What do you all think of the Seeker Bomb Rush? It's on the upcoming Carbon Roller (can't remember name), and it's the first time we'll be seeing it not in the singleplayer modes.
It'll be alright on stages with lots of horizontal area for long-range Seeker pressure, and maybe alright if you can get to a high point on the map and spam from there.
It'd be better if it weren't on the Carbon Roller, I think.
How good are point sensors?
They're great! being able to check for enemies is a great thing, and it's cheap too!
As for worst sub and Special...
(THIS GETS KINDA LONG FROM HERE, SO THERE'LL BE A TLDR AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE READING IT ALL)
For subs, it's the Ink Mine. Point Sensor would've been my pick early on since it doesn't deal damage, but that's actually really useful for support (though it gets slightly neutered by Cold-Blooded here) and checking for enemies (Cold-Blooded does not prevent this, so it's still good for this purpose) and it doesn't cost much ink. Disruptor could've ended up here for the same reason, but they're very good since they slow your movement and ink recovery for a few seconds if you get hit.
But Ink Mines are the worst for a few reasons. You can only have one at a time, which is bad, but is compounded by the fact that you can't place one until your other mine detonates (C'mon Nintendo, Squid Beakons let you plant more than three (though that breaks your first Beakon), why can't I do the same with mines?), and the detonation is easy to escape from, which wouldn't be so terrible if those other two things were addressed, but since they weren't, Ink Mines aren't really useful. Also, Ink Mines eat most of your tank when planted, which isn't that great.
For Specials, it's gotta be Inkstrike. Inkstrike is still useful since it can hit anywhere and cover a decent-size area in your team's ink), but it's too telegraphed and you can ink over the turf it covers while it's still going, so it's really only useful for making enemies move a bit. Which would be alright, but Killer Wail does that as well, and better, at least I think so.
As for worst weapon, I'm not sure, so I'll list both possible choices:
1) Rapid Blaster. It has Ink Mines, which I covered above, but its main fire isn't great either. Its range is nice, but it's only really effective at its maximum range, you'll get splatted before you can do much against anything that gets closer. Bubbler is useful here, but the Rapid Blaster isn't very good at generating Bubbler, so it's not a problem very often. Rapid Blasters do become a bit more threatening with Bubbler, but so does anyone with a Bubbler (except maybe Inkbrush Nouveau, but that will be addressed below).
As a Blaster, it's outclassed by the Custom Blaster, which also has Bubbler and comes with the team-supporting Point Sensor and the ability to one-shot enemies with direct hits (something the Rapid can never have) or two-shot them with the explosion (also something I don't believe the Rapid Blaster is capable of). You lose a little range, but that's not so bad, really, since the power gain outweighs any range losses.
As a two-shot weapon, the Bamboozler 14 MK I and Slosher are both better options. The Bamboozler requires precision and charging, but it has much better range, and Splash Walls let it live long enough to pull off multiple shots before retreating if it didn't finish everyone off. Additionally, the Bamboozler moves faster while charging/charged than the Rapid Blaster does while firing, if I recall correctly. As for the Slosher, I think it might get outranged a little (maybe), but it deals great damage always (unlike the Rapid Blaster, whose damage isn't that good without Damage Ups or direct hits), doesn't have to fight near its maximum range to be effective, and has Burst Bombs for longer-range engagements (or to splat a bit faster inside bucketing range, if you're accurate).
As for why not the Rapid Blaster Deco, Suction Bombs are very useful, arguably just enough to take the Rapid Deco out of the worst-weapon race (I still think it's bad, probably bottom-5 material at most, just not the
worst).
2) Inkbrush Nouveau. It has Ink Mines and Bubbler as well, but it also comes with the shortest range in the game and still very low damage (even the Sploosh-O-Matic deals decent damage when it gets close), though it does splat faster than the Rapid Blaster does if you can get it close to an enemy. I'm not sure whether Bubbler is better on this weapon or the Rapid Blaster; on the one hand, I feel like the Inkbrush Nouveau generates Bubbler faster than the Rapid Blaster, but on the other hand the Rapid Blaster can still hit enemies while being pushed back with Bubbler invincibility, while the Nouveau gets pushed out of its swing range very quickly. The Nouveau can speed ti the battlefield very quickly with its rolling, but then it's stuck trying to ambush foes or build Bubbler to give to its teammates.
As a support weapon, the Octobrush is light years above the Nouveau; it lacks Bubbler, sure, but it it's able to perform in combat thanks to its alright (though still short) range and respectable power, while still being pretty fast (not quite Inkbrush fast, but still really quick), and its Squid Beakons are great for allowing teammates to reach areas quickly or ambush from behind (if the enemy team doesn't destroy all Beakons as soon as they can, anyway), and Kraken is a good defensive tool as well, though it cannot pass its invincibility.
As a Bubbler-building weapon, the Splattershot Jr. is just better. Its range is better, it generates Bubbler more quickly, and it has Splat Bombs for when the main fire's range isn't enough. I wouldn't say the Jr. is great (good, yeah, but its shortish range and low power hurt it a bit too much for me to call it great, except as a great weapon for beginners), but it beats the Nouveau in most categories.
