
If you booted up Splatoon this morning you might have noticed that without even the need to download an update that you can now play on the new Port Mackerel map. You can also buy the N-ZAP '85, a new weapon which looks suspiciously familiar. Of course what will be most exciting for competitive gamers is the introduction of the Ranked Battle mode. If you have reached level 10, then you are officially "fresh" enough to lay it all on the line.

Ranked Battle is similar to a regular turf war with two teams of four taking on each other - however, it's worth noting that the rules are a little bit different. In a ranked battle the objective is to splatter set areas - known as Splat Zones - with your team's coloured ink and attempt to take control. Once a team takes control of all the zones in the level, then a counter lasting 100 seconds will begin to count down.
If one of the teams manages to keep control of the Splat Zone(s) and get their timer down to zero then they win the match. If things are proving to be a little more evenly matched, then the game will end after 5 minutes and the team with the lowest counter takes the win.

Taking control of a Splat Zone(s) is the easy part - defending it is the challenge as the rival team is sure to do whatever they can to seize control for themselves. Make sure you have a sniper high up somewhere to fend off incoming challenges to your team's domination.
Due to the change in rules, many weapons have drastically different roles: naturally snipers are a must for keeping foes as far away from the zone(s) as possible, Sprinklers provide good remote coverage when you're busy fending off attackers, and Rollers are extremely useful when popping out of ink to surprise a hapless foe just to name a few.
The map layouts are also slightly different in this mode, allowing cover where there was none before, or providing a path over what was once a chasm. These changes are largely minimal but provide a massive change in how many routes and vantage points are present.

It should be made clear that you cannot join a friend's game in this mode due to the ranked nature of the setup, so you're largely at the mercy of your randomly assigned teammates. Luckily because the zone(s) are fairly small it often doesn't take much to have a big impact on how a match pans out, so as long you're properly equipped you can easily pull your weight and tip the balance in your favour.
Depending on how you perform on the field you'll be assigned one of nine ranks ranging from A+ to C-. In theory you'll be placed in ranked battles with players of a similar reputation. Do you have what it takes to raise your ranking to the coveted A+ status? There's only one way to find out, and it's not sitting here reading this text.
Let us know if you've had a chance to try out the new Ranked Battle mode in Splatoon yet. We'd love to hear your top tips for controlling those splat zones.
Comments 66
Didn't touch Ranked Battles this morning, but I will surely give it a go later today. This take on "Domination" style gameplay means all new strategies and old weapons (such as ink mines and sprinklers) will have new value .
It's a lot of fun and very fast-paced. Snipers really are at an advantage too. Basically, it's as tactical as it is chaotic. And yes, it does make sense.
Haha, I was actually going to go play Splatoon at night last night, but I forgot that they were going to update the game! So I just kept getting disconnected over and over because I guess they were tweaking the servers.
So excited to play this after training probably won't leave the house all day! Gotta love them summer holidays.
Thanks Nintendo! Funny how at virtually every turn they are proving their many critics wrong. This is great content and a great game. All the fools that have rated this game less than 8 out of 10 should be ashamed of themselves. Any so-called professional game critic that rated this game anything less than 8 out of 10 should lose all credibility with the gaming community. I cannot abide by intelectual dishonesty. No one can deny the absolute fun you have when playing this unique and amazing game. Splat👀n On!
The salt is too real sometimes when I play this mode. The mode itself is a lot of fun. More emphasis on the splatting and balancing spreading ink in places outside of the designated zone to build up special gauge makes sure the ink mechanics aren't wasted. All around fun to play.
@Shiryu
"Old Weapons" - i haven't even got the game yet!
@conman2012 "Old" as in regular ingame weapons that you might have passed on because they are not useful in regular Turf Wars map where you need to run and gun more instead of holding out positions. Strategy!
Not tried ranked yet as it unlocked at 3am and now I'm at work.
Roller players, how do you find splat zone? My usual tactic is to run away from Fire fights and paint, but I'm thinking if everyone is focused on the splat zone with guns, I'm not gonna last long enough to do anything.
Splat Zone is surely a pure chaotic-strategic mode (whatever that means).
Did few matches this morning and it was interesting, depending the map the weapon balance changed drastically putting different players in the leadership.
