Competitive:Splat Roller

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 Splat Roller – along with the Hero Roller Replica – is available very early in the game and the first available weapon in the roller class. Thanks to its one-hit-splat potential, it is capable of splatting opponents as easily as a Splattershot can. However, its shorter range, slower rate of attack, and dependence on teammates to turf requires its user to rely on a different playstyle than that of a typical Splattershot user.

Use
While the Splat Roller is a slayer's weapon, it is used differently from other, more conventional slayer's weapons, such as a Splattershot or a Slosher. New to Splatoon 2, the Curling Bomb adopts the sliding and ink trail-forming traits of the Seeker: The Splashdown can either turn the tide of a battle or be canceled quite easily.
 * In, the Splat Roller can be used in three different ways:
 * Tapping while on the ground will swing the weapon horizontally, which flings a wide splash of ink. The horizontal swing is suitable for splatting opponents at close range and turfing areas that are slightly out of reach.
 * To swing horizontally while airborne, press before pressing  to jump.
 * Tapping while in midair will swing the weapon vertically, which flings a longer, narrower swath of ink. The vertical swing can poke at opponents who are either further back or up above and turf lanes through which to potentially travel.
 * Holding down while tilting  will push the Splat Roller along the ground, spreading ink along a wide area and damaging any opponents hit by it.
 * While this is a thorough means of turfing, it is also slower than swimming (1.32 DU/f, or distance units per frame, versus 1.92 DU/f). For this reason, it is also not recommended to rely mainly on rolling to splat opponents. Use either the vertical swing or Curling Bombs (see below) to travel more quickly.
 * The damage inflicted by either the horizontal or vertical swing of any roller, including the Splat Roller depends on (1) which roller is being used, (2) the amount of Main Power Up equipped, and (3) the distance between the roller wielder and their target — the closer the target is, the more damage it will take.
 * Both the horizontal and vertical swings of each roller has three ranges: the lethal range, or the maximum range at which at least 100 HP of damage is inflicted; the two-hit range, which is the maximum range at which at least 50 HP of damage is delivered; and the maximum range, the absolute maximum range at which the roller can deal any damage.
 * With no Main Power Up equipped, the Splat Roller's horizontal swing has…
 * …a lethal range of 80 DU, or slightly more than 1.5 distance lines away in the Shooting Range. This range is shorter than that of most other short-ranged weapons, such as both the Splattershot and the N-ZAP '85 (116.99 DU), the Splash-o-matic (110.03 DU), and even the Splattershot Jr. (103.89 DU).
 * …a two-hit range of about 100 DU, which is still shorter than the ranges of the other weapons listed above.
 * …a maximum range of about 110 DU, at which a minimum damage of 35 HP is inflicted.
 * Ink flung from an angle greater than 30 degrees to either the left or right will lose damage starting from 28 DU and reach its minimum value at 100 DU. Therefore, aiming is still important when using the Splat Roller.
 * Damage will suffer falloff to as little as 17.5 HP if the flung ink falls below the Splat Roller wielder. Thus, targets who are below a Splat Roller user will take less damage than those either above or on the same level.
 * Likewise, the Splat Roller's vertical swing with no Main Power Up has…
 * …a lethal range of 90 DU, or just shy of two distance lines away in the Shooting Range.
 * …a two-hit range of about 120 DU, which is shorter than that of the .52 Gal (124.944 DU) and the Dark Tetra Dualies (132.5 DU).
 * …a maximum range of 155 DU – comparable to that of the Mini Splatling (130.1-154.1 DU), at which the minimum damage is 40 HP.
 * Damage will suffer falloff to as little as 20 HP if the flung ink falls below the Splat Roller user. Because a vertical swing requires a roller user to jump, falloff tends to affect the vertical swing more often than it affects the horizontal swing.
 * Because of its overall short range, slower fire rate than a shooter, and specific style of attacks, a Splat Roller user cannot expect to rush their opponents head-on and not get punished. Therefore, they will need to rely on both flanking and sharking more than a Splattershot user would.
 * The most ideal position a Splat Roller user can shark around is often just below the opponents' perch, where the Splat Roller user can hide, splat opponents who either drop down or get too close to the ledge, and poke at opponents atop the perch.
 * While splatting an opponent or two is ideal during a flank attack, your main objective as a Splat Roller user flanking the opponent is to divert the opponents' collective attention away from the objective (e.g. the Splat Zone or the Tower and your teammates for as long as possible. Avoid getting splatted by hiding either within friendly ink or behind or underneath obstacles, such as a bumper, and ambush any opponents who fall within your range.
 * When it travels along any inkable non-vertical surface, it leaves a trail of ink behind, providing a quick avenue to either attack or escape. This trait enables a Vanilla Splat Roller user to be more mobile than users of other variants.
 * Keep opponents guessing by sending Curling Bombs towards the opponent without swimming in its trail. Either Ninja Squid or swimming slowly can help avoid detection while swimming in the ink trail.
 * It further assists the main weapon in turfing from a safe distance.
 * When charged, or "cooked" long enough, it can be used to lay insidious bomb traps to hold off pursuers or flush out sharks.
 * Particularly in narrow or closed areas, a Curling Bomb ricocheting off of walls can be a useful distraction to force an opponent to move in a certain direction.
 * The Splashdown can create combos of splash damage with the hits from the main weapon.
 * The safest way to execute a Splashdown is by super jumping to a teammate.
 * Using Super Jump can be a surprise for opponents that are not aware of the UI that indicates specials ready from the opponent team.
 * Most weapons can cancel the special mid-Splashdown, so it is best to make sure that the opponent you are confronting has a weapon that takes multiple shots for a splat or has low range.
 * The Splashdown can cancel formation of Bubbles making it a quick and fast way of removing them.
 * The Splashdown can be used from higher ledges making it more powerful and extending its radius of splash damage.
 * The worst scenario for a Splashdown is when used as a panic button to get out from a sticky situation, as it can be predicted and aimed for it to be canceled.

