Competitive:Heavy Edit Splatling
- For information about the Heavy Edit Splatling, see Heavy Edit Splatling.
| Abbreviations | HEdit, Edit, Heavy Edit |
| Sub |  Curling Bomb
|
| Special |  Tacticooler
|
| Base damage | 26 |
| Ink consumption | 20% per charge |
| Special points | 200p |
| Role | Slayer/Support |
| Strengths | High fire rate and DPS, mobility, Tacticooler farming, good ink efficiency. |
| Weaknesses | Shorter range than most other splatlings, long charge time. |
Splatoon 3
The Heavy Edit Splatling debuted in Drizzle Season 2023. It is a mid-ranged splatling with the ability to shoot very quickly when it is fully changed, and has fantastic mobility. It also features the Tacticooler, a very powerful supportive special. These traits give the Heavy Edit Splatling a high level of versatility compared to other options with Tacticooler.
Use
The Heavy Edit Splatling is highly adaptable to a wide variety of situations thanks to its unique traits.
- It features very fast strafing speed, equal to that of the Mini Splatling.
- This fast strafing speed enables it to duck in and out of cover very effectively, allowing it to charge up safely and get into position to use its charge faster. Charging up a barrage from behind cover and running forward when fully charged can easily take out unsuspecting opponents.
- Alternatively, it can also back up very quickly. This is useful for kiting opponents, and ducking back behind cover when a charge has been fully exhausted.
- It also helps the weapon in fights, as it is much harder to hit than most other weapons, especially among those with similar range to it.
- It has the fastest firing rate in the game when it is fired while fully charged, firing 20 shots per second.
- This fire rate is highly suppressive, and most weapons are not able to challenge it while it is fully charged. It can thus use this fire rate to force opponents to back up, while it uses its fast running speed to push forward quickly.
- It also makes the weapon much harder to rush down, as a player that rushes a Heavy Edit Splatling can be dealt with very quickly, allowing the Heavy Edit Splatling to effectively control a lot of space.
- It also provides the Heavy Edit Splatling with a lot of painting output in bursts. This can be used to effectively take control of the map or contest an area such as a splat zone better. It also enables the weapon to farm its special, the Tacticooler.
- While it does take a long time to fully charge, at 2 seconds, its barrages while partially charged are deceptively powerful, as they deplete the charge meter slower than a full charge.
- These partial charges last for a very long time when compared to the partial charges of other splatlings, and it still maintains a similar fire rate to other splatlings when partially charged, firing 15 shots per second.
- Partial charges can be used against opponents that try to sneak up on the user while they are attempting to fully charge the weapon. They can also be used to finish off opponents after a full charge has worn off.
- Partial charges also provide an alternate painting tool to full charges, as they provide paint for longer than a full charge, and can be accessed much sooner than a full charge.
- It is worth noting that like other splatlings, the Heavy Edit Splatling does not have access to its full range until it has charged up halfway, so it is best to charge to at least that point before using a partial charge.
- However, in general, the Heavy Edit Splatling should try to take advantage of its full charges whenever it can, and reserve partial charges only for when it needs damage or paint sooner.
- The Heavy Edit Splatling also features fantastic ink efficiency, requiring only 20% of the ink tank to fully charge. This gives it much more uptime in fights.
- The Heavy Edit Splatling has middling range as a downside for its other strengths.
- It is generally not advised to use the Heavy Edit Splatling as a anchor weapon full-time for this reason. However, the Heavy Edit Splatling can still perform many of the functions of an anchor weapon when needed. In a situation where a team is at a disadvantage, it is generally better for a Heavy Edit Splatling player to perform the duties of an anchor role than most other weapons that are not full-time anchors.
- The Heavy Edit Splatling features about the same range as the Nautilus. It is slightly outranged by weapons such as the Squeezer, Range Blaster, but generally has similar range to or more range than most midrange weapons.
- Short range weapons are usually easy for the Heavy Edit Splatling to handle, even from close range, as long as the user can manage their charge properly.