However I disagree that "you can easily pull your weight and tip the balance in your favour" in all my matches I found out that having the right allies was very important, just a player not doing his best can give a huge chance to the enemies' attack >.>;
Ranked seems a slap in the face to me. I have already thought of at least 4 different methods that they could have some competition in 4v4. They currently use two of them. King of the Hill (the current "Ranked") is just incredibly insulting to anyone wanting Rollers as their main weapon. I have noticed that the Zones are lower and if it isnt the Chargers sniping you before you have your weapon out, it is the Splatters raining on you before you can do anything either. Rollers need their weapon out for inking. If you ''fall'' you LOSE the Roller. You have to pull it out again. Or at least have to wait for your Inkling to get ready to move. ALL the ones seem to be in lower areas. This causes Rollers to STAND STILL and they already suffer from distance fighting.
I thought that Nintendo said that they made each of the games balanced for whatever style of play (weapon) you like? The game flat out states that Chargers are King and while not saying it, Rollers are most certainly Tier 4.
This also does nothing to talk about how the Rankings are based solely on you winning the match, regardless of your strength. And top that with the COMPLETE LOSS of exp, coin, and equip upgrade if you lose and it is not worth my time. I already lost 4 of 5 matches, including ALL the ranking points I earned in the second game, and walked away with 1300 coin and exp after half an hour. I would have that in about 7 minutes in regular battle.
@Peach64
Not worth your time. See my previous post.
I don't know why people pick one weapon and stick to it. I think you need to be able to understand and play each weapon.
Splat Zone is pretty incredible. The matches tend to be longer, which I like, but they don't feel drawn-out. They're also thoroughly intense. I have noticed a few people who seem to think they're still playing Turf War, but everyone should get used to the different rules soon.
@Peach64 - I was in a lot of matches last night w/o rollers, never more than 1 on a team, but I think the team w/ 1 roller usually won. Nice new avatar.
But man this game is FAST! Im level 12, usually always top on my team in turf war, but a lot of the guys playing this KNOW what they are doing. There is ocassionally 1 player just walking around inking everything, but everybody else is hiding and kiling. Some of the matches were over almost instantly, underpass is a serious pain to take once its bern captured.
I started C-, ended C-, after 2 hours of play. And it was the first 2 hours so it wasnt like the other guys had a long time to practice before I got there.
And some losses are just painful. We got down to 1 second left, the other team wss still 80, and we lost. Another match we were at 80, the other team at 4, and we got down to 16 and lost as time ran out 16-4 w/ the counter running down in our favor.
Man, the stress level is so much higher, as you get zero points if you lose, so you cant be on a lousy team and say oh well I'll still get my 800 points. Its all or nothing. Very very fsst and stressful. I may have to leave that mode alone late at night, too reved up to sleep.
@LordGeovanni
Okay. So you are no good at using roller in that mode. Either figure it out or switch weapons. Right? What am I missing?
@MadAdam81
Agreed, but not everyone is accustomed to online competition games. My experience says that you are never going to be great unless you try all the options. You need to understand what the strengths and weaknesses of the other weapons will be even if you have a favored one.
@rjejr
It will take awhile for the ranks to spread out. That should help divide up the A+ characters to play against themselves. Then, with effort you can start climbing out of your rank. This is why you need lots of players.
Sounds like so much fun. The game awaits in plastic...
You guys change your avatars too much! At least @Peach64 stayed pink and yours is distinctive.
@LordGeovanni - Do you play as @_*Geovany? Something like that? I saw the name a few times last night. Cant recall if we were on the same team or not but as I mentioned above I only saw 1 roller all night, it may have been you.
@LordGeovanni It's possible you are just challenged by the skill level of the players now in that mode. The most serious players are going to be the ones already trying that mode out in earnest and the ranks haven't spread out yet, so you've been playing against the cream of the crop. Maybe don't give up on your roller in that mode just yet.
I'm still waiting for more local multiplayer options :/
@aaronsullivan - Oh, thanks for that, cheered me up considerably. And its not like I was completely clueless, I told my wife last night the reason I didnt see any B ranked players, nor a single C+, might be b/c they are in another pool. I didnt extrapolate further though that sooner or later the good players will rank up snd then maybe the competition would be a little more my speed. I dont mind being the worst player on my team ad long as I contribute, but last night I could barely keep up. Msde me think of the old saying about college football players being durprised at just how much faster the NFL is. Im still in high school.
