What Am I Doing? Part 1: Weapon Roles

[@preyingshark4878]

I saw -5 motion used once. It was a Japanese e-liter and they had over 2500 power so it was clearly working for them so I will forever agree that the best motion setting is "whatever you hit things with" lol

[@skyeguy7914]

I think this is actually because long range weapons need more precision, and lower sensitivity makes aiming more stable and precise. E-liter’s range means also that it doesn’t have to respond to dangers in its peripheral nearly as much as other chargers, and will only be in an unsafe position for that if their team is unaware. In which case, I’m willing to bet that said player probably had his stick sensitivity up pretty high so that he could still flick around with the stick in the rare event of getting flanked. Edited because I forgot to complete a thought in one sentence there.

[@TGCPhilip]

Lower sensitivity would be extremely handicapping with something like a Squiffer though.

[@skyeguy7914]

@@TGCPhilip right. Though squiffers aren’t quite as effective at the anchor role as other chargers. I feel they are more like slayers dressed as anchors. And generally if you’re getting into closer range engagements, you do want to be able to react quickly.

[@TGCPhilip]

@@skyeguy7914 of course. Squiffers are aggressive Chargers. They require skillful aim (or as you or we'd say, luck) but also reaction times. I'd argue that Squiffers possess more skill than Chargers like myself. I used to be one but I'm no longer skilled with it anymore, I now specialise in the Regular Charger.

[@sealedtugboat9965]

Them trying to flick: 💃

[@aegisScale]

Damn, now I understand the Brella's true strength. It's not the best for killing, *_but it's excellent for asserting dominance._*

[@_Strawberry9]

No replies? Anyways, this is a super funny comment :)

[@こう空太]

Even though I can read Japanese tutorial. I still prefer watching lessons at here. Your guides are really easy to understand. Good luck

[@PopeYaoi]

I'm not him but this comment made me happy, just wanted you to know! Keep doing you, I also agree that his guides are easy to understand.

[@CHROME_SQUID]

頑張って!!!

[@GooberThe4th]

What rank are you in splatoon 3?

[@こう空太]

@@GooberThe4th Only S in this season. Still got a long way to go

[@marcostoad1]

What am I doing here I don’t even own splatoon 3

[@trema1626]

yet.

[@dieseldan2562]

Fix that

[@tallnerdgirl]

You'll be ready when you do

[@LARKXHIN]

Well go get it.

[@Zero-ontheleft]

Same

[@phillyairsoft6372]

Love how serious and technically complex this game is at its core. You are one of the few that realizes, embraces, and shares it with us. Thanks

[@LDAR]

Few? It's just the competitive side, even tho yeah, it is small

[@jonservo]

I played in a match where the opposing team had a bow user with tentamissles. I don't know how much special charge up he was wearing but he used that special at least 14 times in that match, I remember because I took note of it after the game was over. They were averaging about three to four special usages per minute and our team never got a chance to stop running from missiles long enough to play the objective at all. Was it fun, no. However I can't deny that it was effective lol

[@pest174]

Could be a glitch. There's a glitch to get endless missiles.

[@NorthSudan]

reef lux moment

[@38mb.]

certainly a reeflux moment

[@dmsviola1]

As a newly christened Reef Lux user, I acknowledge that we are basically Fly Fish cosplayers, and no. I will not apologize for it.

[@HeartAce59]

Today I had 3 Reef-lux on the opposing team. I don't think they were even a comp, they were just matched together. I don't blame people for playing what they enjoy, but maaaaaan I wish the matchmaking was better.

[@Joob_Toob]

Slayer and skirmisher having alliteration just feels nice and anchor keeping with splatoon's nautical sea theme makes these feel like official terms. Good job 👍

[@SquidSchool]

I didn't invent any of these terms, they're all coming from flc

[@BraviaGames]

@@SquidSchool What a happy coincedence lol

[@Joob_Toob]

@@SquidSchool oh right, either way they're good

[@Randomest_king]

All of these are “primary” roles, but there are tons of “secondary”roles. Distractor, Bodyguard, and saboteur are a few examples with “jack of all trades” being it own category. 25 likes and I dedicate time to explain these roles.

[@anAlanBlaze]

This video is going to be super helpful. Been playing lots of different weapons farming Sheldon tickets and trying to get used to motion controls after being obsessed with this series for the last few weeks. Last night I was thinking to myself "what AM I doing?!?" Because changing weapons and trying new things has left me floundering a bit. Going to give this more attention after work today. Thanks a lot, teach

[@skyeguy7914]

My advice is to use the star power as a guide. Try to get each weapon to at least 1 star, that way you’ll get an idea of what it does, and say for sure if you like it or not. If you definitely like a weapon, get it up to two or three stars. At three stars, I’d say you’ve used a weapon enough to understand what it can and can’t do, and at 4, you’ve definitely used it enough to know just about everything it can do in standard play. 5 stars… is gonna take like… possibly around a hundred hours of game time even just for one weapon, and I only recommend it if you really, REALLY want to give the weapon a proper ranked/competitive run. Some weapons are definitely harder to use than others, and will take longer to level though. For how powerful 52 gal is, it took me about as long to 1 star as it did to get my splattershot jr half way to 3. And since there is a testfire area you can use between matches, try doing small drills with each weapon. I’ll usually work on whatever I did worst at in the previous match. Wether it’s working on range, or managing quick turns in my aim, or even just using subs in tandem with the main weapon. Etc.

