Awesome last wave in Salmon Run [17-11-21, 15/523]

A new day at GrizzCo, a new set of weapons. The Blaster first! Not the Range Blaster, but I've used this before. Bring on the salmonids! And it's low tide, so we know where they're coming from. Not the best first boss to get, needing to blast through the small fry and still have enough ink to lob a Splat Bomb, but my squimdates are on it.

Things get a little more straightforward for a while, until a Steel Eel appears as I am trying to snatch another egg. I get bopped in to the toxic waters. Still, I got the egg, and I am revived and just about avoid a Maws to deliver the egg to the basket. Our quota is easily met.

Jet Squelcher for the second wave for me, and we are immediately hit with both a Steel Eel and a Maws. The Eel comes for me, the Maws for a squidmate, and we just about survive. I'm splatted again, by a Smallfry, although I think the Flyfish had more to do with it. At least it's in a convenient position, and I am revived to help out some more.

A Steelhead joins in, which should be up to me to splat, with the range of the Jet Squelcher, but my aim and timing lets me down a little. I also miss seeing a squidmate in distress, although I am taking an egg back to the basket, and revive him and another shortly after that. Second wave complete!

The Splattershot should make this last wave smoother for me. A Steelhead is despatched efficiently, as is a Drizzler as I am carrying an egg. A Drizzler and Scrapper are splatted in to eggs, as is a Stinger. We pretty much have more eggs than we can carry, and have to leave half-a-dozen behind, and it's not like we're struggling to take them back. The bosses just drop smoothly, and we're constantly back-and-forth to the basket.

We double our quota for the final wave, which gives us a really good haul overall! Good job, everyone!

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Tags: console, marooner's bay, salmon run, splatoon 2, switch

Nasty third wave in Salmon Run [11-18-22, 13/804]

Ooh, the Blaster. I can use these, and they should be a fairly good alternative to a charger, if a bit short-ranged. It's not a great start for me, though, walking right in to the water as I aim upwards. At least it is at the start, before things start to get too hectic. But I muck up a jump too, and although I help with the Steel Eel, I can't carry one of its dropped eggs.

It's not a great time to use my Splashdown, but that's because it was a mistake. On top of that, rather than getting the egg home I try to clear some salmonids away, which just gets me surrounded and splatted, which ends up losing us an egg. This first wave really isn't going well for me. Thank goodness it's over.

Second wave, and I have the Jet Squelcher. I've never really used this weapon before, but the principles are much like other shooters. I help out splatting some salmonids, waiting for the boss to appear, but it seems our squidmates are already dealing with one. Well, we've kept some scrubs off their back, I suppose.

I go looking for trouble, and find it, which isn't difficult at high tide. A squidmate uses the Stingray to good effect, and I remember what Maws looks like before surfacing. This is going much more smoothly for me already. We take care of the bosses quickly, and watch each other's backs, and we double our quota in this wave easily.

The third wave comes, and I have the Splattershot, which is nice and easy. This is a wave I haven't seen before. I still wasn't paying much attention to Mr Grizz at this point, thinking I knew it all from the induction, but this is new to me. Glowflies appear around one of us, attracting salmonids in great quantities, and quickly! At least they are the basic salmonids, and easy to blast.

This is actually a lot of fun! It's probably because we're at high tide again, keeping us all close together. I think if the squidmate with the glowflies got too far away, they would be in trouble, and then we would, if anyone was unfamiliar with this wave. Instead, we just have rows and rows of salmonids lining up to be splatted, with the occasional boss to drop eggs.

Another accidental Splashdown doesn't matter too much, as my Splattershot deals with the salmonids easily enough. I don't even notice during the wave when I get the glowfies. But because of my Splattershot, I just stand and shoot. It definitely helps that I am standing next to the egg basket, for easy collecting. The eggs come to us, and we drop them in.

The only real problem is running out of ink, but I suppose that's half the point. With everyone sticking together, we have cover for each other pretty much all the time. In the end, we just rack up the eggs and beat back the salmonids. I don't know what my squidmates thought of that last wave, but I found it a whole load of fun!

A great performance from everyone involved, and I get another GrizzCo shirt.

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Tags: console, marooner's bay, salmon run, splatoon 2, wii u

Holding the turf in Turf War [2101p, 12(3)-3, Splattershot Jr]

Time for a bit more Turf War. Still level 5, not wanting to rush through the levels, or rush in to Ranked battles where the ex-S+ players are trying to rise as quickly as possible. I've got loads of time to enjoy battling at my own pace.

