We can make Sting Ray a good special; here's how:

[OnePotWonder]

I personally love the concept of the Sting Ray, but its execution was... poor, to say the least.
The special is not doomed, though, it can be fixed!

First order of business: removing the shockwaves. They're obviously the main issue with the special. The concept of increasing power the longer it fires is interesting, however, so instead of gaining shockwaves, the special will now do a bit more damage the longer it's fired.

Second order of business: managing the range. Sting Ray's global range is a big issue and really kills any form of back-and-forth, and it's only encouraged due to the user's vulnerability and slow turning speed. The range will now be capped at just over E-liter range.

Now, the special still has the issue of being extremely vulnerable while firing; needing to fire for a second or so to reach maximum damage, and having slow turning speed. These weaknesses are integral to the design of the special, however, so instead of removing them, the special will now come with a forward-facing shield with some hundred HP.


That should solve most of the special's problems, but it's still pretty weak in close range. So make the special a bit more interesting, the special will be given a secondary firing mode where it fires an area of effect shot, however temporarily cancelling the main fire. Perhaps the shield could also apply while the user is in swim form, fully covering the user but drastically hampering movement.

Now it seems too strong, though. The special being able to fire through walls only encourages passive play, so it'll now be blocked by terrain. The thermal ink effect will also be removed since it's no longer necessary. Of course, then even low cover would be a strong counter. If only the main fire could be given falloff... or the AoE mode could have the same range as the main fire. Or both! Wait, how do you give a laser falloff...? Well, I'll think of something.


Yes, this seems like an excellent rework, we turn the Sting Ray from a one-sided death beam into a versatile weapon that beautifully balances offense and defense, with durable armor and multiple long-range firing modes that compliment one another.
No doubt this will be a balanced special.

...Hey, wait a minute!

 

[cipsbsndj]

Still seems a bit too strong, how about we only put it on five weapons and have most of them be shooters

 

[chaotik0]

this would still be just as bad on these maps…
i think basically the only way to fix it is a major rework, like killer wail got in this game
plus, no need for sting ray because of killer wail.
basically the only way sting ray would be healthy is if its design was deal chip damage to people while the rest of your team fights
which is the same thing the new killer wail does except the user also gets to fight
i also never want to see stingray again
the devs are not capable of balancing it in a good way, probably. i mean they did change missiles to actually not be annoying
but its still not a fun special

 

[Grushi]

Still seems a bit too strong, how about we only put it on five weapons and have most of them be shooters

Great idea, you're hired!

 

[silvr_nouveau]

Lets not bring Ray back... or make Crab 2

 

[OnePotWonder]

For those of you who have whoooshed, the point is that Crab Tank is a rework of Sting Ray, just not an obvious one. Slow turning speed, increasing firepower, extreme range; the specials basically work identically, one is just well-designed, and one isn’t.

We have enough lasers already with Wail 5.1.

 

[chaotik0]

For those of you who have whoooshed, the point is that Crab Tank is a rework of Sting Ray, just not an obvious one. Slow turning speed, increasing firepower, extreme range; the specials basically work identically, one is just well-designed, and one isn’t.

We have enough lasers already with Wail 5.1.

i was too busy dreading what it would be like to have ray back to interpret it that way my b

 

[isaac4]

For those of you who have whoooshed, the point is that Crab Tank is a rework of Sting Ray, just not an obvious one. Slow turning speed, increasing firepower, extreme range; the specials basically work identically, one is just well-designed, and one isn’t.

We have enough lasers already with Wail 5.1.

Oh damn
I thought this was genuine
I also never thought of Crab Tank like that, but I didn't play Splatoon 2 so maybe that's why

 

[Yosi Spring]

we say all this, but there's still at least 1 season left for Nintendo to add Triple Stingray