Trying to play the objective in S Rank Tower Control against Japanese players willing to stay up beyond 2 in the morning is an exercise in frustration. I am not having fun.
I am close to dropping out of S Rank, though, which may give me temporary respite from feeling completely useless, so I keep going.
I'm just inking turf for my squidmates, trying to flank our opponents, and occasionally trying to help with the objective. I do pretty poorly at all but inking turf.
What I do manage to do is be target practice for the other team. It's not glamorous, it really isn't fun at all, but getting in their way helps distract them from my squidmates pushing the tower forwards.
Hooray, I get to stay in S Rank a little bit longer.
Back in S Rank, in a lobby filled with Japanese players who are up at 2 am. I am having a terrible time, being matched against players who clearly take this game much more seriously than I do.
I've switched between several weapons and just done horribly in every battle. I just want to have fun, and I've not been having fun. I swap back to my Splash-o-Matic with a hope of just running around, inking turf, and getting a few splats. It almost works.
That damned Roller baits me, waits for me, and keeps on splatting me. It's not fun. Getting one last splat on me as the battle ends is the icing on the cake. I'm not having fun.
New tactic for Blackbelly Skatepark Tower Control. My Tri-slosher can get me to the tower really quickly, but I have been doing that in each game this session so far. Instead, I aim to outflank the opponents from the start. It would help if I knew how to squid. Or if the other team were all bunched up, like they might be if this were Rainmaker. Never mind.
I revert to trying to support the tower. But super-jumping only super-jumps me in to a splat, as it often does. Back to support! I get the jump on one inkling, and turn to get the other, noticing a bit too late that they have Bubblers active. Oops.
Our lead looks stable, if not convincing, right up to the point where we lose it. Now we have to try a bit harder to ride the tower. Or my squidmates do. I'm too busy getting splatted to be on the tower. But getting splatted lets me squid down the middle of the map without being noticed, and behind the back of the final channel.
The green team don't see me and my Tri-slosher until it is far too late, and I splat a couple of them from behind, happily charging my Bubbler as I do. My squidmates on the tower have taken care of the rest of the green inklings, which leaves us free to ride the tower to the goal, Bubbled for protection. Woomy!
A bit of a runaround on the tower to start with, as an N-ZAP chases me. Neither of us really wins. Even during that short time, there is blue in everywhere on our side of the map, which is a situation I think needs correcting.
Having inked the turf purple, I press forwards to cover the tower's route, and get a splat on the N-ZAP, with some appreciated help. We recover the tower, I decide to play a support role instead of riding it, and I get splatted immediately. Not the best support.
Time to go flanking for a bit. I deal with a couple of inklings looking to ink the turf their colour, and even use a Disruptor efficiently. Maybe I can get the hang of them! Thankfully, whilst I am swanning around all over the place, my squidmates are riding the tower. This makes me think I can continue skirmishing, so I do.
Trying to support the tower gets me splatted in super-quick time, so I again try to flank our opponents. That has me accidentally supporting the tower, but successfully, which is good. With that, I end up riding the tower, doing quite well until I am thoroughly overwhelmed.
But we've secured a strong lead, and even a last-minute push from the other team doesn't get far. I get a final splat, and ride the tower as the clock ticks down.
Trying to ride the tower immediately on Blackbelly Skatepark is disrupted by finding a Suction Bomb where I want to be. Pausing only has me awkwardly fall from the central column, where I am splatted without getting a splat myself. Not the greatest start to the battle.
My next splat is mutual, at least, but I think maybe it shouldn't be. My sloshing should have beaten the Roller's flick, but never mind.
I return to help ride the tower, super-jumping to a conscientious squidmate. We get around the corner before hitting resistance. I get pushed off the tower, which actually saves me a splatting, and can get back on to continue the ride.
My squidmates return, either squidding quickly or super-jumping, and I am franticly trying to ink turf to charge my Bubbler. Finally it charges, and I get to protect us all as we push the Tower to its goal. Woomy!
I dunno how I don't splat that Roller as he's squidding up the central column before he gets to splat me. I can only assume my ink is sloshing down and hitting a different inkling. It gets me a little salty, though, which is only made worse when hit by the last shot of the Inkzooka.
