand what you mean by parallel and perpendicular "refer[ring] to its location on the tower specifically." Do you mean referring to the direction it's travelling? For example, throwing it RS-PA at the very beginning would end up landing the wall so that it protects the entire side of the tower from attacks coming in from the right? Couldn't you also toss it at an angle to protect more of the front?

 

[Egregore]

Sorry, I'm blanking out and still don't understand what you mean by parallel and perpendicular "refer[ring] to its location on the tower specifically." Do you mean referring to the direction it's travelling? For example, throwing it RS-PA at the very beginning would end up landing the wall so that it protects the entire side of the tower from attacks coming in from the right? Couldn't you also toss it at an angle to protect more of the front?

Yes, you have it exactly right. If I had the time I would've liked to include an illustration of the angle(s), as you did in your example, in every picture. That's something I'll work towards implementing in the future.

Also, great observation on the angled ricochet. This placement is indeed possible, though I don't find it to be practical in this phase for two reasons:

1.) Preparation. Because this angle is so precise it will make that setup much more difficult to land, and you risk throwing out a stray Ink Wall. You don't want that because now the tower is completely vulnerable and you're without it for a few seconds. Also, the window of opportunity to land this setup is so small that not even a second later you will be able to RS-PA.

2.) Pay-off. How is this angle advantageous? You're leaving yourself open at a wider angle behind and to the left side of you during the neutral phase. Keep in mind that you're able to position yourself directly inside the Ink Wall, so in a narrow area such as this it's best to create a barrier that uses both the Ink Wall and black pole. It also forces your opponent to climb the tower on the left side instead of on the left and behind.

Let me know it that information helps! The best way to learn is to see it in action, which I hope to demonstrate one day, but until then I'll help any other way I can. :p

If you guys have any requests for my next map analysis (after WW), feel free to throw them out here. I'm thinking about Kelp Dome, but I'd like to see what you guys are interested in first and foremost.

 

[E-Liter Elite]

Makes me want to learn a Splash Wall weapon just to use this next TC phase...

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Egregore]

Makes me want to learn a Splash Wall weapon just to use this next TC phase...

Thanks for the tips.

Definitely try it out, and no problem!

I know I said I wanted to do Walleye Warehouse next, but the stage really leaves much to be desired as far as this technique goes.

I'll be updating next week with my Kelp Dome analysis, stay tuned.

 

[Kaliafornia]

Nice. I was wondering how some people were able to get the wall on the tower. Good to know.

 

[Cosmos]

I'm not sure if this would actually be an advantage. I mean because I have played against people who have used this but all I did was throw a splat bomb and it automatically disappeared and I went to splat the opponent and took the tower back pretty easy. Placing the wall in front of the tower when the enemy has control over it seemed to be more effective to me. Because the wall would automatically splat any opponent when the tower moves through the wall if the opponent stays on the tower while it moves through. If they got off that was my signal to strike and it always worked for me that way. I'm sorry to disagree but I really don't see how this would be used as an advantage in TC. Maybe you have a different experience then me but in my experience I never seen it as a great advantage.

 

[Egregore]

I'm not sure if this would actually be an advantage. I mean because I have played against people who have used this but all I did was throw a splat bomb and it automatically disappeared and I went to splat the opponent and took the tower back pretty easy. Placing the wall in front of the tower when the enemy has control over it seemed to be more effective to me. Because the wall would automatically splat any opponent when the tower moves through the wall if the opponent stays on the tower while it moves through. If they got off that was my signal to strike and it always worked for me that way. I'm sorry to disagree but I really don't see how this would be used as an advantage in TC. Maybe you have a different experience then me but in my experience I never seen it as a great advantage.

This isn't about the enemy having control of the tower at any point, nor is it about general Splash Wall strategy.

This is an analysis of maps detailing which areas allow for ricochet setups. It also happens to be based off of (successful) experiences. The effectiveness of each individual setup is variable, so try to take this information at face value.

Then again, if you haven't tried it, I guess you don't know, huh?

Quick update: I was waiting for 2.0 to release before I finished my Kelp Dome analysis. You can expect this to be released on Sunday.

 

[° Moteki]

good stuff.

 

[Egregore]

Kelp Dome update is live, y'all. Let me know if there's anything I should add or edit.

You'll have to excuse the "roughness" of this update as I'm working with very minimal technology to get this stuff done. :p

Hope you find it helpful! If anyone has a suggestion for my next analysis, let me know.