Competitive:Dualie Squelchers

Unofficial

Splatoon 2
The Dualie Squelchers are the successor the Dual Squelcher in the first Splatoon. What was once a mid-ranged shooter are now a versatile pair of mid-ranged dualies, boasting the longest range out of its class and providing a major boost in mobility. Compared to its Custom variant, the vanilla Dualie Squelchers have a more supportive kit due to its lack of a lethal bomb; however, this weapon can still play a slayer role effectively.

Use
The Dualie Squelchers arguably have the best mobility of the other weapons in the game thanks to its dodge rolls. This weapon accommodates both a slayer or supportive playstyle: The tracking sub weapon, Point Sensor, isn't nearly as useful when compared to a lethal bomb. However, its relatively low ink consumption of 45% allows it to be used more often than the Splat Bomb on the Custom kit. When combined with Tenta Missiles, this allows the Dualie Squelchers to be something of a living Echolocator: Tenta Missiles can be used to locate and pressure opponents and force them out of position without having to commit too far forward:
 * This weapon's rolls allow the user to slide in any direction afterward, as well as jump, while still maintaining post-roll accuracy for a brief period of time. This allows for mix-ups in one-on-one situations against the opponent.
 * Patch 5.4.0 added additional RNG to shots fired while jumping by 25% - however, this does not affect jumps performed immediately after a roll.
 * Rolling backwards is a good way to quickly put shorter-ranged opponents out of range, while still keeping them in yours. However, be aware of what is behind you, such as enemy ink, a stray bomb, or water.
 * Remember to keep an eye on the ink tank while rolling, as the Dualie Squelchers use a large amount of ink to perform rolls.
 * While dodge rolls do not increase the fire rate like other dualies, doing so increases the bullet size and improves the weapon's accuracy.
 * By using Main Power Up, the damage can be increased up to 33.3, which can potentially be a three-hit splat.
 * Its medium range (155 DU ) matches that of the Kensa Splattershot Pro and the H-3 Nozzlenose D, and exceeds those of other typical slayer and support weapons, such as the Splattershot and the N-ZAP '85 (both 115 DU ), allowing it to both zone them out and turf from a safer distance.
 * While it has decent turfing ability, this is offset by its high ink consumption. However, a special gauge of 190p means the Dualie Squelchers will often have Tenta Missiles ready for use.
 * Because of its heavy dependence on specific abilities, it is generally recommended to focus on one role – slayer or support – and plan a gear build based off of its playing style. A Dualie Squelchers user who attempts to fill both roles simultaneously will be outclassed by other slayer's and support weapons.
 * It temporarily makes an opponent an easier target for more mobile teammates to pursue.
 * It can check around corners for flanking opponents and scan behind obstacles or within suspicious puddles of the opponents' ink for any sharking opponents.
 * If you are about to get splatted, or if you fall into any unwinnable situation, tagging the opponent with a Point Sensor will track your would-be splatter, providing your teammates the opportunity for a revenge splat.
 * Since special weapons are free ink tank refills, the Dualie Squelchers can throw out Point Sensors to mark opponents targeted by Tenta Missiles, revealing enemy locations to their whole team.
 * It is recommended to only activate the Tenta Missiles at a safe distance from opponents, not only because a Tenta Missile user is vulnerable to close-range attacks but also because opponents who are further back are easier to track and home missiles on.
 * Sometimes, it may be more beneficial to target a specific opponent or two instead of all of them, based on their weapons, location, and situation:
 * Opponents wielding heavy, slow firing weapons will have a harder time escaping the missiles.
 * Opponents who are bunched together are more likely to cause their teammates to receive collateral damage than those who are spread apart.
 * Tenta Missiles are also a reliable means of forcing opposing anchors to cede their ground and lose focus while aiming. Sometimes, this is the only reliable means to push back into a zone or another important area of the stage.
 * Tenta Missiles can counter an opponent's Sting Ray or Booyah Bomb if anticipated early enough; an opponent will be forced to either delay or interrupt it to avoid getting splatted by the missiles, throwing off their aim.

Synergy
The Dualie Squelchers are very versatile and can slot into many team compositions. However, sometimes they struggle to fight, meaning that they should be paired with a more traditional slayer, such as any of the Splattershots.

Point Sensors lack certain advantages offered by lethal bombs — particularly either Splat or Suction Bombs, which provide their user's team a couple advantages over another team that has no lethal bombs in its composition: While having multiple players on the same team launching Tenta Missiles might seem like a fun and easy means to cause opponents to scramble for cover, having too many players equipped with them – no more than one or two – can reduce the effectiveness of a team composition: Coordinating with your teammates can greatly increase the Tenta Missiles' effect during a battle:
 * Their one-hit-splat offers its user's team chances of instantly gaining a numbers advantage, from which a game-winning push can arise.
 * Their lethal explosion provides space for its user's team to either push into an area held by the opponent or stall an opponent's push.
 * Other special weapons, such as Inkjet or Sting Ray, are intended for splatting opponents and more capable at this than are Tenta Missiles.
 * Tenta Missles cannot reliably turf highly contested areas of the stage as well as certain other special weapons, such as Bomb Launcher or Ink Storm.
 * Launching Tenta Missiles just before a push can cause opponents to scatter, giving your team opportunities to pick off any opponents caught fleeing the Missiles.
 * Firing Tenta Missiles on defense can help stall an opponent's push, but make sure that your teammates are nearby the front lines to follow the Missiles up.
 * Launching Tenta Missiles while a teammate is using a special designed to splat opponents, such as Sting Ray or Inkjet, can limit the opponents' escape options and even prevent them from Super Jumping to safety.

