Flow Aura lasts for about 30 seconds, during which time players will get a boost to their Run Speed, Swim Speed, Ink Resistance and Intensify Action. But if you make use of those boosts to splat more opponents – or assist your teammates in doing so – then you can extend the duration of Flow Aura even further.
Each successive splat in Flow Aura will also reactivate the ink overflow, painting the ground around your feet once again. So there’s even more incentive to splat as many opponents as you can!
Health bar
With version 11.0.0, it’s now possible to see an opponent’s remaining health when they’ve been hit. Previously, you could only see how damaged an enemy was by looking closely at how much ink they were covered in – not so easy to do in the heat of battle!
Now, their remaining health will be shown in a bar above their head for a few seconds, provided they’ve not ducked behind cover or dived into their ink. Though if the opponent is visible via abilities such as Thermal Ink or has been marked by things like a Point Sensor or Wave Breaker you’ll be able to see it even then!
Hit detection
From version 11.0.0, there are also some changes to how easy (or difficult) it is to hit opponents. The area around an opponent – known as a ‘hit box’ – has been made slightly smaller when in swim form. Since the original Splatoon on Wii U, a little leeway was built into the size of the hit box as players got used to aiming with motion controls.
As players have become more adept with this playstyle, this has become less important. The adjustment in version 11.0.0. makes the hit box similar to that of the hit box in kid form, and should stop Inklings and Octolings in swim form from being hit when they’re hiding behind walls or around corners.
However, it would be no fun if it’s too difficult to hit opponents. So, some changes have also been made to the hit boxes of player’s shots. Shorter-range main weapons now have much bigger hit boxes, while longer-range main weapons have only had their hit boxes slightly increased.
It’s always more dangerous to get up close and personal with an opponent, but now players with shorter-range weapons have an incentive to go and take the fight to players with weapons that would traditionally outrange them.
To illustrate, here are some examples of how hit detection has changed for some weapons:
Splattershot Jr.
Attacks on opponents in swim form are a little bit harder to hit.
Attacks on opponents in kid form are much easier to hit.
Splattershot
Attacks on opponents in swim form are a bit harder to hit.
Attacks on opponents in kid form are a bit easier to hit.
E-liter 4K Scope
Attacks on opponents in swim form are much harder to hit.
Attacks on opponents in kid form are a little bit easier to hit.
So, if you’re jumping all the way across the Stage with Stealth Jump equipped, it will now take a little longer to get there than before. It’s only the flight time that has been increased though, the time taken to actually launch is still the same as before.
As well as the above adjustments, there are also some other changes to improve the balance of the game. You can check out the full patch notes and learn how to update your game here.
New multiplayer features have arrived in Kirby Air Riders!