sendou.ink/utils/data/sr/fundamentals.md

SR Overfishing: Fundamentals

by マー (Marty)

Introduction

Welcome to the Fundamentals section. This section aims to explain thoroughly every wave type in a way that makes it possible for newcomers to understand and become consistent at getting good egg scores on them. This is the place to start if you are a new player.

While strategies are crucial to everything in Salmon Run, execution speed has an important impact as well the higher score you aim for: reducing deaths, faster kills and movement and good awareness will all result in more eggs no matter how good your knowledge is. Therefore, improving your execution is a high priority. In the events that you are unfamiliar these movements, we recommend watching this video on advanced techniques and tips by Wadsm. Most advanced movements carry over from PvP to Salmon Run, such as sub strafing (especially important when running eggs). If your goal is beyond playing for fun, it is highly recommended to use motion controls for quicker execution.

If you are switching from sticks to motion, it's important to remember that progress will take time. You will eventually see better results, but only after you made yourself familiar with understanding and using motion. As such, it is not recommended to instantly jump into a SR game after switching to motion. Make yourself comfortable with motion by going into the training room daily and that way discover the ins and outs of motion controls. For better guidance on getting started with motion, it is highly recommended to watch this video on How to improve your aim by FLC

Mastering these basics, and thus improving your pace, has a very high priority. Your "pace" indicates how quick you are capable of making decisions and executing them and can be the difference in getting more eggs.

General advice

If you aim for high level play, regular and efficient practice becomes important. You should expect to sink a lot of time into optimizing the mode and improve yourself as a player by recognizing and working on your mistakes, discussing with your team (if you play with a specific team, that is) and not being afraid to experiment (as it can lead to better strategies). Learning and assimilating every strategy is something that takes time. Mastering the fundamentals in this section is crucial to learning more advanced strategies and solidifying your understanding of Salmon Run, as they lay out the foundation for the highest scores.

Productivity

Improving your execution and mastering advanced moves will allow you to boost your productivity during games. A productive player never stops during the game, even for ink recovery (as it is done while doing other things such as running eggs) and awareness (as you can look in the distance and around you while running eggs and killing bosses). Acquiring behaviours such as looking around and not staying passive WHILE doing other actions is therefore important over time. Feel free to practice these as you become comfortable with aiming and moving around without dying.

Flexibility

An efficient player is one that adapts to the current situation and their weapon and teammates rather than follow strategies such as forcibly playing a role from the start (roles like egg runners and slayers are to be prohibited from high level play, except in very specific circumstances which have to do with weapon roles). Therefore, in Overfishing games, you preferably want to do what your weapon is best at without ignoring what your teammates are doing, as you may still have to do something less optimal with your weapon in specific cases (and having good execution in that case is a tremendous help). Adapting to the current situation requires a good understanding of the mode and good/quick decision making skills which are built over time after regular practice. As such, do not ignore your practice and always wonder if you could’ve made a better decision when it comes time to reviewing your gameplay. This’ll lay out a foundation for developing your flexibility skills.

Awareness

While general awareness can become a team skill if you voice chat (VC), having great awareness as a player is important as well if you want to save even a second during games (since you will not hesitate) or for Freelance shifts (since you’re alone). Efficient players usually communicate with a simple This Way/Booyah system for awareness of some bosses and eggs, but over time it is more understood as a system to indicate your decision making to teammates, if you do not VC. Therefore, you are expected to improve your awareness to a point where you can notice boss Salmonids as they spawn, remember far egg locations and Snatchers, notice Drizzler torpedoes, notice and know what teammates are doing (so you can either help them or not interfere, in the events you are targeted by Flyfish missiles, for example) without any of it interfering negatively (hesitancy, execution mistakes) on your gameplay. Small tips for improving awareness include learning and playing with boss Salmonid spawn times kept in mind, looking around for far eggs, Snatchers and teammates, sounds (Drizzler torpedoes, bosses spawning behind you, etc.) and relying on game music or visual cues to guess how much time is left during the wave, when quota is met, and when you should consider using specials.

Mindset

While playing, it is important to have a positive attitude towards your teammates and yourself that supports growth as an individual player and as a team. It is understandable that progress requires time and regular effort. A negative attitude will only make that progress exhausting in the long run.

