Topic: Splatoon 2

@GoldenGamer88 That seems like a massive oversight. That you can't register amiibo on Switch and so for amiibo with write functionality (e.g. Splatoon amiibo in Splatoon 2), they are unusable on Switch without owning a Wii U or 3DS with the necessary amiibo reading equipment (reader for original, nothing for New).

Anyone up for some League Battle?

Oh I know what you're talking about! Mainly because I did all three mistakes numerous times (especially in Splatoon 1). Although the main reason behind that was not getting enough of this game and ignoring every other needs I might possibly have. ^^
But at some point it became obvious that it'll only affect your performance in the game.

I'm not an esports pro but I treat Splatoon just like any other sport: you have to be fit, well-rested and well fed in order to bring your a-game.

@JaxonH I never got the point in using Ninja Squid anyway (in both games). You're still not completely invisible and the cost of more or less breaking even swimspeed-wise is just not worth it for me. I'd rather use my slots for something else...

@Mygirlsdaddy66 Just out of curiosity: why only play the offline modes?

@shani It's always been kind of a toss-up between Ninja Squid and Cold-Blooded when it comes to stealth utility. The latter's benefit is more tangible in minimizing downtime, but can potentially be a waste if no one uses detection tools against you. The former's benefit is always active, but swimming at anything less than full speed gets you pretty much the same effect in normal circumstances. It can still be handy for very short range weapons like sploosh or carbon roller, where the extra stealth movement can mean all the difference.

@shani Ninja Squid has been the bread and butter of my play style since S1 and it has saved my skin on countless of occassions. Sometimes, I have a feeling, though, that only a handful of players watch out for those ripples so I get where you're coming from. As a close quarters fighter, though, I feel like it's a requirement.

@meleebrawler @GoldenGamer88

Then I'm one of those few that actually look out for the ripples in enemy ink.
No, I believe there are a lot more out there that pay attention, this is what every (reasonably) good/experienced squid does.

I think my main problems with Ninja Squid are that my play style usually is based on speed and agility and the fact that I don't want to waste all those slots to counteract the decreased swim speed. I want above average swim speed (and many other abilities), not about average swim speed (and less of the other abilities).
That way, it comes down to a cost-benefit calculation where the costs are too high for me.
But that doesn't mean it can be useful for others, of course.

Although sometimes I like to surprise opponents as well, I'm not that much of a stealthy player and usually any kind of player action (like shooting ink to swim in ^^) reveals your position.
But whenever I actually do want to be stealthy/surprising, I try to use the surroundings/ the situation/ mindgames for that.

@shani I see, of course your load-out has to reflect your play style. That's actually why I am so hesistant to put money and time into another loadout myself. Like I've been off and on been working on what I dubbed my 'Special' Gear, with Tenacity, Special Power Up and Ink Saver Main main abilities. The thing is, I am not actually known to use my Specials all that much. The few, that I throw out whenever are Ink Storm and Ink Armor, so making a loadout with Specials front and center doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. (Though, like I said I would, I've been toying around with Splashdown. What works for me is to use it and then throw a bomb at the one I was trying to splat as he or she is likely waiting to ambush me. And once distracted by throwing a bomb right into their face, I shoot at them and voila, splatted. Doesn't work always, sometimes I splat them.out right with it, sometimes I get splatted. But definitely something I'll keep working on.)

I think once I've got more Super Sea Snails again, I'll get to work on an 'agility' set. I'm thinking of Swim Speed Up, Run Speed Up and Ink Saver Main main abilities.

In regards to Ninja Squid's speed reduction, if you've been using it for so long, you get rather used to it but I really felt like a snail. Then I got my Swim Speed Up shoes and, while I know I'd have a long road ahead of me to make up for the speed reduction, I felt like a torpedo. Truth be told, even without Ninja Squid on, I don't feel that much faster despite my Swim Speed Up main. But like I said, pick the loadout that suits your play style best.

Im on a sniping binge right now guys!

So do we have any predictions on how Splatoon 2 will be represented today or even at all?

I predict the squeezer to be announced coming out this week and then more gear to be released for the stores soon. Maybe reveal a new stage that will be coming in the future.

RE: Ninja Squid - apparently 2x Swim Speed Up (sub) is enough to cancel out the speed reduction

I recently stumbled upon Ninja Squid (quite accidentally) when I bought myself a Zekko Hoodie to grind for Special Saver ability chunks - and I discovered that the stealthy approach seems to suit my game really well! ..I'm currently working towards building a new stealth-oriented outfit - combining Ninja Squid and Cold Blooded mains (with Comeback, which I also like) + 3x Swim Speed (to compensate for the speed loss, +1), 3x Ink Resistance and 3x Cold Blooded subs - which should be enough (if my calculations are right!) to keep me pretty incognito & give me a decent chance of escape if I run in to trouble! ..it's gonna be a long old grind, but worth it in the end I think!

Speaking of which, when it comes to using ability chunks, if you put a sub ability on some clothing that already has the same ability as a main (eg. Cold Blooded sub on Cold Blooded main shoes), does Murch charge you 10 ability chunks? ..or is it more? Thanks!

@NaviAndMii I'm pretty sure the main abilities don't affect the number of ability fragments needed on any piece of gear. The subs are treated independently.

@Maxz Phew! Good to know! Thanks!

And there is this for Grizzco on 9/16. Link to reddit, but it is for the official Splatoon twitter.