Oh, and I changed my avatar for positive support of a Nintenfo game, I rarely get that chance, and we have that toy in the basement near my tv, my son named him Arnold. Nobody knows why. And the Many Faced god needs his tribute.
You can't change yours though, its perfect, "wise old sage aaron sullivan" just rolls off the tongue. Apologies for the old part, its relative to the crowd
@LordGeovanni
You say rollers are underpowered in ranked but to be fair, chargers are underpowered in turf wars. There are more modes coming where im sure the roller can shine.
Time to get practicing with new weapons I guess! I did enjoy the splat charger in the amiibo challenges.
This really adds a lot of depth to this game! I really enjoyed the regular turf wars. And loved this challenging mode as well. However I do feel like they are missing more of this game. Like it feels somewhat unfished. I mean I did pay $60 but I also got the game guide for free with it. But still it needs like 4 / 5 local turf war with split screens, at least 2 up to 4 online battles. I mean this is just the start. But none the less awesome game.
Touched it last night and had a horrible time.
Kept getting teamed up with people that didn't understand the rules and acted as if it was Turf Wars
Needless to say We lost almost instantly.
I'm not even through Solo mode yet and with the 3 Amiibos bought this morning that's gonna take a while.
Managed to level up once yesterday, now I'm at level 8. If I didn't have Don't Starve offering fierce competition for my free time, I'm thinking I'd be over 10 already.
I had one game as level 11 splat jr and seriously got owned by 16+ ranks, so heading back to turf wars to practice the long range weapons, get some EXP and buy some better guns!
Turf Wars was beginning to get a bit too familiar. Ranked Battle really makes the game. I understand why it wasn't open on launch, but doesn't it mean review scores given before this are a bit redundant, or at least not reflective of the full game?
@Peach64 Splattershots are where it's at for me. Rapid fire, quite some ground covered when just blindly spraying, decent accuracy and range for some of them. Usually top of the team in turf wars, but mixed results in ranked thus far.
As for some maps, ground coverage outside of the zones to get specials, then assaulting, say, the towers they use and are hard to take, can really help your team too.
"Do you have what it takes to raise your ranking to the coveted A+ status?"
Probably not, but I'll still play it.
Time to use the underrated Charger, Quick Squiffer, out to fight!
It's fun when you're playing with people who understand how it works. Most of the matches I've played so far had people acting like it was turf wars
It's fun so far but it really sucks that you can't play with friends :/ Come on, Nintendo! I hope they add this in a future update.
@CapnCuttlefish The reviewers are in the right to review the product on what is there day 1 since they don't have the future content at their fingertips they can't really judge it. This should have been available day 1, as well as more modes and maps. It's great Nintendo is giving us this content for free, but it's because they have to in order to finally have a complete game months later.
I remember IGN saying in a Q&A, someone asked if Mario Kart 8 would get a higher rating because of the 200cc or the DLC, and they said no because it did not change the game in a way that affected their complaints about the game. One of their complaints in the Splatoon review was that there was not much content so does that mean that their review would be changed as more modes/maps were added?
I have seen plenty of rollers in ranked mode. They work best sabotasing the other teams area and pathways to splatzones. Yes they are not good at holding ground, but clearing supply lines was Rommel's key to victory in North Africa. You just have to find a new role which isn't the most visible.
@LordGeovanni Played four hours this morning with the Dynamo Roller and made it up to Rank B. As a roller you really need to utilize chokepoints and your paint throw melee attack. Which is especially deadly on the Dynamo and you can set up paths pretty easily with the sprinkler along with dominate two paths by having your sprinkler cover when placed well.
You have two options with the roller as well, heavy defense that requires a lot of your own paint all around to spring up and fling... Or a heavy offense cutting off the enemy's way back to the zones.
Also find some gear with the Ink Resistance trait on it. It's simply amazing not losing speed/taking damage in enemy ink.