[@m4rcyonstation93]

@@skyeguy7914 I have other people who use the same console tho ;-;

[@epickittymonster4435]

Squid School - There's the anchor, the support, the skirmisher and the slayer Me, looking at my death count - I'm the distraction 😅 Jokes aside, this is very helpful! Thank you 😊

[@GanondorfKingofEvil]

Honestly I use Sploosh-o-matic to purposely be the distraction in turf wars. I even sometimes survive the push with curling bombs and Ninja Squid. Now if only my rando team could make use of my successful attempts at diving deep into enemy territory. And not drop the ball and let the opposite team bully them backwards towards our spawn.

[@Nokyyyyy]

I'm the distraction too, sometimes. And after fighting 3 opponents in their base for 30 seconds, I realise my allies didn't do much to turf like I hoped

[@DeathOfDelta]

Honestly being a distraction can be handy. I’m a dualie squelchers main who plays a lot of tower control. Some of my best work happens because I can pull enemies away from the tower long enough to give my team an opening.

[@Sparkle8205]

Honestly i feel like im the distraction too lmao

[@jeremiahszabo823]

As a dualie main, being the distraction is the most fun, most hilarious thing you can be, I once made some brella user chase me down for 30 seconds, its a fun time

[@savionmcqueen8944]

I think the most impactful lesson of this was the skirmisher role. Even though it seems like common sense, sometimes long range pushing or just simply annoying an opponent with shots but not necessarily needing kills is something I never realized. I always just played a slayer to go for trades but in reality I should just be threatening them and going, and killing when I can. thank you.

[@Nokyyyyy]

As a melee weapon, I can confirm I hate this

[@cromanticheer]

It's also kinda reassuring to have a formal classification if you're playing a weapon that's great at threatening players but not always great at killing. Even if you can't *quite* land that magic 4th hit from Jet Squelcher to splat a far-off enemy, you're still dividing their attention and making them panic. EDIT: It's also quite reassuring for Specials too! Maybe you didn’t get a kill or got killed yourself, but causing chaos and distracting the enemy team can be just as valuable sometimes.

[@UltimateLink1]

"What role should I fill/What role does this weapon best fill" is always the first question that comes to mind when I've been trying out all the weapons in 3. Having a targeted idea of what you should be doing also allows you to have a better idea of how good you are with a weapon AND what areas you need to focus on to improve. It's why when I was struggling with the Splatanas, my question to the Splatoon reddit was "I'm having trouble understanding what niche the Splatanas fill" - I got some good advice that helped me figure out why I was struggling with it (namely I was treating it as a rushdown close range weapon like the brushes and rollers instead of a midrange poker) and I got better with em

[@SquidSchool]

Yeah, Splatana's a weird one. It can play at close range but not as well as a brush or roller (slower ttk) and it can also try to kite but not as well as, say, dualie squelchers (slower ttk, worse range, worse mobility) so my best guess has been it'll choose between the two playstyles depending on the situation since it's at least capable of playing both ways.

[@HeartAce59]

I had a similar experience! During the testfire, my friends who prefer slaying (dapple and roller main respectively) were eager to try the Splatana, but they couldn't play it well and couldn't quite understand what they were doing wrong. Later I get to try it (I play Dualie Squelchers, VSlosher and Squeezer, mostly) and I surprisingly had fun with it! My mindset was immediately to poke with it. I'm glad the weapon which looks closest to the Brush class is nothing like the brushes. And I'm glad to have found a new midrange option to enjoy! I'm currently trying the Stamper, as it's pretty much ink hungry like the DS, but can't play the zoning game and instead try to chase people down a little more. Which is something the DS can actually do, but my playstyle doesn't stick to. I want to try more approaches in S3, so I think playing more midrange options might be good. Also to learn how to counter my midrange rivals >:3

[@skyeguy7914]

Watching Squid School in general made a lot of learning weapon roles much more intuitive. I personally found that splatana is at its best in close range fights when using the stamper and it’s ziplash special. Since the special can quickly flank, and deal damage, you can easily get the drop directly on the target you want, get a quick whack, and escape, or etc. which is especially fun considering that ziplash can travel the entire map in seconds, AND does the ink jet return jump when it runs out. Otherwise, sticking to pokes and staying back works way better.

[@OneRadicalDreamer]

Same. I find the wiper is really inconsistent at close range too (ie. Charge attacks missing/I panic so I freeze and mash ZR lol) That said, I started with the stamper, but overtime went to the wiper, mainly cause I'm too defensive to play with the zipcaster. And I love baiting people with the ultra stamp.

