rollers are honestly half the reason I even play splatoon in the first place. ever since the first trailer for the first splatoon I knew I wanted to play that roller, and it's really the only weapon class I've played at all. I've never played any other shooter games and I'm not really a fan of any of any of the shooter style weapons, I just really like sneaking up on people and smacking them with a large blunt object
They were all I played in splat 1 when i was young, then I basically never touched them in splat 2 but i was also very bad at the game, and now I'm decent at the game and occasionally pick them up but I prefer stringers and buckets and shooters
I'm so excited for more gear to come out, especially the gear from the first two games. I'm a huge fan of Mask from the manga series and I wanna cosplay him online so bad. The roller victory animation when the inkling's mouth is covered fits his personality so well! Just gives off a good, tired victory feeling, very much his vibe. Until then I'll be grinding my Carbon Roller skills.
The stuff I'm hoping comes back is the weirder grizzco gear from 2 - Where instead of BttF themed headwear we got stuff like lifevests, swimming flippers, lamp helmets... friendship bracelets... (Along with absolute garbage tier stuff design wise like corporate polo shirts. So far it's all been B-A tier from S3's Grizzco offerings at least.)
@@Stephen-Fox The newest colander helmet is pretty bad though. Its funny on its own but theres like zero shirts and shoes it fits with besides the power armor
If you want an easy way to play roller, for example, in Turf War, just guard the chokes into your base - they're usually tight or easy to defend, and people won't see you coming. Remember you paint faster by flicking than rolling! Rolling is for giving you a path through enemy ink that has a high/perfect conversion rate :)
another super informative video!! it might be beneficial in the future to start videos like this off with the vanilla version of the weapon class. that way you can use it as an introduction to the class as a whole. i felt like the carbon roller portion was sort of lacking in regards to carbie-specific tips and was more of an introduction to sharking and general roller strats since it was the first weapon of the video. great job though!! this video made my shriveled husk of a sploon1 carbie main heart very happy
I can kind of see why he started with the carbon roller though. The carbon roller is really really good at sharking, but not much else meaning that when you play it, you're forced to play a very basic and "honest" offensive game. This is a trait that's important for the regular and flingza roller as well, but they can be a bit more varied which means there's more to teach. The carbon roller is like training weights for the other 2, if you get good at the carbon you can get REALLY good with the regular and flingza.
I am not the only one! I adored the carbie back in S1, I really enjoyed how it played, so I was very disappointed when it felt so different in S2. On the plus side it's what pushed me into using the normal roller, but after watching this I feel like I should dust off ol' Carbie and take her for a spin again :)
This vid is gonna be huge for me. Rollers are like some crazy, mystical class of weapons I just can't seem to wrap my head around. Always wanted to pick one up, but could never figure it out
tbh just pick up a v flingza, throw on some special charge up, hold zr like your life depends on it, zoomy zoomy, throw out missiles every 30 seconds or so, and rinse and repeat steps 3-5 until the win is yours
Also remember that carbon kills in one shot so you can very easily murder someone if they're waiting right on your jump point to get you.. Unfortunately doesn't work if they have some sense and keep their distance lol, I never thought of using drop roller but I might try it out
I was Pinky Punk / the inkbrush during your flingza play! I didn't really have my head in the game this morning and kept making bad decisions. What rank are you, Gem? I'm still in A and trying to build up better map/player awareness (for both allies and enemies) and it was fun seeing the match from your angle!
@@leftovernoise I'll say! I had a sinking feeling seeing Gem pop up but we all tried our best. The mentality between the letter grades sure is something!
@@leftovernoise Splatoon 2 was fine. 3 is the worst experience ever. One sided matches most of the time. I gave up trying. We will see what they'll do with X mode.
Firstly… no Rick Roll match? 🥺 Second, I’ve been messing around with rollers recently. And I have discovered that I actually really love the Dynamo Roller. One swing covers so much of a Zone. One ability that I’ve been finding pretty helpful on Dynamo that I don’t see people talking about is Thermal Ink. It’s pretty easy to catch someone in it’s massive hitbox. Once they are marked, it’s pretty easy to keep track of them, poke, or finish them off if they choose to flee or hide. Plus, the effective area of thermal ink is pretty close to the dynamo range, too, I think. It is used so rarely, too, that I think I surprise people when they think they’ve outmaneuvered me. That being said, I’m not a pro player. I just play ranked solo queue for fun.
