Splatoon 2′s inkmine is a good sub weapon despite how often i hear opinions expressed to the contrary.
It is a good defensive sub weapon with the enemy tagging utility of the point sensor and additionally deals a third of the victims max health, making the marked target extra vulnerable. It trades throwable range for being automatic, so while it can only be placed where you stand, if you leave, the mine will still do its job without you doing anything (ink mines cant be thrown, but point sensors cant throw themselves). This makes ink mines largely defensive in utility. They have the potential to identify enemy flanks and objective pushes (and given swift response by you or a teammate, said pushes can be stopped cold), but inkmines would be difficult to use to make offensive pushes of your own. Two mines can be placed, and are highly effective when placed at chokepoints, flank routes, and objective points such as splat zones or the tower, especially if you or a teammate stays near enough to swoop in and kill any weakened and tagged foe that triggers the trap. Enemies tagged are revealed to your entire team, and mines do not disappear when you are splatted, so ink mines can still do their job even if the one who placed them is still waiting to respawn.
The ink mine has great synergy with some of the weapon kits that have it. The rapid blaster, which normally requires a minimum 2 shots (at least one of which must be a direct hit) to splat with, but an enemy tagged and weakened by a mine can be splatted with one rapid blaster shot. the inkmine assists in allowing the undercover brella to harass and ambush, with the tagging assisting in sneaking up on enemies, and the damage done by the mine reducing the amount of brella shots needed to splat. The ink mine can be placed defensively around an e-liter sniper’s nest to give advanced warning of enemies attempting to get the jump on them.
Inkmines are a somewhat limited and situational sub weapon. It is effective at its job, but may not be suited to every encounter and may not mesh well with every person’s playstyle. If you dislike the inkmine, i hope you think about why. It could well be that it just isn't your style or you havent fully discovered how to use them to their full potential, which is fine, but i hope you will not judge the sub as being objectively bad when it simply isn't for you. If you simply haven't really given a set with the inkmine a try, and what i have written made you consider picking an inkmine set up, I'm glad. With any luck, it may be the start of a beautiful new partnership as you and your inkmines keep the enemy team trapped in their spawn half the match at port mackerel.
Thank you for coming to my squid ted talk.
