Charging through Piranha Pit Splat Zones

Piranha Pit is such a good new map. The conveyer belts add a dynamic element, there are corners to run and hide around, and perches that give chargers just enough of a view without having them dominate.

The battle for Splat Zones in Piranha Pit works well too. Access to your own zone is immediate, and the opponents' zone can be approached in several different ways.

I get really lucky with my first splat. All that blue ink could easily have fallen on top of me and unmasked me, but I stay in that little patch of green, then get a snap shot off at my attacker.

I often watch how other inklings play to get tips, and I have to say that other chargers have made it look really easy to backpedal on the conveyer belts to shoot at the top of it. I give it a go, but simply fall off the moment I reach the top.

This is a good battle. Lots of to-and-fro, with some good shots and lucky shots from me, and the same from our opponents.

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Tags: console, piranha pit, splat zones, splatoon, splatterscope, wii u

Keeping the Splat Zones covered

The Splatterscope turns out to be a good choice to start a session of Splat Zones. Getting a decent perch in Saltspray Rig certainly helps, and keeping on the move to avoid being splatted is generally a good tactic.

I can't say I stay out of trouble, though. A couple of Suction Bombs get thrown my way, which is a credible threat, and that Inkzooka must be held by someone learning the weapon, as they normally hit me with unerring accuracy. The Dynamo Roller can chuck ink to a decent height too, so it's lucky I don't get splatted there.

I move my position to the lower platform when I realise that the blue team look to be using the rear of the map as a way to super-jump back to the battle with less threat, and perhaps to charge their Specials. It works for a while, getting me to an alternative position where I can't be sneaked up on.

Keeping mobile and aware of threats can keep you from getting splatted. Keeping your opponent at your optimal range helps too, but is often not possible, particularly with an opponent who likes to keep mobile. Most important it keeping your ink turfed, and not just the Splat Zones. You need to be able to move freely. The Splatterscope is good for covering long lines of turf with ink, and I use that to our benefit.

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Tags: console, saltspray rig, splat zones, splatoon, splatterscope, wii u

Pushed back in Piranha Pit Tower Control

This is what happens when you don't have The Boss on your side. And when you're a bit crap.

Running headlong in to shooters isn't a great tactic normally, less so when you've got a Tri-slosher equipped. And Blasters are just annoying anyway, with their indirect fire.

I nearly splat The Boss, but he's obviously above getting out-manoeuvred by a bucket.

In the end, there's just not much we can do. They out-ink us, and keep us pushed back enough to get the tower to our goal. Good game, inklings.

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Tags: console, piranha pit, splatoon, tower control, tri-slosher, wii u

Tough tussle in Tower Control

I don't take the side route to the tower this time, but a more direct route. It takes me through a grate, and I'm not sure this is the quickest, but not getting to the tower immediately may have been a blessing. The Splash Wall and barrage of ink coming from purple has my backing away to stay unsplatted. I try to splat that powerful Dynamo Roller, but he flings his ink just in time to get a mutual splat.

I try to provide support for my squidmates, who need no encouragement to ride the tower. Laying down ink, trying to splat the other team, and squidding on to the tower when it is uncontested. But I just seem to get splatted an awful lot. I like to think I helped a bit, though.

Lots of to-and-fro in this Tower Control battle. No one really dominates, and it's probably just a touch of luck that lets us push the tower just that little bit further than the other side. Maybe it's because we had The Boss on our team again.

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Tags: console, splatoon, tower control, tri-slosher, urchin underpass, wii u

One-sided Tower Control

The Boss is aptly named for an inkling. Nine splats to no losses, which means he keeps his distance well. But he also maintains a good anchor point for the rest of us to super-jump to. You can't ask for anything else from a charger, and is an excellent example of how to play the weapon.

I'm sticking with the Tri-slosher for Tower Control for now, and take the side-route to the tower. It's probably not quicker, but it could provide a little ink from an unexpected direction. There seems little point in taking that route for the rest of the match, given where the tower is.

Trying to catch up with the tower reminds me of that inkable block added for Tower Control, that lets you sneak around via that side route I first take, but on the opposition's side. That is really useful for providing some surprise ink. Otherwise, super-jumping to The Boss is a great way to stay in touch with the battle.

This really is a one-sided battle. The other team don't push the tower even a single inch across the half-way point. It's as emphatic a victory you can get without it being a knockout. I hope The Boss stays on my side in the other matches.

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Tags: console, splatoon, tower control, tri-slosher, urchin underpass, wii u

Getting confused on Tower Control

There is an awful lot of mutual splatting in this Tower Control battle on Piranha Pit. Or, at least, I get splatted when I also splat an inkling, even if it's not the inkling that splats me. It makes for a frantic battle of splatting and respawning. It also means that I lose track of exactly what's happening in the battle.

I don't aim to ride the tower too much, which is unlike me, but I can enjoy playing a more supportive role. Keeping the turf inked our colour, for freedom of movement, is nearly always a benefit, even if the Tri-slosher is perhaps not the best tool for that task. Still, it works well enough on Piranha Pit, thanks to the compact nature of the Tower Control map, and the many platforms and levels that let me slosh ink down from above.