Its nice to get this insight on rollers. I often overlook them because I always think "can't I just accomplish the same thing with a short-range shooter?" Looking forward to Chargers and long-range shooters!
As a carbon main I like to also use a bunch of ink resistance on top of a ton of swim speed, because that helps my chances of survival if I do happen to miss that one shot
Rollers visually look and "feel" like a shotgun in other shooters with the big close up damage but it's interesting how Carbie and Splat want to play against that notion. Gonna keep watching for flingza and dynamo, excited to see more.
as a roller main (all of them but the carbon, a little too speedy of play for me) these were some great tips, and by god do i eagerly await the day they give us a kit that doesnt leave the dynamo so unprotected from short range combat. i miss the booyah bomb sooo much, but this has given me the chance to really perfect my timing and aim. i think something to add about the dynamo is (especially if you run a lot of ink saver main or a little ink recovery) its very good at keeping the ground inked both in down time and also for your more aggressive teammates while theyre in 1v1s if youre not close enough to help them out more directly. Not a lot of weapons have that much ground coverage in as short a time, and most of the time i put myself into positions where going into combat will also cover a lot of ground with ink, and avoid enclosed areas as much as possible.
it wasn't until i watched this that i realised that while the dynamo does get tacticooler to support its team, the selfish use of it is to mitigate its heavyweight weapon class and temporarily become far more agile and able to quickly move in and out of positions. of course it still can't attack quickly to capitalise on that, but i think that was the reasoning behind why the devs gave it tacticooler
4 year carbon main here, one thing with the carbon you gotta be careful with is point sensors, or really anything that tracks. They can be pretty detrimental since stealth is a big aspect of the carbons playstyle. Back in Sploon 2 I used a buncha bomb defense up dx to bypass this, but since it’s not in Sploon 3 it’s been tricky. Typically if I find myself tagged, I switch from pushing and splatting enemies to holding back a bit and lobbing bombs. Carbons a tricky roller to play, but damn it’s fun lol.
Subres does impact tracking from subs, it just doesn't do anything against specials; the limitation is in the name. 1 sub slot of the ability heavily decreases tracking time & breaks several damage combos from indirect bombs; more is generally not ideal. 2 subs makes Fizzies less concerning, but there isn't much else that would warrant more than 1 sub.
I used Foil Fling a lot in S2 so when I heard vFling had missiles in S3 I knew instantly what my first main would be. Super appreciate the tips, definitely going to begin considering Ninja Squid lol
as a flingza main it will ruin other weapons for you (partly bc youll forget your sub exists. mine my beloathed) but it will be SO worth it for having a special that can hit anyone at any given time
i actually play very aggressive as a flingza! of course the special is also amazing, which i also use the fullest i can, but typically i am one of the people who kills people the most on my teams!
I played a good bit of Splat Roller in S2, and it was so fun to swim around, pop out, and smack someone, often more so than just shooting at them. Also very good range for the damage it does, and making good use of the vertical flick to maximize that damage is extremely useful. I agree with your comment about the curling bomb, I think it synergizes very well with the Splat Roller specifically due to the more shark-y playstyle, though of course you need to be conscious about where you throw the curling bomb. Thanks for the video and your comments!
I'm an aggressive fligza and splat roller player, a lot of what you did for roller applies to fligza. You can play to have good stealth and swim speed or play to have really really special charge and keep specials after dying + stealth. Fligza is pretty much perfect for splat zones paint a lot, push back with missiles, help kill people who get too close to the zone. It's really dependent on a well balanced team though but when I play with my friends we rarely lose. Really good video, this definitely helped my friends who I've had a hard time explaining how to use the weapon. It was all pretty intuitive to how I just like to play so I was definitely explaining it as "just use it idk"
carbon roller is really good if a bit hard to learn. the main problem is it just gets outranged by everything. It does play under ledge very well though, which is a unique strength.
