Competitive:Permanent Inkbrush

Unofficial!

This article discusses content that is not part of the official Splatoon series but is part of the community or competitive gaming space.

For information about the Permanent Inkbrush, see Permanent Inkbrush.

Splatoon 2

Splatoon 2

Permanent Inkbrush

Abbreviations	Brush
Sub	Sprinkler
Special	Ink Armor
Base damage	30 (Splash) 20 (Roll)
Base duration
Ink consumption	2% (Splash) 0.135% per frame (Roll)
Special points	180p
Special depletion
Role	Skirmisher/Slayer/Support Flex
Strengths	Mobility, turfing, Ink Armor farming
Weaknesses	Very short range, lack of a lethal bomb, requires mashing

The Permanent Inkbrush – along with the Inkbrush and the Inkbrush Nouveau – is the fastest, most mobile weapon in Splatoon 2, enabling its user to quickly flank opponents, harass them, and flee from unfavorable situations. While its lack of a bomb limits its user's options on defense, unlike the Vanilla variant, it has a more versatile, global special weapon, which can benefit both its user and their entire team.

Use

The Permanent Inkbrush flexes among various roles — skirmisher, slayer, and support:

• The greatest asset any variant of the Inkbrush has is mobility. Unlike other weapon classes, its mobility is not restricted by either opposing ink or un-inkable surfaces, provided that its user has enough ink in their ink tank.
  • Unless you already know your opponents' locations, it is usually inadvisable to travel deep into opposing turf since an opponent may well be sharking in it.
  • Without any Ink Saver (Main) equipped, the Permanent Inkbrush consumes 2% of the ink tank on the initial swing and 0.135% per frame (8.1% per second) the brush is rolled. From a full tank, its user can roll for 12.10 seconds – 4.69 seconds after using a Sprinkler – before running out of ink. Keep an eye on the ink tank as you roll the brush to avoid getting caught without ink.
• The Permanent Inkbrush's very high mobility has a number of applications:
  • Its user can take various flank routes to get behind the opponents, harass them, and possibly splat high-priority targets, such as an opposing charger.
    • Flanking with any mobile weapon – especially the Permanent Inkbrush – requires a good knowledge of the map, including good scouting and sharking locations.
    • However, do not take too long to flank the opponents as doing so leaves your teammates in a three-on-four situation or worse.
  • A Permanent Inkbrush user can user their speed and mobility to harass, distract, and annoy their opponents, consistent with their role as a skirmisher. In this case, your objective is not necessarily to win battles but simply to not lose them too easily or quickly, buying time and weakening opponents for a teammate to splat them.
  • Its high speed and lightweight nature enables its user to more quickly respond to opposing pushes, provide support for a beleaguered teammate, or punish an opponent caught out of position.
  • A Permanent Inkbrush user can cover ground quickly to help establish map control or collect clams.
    • To avoid detection by the opponent, refrain from collecting a tenth clam until you are either on your side of the map or very close to the opposing goal.
    • While it is tempting to use your speed to quickly score on the opponent, a better long term strategy would be to pass completed Power Clams to a support or anchor – someone who is less likely to directly engage the opponent and risk getting splatted – and help maintain clam control until a bigger scoring opportunity arises.
  • Most of all, very high mobility allows a Permanent Inkbrush user to pick their battles:
    • Flee from matchups or situations that are unfavorable. Most opposing rollers or an opposing Tri-Slosher or Clash Blaster Neo are usually difficult for any Inkbrush to defeat.
    • Ideal targets for a Permanent Inkbrush to attack head-on are lone users of any slow-firing weapon that lacks one-shot- or one-burst-splat potential. An opposing user of a Kensa Sloshing Machine, a Kensa Rapid Blaster, or a Custom Explosher fits these descriptions.

The Sprinkler can be used in a variety of ways to help its user:

• They can used to turf areas that are either out of reach or unsafe to approach.
• They can help maintain turf onto highly contested areas, such as around mid. A Sprinkler placed high on a wall or ceiling can also be a distraction for an opponent.
• They can also act as a light shield in a pinch. Sprinklers have 120 hit points but are easily destroyed by opponents armed with Object Shredder.

Ink Armor enables 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.

• Time the activation of Ink Armor carefully so that you and your teammates receive its protection before engaging the opponent.
• 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 supportive players do.
• Using Ink Armor also refills the ink tank. While this tactic can sometimes save you in a pinch, refrain from using Ink Armor solely for this purpose.
• 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.
  • As a slayer, a Permanent Inkbrush user is not expected to carry the Rainmaker. Instead, they should pave a path of ink for the Rainmaker carrier to quickly travel along, find a good location from which to shark, and pounce on any opponents who threaten the Rainmaker. Therefore, while Ink Armor will not protect the Rainmaker carrier, it will still benefit their teammates, so cast Ink Armor just before engaging the opposing team.

Synergy

While a team might get away with having one or two users of short-ranged weapons, such as the Permanent Inkbrush, 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:

• 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.

