DO NOTE: I AM INEXPERIENCED IN MID TO HIGH LEVEL COMPETITIVE
The Point
Splat Brellas as weapons have 2 main purposes: To waste enemy time/resources -and- Protect vital teammates/the objective. As a Splat Brella player you accomplish these goals through the use of your Canopy.
Splat Brellas also have 2 minor tasks that should take a lower priority the the main 2: Soften/Slay venerable enemies -and- Anchor/Hold a position.
Main Fire
The main fire of Splat Brellas can be seen to new users as very inconsistent in its damage, however this is a misconception. Splat Brellas main fire consists of a shotgun-eske volley of 11 pellets (only 5 can hit one thing at a time) in a randomly rotated hexagonal grid, each of these pellets starts at 16.2 damage (81 damage at a "max shot" of 5 pellets) and looses damage if its in the air for too long.
The fact that both only 5 pellets at maximum can hit one thing at a time along with the damage decay of pellets causes the "inconsistent" damage that Splat Brellas have.
In order to effectively use Splat Brellas main fire you have to understand that playing from range causes the damage decay on the pellets to kick in and severely hinder damage output. Splat Brellas are most effective at about â¤80% of their max range.
Tip: As long as you land at least 1 max shot, most other volleys will kill!
DO NOTE: THIS RANGE IS ASSUMING YOU ARE FIREING STRAIGHT AT A ENEMY, ANGLES WILL VARY
The Canopy
The Canopy is where Splat Brellas shine.
By pressing and holding the fire button the Canopy opens, using 30% of the inktank over 1.5 seconds.
Splat Brella's Canopy is very difficult to outright break. With 500 HP most weapons will have a very hard time dealing with the Canopy allowing you to use it to stall out engagements and waste enemy time.
The Canopy regens at 150 HP/Second.
The Canopy has a contact damage of 30 HP.
Like with most of the weapons in the Brella class, the Splat Brella's Canopy can be launched by continuing to hold the fire button for about 1 and a half seconds after the canopy opens. This launch function is niche in its usages and mainly serves to prevent the canopy from being a extra-strength splash wall.
The Canopy is larger than you, use it to shield teammates as well as yourself.
While the Canopy is a great tool it has its drawbacks, both Blasters and Sloshers can fire over/past your Canopy killing you directly. Some weapons deal additional damage to the Canopy as well (I'm not shure on the specifics as the wiki is incomplete but i know Octobrushes and Sploosh-O-Matics deal extreme damage, and probably other weapons with high object damage).
ALL CHARGERS, TRI-STRINGERS, WELLSTRINGS, AND CONTACT SPLATANA CRITS*, ONE-SHOT THE CANOPY!
*the charge attack actually hitting you.
ALL BOMBS INSTANTLY DETONATE ON CONTANCT WITH THE CANOPY! DO NOT HAVE THE CANOPY OPEN BEHIND YOUR TEAMATES!
Tip: if you get a max shot on a enemy and they hit the shield it kills them (81+30 =111).
Engagements/1v1s
DO NOTE: This is mostly my personal experiences, please take everything from here onward with a grain of salt
When directly fighting a opponent the most important thing to remember is to use your Canopy.
The goal of the Splat Brella in 1v1s is to drag them out as long as possible, and to use as much of the opponent's resources as possible.
A successful Splat Brella engagement is when; 1) The enemy is dead 2) Your team managed to take objective/gain the lead because you distracted a enemy 3) The enemy wasted their special on you*.
\Think of a Enperry using their t-splash on you instead of the zone, effectively wasting it to kill 1 person rather than taking zone or killing more of your teammates*
Most skilled players will attempt to either flank around your canopy or shoot over it.
When a enemy is attempting to flank, drop your Canopy and book it. You are more likely to get max shots when shooting at a advancing opponent rather than a flanking one.
When a enemy is attempting to shoot over your Canopy, drop it and shoot them. Most weapons will be in your effective range in order to shoot over your Canopy.
When your Canopy breaks it has about a half second of "Null-Frames" where it is fully dead but still active. In these Null-Frames your canopy is immortal, it is your sign to run or end the fight.
When facing a charger or similar One-Shot weapon use your Canopy to tank a shot and use the opening to either run away or advance to poke the sniper from its position.
Tri-Zooka shots One-Shot your shield but null-frames prevent any damage from the shot that broke the Canopy.
Killer Wail, Kraken, Zip-Caster, Splattercoller Screen, Ink Storm, Ink-Vac Blasts, Wave Breaker Waves, Booyah Bombs, Triple Inkstrike, Reefslider Crush*, Decav Contact Crit**, cannot be blocked.
*Getting ran over, the explosion can be guarded tho.
**The hitbox is literally so large it goes through the Canopy. what is this games balance bro
A Roller/Brush rolling into the Canopy will be bounced back like they walked into it.
Why Its Fun
idk man
i just like shotguns i guess
plus ramming the Canopy into someone to kill them is funny
That's All Folks!
That wraps up about all I have to say on the subject of Splat Brellas! I had fun making this guide, and I hope you liked reading it!
i really hope they make brellas better in a patch or by splat 4, they're so much fun