Im.losing connection on every match and its classing as a loss in ranked battle. Anyone else getting this???
i loved it. perfect contrast and really gets your skin in the game. it was a mini thrill to breach C rank, and makes me really eant to hold onto it.
i always felt like instead of my team losing, it was a hard fought and well earned win by the other.
one thing not mentioned is the overtime mechanic. even if your team is in the lead, if your not in control of the zone when the time runs out, you haven't won yet. lost a twenty py lead because the other team rallied and we couldn't wrest to zone away from then. quite a memorable experience! i love it!!
I really enjoyed Splatzones. It was much more intense than Turf War. The high of getting a knockout was thrilling, but the low of being knocked out was rough. I really enjoyed it but it was nice to go back to Turn War and have a more relaxed experience, too. I surprisingly did best with the Krak On Roller, so I think I will keep trying to perform that "roll".
So far its REALLY fun and defiantly fast paced with each teams fighting over a zone. Unfortunately because i haven't gotten the best luck with getting good teammates so im still ranked C- deep sighs
overall a combo of a sniper , roller , and any other gun is a good chance of winning on your team I think. That is if your teammates good.
@yorumi so far it is off balanced because there is not lot of ranked A or B meaning U can get not very good people on your team but when there's more ranked A or B it will (hopefully) be more better skilled .
not a lot*
Not level 10 yet. I was moving houses over the weekend so I'm a bit behind. Even so, I'm loving the game. Still think people are missing the bigger picture though.
http://topshelfgaming.net/2015/06/theres-something-about-splatoon-that-nobody-is-talking-about-but-needs-to-be-addressed/
Ya its really frustrating , I actually to take a break and play turf war because I was so mad . If there was voice chat i would be swearing into the mic so much and yelling at people who were doing horrible lol.
Are they going to add Turf War to Ranked battle at some point?
@LordGeovanni i did win one match and got 3200 points. Its faster if u play well and aim sharp (and most important have good team).
Pro tip: it needs skills and that good team.
@LordGeovanni you need to chill, homie. Like it said in the article, "Rollers are extremely useful when popping out of ink to surprise a hapless foe." I definitely found this to be true, as I consistently got the best or 2nd best KDR in a match with my roller. It's actually incredibly useful to have one on a team. You just gotta step your game up. @Peach64
@LordGeovanni any gun can be good if u know how to play with it.
@rjejr
Haha about being old. I'm old enough but I don't worry about it too much, just joke about it.
BTW, saw 5 Silver Mario Amiibo at Toys R Us today. Lots of Pac Man, too. Splatoon 3-pack was sold out, which I took as a good sign, but plenty of girl and boy Splatoon Amiibo hanging up. Very interested in how this game has actually sold.
@rarevolutionary Hey, that is a nice little article. I've got a young daughter and she loves Splatoon. Nintendo is so universally fun and offers so many female hero options nowadays that I rarely worry about it. I especially like how Princess Peach competes equally with the others (Mario Kart, Super Mario 3D World, sports, party, etc.) and is also unabashedly "girly" with pretty pink outfits and princess fashion. lol. When it comes to deity-like presence in the game it is always women in Nintendo games: goddesses, Rosalina, Great Fairy. In Nintendo Land you use your Mii to play the big characters so that's cool, too. Then, there's Samus. Although I'm not as harsh on Other M as some we do need Samus back on track.
Sprinklers are so helpful in this mode.
@LordGeovanni Rollers are just fine in ranked, you probably just are bad at using them.
@penubag Chargers are not underpowered in turf war, i am almost always top of my team with a good k/d and score (800+) when using it.
I played 4 matches last night and while I like the concept, the scoring definitely needs to be changed. Being first place on the losing team and not only getting nothing but actually dropping rank, is just no fun. If this is "Ranked Battle" shouldn't it be focused on an individual's performance regardless of what team they're on? It's going to take a lot longer to separate the good players from the bad and great players from the good, if great performances get you nothing when you happen to be on the losing team.
Also, while I'm sure some players are unaware of the difference in rules and are just inking everything in sight, inking a quieter area can be a good way to quickly build up your special. So maybe they're not all terrible players... maybe.