I'm sticking with the Splattershot Jr for now, as it is an effective weapon in Turf War. It's still relatively early in to my experience of the new battles, so I've not quite got the hang of Ink Armour yet. It's best to use to early and let it recharge, plus it doesn't activate anywhere near as quickly as the Bubbler. You need a couple of seconds buffer for it to be effective, as I find out again at the thirty second mark.

The Splatfest has got me more used to the map, and it's probably a bit more disorientating when reviewing the battle. It's good to see the state of the turf and the possibilities for super-jumping when waiting to come back from being splatted. Having checked the map, I can ink some bare turf, and I also learn to activate my Ink Armour sooner rather than later, which lets me cope with a Splat Dualies roll.

A bit more turfing and I am Armouring up again, and although I avoid one splatting, mostly because of a Splat Bomb, the Dualies rolls twice and gets the drop on two of nice. Nice moves! More map use, and we need to ink close to home. Splatting the yellow team works too, although I kinda take the splat away from a squidmate's Tenta Missiles.

Speaking of Tenta Missiles, pushing up, remembering to ink and move, ink and move, I catch a yellow inkling taking his time aiming them, and his buddy who super-jumps next to him. Now it looks like we've turned the battle around on the yellow team. I still can't always activate my Ink Armour in time. That will take more getting used to.

Okay, I don't land on the bridge, but under it. Not a problem. And the charger doesn't see me, which lets me splat him from an unexpected angle. It's unexpected enough that the Splat Dualies rolls closer to me, facing the wrong way, turning one splat in to a double. Nice! I have to be careful of the Slosher, though, but that sends me towards a third inkling. This battle is going well now.

In the last few seconds, with no swathes of yellow near me, I just cover what patches I can. And because there aren't obvious areas of yellow ink, the victory is quite comfortable. I get a good score too. Oh, and check out my GrizzCo t-shirt. Pretty snazzy.

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Tags: console, splatoon 2, splattershot jr, switch, the reef, turf war

Frenetic Salmon Run [15-17-15, 13/541]

I'm really digging the new Salmon Run. I've spent more time in it than Turf War, and only really battled in Turf War to get to level 4 so that I could try Salmon Run. It's good that it's going to be time-limited, otherwise I'd spend most of my time collecting eggs. Still, the bonuses you get are limited per day, which gives it more of a Splatfest vibe and will send you back to Turf War or Ranked battles after a few hours. I've spent most of my time in Salmon Run in this opening weekend because GrizzCo is open for three days straight. I'm not passing up this opportunity.

The tutorial you have to take is quite handy, but it doesn't tell you everything. There are some different bosses that need to be learnt on the fly, and you really need to pay attention to Mr Grizz when he gives his instructions, otherwise you could miss something important.

You also aren't explicitly told that you get no choice over weapons or kit. You get no kit, and your weapon is not only pre-selected from one of four weapons that GrizzCo supplies, but it rotates between squidmates in each wave. You'd better be competent with a number of weapon types to survive a Salmon Run.

I am quite happy with the first day's weapon selection, with just the Splat Dualies being outside of the basic weapon choices. I've got the charger for the first wave, which is at high tide. Not a terrible combination. I get to sit on the highest point and snipe, and the Stingray even comes in handy when I'm low on ink. It gets a little messy at the end, but we have a solid first wave.

Splat Dualies for the second wave. I like the high rate of fire, although I'm not sure what the roll could do for me here. I am also still getting used to the appearance of Maws, his bobble looking like a little critter. I get the drop on Steel Eel, though, but a second appearance gets me by surprise. I'm revived quickly, and we easily meet our quota.

I'm not great with the Splat Roller, which I get for the third wave. It feels slow compared to the Carbon Roller Deco (and the Carbon Roller in Splatoon 2 feels slow too), and I can't work out how to run faster reliably. And we get two bosses to start with! Luckily, the Steel Eel ignores me, letting me splat him, although it keeps the Flyfish at a distance, but he's soon dealt with too. Good work, everyone!

More Flyfishes! And other bosses! The team splits up, we lose some eggs, but we meet quota and finish with a good haul. To be honest, this felt a lot more frenetic at the time, and, having played at a higher level since, this looks fairly straightforward. I should review some of the other footage!

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Tags: console, salmon run, spawning grounds, splatoon 2, switch

Splat Zones go both ways (12-2, Tri-slosher)

Changing my mind to go the long way across Saltspray Rig gets me a nice opportunistic splat to start with, and continuing to skirt the Splat Zones lands the Splatterscope at my feet. That works for me, and the Splat Zones open up to be captured by us. There remains a yellow inkling hiding behind them, who tries to shoo me with a Killer Wail, but my bucket remains capable to dealing with these problems.

Sitting back in relative safety, I try to use Disruptors to good use to keep the yellow team at bay, and find a very handy time to pop my Bubbler, but the Specials keep us away from the Splat Zones effectively enough for the yellow team to capture them. Our own Killer Wail, and splatting away the Dual Squelcher, returns the Splat Zones to us, and we're back to defending.

The Disruptors work well enough, but the Splatterscope is smart and gets his Splat Bomb Rush going to ignore the ink-depleting Disurptor effect, as well as spreading yellow ink. And the Disruptors deplete my own ink tank a bit, and I run out of ink as a yellow Inkstrike flies in. I'm a bit surprised by what finally splats me, though.

Taking the long route around the Rig helps get rid of the Splatterscope from his perch, and being up there myself lets me slosh enough purple ink around to help my squidmates re-capture the Splat Zones. The Splatterscope isn't going to be usurped without a fight, though, and I'm happy to give him one. But although dropping in to the Splat Zones to try to splat the other yellow inklings away starts well, running out of ink is my undoing again.

The yellow team look to be quite well in control, and getting close to threatening our lead. It could be difficult wresting the Splat Zones out of their tentacles too, the Rig being notorious for this. Still, rushing headlong in to trouble rarely helps, and there is enough time in the battle to lose the lead for a bit, so I take the long route around the Rig once more.

I get to the Splat Zones and my Bubbler charges at a really handy time, as I am in the crossfire of multiple inklings. I splat or push them back, but doing so and ignoring the Splat Zones keeps them yellow a bit longer, and we lose the lead. But we gain valuable turf behind the Splat Zones, and, despite running out of ink again, support from squidmates keeps the yellow inklings at bay, and captures the Splat Zones for us again.

More Disruptor use keeps the amount of yellow ink coming in to the Splat Zones down a bit, the turf advantage lets me refresh my ink tank, and covering what yellow ink appears charges my Bubbler. The Bubbler comes in handy when a Kraken threatens a squidmate, which has to squid away as we retake the lead, seconds from the end of the battle. Victory is ours. Woomy!

This was going to be my final battle in Splatoon, but I notice I'm one victory away from hitting A+ again, so I go back for one more battle. It's another victory, albeit nothing notable, and so I leave Splatoon behind with my inkling ranked A+. That'll do, inkling.

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Tags: console, saltspray rig, splat zones, splatoon, tri-slosher, wii u

Vanguard support in Splat Zones (14-5, Tri-slosher)

In my last ever batch of battles in Splatoon, I'm pulling out the Tri-slosher for some fun with my favourite weapon. And on the other team are two Splatterscopes, just right for me to toy with, and in Walleye Warehouse too, where audacious flanking moves can lead to some fun splats. Naturally, I go for the flank immediately. Unfortunately, the purple team capture enough turf early on that the chargers have moved forwards.

I get a couple of splats anyway, and could have done more if I remembered my Bubbler, but all that really happens is the purple team gets a hefty early lead. Coming back along a more direct route just gets me jumping head-first in to an Inkzooka, so it's around the back again on my return. Again, the purple team have moved up, but I'm more prepared, and remember my Bubbler, so I accomplish more. Not enough, though. The purple team now have a whopping lead.

At least my squidmates spread enough ink to capture the Splat Zones again, giving the purple team another buffer to work through. And my looking for an alternative route goes badly once more, so I go around the back just because it doesn't get me splatted quite so quickly as anything else I've tried. I stick to high turf for longer, letting me slosh over the Splat Zones, and attack the Inkzooka with my Bubbler active. I think it helps.

We end up in control of the Splat Zones and splat most of the purple team away. It doesn't last for too long, but the route around the back remains viable, somehow, which lets me charge my Bubbler as well as appear by surprise. Well, maybe not quite so surprising any more, but it's still effective.