While playing, it is also important to drop pride in specific things (boosting your own stats to the point it is detrimental to actual team play) for everyone’s growth. Good players understand that stats are not indicative of actual skill. Players who focus on their stats more than actual team play usually run few to no far eggs, do not deal with Flyfish and Stingers and focus heavily on bosses and lesser Salmonids around the basket. These actions go against the concept of Overfishing itself.

Players who have no pride in those things can more easily improve on flexibility and not tunneling (only seeing basket eggs, etc.). Outside of Overfishing sessions, one should try to analyze their recent games to notice mistakes and points that can be improved. Watching others’ gameplay is also good for getting new ideas on how to improve.

Special Weapons

Knowing special weapon usage on each wave and not forgetting to use specials is one of the most important aspects of Overfishing. Unlike normal games, in which special weapons are used to win, special usage in Overfishing primarily revolves around pushing for scores in ways that normal weapons cannot due to their special attributes. Here is a list of the most important usage for each special.

Splashdown

Deals 700 damage to anything entering its attack radius. Useful for dealing instantaneous damage to multiple Salmonids or for saving oneself from tough situations.

In general, this special is extremely good at helping the team recover far eggs on normal waves, Fog and Cohock Charge as it kills any lesser Salmonid around it. It can clear a Goldie path on Goldie Seeking as well and deal with both Grillers and Smallfries at once on Griller waves. Provided Steel Eels do not interfere, it can kill any boss except Drizzlers upon contact (Drizzlers, however, are left with only 200 HP left).

Additionally, it provides a few frames of invincibility upon landing, which can be useful for dodging threats such as Steelhead bombs (however, using the special solely for this purpose is not really good for Overfishing and should be avoided).

Steel Eels can completely negate the effect of a Splashdown. Be mindful if you have Steel Eel aggro to avoid getting trapped.

Bomb Launcher

A very versatile special that provides blast damage and painting power to the team. Each bomb deals the same damage as a regular bomb.

This special becomes in situations where lots of eggs need to be collect but lesser Salmonids and other bosses such as Scrappers and Maws interfere. The special also shines in situations where many bombs need to be used, such as killing multiple Maws and Flyfish at once. Holding R can increase its range and allow it to guard far eggs from Snatchers and kill Stingers as well.

(at 6:47) Example of a Bomb Launcher used to deal with multiple bosses at once.

Sting Ray

A special that can become game-breaking if used well, as it provides the ability to break Flyfish and Drizzler cycles on normal waves and pierce through any boss. It deals 4 damage per frame.

On normal waves, Fog and Cohock Charge, it is useful for killing unreachable Stingers and Flyfish (if other bosses need to be lured) and for dealing with situations involving multiple Scrappers and Steel Eels.

On Griller waves, the Sting Ray can be used to deal with Grillers without affecting positioning or ink tanks. The Sting Ray player should try to catch both Grillers and their Smallfries with the beam.

On Rush, the special is good at providing some cover from Chums and especially good at spawn-killing them, increasing the frequency of Goldie spawns.

On Goldie Seeking, it can sometimes be used to open far gushers from the basket.

Note that this special only deals 240 DPS to single targets, therefore it is not ideal against targets such as the Goldie on Goldie Seeking, unless your weapon deals less than 240 DPS.

Inkjet

Another special with game-breaking potential if used well. Can be cancelled any time by diving into the water with it. Inkjet can also fly over shallow water to take shortcuts. Each shot deals 300 damage, and the exhaust deals 120 DPS.

On normal waves, Fog and Cohock Charge, it can be used to kill far Flyfish, Stingers and Steelheads. It can also be used to lure Steelheads to the basket by flying over the basket or on an elevated platform (more information can be found in the Advanced document). Additionally, the player can collect a far egg without losing time on the way back with this special.

On Rush, it should be used when the player is targeted (and preferably immediately when the target change occurs). It provides cover for the other players, who can refill their ink tank and collect eggs while the Inkjet players lures Goldies closer to the basket and shoots at far chums.

On Grillers, it can be used to attack Grillers while luring Smallfries away and killing them (with the exhaust).

On the Mothership, it can serve as a discount replacement for Sting Ray, provided the player can aim well and kill the Chinooks as they spawn.

On Goldie Seeking, the weapon can be used to open far gushers, like Sting Ray, and attack the Goldie while ignoring lesser Salmonids (the exhaust will slowly drain them of their HP).

Note that while using Inkjet, you cannot substrafe. Therefore, it is not ideal for egg collection near the basket at the end of the wave.

