There's a weapon class I love in SR. Ok, that's actually a lie, there's like six I love. But chargers remain slightly more special to me. In Splat2n I was determined to get good at them in SR, as I saw them as my greatest weakness, and I walked into splat3 with e-liter as my alltime favorite SR weapon (splatana and S-Blast vie for this position now, tho). They are, I think, many player's least favorite class to play, though. It makes sense: they often make or break a tense, boss heavy situation, they don't seem mobile or able to handle hoards, and if you miss you've got to charge up again before you can try again, often meaning a missed boss vulnerability window. I want to deep dive the whole class so you can feel at least a little bit more in control with these, The Weapons That Have Ultimate Zone Control.
Let's start with a tier list, because putting things in order is fun:
| Rank | Charger |
|---|---|
| GRIZZ | Grizzco Charger |
| S | E-Liter, Squiffer |
| A | Splat Charger, Snipewriter |
| B | Goo Tuber |
| C | Bamboozler |
When I first wrote this, snipewriter hadn't had its damage buff; I had it in B, but I'm swapping it with goo tuber as it's in a really, really good spot now. I'm happy when a rotation has anything between B and S. I like tier C in concept, but it's just too lackluster in execution for me to get excited about. It's fun to use, but hard to win with.
Basic Mechanics
Chargers, as a general rule, increase in damage and range the longer you hold down the trigger, eventually hitting a max charge that grants the ability to pierce through all enemies the beam passes through. This rate of charge varies per charger, and the rate slows if you're in midair. You generally want to use a full charge, as the pierce is invaluable, but tap shots deal 50 damage, and there are scenarios when that's necessary. Once fully charged, you can swim a short distance before resurfacing and unleashing the charge.
Of course, there are a lot of exceptions to this. Along with various tweaks to charge time and range, there's some chargers that don't follow one or more rule. This is what brings all the fun, after all--variations on the theme.
Exception 1: Range: Bamboozler. The boozler has a set range, meaning tap shot and full charge reach the same distance. This is very handy for popping pots on stingers or taking out a fish stick, as well as clearing out chinooks in mothership waves (although this is typically easier if you charge, so you get your reticle)
Exception 2: Charge Rate: Squiffer. The squiffer doesn't suffer from the charge speed slowdown in midair like other chargers. This doesn't sound useful until you're forced to jump off a fish stick due to a Maws and there are enemies below you, at which point it becomes kinda nice.
Exception 3: Pierce: Bamboozler, Snipewriter. Peirce is amazing. It's honestly stronger than the damage/range chargers deal, imo, so it kinda sucks these two don't have it. This means you can be foiled by a poorly positioned teammate and often struggle to take out steel eels and scrappers, as their hitboxes are easily obstructed by other fish. At least snipewriter's damage makes up for getting a shot bodyblocked!
Exception 4: Tap Shots: Bamboozler, Gootuber, Snipewriter. Boozler and writer deal 60 damage instead of 50, while goo deals a whopping 80. This is important because each stinger pot has 60 HP. Remember how I said boozler is great at taking these out at range? It's really great at it. The other two are also nice, albeit at a closer range.
Exception 5: Swimming: Bamboozler, Snipewriter; Goo Tuber. This doesn't actually come up all that often in SR, especially when things are chaotic, but: boozler and snipewriter can't store charge when swimming. Goo Tuber can store a partial charge! Storing charge is actually very handy for quick repositions to better take out a target/line of fish, but it only works when your team keeps the floor clean.
Exception 6: One shot per charge: Snipewriter. You get 5 shots per charge, dealing a total of 1200 damage. This is nice 'cuz it means you can kill a drizzler in a single charge, or take out a boss plus hurt a cohock deeply, or wound many a foe. Too bad it can't pierce. I should also note it always fires on trigger release, not press. This makes sense, but also throws me off often!
may 2024 edit: I had this at 900 damage even tho I published this post-buff 😅 The fact it does 1200 is why I bumped it in the tier list; a single charge can kill an armored flipperflopper or a big shot!!
Exception 7: Mobility: Squiffer and Snipewriter. I'm pretty sure both of these allow full jump height while charged; this is excellent for those short ledges on jammin' junction and sockeye station, and also nice when you're a tri-stringer aficionado and have jumping ingrained in your killshots (a jump with a sniper actually improves angle a lot of times; give it a try for slammin' lid and steelhead shots). Snipewriter also has a real good walkspeed when charged, which is good since you've got five shots to spend and most things fall in three or fewer.
Basic Gameplay
Your main goal as a sniper is destroying things. You can kind of paint floors, you can run eggs when it makes sense, but neither is your objective. Your job is to kill. Your three modes are charging, shooting, and relocating, and while you do all three you need to be observing the field to make sure you can do these three things most effectively. A big part of that observation is thinking in straight lines. Your greatest impact is from hitting not just your boss, but as many small fishies as you can in the process. If there's not a boss in range (or it's one that a) is not a current threat and b) can be killed closer for easier delivery), you can and should "settle" for taking out as many fish in a single shot as you can.