All i want is a Dynamo Roller wth burst bomb, it would help so much with shoring p its weaknesses and make it more useable overall. Imagine a Dynamo that can combo with burst bomb to get more reliable damage and finish off opponents without having to do a second swing, can quickly paint its feet, and has a cheap sub weapon that doesnt compromise its ink tank too hard. I mean, the Sprinkler that the Dynamo keeps getting is only useful because people use it like a more expensive, worse burst bomb that doesnt do damage, but paints its feet. Its about time Dynamo players get the real deal, a sub weapon that was practically MADE for the Dynamo roller, with an insane synergy. My ideal kit would be Dynamo Roller with burst bomb and then either Booyah Bomb, Ink Storm, or Triple Inkstrike. Booyah Bomb gives it a way to defend itself in close range with armor, and also displace the enemies and support its team. Plus its a callback to the Kensa Dynamo Roller. Ink Storm would allow it to control an area and deal chip damage that allows the flicks to kill much easier, now that the opponents are weakened. Other special options include Tri Strike to reference the OG Splatoon 1 Dynamo that had Inkstrike, or maybe an unorthodox pick like an Inkjet or a Crab Tank to be able to surprise players who try to approach you, thinking that you cant fight back.
You talking about weapons that can and can't paint well has me wondering a bit, actually. It seems like understanding how well your team paints overall, and knowing which weapons do and don't, and which weapons are reliant on painting support is pretty valuable and may help make decisions on how you want to play. But I'm realising now that I don't quite know how to judge a weapon's ability to paint and/or their reliance on good ink spread. It's obvious with some, but not all, and admittedly it's not something I've given terribly much thought until now. Is there perhaps a video that'd be worth referencing for this? Otherwise, I'd be interested in hearing a bit about this, in whatever way you think would be most suitable, if you think it'd be a topic worth delving into.
great vid, i learned dozens about a weapon class i have played nearly zero hours on. the one detail i think would add to your dynamo game (and def correct me if i'm wrong): i think you should pop the tacticooler on tower, if not just purely as an obstruction between enemy fire and yourself.
I'm a main rollers and Fling is my favorite in Turf and Splat zone. I love to spam my missiles as a back line while I keep tossing ink to regenerate my special. Every game, I gain 1500-2500 P. For Fling Head: LDE 🟩, 2 Blue special 🌀, 1 Ink weapon Saver Main 🔫 Shirt: 4 Blue Special 🌀 Shoes: 4 Blue Special 🌀 PS: If only there was a Callie outfit...that would've been nice since she mains the Roller Community 😀
Personally I really like the sprinkler on the dynamo. It gives it more movement like you said, but it can also provide a mini meat shield for escaping.
Thank you for this! In splat2 I would just kind of fall back on dualies and mostly played salmon run, but wanted to try playing in Turf War and Ranked Mode more often in Splat3. I decided to pick up roller and chose the flingza since I loved its design (I like fountain pens) but honestly has no idea how to play it! I’ll definitely try to focus on more space control in my next games and see if I can build some good gear for it!
Can't wait for stringers! I know you're not as experienced with them so I'd probably get more from a dedicated stringer main like Nbound but I still wanna hear your thoughts
Playing against a good tri stringer is so fuckin annoying. But not annoying in a missles way, it's like the good kind of annoying where I'm just impressed by how their shots are literally everywhere all of the time. The type of annoying I deeply respect
use sprinkler with dynamo. no other weapon benefits as much from having a sub that is otherwise pretty useless. it's best used as a pseudo-burst bomb to paint your feet or (the way i like to use it) walls without having to use a flick to do so. it makes movement faster and cleaner, and solves a lot of the positioning "if you lose position, it struggles to get back into its position quickly" type problems. it can also great benefit you in skirmishing. if yoy get caught in a bad situation, you can run away and make yourself hard to hit while you wait for your teammate to come and potentially save/trade for you. learning how you can utilize and abuse sprinkler is really the only thing dynamo has going for it right now. another thing- there are very often going to be times when you're at a stalemate and can't safely push your opponent. while dynamo's paint output isn't exactly great, it is more content to sit around and provide that paint for its teammates, who are generally more likely to be able to apply pressure and get picks with that support. you will deny space through your paint control, and it's always a great help to your teammates if they don't have to worry about running out of places to go in the middle of a fight. needlessly wordy commets aside, i'm loving this series. even if i'm not interested in a particular weapon, there have been some insights that can apply to general gameplay that i haven't thought about before, and it's cool to see another player's thoughts on the style of a class. looking forward to the blasters video :3
awesome and informative video! been enjoying splat roller a lot and plan to try carbon roller next because of the other weapons I play... speaking of, looking forward to you covering sloshers!
