Competitive:Fresh Squiffer

Unofficial

Splatoon 2
The Fresh Squiffer, as well as its Vanilla and Dolphin variants, lack range, but have a quick charge time and can still splat an opponent in one fully charged shot. Compared to its other variants, the Fresh Squiffer's kit leans much farther into its aggressive capabilities.

Use
Despite it being a charger, the Fresh Squiffer can operate as a slayer's weapon: The Fresh Squiffer has a couple weaknesses: Suction Bombs can be used in a similar fashion to Splat Bombs, with a few differences: If piloted properly, the Inkjet can pressure opponents – particularly anchors – more directly than most other slayer's special weapons, such as Baller or Ultra Stamp:
 * Like most other chargers, it can fire three different types of shots that vary in charge time, base range from the muzzle, and damage:
 * In general, use tap shots for turfing, partially charged shots for close quarters combat, and fully charged shots for sniping.
 * Like most other chargers without a scope, the Fresh Squiffer can store a full charge while submerged in ink, providing its user more mobility and making left-side peeking more viable in.
 * Unique to the Squiffer series is the ability to charge a shot at full speed while in midair, allowing a Squiffer user to snipe at opponents from underneath a short ledge — a position more associated with slayers.
 * It has the shortest range among all chargers — 167.65 DU versus the Bamboozler's 195.64 DU and the Splat Charger's 240.37 DU. Not only does this put the Fresh Squiffer at a disadvantage against other chargers and other longer-ranged weapons (e.g., versus the Jet Squelcher at 212.64 DU), but it also leaves less room for error when sniping against opposing shorter-ranged weapon users. Fortunately, its range – along with its turfing – can be increased to exceed the minimum range of a Heavy Splatling (178.05 DU) with a reasonable amount of Main Power Up.
 * While not as immobile or slow-charging as most other chargers, the Fresh Squiffer is still poor at close range compared to a rapid-firing weapon. Keep your distance from opponents and always watch for any flanking attempts by the opposing team.
 * They can attach to surfaces, which both allows more room for error when aiming and enables the planting of craftier traps, such as underneath a grate.
 * They take two seconds after attaching to a surface to detonate, as opposed to one second for a Splat Bomb, so plant Suction Bombs earlier than usual.
 * They inflict more damage from a direct hit (220 HP) and have a larger overall radius of damage (80 DU).
 * They can be thrown to lead a push into a Splat Zone or any other important area of the stage, such as the opponents' street or platform.
 * They can also flush out opposing anchors from perches and clear other critical areas, such as the Tower.
 * They can also be used to poke at and zone out opponents during the neutral phase, stall an opponent's push, or provide space to escape.
 * A Suction Bomb 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 Suction Bomb'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 or Booyah Bomb will defuse any Suction Bombs it touches, so hold off throwing them until after the special weapon finishes.
 * Upon activation, its launching point is marked for all players – teammates and opponents – to see and, as of Version 3.2.0, also indicates when its user will return via super jump, allowing an opponent to camp or shark there. Therefore, it is advised to launch the Inkjet from a less visible and better-protected area.
 * Drop Roller allows its user to better dodge either a potential Inkjet punish or a simple super jump punish, providing a safer landing.
 * Specials are also free ink reloads, allowing the Fresh Squiffer user to drop a Suction Bomb upon landing after the special ends.
 * Its movement speed is determined by both the Fresh Squiffer's strafing speed and the number of Run Speed Up ability points equipped.
 * It is also possible to morph into squid/octopus form and swim (in friendly ink) while the special is active. This provides some key benefits:
 * Morphing will halt the jets to enable the pilot to descend, making them a less predictable target.
 * Swimming is faster than flying, enabling an Inkjet pilot to activate the special at a farther distance from opponents and more quickly pursue them.
 * Its altitude depends on the elevation of the surface it is hovering above, enabling it to either fly very high over an elevated structure, such as the glass roof in Shellendorf Institute, or hover high enough to challenge an opponent on a perch.
 * However, the Inkjet cannot achieve thrust off of grates or mesh, causing its pilot to merely walk on them. Avoid hovering over them to maintain altitude.
 * Pressing the button will provide a temporary extra thrust. Mastery of both boosting and descending (see above) is necessary for Inkjet pilots to become less predictable for long-ranged opponents to track and pick off.
 * Its mobility enables it to reach areas that are otherwise not easily accessible — or even inaccessible, such as over the glass enclosures in Kelp Dome.
 * The Inkjet's cannon fires long-ranged, Rainmaker-like bursts of ink that splat opponents in one direct hit or two to four indirect hits:
 * Lead the Inkjet's shots to compensate for their slightly slower travel speed, especially when positioned farther from an intended target.
 * Its splash damage can splat opponents positioned behind obstacles, varying from 30 to 50 damage; the closer the shot to the opponent, the more damage it deals.
 * If an Inkjet falls out of bounds, such as into the water, its pilot will land back onto the location of launch — or the most previous point of solid ground. Therefore, the Inkjet can save a player from an out-of-bounds splat in a pinch. You can also use this to your advantage. When being pressured by the enemy team, going into water can save you from being splatted.

