Topic: Splatoon 2

Haha, same! Sometimes, I like to watch some Melee experts duke it out only to be so surprised every time by all that crazy stuff these people can pull off that my jaw is lost beneath the sofa for several days. I wouldn’t even dare to dream to fight like them someday.

Haven‘t really gone out of my way to watch competitive Splatoon but if there‘s an educational value to it, even though you prob won‘t be able to pull of the same with Team of randos, I think I‘ll check‘em some out sometime. Even if my self-esteem in regards to my own skills will get a few scratches lol.

@Sir_Anthony Thanks for getting me dizzy, mate.

@Sir_Anthony Whoa, uh... just to make sure everyone's clear on this, that is not legitimate Smash gameplay at all.

(It's mostly competitive Smash 4 that I like. The sheer tech skill required to be any good in Melee makes it less relatable, and I don't like games with really broken balancing. But I'll stop going off-topic now.)

So, Splatoon 2! I played Splat Zones on Blackbelly Skatepark for the first time today, and oh man it was intense. I no longer resent this stage being in the game. Two zones really is more fun.

@GoldenGamer88 I'd cautiously recommend it. Just getting a feel for the sort of rhythms really good players use can be interesting. And because Splatoon is more than just 'sick tech kills' you might be able to take something away with regards to general strategy, even if you can't replicate the really technical play that happens in the heat of battle.

I dunno, I've never been a super competitive player in any field (the closest I got was DPPt Pokémon, and even then I enjoyed making weird teams that would occasionally end up being effective against the current metagame). But I watched a high level Splatoon player sort of by accident once, and then found it surprisingly intriguing. And it made my own play hugely better.

So yeah, maybe it'd be worth watching a game or two, just to see how the other half lives! The Splatoon scene seems pretty chill in comparison to some others, so hopefully it shouldn't be too intimidating.

Can't say I'm all that surprised. Kids that age can be amazing at video games when they practice. My kid is nine, and she wipes the floor with me every time we play ARMS. Beats me at two out of every three games. I think she would be just as good at Splatoon, but she doesn't get into it as much as the fighting games.

Just broke level 50, but the raised level cap has robbed the achievements its sense of 'finality'. Oh well, it's still proof I'm a massively Splat Nerd.

Also finally broke the 2000 League Power barrier for the first time ever, which was gratifying! Mainly down to having a great teammate to pair up with, but I'm still really proud of it! We ended up with 2073.5 in the end, and we started the session 70 minutes in.

I've mainly stuck to standard chatless Ranked modes, but there's a lot of fun in going for a League campaign with a voice chat and everything. Not that I want VC to come into Ranked modes. All all. But when it's someone you trust, it can add a human element to things (and occasionally be useful from a tactical perspective).

Not quite sure if other Splatoon 2 stages do as well, but some stages in Splatoon did have a different spawn position in ranked.

Seeing as 2018 is approaching, do you think Nintendo will open up matchmaking to worldwide when the paid online service goes live? I'd imagine it would be even more difficult to find people to play with at certain times of the day otherwise.

@Grumblevolcano Matchmaking seemingly is global despite claims to the contrary. You may not meet players outside your region very often, but I've got a few Japanese users in my recent players list right now, and I've seen Inklings wearing generic Spatfest Tees in battle at times when there was no upcoming Splatfest in my region. These things have definitely happened in ranked matches too, so it's not just people joining their friends.

Based on what I've heard from the Splatoon 2 Discord, it's ping based or something like that.

@-Green- yeah, so you are more likely to be with people in your region due to ping, but other regions are possible. Australian players for example will often be with Japanese while Europeans will probably rarely face Japanese players and I think NA players have a somewhat more likely chance. League battles are more likely to find other regions due to fewer players though. And I believe that matchmaking in league goes by the host’s ping if you want to find people from a certain region.

@AlternateButtons Why not take the time to complete previously beaten levels with newly unlocked weapons and gather eggs while you're at it? If you beat all levels with a given weapon you can unlock it for multiplayer.

But honestly, other than the first Hero Splattershot rate of fire upgrade, none of the upgrades feel necessary at all, just gravy.

It's not difficult, and I'm not sure how it's preventing you from progressing. It's tedious if you want to be a completionist, but other than that you can get by really easily with just a Level 2 upgrade to Fire Rate on the Shooter.

@AlternateButtons You can upgrade it relatively easily through normal, non repetetive gameplay if you make a habit of collecting the eggs thoroughly as you play through the levels. This can involve taking a bit more time to uncover each level and look for its secrets rather than just blasting from start to finish.

And if you don't want to bother with actually looking around the levels, and subsequently don't end up with as many eggs, then the only compromise is a less upgraded shooter, and a correspondingly more difficult game. Which is fine. It's not like the campaign is ever Dark Souls material even with the most basic shooter.

The upgrade system is a nice distraction, and a means of rewarding exploration and egg collecting. But it's hardly an indispensable part of the single-player campaign.

The whole idea that this is a big deal seems like an Ink Storm is a teacup to me. I never found the egg requirements extortionate, and as a completely ignorable side-mechanic, it never struck me as anything that could impede my progress through the game either.

@AlternateButtons Hmm. I was talking about the Single Player Difficulty. Not the difficulty regarding upgrading things.

@AlternateButtons So that you can't just replay the easiest levels over and over from the onset to upgrade everything fully and then snap the rest of the game in half.

@AlternateButtons Never've had a problem with upgrading weapons either. I did make sure to splat every Octoling, smash every box and collect as many eggs as I could find while looking for the Sardinium and Scroll, but that's just the collector in me. Now granted, I only ever increased the Hero Shot's fire rate and the other two upgrades. Didn't bother with the other bombs and had no idea you could even upgrade the other weapons.

Why not replay earlier levels with the other weapons you've unlocked thus far since you may wanna unlock every weapon in the game someday?

@AlternateButtons It costs 2 sardinium and 800 eggs to upgrade the main weapon to lvl 2. If you are in sector four, I'm not trying to sound rude, and you don't have enough eggs to upgrade then you are doing something "wrong". I had enough to do the upgrade to lvl 2 by the second lair in sector two and I rushed a few lairs. It sounds to me like you either aren't collecting eggs like you think you are or you used them getting the subs(EDIT: Or the ink tank which costs 1000 eggs for the first upgrade) first.

@AlternateButtons Honestly, I don't know. I would have to watch how you play the game to see what is going on. Did you unlock the subs, or upgrade the ink tank, prior to upgrading the weapon?

@AlternateButtons Buying the subs and the ink tank upgrade makes sense as to why things seem expensive then, imo. I got the lvl 3 gun upgrade before anything else. Then the tank. Then the curling bomb to make going through already beaten levels faster. The other weapons will be slightly more expensive. My only tip would be to go through and beat the past levels with the duelies, especially if you want to unlock them for online, in order to get more eggs. I live in the ink when I play, so the tank wasn't an urgent upgrade for me.

According to the Splatoon 2 Japanese Twitter, the Glooga Dualies are releasing tonight with the what I think is the Ink Mine (called trap in Google Translate) and Ink Jet (jet pack in Google Translate), which means I fully expect the new weapon type (I think it's called the Squeezer) to release next week.