[@superninja_youtube]

I genuinely love how you stated "all weapons play all roles sometimes" at the start of the video. I'm a roller/splatling player since splatoon 1, and you would not BELIEVE how many players in low ranks look at my weapon, say "oh, I'll just stay away from him!" or "oh, I'll just wait out that charge!" and get called out by something unorthodox. One of my more recent matches I would use to summarize that concept: I was playing the nautilus splatling (is that the name? The one that looks like a frisbee and holds charge through swim) and intended to play my usual turf control, backliner style, keeping enemies at bay. The enemy team was 2 chargers and 3 REALLY aggressive players. Just because I'm using a "backline weapon" doesn't mean that's ALL I should consider - I was able to trade with those aggressive players well by acting like a duelist, conserving charge and using quick swims, alongside using cheeky flank routes or just brute force aggression to stave off the chargers focusing another player. Was I the best for those roles? Absolutely not, painting turf for those flanks was a pain and if it weren't for my splatling choice I would have suffered to those rushdowns. Did it work? We won the game for it, so yes! I've seen chargers spam hipfire dualies and win because of it and aerosprays wipe entire teams left unchecked - take your archetype, keep it in mind, then do what you need to succeed in a match - leave the "only max range charger anarchy battles" for a challenge youtuber.

[@abrittishpanfish6269]

It was fun to see how these roles align or differ from those in other competitive shooters from what I can tell, they seem most comparable to player roles in CS:GO

[@skyeguy7914]

Yeah, Splatoon is a surprisingly competitive and intense shooter. Don’t let the cute visuals fool you!

[@D0Samp]

Just like with old CS:GO tutorials, I can already see myself taking everything in from this channel and then still never actually playing (outside of splatfests).

[@teeje8205]

Inkbrushes are kind of their own category, due to: High Mobility, Quick Killspeed at close range and decent coloring capabilities. As such i see my role as follows: 1. Use my painting speed to be the first at Map-Mid at gamestart, 2. slip through enemy lines when they siege / camp us and possibly into the enemy base, to ultimately distract them and end the Siege, 3. Defend the high grounds (or tower) (especially map mid) by insta-splatting climbing opponents, 3. Flank through the sidelanes of the map to snack some 1v1 kills, 4. substitue if we miss a roller in the team because i paint a lot

[@emerald3616]

This places them into probably the Slayer category as ink brushes work best when they ambush distracted or out of position players to pick up quick kills but they can also skirmish just from the threat of flanking the enemy team putting them on guard or distracting them by being a nuisance.

[@shame2189]

​@@emerald3616well, they also excel at baiting opponents by camping their base and jumping back to mid when you have multiple people's attention.

[@skyeguy7914]

Oh! A random thought occurred to me, and I wanted to share. A lot of what I’ve learned about how to use certain weapons came from paying attention to how other players use them! I’ve picked up on tricks like using the big bubbler on the tower, or rolling bombs off edges to catch players hiding from you in places that would leave you vulnerable if you try to peek down from them. And the options for movement or unique ways to use bombs you can learn! If there is anything that proves my point here, it’s this: Nothing teaches you to respect a roller’s range quite like finding out the hard way just how far away they can actually hit you from!

[@seabirdflutter]

I got nailed by an offensive roller a few times in a match and that stopped me from ever charging into an empty area again. dualies has nothing on the ol vertical flick.

[@jenkinsjrjenkins]

As a roller I can confirm nothing is more satisfying than splatting someone who thought they were hiding/safely recharging 😌

[@calebbrown1068]

Splatoon 3 has been largely overwhelming as my first foray into the series, so having a super clear description of these ideas and how to fluidly transition between them (besides just working on firing my weapon better) is a massive help. Thanks Gem.

[@TatooPedigree]

Thanks Gem! My favorite take away from this video is stressing how even people who might be familiar with these roles can fall into the trap of playing the same role all the time. It’s important to always consider what are the needs of my team right now? What are our numbers like? Who’s in position and who isn’t? Who’s splatted and who’s not? What’s risky and what’s safe? And what’s the best use of my time right now? Great video and looking forward to more on the subject.

[@Justin_Bandi-Dragon]

what the heck? At 6:55 and 11:45 I see me (B-Dragon) and my friend (PyraEnjoyr) in the background footage. I remember playing those games too. How did I not notice I was playing with you lol. Either way, great video. very helpful.

[@fezthedracky8468]

Thank you for explaining why high ground matters, I've been playing FPS games casually for years, and never understood why people would always shout for high ground, thinking that it would just make your head easier to hit. Great video, please keep more coming!

[@kiranearitachi]

Good stuff here as someone who played Splatoon 1 and played like only a few games of Splatoon 2 I'm taking it more seriously this time around and these ideas and such help alot

[@grimey3480]

The skirmisher/slayer explanation is so good. I've been playing frontline since the first game and have hit X rank, and you still managed to improve my gameplay with such a simple yet effective explanation of the weapon's role.

