Rainmaker is a mode that does not require as much team coordination as clam blitz, but more awareness than splat zones. It can also be very hard to defend pushes, or make sufficiently good enough pushes yourself to win the game. Here is a guide and some strategies on how to get the most out of your rainmaker rotations.
Terminology
Before we start, it is essential I explain some of the terms frequently used in this mode (and sometimes others).
- Rainmaker shield/barrier: The transparent semi-sphere that surrounds the rainmaker before it can be picked up. It must be popped (by damaging it) in order to pick up the rainmaker. It explodes in the colour of ink of the team that popped it once it is popped.
- Pedestal: The place where the rainmaker should go in order to score points and win.
- Pushing: In general, pushing refers to an offensive game state. That is saying, the team that is pushing is (aggressively) taking out enemies in order for their team to get some points on the board.
- Defending (a push): trying to prevent the enemy from getting (more) points or winning/taking the lead.
- Advantage: A team has advantage over the enemy if they have more map control (greater portions inked in their colour) and/or if they have more players alive than the enemy. This might also relate to the amount of specials readied, since some specials are great to support a push (for example: ink armor, stingray).
- Disadvantage: The opposite of advantage. Their team has less map control and/or has less players alive.
Pushing
Let's start off with the offense. Pushing in rainmaker refers to bringing the rainmaker closer to the pedestal, usually by a significant margin. A good rainmaker push requires lots of awareness from the carrier as well as their team. I will explain this in more detail now.
Before someone on your team picks up the rainmaker, it is essential that you make sure there is no lurking danger. If someone picks up the rainmaker, only to get splatted a couple of meters later, you give the advantage to the enemy. That's no good! To prevent this, whenever the shield is popped, regardless of which team did so, it is important you and your team find yourself in an advantaged situation before picking up the rainmaker. The rainmaker is also a very slow and bulky weapon, making it an easy target for long range weapons and bombs.
There is one exception to this. Say the rainmaker is in the enemy territory, it might be beneficial to pick up the rainmaker for a couple more points. This can secure a lead, or even take the lead if your team didn't have it. In rare occasions, a player might even KO the match if the rainmaker is close to the pedestal.
To conclude: Never pick up the rainmaker "because you can". Always advantage before making a run for it.
Defending
When you and your team are defending, you are most likely in a disadvantaged situation. Often, people try to prevent the enemy from taking points by rushing the rainmaker carrier down (especially frontline slayers). This will not work in most cases, since usually the rainmaker is being 'escorted' by their teammates.
A better way to defend is to try and regain map control. Do not get too close to the enemy. Getting splatted removes you from the battlefield for about 8 seconds, which only helps the enemy push. If you paint the floor, the rainmaker can't move. Remember that the rainmaker is a slow weapon and cannot cover a lot of distance without any teammates making a path.
Some specials are a great way to get rid of a couple of enemies. This goes hand in hand with painting the map. Stingray for example can easily splat the rainmaker carrier from a distance. Ink armor can make risky encounters a little less risky and inkjet is just a flying killing machine.
Sub weapons like bombs, but especially autobombs and torpedos are great for taking out the rainmaker, since they home in on players. General bombs are also great, since they allow you to do lots of damage without having your inkling in the middle of a fight, risking getting splatted.
I want to give extra attention to splash walls. Splash walls are great at blocking a rainmaker path. A rainmaker can break it quickly, but that slows a push down tremendously. Their use depends on the map, sadly. Snapper canal for example doesn't really offer much use for the wall.
Recovering from defending
As stated before, if the enemy pushes, your team is usually in a disadvantaged situation. You might successfully defend the push, but that does not mean the party is over, figuratively speaking. It might not be wise to pick up the rainmaker immediately, for the same reasons why you shouldn't when looking to push. If you can confirm that there is no enemy in the area, you are good to go. Keep in mind that some enemies might run stealth jump abilities on their shoes, which can cause you to encounter them sooner than expected.
Once your team picks up the rainmaker, there are 2 'good' things you can do, and one 'bad' thing. The bad option is to play according to "They are all dead, let's make a run for it". Say you do get a lot of points using this strategy, look at the situation once that push is done. You are very very very disadvantaged. Loads of your teammates are respawning and you have no map control.
The better things to do are, first of all, using the rainmaker to paint. The rainmaker has a lot of range and paints very well. You can easily use it to recover some map control. Your team can (slowly) get back into a neutral or advantaged situation to prepare a push. If you already have a lot of map control (usually because of a quick and short push from the enemy), you could decide to "jump it off". This means, somebody picks up the rainmaker and swims into water or into a pit. This resets the rainmaker to the center of the map. Keep in mind that you lose a player because of this, so it shouldn't be a go-to strategy.
The latter option is also frequently used when you manage to get a hold of the rainmaker in the midst of an enemy push. It forces the enemy to retreat and is pretty effective and defending a push.
Who should pick up the rainmaker?
I'm glad you asked! This depends a lot on the weapons in your team. Usually, if you run the famous "Frontline slayer, frontline support, midline and backline" combination, it the midline that picks the rainmaker up. This is because the frontliners can make a way for the rainmaker, while the backliner checks if there is anyone trying to sneak past and get the rainmaker from behind.
Usually, in ranked (or paired league) mode, this is rare. In this case, you should decide whether you feel like you could contribute more to the team when you would not carry the rainmaker. If so, don't, and maybe remind the team with a gentle "this way!" that someone else should. If you see your team making a push, you should probably get the rainmaker.
If you play a midline weapon (e.g. splattershot pro, H3-nozzelnose, nautilus, rapid blaster (pro), squiffer, bamboozler), you should consider whether you suffice as a carrier within your team before the match has even started (right after you know what weapons your team uses). If not, you could still be a great carrier is you have a light weapon and/or you use a lot of swim speed. Both these factors influence the rainmaker too! A dynamo roller or E-liter might not be great carriers, since they swim awfully slow.
Final words
Now that you know a little more about rainmaker strategies, go and put this to the test! If you feel like there's something I left out or didn't explain well enough, feel free to leave a comment! Also, any other questions can also be answered.
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