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Entry 1: Gearing Up | Entry 2: Battle Tips
We’re cracking open Private I.N.Kling’s War Journal once more to finish up our overview of Turf War strategies. As the heart of Splatoon’s online multiplayer experience, it’s crucial to know how to best approach Turf War’s raging battles over territory control. Let’s get right back into basic training!
Tactics: Territory Control
Picking a Weapon
It can be frustrating trying to help your team gain ground by claiming land if you don’t have the proper weapon in hand to complement your play style. Knowing how each type of weapon handles terrain painting versus crowd control is key to getting a setup that will work for you. Recall the three primary weapon types: automatic fire, charge fire, and rollers. All automatic guns are designed for their firing buttons to be held down for a continuous spray of ink, but their firing speeds differ between models. Splattershot Jr.s and Aerosprays have the fastest firing speeds, for example, while Blasters and the .52/.92 Gals are very slow. Charge fire weapons are essentially single shot rifles, intended for long range assaults and spraying of ink. Splatterscopes and the E-Liter offer the greatest range of any weapon, charged or otherwise. Finally are the rollers, which are made for optimal ink coverage and possess limited firing capabilities, as they can only fling ink, not shoot it. Dynamo Rollers have surprisingly good range, making them very versatile in a battle.
Bear in mind that there is no perfect weapon, nor is there a right or wrong weapon to choose from. Experimentation is the only way for each individual player to determine which gun or roller works for them. Normally I’d point out that certain weapons work better on a given map, but Splatoon doesn’t allow for players to pick which weapon they’re going to use while waiting for a lobby to fill. You can only choose prior to entering a search for a match, so you’re thrown into battles virtually blind. With that being the case, it’s wisest to find a weapon that you can adapt to multiple situations. I’m partial to the Splattershot Jr., for example. It’s economical with ink, has a steady and speedy rate of fire, and covers a lot of ground. It isn’t the best in a shootout, but it’s no slouch either, working very well for my sensibilities as a player. Perhaps you will find you’re most useful acting as a marksman, blasting enemies from a distance and using your charged shots to pelt the ground with long streamers of ink. If you get a kick out of painting the ground more than anything else, a roller may end up your weapon of choice, which also makes you extremely lethal in close quarters combat.
Whatever you choose, know that each weapon has its own strengths and weaknesses. As I touched on above, charged weapons leave nice long streaks of ink in their wake, which is good for covering up a lot of ground quickly. However, with their slow rate of fire, it means having to keep a relatively long distance from enemy Inklings to avoid being splatted. You can provide cover fire for teammates straying too close to the opposition, picking them off from afar without being in immediate danger. For rollers, the advantage is obvious– you will be smothering territory with your team’s color with ease. Being able to fling paint also means you’ll have some limited range to play with when attacking, but to survive you’ll have to get in very close to splat enemies with your roller. With automatic weapons, you’ll enjoy a middle of the road approach. Your rate of fire is much better than with charged guns, and you can cover a fair amount of ground to help snag valuable real estate. Being in the middle, however, means not excelling at either long or close range attacks. On the plus side, the adaptability of an automatic gun is arguably the highest, as it’s the most versatile of any weapon.
Battle Tips
Stay Vigilant
We talked battle strategies quite a bit last time, but now we’ll talk about some methods to stay alive and spray as much ink as possible. When roaming an arena, be wary of large solid swaths of enemy ink. The most obvious danger is that the opposition’s color will damage your Inkling and slow him or her down, but it also serves as a devious hiding spot for crafty foes. Enemies will sometimes decide to hang back and defend claimed territory, so watch your surroundings! If you have a ranged weapon, it’s advisable to fire shots into these pools to lure out any campers. If you’re toting an automatic weapon or roller with limited range, the alternative is to hurl either a Splat or Burst Bomb, or a Sprinkler into enemy ink for much the same effect. Speaking of campers, though there are benefits to trying to protect a highly disputed or valuable patch of battlefield, you’re ultimately not doing as much as you might think to help your team win. Having as many players covering the maximum amount of territory is the best way to ensure victory. Sticking to one spot means your ink only ever touches that particular piece of territory, which doesn’t help you earn much experience points, either.
Better to Run… Usually
Don’t call it a retreat, call it a tactical evasion. Respawning is a serious time killer, and with a limited number of ticks on the clock in each match, every second you can save is vital. If you find yourself toe-to-toe with an aggressive combatant, don’t try to force the issue if they’re getting the upper hand. Backing off to recharge your health is a lot smarter than getting splatted and having to wait to get back to fighting. What’s more, a sound evasive maneuver can throw enemies for a loop leading to some wicked flank attacks as a result. There’s nothing wrong with playing hero, but remember that Turf War isn’t interested in your kill streak, it’s interested in how much paint you can lay down. Of course, the exception here is if you see an opposing Inkling really tearing up your squad and/or throwing down buckets of ink. In those situations it’s highly advisable that you make wiping those players out a priority. Letting a member of the other team run rampant can cause major problems down the road if it leads to a huge rally from their own teammates. Take risks when they’re warranted, but otherwise fight with brains.
Know Where to Ink
This last tip is small but important to know. It’s easy to get caught up in wanting to spray ink across every inch of every paintable surface, but unfortunately that will only be useful to a certain extent when it comes to claiming territory. Walls, for instance, don’t add to your team’s percentage. You might be able to use them to climb, but as far as the tally goes, walls are useless. In regard to inking the floor, don’t get too fixated on coating every centimeter. Some missed spots are truly negligible, not even yielding a single percentage point when covered. So if you see a few infinitesimal specks without your team’s color, just leave it behind and move on to bigger patches of the map.
That’s it for this week’s Splatoon insights! Next time, we’ll be moving over to Ranked Battles and how best to approach them. Keep it tuned to Nintendojo to stay in fighting shape!