I don't think the battle is going to go my way, with the purple team taking a big lead and being very good at keeping me splatted. But a bit of a diversion around the back, popping my Bubbler just to be irritating, and some excellent resolve from my squidmates, and we push the tower forwards in a couple of connected attempts to take the lead.
This is enough encouragement to keep going, and we keep hitting the tower until it trundles on to the goal! That feels like quite the turnaround, and a decent victory. Woomy!
My not-quite-a-rampage worked well in the previous battle, so that's my strategy for this one too. I think a skirmishing approach will be necessary too, with that E-litre 3K in the other team.
Thankfully, I catch the E-litre 3K looking the other way immediately, and her reaction is to run in to my Splash-o-Matic. That'll do. Our paths cross again soon enough, but this time I am the one failing to get out of her sights. I need to be a little bit more cunning.
Not running headlong in to an Inkzooka is less cunning than a simple precaution. Splatting the Inkzooka a bit later is satisfying, but would have been moreso had I not got splatted at the same time. But I seem to trade splats more often than not. The Roller splats me as he runs in to a Suction bomb, but I splat him before he can splash me when jumping.
Me and the E-litre 3K run in to each other a couple more times. The first, we trade splats. That's fair enough, even if I should try to avoid it still. The second time, I get under her sights and have her panic-fire to escape. That shouldn't work, not with a well-placed Suction Bomb. But it seems the bomb is defective, and she gets away anyway. I want my money back.
At the end of the battle, I boldly make my way up to the perch outside the purple base, but there is no E-litre 3k up there. And I think someone is following me. No problem! I retrace my steps, find no one on my tail, but see the E-litre 3k drop on to the conveyer belt, blissfully unaware of me.
I'm having a bad time this evening. I can't get my normal choices of weapons to work for me. I'm getting a little frustrated, which calls for a more radical change than just the weapon.
I pick the Splash-o-Matic and decide to mostly ignore the objective, and instead try to go on a rampage, pretending that I'm in a support role.
The rampage starts well, splatting three of the four yellow inklings, and going back for seconds half-a-minute later. Whilst this happens, my squidmates take the Splat Zones and give us a handy lead. But I won't be distracted. I'm squidding around trying to be disruptive first and foremost, so that's what I continue doing.
I get more splats, and splatted rather more than I would like, but I end the battle strongly. Even so, I should get some rampaging tips from the Slosher on our team. 12-0! That's a rampage.
The Tri-slosher wasn't working for me in Rainmaker, so I've swapped to the Splattershot Jr, hoping for a better result.
I flank the opposition to start with, mostly becuase at this level it seems too reckless to head straight for the Rainmaker. I don't get much of a result, although at least I take some focus away from the Rainmaker itself.
I don't get much like when trying to flank their Rainmaker carrier either. My aim is worse than with a Splatterscope. This is proved a second time when trying to splat a purple inkling when my Bubbler is active. I'm not doing great.
When trying to help our Rainmaker carrier, I go ahead a bit soon and leave him to get splatted. Never mind, I help burst the Rainmaker's shield and hope to support this new carrier better, who squids in front of me to grab the Rainmaker.
I try to get a purple inkling away from inking from above, and by the time I look back the Rainmaker is a mile ahead of me! That's some good enthusiasm. She gets splatted, almost inevitably, but I splat the splatters, and press on to continue this small advantage.
A double super-jump back in to action lends some last-minute support. We lay down some covering ink, and the Rainmaker is taken up the podium via a nice and sneaky route. Woomy!
I grab the Splatterscope for Moray Towers Tower Control, and then perform quite average on Museum d'Aflonsino for a couple of games, and get stomped when Moray Towers turns up. I should change weapon.
The Tri-slosher is a perennial favourite of mine for Tower Control, and it works a charm again in this game. Maybe a fluke, maybe good squidmates. Maybe a bit of both, with some added skill.
Sneaking around the side ofr some splats doesn't work. as I forget again that all the extra platforms aren't in the Tower Control version of Moray Towers, so I go for the tower instead. And then leave the tower, as I am given the opportunity to go up another side route.
This diversion works much better! I splat one squid raining ink down on the tower, and a second, whose Splash Wall doesn't open in time. I rain ink down from above, splatting a third inkling, and then the fourth appears to shoo me, but I splat him too. Back of the net!
It's only a short ride after that, with little resistance, to get the Tower to the goal.
