Competitive:Splat Charger

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. Damage Up increases the amount of damage per shot for uncharged, partially charged, and fully charged shots. Chargers, such as the Splat Charger, benefit the most from this ability by reducing the amount of time needed to charge a shot for it to be able to splat an opponent in one hit.
 * 10 ability points – one main – enable a Splat Charger to splat most opponents with under 0.9 seconds of charge time.

Splatoon 2
The Splat Charger – along with the Hero Charger Replica – is the first long-range weapon available to the player. In addition to being very different from both shooters and rollers in terms of range and turfing ability, chargers like the Splat Charger assume a different role within a team composition.

Use
The Splat Charger is an anchor's weapon, meaning that it has a long range to influence a large portion of the stage and, thus, its user is usually best positioned behind their teammates to watch for and prevent the opponents' flanking attempts, provide support fire, and allow their teammates to safely Super Jump to them to quickly return to the front lines. Already a versatile sub weapon with a variety of purposes, the Splat Bomb is the Splat Charger user's most reliable option in close- to medium-ranged combat: The Sting Ray is an infinitely long distance weapon that can penetrate obstacles and damage opponents from afar:
 * Most chargers, including the Splat Charger, can fire three different types of shots:
 * Tap shots, which are fired by tapping, are the quickest but weakest and shortest-ranged shots available. These are best used to quickly turf the surrounding area to cover opposing ink or build up the special gauge. Only if an opponent is weak – with 40 HP or fewer – should tap shots be used for self-defense.
 * Partially charged shots, in which is held for less than one second, have slightly more damage, longer range, and more turf than tap shots. If forced to fight in close quarters without enough ink to use a Splat Bomb, partially charged shots are preferred over tap shots.
 * Fully charged shots from the Splat Charger require to be held for at least one second. These shots provide both the longest range and the most damage — enough to splat most opponents in one hit, making them ideal for use while sniping or turfing long lines for oneself or their teammates to travel along.
 * The charging rate slows down to 33.33% of its normal charging speed whenever either the ink tank is empty or one is airborne while charging. Remain on the ground while charging and watch the ink tank.
 * The range of the Splat Charger depends on how long it is charged. Note that range is measured from the end of its long muzzle :
 * Tap shots only have a range of about 90 DU, or distance units, or just shy of two distance lines away in the Shooting Range. This is shorter than the ranges of many short- to medium-ranged weapons, such as the Splattershot (116.99 DU ), the Tri-Slosher (about 120 DU), and the Dark Tetra Dualies (132.5 DU ).
 * Partially charged shots have a range between 90 DU and 240 DU based on how long each shot is charged. For example, charging for 0.25 seconds should increase the range by about 37.5 DU for a total of about 127.5 DU. Combined with the longer muzzle, this should outrange most short-ranged weapons.
 * The fully charged range of the Splat Charger, measured at 240.37 DU, or just shy of five distance lines away in the Shooting Range, is one of the longest in the game, exceeding that of Dynamo Rollers, Exploshers, and most splatlings.
 * Damage from the Splat Charger also increases as charge time increases:
 * Tap shots only inflict 40 HP of damage, while partially charged shots range from 40 HP to 80 HP of damage depending on how long they are charged. Charging for at least 0.25 seconds inflicts at least 50 HP of damage, which is enough to splat most opponents in two shots.
 * While Main Power Up can increase damage, it cannot increase the damage of shots below full charge to 100.0 HP, unlike how Damage Up could in.
 * A fully charged shot not only delivers 160 HP of damage but can also pierce targets, allowing one to splat multiple targets in a straight line.
 * One required skill for effective sniping is peeking:
 * While positioned behind an obstacle at a suitable sniping spot, fully charge a shot. This hides the laser sight of the weapon from potential targets.
 * Once fully charged, move the muzzle of the weapon around the obstacle to either the right or the left using, aiming the reticle at a target, then release.
 * Because all Inklings and Octolings are right-handed, right-side peeking is generally more effective than left-side peeking.
 * New to is the ability for many chargers – notably those without a scope (except the Bamboozler 14 Mk I) – to store its charge while submerged in ink:
 * Fully charge a shot, then submerge in your ink using . When you want to fire, release to reemerge before releasing.
 * The Splat Charger can only store its charge when fully charged. Partially charged shots cannot be stored.
 * It is possible to swim while storing a charge, allowing one to reach another sniping location and immediately fire upon a target from there.
