Me again!(I like your answers) splat 1 introduced 6 weapon classes. Splat '2' added '2' more. Splat 3 has added 2 more classes so far, but to reach the namesake '3' it requires 1 more weapon class. What would you make for the final Splat 3 weapon class.
<3 and I like your questions too!
I actually do think 2 new weapon classes are sufficient for Splatoon 3. After all, following this pattern, in the next 10 years we'd have ~20 weapon classes, which would frankly be far too much.
That being said, I have had a weapon class idea bubbling around in my head for a long time, so I'll dedicate a short post to it.
If we look at all the classes in Splatoon, they're mostly all based around combat and dealing damage. The only real exceptions are Brellas (and some individual weapons like the Explosher, Splattershot Nova, Aeropsray, Big Swig Roller, Rapid Blaster/ Pro etc). These weapons can still fight adequately, but they also do other things for their team.
I think there is room for another weapon class with deployables like the Brella shields, but I really haven't given that enough thought yet. Today we're talking about Steamers!
Like how Splatanas and Stringers are the Splatoon equivalent of swords and bows respectively, Steamers would be the equivalent of flamethrowers.
There would be a lot of possible inspirations for different main weapons in the Steamer class. Basically anything that heats water or sprays water vapor; a shower head, humidifier, clothing iron, kettle, spraypaint and so on.
Essentially, using a Steamer would cause mist to spew in front of you for as long as you hold ZR. I imagine this mist would cover everything it touches in your ink, which is why I'd compromise it with generally slow movement while holding ZR to manage their potential ink coverage.
When enemies are in your mist, they take chip damage every 0.5 seconds. It wouldn't be a lot of damage, just enough to splat after 2-4 seconds of exposure depending on the weapon you're using. In addition, there would be variable damage in the mist, the centre being a sweet spot dealing the most damage per second, and the edges being sour spots dealing less damage.
In all honesty, I've only really thought about this as 1 weapon so far. There is a lot of potential for 5-6 more unique Steamer weapons, different mist effects, different mist shapes and so on.
I've just named my 'standard' Steamer, called the Deep Steamer, a big blocky humidifier that sprays mist out of multiple vents. It'd be a middleweight weapon with range to spray mist and ink across a large area with decent damage and balanced by its lack of mobility.
This felt a lot different to type out than my other posts so far, not really any analysis in this one, just me talking about something that I'd think would be a cool addition to the game! I do think Splatoon is sorely missing an area of effect main weapon, and adding in Steamers would round the game out to include most of the weapon archetypes present in multiplayer games!
