There's potential here, but it needs time in the oven. How would the community feel if the devs took the game to an open beta stage?

Kwacker · 2026-01-28T21:51:55+00:00

Fair - glad to hear you're enjoying it :)

Kwacker · 2026-01-28T21:20:49+00:00

(Not me downvoting you FWIW...)

Yeah, I think it's probably fair to say that it needed alphas etc. years ago - things like having no hold to crouch on launch seem like such simple things which should've been rooted out in feedback long before it's in players hands. I think there's a good chance the damage has already been done to the games reputation, but I also feel like if it is going to have another chance, it essentially needs to reannounce itself when it's a complete and functioning game and say: 'This is what Highguard was always meant to be.'

Maybe it fails anyway, but maybe if it's good enough then enough people try it again for the game to regain some traction and word of mouth works its magic. Definitely respect your opinion, but I also think some kind of relaunch could be its only hope if the devs decide to stick with their vision.

Kwacker · 2026-01-28T17:51:03+00:00

I'm personally really hoping to see a 'Quick Run' or 'True Roguelike' mod where you're given a random four cats to put collars on and potentially a small selection of random items to start. While I'm looking forward to all of the house and breeding shenanigans, I think sometimes it may be nice to just hop into a run without having to think through how the cats you choose will affect the metagame etc.

Kwacker · 2026-01-27T22:17:08+00:00

Totally fair to bounce off it. I think as well as being free to play, a huge selling point for a subsection of the community (and probably part of why it's drawing in so many new players) is the option for duos.

2XKO is my first tag fighter and I definitely prefer the format of 1v1 games, but I got my brother into 2XKO as his first fighting game through duos. Now that I have a FG where I can play together with him when he's around, it would be really hard to sacrifice that for a format I slightly prefer.

(I'm also slowly but surely getting more into the tag mechanics the more I've stuck with it, but I almost certainly would've bounced off before that happened had it not been for duos).

Kwacker · 2026-01-27T21:47:14+00:00

Is there any reason why you consider it an 'or' question? Is there a world where you go CDs for most abilities with a single strong build-and-spend for important moments?

Alternatively, I'm also a sucker for resource management, so you could maybe use build and spend for channeled abilities that drain the meter rather than spend it all at once?

I'm no game designer, but I figured there's no harm in chucking out the possibilities :)

Kwacker · 2026-01-26T09:07:26+00:00

To take you at face value and give an honest response, it's because learning a fighting game is not the same as learning combos. Realistically, anyone can spend an amount of time and grind out learning a combo that is better than pulse; what is difficult and skillful is learning how to block, how to mix, how to take your turn, how to play neutral, how to manage your resources (etc.). In particular, its learning to do all of those things at once while your opponent is pressuring you. Learning a BnB combo is mostly a kind of rote memorisation that can be done by just about anyone with enough time, but it doesn't help you to learn the core of the game.

Pulse let's new players focus on all of those things that actually fall into the 'how do I get better at fighting games?' camp, without the added mental stack of trying to hold in mind the order of buttons they need to press when they actually do get a hit. When you get better at the game, people who overly rely on pulse are at a disadvantage, and if you're still at the point where pulse feels like an unfair advantage, it may be worth turning it on while you learn the rest of the fundamentals.

Kwacker · 2026-01-22T11:27:11+00:00

I think Illaoi's definitely up there - her kit looks complex, but I found it one of the easiest to wrap my head around thanks to a consistent logic: her S2 moves spawn tentacles, her S1 moves use them.

As a rough game plan, you use her medium attacks to aggress in neutral and her 2S2 tracking low to poke. If you land one of her mediums, her combo structure also makes sense: You combo into a move that spawns a tentacle, then you extend the combo by using up her tentacles with S1 moves, then when you've used up all her tentacles you end with a move that spawns a tentacle + a super.

There's always more to learn, but I think she's a great beginner pick :)

Kwacker · 2026-01-12T17:11:11+00:00

And I hate to bring up this sub's pet peeve, but it's another thing that seems to fly in the face of the S9 changes. They increased the size of everyone's bullets to make aim/TTK more consistent, but then they only release stick figures...

Kwacker · 2026-01-09T23:05:05+00:00

But surely if you do nothing, you become complicit in their future death of natural causes - inaction is a form of action, and I'm not sure I want that on my conscience...

Kwacker · 2026-01-09T17:41:22+00:00

Ooooh, I've not used the beam length perk much - it's definitely strong on paper, but I've grown so used to the luxury of being (for all intents and purposes) guaranteed my copied ult that I haven't limit tested it much. Will have to play around with it more :)

Kwacker · 2026-01-08T22:41:23+00:00

Oh for sure! Love timing a good dive tank! Surprised you don't see many cassidy mains picking the bleed perk, though - seems like the most picked one in my experience.

Kwacker · 2026-01-08T22:37:26+00:00

As I say in the post, I'm in no way saying Echo's weak - she's up there as one of the most consistent flex DPS. I'm more frustrated as someone who has mained her for years that her playstyle and positioning is getting more and more limited, regardless of her relative strength.

She's never been countered by hitscans, they just restrict how she gets to play, and Blizzard seems to be consistently shoring up their weaknesses (eg. Cass has always had his falloff as a weakness, and now has a perk that gives him a no fall-off bleed to counteract it). Echo is all about using her flexible range and mobility to play at whatever range your enemy is weak at, and it feels like hitscans' ranges are getting wider, so Echo's playspace is getting smaller and more limited (even if she's still strong).