Another weakness of the Permanent Inkbrush is the lack of lethal bombs — particularly either Splat or Suction Bombs, which provide their user's team a couple advantages over another team that has no lethal bombs in its composition:

• 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.

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.

• 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, the Permanent Inkbrush user should generally be the first to activate Ink Armor, while their more supportive teammate should activate their Ink Armor as the first one wears off.

While special weapons used in combination are beneficial in general, the combination of Ink Armor with either Inkjet or Ultra Stamp is particularly invaluable for the user of the latter special, improving their survivability:

• Because an Ink Armored player can withstand more damage — especially from an opponent's charger, an armored Inkjet pilot can fly more aggressively.
• An armored Ultra Stamp user is also more difficult for opponents to splat while swinging the hammer. However, they are easier to spot when submerged in their ink.

Countermeasures

• Any weapon with an effective range longer than the lethal range of the Permanent Inkbrush can counter an opposing Permanent Inkbrush user who attempts to challenge opponents head-on. However, a good Permanent Inkbrush user will rely more on flanking and sharking, so anyone facing a team with an opposing Permanent Inkbrush 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.
• If an opponent's Sprinkler is present nearby, make sure that no opponents are hiding nearby before attempting to destroy it.
• Keep an eye on the HUD to know when the opposing Permanent Inkbrush 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 Permanent Inkbrush (or any other Ink Armor-equipped weapon).
  • Fight fire with fire by having and using Ink Armor to counter the opposing Permanent Inkbrush user's Armor. Skirmishes between armored teams will depend on when each Ink Armor was activated, the players' skill and positioning, turf control, and the availability of other specials.
  • Ink Armor can negate up to 30 HP of damage, so there are a few main and sub weapons that can remove an opponent's Ink Armor in one hit:
    • For example, Burst Bombs and all variants of the Splattershot, the Splattershot Pro, and the Splat Dualies all inflict at least 30 HP of damage per shot and fire relatively rapidly. All variants of the Splash-o-matic and the Dualie Squelchers can also accomplish this with enough Main Power Up.
    • Object Shredder triples damage inflicted onto armored opponents, allowing weapons that cannot otherwise inflict 30 HP of damage to break an opponent's Ink Armor in one hit. Combining Object Shredder with Ink Storm can nearly neutralize armored pushes by the opponent.
    • The splash damage of most bombs will destroy the Ink Armor of opponents who have no Bomb Defense Up DX equipped.
  • Otherwise, focus fire on armored opponents for longer than usual - preferably while ganging up on one opponent at a time - to compensate for their armor.

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.

Bomb Defense Up DX

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. This is a useful ability for almost any player, including a Permanent Inkbrush player who can play aggressive when needed. Just one sub, or three ability points, offers 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.

Ink Resistance Up

Although the Inkbrush line prevents its users from taking damage from enemy ink on the floor while rolling, they can still be 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. Just one sub, or three ability points…

• …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.
• …lowers the limit on the amount of damage opposing ink on surfaces can inflict from 40 HP to 38 HP.
• …increases the normal running speed in opposing ink from 0.24 DU/f to 0.33 DU/f.
• …increases the jumping height in opposing ink from 0.8 to 0.854.

Object Shredder

An ability exclusive to shoes, Object Shredder provides a Permanent Inkbrush user two specific benefits:

• 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 Splat Bombs, allowing their team to start or restart a push more quickly while gaining a large amount of turf control in the immediate area.

Because the Permanent Inkbrush does 30 damage and has extremely short range, falloff damage can often occur. Object Shredder provides its user a valuable damage boost against opponents using either Ink Armor or Baller. Its only drawback is that it occupies an entire main ability, reducing the amount of ability points allowed for other potentially important gear abilities, such as Special Charge Up.

Quick Super Jump

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

Special Charge Up accelerates building up the special gauge for Ink Armor. As arguably the one of the quickest weapons at farming Ink Armor, constantly having Ink Armor available for teammates ensures more successful pushes and counter-pushes.

• 6 ability points, or two subs, of Special Charge Up are enough to reduce the special gauge requirement from 180p to 171p.
• 16 ability points, or one main and two subs, are enough to reduce the special gauge requirement to 159p.

Special Saver

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 Permanent Inkbrush 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%.

Stealth Jump

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.

Swim Speed Up

A self-explanatory ability, Swim Speed Up enables an already mobile Permanent Inkbrush user to more rapidly close the distance towards an opponent, more quickly respond to an opponents' push, or even escape unfavorable situations.

• 16 ability points – one main and two subs – increase the swim speed from 2.02 to 2.19 units per frame.
• Swim Speed Up can reduce the swim speed penalty from Ninja Squid. However, it takes at least 28 ability points – either one main and six subs or about two mains and three subs – of Swim Speed Up for a Permanent Inkbrush user to fully offset the swimming speed penalty of Ninja Squid.
• Therefore, a Permanent Inkbrush user with Ninja Squid will have to decide between either having fewer ability points available for other abilities or swimming at less than the base maximum speed. For example, just 13 ability points – one main and one sub – are enough to restore the swim speed of a Permanent Inkbrush user with Ninja Squid to 1.92 units per frame.