Countermeasures

 * Ink Resistance Up, already a valuable utility ability, increases in value when facing opponents whose weapons' damage is augmented by Main Power Up. It reduces the chance of getting splatted in three shots from the Dualie Squelchers due to the brief invincibility frames it provides when touching opposing ink on various surfaces.
 * Other slayer weapons, such as the Splattershot and its variants, must get within attack range first.
 * Catching it off guard through a flank is always a good option, as well as using bombs. However, be careful of it rolling away or any Splat Bombs they might drop.
 * The Splattershot Pro and its variants have a faster time to splat when using Main Power Up, but this requires the Dualie Squelchers to take prior damage first.
 * Long-range weapons, such as chargers and splatlings, can outrange it, but be careful of the Dualie Squelchers' mobility, as it can evade shots while closing the distance.
 * When tagged with an opponent's Point Sensor, either briefly keep a distance from opponents to avoid getting splatted or lure the opponents away from the objective or an important area of the stage, allowing teammates to reclaim turf, push the objective, or ambush opponents.
 * Be mindful of both when the opponent has Tenta Missiles ready and when the missiles are launched:
 * If an opponent attempts to launch them when nearby you, splat them quickly to reduce or even cancel their deployment.
 * When the opponent deploys their Tenta Missiles, avoid getting close to teammates - even when not targeted, as a targeted player crossing paths with a teammate might cause the other to get injured or splatted.
 * Whenever targeted by opposing Tenta Missles, unless actively engaging an opponent, only move enough to avoid damage and reduce the amount of turfing by the Missiles.

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. A Dualie Squelchers 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 Dualie Squelchers 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.

A generally good ability for any Dualie Squelchers build, as rolling will deplete the ink tank quickly.
 * Six ability points, or two subs, are standard, as most ability slots are taken by Main Power Up while also leaving room for the utility subs such as Bomb Defense Up DX and Ink Resistance Up. This amount reduces dodge roll ink consumption from 8% to 7.32%, as well as shot ink consumption from 1.2% to 1.098%.

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: A Dualie Squelchers user benefits from both the overall reduced ink consumption and quicker ink recovery, allowing them to more freely use either the main weapon during either a crucial defensive stand or a late attempt to reclaim the lead. However, when running this ability, the user will have to run two mains and eight subs of Main Power Up to do 33.2 damage.
 * 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.

Main Power Up will increase the damage output for the Dualie Squelchers up to 20%, opening up its slayer capabilities.
 * By using 47 ability points, reached with three mains and six subs, the damage output is increased to 33.3. This is enough to splat an opponent in three shots if they touch your ink for even a single frame, with ink on surfaces dealing 0.3 damage per frame.
 * A slightly cheaper investment is using 45 ability points, or three mains and five subs. This increases the damage to 33.2, which splats an opponent in three shots if they touch your ink for two frames - hardly a difference while leaving room for an extra sub ability.

In competitive play
The Dualie Squelchers upon release were met with lukewarm reception. At the time of its release, it did not have its unique dodge roll without endlag until version 1.4.0. However, even when it received this buff that would become its defining trait, competitive players such as Sendou still placed the weapon on the lower end of his tier list as it had Tenta Missiles, considered by competitive players as one of the worst specials in the game at the time. Views on the weapon largely stayed the same throughout version 3.0.0, with Sorin also placing the weapon low on his tier list.

Opinions on the weapon shifted as the Custom Dualie Squelchers were released, allowing it to be more effective in its support role. It saw representation at many tournaments throughout 2018 and even 2019, such as the Splatoon 2 World Championship 2019 hosted by Nintendo. However, the vanilla Dualie Squelchers were still largely seen as inferior to its Custom variant in the competitive scene, with Sorin placing it a tier lower than the Custom variant on his version 4.0.0 tier list and Chara even placing the weapon in the bottom tier for his list, with the Custom variant in the high tiers. Although Tenta Missiles received several buffs by this time, the only weapon with Tenta Missiles that became noticeably popular was the Mini Splatling.

However, it was also around this time that the ability to jump immediately after performing a roll was discovered, allowing it a decent mix-up option in combat. The weapon surged in popularity somewhere around version 5.0.0. Even after its ink efficiency and bullet hitbox nerfs in version 5.3.0, Chara still placed the weapon in the top tiers for his tier list due to the weapon's mobility, range, and turfing ability. Once again, the vanilla variant was placed beneath the Custom one due to its kit. As of version 5.4.0, the weapon has been on a decline due to it struggling to fight some of the current top weapons in the game. For the first time, the vanilla Dualie Squelchers were placed above the Custom Dualie Squelchers, most likely due to a nerf in 5.4.0 that increased its special gauge for Ink Storm to 220p.