Competitive:Custom Splattershot Jr.

Unofficial

Gear abilities
Gear abilities provide different effects in battle that benefit the player with their equipped weapon. This is a guide to gear abilities in relation to the weapon. Strategy, synergy, viability, and purpose may be written here.

Splatoon 2
The Custom Splattershot Jr., is a rapid firing weapon that provides turfing and – with its sub and special weapons – support but lacks accuracy and range. Since Version, it now has a larger ink tank with 10% more capacity, further improving its already excellent ink efficiency.

Use
The Custom Splattershot Jr. is capable of various tasks needed to win battles, but its specific traits make it best suited for a traditional support role: The most reliable way a Custom Splattershot Jr. player can engage an opponent is through constant and coordinated use of Autobombs: Ink Storm is an area of effect (AoE) special weapon that can alter the battle if activated in the right location and direction:
 * The Custom Splattershot Jr. has a wide shot spread, enabling its user to turf large areas in a short amount of time, which provides two benefits:
 * Turfing allows the team to either gain or maintain map control. This also enables the Custom Splattershot Jr. to quickly capture zones in Splat Zones.
 * It also builds up Ink Storm very quickly, allowing its user's team to mount a push at a moment's notice. If there are no other urgent tasks, just keep turfing so Ink Storm is ready whenever needed.
 * The main tradeoff of the wide shot spread is the resulting poor accuracy, which, along with the short range (103.89 DU, or distance units, or a little over two distance lines away in the Shooting Range), makes the Custom Splattershot Jr. a poor main weapon for directly engaging most opponents.
 * It is still capable of quickly splatting opponents, provided that its user can catch an opponent by surprise and within its short range. However, playing too aggressively risks depriving the user's team both map control and Ink Storm, so be judicious about when to either flank or shark.
 * Otherwise, if a certain matchup is disadvantageous, disengage by dropping an Autobomb behind whenever possible and Super Jumping back to the Spawn point if necessary.
 * Fortunately, the Custom Splattershot Jr. is one of the most mobile weapons in the game, partially thanks to its lightweight nature. A Custom Splattershot Jr. user…
 * …runs at 1.04 DU/f, or distance units per frame.
 * …swims at 2.02 DU/f.
 * …runs at 0.72 DU/f while firing.
 * …needs only 2 frames after firing until they can either use an Autobomb or morph into squid/octopus form.
 * …can use this high mobility to hastily flee from a pursuing opponent or quickly react on either offense or defense.
 * …will further improve their already high mobility if they practice and master advanced movement techniques, such as sub strafing and ledge canceling.
 * The damage an exploding Autobomb inflicts onto a target depends on the distance between them:
 * Targets within 40 DU – a little under one distance line away in the Shooting Range – will receive 180 damage — more than enough to splat most opponents.
 * Targets between 40 DU and 70 DU – just shy of 1.5 distance lines away – will receive 30 damage, which is sometimes enough to splat weakened opponents.
 * When attacking an opponent's position, try to throw Autobombs behind the opponent. This more effectively cuts off the opponent's potential escape routes.
 * Autobombs are great at poking at and zoning out opponents during the neutral phase, stalling an opponent's push, or providing cover while fleeing.
 * Carefully lobbing an Autobomb at an opposing anchor positioned on their snipe will hinder their ability to control space with their range.
 * An Autobomb can damage or destroy an opponent's brella shield, Splash Wall, or Baller or the Rainmaker shield, while detonating on contact.
 * Any opponents caught within the Autobomb's explosion will get damaged or splatted.
 * It will also inflate or pop a teammate's bubbles but deflate or diffuse an opponent's bubbles, while still detonating on contact.
 * An opponent's Splashdown, Booyah Bomb, or Ultra Stamp will defuse any Autobombs it touches, so hold off using them until after their special weapon finishes.
 * The larger ink tank unique to the Custom Splattershot Jr. allows the player to throw bombs more often.
 * Using any special weapon also provides a free ink tank refill. Therefore, it is possible to throw a bomb or two before and after using the Ink Storm.
 * When beginning a push, especially after throwing Ink Storm, throw an Autobomb towards the opposing team to provide space to push in.
 * Immediately upon activating the special, its user will be holding the Ink Storm device and be vulnerable to attack. Therefore, do not activate the special while being attacked, and make sure to throw it onto a surface before an opponent gets the opportunity to splat you.
 * Slower, less mobile opponents – especially Rainmaker carriers – are less capable of escaping Ink Storm's area of effect and, thus, are more adversely affected.
 * Its gradual damage makes it a good counter against Ink Armor, especially when paired with Object Shredder.
 * Ink Storm's damage on the opponent becomes more effective whenever the opponent has less space to maneuver around, such as in an alley or on the Tower.
 * Defensively, Ink Storm can slow or disrupt the opponents' push by either altering their intended attack routes or weakening any opponents within the storm.
 * Offensively, Ink Storm can soften opposing defenses by forcing opponents out of optimal positions and inflicting chip damage onto those caught in the ink rain.
 * Besides potentially damaging opponents, Ink Storm also gradually turfs any non-vertical surface it travels over:
 * The damaging and turfing effects of Ink Storm are slower and more gradual than those of a Bomb Launcher but are automatic and does not require its user to risk endangering themselves.
 * An Ink Storm above the Rainmaker can either weaken its shield to pop it or prevent the opponent from popping it.

