hi guys, i'm a few weeks into splatoon; right now i'm level 25 and i got up to B+ rank pretty easily!! i think i'm on the verge of A- but i haven't played ranked lately because my home internet is garb.
anyway, could i get a few tips with chargers and rollers? i wanna try out different weapons since i've only been using the tentatek splattershot and .96 deco exclusively. i tried playing with krak-on and gold dynamo rollers but got pooped on basically. general tips will do.
ps: splatfest next week, burgers vs pizza :o just in time for finals!!!!!!!!!!
hi, and congrats on making it up to the b+ / a- ranks! i'm an s+ ranked (gold) dynamo roller, (custom) e-liter 3k scope, (kelp) splatterscope, and hydra splatling main, so i think i'm very qualified to give advice for the two weapon classes you've requested tips for.
---
tips for chargers:
before you do anything else, find out if you prefer playing with or without scopes. there are certain advantages and drawbacks to both that are very, very important to keep in mind. non-scoped chargers keep their peripheral vision even while being fully charged. they also get just a tad more mobility than their scoped counterparts. these two traits make it easier to avoid being flanked during your charge time. in comparison, scoped chargers zoom in during the charging process, giving a narrowed view of the field that makes it easier to pick off targets at a distance. the scoped variants also get a slight range boost, which gives them a slight edge over their non-scoped counterparts during a charger duel. do note that the answer to the question of which type of charger is better is purely a matter of personal preference.
once you have determined your preferences, learn how to snap your snipes. this is important because every time you start charging your shots, a laser of your team's ink color will appear from your charger's muzzle, which will give any alert targets a heads-up that you're getting ready to shoot them. snap sniping mitigates this vulnerability by making it harder for your opponents to see the laser and avoid the shot.
this video by panda global squids next door's rocket (an extremely high-level splatoon player) and
this guide by exultance gaming's citrus (another extremely high-level splatoon player) are excellent resources for when you start to learn how to use chargers.
also, during this time, determine the camera sensitivity level that you feel most comfortable snap-shooting with. higher camera sensitivities sacrifice precision and general stability for the ability to quickly re-adjust your aim and scan your surroundings, and vice versa for lower sensitivities. both of them have their uses, but i've learned that quite a few top players (e.g.: team paradise's thatsrb2dude, my own squadmate jayring627) prefer having a lowered sensitivity when using chargers. on the other hand, there are other charger users (panda global squids next door's rocket) that prefer having the ability to change their aim on a dime, so just play around with the camera settings until you feel comfortable.
with that said, let's get down to the chargers themselves. you have two varieties of chargers: quick chargers (medium range chargers that require a full charge or two charges to splat an opponent [e.g.: squiffers, bamboozlers]) and standard chargers (extremely long-range chargers that charge at a medium-to-slow rate and do not necessarily need a full charge to splat an opponent [e.g.: splat chargers, e-liters]). both types of chargers have their uses, but i prefer the latter type just because of the sheer range advantage they have over every other weapon and pressure they can cast on the field. for beginner charger users, i'd recommend starting with the splat charger / splatterscope because of its relatively balanced combination of range, charge speed, mobility, and ink efficiency, as well as its ability to somewhat reliably defend itself at close range with splat bombs. i'd avoid the e-liter 3k and its variants until you feel comfortable with the splat charger / splatterscope because it takes the charger stats to various extremes in both the positive (range!) and negative (charge speed, mobility, ink efficiency) directions.
as for abilities, i would recommend stacking damage up abilities first. having three damage up mains (or a close equivalent, such as 2 mains and 3 subs) helps reduce the charge time needed to reliably get splats on most opponents (assuming they do not stack defense up abilities) with the standard chargers. i would then follow this up with some ink recovery up mains / subs (which means you spend less time recovering ink and more time shooting), some ink saver (main) mains / subs (which can give you an extra shot from a full tank), and cold blooded, which helps retain some degree of stealth if an echolocator goes off. other useful but not quite as necessary abilities include swim speed up (useful mostly for the custom e-liter 3k to help enhance the kraken special), special charge up (which is great for both splat chargers / splatterscopes), quick respawn, defense up, and special saver.
my personal favorite charger gear are the legendary cap (because i
gotta flex my level 50 status loool rolled two quick respawn subs yee), squid girl tunic (imo, it's the best-looking gear with damage up and i have two extra damage up subs on top of the damage up main), and bubble rain boots (oh man, they're so adorable
and they favor defense up!). however, i will rotate my legendary cap with the white headband if i want ink recovery up, squid girl tunic with the anchor sweat or basic tee if i want cold blooded or more quick respawn, and my bubble rain boots with the cyan trainers or plum casuals if i want even more ink recovery up or swim speed up.
e: one more important point: you're going to suck for the first month or so of learning how to use chargers. this is normal. just keep going at it. you'll eventually get better :]
e2: on top of the guides i posted earlier,
/u/justanotherbiomajor's guide is excellent reading material for further optimizing your charger gameplay.
---
tips for rollers:
royal flush made some excellent points in his / her (sorry for the ambiguity, but idk your gender) post above mine about rollers, so i won't go into as much detail about them as i did for chargers. however, i somewhat disagree with his / her point about the dynamo rollers. they still are excellent weapons even after the 2.2.0 nerf thanks to their unparalleled ability to maintain stage control, keep tabs on opponents (this section applies mostly to the vanilla dynamo), and never let up pressure unless the opponents dedicate one or two players to take the dynamo out. the current best splatoon team (we have come to make memories / omohide) has a dynamo main (kitkat) as one of their key members, and a few strong teams besides them (e.g.: speedrunslive, cyberbullies, inkopolis underground, and my own squad [the visionaries]) have at least one skilled dynamo main to work with. the main reason the dynamos are not too common a sight in the current competitive splatoon metagame is because of the relatively high learning curve found behind mitigating their weaknesses. yes, i may be biased thanks to my status as a dynamo main, but i think my points hold some water.
for new roller users, i'd start with at least one of the splat roller, krak-on splat roller, and / or carbon roller. these are the easiest rollers to get acquainted with. as for the dynamos, i'd consider them an entirely separate weapon because they really don't play like the normal rollers would. to make effective use of them, you have to put more of a focus on the flick portion of the roller's attack animation rather than the roll portion.
with that said, let's talk abilities. swim speed up is great to help get the drop on opponents, and if you're going to go with an all-out flanking approach and look to trade with opponents at the worst, stacking quick respawn will help make your deaths much less valuable than those of your opponents. special saver is an absolute lifesaver if you stack quick respawn because it helps you recover your special after getting splatted sooner than an equal investment in special charge up would. ninja squid is bad, but cold blooded is great for the same abilities i mentioned in the charger section above. also, while it may seem counter-intuitive, having some damage up subs / mains helps the roller-class weapons by making their flicks (and burst bombs in the carbon's case) do more damage. ink resistance is pretty much mandatory imo because rollers appreciate having as much mobility as possible and because rollers aren't going to be rolling all the time.
unlike the chargers, i can't really give out any one set i like using because each roller demands a different set of abilities to be focused on them. krak-on splat rollers tend to appreciate swim speed up, quick respawn, and special saver because of the kraken, while carbon rollers like having bomb range up, quick respawn, and damage up instead.
---
i didn't mean for this to be such a tl;dr post, but i really hope this helps anyone who wants to get acquainted with these two weapon classes. if you have further questions about these two weapon classes (or about the weapons i main in particular), please feel free to tag me here or vm / pm me.