As someone who favors playing Dynamo, that last match was kind of painful to watch. I do agree with Tacticooler being less than ideal for it, though I feel it can still get SOME use out of it instead of just never using it. A good tip, especially for the slower rollers, is that if you need some paint by your feet to work with or on a wall your about to climb up, just roll, even if just for a second or two, especially if you've just swung.
I co-mained dynamo roller in S2 and its kit in this game makes me so sad. I had such high hopes since it seemed like a combination of the gold and kensa dynamo in 2, but it really just cannot benefit from tacticooler at all, and would rather have literally any other special, even stamp.
The only useful part of the kit is the sprinkler since you can plop it down to puppy guard or cover a spot you're not focusing. Tacticooler really doesn't work well
I was a Splat Roller main in 2 and I am so so happy it has Big Bubbler now instead of Splashdown. Having an actual special is so great, and Big Bubbler works really well for Roller. You can use it to protect yourself when your getting out ranged and harassed, or to push in even further than you could without it. You can also use it to protect teammates and the objective for more team-oriented plays. Wayyyyy better than Splashdown
I love the dynamo roller because it feels so unique and those instant kills feel great, but I feel like I often get teams that don't synergize well with it
9:52 - Below this ledge is a great spot to lurk as a splat roller. Use the curling bomb to paint a line along the base of the wall and slaughter whole teams as they hop down. 😂
I'm watching you charge specials and not using them at all even if not optimally is annoying me slightly, and is zipcaster the only special to refill your inktank twice in one use? (once for the transformation then once for the recall)
Rollers are that weapon type (besides Chargers) I'm just not that good with and I kinda wish I were, because I like them conceptually. Always had a soft spot for them, since back in the first game. I'd play the Roller casually in Splatoon 2 Turf Wars, but I never really dared to take it further. I'd say Flingza's my favourite, and not because of Missiles, for the record! But because I think it's neat how different the two flicks are. Lends versatility to a weapon type that doesn't feel versatile to me. Watching you play it has me reconsidering how I would myself, actually... which I guess is the point of these videos. I might take the Flingza for a spin in Ranked again, just to see if I can apply some of what you showed and talked about with it.
Hey, Gem! I haven't seen all of the video yet, but I was hoping you could recommend or link us to the channels, VODs, or guides from competitive roller players. I am a roller main since the first Wii U Test Fire, but I've never considered dipping my toes into the actual scene until this game (I didn't like the special design enough in S2.) I play all kinds of weapons, but resources for rollers or even players who use them seems scarce. I'd really like to review some matches.
There aren't many that immediately come to mind. Chara plays Flingza a bit but that's the missile farm playstyle and if you're looking for more aggro play, it might not be what you're looking to learn. I think there are some top Japanese teams running Carbon or using the vroller for its Big Bubbler on tower, so maybe look into some matches on zonecup_jp on twitch
@@SquidSchool Zonecup_JP? Thank you! That'll give me better direction! I've watched Chara play quite a bit recently, but as you said, it's not exactly that opportunist aggression that Carbon and Splat get. Thank you for taking the time to respond! Even as someone who is a Splat veteran, finding your channel has been immensely helpful. I don't mean this just in terms of "how to play" but rather the composure and mindset while playing. Sometimes when you're having a bad day, it's hard not to have that bleed into detrimental mentalities when starting up a game. I think the lessons you teach people run deeper than just Splatoon. Just a few days ago, something you said really stunned me. To paraphrase: when confronted with the question asking what is "good" enough, you said, "Even if you get the approval of your teachers, your parents, your friends, etcetera-- accepting that metric inhibits you to make the same mistakes they have." I'm still thinking about that. Thank you for all of your efforts.