[@remix7345]

"dont actually go in expecting free splats" sloshing machine: "im gonna pretend i didnt hear that"

[@davidrichards4826]

Thank you I love this playlist before its even a play list

[@DeK-]

Are we just not going to talk about how this man’s arm literally snapped to do a 270 at 1:30.

[@Sqwivig]

1:29 lmaoooo what even IS this clip!? He turns around so fast you can't even see him get the kill! I rewound the clip like 3 times and I still can't even see what happened! What a shot!

[@mavohq]

my college has a splatoon club and is trying to build more comp teams (of all levels), i was quad s+ in splat 2 but i’ve never done comp before so your videos are going to help a lot!

[@NoahFleetwood]

New to the series but absolutely loving splatoon 3 and your videos have been a godsend. I tend to play hyper aggressively getting myself into situations where I either pull off a hero play or get splatted immediately, but listening to your videos has made it a lot easier to think about the game in a thoughtful and strategic way. You also are like the most level headed person I’ve heard talking about disagreements in the community and I have to say bravo. Anyway, I’m enrolling in the school from here on out

[@thebear8326]

Being a massive Dynamo Roller fan, the Skirmisher/Slayer section really helped me understand my role more thoroughly. I kinda knew what to go for, but that was the extra explanational push I needed to feel a bit more confident in using my main. Thank you, Squid School!

[@Medik]

Really phenomenal video and I love the credit being given to that document about fluid roles in Splatoon! Phenomenal video I can’t say it enough, great quality and I wish you all the best! Thank you for doing this for the Splatoon community.

[@gabriel912]

This video is so helpful. I was genuinely hoping for a video like that. The way you explain things is very motivating. I wish I had a community to play that strategically with.

[@SquidSchool]

I can point you in the direction of a bunch of Discord servers with recruitment channels if you'd like! The Squid School server has one, and there's also a lot of servers like that which you can find in Inkopolis Crosswalk, which is this link: discord.gg/4zpNM9JcSq

[@FelineDeskFan13]

7:50 TLDR a skirmishers job is to be a pain in the ass while staying alive

[@fyooshmcdonald5340]

As someone who plays a lot of competitive fighting games (street fighter and the likes) I am trying to get into splatoon 3 competitively because it is so unique and fun to practice. I have noticed when researching guides and other sources that they never talk about fundamentals like this channel has. You are doing an amazing job and from what I can tell you are going to get a lot better. keep it up 👍

[@CherryBlossom-mh6vv]

13:38 Their name is Cassidy now, original name sake did some really bad stuff so now blizard changed it

[@julien8631]

Really good video! Splatoon 3 is my first Splatoon game but I've played a lot of valorant and it's interesting how the different roles actually align. Anchor: Sential, Skirmisher: Initiator, Duelist: Slayer and Support: Controller

[@FuruHataNinzaburo-w8z]

Immensely helpful especially in explaining why you shouldn't follow roles with rigidity. Also, because the balance is so much better in this game, if you understand the roles you can design your own build around it and it will never be that bad.

[@prometheus5345]

This video really helped my perspective on how to take certain encounters and how roles can constantly change despite using the same weapon

[@mothmage9121]

I’m grateful to have this video recommended to me by YT. The way you explained everything was clear, concise, & had me thinking which roles I was already playing without knowing it. As a first time Splatoon player, I found this very helpful & look forward to more videos!

[@KyoWantsCute]

I'm an Inkbrush main who's transitioning to Splatana (I'll still use both.) I never really thought of roles being in the game, I just always had fun taking the opponents attention, or finding a way into their base to attack them from the back. Never gave the game much thought since I'm pretty casual. Now that I've watched this video, I'll value staying alive rather than going for kills. Can't paint if I'm respawning, and can't be a distraction either. Thanks for the video! Going to try out some ranked modes now. Wish me luck! Sorry to all of the people in ranked who will see that I'm using a melee weapon...I promise I'll get better one day!

[@volcanolotus64]

This is a helpful video! While I intuitively played my roles in battle I had no idea there was terminology for it and fumbled while playing a weapon with a different primary role. I can't wait to get practicing with this in mind, even if I'm not a competitive player

[@toripng]

Just wanted to stop by to give another comment of praise and encouragement! This is basically the best kind of "SparkNotes" of that roles document you mentioned. I had read it a while back and now that I'm coaching a PlayVS (high school esports) team, I find that this video would be 100% more effective if linked to them. Squid School was something in my resource pool for them for this year and I'm honestly blown away at how accessible every video is (honestly for me as well! I'm not incredibly seasoned with tournament experience yet). Will definitely take a look at your Patreon since I would love to see this channel thrive! Thanks so much for making this guide :)

[@SquidSchool]

PlayVS is running Splatoon stuff? That's awesome, so glad to hear there's enough interest in it! I'd love to do analysis or commentary for one of their events, maybe if there's some kind of regional finals or something

[@toripng]

@@SquidSchool Yeah! I was surprised too, I had found out about it from my little brother. If I can find out more, I wouldn't mind sending info about finals type things your way (I gotta hop on the Discord eventually).