Normal waves

Normal waves are the most common and arguably difficult wave types for high scores, and while they are usually worth less than some night events (except wave 3), becoming a consistent player will allow you to consistently reach 50, 60 or 65 eggs (for wave 1, 2 and 3 respectively) no matter what bosses spawn. Normal waves share some characteristics with night waves as well, such as the timer and boss spawn direction changes, which are crucial to every other wave type. The following advice does not strictly apply to normal waves but it does help in getting more consistent scores on them.

Far and Basket Eggs

Collecting far eggs is a priority over basket eggs most of the time, unless the wave is almost over (the timer is below 30 seconds). This is because they are more difficult to retrieve and located near where boss Salmonids spawn. Therefore, if collected too late, they can cause the player to break too many boss Salmonid lures at once. This is sometimes not a problem early during the wave, but as the wave progresses luring becomes more important and inconsistent far egg running will lower scores.

Far eggs appear for the following reasons:

• Accidental kills (such as throwing a bomb and a Maws then intercepts it). This can cause bad situations if too many far eggs pile up, so it is important to avoid these.

• Unlurable bosses (most Flyfish and all Stingers). These far eggs can not be prevented but collecting them efficiently is important to mitigate the effects of potentially bad RNG on your score.

• Forgetting Snatchers near the basket. This can be prevented with good awareness. Note that some Snatcher routes involve bringing the eggs closer to the basket, which will be discussed more in the advanced section.

• Intentionally killing bosses early.

The latter is legitimate and good for productivity if multiple bosses come from different directions or very early into the wave (first 10 seconds of wave 1). For example, if a Steelhead comes from the right side of the basket and a Steelhead comes from the opposite side, stopping one early to kill it and collect its eggs while luring the other one is better than trying to lure both. Always keep in mind that gaining time is the key to getting higher scores.

Basket eggs, on the other hand, are easy to run, and are reserved for cases in which the player has run out of ink, is luring, or is killing other bosses at the basket. The host of the room is the player most fit to running basket eggs, as they do not suffer from any kind of lag. Therefore, if running eggs close to the basket when not luring makes you lose time, consider giving that task to the host.

While running either type of eggs, make sure to look around to keep good awareness.

Running far eggs can cause other problems, such as falling behind on killing bosses, if not done correctly. The problem can be mostly solved with appropriate splits. The most common type of split is the 3-1 split, with one player staying at the basket, collecting eggs and luring bosses from a specific direction while the other players go for far eggs. This is done to avoid accidentally luring boss Salmonids away from the basket. The player who stays at the basket is usually one who can be trusted to handle a few bosses at the basket, should they end up alone for some time, while waiting for others to return. Assuming all players are of equal skill, that player would have the weapon most fit for that specific task, or the host, if all weapons are similar in terms of killing potential for the specific situation at hand.

Other types of splits include the 4-0 split (often done at the beginning of the wave when 2 Stingers or Flyfish appear), the 2-2 split (when killing bosses at the basket or further on the stage requires 2 players, like Flyfish or Stingers protected by lesser Salmonids) and the 1-3 split (a weapon like Inkbrush can collect eggs quickly on grates and on their own).

Examples:

• Example 1

A 4-0 split is ideal here because the two Flyfish require the killing power of 4 players (4 bombs). If the killing is done quickly, the Steelhead is still lured to the basket without anyone waiting for it at the basket.

• Example 2

A 3-1 split with the Heavy Splatling waiting at the basket to kill Steelheads, as it has the most range. Others can gain time by killing some boss Salmonids early to stay productive.

• Example 3

A 3-1 split with no one at basket, but with someone handling the next bosses on their own instead.

• Example 4

A wave with multiple Stingers and Flyfish, forcing splits and consistent far egg luring when good opportunities present themselves, in order to reach 50 eggs.

Some weapons are better suited to running far eggs, and some are better suited to staying near the basket. These points will be discussed in the “Weapon Roles” channel on the Overfishing Server.

A wave with multiple Stingers and Flyfish, forcing splits and consistent far egg luring when good opportunities present themselves, in order to reach 50 eggs.

Some weapons are better suited to running far eggs, and some are better suited to staying near the basket. These points will be discussed in the “Weapon Roles” channel on the Overfishing server.

