Kid? Squid? It doesn’t matter what you are, if you’re playing Splatoon 2, then you’re ready to jump into the online world and splat some turf. But if you’re new to Splatoon, you might not know the unique ins-and-outs of this multiplayer shooter…

　　Never fear new players, for if you follow this guide below you’ll become one of the most splatacular squid kids before long…

　　

The Mental Map

This probably goes without saying, but knowing every corner of the maps you’re doing battle in is important – in Turf War especially, there might be areas of ground to splat that might be higher up or more often ignored.

　　Luckily, you can “Recon” these stages ahead of time from the multiplayer lobby – just press Y and select a stage to be able to explore and learn the layout. Use this time to find fast or sneaky routes to the other side of the map, and locate all of the high-up pieces of turf to splat that might go otherwise unnoticed – especially if they’re on your foe’s side of the arena!

　　

Alternate Routes

Splatoon 2 isn’t a game that you must play solely on the ground – after all, you can swim too, and that opens up more new areas than what will be immediately obvious. There are plenty of surfaces in Splatoon that can be splatted with ink, and if you find a wall that ink will stick to, you can swim right up to it.

　　This is a pretty useful tactic for avoiding or getting the jump on foes – make an enemy think you’re avoiding them by swimming behind an obstacle, then swim over it and ambush them with ink fire from above. Similarly, if you can’t swim over an obstacle but it can be inked, you can hide in the wall and then jump out when enemies least expect it. Using these unexpected shortcuts will help you take enemies by surprise.

　　

Ink = Mobility

Ink is literally an Inkling’s lifeblood, and in Splatoon it determines literally everything. Your ammo, your bombs, your territory, your points – ink really is everything, including your mobility. Swimming in ink is much faster than running on foot and reloads your ink supply at the same time – so it’s a win-win.

　　But that’s only in your own ink. In enemy ink, you will slow to a crawl and start taking damage – and it’s this that you’ll want to use against your enemies. Trapping them by spraying ink around them is one tactic – but often one that doesn’t work too well. Instead, look at where your enemy might escape by seeing where their color ink is – this will be their getaway if things go wrong. Ink over it by spraying it while they’re not looking, or throw a bomb into the path of their escape while you despatch them.

　　

Gear Up

Of course, if you want to be a Splatoon 2 pro, you’ve gotta gear up. Inklings have a strong sense of style, and dress to accommodate that.

　　Just as in the original Splatoon, you can buy gear for your Head, Torso and Feet, each of which will have a base ability and up to three extra unlockable abilities you can earn through leveling. Visit Murch near the multiplayer lobby and he’ll help scrub abilities from your gear and even place specific abilities in your equipment by using Ability Chunks, allowing you to customize the perfect Inkling loadout with whatever stylish gear you desire.

　　

Grinding Levels

But if you want to unlock more weapons, gear and get into Ranked mode, you’re going to need to grind out some levels, and the best way to do that is to stay fresh.

　　When using weapons online, winning successively will increase a “Freshness” meter which will award you experience bonuses at set intervals – this Freshness level is unique for each weapon, meaning you can get multiple bonuses from each weapon loadout.

　　In addition to that, you can visit Crusty Sean in Inkopolis, and trade tickets for Cash or EXP boosts when playing online – either increasing rewards earned by 50% or 100%. Not bad at all! Unfortunately, tickets are somewhat hard to come by – search around for them in the singleplayer campaign before grinding your levels online!

　　And that’s it! Using these tips you’ll be a Splatoon 2 pro in no time – next step is visiting a few LAN tournaments…