We ink much more turf than we've controlled so far, and with so much freedom of movement and some sensible skirmishing, I start racking the splats up as well as helping ensure the Splat Zones stay teal. And not only do we take the lead, but because the purple team were so far in front, it looks like we're going to win the knockout victory.

I have enough time to give a 'Nice!' for morale, which has my accidentally popping my Bubbler. I don't think it matters, and lets me ride out the last few seconds of the battle safe from harm. Woomy!

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Tags: console, splat zones, splatoon, tri-slosher, walleye warehouse, wii u

Clawing back the Splat Zones (13-8, Tri-slosher)

The notorious Saltspray Rig crops up again. If you get in to a position to capture the Splat Zones, you'll probably hold them to the knockout victory. To this end, I zip across the ledge and get a double-splat, which should help us gain some early control. Completing the circuit gets more splats and, without green interference, we start our score ticking over.

I think things will go swimmingly. But whilst waiting for the best moment to ambush an Aerospray, the rest of the green team take the Splat Zones head-on and capture them for themselves. Flying in with Disruptor and bucket doesn't help, and our initial lead is gone. I'm not convinced we'll see it back either.

I throw myself at the entrances to the Splat Zones, hoping to find some kind of opportunity, but the green team do what we couldn't, and keep us at bay. Perhaps we were a bit cavalier and thinking the victory would come automatically with control. There is a moment where the Splat Zones turn blue, the buffer it gives the green team saving us from defeat, but even that may not ultimately be enough.

Our efforts to get in to the Splat Zones continue to be repelled, so I decide to take the long way around to see what that can do. It can let the green team get within two points of victory, but thankfully we wrest control of the Splat Zones away from the green team moments before it is too late. And we capture the Splat Zones too.

It looks like our control over the territory will turn the battle in our favour. I get a bit worried when multiple green inklings appear inside the Splat Zones whilst splatting me away, but squidmates continue to have a presence, allowing quick super-jumping access.

With some good defence, we take the lead. And, as the green team was so close to victory, taking the lead hands the victory to us. That was close. Woomy!

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Tags: console, saltspray rig, splat zones, splatoon, tri-slosher, wii u

Seek and destroy in Tower Control (20-5, Carbon Roller Deco)

I will probably never stop trying to get an early jump on the opposition at the start of some battles. The trade isn't so bad this time, but I still feel it could have gone better. Still, I am more measured immediately afterwards, and rely on my Seekers to ink turf and seek splats along the wonderful corridors in Camp Triggerfish, turfed ink that I can then ninja squid through for more direct splatting. Well, unless I'm beaten to it by the green Carbon Roller.

Revenge is swift and brutal. We clear the returning Tower almost as efficiently, and I get back to supporting with Seekers, using my first Rush to get close to the green team. I don't get quite close enough to the Squiffer to splat him, but my presence sufficiently flusters him to step backwards in to the water. That'll do.

Keeping close to the enemy base is a bit cheesy, though. On top of that, there is green pressure building behind me, and although my squidmates are pushing the Tower they could use some direct support. I catch up to help, before tidying up the awful mess the green team have been making. I turn back a bit early, but having done enough to slow the green team down, and apply some more pressure to send the Squiffer back in to the drink.

I press high again, but again at perhaps the wrong time, the green team riding the Tower. I head back, but am simply catching up, my squidmates having cleared the Tower by the time I get near. Still, I help by keeping most of the green team at bay for a bit longer, getting a nifty Seeker triple-splat with another Rush. I look for the Carbon Roller manually, but am caught in a pincer and handily splatted.

I get perhaps my most casual splat as I come back, and consider my options when I get to the bridge. With the Tower still going forwards, I should probably continue along the netting to support on the ledge. That turns out to be a good decision for the team, splatting back a couple of inklings, and eventually the Slosher too. The Squiffer, safely on dry turf, gets some revenge on me, and prevents the knockout defeat. Good job, Squiffer.

The battle is almost over, and the green team have to traverse most of the Camp to win. I hold in a good position to ambush the returning Tower, but it has both support super-jumping in and Slosher support from the side. I am better off being unsplatted by the Slosher so I can continue to help clear the Tower, but the Slosher becomes a Kraken, which I can't keep at bay for long.

The Kraken focussing on me is one less green presence on the Tower, though, and my squidmates clear the Tower of the other green inklings with little delay, ending the battle for the victory. Woomy!

