Competitive:Point Sensor

Unofficial!

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

For information about the Point Sensor, see Point Sensor.

Splatoon 2

Splatoon 2

Point Sensor

Abbreviations
Sub
Special
Base damage
Base duration	Area of effect: 2.5 seconds Tracking: ≤ 8 seconds
Ink consumption	45%
Special points
Special depletion
Role
Strengths	Real-time tracking, throwability, low ink cost
Weaknesses	No damage or turfing, value decreases as team communication improves

The Point Sensor, a utility sub weapon that can track opponents in real-time, returns from the original Splatoon with a couple of tweaks: a new lingering area of effect and, since Version 1.4.0, the ability to increase tracking time with Sub Power Up. However, it still suffers from the same disadvantages it had against bombs – the lack of damage and turfing – which reduce its versatility in competitive matches.

Use

While unable to inflict any damage onto opponents, the Point Sensor can still provide intelligence on opponents' positions:

• Upon contacting a surface, it forms a spherical cloud that persists for 2.5 seconds. Any opponent who either is caught within the cloud or enters it within the 2.5 seconds will get tagged:
  • The exact location of a tagged opponent will be visible for its user's entire team to see. This is one of the few advantages Point Sensors have over the Autobomb and the Torpedo, which can detect and pursue opponents but not necessarily reveal them.
  • If the Point Sensor user does not have an ability points (APs) of Sub Power Up equipped, and their target has no APs of Bomb Defense Up DX equipped, opponents tagged by a Point Sensor will remain tagged for 8 seconds minus the amount of time the Pont Sensor has been active when the opponent was tagged (e.g., an opponent who enters the area of effect of a Point Sensor that has been active for 2 seconds will be tracked for six seconds).
  • Point Sensors do not stack; a tagged opponent caught in another Point Sensor will only have their tracking time reset.
• A Point Sensor can be thrown into areas that are impossible, unsafe, or impractical to plant an Ink Mine at:
  • If your team establishes a lockout of the opposing team in Splat Zones, or if your team is on the offensive in other Ranked Battle modes, Point Sensors can be thrown at areas and paths through which an opponent might have to travel through to mount a defense. Tagged opponents can alert your team of where they are flanking from, and the Point Sensor's cloud might deter opponents from taking a certain path for a brief amount of time.
  • A thrown Point Sensor can check beneath ledges, around corners, behind obstacles, and within suspicious puddles of the opponents' ink for any sharking opponents.
• If you are about to get splatted or fall into an unfavorable situation, marking an opponent provides your teammates the opportunity to, at best, provide assistance or, at worst, give them a chance for a revenge splat.

Synergy

While a Point Sensor provides its user some utility, it undeniably lacks the damage of turfing of other sub weapons — notably lethal bombs, such as Splat or Suction Bombs. Lethal bombs 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.
• They can be used for poking at and zoning out opponents during the neutral phase, stalling an opponent's push, providing its user time and space to escape, 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.
• The turf inked by the resulting explosion contributes to both maintaining map control and building up the special gauge.

Countermeasures

• Bomb Defense Up DX, already a valuable utility ability against opponents' bombs and special weapons, will also reduce the tracking duration of opponents' Point Sensors and Ink Mines, allowing the user of this ability to evade detection more easily.
• When tagged with an opponent's Point Sensor, either briefly keep a distance from opponents to avoid getting splatted or lure the opponents away from the objective or an important area of the stage, allowing teammates to reclaim turf, push the objective, or ambush opponents.