Synergy

 * The lack of range of the Splat Roller prevents its wielder from effectively engaging opponents head-on. Therefore, the other three members of their team will each have to use weapons with enough range to contest and preoccupy opponents so that the Splat Roller user can catch them by surprise.
 * While Ink Armor can support almost any teammate, it will make players affected by it more visible within their ink. If a teammate has a build that includes Ink Armor, pay attention to the HUD to know when to expect an Ink Armor. Then, when the teammate activates it, play more aggressively than stealthily. Once the Ink Armor has ether worn off or been broken, revert to sharking tactics.

Countermeasures

 * Any weapon with an effective range longer than the lethal range of the Splat Roller can counter an opposing Splat Roller wielder who attempts to challenge opponents head-on. However, most Splat Roller users worth their salt will rely more on flanking and sharking, so anyone facing a team with an opposing Splat Roller wielder must take a few proactive measures to avoid getting flanked or sharked:
 * Keep track of all four members of the opposing team – which ones are present, which ones are splatted, and which ones are back at their spawn point.
 * Check the map periodically for opposing ink forming around flanks to anticipate a flanking attack.
 * To prevent sharking, check suspicious puddles of the opponents' ink, preferably with a thrown sub weapon.
 * Weapons that track opponents, such as Point Sensors, temporarily prevent an opponent from sharking and makes them an easier target for long-ranged teammates to pick off.
 * Try to confront an opposing Splat Roller user in a more open area, not only to have more space to avoid the lethal range of the Splat Roller but also to reduce the risk of getting splatted by any ricocheting Curling Bombs.
 * Keep an eye on the HUD to know when an opposing Splat Roller user has Splashdown ready to avoid getting caught by surprise, especially from a Splashdown after a super jump:
 * If an opposing Splat Roller user activates a Splashdown in an unsafe position, it can be canceled quite easily from fast firing weapons and chargers.
 * The opposing Splat Roller user might go for risky plays if they know they have the Splashdown ready as a safety net. It is possible to bait them to take control of an open space and surprise them with a teammate to force a mid-Splashdown situation and cancel it.

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. As a short-ranged slayer's weapon, the Splat Roller requires its user to be in close quarters with the opponent, who might be inclined to use bombs for zoning out the Splat Roller user. Ever since its introduction in Version 4.3.0, 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.
 * 3 ability points - one sub - has a lot of utility. This includes, but is not limited to:
 * Ink Armor will not break due to splash damage from bombs and other explosives that do 30 damage.
 * Two near-misses from Inkjet, two bumps from a Baller, and splash damage from two bubbles from Bubble Blower will not splat the user.
 * Getting hit by splash damage from a bomb will not make the user visible on the map.

Any good user of a short-ranged weapon like the Splat Roller 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.

Main Power Up increases damage for the Splat Roller, improving consistency when it comes to splatting.

As a short-ranged weapon that excels at flanking, the Splat Roller greatly benefits if it is able to swim faster. Swim Speed Up enables its user to more quickly close the distance towards an opponent, more quickly respond to an opponents' push, or even escape unfavorable situations.
 * Swim Speed Up can reduce the swim speed penalty from Ninja Squid. However, it takes at least 20 ability points – two mains – of Swim Speed Up to fully offset the swimming speed penalty of Ninja Squid.
 * Therefore, a Splat Roller user with Ninja Squid will have to decide between either having fewer ability points available for other abilites or swimming at less than the base maximum speed. For example, just 10 ability points – one main – are enough to restore the swim speed of a Splat Roller user with Ninja Squid to 1.83 units per frame.

Ninja Squid reduces detection by opponents while swimming on non-vertical surfaces. It allows its user to swim at full speed undetected at the cost of about 20% of the maximum swimming speed as of Version 3.0.0. Because a Splat Roller user has difficulty attacking most opponents head-on, Ninja Squid can make it easier for its user to shark and more safely approach opponents.
 * As of Version 3.0.0, Ninja Squid reduces the maximum swim speed of the Splat Roller from 1.92 units per frame to 1.73 units per frame.

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.

Quick Respawn shortens respawn time after getting splatted (under specific conditions), encouraging a Splat Roller user to remain aggressive even after getting splatted.
 * 26 ability points – two mains and two subs – are enough to reduce the respawn time from 8.5 seconds to 5.8 seconds.

Reduces ink consumption for Curling Bombs, which are the Splat Roller's main approach tool.

Not recommended. Due to the Splat Roller's sharking playstyle, it will spend a sizable amount of time swimming in ink - which refills the ink tank. Ink Saver (Sub) should be invested into instead.

Not recommended, as Splashdown is already 170p and not worth investing into.