Not riding the tower doesn't seem to be a problem anyway. My squidmates push the tower really close to the goal to start with, and I decide afterwards that getting splatted isn't as much fun as hearing the tower's tinkling music.

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Tags: console, piranha pit, splatoon, tower control, tri-slosher, wii u

Lucky shots in Splat Zones

I can't believe that the other team is consistently much better than my own, so I have to conclude that I really don't have my mojo about me this evening in Splat Zones. I swap weapons for something more familiar, in a bid to get my mojo back, but even the Splatterscope isn't working for me. We're stomped again.

Well, that's a little unfair. We storm the Splat Zones and get a mighty lead to start with. It's only afterwards that they wrest control from us and do their best not to let us re-take control of the Splat Zones. They do a really good job of that too.

I get some lucky shots, but that they're lucky and not skilled is why I'm heading to Turf War after this battle. Mind you, hitting an inkling and getting the splat, only for him to turn in to a Kraken and avoid the splat is pretty unfortunate. That final splat, just as the battle finishes, was definitely lucky, though.

Okay, no more Ranked battles for me tonight. Maybe a bit of Turf War can convince me that my skills aren't falling by the wayside.

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Tags: console, kelp dome, splat zones, splatoon, splatterscope, wii u

Disconnected from the Splat Zones

Not a particularly outstanding battle in Splat Zones, maybe because I'm trying yet another new weapon for me, the .52 Gal. Its Splash Wall has always got me in trouble when on the receiving end, and the Killer Wail seems like it would be good in Splat Zones. Needless to say, the weapon is better in practiced hands, and I need more practice.

Charging in to the middle of the Splat Zones probably isn't the best tactic for a weapon with medium range, though. I am too used to short-range weapons, and continue to shoot and run forwards, instead of keeping my distance. But the .52 Gal is certainly a powerful shooter. Two-shot splats are nasty when on the receiving end, but really helpful when you're doing them.

The one point of interest in this game is actually seeing a squid disconnect from the battle. At 1'26", just after I get splatted, the purple inkling evaporates in a puff of mist. That is the sign of an player disconnecting. That gives us a four-on-three advantage, which is almost always enough for any Ranked battle to be won without too much difficulty.

Naturally, it's a knockout victory before too long. The .52 Gal looks like a good weapon, and it's interesting to try to use the Splash Wall and find out that it's not just a matter of pressing a button to get splats. Players who use it well have practiced and got some skill.

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Tags: .52 gal, console, kelp dome, splat zones, splatoon, wii u

Prancing around Piranha Pit on Tower Control

I'm really enjoying Tower Control on Piranha Pit. It's a fun map, and although probably over half of the map isn't being used for this Ranked mode, I don't think that really matters. Ride the Tower, get to the base. Keeping the tower centralised helps concentrate the battle and prevent it getting drawn out by having to squid everywhere. You can just leave your base and pretty much get involved all the time.

Of course, getting splatted right at the start isn't great, but it's pretty much what you can expect for charging right towards the objective. We have a jolly good fight for control of the tower, though. Naturally, I run out of ink occasionally, sometimes at just the wrong moment, but I can practice at better ink management.

If you look carefully, after I'm splatted and a blue pops his Bubbler and shares it, you can see one of the blue team getting thrown off the tower when a green Killer Wail hits his Bubbler. Some specials may make you invulnerable to being splatted, but that doesn't mean you aren't affected by weapons. You can get knocked back, and the power of the Killer Wail is obvious from the effect it has on a Bubbled inkling.

Our early lead is enough for us to comfortably win the battle. Our Kelp Splatterscope squidmate clearly knows what he's doing with that charger, earning himself twenty-one splats in the battle. I imagine our victory was much helped by his inkling suppression.

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Tags: console, piranha pit, splatoon, tower control, tri-slosher, wii u

Saving the Tower on Camp Triggerfish

Camp Triggerfish isn't the best map for a Tri-slosher, with its long corridors and open spaces, but I still like the bucket for Tower Control. Being able to slosh all over the tower is great, and the grates and netting grant good vantage points. But, as is obvious from the start, the long sight-lines benefit the longer-range weapons quite a lot.

In Ranked battles, sometimes I focus on the objective too much, and lose sight of the supportive role I can play. Other times it's the opposite. When I'm having a good day, I realise in time that I'm not contributing and re-adjust. I mostly try to ride the tower at the start of this battle, which helps give us a really healthy lead. It's hard to see battle lost, unless we really make mistakes.

It looks like we might be making those mistakes too. The green team push the tower along nicely, and my efforts to splat those inklings on the tower mostly result in my getting splatted. We are short on tentacles and the green team get ever closer to beating our lead, and with a Kraken on the tower. But just as they get to within a point of our lead, my slosher comes in to its own, helped by a squidmate or two with some extra suppressing ink and a bit of meatshield. That triple-splat really saves the tower!

I like to think I contributed in this battle for Tower Control, although perhaps I could have re-adjusted a little bit sooner. It would be nice if my Bubbler had charged just that split-second sooner than 'at the moment of splatting' too, but I get some use out of it.

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Tags: camp triggerfish, console, splatoon, tower control, tri-slosher, wii u