[@georgesaliba8876]

You have impeccable vision my friend. First game of the Splatoon series, but I come from other games where I understand roles and game sense. Well said and keep up the amazing content!

[@pyroshi-zoey-7840]

this video singlehandedly made me realize I've always been best with the weapons considered to be in the "slayer/skirmisher" category, and I've been doing much better in splat 3 by focusing on that playstyle now!

[@deadwhitedragon9751]

I've always mixed skirmishers and support together, and honestly both roles can be filled by the same weapon, like the n-zap or dualie squelchers. I've noticed that with those kinds of weapons, it's good to take safe fights where you have an advantage/can retreat from, yet they still kill just as much as slayers These weapons usually outrange, outmaneuver or outpaint other weapons, but have lower killpower than slayer weapons, and can usually take map control and build up special very well as they can survive a long time compared to slayers (not as long as anchors though)

[@ISTILLDONTKNOW680]

I could hear the clicking at 14:13 furious clicking...

[@phleepmorr5347]

thanks gem. i’ve found myself never knowing what i’m doing, but after this, I do!

[@GacLosen6556]

I'm a hydra main in Splatoon 3, and honestly, I see what you mean by needing to play every role. Obviously, I'm the best as an anchor or backliner, as others call it, but I can also do many of the roles when the time is right. Knowing your role in this game isn't so much about only doing that role, it's about knowing where you shine the most, but still make up for your teammates if they're struggling, or changing your priorities depending on the map or game mode. I watched this to get a better understanding of the roles, as skirmisher and slayer were the most confusing for me, but once I understood, it was pretty easy to think about how I should play. Awesome video.

[@Wheat_Thinn]

I'm a flingza roller main and I feel like I better understand what roles I'm participating in in a match. The long vertical flicks allow me to go deep quickly and cause some slaying action with horizontal flicks, but often allow for a quick trail to retreat and draw attention with more vertical flicks. Sometimes I find myself stalling for tentamissiles, which are usually a big part of my game plan

[@SquidSchool]

Splatoon 2 Flingza was right up there with jet squelcher for how heavily it played around its tenta missiles, and I think that's still a big part of its playstyle in S3

[@An1mat0rz]

I'm guessing weapons like the two brushes were so far from the norm they're just hard to pin into a category... like a flex weapon in a way. The inkbrush specifically could be a support because it's a good skirmisher/slayer when the killer wail is charged, but they're also a really good support for inking controlled areas. They have short ranged but make excellent flankers if given the opportunity and because of that range calling them an anchor is impossible, though any weapon can hold a position the best it can even if to just slow down the enemy push.

[@widdletad6957]

I'd recommend this video to any avid team based shooter fan. The idea of role flexibility is important to Splatoon, Overwatch and even Valorant. Your analysis is also thorough and entertaining. 10/10

[@X-35173]

Discussing skirmishers was a huge eye opener for me. I know about the other 3 but I find myself bouncing between skirmusher and support in most modes but never understood that I was even being a Skirmisher. Going forward I will have a much clearer idea and what I'm doing.

[@criley0007]

the youtube members and patreon list at the end is so long now!! we love to see it

[@SquidSchool]

Y'all made me learn new things about Premiere, making that credits roll at the end is way more complicated than it should be

[@criley0007]

@@SquidSchool lmao

[@LutherLee]

Really love this content. I've read flc's essay before but having an actual pro explaining it with examples is totally another level. Definitely will recommend this to all my friends playing Splatoon 3.

[@caveot7672]

Love the new intro!

[@llamallover1057]

I love skirmishing, it makes me feel like an annoying gremlin. it's especially great when I get half the enemy team distracted while my team pushes the objective. however this usually means I die

[@kylemckell]

Thanks for the video! I've always heard of these terms, and taken some small amount of results from that, but it's nice to actually hear what things are supposed to do. Especially the distinction between skirmisher and slayer. I'm starting to try to fit myself into different playstyles, and deviate away from my comfort pick with Splattershot, so this will be helpful to feel somewhat useful to my teams without the playstyle that I've been using for the month that this game has been out.

[@jennshine8777]

I’m not a competitive player at all but I’m so happy I’ve stumbled across videos! I love splatoon a lot and recently started wondering how I can do better and then saw your videos. I’ve gotten such a better understanding of how to play better. I don’t think I’ll ever become competitive but just want to be as best as I can be!

[@Kuriso2]

This was an extremely interesting and informative video! Splatoon 3 is the first one I play and I've been having tons of fun, but I still know very little. I've been analysing the game to form my own strategies, and thanks to the tips from my veteran friends, I have been able to come up with some understandings you have mentioned in the video, and now I have vocabulary to more correctly express my ideas, along with much more food for thought, so thank you very much!