This requires some out of the box thinking at times and a good understanding of what salmonids do when chasing after someone. Yes, the long straightaways are the most obvious long line to shoot down, but you can also take out a group as they make a turn around a coiling ramp. Sometimes the highest position possible isn't the one that will take out the most fish in one shot, as well. While a fish stick is great for picking off a steel eel with little fear of its wall getting in the way, it's not a great position for clearing out the hoard, so don't stay up there forever. Since most chargers can't one shot a cohock, you should generally aim for hitting two or more at once; they're now as weak as a chum and ready for your team to melt.
Once a boss is in range and at a good place to pop, hard focus it. Aim at its weakpoint (or in the case of the steelhead, where its weakpoint will be-don't bother following the head as it pulls back to sneeze), charge up, and release. Don't let anything distract you, even if a fish is coming at you--you can take a hit from a cohock, or even two from a chum or small fry (side note: if you ever see a sniper in this position, help them out! shoot those littles so they can safely focus on the boss), so don't be afraid to take a whack to take out a boss--with practice you can even adjust your aim and take out the boss as you're knocked off an edge! If you're facing down a boss with a short window of vulnerability, risk a hit or two to take it out. If it's a boss with a longer window, you'll probably want to clear out the fish first.
In general, you'll want to get okay with fish getting quite close to you--it's never the ideal, but you're often in a position where you're waiting for your shot to fully charge, you're alone, and chum Are Coming For You. Let them get close! take a hit! Then, when your shot is ready, take them out. It's pretty much always safer, faster, and more effective than tap shots. The one time you should spam taps is when you've got small fry after you.
Movement, Inking
Chargers aren't amazing inkers, but they're not bad inkers either. At the start of a match, unless you have boozler, strafe left or right while tap shooting. You'll make clean rectangles pretty quickly. If you have boozler, charge that sucker, don't tap shot--your tap is a terrible painter. After the floor's okay, paint a wall or two. Use partial charges to get a good drip and aim at the top of the wall.
Once things are painted, choose a position near the center of the map, and wait for things to spawn in before choosing a first position. Let bosses get close, hopefully. If your team's Just Not Gonna, you may as well support them, but be aggressively passive about it, choosing a position closer to the basket and focusing on covering fire over boss kills unless there's a big shot cannon nearby. You want a place that has clear lines of sight and multiple exits. Don't let yourself get backed against an unpainted wall or a ledge over water: you will die when a scrapper or steel eel inevitably shows up. When you need to reposition, try to do so in such a way that will slow down anything chasing you: climb walls, or let them get close and then drop down a couple ramp levels to force them to spiral back down to you. When you need to paint, fire single tap shots, swim the length, then fire again. If you've got boozler (and maybe snipewriter? I forget) use a partial or full charge so you actually have a line to go along. Also use partials to get up a wall if it's been painted.
A big part of movement, after having a position that allows for multiple exits, is knowing where everything is. Frequently check your six, make sure you can see multiple standard lanes of chum pathing at once, and keep an eye on how inked or not inked everything is. If you're ever at a point where you realize "all I can do is move, there is no clear space to charge a shot" then just move! Try to maintain a good amount in your ink tank, focus on bunching up the lessers, and look for a quieter place to stand. If you keep your ink above bomb levels, try dropping one in a grouped up mass of lessers, but be aware of how much ink that takes and prioritize refilling after.
Boss Stuff
I was gonna do a priority list (it's in my draft notes below, which I'm leaving in honor of draft jubilee), but there's so many times different bosses need different priorities, so naw. Instead I'll leave some Neat Tips
Fish Stick
Chargers are good at killing these, fite me. Boozler should take them out from the ground with tap shots. If you're ever eye level with the spinnies, you can take 3-4 in a charged shot. Sometimes with snipewriter it's worth it to use your incredible range to pop them five at a time. The True Trick though is sliding up the pole (which you easily ink with a partial charge or two) and tap shotting your way through. The e-liter's fire rate is exactly fast enough where if you start by killing one and mash, you'll be perfectly timed to their cadence. Everything else requires a more mindful rhythm, but with practice you can do it as fast as anything else that climbs the pole.
Flipper-Flopper
These suckers have 1200 hp before armor breaks. This means e-liter pops them in two shots and snipewriter does it in a clip. Don't bother painting circles, kill these poor guys.
Big Shot
These guys also have 1200. That means e-liter and snipewriter shine once again, ah ha ha ha ha
Drizzler
OK, I'll do one thing re: priority: put these guys waaaaayyyy higher up on your list, every time. Their rain is the #1 charger career ender, Forever Will Rain On Your Parade (of death). Pop these guys asap; only time you should maybe divide your attention is for a steelhead no one else is shooting at and is about to control all of your turf. Also Super Highly Mega Prioritize their missiles. You see one of those guys flying by? abort everything, stop that rain. Don't forget to potshot them while they're in the air repositioning; it helps you kill them faster.
For Posterity and in Honor of Draft Jubilee: Initial Draft Notes
explain why I'm doing a whole weapon set?
tier list: grizz, S (eliter, squiffer),A, B
basic charger mechanics (damage increase, bonus at full charge plus pierce, exceptions)
basic charger gameplay (stonecold killer, full charges only with very few exceptions, keeping up a zone of focus/area control)
priority list/managing priorities
movement