Extension on Weapon Roles

Understanding every weapon, their strengths and limitations is important for good decision making and team play, as well as understanding what a weapon can do in a specific weapon composition (a Blaster can be one of many Stinger killers in a 4-Blaster comp, or the only one in a 3-Roller comp, which affects your decision making as others will be more reliant on you for Stingers). Feel free to improve your understanding of weapons with the help of the “Weapon Roles channel”, which goes into more details.

The general idea is that every action will be affected by your weapon, your teammates’ weapons and the comp itself. Teammate positioning is an important factor because you will sometimes be forced to do less optimal things with your weapon if it results in more eggs in the end, such as killing a Stinger with a Splat Roller (but you will never let someone kill a Stinger with a Dynamo if you feel pity). Remember that if a situation appears to be too much to handle before you even get involved, specials will help you tremendously.

For normal waves, weapon positioning is affected by pretty much every characteristic, reinforcing the idea that you must understand weapons well. For example, a Dynamo Roller is ideal to have around Stingers because it completely removes the threat posed by lesser Salmonids, but it will not be the one killing the Stinger itself. This is especially important on high tide as lesser Salmonids constantly block the way to far eggs.

Timer and Spawn Directions This part is possibly the most important one, more so for normal waves as it gives you partially the ability to predict what will happen. A player who understands the rules behind boss Salmonid spawns and makes it a habit to play in accordance with those rules becomes a well-informed player who is able to quickly take the right decisions and who doesn’t let Salmonids get progressively out of control.

As an example, someone who is comfortable with spawn direction changes will know to check around when the timer reaches a specific time and will immediately notice the next bosses that spawn, which is important in the case of Flyfish and Stingers as you can quickly deal with them and collect their eggs.

This table (from Minaraii) highlights important information such as when bosses can start spawning on a different area of the stage, and how many bosses will spawn before a direction change will occur. Do note that depending on hazard level, the number of bosses, as well as the timing for spawn direction changes are different. These rules apply to Rush, Grillers and Cohock Charge but they do not apply to Fog, as every Salmonid spawn is random on that wave type.

A notable exception to this rule on normal waves and sometimes Cohock Charge can happen with Flyfish on specific tide and stage combinations, such as mid tide Spawning Grounds. Because the number of spots that a Flyfish can occupy is limited in these specific instances, a Flyfish will be forced to spawn in a different direction. That spawn will not have any influence on the way the remaining bosses or lesser Salmonids will spawn. A way to tell that multiple Flyfish spawned at once on mid tide Spawning Grounds is that if a Flyfish is spawning at Hazard Level Max but you do not see any lesser Salmonids around it, then the other bosses are spawning elsewhere. Do not be fooled!

Example of a normal wave-only shift with boss Salmonid spawn direction changes kept in mind (in particular on wave 1). Note how the Flyfish and Stingers are dealt with quickly, allowing for efficient far egg collection and luring.

On each tide, there are usually 3 specific areas (sometimes more) that Salmonids can come from (more information can be found in the Map masterpost).

Boss Aggro

Boss Aggro is an important aspect that extends to other waves like Rush and Griller, however unlike those waves you usually lack a direct visual cue, or that cue is hard to see. On Rush and Griller, Glowflies and Griller lasers (red) make it easy for the player to guess at all times who the target is. On normal waves, Flyfish provide the most direct visual cue, as they face the person closest to them. Still, Flyfish do not solely attack the player who aggroed them, if they are not left crippled. The following information provides some ways to guess who has boss aggro:

• Stingers: the player who was furthest from them when their “looking around” animation begins becomes their target.

• Flyfish: the player closest to them becomes the target and is faced by the Flyfish. Additionally, an extra player gets targeted if the Flyfish is left uncrippled. The same player can be targeted by multiple Flyfish, but an uncrippled Flyfish will never target the same player with both of its launchers at once, unless the other players are dead. Keep in mind when you have Flyfish aggro before it fires as it will determine the direction the flyfish faces. Other players may not be able to aim at its launchers when positioned badly, unless someone will use a Sting Ray. Keep that in mind to avoid delaying kills.

• Maws: the player closest to them when they spawn, or the player closest to them after they attempt to bite becomes their target, unless that player is already targeted by a Maws, in which case the next closest player becomes the target. However, if there are more Maws alive than players, a player can be targeted by multiple Maws. It is possible to get rid of Maws aggro by staying on a grate without moving or by wall clinging over a window on Lost Outpost, but that is usually not useful outside of specific scenarios, like a Hydra player killing Stingers from a grate without moving.

• Steel Eels: the player closest to them when they spawn becomes their target, unless that player is targeted by another Steel Eel. Multiple eels can only target the same player if there are more Steel Eels alive than players. It is possible to get rid of Steel Eel aggro by staying on a lift on Marooner’s Bay or Salmonids Smokeyard (or jumping near a lift’s possible moving path). While there is a visual cue that indicates who is targeted, which is the eel driver looking at their target, that cue is difficult to notice in actual games.

• Drizzlers: the player closest to them when they land will become their target if the player enters the Drizzler’s territory, and will be targeted by their torpedoes. Keep that in mind if you are going to stay near the basket area to avoid causing problems with rain. For example when targeted you can change your position to the drizzler so that it shoots away from the basket, or you can just shoot down the torpedo. When luring a Drizzler, the Drizzler will jump to a possible Drizzler landing spot near the player closest to it.

  Salmon Learn

  This tool from ガンジーさん can help you familiarize with how Drizzlers jump and where they can land.

  Example:

  

  The blue circle around the Drizzler indicates the area in which stepping inside will cause it to stop jumping and start launching torpedoes for 2 cycles. The arrow indicates where it’ll jump next, either after 2 cycles or if the closest player is outside of the blue area. Because the closest player is closest to A, the Drizzler will jump to A.

• Steelheads: the player closest to them will be their target. If that player stays far enough, the Steelhead will be lured. Once the player steps inside the Steelhead’s aggro range, the Steelhead will start attacking, still facing the closest player.

• Scrappers: when they spawn, Scrappers are in an “unattacked” state which makes them target the player closest to them. Once they are attacked by a player, they will always target that player regardless of who is closest (until that player dies). If your teammates are going for far eggs and you are staying or going back to the basket area, shooting a Scrapper to have its aggro is ideal.

Lesser Salmonids and Goldies (Fog only): they target the player closest to them. Their aggro doesn’t change immediately if you are not the host (more on that in the “Advanced” section).

Fog

Normal-wave strategies apply to this wave. However, unlike normal waves, bosses and lesser Salmonids do not spawn in groups until the timer reaches a specific point. Therefore, while the number of bosses is the same, every boss has a chance to spawn in a specific area. Having good awareness is important on this wave.

Luring Goldies and Host Powers

Delaying Steelhead kills when they are near Goldies, or killing Steelheads before the combination becomes a problem is viable. If possible, it should be done before the Steelhead gets close to the basket.

Goldies should be lured right on top of the basket (unless the timer has reached 5 seconds left). If the Goldie drops 10 eggs, it is preferable for the host to collect those eggs, unless a heavy weapon needs to stay near the basket while the host is dealing with far bosses.

Cohock Charge

A normal wave disguised as a night wave. Has the same potential as normal waves score-wise.

Cannon Usage

Cannon usage varies per stage. Currently, the most efficient strategies are the following ones.

Spawning Grounds

One player uses a lower cannon, and someone else takes over when said player runs out of ink. It is possible not to lure bosses from the right side until the timer reaches 28 seconds left. The top cannon is only used if the basket area gets overrun.

Marooner’s Bay

One player only uses cannons. The top cannon (or sometimes left one) is preferably used. A trick exists that allows the player to aim closer to the basket when entering the cannon.

• Short example
• Full wave example

Lost Outpost

One player uses cannons (preferably the one on the right side). There is nothing of note on this stage. Teammates should make sure not to make Flyfish face away from the cannon player. The cannon player should make sure to move back for Drizzler lures from the right side.

Salmonid Smokeyard

One player uses cannons (preferably the right one as it can reach all Flyfish parking spots). The left cannon may have to be used for the leftmost Stinger, but someone can hop in the cannon and kill it if they notice it.

Ruins of Ark Polaris

Two players use cannons until bosses stop spawning (preferably the left and mid cannons), then one player keeps using a cannon. Teammates should make sure to cripple the middle Flyfish until bosses stop spawning to avoid causing problems to the cannon players.

One cannon player should focus more on killing Snatchers after they have taken eggs with them underwater, as these eggs can be dropped near the basket (allowing for less luring until ~28 seconds left). This trick is called “Snatcher optimization” and is very important here.

Ark Polaris Snatcher Optimization

Additionally, special weapons can be used as ink refills on this wave if needed.

