@ Special balance as a whole - I don't know if it's a hot take to say this but I really like where things are right now. My one big complaint is with Trizooka. I know it's gotten worse since the nerf but it's still not fun to play against at all. It's already hard enough to concentrate on everything else going on in the game, and it's annoying when the shooter you see minding his own business at a distance from you pops an unreactable instakill that has giant range. This is coming from someone whos second most used weapon is the Ttek and has since become a Vshot main just because it's easily the better kit now - this special REALLY needs adjustments.
My overall take is that the game has taken a surprising (negative) turn to where panic specials seem really really good. In Splatoon 2, there was obviously some really broken support specials that made things a lot less fun. But outside of that, IMO a lot of the specials were fun and that you couldn't just pop anywhere as a panic. Even Stingray, Scourge of Splatoon 2, couldn't be popped on the frontline lest you be murderized within seconds.
It feels like specials like Trizooka, Kraken Royale, Triple Splashdown, Reefslider, and Ink Vac all are viable to just pop if you think you're going to die. Especially if you have cooler.
While Triple Splashdown and Reefslider are mid and bad respectively, they're still on some important kits and Dread Wringer in particular is on the rise as people remember that it has insane paint for Zones. A Reefslider still is viable on Zones and can generally on areas of the map such as Mako Mart stacks push players off, and can be harder to punish, especially with the height difference making aiming around the shark a bit harder. Triple Splashdown I feel is inconsistent to get value out of, but with it being three hitboxes now it makes little sense not to just clicki it when in danger. While Enperries and Custom Blaster are the only weapons with it and they have good competition in their other kits, I'm sure putting it on something like Tetra Dualies as a third kit would be pretty solid.
Ink Vac is a special that I feel is a bit underrated and unless the enemy team has a Splatana/melee weapon, it can generally just Vac when a teammate is nearby and stall an area for a few seconds at short notice. The biggest issue there being that you are stuck, but I think it's still definitely viable as a panic special pop on maps like Undertow RM.
The only flank around this area takes a long time and slowing movement to get to the grate makes this a pretty good example of what I mean.
Trizooka feels easy to just press even when enemies are close by, though aim can be a bit wonky because of the hitbox. When I play Splattershot in team play, it feels like it's not uncommon for my Trizooka to be met with another Trizooka, or vice versa, as it's one of the best ways to deal with it. In general it's just kind of frustrating and it's one of the reasons why I see many still wanting Tacticooler to be busted; how else do you keep the game pacing when Trizooka + decent aim just wipes out a part of the map? It is also map dependent to be fair, with some being harder than others. Museum is a map where I feel like Trizooka has trouble due to all the areas having a wide middle piece, even in the spawns with spinner. But maps like Shipshape, nah that's really dumb.
I think this is becoming a problem where Special design has kind of gone much lower throughout the seasons, especially with the updates; not even necessarily related to panic pops. I don't think anyone can really argue that any of the four post-launch specials are necessarily good additions to the game.
-Chumps are just way worse Missiles. Some find it fun, but I think that's only because they are not good enough to be controversial + the throw distance is not that far. This is more neutral, but it also makes a lot of kits way worse because it exists.
-Kraken Royale is even more annoying than Baller was for Clam Blitz cheese, which is still seen in top level and low level play alike. While it doesn't always work, the buff to its speed did not make it any worse at this. I do not feel that an invincible special is healthy for the game, and I do not believe the niches Kraken has found itself are healthy either.
-Splattercolor Screen has created probably the strongest controversy of any new Splatoon special due to accessibility issues. Beyond that, it's a pretty nothingburger of a Special that mostly just serves to annoy, and make it slightly easier to push (when it doesn't make it harder). Foil Squeezer without a bomb would be working at McDonalds, and in my opinion, the original kit is far superior anyways. I don't think this special is well designed even without the accessibility issues, its job is to literally just be annoying; as a "smokescreen", I feel that Booyah Bomb and Triple Inkstrike are far superior. Even if their duration is shorter, they block bombs for any of your allies rushing through them, and because they can kill people they actually push enemies back to where your teammate can ambush them.
-Triple Splashdown is a weapon I actually kinda find fun to play with, but at the end of the day it is just a buffed Splashdown. AKA just a panic special that takes almost no skill to use. While Triple Splashdown has disjoints unlike the original (the fists can be smartly moved behind or on top of objects/terrain), I feel that it still does not take any skill to use and is just less punishable. Fun for nostalgia + disjoints, still an L move. This is coming from "triple splashdown enjoyer", for the record:
I feel that the quality of the specials has gone down considerably since launch. From what I'd give an 8/10 at launch, by several points the best special design in the series, I feel it's now more at a 6.5 or so. Still considerably above (I'd give S1 and S2 a 3/10 and 4.5/10 respectively), but a point and a half lower.
And it matters in my opinion a lot that we are getting so many specials that feel really free to just pop when in danger, because it means that the core gameplay loop gets a bit less fun. To be blunt, it just feels like some of these specials are just dishonest, and when I win against them it can still make for pretty annoying matches in my opinion.
Sorry that this was a bit messy, just had a lot to say oops.
note: Also I'ma try and get this thread more attention because Splatoon has needed a good thread to talk about the game since yesterday :)