Asfor why not regular Inkbrush, that still sucks in combat, but is very obviously skewed toward covering turf with its Sprinkler/Inkstrike loadout. It can do a good job of covering turf and is capable of getting ambush-kills (and not much else, admittedly), so it's not in the worst-weapon race either.
Overall, both of these weapons are just not that good and are easily outclassed, but I don't know which is worse.
And if we can add unreleased weapons into the mix, the Carbon Roller Deco could fall in here as well. I don't know for sure, and from here to the TLDR I'm just going on pure speculation, but here's my reasoning
(WARNING: LONG):
The Carbon Roller Deco retains the Carbon Roller's attributes (speedier rolling, tiny flick range), but drops the well-rounded-ness of Burst Bomb/Inkzooka for Seeker/Bomb Rush. This loadout fails the Carbon Roller Deco in multiple respects.
Firstly, Seekers are only really useful for inking long straight lines for travel (they can be used for combat, but since you can jump over them easily they're not really viable as a weapon, or at least that's how I feel about them). This would be useful if the Carbon Roller couldn't already ink long straight paths... and also turn to avoid enemy fire, or Splash Walls, or regular walls, rendering Seekers only really useful for checking for enemies (since they'll probably shoot its trail to splat anyone swimming behind it). Which is kinda useful, but Burst Bombs already did that, and arguably better since they don't cost nearly as much as Seekers do.
Secondly, Seeker Rush sounds fun, and I can see it being situationally effective, like for popping the Rainmaker from a distance (either to avoid enemy fire or to avoid being splatted in the event that the other team pops the shield instead of your Seekers), or on horizontal areas, like Port Mackerel or Rainmaker Camp Triggerfish, and maybe Blackbelly and Arowana, and maybe for throwing down from a higher area (like the central tower on Blackbelly) since the Seekers will keep going for a long while and can harass foes below you pretty well if they aren't directly under you (if they are, you might be able to flick them to death). But outside of those situations, you'd be better served byany other Special, and even in those situations you could probably do better with a different one (Inkzooka on mostly-horizontal areas doesn't go as far, but does have vertical reach and can go over gaps in the ground, unlike Seekers, and other Bomb Rushes also perform very well for attacking from an elevated position... as well as attacking someone who is on an elevated position). Honestly, I'm not very excited about Seeker Rush; I just feel like all it has going for it is that Seekers cover lots of ground in a straight line, go extremely far before stopping if they don't hit anything or detect a kid, can swerve a bit to hit kids, and are one-shot splats. Other than that, it just doesn't seem like a good Special.
Thirdly, the Carbon Roller itself. The weapon itself has one-shot power up close, yes, and it's fairly speedy while rolling, true, but outside very close range it needs to fall back on its loadout to stand a chance. Seekers are easily dodged or hopped over, so they won't deter midrange combatants from splatting you. Seeker Rush may if it fires Seekers quickly enough, but if not, enemies will just hop around while shooting you.
Additionally, the Carbon Roller has very little vertical range on its swings, even while aiming upward. Do you know what Seekers can do to alleviate this problem?
Nothing. Which is bad, since it makes fights against enemies on a higher elevation an unwinnable scenario.
Finally, as a Roller, the Deco is outclassed, while as a Seeker-having weapon, it's also not the best option.
As a Roller-type weapon, the Carbon Roller Deco loses to its non-decorated counterpart. The normal Carbon Roller has two things that make it extraordinarily better, at least on a theoretical level, those being Burst Bombs and Inkzooka. Burst Bombs allow you to attack at mid-range (even upward and over gaps, unlike the Seeker), are useful for painting walls quickly so you can swim up them, and can extend your effective range on the flick a bit if you cancel the end of its throw into a flick. Inkzooka is not always available, but the Carbon Roller generates it at a reasonable speed, its long-range power is indisputable, and it can hit enemies above you as well (the range for this is a bit lower since the inknados drop toward the edge of their range, but it's still very valuable).
As a Seeker-having weapon, the Aerospray MG is better (I'm sure there are better examples, but this is the first one I thought of). It has more range on its rapid-fire than the Carbon's flick (I think it does, anyway, and both still want to get close, but I figure it's worth mentioning), has an extremely fast fire rate (which is useful for inking turf, mostly), has a bit more vertical reach than the Carbon does (you shouldn't rely on it for splats, but you can ink up walls with the Aerospray faster than with the Carbon Roller without Burst Bombs), it has more use for Seekers since it doesn't travel as quickly while firing as the Carbon does while rolling, and it also has Inkzooka, which it can generate very quickly.
Overall, the Carbon Roller Deco looks like it's gonna be screwed by its loadout, which is a shame. Hopefully Seeker Rush makes its way onto a weapon that can make better use of it at some point.
But I could be wrong. We don't actually have the Deco yet, so maybe it'll surprise me. For now though, it doesn't look good.
TLDR:
Worst Sub: Ink Mine (just not very good overall)
Worst Special: Inkstrike (still useful, just not on the other Specials' level)
Worst Weapon: Rapid Blaster/Inkbrush Nouveau (not sure which), possibly Carbon Roller Deco when it comes out (won't know until I play it, but it looks bad)