Roles

Players who run eggs should be mindful not to lure Maws and Flyfish missiles towards the cannon players (especially on Spawning Grounds and Ruins of Ark Polaris).

Ideally, players of equal skill will let weapons with slow swim speed use cannons, and fast weapons to collect eggs. This can be changed if specific players are more comfortable with cannon usage. Grizzco Slosher and Grizzco Charger, due to their immense power against Cohocks, Flyfish and Stingers, should not use cannons whenever possible.

Rush

This wave tests the team’s ability to play with the timer and spawn change directions in mind without making too many mistakes. The score increases as the team plays less safely without making mistakes.

Timer and Spawn Direction Changes

Refer to the “Normal Waves” section for more information. Rush Chums and Goldies spawn in the same areas as other boss Salmonids.

Targeting

Rush Chums and Goldies will target the player surrounded by Glowflies. Glowflies change their targets in accordance with the timer and spawn direction rules. This applies regardless of possible targeting changes due to deaths. Therefore, deaths do not necessarily make it safer to move forward (or retreat if you become the new target) as there could be a new target immediately afterwards.

Rush Mechanics and Killing Chums Early

Killing Chums early is an important part of playing Rush at a high level. Doing so prevents Salmonids from reaching the limit of 32 Salmonids on the stage at once (for this wave and at Hazard Level Max only). 6 Chums spawn per second on Rush (still at Hazard Level Max). Every 20th spawn is a Goldie. Therefore, the limit is reached within 5 seconds if Salmonids are not killed early. Running eggs efficiently is also important to prevent Snatchers from spawning, as they have a higher priority than Chums (but are much slower and can cause traffic jams on multiple stages).

Players with weapons ideal for killing Chums early (such as Rollers, ink-efficient shooters, long range weapons, Splat Brellas, Grizzco Slosher, etc.) should move forward and kill Chums without actually killing Goldies (as it makes egg collection harder). Rush Chums have lowered HP, therefore more weapons can deal with them quickly (like Carbon Roller). When a player moves forward, it is important for them to remember that Glowflies can change targets. Said player should retreat a little to a safer spot before the target changes, unless they have a special that can protect them (such as Inkjet).

Positioning

Targeted players should try to make the Chums and Goldies reach the basket as fast as possible by making them take straight paths to the basket. Targeted players can still stay back a little compared to their teammates, since they can die more easily. Players not targeted can run eggs while killing Goldies and one of them can move forward to kill Chums early. Unless the player has Inkjet (or sometimes Splashdown), it is recommended to retreat to a slightly safer spot 1 second before a direction change (or more depending on the distance between the player and the target) to avoid deaths. Once the spawn direction change has occurred, the targeted player can stay where it is optimal to do so (so Goldies can reach the basket quickly), but keep in mind that the last Chums/Goldies from the previous spawn direction change also need to reach the basket (in addition to those from the new spawn direction), so it may appear as though enemies come from multiple directions for a second or two.

On high tide Lost Outpost, due to the way spawn directions work, Chums and Goldies can often split due to positioning and come from both the dock and shore directions. The targeted player, if they do not have Inkjet or Splashdown, can use a safer position on the ramp behind the basket.

More Information on Special Usage

Sting Ray and Inkjet are the most important specials as they provide a way to deal with far chums quickly and efficiently, and protect oneself from harm while dealing with everything alone, respectively. They should be used whenever possible on Rush. Sting Ray becomes more valuable on mid tide. Inkjet provides an opportunity for the team to refill their ink tank and run eggs, if the Inkjet is used right as Glowflies target the Inkjet player.

Grillers

A wave that used to be less than ideal for high scores, it now is usually a good way to get good scores, especially on high tide.

Total HP and HP Needed to Stun

Grillers have 2,200 HP. They require exactly 401 HP to stun, meaning that stunning Grillers is a team effort when lower DPS weapons or some Charger weapons are in the weapon composition. On the other hand, weapons like Hydra Splatling can solo-stun Grillers on their own more often since they can deal more than 400 damage fairly quickly.