Synergy
The Fresh Squiffer's range and one-shot splat potential allow its user to maintain spatial control and pressure without having to thoroughly ink large swaths of turf. However, its requirement to charge before firing leaves its user vulnerable at close range. Therefore, it is generally advised not to add more than one other long-ranged weapon to a team composition for a few reasons: While quicker and more efficient at turfing than most other chargers, the Fresh Squiffer still turfs less efficiently than many typical slayer weapons, such as the Splash-o-matic and the Splattershot. A team whose composition lacks sufficient turfing ability will struggle to maintain map control, which can make games seem like a constant uphill battle: The Inkjet is particularly vulnerable while flying, due to its larger hitbox and slow air speed. Having a teammate with Ink Armor will increase the Inkjet's survivability and allow them to play more aggressively.
 * A team with too many long-ranged weapons will have fewer mobile weapons that can quickly capture turf and wrest control of the objective, hindering its ability to begin an effective push into the opponents' territory. Such a team will also have difficulty breaking out of an opponent's spawn camp.
 * Longer-ranged weapons, such as the Foil Squeezer, are generally less effective at close range, so a team with too many of them is more prone to getting flanked and sharked than usual.
 * A team whose composition lacks enough turfing ability can be rendered immobile if the other team dominates map control.
 * A lack of turfing also makes it difficult to alter the course of a game, even after wiping out the other team.

Given the Fresh Squiffer's unique set of strengths and weaknesses, its user will benefit from having teammates with mobile, short-ranged weapons; quick-turfing weapons; and Ink Armors:
 * The Splattershot Jr., the Kensa Undercover Brella, and the N-ZAP '85 are just a few support weapons whose users can be of strong benefit to a Fresh Squiffer user. They all turf well, have bombs included in their kits, and have Ink Armor to support the Fresh Squiffer user's Inkjet.
 * While the Kensa Undercover Brella can't splat foes as easily as the other two shooters, its canopy can be a distraction for opponents, making it a little easier for the Fresh Squiffer user to get picks.
 * Having a second high-paint slayer user team up with a Fresh Squiffer can be valuable to further increase the weapons' turfing output and ensure the composition can fight in close range. Weapons that can fill this role include the Tri-Slosher (be wary of Ink Armor stacking, see below), the Neo Splash-o-Matic, and the Kensa Splattershot.

Countermeasures

 * The Rapid Blaster Pro can use its range and blast radius to its advantage, possibly splatting a Fresh Squiffer without needing to enter the range of the Squiffer.
 * Most splatings and Chargers can outrange the weapon letting them pick off the weapon without risk to the user. However, if the Squiffer user manages to get close their speed can splat the slower firing weapon with ease.
 * Though, it's not as much in danger to ambushes as other Chargers. It isn't able to complete with faster firing short range weapons with it's charge rate.
 * Users of other anchor's weapons each have to confront an opposing Fresh Squiffer differently.
 * Traditional chargers – such as the Splat Charger, the Splatterscope, and the E-liter 4K – and longer-range splatlings – namely, the Ballpoint Splatling and the Hydra Splatling – clearly outrange the Fresh Squiffer and can simply zone out an opposing Squiffer user.
 * While the Dynamo Roller (two-hit range of 200 DU), Explosher (200 DU), and the Heavy Splatling (178.05-218.37 DU) each can outrange the Fresh Squiffer, they only barely do so, and the Squiffer's quicker, more powerful shots prevent a user of any of the former three weapons from fully zoning out an opposing Squiffer user.
 * Focus more on turfing and providing support fire for your teammates while keeping an eye on the opposing Fresh Squiffer user's position.
 * Only challenge the opposing Fresh Squiffer user if your position is more advantageous or if you need to distract them from sniping an important teammate, such as the Tower rider or Rainmaker carrier.
 * While the Custom Jet Squelcher (212.64 DU) can also outrange the Fresh Squiffer, it might be easier to simply farm Sting Ray and use it to harass the opposing Squiffer user.

