Competitive:N-ZAP '89

Unofficial

Splatoon 2
Like its Vanilla counterpart, the N-ZAP '85, the N-ZAP '89 is an all-around weapon that has great turfing and special weapon farming. While it has weaker damage and a less reliable sub weapon than other support weapons, such as the new Kensa Splattershot, it makes up for these shortcomings with better mobility and ink efficiency.

Use
The N-ZAP '89 is a well-rounded support weapon with no glaring weaknesses: However, the few minor weaknesses the N-ZAP '89 does have can make a difference in a one-on-one: While not always as reliable as some other bombs — partly due to having a smaller explosion radius, Autobombs can still be used in a similar fashion and have some unique utility: Tenta Missiles can be used to locate and pressure opponents and force them out of position without having to commit too far forward:
 * It fires more rapidly (5 frames) and is more ink efficient (0.8%) than either the Kensa Splattershot (6 frames, 0.92%) or the Dualie Squelchers (6 frames, 1.2%).
 * It is also more mobile (0.84 DU/f) than the Kensa Splattershot (0.72 DU/f), partially thanks to its lightweight nature, and has a more ink efficient sub weapon (55% versus 70%), making it easier to spam.
 * Advanced movement techniques, such as sub strafing and ledge canceling, allow an N-ZAP '89 user to more fully exploit its high mobility.
 * It has Autobombs, whereas the Dualie Squelchers has no bombs with which to either apply pressure to or poke at opponents.
 * It has a lower special gauge requirement (180p) than either the Dualie Squelchers (190p) or the Mini Splatling (210p).
 * It is outranged (116.99 DU) by the Mini Splatling (130.1 to 154.1 DU) and the Dualie Squelchers (160.396 DU).
 * Its damage (28 HP) is less than that of either the Mini Splatling (32 HP) or the Kensa Splattershot (36 HP) and, unlike that of the Dualie Squelchers, cannot be increased with Main Power Up.
 * Their tracking capability allows them to reveal sharking opponents and both distract and flush out opponents from important areas, such as a perch or the Tower.
 * They are particularly effective when thrown at opposing users of slower weapons, such as an E-liter 4K or Dynamo Roller, as it is more difficult for them to move out of the way.
 * Note that throwing Autobombs onto the Tower is slightly more difficult since it bounces off walls easily when thrown - including the pole on the Tower. Aim for the space on the side when throwing them.
 * 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.
 * An Autobomb 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 Autobomb'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, Booyah Bomb, or Ultra Stamp will defuse any Autobombs it touches, so hold off using them until after their special weapon finishes.
 * 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 N-ZAP '89 is good at turfing and building up Tenta Missiles but has relatively weak damage. Therefore, it makes a good complement to – and is well complemented by – a slayer, particularly one whose weapon has trouble turfing, such as a Splattershot Pro or a blaster. While a team might get away with having one or two users of short-ranged weapons, such as the N-ZAP '89, having a team composition with too many short-ranged weapons and no longer-ranged weapons to provide support fire is often disadvantageous for a number of reasons: While Autobombs technically count as a lethal bomb, they are noticeably easier to avoid. Due to this, avoid having too many weapons with Autobomb in a team composition. The other lethal bombs – particularly either Splat or Suction Bombs – provide its user's team many 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:
 * Turfing while following a teammate builds up Tenta Missiles and provides friendly turf to which a teammate can retreat whenever needed.
 * Cooperate with the teammate using both the main weapon and Autobombs 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 an opponent is still present, then determine how weakened they are before deciding whether to continue engaging or retreat. If more than one opponent is present, then consider retreating – via super jumping if necessary – to maintain Tenta Missles progress.
 * An opponent with a long-ranged weapon can more aggressively position themselves to zone out the entire shorter-ranged team.
 * The opposing slayers can play more aggressively, knowing that there is no long-ranged threat to pick them off from afar.
 * 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.
 * The turf inked by the resulting explosion contributes to both maintaining map control and building up the special gauge.
 * 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