Weapon Roles

Knowing what each player is supposed to do becomes especially important at Hazard Level Max, even more so on high tide if the team is hoping not to delay Griller kills for higher scores. The player with the best Smallfry killing potential should stay near the Grillers (while paying attention to teammate movement to avoid deaths) to lure the Smallfry towards themselves and make the job easier for their teammates. Some weapons, like Clash Blaster, can deal damage to both the Grillers and Smallfries at once, making them ideal. In the event that the weapon composition does not have a good Smallfry killer, multiple players have to shoot Smallfry without delaying egg collecting (on high tide especially), and special weapons will need to be used often to counter the problem. Weapons like E-liter or Hydra Splatling can solo stun Grillers on their own but they are slow charging, meaning that they should not focus on collecting eggs too often.

More information on weapon stats can be found in the “Weapon Roles” on the Overfishing server or this Spreadsheet on weapon data. Knowing what damage each weapon can deal, if they have a large AoE and if they require time to deal damage is a good way to figure out weapon roles for this wave type.

Luring and Stunning

Luring is an important part of playing Grillers, as the players ideally want the Grillers to take the fastest routes and get stunned in a convenient spot that makes it easy to collect eggs quickly. A less experienced team should try to lure the Grillers close to the basket to familiarize themselves with Griller luring and egg collection between kills. An experienced team should kill the Grillers whenever possible while still collecting eggs to speed up Grillers spawns and therefore make the final score higher.

More information on where to stun Grillers can be found in the “Maps” and “Advanced” section. Grizzco Weapon-only rotations are ideal for less experienced teams who wish to familiarize themselves with advanced play on this wave type, as the Grizzco Slosher provides an easy way to stun Grillers without affecting teammate positioning.

At the end of the wave, figuring out who has aggro may be important. There may be many eggs to run but not enough time to kill the last Griller, so it should be lured away. Do so if you believe that the total DPS of the comp is not enough to kill the Griller before the timer has reached ~5 seconds left.

Positioning

Targeted players should make the Grillers take the shortest (straight) paths to the basket, while their teammates stay in a position that will let them deal damage easily to a Griller’s tail. The targeted player is trusted to position themselves correctly immediately and not affect their positioning in a way that would get their teammates killed by the Grillers. Moreover, targeted players should be in a position that lets them deal damage to the Grillers with the latter still taking the fastest paths. Such ideal positions exist on all stages. Bad positioning can result in teammates dying, the targets getting sandwiched between two Grillers, eggs dropping too far from the basket on some high tides (especially on Ruins of Ark Polaris), etc.

Differences between Mid tide and High Tide

Mid tide Grillers provide more time for teams to refill their ink between Griller kills. This isn’t the case on high tide where each mistake will be costly. Specials become more important on high tide to keep up with Griller spawns, unless the weapon comp is exceptionally good (Grizzco weapons, Dapple Dualies, etc.). Therefore, Griller luring is usually stricter on high tide, especially with less ideal weapon comps, to make egg collection faster. With amazing weapon comps, luring can be done like on mid tide, provided the team plays the wave near perfectly. High tide Grillers provide higher scores than mid tide Grillers, especially on Marooner’s Bay and Ruins of Ark Polaris.

Goldie Seeking

This wave is more RNG dependent on stages like Lost Outpost and Spawning Grounds but it can result in extremely high scores with high DPS weapons, decent RNG, and if played well and quickly (+100 eggs on high tide Ruins of Ark Polaris, for example).

Maps for Opening Gushers

The gusher maps can also be found on Salmon Learn. Weapons with quick access to long range should be the first to open gushers when possible. Without VC, Booyah can be used for low gushers and This Way for high gushers. Opening gushers is a high priority but the task can be slightly delayed in the event that too many far eggs have to be run.

Goldie Size

On Goldie Seeking, a Goldie’s total HP is 6,500. As the Goldie gets attacked, its size shrinks after specific thresholds.

• Big Goldie: from 6,500 to 4,000 HP (total: 2,500 HP). The Goldie drops 1 egg for every 500 damage deal to it.
• Medium Goldie: from 4,000 to 2,000 HP (total: 2,000 HP). 1 egg is dropped for every 400 damage.
• Small Goldie: from 2,000 to 0 HP (total: 2,000 HP). 1 egg is dropped for every ~333.33 damage.

As the Goldie shrinks to a smaller size, it moves faster. The ideal strategy for Overfishing on large stages is, when possible, and provided that no other far eggs have to be run, to attack the Goldie as it is found and drop 5 eggs so that it can shrink to medium size, allowing it to move faster.

Weapon Roles

Long range weapons with quick access to their maximum range are ideal for opening gushers. High damage weapons / weapons with a good AoE should focus on cleaning up lesser Salmonids and Snatchers while collecting eggs after the Goldie has been killed.