Having finally reached Level 50, I plan on tackling Ranked Mode for the first time ever tomorrow morning. I am aware of the basic goals of each mode but would somebody be kind enough to give a noob such as myself some tips? Also, to anyone who ends up on my team tomorrow and who may or may not read this I am deeply and utterly sorry for (potentially) sucking so much.

@GoldenGamer88 I've found that the splat brella is good for tower control and rainmaker. I haven't done much splat zones though.

I'm currently working on a set that mostly focuses on my sub weapon. The regular slosher has suction bombs, which take up a lot of ink, so to counter that, I'm using a main of sub saver, and two ink recovery mains. This even allows me to throw another bomb before the first one even explodes! Plus, I think ink recovery is good to have for any situation. Being able to throw many bombs also helps builds the special gauge, so I don't need to worry about using special charge up. This has worked great for me in ranked so far; throw a couple bombs around the base while swimming back to the action, and my special gauge will already be close to halfway full! The other 9 sub-slots are going towards run speed, swim speed, and ink resistance (3 each), which are just all-around good perks to have. It does feel a bit odd not having any ink saver main, but I figure with all the ink recovery, I'll usually go into squid form often enough and have enough ink for a splat or to retreat with that way.

@GoldenGamer88 Ranked is much different than turf war for sure. My main advice would be to be very cautious when it comes to superjumping. A lot of the time the rest of your team is right in the middle of the action, and odds are superjumping to them would get you splatted again right away. Also, focus on the goal on the game. I know this sounds obvious, but trust me, I've had times where my team would just stay back, or pretty much ignore the objective, so keep this in mind. For Rainmaker especially, it's best to stay with the team. It's not uncommon to see someone grab the Rainmaker, and start to run with it without any teammates around... I'm also guilty of this, and needless to say, you usually don't last too long. Unless you see a perfect opportunity to take the Rainmaker and run with it (like when no one else is around), then by all means go for it! I've won a few matches by doing that, but this "strategy" gets a lot harder to pull off as you advance in ranks. Last tip would be to not panic if a match goes into overtime. I often do that, and make just about the worst decision possible for the situation. XD

Those are all the tips I have... best of luck tomorrow!

@Blue_Blur Thanks for the advice. Not much of a super jumper, so that shouldn't be an issue. Rather excited for tomorrow, Rainmaker sounds like a ton of fun.

@GoldenGamer88 My advice: know how to win without reaching the goal. Rainmaker and Tower Control use a disctance meter to determine which team is winning, Splatzone uses a timer.

If you can't reach the goal in Rainmaker or Tower Defense the winning team is the one that got closed to the enemy base. If you are on the winning hand it's more important to prevent the enemy from exceeding your team's disctance record than making it to the goal. Ok so this might be obvious but for a while I didn't play with this in mind. Even more obvious:

conquer the splatzone > defend the splatzone > repeat if necessary

@GoldenGamer88 @Blue_Blur Most definitely be very cautious with super jumping, but I think you really should be looking to super jump every time you get splatted. Just check for the teammate closest to the action(but not actually in the action) or a beakon. The only time I can think it is okay to jump into the middle of the action is in tower control when you are using the brella and you are jumping onto the tower with your shield up as the jump is finishing.

I would also say don't get tunnel vision. Yes, playing the objective is #1 priority; however, sometimes pushing the objective at all times can get you nowhere. For example: sometime in rainmaker my team would be getting nowhere, so I figured out that breaking off from the group to create flanking paths and then slipping behind the enemy team would completely turn the tide of the match. This is a whole lot easier if you are using weapons with the curling bomb, like the sploosh.

Also, small tip. If you are using a weapon with the sprinkler in splatzones, throw it in unusual places. FE: at mainstage I always attach it to the bottom of the big screen so it is shooting directly down on the zone. You'd be surprised at how many people don't realize it is there. Also, change out the sprinkler frequently because after about 15 to 20 seconds the sprinkler goes into its slowest inking mode.

I love doing this. A great strategy for sure! Also with sprinklers (as well as beacons) for Tower Control, placing one on the tower and hiding behind it can act like a shield and take a hit for you.

Thought of one more: you may want to use the "This way!" and "Ouch..." commands when there's a good reason for it. For instance, if you see a clear path in Rainmaker, saying "This way!" is a great way to get your teammate's attention. This doesn't mean that your teammates will actually follow you, but it never hurts to try! I think "Ouch" is best used when you're away from the action (making a side path for example), and you get splatted. Saying "Ouch" then lets your team know that someone is over there and to be careful. Though, I wouldn't use it if you're in the middle of the action, since your team will already be around to see. And I always save "Booyah!" for getting a knockout in Rainmaker.

@GoldenGamer88 You're a level 50 player going into C-. Trust me, your teammates are going to suck more than you do.

Regarding how much people focus on the objective, I find there's an interesting sort of curve to this. In the low ranks, people get distracted with fighting each other while the objective passes them by, because they don't know better. When you get to around A rank, most people are pretty single-mindedly focused on the objective. But once I reached S+ in Tower Control I found I started seeing players, including myself, getting distracted again. Good players often try to approach from unexpected directions or ink turf in advance, and when two people encounter each other while doing this sort of thing, they might just forget everything and fight each other to the death. It can sometimes be good to keep an opponent busy, but try to keep an eye on how your team is doing!