[@skyeguy7914]

Gem has been insanely helpful to my improvement at the game. Small things like doing drills alone has helped me a lot. But I wanted to drop a few pieces of mini advice, both plagiarized from Gem’s wisdom, and just from me picking things up on my own as I play that will very much help just about anybody who is still learning, and may just be watching this one video by pure chance. First off, as I said, and as Gem often says, aim is an absolute must to improve. Time, patience, and practice really is the only way. But here is what I do thanks to these videos as a general through line for my drills. I try to take note of what I’m struggling with the most in a match, especially when using a new weapon, or a weapon I rarely use. Am I firing too early and missing from being out of range? Am I not reacting to their dodges and strafing fast enough? Am I forgetting to keep subs in mind during engagements? Am I just straight up not hitting things at all? Once I have the answer, I’ll do drills based on what the problem is. If I don’t know my range, I’ll run drills by watching the crosshairs and trying to shoot the moment the range indicator pops up. Am I missing shots? I’ll practice moving onto targets from different angles and shooting when the crosshairs highlight. Forgetting subs? I’ll practice when and where I’m throwing them while shooting. Etc. Most importantly, if you’re practicing on the moving targets and just can’t hit them, there is no shame in practicing on the immobile ones until you can. It will come to you. On the topic of sensitivity with the motion controls, I suggest starting around a lower setting and training yourself by gradually raising it up. There is not a perfect setting, but if I had a big piece of advice, it would be that the longer your range, the lower your settings need to be generally. Lower settings allow for more precision control, while higher settings compliment faster reactions. Thus, close range weapons, especially skirmishers, will get the most from being able to flick their aim around with minimal movement. Lastly, while I’m not the best at the game, I think that makes me kind of perfect for this last one, as I can give a starting through line of how to think during matches, which can help people get into a mindset closer to what gem has. As a rule of thumb, I never try to do something significant without a team at the ready. So I’m always taking a glance at the Splat feed at the top of the screen. I keep specials on reserve whenever possible, and throw one out only when I have a team to back it, and only if it furthers an advantage, or will definitely give one. Enemy team is tunneling on objective? Perfect opportunity to disrupt that with a special. Pushing a choke? Special. Etc. If my team is ever down two players, I will almost always retreat. It’s better to avoid having a staggered team. I may also use a special if it can help delay the push in these situations, but only in the case of things like tentamissle or killer wail. Something that can be used safely in these situations which can delay the push passively. if I am ever downed, I always check the feed to see if anyone else on my team is down. This is so that I know to play safe and focus on building special on the way back. Once the team is up though, I’ll go back in, as even if I don’t have special ready yet, I can build it up elsewhere, and if we lose teammates on the way, they will need things to turf for special too. I check the map whenever I am returning often, to help me get an idea of where we need more offense or defense on the map, and try not to let enemies get free flank routes. If the team is up two (I.e. 4v2 or 3v1, or even a wipeout) I will immediately check the map for anything that needs turfing then and there, and use that as an opportunity to jump to, and regroup with the team for a push. Lastly, if it’s clear the team is going to lose, I shift focus from winning, to doing everything in my power to make sure that my team doesn’t lose in a knockout. Sometimes you just can’t win, and that’s okay. There is always the next match. Focus on getting your team the most out of the match, don’t throw and get a hard loss just because you’re desperate for a win. Above all else, enjoy the game, try out all kinds of weapons, and remember that improving at the game is fun on its own. I cannot tell you how happy I was the first time I was able to consistently land charged shots, or the first time I was able to hit a flick shot off of instinct. Or the first time I ever went 20/0 on my K/D purely because I was tearing up the match. Specifically because I’ve been there. I’ve been on the receiving end of that 20/0 player. It feels good to get there and experience it for yourself.

[@sophiegrey9576]

3:16 "It can do other things, why shouldn't it!?" -professor farnsworth

[@MrQwint22]

Thanks for this, I hadn't played 2 for the better part of a year and have gotten rusty. A quick refresher like this realy helps.

[@adveloss]

tysm for this!! it really helped, i love support weapons!! cant wait to see more of this series

[@ammakko]

Golden video and a much needed refresh on Fluid roles for me!

[@Pichu1232]

*Me when I become a Slayer when you're playing the skirmisher bucket* "Oops"

[@lunarkomet]

6:48 since I mostly play backliners, I often dismissed gear with qsj but this kinda opened my eyes about the defensive uses of that ability

[@MatildatheMoonwolf]

As someone who has the Ink Brush as the only weapon I have 4 stars on, this is useful as I’m still trying to find more weapons to be good at as I feel like I need to find another weapon to be good at in areas where Ink Brush struggle at.

[@Spectacular66]

I pretty much play the Sloshing Machine to put pressure on the enemy advances. The current kit is very good at doing this. Never realized how useful the fizzy bombs were until now!