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Tags: camp triggerfish, carbon roller deco, console, splatoon, tower control, wii u

Blasting E-litre 3Ks in Tower Control (18-4, Grim Range Blaster)

Yikes, two E-litre 3Ks on the other team. Which do I aim for? To start with, the one that sees me coming, I suppose. And I really do need to aim for them, because even a Range Blaster doesn't splat as indiscriminately as my beloved bucket. At least I have Burst Bombs to compensate a bit. The E-litre 3Ks, on the other hand, don't seem to have the same trouble with aiming, although I make it easier for them when diving in to a puddle I just made on the Tower. I was an obvious target.

Heading around the back is something I always like to try. In this case, I don't need to go up the ramp at the back, as my Blaster will let me hit targets from a decent distance. The problem this time is catching up with them. Still, apart from having one splat snatched away from me, what follows may have been the slowest quad you'll see. I follow that by pushing the Tower, but cautiously. I end up inching the Tower forwards, until my timing is just a little off. I don't quite get us the lead back.

I go for the side route again, but pause to make sure the Tower won't run away from me again. That pause gets me hit with an Echolocator, and although I shake that off quickly, my position is spotted quicker than I catch on to quite what is hitting me with yellow ink. Damned E-litre 3Ks are better at aiming and with Burst Bombs than me. I need to get better!

The Tower comes our way again, and the yellow team increase their lead, thanks in part to my having range problems. I also get in our Splatling's way a bit, which I apologise for. And although I push forwards, the yellow team super-jump behind me. And normal jump. I never got the hang of jumping inklings, and never did like it. Still, I help clear the Tower again, after the yellow lead is extended further, and start trying to keep the yellow team at bay.

We get some cohesion, no doubt helped by having the yellow team all splatted at the same time whilst we are all in one piece, and push the Tower forwards as a team. I don't think I help much, barely being able to cling to the Tower, or getting any splats, but perhaps keeping one of the E-litre 3K's distracted at a crucial time is enough for a squidmate to sneak the lead. Nice!

The yellow team push back, of course. My earlier excuse for missing the Luna Blaster because she was jumping are shown to be bunk too. Still, I show some sense with the Killer Wail, understanding where it would push anyone in the way, even if I need to rely on Burst Bombs again. And now that we have the lead, there is some pressure taken off having to clear the Tower immediately, which always helps my shaky aiming.

There's under 20 seconds left in the battle, so after resetting the Tower I think we can take advantage of our lead and battle defensively. I find a nice corner and discourage the E-litre 3Ks from getting clear shots, whilst my squidmates take a more active approach to defence, by riding the Tower. The seconds tick down, we remain in control, and end the battle victorious. Woomy!

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Tags: console, grim range blaster, splatoon, tower control, walleye warehouse, wii u

Specials make the Rainmaker (4-1, Carbon Roller Deco)

I'm not sure where the green team are at the start. Maybe they can't race against Seekers. It gives us a nice opportunity to sneak an early lead. Maybe I shouldn't have let the Rainmaker go ahead alone, and I probably could have done better diving down at the Dual Squelcher, but it's still early.

It looks like a Killer Wail is used to burst the Rainmaker free, but the green team don't grab the Rainmaker. That's weird. Sure enough, the Rainmaker is sitting where we dropped it. We have pressure from from the front, so I do what I do and sneak around the side to add pressure from behind.

I surprise one inkling, and chase a second, but avoid the Rainmaker under fire from an Inkzooka. I splat that threat, although the Inkzooka had already been tossed, and launch a Seeker Rush that I hope inks the way to the podium. It does, and almost all the way! But a green Splat Bomb Rush counters my Seeker Rush, and I squid out of the way to hide.

It's a good hiding spot. I consider sneaking behind a Seeker to grab the Rainmaker to finish the job, but a Killer Wail persuades me to hold back a few seconds longer. And even before the Killer Wail subsides, a squidmate's Bomb Rush sends Suction Bombs on top of and around the Rainmaker, keeping green tentacles off it.

I enact my plan, sending a Seeker ahead, and stealing the Rainmaker protected by Suction Bombs. The green team just can't react in time, as in one smooth movement I grab the Rainmaker and squid up the podium. Woomy!

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Tags: arowana mall, carbon roller deco, console, rainmaker, splatoon, wii u