Gear abilities
A Fresh Squiffer user in a slayer role generally gets close enough to the opponent and their bombs. Ever since its introduction in Version, Bomb Defense Up DX will not only reduce the damage taken from opposing sub and special weapons that are not one-hit-splat but will also reduce the duration of the tracking effects of certain opponent's sub and special weapons, such as Point Sensors and Ink Mines, allowing the user of this ability to evade detection more easily. Just three ability points, or one sub, offer plenty of utility:
 * The splash damage of most bombs is reduced from 30 HP to 28.6 HP. This reduction in damage provides two benefits:
 * It prevents its user from being exposed on their opponents' map by the splash damage of most single bombs.
 * Ink Armor will not break due to splash damage from a single bomb whose splash damage normally inflicts 30 HP of damage.
 * The splash damage of near-misses from either Tenta Missiles or Inkjet, the minimum splash damage of bubbles, and the collision damage from Baller are all reduced from 50 HP to 48.3 HP, enabling one to survive two hits from any of these specific means of special weapon damage.

Any good slayer like a Fresh Squiffer user is expected to come in contact with the opponent's ink on various surfaces, which can both be damaging and reduce mobility. Ink Resistance Up not only partially offsets the reduction in mobility but also delays the damage taken from contact with opposing ink.
 * Just three ability points, or one sub,…
 * …delays the damage taken from opposing ink by 10 frames.
 * …reduces the damage taken from 0.3 HP/f (health points per frame) to 0.2 HP/f.
 * …lowers the limit on the amount of damage opposing ink on surfaces can inflict from 40 HP to 38 HP.
 * …increases the normal running speed in opposing ink from 0.24 DU/f to 0.33 DU/f.
 * …increases the jumping height in opposing ink from 0.8 to 0.854.
 * Six ability points, or two subs,…
 * …delays the damage taken from opposing ink by 15 frames.
 * …reduces the damage taken to 0.2 HP/f.
 * …lowers the damage limit of opposing ink to 36.2 HP.
 * …increases the normal running speed in opposing ink to 0.39 DU/f.
 * …increases the jumping height in opposing ink to 0.888.

Main Power Up increases the range and turfing ability for the Fresh Squiffer (up to 8.9% and 24%, respectively), mitigating some of its weaknesses. It's recommended to always run a good amount of Main Power Up, in order to increase the weapon's range and therefore its ability to anchor.
 * 25 ability points, or one main and 5 subs, increases the range to 177.49 DU and improves turfing by 15.75%.

Quick Super Jump decreases both the "charge" time before and the travel time of a Super Jump. Fresh Squiffer users can use Quick Super Jump to both return to the front lines more quickly after getting splatted and escape unfavorable situations more easily in order to stay alive and preserve special gauge progress.
 * One sub, or 3 ability points of Quick Super Jump decreases the "charge" time by 22 frames, or 0.36 seconds.

Super Jumping to a teammate after respawning carries the risk of getting splatted upon landing, due to the appearance of a Super Jump indicator. When equipped, Stealth Jump better covers this indicator from long-distance opponents, allowing its user to more safely return to the front lines and maintain pressure on the opponent. Unlike Drop Roller, Stealth Jump does not apply on Inkjet recalls.

Drop roller allows its user to potentially roll away from enemy fire after Super Jumping, including notably after the Inkjet has expired. It also gives them a mobility boost for 3 seconds in the form of 10 AP of Run Speed Up, Swim Speed Up, and Ink Resistance Up. Drop Roller is not quite as effective as Stealth Jump at protecting Super Jump landing points, however.

A self-explanatory ability, Swim Speed Up enables an already mobile Fresh Squiffer user to more rapidly close the distance towards an opponent, more quickly respond to an opponents' push, or even escape unfavorable situations.
 * 16 ability points – one main and two subs – increase the swim speed from 1.92 to 2.14 units per frame.