Well, to be fair, the Tentatek kind of fails at midrange without Inkzooka, so if you outrange it you can probably beat it outright, and Chargers can wreck it free if it doesn't get close or have Inkzooka, and Inkbrushes outright win if they ambush you (but that's true of all non-Rollers, I think).If it didn't have the suction bombs people would probably over look it. But for now it is absolutely the only triple threat in the game. Great up-close, suction bombs for ranged fighting, and Inkzooka is the best super. Every other weapon falls in some area.
The gun literally has 50 range, it is the definition of mid range. You can easily abuse terrain to get in range of longer range stuff as well. The main reason why it is good is because it kills VERY reliably. It kills short range reliably, it kills mid range reliably, it kills long range reliably with zooka. It also can play very aggro while at the same time is great for defending cause of suction bombs and zooka. It can do almost everything, I'd say the only things it can't do are heavily support teammates and advance defensively into enemy territory like a 96 gal deco. (kinda hard to explain)Well, to be fair, the Tentatek kind of fails at midrange without Inkzooka, so if you outrange it you can probably beat it outright, and Chargers can wreck it free if it doesn't get close or have Inkzooka, and Inkbrushes outright win if they ambush you (but that's true of all non-Rollers, I think).
Tentatek would be a fair bit worse if it lacked Imkzooka, that's really what brings this weapon together. Other weapons have good close range attack and Suction Bombs, but are still helpless at midrange (for example, the Splat Roller, woth Suction Bomb/Killer Wail; a good, well-rounded loadout, to be sure, but if it had Inkzooka instead of Dubstep I guarantee it would be considered the best overall Roller).
In fact, Tentatek only functions beyond its range by throwing Suction Bombs or having an Inkzooka charged, otherwise you get mauled by anything with superior range (Splattershot Pro and up, in terms of range, maybe .52 Gals and Dynamo Rollers as well).
When it does have Inkzooka though, yeah, the Tentatek lacks significant flaws. So in total, its problems are:
1) Quite a few weapons outrange the Tentatek's rapid-fire. Basically anything above a .52 Gal, I think. This is bad, since you have to rely on slow-to-explode Suction Bombs and not-always-available Inkzookas or perform ambushes to deal with these enemies on your own. It's certainly doable, but not a great situation when you're getting pelted by, say, a Squelcher. And Chargers wreck you for free unless you can close in on them, but that's always true. This leads to the next problem...
2) Lacking a midrange attack option besides Inkzooka (Suction Bombs are good for leading the way, but have you ever gotten a splat with them on anyone who noticed them (and wasn't me)?) if you have Inkzooka, this is alleviated, but the Tentatek's last problem is...
3) Having only average special charging ability. It's able to cover turf decently quickly with its rapid-fire and Suction Bomb throwing, but quite a few weapons can do it faster (anything with a Sprinkler, in my experience, or most Rollers, possibly excepting the Gold Dynamo Roller because it rolls slowly). Not necessarily a weakness on its own, but when it relies on Inkzooka to cover mid-to-long-range enemies and is kind of helpless against longer-ranged shooters otherwise, it becomes kind of bad.
Overall, the Tentatek's main strength is that it can do everything, from turf-covering to all-range combat to forcing enemy movement away from (or toward) things, decently, but its main weakness is that you need your special charged to do mid-to-long-range combat competently and must focus on sneaking around and ambushing when you don't have it ready. Having said that, being able to do everything is a big advantage in Splatoon, even if it comes with drawbacks, and the Tentatek is simple and easy to use, so people can grasp it easily on the surface before delving deeper to find that it can do all the things and stick with it because of that. It's almost as good a beginner weapon as the Splattershot Jr, in my opinion (I say almost because Bubbler is really, really good to fall back on for newbies, or at least it was for me), and it stays good even when you get better at Splatoon (kind of like the Splattershot Jr. like that, too).
Ah, I always think of mid-range as "everything I can't reach with a Splattershot's rapid fire." When you put it that way, yeah, Tentatek is a bit better than I gave it credit for (I already thought it was good, so there's not much higher for it to go).The gun literally has 50 range, it is the definition of mid range. You can easily abuse terrain to get in range of longer range stuff as well. The main reason why it is good is because it kills VERY reliably. It kills short range reliably, it kills mid range reliably, it kills long range reliably with zooka. It also can play very aggro while at the same time is great for defending cause of suction bombs and zooka. It can do almost everything, I'd say the only things it can't do are heavily support teammates and advance defensively into enemy territory like a 96 gal deco. (kinda hard to explain)
I think it will always have a place on a team with how solid it is. The only way I can see it not being used is if there are specific weapon combinations that synergize extremely well that don't include it. Forge Splattershot Pro might eventually out class it, but it can sometimes miss shots. Also suction bombs aren't on many good weapons, so there's that.Ah, I always think of mid-range as "everything I can't reach with a Splattershot's rapid fire." When you put it that way, yeah, Tentatek is a bit better than I gave it credit for (I already thought it was good, so there's not much higher for it to go).
And also, this weapon is very go-off-on-your-own-friendly, so it works very well right now with randomized teams as the only way to play. Do you think it'll drop in viability a bit (not all the way down, obviously, but a tiny bit) once we get party matchmaking in August (because more specialized weapons might get a bit more viable if we can form parties in matchmaking; not sure we'll be able to see who has what weapon, but if we can then most of those specialized weapons will probably be more usable)?
True. I don't see any weapon group synergizing so much that Tentatek is out-and-out useless, though I could maybe theorycraft a few if I had a while (maybe Splattershot Pro/New Squiffer/Splatterscope/Octobrush? Just throwing that out there). And yeah, Suction Bomb is rarer than I thought, really the only great weapons I can think of that have it are Splat Roller (I feel like it might be underrated, it's almost like a Roller version of the Tentatek but with Killer Wail) and Splash-O-Matic (and that's mostly for Bomb Rush, at least for me).I think it will always have a place on a team with how solid it is. The only way I can see it not being used is if there are specific weapon combinations that synergize extremely well that don't include it. Forge Splattershot Pro might eventually out class it, but it can sometimes miss shots. Also suction bombs aren't on many good weapons, so there's that.