- Mid range weapons are more difficult for the Heavy Edit Splatling, however, with its high strafing speed, it is still capable of handling weapons with similar range to it. This is because most weapons with that range do not have very high mobility or high damage output. Of course, the Heavy Edit Splatling does have to charge up before fighting, so the user does need to be careful.
- Additionally, like with most other splatlings, the Heavy Edit Splatling has some degree of randomness in its range, as every shot is fired with a different velocity. This can make fighting further opponents more tricky, so the user should be aware of this fact as they choose their fights.
The Curling Bomb, while not the most useful sub, still has some advantages:
- It can be used to traverse the map quickly, something that the Heavy Edit Splatling can sometimes struggle with.
- It can be used to escape dangerous situations when the Heavy Edit Splatling has run out of its charge.
- It can be used to deal with sharking opponents below ledges when it is charged.
The Tacticooler is a cornerstone of the Heavy Edit Splatling's playstyle, giving it strong supportive capabilities.
- The Tacticooler provides many buffs that the Heavy Edit Splatling benefits greatly from, namely, Run Speed Up, Intensify Action, and Ink Resistance. The Ink Resistance in particular is often overlooked but is greatly beneficial, as it enables the Heavy Edit Splatling to move very quickly in enemy ink and without fear of taking too much damage.
- The Tacticooler can also be used as cover for the Heavy Edit Splatling to charge up its shots, allowing it to take more aggressive positions in open areas.
- A Tacticooler used in this way should still be placed in an area where it is easy to pick up, however.
- Once the user has picked up a drink from their own Tacticooler, it is best for them to play more aggressively, as there is no major downside to being splatted while under the effects of the drink. The user also cannot charge another Tacticooler for 10 seconds after using one, so there is no benefit to them painting uncontested areas of the map.
- If the user is close to having a Tacticooler fully charged, they should play passively until they fully charge it. Ideally, if they are able to, they should also call out to their teammates that they are close to Tacticooler and urge them to hold back for a moment.
- A Heavy Edit Splatling also can team up with another Tacticooler user. In a team such as this, the Heavy Edit Splatling and the other Tacticooler user take turns playing aggressively after using their Tacticooler and playing passively while charging up their Tacticooler.
- It is generally not advised for a user of the Heavy Edit Splatling to focus on a pure supportive playstyle using Tacticooler, as such a role is better filled out by the Snipewriter 5H or N-ZAP '85 instead.
Synergy
Since the Heavy Edit Splatling is capable of shifting to an anchor role effectively, and generally already plays slower than most midrange weapons, it is not recommended to use a full-time anchor weapon alongside it. This can lead to a team composition with a lack of range, so specials such as the Trizooka and Crab Tank are often useful to deal with long range threats.
The Heavy Edit Splatling fits best into compositions which need a little bit of everything, namely paint, area control, and anchoring capabilities. In such comps, the Heavy Edit Splatling functions as the "glue" of the comp, fulfilling roles that the other 3 weapons do not have the ability to deal with or would rather not have to deal with. The Heavy Edit Splatling user should adjust their playstyle depending on who they play with to fill in the gaps of the team compositions better, as well as cover for teammates that go down in a fight.
As mentioned before, running a second Tacticooler user can also be beneficial to a team composition using the Heavy Edit Splatling. In particular, the N-ZAP '85 makes for a good teammate, as it can also play aggressively while still focusing on using Tacticooler. Since the Heavy Edit Splatling normally has a significant amount of responsibilities, it is better for the other Tacticooler user to be the primary outputter of Tacticooler, with the Heavy Edit Splatling focusing more on playing aggressively.[1]
Outside of general team compositions, the Heavy Edit Splatling does have a few specific weapons that it pairs well with:
- It can be very useful for weapons that struggle with getting rushed down such as the Range Blaster, as it can shut down aggressive players from getting too close to those weapons.
- It pairs very well with the Tenta Brella and Tenta Sorella Brella, as the brella shields can be used to safely move the Heavy Edit Splatling closer to opponents.
