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

Use
As the first available weapon in the game, the Splattershot Jr. is capable of various tasks, but its specific traits make it best suited in a support role: The most reliable way a Splattershot Jr. player can engage an opponent is through constant and coordinated use of Splat Bombs: Ink Armor allows its user's team to either initiate a push, to recapture a Splat Zone for example, or maintain one, such as while locking out the opponent.
 * The Splattershot Jr. has a wide shot spread, enabling it 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 allows the Splattershot Jr. to quickly capture zones in Splat Zones.
 * It also builds up Ink Armor very quickly, allowing the user's team to mount a push at a moment's notice. If there are no other urgent tasks, just keep turfing so Ink Armor is ready whenever needed.
 * The main tradeoff of the wide shot spread is the resulting poor accuracy, which, along with the short range, makes the 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 Armor, so be judicious about when to either flank or shark.
 * Otherwise, if a certain matchup is disadvantageous, disengage by dropping a Splat Bomb behind whenever possible and Super Jumping back to the Spawn point if necessary.
 * When attacking an opponent's position, try to throw Splat Bombs behind the opponent. This more effectively cuts off the opponent's potential escape routes.
 * Splat Bombs 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 a Splat Bomb at an anchor positioned on their snipe will hinder their ability to control space with their range.
 * The larger ink tank unique to the 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 Armor.
 * When beginning a push, especially after activating Ink Armor, throw a Splat Bomb towards the opposing team to provide space to push in.
 * Time the activation of Ink Armor carefully; it takes up to two seconds to activate Ink Armor, which lasts for at least six seconds.
 * Try to activate Ink Armor when most or all teammates are active. Slayers, who risk getting splatted more often, benefit from Ink Armor more than anchors do.
 * Upon activation, Ink Armor will protect its user and their teammates except for those either carrying the Rainmaker or using either Baller or Booyah Bomb.
 * Also, players protected by Ink Armor lose it upon gaining possession of the Rainmaker.
 * A support player, such as a Splattershot Jr. user, is often expected to carry the Rainmaker while their slayer teammates provide protection up front while turfing a path of ink. Therefore, while Ink Armor will not protect the Rainmaker carrier, it will still benefit their teammates, so cast Ink Armor just before picking up the Rainmaker whenever possible.

Synergy
The Splattershot Jr. is great at turfing and building up Ink Armor 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. Multiple Ink Armors used by the same team do not stack. Therefore, it would be redundant for a team to have more than two Ink Armor users.
 * 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 Splat Bombs 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 Armor progress.
 * Because the Splattershot Jr. is both arguably the quickest weapon at farming Ink Armor and one of the weakest main weapons, if another Ink Armor user is on the team, it is advised for the other Ink Armor user to be more capable in splatting, such as an N-ZAP '85 or a Tri-Slosher.
 * In general, when two Ink Armor-based weapons are on a team, the user of the more aggressive weapon should activate Ink Armor first, freeing them to engage the opponent without potentially losing both a potential Ink Armor and special gauge progress. Therefore, a Splattershot Jr. user should pay attention to the HUD and refrain from using Ink Armor if their teammate also has Ink Armor ready.

Countermeasures

 * Because the 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 Splattershot Jr.'s Splat Bombs.
 * When using another support weapon while engaged in a one-on-one against a Splattershot Jr., a prolonged battle tends to favor the latter due to its larger ink tank. In general, pursue the opposing Splattershot Jr. user while evading any of their Splat Bombs and try to splat them rather than attempt to out-turf them.
 * A Splattershot Jr. will most likely assist a teammate armed with a more formidable weapon; that opponent is usually the higher priority. Trying to engage against both is usually a poor idea, so either find a teammate to assist or try to lure the Splattershot Jr.'s teammate to stray too far from them to receive assistance.
 * Keep an eye on the HUD to know when the opponent's Splattershot Jr. has Ink Armor ready to use, and both watch and listen for when it is activated.
 * The best way to prevent the opponent from using armor is to splat the opponent with the Splattershot Jr. (or any other Ink Armor-equipped weapon). A charger user can prioritize said opponent when sniping, or a slayer can attempt to pick off a lone Splattershot Jr.
 * Focus fire on armored opponents for longer than usual - preferably with everyone ganging up on one opponent at a time - to compensate for their armor.
 * Object Shredder triples damage inflicted onto armored opponents. Combining this with Ink Storm can nearly neutralize armored pushes by the opponent.

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 more frequent use of Splat Bombs and saves ink for the main weapon after each Splat Bomb used. Because a Splattershot Jr. user depends on their sub weapon more than most other weapon users do on both offense and defense, having the ability to more frequently use Splat Bombs is invaluable.
 * 23 ability points – two mains and one sub – enable a Splattershot Jr. user to throw two consecutive Splat Bombs with a full ink tank, thanks to the larger ink tank.
 * Combining enough ability points of Ink Saver (Sub) with the free ink tank refill from using the Ink Armor can create a pseudo-Splat-Bomb Launcher; a player can throw two Splat Bombs, activate Ink Armor, then throw two more Bombs.

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 Splattershot Jr. can greatly benefit from the reduced ink consumption per Splat Bomb used, allowing its user to spam Splat Bombs during either a crucial defensive stand or a late attempt to reclaim the lead.
 * 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 increases ink coverage by up to 20.2%, allowing for more efficient turfing and faster special gauge buildup for more frequent use of Ink Armor.

Quick Super Jump decreases both the "charge" time before and the travel time of a Super Jump. A 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 Armor. As arguably the quickest weapon at farming Ink Armor, constantly having Ink Armor available for teammates ensures 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 Splattershot Jr. user to more quickly build up Ink Armor after respawning.
 * 6 ability points – two subs – are enough to increase the amount of special gauge progress saved from 50% to 64.6%.