 * The Splat Charger can only hold a charged shot for up to 1.25 seconds. To hold a charge for an even longer time, reemerge from the ink in a safe location. Then, submerge again to reset the 1.25 seconds timer. This allows one to hold a charged shot indefinitely and travel longer distances until a target is available.
 * The ability to store a charge makes left-side peeking more viable in.
 * While charging in midair is not an efficient means to use the Splat Charger, storing a charge before jumping in squid or octopus form can allow its user to splat opponents while in midair. This allows them to have a charged shot ready before they jump or drop down to another area of the stage.
 * Although the Splat Charger lacks the range and precision of its scoped version, the Splatterscope, charge storing allows the Splat Charger to be more mobile and aggressive and less prone to tunnel vision more associated with using a scope.
 * Like most chargers, the Splat Charger has a few notable drawbacks besides its poor turfing and weak close-combat capabilities:
 * While the Splat Charger's middleweight nature provides average running (0.96 DU/f, or distance units per frame) and swimming speed (1.92 DU/f ), its user is very immobile while charging a shot (0.2 DU/f ). Remember to push forward with your teammates whenever your team has a significant numbers advantage. Conversely, always be ready to retreat – via Super Jumping if necessary – should the opponents gain the advantage or come uncomfortably close.
 * The Splat Charger consumes plenty of ink per fully charged shot (18% of the ink tank). To avoid getting caught with an empty tank, watch your ink consumption, avoid the opponent's ink and Toxic Mist, and remain nearby friendly ink in which you can hide, reload, and retreat if necessary.
 * Using a charger can cause players to have tunnel vision as they focus on potential targets to snipe. Checking the map with for the opponents' positions and movement patterns is important for any player, but it is very essential for an anchor, such as a Splat Charger wielder, to watch for any flanking attempts by the opponent, as getting flanked and splatted often leaves a gaping hole in their team's defenses.
 * If an opponent gets too close, either dropping a Splat Bomb at your feet or rolling it like a bowling ball can provide time and space to escape.
 * They can also be used for poking at and zoning out opponents during the neutral phase, stalling an opponent's push, or denying opponents safe access to important areas of the stage, such as the Tower, that might not be easy to fire at with the main weapon.
 * It can damage or destroy an opponent's brella shield, Splash Wall, or Baller or the Rainmaker shield, while detonating on contact.
 * The Splat Bomb will also inflate or pop a teammate's bubbles but deflate or diffuse an opponent's bubbles.
 * Any opponents caught within the Splat Bomb's explosion will get damaged or splatted.
 * An opponent's Splashdown or Booyah Bomb will defuse any Splat Bombs it comes in contact with, so hold off throwing them until after the special weapon finishes.
 * It excels in areas and on stages that are long, narrow, closed, and relatively flat, especially Port Mackerel and Walleye Warehouse. When used in coordination with teammates, Sting Ray can limit the opponents' mobility, making it easier for teammates to splat them.
 * Unfortunately, the Splat Charger – along with the Hero Charger Replica and the Splatterscope – has the highest special gauge requirement (220p) among all Sting Ray-based weapons. Combined with its poor turfing, a Splat Charger user will not have Sting Ray as readily available as would users of other Sting Ray-based weapons. Therefore, a Splat Charger user will have to be frugal as to when to use this potentially game-altering special weapon.
 * Before starting the Sting Ray, it is advised to keep a safe distance from battles, as firing a Sting Ray too close to an opponent can leave one vulnerable to attack.
 * While the Sting Ray cannot be fired from within the Spawn point as of Version 3.0.0, Super Jumping back there still usually offers a safer spot from which to fire.
 * Starting from Version 4.9.0, the Sting Ray's damage is reduced by about 17% if it penetrates at least one obstacle before hitting a target. However, it is often still beneficial to fire at opponents behind obstacles, which can help hide the direction from which Sting Ray is fired.
 * When firing the Sting Ray, if an opponent escapes from the ray, bring up the map with . An opponent who has taken any damage will be visible on the map until completely healed. Redirect the Sting Ray until the popping sound is heard.
 * When fired at certain objectives in Ranked Battle — namely the Tower, the Rainmaker, or an opponent's Power Clam, Sting Ray can help stall the opponents' push. However, it often pays to wait for teammates to be nearby the objective to secure it before firing the Sting Ray.
 * While thought of as a defensive, or stalling special weapon, Sting Ray can also be used to great effect on offense:
 * Restraining or eliminating opponents who attempt to attack your teammate tasked with the objective (Tower, Rainmaker, Power Clam).
 * Eliminating or distracting the opposing anchor, preventing them from providing support fire on defense.