- The Tenta Brella features the Squid Beakon, which is useful for team compositions using the Heavy Edit Splatling, as they do not usually feature a dedicated anchor weapon to give super jumps to respawning players. This enables the Heavy Edit Splatling to focus less on anchoring the team.
- The Tenta Sorella Brella features the Trizooka, which is useful for dealing with long range threats that the Heavy Edit Splatling cannot deal with on its own.
Countermeasures
- As with most other splatlings, the Heavy Edit Splatling is particularly vulnerable to long range chargers, particularly the Splat Charger and E-liter.
- However, the Snipewriter is often not too much of a threat to the Heavy Edit Splatling, as it needs to hit two clean shots to splat instead of just one. Additionally, the Snipewriter 5H is often preoccupied with painting for their Tacticooler, and will sometimes ignore the Heavy Edit Splatling player as a result.
- The Heavy Edit Splatling can struggle to deal with AoE weapons and weapons that can hit from behind cover since it needs to hide behind cover close to the opponents in order to effectively take advantage of its barrages.
- These weapons can force it to retreat away from that cover and struggle to find an opening.
- While the Heavy Edit Splatling can attempt to shoot back with a partial charge, AoE weapons are also able to counter its fast movement speed, as they can cover a wide area at once.
- The Explosher is particularly good at dealing with the Heavy Edit Splatling for these reasons, alongside its great range.
- Bombs are also good at dealing with the Heavy Edit Splatling. They can force the user into uncomfortable scenarios where they are forced into taking chip damage, or possibly even canceling their charge and backing up.
- Although its partial charges are powerful, it is still fairly vulnerable right after its full charge completes. Players with short range weapons can take advantage of this by taking cover near a Heavy Edit Splatling user and attacking when their charge completes.
- In this situation, the Heavy Edit Splatling player may attempt to quickly charge up a partial charge and splat the player right as they jump out, however, so players attempting to do this should be careful not to move predictably.
- A Heavy Edit Splatling may often be left with no choice but to retreat in this situation, which can be advantageous for the attacker, even if they do not secure a splat.
Gear Abilities
Being a splatling, the Heavy Edit Splatling benefits tremendously from Run Speed Up. Even though it is provided by the Tacticooler, it is practically mandatory for the Heavy Edit Splatling user to run at least a main and a few subs of Run Speed Up for when it does not have the effects of Tacticooler.
The Heavy Edit Splatling suffers from increased shot spread after jumping, which can be mitigated by running 1 or 2 subs of Intensify Action. This also helps the Heavy Edit Splatling charge up behind cover, then jump on top of cover without suffering too much shot deviation in the process.
The Heavy Edit Splatling cannot quickly paint at its feet without putting itself in a vulnerable position, so having the ability to walk through enemy ink without much of a hassle can be very beneficial for it.
Tacticooler is heavily benefited by Special Power Up, in particular, 2 subs will increase its duration by about 2 seconds and 1 main will increase it by about 3[2].
Being a more aggressive weapon with a powerful special that controls the pace of the game, getting splatted without its Tacticooler active is very detrimental, so the Heavy Edit Splatling likes having the ability to maintain its special more upon being splatted.
Special Charge Up is very powerful, as it allows the Tacticooler to be charged faster than usual. This can make a huge difference in cases where the user needs their Tacticooler soon in order to handle an impending push from the opposing team.
Stealth Jump is a powerful ability that enables the Heavy Edit Splatling to get back into the fight sooner when they go down.
The Heavy Edit Splatling often finds itself going down frequently. Comeback provides numerous useful buffs in the event that the Heavy Edit Splatling goes down, notably, Run Speed Up and Special Charge Up. However, surviving is usually preferred in all scenarios, and having a different ability active at all times is often more powerful, so it is not usually the best option.
- ↑ Comp archetypes guide by @PinkPuffPastry on Twitter
- ↑ Build Analyzer on sendou.ink