[@ShadowSkyX]

Shakeshakeshake! Throw! 2 circles - or would they be considered reticles? - means it'll pop/explode three times when it hits the ground after tossing them. This is the maximum it can do; the bombs flashing a second time is when its ready. One circle is 2 explosions. Immediately tossing without shaking has it explode once. Hold down R to power it up. Sitting still for that takes a bit of time, but the better option is to shake the controller or move the left stick back and forth or up down to reach full strength much faster. Maneuvering the controller doesn't have be extreme. Even if you know this, there's someone who might not. I didn't know fizzy bombs worked this way until 3. I knew about them in 2 but I thought they were already shaken up and tossed them whenever i felt the need. It never occurred to me they could be shaken up more by the player. I got splatted by a fizzy bomb a few times and didn't understand how they got it to explode multiple times. Now I know and deemed one of the cooler subs in my book.

[@isaacbenjamin8462]

First time player of splatoon. I come from Team Fortress 2, where roles like Medic, Sniper, Soldier etc are defined by the nature of the class. Been plugging at splatoon for a few days and was definitely in the position of trying to draw role parallels - this video majorly sped up the process and the linked Google Doc is a very well done bible for people researching the game. Thanks a lot!

[@Dolphindan]

As a newbie to Splatoon in 3, this sort of content is super helpful, keep it up and thanks!

[@sleepyyy2]

Hi Gem, thanks for making this video! I'm new to Splatoon, and I was wondering just the other day if you had a guide about general weapon roles. It's a lot easier for me to learn the theory by watching other people play and talk about the game (rather than trying to think in the middle of a battle), so I really appreciate it :)

[@SquidSchool]

Glad you found it helpful, and thanks for sharing!

[@Weebdotexe]

can i say, this is an amazing video, holy squid. I love using explosher to punish enemies over extending by cutting off escape options until a slayer comes, no way im gonna hit someone who knows im here.

[@ari_anon]

i’ve been playing splatoon since splatoon 1, and i was around level 50 B+ there. not pro level or even consuming splatoon content, but still good. skipped most of splatoon 2. now playing 3 like crazy. i’ve always been a roller / slosher kind of person, and i thought it was because i’m bad at playing with guns and so i need something that puts down more ink. now i realize it’s because i make a good skirmisher/slayer in different situations. what a great thing to learn. now i’m gonna start counting my teammates deaths when i’m playing more competitive modes and trying to fit into skirmisher a bit more often. and also, bloblobber is my new favorite main weapon, and i’ve realized that’s because it can so easily do each role in different ways due to range (anchor), damage (skirmisher/slayer) and ability to put down huge swaths of ink (support)

[@theregularterrarian3933]

I used to use stick controls before I was advised to use motion controls. At first I was utterly garbage, but the moment I got used to them I became so much better at the game, motion controls are definitely the way to go

[@Vel_Vivi]

Really great video. I’m a new player maybe 70 hours in S3 and I hit S+ maining heavy splatling. I often struggle to balance between being too passive and too aggressive, and the slayer/skirmisher framework really helps here.

[@tacenda3250]

Thank you so so much. I already improved dramatically just from watching this because I switched my strategies to being more useful

[@dari_702]

15:56 the notification 💀

[@SquidSchool]

They're a viewer haha

[@DragonOfSummer]

Thanks for the video! Trying to get just a little better at Splatoon and learning about these roles helps a lot. Especially skirmisher, I know I've heard of similar concepts but this put it into actual words. It's gonna be a while before I learn how to properly play close-range weapons, but starting that journey not focusing on splats but just trying to control the flow of the battle sounds more doable. Also reminds me of a turf battle I had the other day. I was testing out the Undercover Brella and got paired with three chargers. Looked at my team and went "welp... my role will be bait". We won, so guess I did something right (though afterwards I realized jumping in front of a charger trying to protect them with my brella when an enemy shoots in their general direction is not gonna shield them so much as mess up their sight... sorry team mates!).

[@XadexSquared]

I tend to view support as the role who is supposed to keep and push for control of the objective. Whereas the slayer tends to push into the enemy backline a but more to actually seek out kills, I always play directly around the objective killing people on tower, painting zones, or fighting to get the rainmaker as a support. It obviously leads to fights as the enemy team will also be pushing for the objective, but that's why I think Nzap and the Kensa Splattershot were such good supports, because they could take those fights when they needed to, but were also great at fighting over the objective and giving aid to the slayer and skirmisher if they're struggling.

[@mooj.]

as someone who's been in comp for a while now, and who's read the flc doc a couple times ages ago, this was a really nice refresher on it all I'm very glad I watched it. keep up the good work Gem (:

[@thefurrydevil4283]

A strat I use sence I use a short range blaster. Is during the final minute/30 sec's I stay in front of the enemy base. And ink the ground when enemy's come to get rid of me a splat them. Their ego keeps them from ignoring me and helping ink the middle.