Synergy
The Splat Charger's long range and high damage allow it to provide support fire and help maintain maintain spatial control, despite its lack of turfing compared to most of the other weapons of a team's composition. Therefore, it is generally redundant to have more than one long-ranged weapon on a team for a few reasons: Because the Splat Charger is inefficient at turfing, its user will have to rely on their teammates to maintain map control. Not having enough turfing ability – usually from having too many blasters and chargers – presents its own set of problems:
 * A team with too many long-ranged weapons will have fewer mobile weapons that can more 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, including the Splat Charger, are generally less effective at close range, so a team with too many long-ranged weapons is more prone to getting flanked and sharked by the opponent than usual.
 * For these same reasons, having more than one Sting Ray in a team composition is usually redundant because Sting Ray generally requires its user to remain far from the main battle to be effective.
 * 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.

Countermeasures

 * Users of other anchor's weapons each have to confront a Splat Charger differently:
 * Duels between chargers often boil down to skill, positioning, turf control, and the presence of other teammates. However, note the differences between different chargers and play to your weapon's strengths:
 * The Splatterscope has more range than the unscoped Splat Charger, but the Splat Charger is more mobile.
 * The E-liter 4K has longer range than the Splat Charger but is less mobile and takes longer to charge. The Squiffer and Bamboozler 14 Mk I are more mobile, but each one lacks either range or damage output.
 * The Custom Jet Squelcher has a shorter effective range (212.64 DU ) than that of the Splat Charger but is more mobile and slightly more competent in a close-quarters battle. However, instead of trying to flank or shark a Splat Charger, it might be easier to simply outfarm the opposing Splat Charger user in building up Sting Ray and use it to constantly harass them, disrupting their ability to snipe your teammates.
 * The Dynamo Roller, Explosher, and most splatlings are outranged by the Splat Charger and lack the mobility to effectively challenge them:
 * Focus more on providing support fire for your teammates and maintaining map control while keeping an eye on the opposing Splat Charger user's position.
 * Only challenge the opposing Splat Charger 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.
 * The Hydra Splatling is the only splatling that can outrange a Splat Charger with a maximum range of 257.68 DU, but it is very immobile and requires a longer charge time. Rely on cover and zone out the opposing Splat Charger user.
 * Unless a Splat Charger user is caught charging, approaching one directly with a shorter ranged weapon usually results in getting splatted instantly. Rely on flanking or sharking to get within range of an opposing Splat Charger user. However, watch out for any Splat Bombs they might drop in self-defense.
 * Throwing bombs or Toxic Mist at an opposing Splat Charger user can briefly force them out of position and throw off their aim. While Toxic Mist does not damage the opponent, it drains their ink tank and cripples their movement, making them more vulnerable to a direct assault.
 * Always be aware of when the opposing team's Splat Charger has Sting Ray fully charged on the HUD, particularly when pushing the Tower or Rainmaker:
 * Fight fire with fire by using a Sting Ray to attack an opponent using theirs.
 * Tenta Missiles are a quick way to either counter or disrupt an opposing Sting Ray user, as well as displace any anchor from an otherwise safe perch.
 * A properly launched and piloted Inkjet can splat an opposing Sting Ray user while being relatively safe from the beam.
 * Quickly swimming away from the Sting Ray's beam is generally the best way to avoid getting splatted without using Specials, as users turn relatively slowly while the Sting Ray is active. This is a useful tactic in Tower Control to maintain a Tower push.

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. Even though a Splat Charger user is not expected to come in close contact with the opponent very often, they can still expect to come in contact with opposing ink on various surfaces, particularly while swimming from one sniping location to another while storing a charge. While in contact with the opponent's ink, Ink Resistance Up both delays the damage taken and partially offsets reduction in running speed — including while charging a shot.
 * 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, and increases the normal running speed in opposing ink from 0.24 DU/f to 0.33 DU/f.

The Splat Charger needs to consume a large amount of ink (18% of the ink tank) to fully charge its shots. Ink Saver (Main) not only allows it to fire more fully charged shots per ink tank but also conserves ink for a possible Splat Bomb use, in case an opponent gets too close.
 * Six ability points – two subs – of Ink Saver (Main) are enough to increase the number of fully charged shots fired with a full ink tank from five to six.

Main Power Up increases the damage output of all of the Splat Charger's shots – tap shots, partially charged shots, and fully charged shots – by up to 20%. While it cannot increase the damage of a non-fully charged shot to 100.0 (unlike Damage Up in ), there are other benefits to having extra damage, from reducing the charge time for a two-shot splat in close quarters to destroying most brella shields in one hit.
 * Nine ability points – three subs – increase the damage output of the Splat Charger by 105.5%, allowing it to destroy a Splat Brella shield (500 HP, takes three times the damage from chargers in one hit – 160 HP × 1.055 × 3 = 506.4 HP > 500 HP – and reach 50 HP of damage in just under 0.185 seconds of charge time.

Quick Super Jump decreases both the "charge" time before and the travel time of a Super Jump, allowing its user to escape more quickly. A Splat Charger wielder is usually vulnerable in close quarters and would also have an incentive to maintain valuable special gauge progress for their Sting Ray.
 * Six ability points, or two subs, of Quick Super Jump decreases the "charge" time by 30 frames, or 0.5 seconds.

Special Charge Up accelerates building up the special gauge for Sting Ray, which has a number of uses but is mostly used for objective control, especially for stopping or slowing the Tower or Rainmaker. Because of its very high special gauge requirement for Sting Ray (220p), a Splat Charger will require a large investment of ability points into Special Charge Up to even match the farming rate of other Sting Ray-based weapons, but it can be the difference between having Sting Ray available on defense and not having it.
 * Twelve ability points – achievable with either four subs or one main and one sub – reduce the special gauge requirement to below 199p.
 * Nineteen ability points – reached with either one main and three subs or two mains – reduce the special gauge requirement to below 190p.

When splatted, half of the special gauge progress is lost. For example, a player with 180p of special gauge out of 220p upon getting splatted will lose 90p of the special gauge. While a Splat Charger user is not as prone to getting splatted as often as a shorter-ranged weapon, doing so can be devastating to their team. Having some Special Saver equipped allows them to preserve more of their special gauge progress in case they ever get splatted.
 * 6 ability points – two subs – are enough to increase the amount of special gauge progress saved from 50% to 64.6%.