 * Bomb Defense Up DX reduces the splash damage from both Autobombs (from 30 HP to 28.6 HP) and Tenta Missiles (from 50 HP to 48.3 HP), improving its user's survivability against both the sub and special weapons of an opposing N-ZAP '89 user.
 * Matchups between N-ZAP '89 users on opposing teams are determined by each player's skill, positioning, turf control, and the presence of any teammates.
 * Other Tenta Missiles-based support weapons each have at least one specific advantage over the N-ZAP '89:
 * The Kensa Splattershot has higher damage and a more reliable sub weapon for area denial.
 * The Mini Splatling has longer range, higher damage, greater firepower, and is just as mobile.
 * The Dualie Squelchers has longer range, better mobility, and can increase its damage with Main Power Up.
 * Most slayer's weapon users have an advantage against an opposing N-ZAP '89 user in a one-on-one, particularly in terms of damage. However, be wary of any Autobombs they might lob at you.
 * Autobombs can be lured away from the objective, such as a Splat Zone, to explode in an irrelevant area.
 * They can also be forced to explode early by swimming close to them, then swimming away, reducing their effectiveness at chasing hiding players.
 * Be mindful of both when the opposing N-ZAP '89 user 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. 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. This is a useful ability for almost any player, including an N-ZAP '89 user. 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.

An N-ZAP '89 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:

Ink Saver (Sub) allows more frequent use of Autobombs and saves ink for the main weapon after each Autobomb used, allowing an N-ZAP '89 user to spam Autobombs to divert and distract their opponents more often. For example, constantly tossing Autobombs onto a perch can discourage opponents from staying on it, lengthening a lockout.
 * 11 ability points, achievable with either four subs or one main and one sub, reduces the ink requirement per Autobomb to just below 50% for an N-ZAP '89 user.

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: Therefore, if the opposing team's remaining point total reaches 41 or fewer points remaining, an N-ZAP '89 user will gain the ability to throw two consecutive Autobombs from a full ink tank without the aid of Ink Saver (Sub).
 * 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.

An ability exclusive to shoes, Object Shredder provides an N-ZAP '89 user two specific benefits: Because Object Shredder occupies an entire main ability, its main drawback is that it reduces the amount of ability points allowed for other potentially important gear abilities, such as Ink Saver (Sub) and Special Charge Up. Last-Ditch Effort can be combined with Object Shredder to reduce the need for Ink Saver (Sub).
 * It triples the amount of damage inflicted onto armored opponents, allowing them to break an opponent's Ink Armor with one shot from their main weapon.
 * It also enables them to pop the Rainmaker shield more quickly with either their main weapon or Autobombs, allowing their team to start or restart a push more quickly while gaining a large amount of turf control in the immediate area.

Quick Super Jump decreases both the "charge" time before and the travel time of a Super Jump, helping its user escape unfavorable situations more quickly and preserve valuable special gauge progress for Tenta Missiles.
 * One sub, or 3 ability points, of Quick Super Jump decreases the "charge" time by 22 frames, or 0.36 seconds.

The N-ZAP '89, an already mobile weapon in humanoid form, can still benefit greatly from Run Speed Up, particularly while firing. Having the ability to strafe more quickly increases an N-ZAP '89 user's survivability, allowing them to last longer in fights to either win them or stall them long enough until teammates arrive.
 * 13 ability points, or one main and one sub,…
 * …increases an N-ZAP '89 user's running speed from 1.04 DU/f (distance units per frame) to 1.19 DU/f.
 * …increases running speed while firing from 0.84 DU/f to 0.92 DU/f.

Special Charge Up accelerates building up the special gauge for Tenta Missiles. Since farming Tenta Missiles is one of a few roles of the N-ZAP '89, constantly having Tenta Missiles available for teammates ensures more successful pushes and counter-pushes.
 * Just six ability points, or two subs, are enough to reduce the special gauge requirement from 180p to 171p.
 * 16 ability points, or one main and one sub, further reduce the special gauge requirement to 159p.

When splatted, half of the special gauge progress is lost. For example, a player with 150p of special gauge out of 180p upon getting splatted will lose 75p of the special gauge. Special Saver allows its user to keep more of their special gauge progress whenever they are splatted. This allows an N-ZAP '89 user to more quickly build up Tenta Missiles after respawning.
 * 6 ability points – two subs – are enough to increase the amount of special gauge progress saved from 50% to 64.6%.