DPS is important for Overfishing on this wave. If the weapon composition’s DPS is average or lower, damaging the Goldie early without waiting to lure it is preferable and viable, provided that the eggs do not get lost to Snatchers.

The Mothership

A fairly easy wave but depending on the stage and tide, the potential for high scores is either very high (+90 on high tide Ruins of Ark Polaris, +70 on low tide Salmonid Smokeyard, Spawning Grounds and Lost Outpost) or really low (less than 60 on mid tide Spawning Grounds)

Coolers

Some coolers are better to destroy than others. Indeed, it is preferable not to destroy coolers in bad spots so as to leave those spots occupied, since it’ll increase the number of coolers landing in “good spots”. Check the “Map” channel to see which spots are good and get coolers more frequently.

Weapon Roles

Long range weapons should make it easier for the other players to run eggs by shooting down most coolers, however, they also need to collect eggs themselves outside of specific instances.

Long range weapons can, on some stages and tides, drop eggs near the basket. In these instances, it is fine for them to collect less eggs. More information on where long range weapons should stand to make this trick possible can be found in the “Map” channel.

Example of a long range weapon getting the eggs to drop near the basket.

Light weapons should focus on the farthest eggs (within reason) to make it easier for the rest to collect eggs efficiently. Well-timed bombs can also reach coolers and Chinooks before they fly away.

Special Usage

In Overfishing, it is preferable to use 2 Sting Rays, 1 per approach. For the second approach, it is also possible to use a Splashdown to allow a player to run a far egg while the Mothership is on the basket.

The Mothership should not be repelled until the Sting Ray is about to end, except on the second approach when the timer has reached 8 seconds left.

On the first approach, Sting Ray should be used a second before the Mothership reaches the basket (the time at which this happens depends on the stage and tide).

On the second approach, Sting Ray should be used around ~14 or 13 seconds left, and the Mothership should be repelled at 8 seconds left.

Freelance

Freelance differs from Overfishing in that the only goal is to win. Therefore, any strategy that aims to boost scores is either useless or counter-productive in Freelance (because players of different skills may not understand said strategies in this context). Luring results in harder Freelance games, and using specials to boost scores when the quota is almost met results in wasted specials. Be mindful of what your teammates do during games to make winning as easy as possible. Not overluring is usually effective. Not dying and executing fast also become important in more games, since you sometimes do not have a teammate who can cover for any mistake, however slight it is.

• Salmonid Smokeyard Freelance Lossless
• Ark Polaris Freelance Lossless
• Ark Polaris Freelance Lossless Part 1 (JP)
• Ark Polaris Freelance Lossless Part 2 (JP)

Twinlance is a variant of Freelance in which you play with a specific teammate and recruit two random players every time. The combined average (rank-wise) of the two players will usually boost the difficulty compared to full Freelance games. Understanding weapon weaknesses is therefore important in twinlance for optimal games: you wouldn’t want to let your partner deal with Stingers as Dynamo Roller, for instance.

Princess

Princess shifts are different from Overfishing in that only a specific player, the Princess, runs golden eggs, while her teammates (the Knights) do most of the killing . Therefore, while some concepts from Overfishing carry over to this type of games (such as luring), other unique strategies come into play (such as being more flexible with weapons, taking enemy aggro more freely, luring more strictly, etc.).

Princess Gameplay

The Princess (the player who runs eggs only) will want to optimize their egg running abilities as much as possible by:

• Being extremely comfortable with substrafing
• Not dying whenever possible but without playing too safely
• Being able to dodge enemies well
• Understanding what golden eggs to collect first
• Being able to deposit at the tip of the deposit radius around the basket (more information can be found in the “Advanced” sections)
• Being able to use bombs effectively
• Kill some bosses on their own if the 3-1 split happens

Knight Gameplay

Knights will need to optimize their killing abilities as much as possible. In particular, they should:

• Be able to deal with any boss combination quickly no matter their weapon
• Not die whenever possible without playing safely
• Have extremely good awareness so that Flyfish and Stingers can be dealt with quickly. Taking their aggro sometimes work when other bosses need to be lured heavily
• Be comfortable with any weapon

While these things greatly improve Overfishing games, they are quite the basis for Princess games as there is more pressure on managing ink well and not making mistakes for the Knights.