Synergy
The Custom Splattershot Jr. is great at turfing and building up Ink Storm but poor in splatting. Therefore, it makes a great complement to – and is well complemented by – a slayer, particularly one whose weapon has trouble turfing, such as a Splattershot Pro or a blaster. While a team might get away with having one or two users of short-ranged weapons, such as the Custom Splattershot Jr., having a team composition with too many short-ranged weapons and no longer-ranged weapons to provide support fire is often disadvantageous for a number of reasons:
 * Turfing while following a teammate builds up Ink Armor and provides friendly turf to which a teammate can retreat whenever needed.
 * Cooperate with the teammate using primarily Autobombs when engaging an opponent: attack from different angles, or force the opponent to come within range of the teammate's weapon.
 * If your teammate gets splatted and the opponent(s) is/are still present, then consider retreating instead of risking getting splatted and losing Ink Storm progress.
 * An opponent with a long-ranged weapon can more aggressively position themselves to zone out the entire shorter-ranged team.
 * The opposing slayers can play more aggressively, knowing that there is no long-ranged threat to pick them off from afar.

Countermeasures

 * Because the Custom Splattershot Jr. is generally a poor main weapon for splatting, almost any weapon with longer range, better accuracy, or higher damage can defeat it in a one-on-one with relative ease. However, watch out for the opposing Custom Splattershot Jr. user's Autobombs.
 * Because an opposing Custom Splattershot Jr. user relies heavily on their Autobombs, equipping gear with Bomb Defense Up DX – even just one sub, or three ability points – would be wise since it reduces the splash damage from opposing Autobombs from 30 HP to 28.6 HP.
 * Seize any easy opportunities to splat an opposing Custom Splattershot Jr. user, as doing so will deprive their team of turfing, Autobomb support, and Ink Storm.
 * When using another turfing weapon while engaged in a one-on-one against an opposing Custom Splattershot Jr. user, a prolonged battle usually favors the latter due to their larger ink tank. In general, pursue and try to splat the opposing Custom Splattershot Jr. user while evading their Autobombs rather than attempt to out-turf them.
 * An opposing Custom Splattershot Jr. user will most likely assist a teammate armed with a more formidable weapon; that opponent is usually the higher priority. Attempting to engage against both is usually a poor idea, so either find a teammate to assist you or try to lure the opposing Custom Splattershot Jr. user's teammate to stray too far from them to receive assistance.

Gear abilities
Gear abilities provide different effects in battle that benefit the player with their equipped weapon. This is a guide to gear abilities in relation to the weapon. Strategy, synergy, viability, and purpose may be written here. Ink Saver (Sub) allows the player to save more ink when throwing Autobombs. Throwing two consecutive Autobombs will leave the player's ink tank empty, potentially leaving them in a dangerous situation. Ink Saver (Sub) can leave the player with just enough ink to get out of a dangerous situation.

Last-Ditch Effort is a Headgear-exclusive ability that, under specific conditions, grants its user 1 to 24 ability points each of the following abilities: These abilities only begin to take effect under either of the following conditions: Like other support weapons whose builds include bombs, the Custom Splattershot Jr. can greatly benefit from the reduced ink consumption per Autobomb used, allowing its user to spam Autobombs during either a crucial defensive stand or a late attempt to reclaim the lead without relying so heavily on Ink Saver (Sub).
 * There are at most 30 seconds remaining on the game clock, or Overtime has begun in a Ranked Battle, at which the maximum 24 ability points will be granted for each of the above abilities.
 * In a Ranked Battle, the opposing team's countdown has at most 50 points remaining. The effects of Last-Ditch Effort increase as the opposing team's countdown decreases from 50 to 30 points remaining, starting with 1 ability point for each ability and maxing out to 24 ability points.

An ability exclusive to shoes, Object Shredder provides a Custom Splattershot Jr. user two specific benefits: Because Object Shredder occupies an entire main ability, its main drawback is that it reduces the amount of ability points allowed for other potentially important gear abilities, such as Ink Saver (Sub) and Special Charge Up. Last-Ditch Effort can be combined with Object Shredder to reduce the need for Ink Saver (Sub).
 * It triples the amount of damage inflicted onto armored opponents, allowing them to break an opponent's Ink Armor with one shot from their main weapon.
 * It also enables them to pop the Rainmaker shield more quickly with either their main weapon or Autobombs, allowing their team to start or restart a push more quickly while gaining a large amount of turf control in the immediate area.

Quick Super Jump decreases both the "charge" time before and the travel time of a Super Jump. A Custom Splattershot Jr. player will be outmatched by most opponents, and Quick Super Jump can help them escape unfavorable situations more quickly, which avoids getting splatted, maintains a presence on the stage, and preserves precious special gauge progress.
 * One sub, or 3 ability points, of Quick Super Jump decreases the "charge" time by 22 frames, or 0.36 seconds.

Special Charge Up accelerates building up the special gauge for Ink Storm. As arguably the quickest weapon at farming Ink Storm, constantly having Ink Storm available for more successful pushes and counter-pushes.
 * 16 ability points – one main and two subs – are enough to reduce the special gauge requirement to below 160p.

When splatted, half of the special gauge progress is lost. For example, a player with 120p of special gauge out of 180p upon getting splatted will lose 60p of the special gauge. Special Saver allows its user to keep more of their special gauge progress whenever they are splatted. This allows a Custom Splattershot Jr. user to more quickly build up Ink Storm after respawning.
 * 6 ability points – two subs – are enough to increase the amount of special gauge progress saved from 50% to 64.6%.

Splatoon 3
The Custom Splattershot Jr., is a rapid firing weapon that provides turfing and – with its sub and special weapons – support but lacks accuracy and range.