Splatoon 3 has attracted players both old and new. As usual, the most popular content is the PVP turf battles, which pit teams of four against each other on various map stages with the main goal being to ink as much turf as possible. However, recently fans have been disagreeing when it comes to strategies for this mode.
On social media and in Splatoon 3's lobby, players are begging for others to remember to always ink the home base. What they mean by this is to ink the turf that the team is first spawned upon. Lately, a lot of players have been ignoring the base and going more for the base of the opposing them, the middle of the stage, or seeking some tower control, so inking the home base is a strategy a lot of players are debating about. Ultimately, the question is whether inking the home base is all that it's cracked up to be.
The Cons Of Inking The Base
At first, inking the base feels like a no-brainer, but players on Reddit have made some good points about the cons of inking the base from the get-go. For starters, inking the base does not take away from the other team. When thinking of turf wars in terms of time, the battles are all about stealing time from the other team so that they cannot ink as much turf as the player team.
Base inking does not remove enemy ink, splat players (which steals time from them), or box the enemy in. The reason a lot of players go for the middle of the map first is to box in the enemy team. If the middle map is inked quickly, enemy players will be slowed down as opposed to how they could move freely if the middle is not inked yet (certain maps are built for boxing in, like Urchan Underpass and Arowana Mall).
Another point is that focusing on inking the base early on removes the opportunity to do it later when respawning in the base (unless the opposing team has inked it). When respawning at a base that is already inked, many seconds will be spent just moving rather than inking. Respawning in a base happens a lot, and inking it from the start can also get rid of easy access to ink turf later on for players to proc their special abilities before hitting the middle map.
The Pros Of Inking The Base
Players that do not end up inking their bases are at risk of losing in a close match. Unfilled areas in a base can result in a frustratingly close loss, especially against another team that has their base fully inked. In maps like Port Mackerel, there are side paths in the bases that can be easily missed by one team, and they will lose a four percent difference in the turf results.
If all players inked the base from the start until their specials proc, that is another winning strategy, as Splatoon 3 specials being available can help the team rush forward with more firepower. There is also the matter of making oneself vulnerable to attack at the beginning of the battle. If players all rush to the middle without inking their base and get splatted, then time has been wasted on top of a lack of inked turf.
What Is Best?
There is a lot ot learn about the pros and cons of inking a home base in Splatoon 3. One major detail a lot of fans miss is the importance of weapon type when considering base inking. Some weapons are more built for offense and others are more built for defense. Inkrollers are better built to ink turf while Splattershots are suited more for offensive gameplay.
Many players are debating to ink or not to ink a base, when the right question is more about when to ink a base. While it may be tempting to completely cover the base at the beginning, experienced players have shared that the best time to ink a base is a little at the beginning to make paths and proc specials, add more each time after respawning (instead of always super jumping), and then finish up whatever has been missed toward the end of the battle.
Splatoon 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch.