Competitive:Goo Tuber

Unofficial

Splatoon 3
The Goo Tuber is a charger weapon that specializes in fighting and mobility, sacrificing range and charge speed for longer-range tap shots and lethal partial charges.

Use

 * Tap shots are relatively weak, but have more range than most chargers and even some other slayer weapons. Tap shots are the best option for inking turf and charging special.
 * The Goo Tuber has 2 charge levels. The first deals over 100 damage, and the second has the highest range and damage, and pierces targets.
 * Partial charges are the best option for fighting opponents engaging the player.
 * While they take longer to charge and have less range than the Splat Charger's shots, fully charged shots should still be used to snipe shorter-ranged enemies at a distance.
 * The Goo Tuber's main gimmick is its charge hold.
 * Its charge hold lasts for 5 seconds, much longer than other chargers.
 * The Goo Tuber can hold incomplete charges, so it can reposition and continue charging without losing as much time as other chargers.
 * The Goo Tuber resurfaces very quickly after emerging from squid form while holding a charge.
 * All of the unique strengths of the Goo Tuber's charge hold make it excel at ambushing enemy players with lethal charges.

While possessing many strengths, the Goo Tuber has a number of strong weaknesses as well.
 * It has a long charge time compared to other longer-ranged weapons.
 * It also has low range compared to other chargers and backline weapons, making it vulnerable to being zoned out of key areas of the map.
 * The Goo Tuber is better than other chargers at fighting up close, but it's still vulnerable to being rushed down by other slayer weapons.
 * The weapon struggles to ink turf, especially while engaged with enemy players.

The version of the Goo Tuber comes with Torpedoes, which can help the weapon up close and at a distance.
 * Aiming a Torpedo above or behind an opponent will force them to divert their aim. This is especially effective against opponents wielding single-shot weapons, such as blasters or other chargers.
 * When rolled on the floor or against a wall like a Splat Bomb, a Torpedo will remain in its first stage and explode in a similar fashion, albeit less powerfully. If a direct hit (60 damage) is confirmed, immediately follow up with a tap shot (40 damage) to splat most opponents.
 * Both phases of the Torpedo can aid in turfing along with the main weapon, aiding in both mobility and building up the Special gauge.
 * While only one Torpedo may be used at a time, Ink Saver (Sub) can still conserve ink for each Torpedo used, saving ink for either another Torpedo or the main weapon.

Tenta Missiles can turn the tide of the match for their team if used well, and make up for a few weaknesses of the Goo Tuber main weapon.
 * Tenta Missiles can displace enemy backlines which are targeting the user's team or controlling key areas of the map.
 * Targeting otherwise hidden enemies with the missiles can reveal their locations to the user's team.
 * Tenta Missiles can distract opponents, allowing the Goo Tuber user or their teammates to move in and splat distracted opponents more easily.
 * The missiles can also deal chip damage to opponents, allowing the Goo Tuber to splat them in one shot with even less of a charge.

Synergy
While the Goo Tuber plays more aggressively than other chargers, it's still unadvisable to run more than one other long ranged weapon on a team composition due to sharing similar weaknesses: In a similar vein, while the Goo Tuber can ink turf more efficiently than other chargers, it still fails to match the turfing of more typical slayer weapons like the Splattershot. While Torpedoes are strong in their own right, it's still a good idea to have a weapon with a lethal bomb on the team: As usual, it's a good idea to have a weapon with a Tacticooler on a team composition to boost its team's mobility and aggressive power:
 * A team with too many long range weapons will have fewer weapons that can quickly capture turf and contest the objective, hindering its ability to push into the opponents' territory.
 * This weakness will also make it difficult for the team to reclaim ground against opponents who have pushed deep into their base.
 * Longer ranged weapons like the Goo Tuber are typically less effective in close range, and so a team with too many of them will be more prone to flanking and sharking.
 * Other aggressive weapons that excel at inking turf, such as the Splash-o-matic, pair well with the Goo Tuber to make up for this weakness.
 * The potential to instantly splat an opponent offers the user's team chances of instantly gaining a numbers advantage, from which a game-winning push can arise.
 * The lethal explosion provides space for the user's team to either push into an area held by the opponent or stall an opponent's push.
 * The Tacticooler's speed and Special Saver buffs allow a Goo Tuber user to take riskier fights, even when it's close to having its Tenta Missiles charged.

Countermeasures
The Goo Tuber is a versatile weapon, but its weaknesses are easily taken advantage of:
 * Longer-ranged weapons such as the Snipewriter 5H can usually splat a Goo Tuber user before it is able to splat them.
 * The Goo Tuber struggles to ink turf while fighting, so weapons that can quickly ink over it, such as the N-ZAP, are also at an advantage.
 * The Goo Tuber relies on hitting precise shots to damage opponents. Highly mobile weapons such as the Splatana Wiper are less likely to get hit.
 * While they normally struggle against charger-type weapons, splatling-type weapons are very effective against the Goo Tuber due to compounding the above strengths.
 * Running one sub ability of Sub Resistance Up will allow a player to survive the Goo Tuber's Torpedo + tap shot combo.

In Competitive Play
The Goo Tuber has always been one of the weakest main weapons in competitive. Despite it having arguably the best weapon kit at the game's launch, it saw very little competitive use, and its selling point of Tenta Missiles has only gotten weaker as the game's balance has progressed. As such, the Goo Tuber is almost never seen in competitive play.