Topic: ARMS

What the heck is with the Hoops randomly missing my throws and dunks?

Is there a pattern to that or was it just for me to not win a game?

That was seriously unbalanced schaisse.

@Timppis How is it unbalanced if both players are equally affected by it?

Try throwing random punches before you get in range, it'll help get you your flurry first.

An important thing to note about all trampolines is pressing jump with good timing to jump very high. This can help even the slowest characters dodge.

@meleebrawler I think it's more of the issue of how often it occurs, for example I'd get it once in a match, but my opponent didn't miss, and the deciding factor could come down to whether you were unlucky or not.

And I didn't think of that, that's a good idea to get your rush early.

I'm pretty sure it depends on how far away you are from the hoop.

@Joeynator3000 I've had it happen from both in and out of the 3 point zone.

I dunno then, I don't do basketball anyways, lol

@Pigeon I'm pretty sure only flurries can bounce players into the hoop. Otherwise, everyone would pick wind ARMs for their knockback.

Twintelle's Thunder Bird and Chilla ARMs are indeed quite good for securing followups. One strategy that seemed to work well for me was keeping the fight at long range; her followups won't be as strong if she does hit you and it's much easier to work around her slo-mo at a distance. Dragon ARMs work quite well for this.

@Dev Really. I guess that would cement Hedlok's status as a villain. His motives are unclear, but so are a lot of fighting game bosses when first introduced. Also another level of detail you don't usually see from spectator NPCs in Nintendo games.

@meleebrawler

I had it happen to me nine times during the games I played.

Not once to my opponents.

I want to understand.

@Haru17 Google's translation is just barely coherent enough:

The mask worn by the ARMS fighter stabilizes the fighter's udde in a spiral shape. If you remove the mask, you can return to ordinary wood, Suguremono. Wake up to the ARMS capability, firstly to the ARMS association window TEL!

So, it sounds like they need the mask to keep their arms in the spiral shape. Neat.

Didn't get a shot to try the new modes this weekend, was down the shore with no internet connection, but I did finally order my red/blue joy cons off a reputable ebay seller, should be in today!

@Dev I've actually had a match where everyone seemed onboard with grabs and flurries, rarely interrupting each other, or saving each other from Hedlok's flurries. That match went particularly well. I think voice chat would help significantly with coordinating attacks.

On a side note, I keep on wanting to call Hedlok Deathlok...

@Haru17 @Zyrac Google Translate is most of the way there to its credit, although seems to have tripped up on translating the word "arms" itself as "udde" and "wood" in two separate instances. It's written in an unconventional way in the original tweet, so perhaps we shouldn't be too critical.

Anyway, I would parse it as this:

"The mask that ARMS fighters equip maintains the spiral form of the arms of that fighter. It is an exceptional item which if removed allows arms to return to normal. If you notice you have ARMS abilities, first get in contact with the ARMS Association Hotline by telephone!"

So yeah, who knew there was so much to the masks. I guess this explains why all the human characters have them, except Mechanica, who doesn't have (or need) actual ARMS abilities.

Gaijinhunter (bilingual) posted his own interpretation of that weird mask tweet, but it seems pretty vague in any language (one further reply on the chain).

Also, Ribbon Girl totally was tying her arms off with ribbons to turn them into hands:

@Haru17 He seems to be similarly unclear on the potential permanence of any "returning to normal" that can occur on removal of the mask:

It's also not obvious what "normal" means; whether it means literally indistinguishable from normal human arms, or fully functional limbs, but still blue or magenta or whatever (as shown in the wristband pictures).

This was my initial supposition; that they were 'fighting masks' first and foremost, but weren't necessary to wear forever without risk of permanently losing one's ARMS abilities. It seems like things would get pretty unhygienic if you could never remove the mask. But... I'm not sure either.

Also, this is has definitely got a point.

We often get a whole load of translations of information from the official Splatoon Japanese Twitter Account posts by way of the US Tumblr 'Squid Research Lab', but I'm not aware of ARMS having a similar source of official translations.

It's kind of sweet that they're building a certain amount of lore around such an absurd, stretchy world, so I hope we get some official details in English too. There still seems to be a lot of vaguery surrounding the mechanics.

I mean, none of this makes sense in any way since Twintelle's ARMS are her hair and Helix is literally a sentient ball of green slime with pseudopods. But hey, it's a video game about punching people in colorful ways, It's probably best not to overanalyze the lore.

@JasmineDragon But we need answers!!! How can I enjoy a zany cartoon punch 'em up without having a full working knowledge of the mechanics in play?

Maybe they can't control the spring mechanic as well without the mask? like they randomly extend like muscle spasms. The morbid part of me is imagining broken bones and lots of pain but I'm sure I'm over thinking this. What if without the mask Twintelle would go bald? So then I ask do they sleep in the masks as well?

@JasmineDragon Twintelle may use hair instead of actual arms, but it otherwise is the same as all the other ''ARMS abilities'' and thus runs on the same principles. And for Helix, whose body is composed almost entirely of the genetic material behind the ability, his visor would be doubly important; he likely couldn't keep himself together at all if he didn't have it!

10 bucks ARMS laboratory (or whatever its full title is) is the secret big baddy in their world.