13:15 Maybe charging a curling bomb a little bit in anticipation to some rival will leave a curling bomb that would pass the bridge but also would have a bigger explosion to cover better the whole bridge entrance. The disadvantage is to reveal yourself a little bit more, but you had already a bubble that protects you and you were already throwing curling bombs anyways. I think charged curling bomb are underapreciated, I once did 6 consecutive curling bomb splats with curling bombs, every one of these were charged and it was on that level, 4 of them were related to that small bridge. I see too often that Gem doesn't use any charged curling bomb. I don't get if it is because of not knowing or if it is because there are genuine reasons to never use it, or both. There are reasons to not be used, but I only read those in the comment section and never heard it from Gem himself. (or maybe I should be on all the streams, which there are too many for me to check sadly, but if there is one related to curling bombs, I would make the effort to be on those). Also, yes, it is only safe for specific situations. I don't mean to use it always and in any situation, like I do. I throw curling bombs because I like them. I am just saying just to not discard some useful tool on specific situation that is advantageous. Charged curling bombs is a tool for defense if you know how to use it. I am not attacking Gem in any way or form, as he is a lot better of a teacher than I am, and his content is impressive here; nor I am saying Gem should know every small little detail for every weapon and subweapon; I am sure I know a lot less that Gem in anything else related to splatoon.
Will be honest, I’ve been playing since the Splat 1 testfire and watching the Flingza match was genuinely the first time the thought even crossed my mind that placing more than one ink mine was a possibility. Good advice all around.
Coincidentally, as a S2 player, I just learned last night that Ink Mine worked very differently in S1! (lethal damage, 10-second detonation timer, no point sensor, could only place one; S2 let you place two as part of the overhaul, and then in an update they let you detonate the older of two active mines by placing another, instead of it just disappearing)
I feel like tacticooler on Dynamo can almost be used as a panic special. If you see that you're about to die, you can pop it and use it to get quick respawn. Of course, tacticooler is a bit slow to come out so you need to see it a second or two early. An example of this might be a desperation push on tower or rainmaker.
The little bit of Dynamo I've seen around use Cooler as a wall that they horizontal fling over, but other than that yeah it can't really get selfish with any other part of the juice other than the Quick Respawn and Swim. Maybe Intensify helps with positioning somehow?
The lack of special use while playing as Dynamo really hurt… sure it might not be as useful for yourself but there was sooooo many times in good spots it could have been placed and help out teammates which wasn’t done a single time.
The various flavors of dynamo were so good in 1 and 2. They really did it dirty this time around. Hopefully a gold/tempered/Kensa/whatever will fix the kit problems whenever we get those.
I played several matches with Dynamo a few nights ago and had a surprisingly good time with it--won like 80% of my games (S rank). Initially, I also thought the Tacticooler was useless on it since it would normally prefer to sit back and zone, but after trying it out, it definitely unlocks a more aggro play style. Feels really good zipping around the map with a juiced up heavy weapon. And I like a main of SPU on it to give everyone 3 more seconds of Tacticooler.
Dynamo's kit isn't really doing the weapon any favors, I think the Aerospray PG's kit from 2 would be a really good 2nd kit for the weapon. It's still supportive, but this would allow it to also be aggressive.
I play a very aggressive flingza which is fun, I like Ninja Squid on it a lot. May not be optimal but I often put in work. Pop missiles, follow them in, get 1-3 splats during the chaos if lucky, get at least a single trade usually even if quite unlucky, reset back to missile farming. One might call my playstyle "selfish" or "clip hunting" but I just call it winning ngl.
Right there with ya. Ninja squid, special charge and swim speed, paint the hell out of an area, pip missiles for tracking and distraction, then bop everyone
I like Flingza the best for its range but still decent speed...wish the Dynamo felt a bit better but just feels weaker so far to me. Needs less falloff damage at the edge to make up for how slow it is I feel like.
Agree but I think Splat Roller is slightly better than Flingza. The only thing Flingza has going for it is missiles. While it's more of a support type you aren't really doing much supporting beyond farming for more missiles. Splat duels better and flanks to set your team up for a push. Rollers as a whole are kinda meh imo. They do certain things very well but everything else slightly below average. Would not recommend using them on ladder solo.
i gotta say that as a carbon flex you probably shouldnt jump flick so much. during your carbon game you had several potential kills that you couldve gotten with the more consistent horizontals, and it caused you a couple deaths lol