@aaronsullivan - My wife and I had a 5 minute discussion about why Ntinedo even bothered making single boy and girl squidling amiibo when the squid was only available in the 3 pack. In the UK it makes perfect sense, package the squid w/ the game sell the boy and girl separatly. (Like it should have been in the US for $60 - rrrr trying no to go off tangent on price rrr) but w/ a 3 pack w/ the squid, why sell only the boy and girl sepatly but not the squid? We couldn't up up w/ 1 single viable explanation. So no, it doesn't surprise me that there would be a whole lot of boy and girl amiibo on the shelves, why buy 1 or the other when you know you'll need to buy a 3 pack to get the squid!?!? (I really wanted to bold cap that entire sentence)
As for that article on the girl being the star, well she isn't it's a split between boy and girl. If anything the two attractive newscasters Marie adn Callie are the stars, but they are in the game for their beauty, so it kind of defeats the purpose.
If your daughter needs a fictional girl superhero role model, let her enjoy Raven, the only part of Teen Titans Go that doesn't make my head explode. Daria for a new generation
splatzone strategy tip: always have ink behind you. it enables movement, supports hit and run tactics, and benefits your whole team. so once you get the Zone, ink-up around you to support efficient mobility for you and your team around you.
@Shane904 I watched my son play several Splat Zones last night and I notice a couple of folks acting as it was Turf Wars. At first I thought that was odd, but then it dawned on me that they were probably trying to just activate their special...esp if they had ink strike or killer wail. You could definitely help your team from afar with this mode. Also a strategy that I saw get employed....I think...was for three of the four to work on capturing the zone while the other was the maverick putting a kink in the plans of those outside/traveling to the splat zone. I am going to give myself some time before playing this mode. It looks awesome...I'm just not ready for it yet.
The ranked battles are interesting for the Capture the Center mode, but the ranking point system needs to be adjusted to be made more accessible so that wins accrue more ranking points and losses don't kill your rank (and can be a lower point difference as you rank up).
As is, the point difference between a win and a loss is too strict, even at the lowest rank (a loss is worth 50% a win [win is +20, loss is -10), at rank C it's 67% (win +15pt, loss -10pt), at rank C+ it's 83% [win+12, loss -10]. This adds to the frustration when individual merit (in a loss) isn't rewarded, and you feel like the loss occurred either due to the 'randomness' of team selection, team weapon loadout, or stage (Urchin Underpass seemed hard to recapture after it had been claimed). I think a lot of people of widely varying skills will get stuck in the C rank ranges because the ranking point difference from win to loss is not very high.
Methinks this could use adjustment, or that one should ignore their personal Rank to help avoid frustration. While 0 Level up points are rewarded for a Knockout, you do get quite a bit more Level Up points when you win, so the balance for those points should work itself out eventually.
Tips: for Ranked battles, if you get a team you aren't working well with, can exit to Lobby and return, that should shuffle who you match up against. Also, inking area is still pretty important in Ranked Matches, as it increases your team's mobility/stealth and decreases your opponent's. The primary goal is to capture the center, but afterwards it is handy to ink the surrounding pathways leading to the center to prevent your opponents from getting near there. I haven't experimented with a lot of weapons in Ranked, but the best time to experiment is probably when your rank is low.
@Grafeaux So you're saying that a review score has nothing to do with personal opinion and should adhere to an overall consensus established by the general gaming public? How interesting.
I played the Ranked Battle mode this evening and managed to get to C+ using nothing but a roller. That town level was a pain at first
I want this game now but am hold out till they add dat off-tv play. By that time all the dlc should be out.
I am new here and just created this account to comment on this game. I got this game the minute it came out and feel like a really enjoy it even though Nintendo seem content on not making it the best it can be. It's bad enough they didn't include chat, which some of us have worked around, Next they don't let you make teams with your friend, but we still get good laughs playing together. Next they make a ranked system and try to sell you on not being able to play with your friend because its your personal rank, so instead they have you rely on complete strangers to play as well as you.Lets be clear, no matter how good you are, if your team is bad you cant do well. If they were going to rank you as an individual then let you play as one. If you're dependent on you team then let you pick it. I can't help fell that they are taking a game that could have a long life and making it a three week trade in. Hopefully they pull it together.
I had few good games on rank battle this afternoon!
However there some people that don't understand rules and start painting everything and obviously in ranked battle main objective is to mark areas on map!
@jessejamez7166 don't think that's gonna happen you need gamepad as map so touch in it to do certain special weapons or squid jump to the radar or team mate.
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