[@jedisalsohere]

When you're a vampire Big Bad and you've just discovered Buffy's existence: 8:42

[@kingcrimson4504]

"do I really look like a guy with a plan" me every game

[@Chara-yp6zj]

Oh. My garbage. As a slayer and blaster player I have never had the understanding or opportunity of a coordinated environment on a team, despite being on teams, and I finally, finally understand. I get jumps to people when everyone just died and we get a second to regroup before continuing a push, I chuck autobombs whenever I can't get in, and you bet I can litter the battlefield with directs, but having Skirmisher explained to me right now is gamechanging. I understand the slayer-skirmisher duo now, thank you.

[@arcanerite7428]

Love the thumbnail reference; just watched that video again today :p

[@crimtsun]

That's such a perfect thumbnail. That inkling is just like "what is this thing, why am I here?"

[@SquidSchool]

Credit to John Sandwich, fantastic animation channel. Highly recommend checking it out, I've linked it in the description!

[@crimtsun]

@@SquidSchool oh yeah, I've seen this guy before!

[@shinkoryu14]

I'm brand new to the franchise with Splatoon 3 so take me with a grain of salt, lol, but I honestly find that a lot of times "support" ends up in a skirmisher role just by dint of the fact that they ARE playing objective, which draws enemy aggro. I've been maining reeflux for a while and I'm consistently getting #1 splat assist and #1 overall splatter just from unintentionally drawing aggro to myself by being the person running around painting the map, or by firing a wide poking spray into an ongoing skirmish to distract an opponent and help a teammate.

[@ceresbane]

I have been playing in a way thats support/skirmish/slayer. And being that tri-role I've opted my build to be the general QR, ink resist, spec saver, recovery jump frontliner for splat roller. I've always noticed that I simply don't win matches unless I'm coming in as a skirmisher to win fights, push through solo into the backliner and then flank right back to the front lines and slaying from behind. The support comes in when I have the special. I often position my shield to block sight lines for backliners or deny specials.

[@arlen7726]

Still waiting for the day an Undercover Brella with Ink Mine is a bit competitively viable. I enjoy the ambush playstyle for it SO MUCH, I just wish it got an actually reliable special for once.

[@Wolf-px9jx]

The music in the back in the intro is driving my adhd so wild I can't pay attention to your voice longer than like a minute D;

[@thatweirdanimator8158]

Squid School: You will have to play every role with every weapon *me with an E-Liter playing frontline*

[@Pauli-dg2yv]

What am I doing? Me a doom player: if it shoots, it is meant to kill things

[@wooden_bench_acolyte]

1:27 Did you know that the Y button exists? It makes quick turns much MUCH easier with sticks, and I use it a lot.

[@babygrand2167]

Amazing. Beautiful.

[@shame2189]

One tactic i love is tag teaming as a skirmisher and a slayer playing two inkbrushes. The mind games have never been more insane!

[@TybudX]

Where were you guys when I was endlessly grinding B+ in the first Splatoon? The only advise I could find back then was along the lines of "if you find yourself stuck in one bracket you're prbably not the carry"... like yeah, no shit. What lanes should I be pushing? How do I approach this map? Is there a better wasy to do anything? AT ALL? No, just some random zen-ass shit telling me to figure out for myself why I couuldn't stay in A. Your great! Keep up the good work!

[@lee430]

I finally started ranking up after watching your videos for awhile so I'm super excited for the rest of this series! I'll finally be able to stop struggling to figure out what to do in Clam Blitz OTL

[@easobento2735]

I think that splatoon's support weapon are rather specific, as they can either be good painting weapons, good damage support or have good kits. Weapons like the Dapple Dualies and the Tenta Brella are great support weapons, even though they could be skirmisher weapons. This is because of their great kits that really help the team to get forward. Because of thid I'd say that the support weapons are weapons with subs or specials that are made for supporting the team. That'd be subs like the Beacon, Toxic Mist, Point Sensor, Sprinkler, the Angle Shooter or specials like Big Bobbler, the Tacticooler or the Inc Vac.

[@Ivygirl8613]

Really impressive video. “Profreshional,” to say the least. Thanks for creating these and for helping me to become a better player!

[@luigio8484]

I like the way you snuck in the passive control topic from last video, felt nice. as if these videos are all connected, which they are I think I had a cool observation here...

[@hickknight]

Yea, i kind of am doing it but with frontline, midline and backline, which doesn't really convey much. This helps me to at least understand a little bit better what I'm doing. I just need to get aiming drills down due to now focusing on Hydra. I can only see why ProChara would say that support is the hardest role to have as you need to, in a split second, shift gears. In one moment, you are painting for special, but in another, your teammates need you in the fight to skirmish or slay. So having the discipline to hold onto the special has got to be an immense amount of pressure since you can lose that all.

[@arizonat669]

Fun fact: The splatana stamper is such a unique weapon that it can play anchor, slayer, and skirmisher. That's due to its range. I like to think of it as a weird hybrid of everything.

[@arizonat669]

I wish it had a better kit though 🫠