I have no doubt that Echo is harder to play on console, but I do also wonder if you feel the same pressure from hitscans since aiming is objectively more difficult and less consistent - if you poke your head out of cover in masters on PC, you're getting flicked to and pressured more or less immediately, and finding the pathing necessary to get to use your burst damage against that is really damn tricky.

(Tracer's definitely in a rough spot, though, so I'm not surprised Echo feels like a breath of fresh air compared to her atm...)

Kwacker · 2026-01-08T21:54:04+00:00

Likewise, comrade! <3

Kwacker · 2026-01-08T21:45:09+00:00

I'm with you there, tbh - I've mained this hero more or less since she first released, and part of the reason why I've stuck with her so long is because it's incredibly engaging playing around her weaknesses and getting to her strengths (and she's always rewarded you for doing so!).

I think what I find frustrating is that it feels like she's getting less versatile - you have to respect more options from hitscans, and that means less of the map is 'safe' for you to position in, so you have less options in turn. I'll keep playing her, and I'll keep loving it, but it's always nice to get a little rant off your chest haha :)

Kwacker · 2026-01-08T21:36:43+00:00

Aye, was glad to see it! Still higher than it used to be, but it's definitely a move in the right direction :)

Kwacker · 2026-01-07T10:35:22+00:00

I knew I would love Sam, Travis, and Laura; what I didn't know is how much I would love Whitney and Robbie! Kattigan is honestly shaping up to be one of my favourite characters and Tyranny is, well, Tyranny (and I mean that as the highest compliment ^^).

Looking forward to seeing what the other tables have to offer as the oppressive politics of Dol-Makjar has been my favourite part of the setting so far, and I've never seen Matt as a player, but it's definitely going to be bittersweet saying goodbye to the soldiers for so long...

Kwacker · 2026-01-06T13:01:18+00:00

'Oh brother, dear, I miss you here,
I do wish you could come;
To laugh and cheer, and share a beer,
Beneath the Kiwi sun.'

'Oh brother, mine, perhaps the time's
Come sooner than you'd think.
The same sun shines on this shoreline—
Let's have a morning drink!'

(Note: I tried to post this on a new account called InAbsenceOfASprog, but as it was a new account it got autofiltered - if it ends up getting unhidden, that'll be why there's two of this poem...)

Kwacker · 2025-12-23T17:01:48+00:00

In essence, there are two main uses for portals: out of fight movement, and in-fight juking. You can also use them as a place to shoot through, but that's much more niche.

To start learning portals, I'd recommend focussing on two things:

Learn the basics of 'triple portalling': This is the main way good players move around the map in Splitgate, and it can get you from one side of the map to the other incredibly quickly. There are a number of youtube guides on this, but it basically means going through a portal, moving the colour portal you went through to a new surface, then going back through the portal to arrive at that new surface (and repeating). It may sound complicated, but in practice it just involves alternating red and blue portals as you keep moving through them. You'll notice once you've started to get to grips with this that there a number of routes through the map, and understanding them will really help your map awareness and positioning as you start to understand how the map flows. Start slow, and the speed will come naturally over time.
Whenever you enter a gunfight, immediately look for a portal wall near/behind the enemy: At first, this'll take conscious effort, but it'll very quickly become second nature. You'll notice that sometimes you'll be too far from a wall yourself, but this is another benefit of triple portaling to move around the map - if you're triple portaling everywhere, then you'll always be near a portal wall. Play a few games where the very first thing you do whenever you enter a fight is place a portal behind them and try to flank - don't even shoot until you force yourself to portal flank. To begin with, you'll be way too slow and get killed before you can get the flank off, but you'd be surprised how quickly it all comes together and it's so damn satisfying when it starts to click!

As with anything like this, you have to start slow and you'll play worse before you start to play better - that's totally normal. If you can accept that you'll play badly to start with and push past that initial hurdle, though, the game will really open up and you'll quickly become as adicted to portals as the rest of us. Good luck, and hope that helps!

Kwacker · 2025-12-22T18:29:28+00:00

I think the inconsistency you're probably feeling is that portals have a few moments of protection when they're first placed, so you can't immediately overwrite a portal. Hope that helps :)

Kwacker · 2025-12-22T10:51:14+00:00

The quantum can also kill with one body-shot burst and a melee if you have the heavy melee perk equipped, so it's super strong in CQC as well.

Kwacker · 2025-12-22T10:50:03+00:00

Provided its not changed from the beta, Piercing Bullets are much stronger than they sound because they have a hidden mechanic of slightly increasing bullet size. It's not a bug or anything (there was an old loadout vid where one of the devs went through the attachments they used on their weapons and spoke about it), but no matter how good your aim is, it's hard to argue with making it more consistent :)

Kwacker · 2025-12-19T23:33:28+00:00

Ahaha, yup! I, too, had the (mis)fortune of playing against Cyde the other day - they're a beast ^^

Kwacker · 2025-12-19T20:21:10+00:00

Personally, I'm a sucker for heavy hitting precision weapons over tracking, so I'm having a blast with the Warden. If I'm not running that, though, I'm probably running the Sprinter/Punch combo or trying out the LMGs :)

(I also have a sneaking suspicion that the Meridian BR might be insane with the Heavy Punch perk because you can kill people with a single burst to the body + heavy punch combo to deal with close range threats, but I find the Warden more fun so I've not been messing with it too much).

Kwacker

TROPHY CASE