Splatoon/Piranha Pit

Conveyor belts are the focus of this mining facility. Don't let their movement-altering properties trip you up.

Layout

 * A note about conveyor belts: The conveyor belts on Piranha Pit act more like a moving loop of ground rather than an actual belt when it comes to inking. When the ink scrolls off one end of the conveyor belt, it immediately reappears from the other end.

The spawn point is located high up with a three paths leading off from it. The right path is the highest and hard to reach by other means, leading to a series of raised platforms and ledges that drop down on to the central arena. Straight forward is a conveyor belt that moves toward the center, and to the left is a tower with a path winding around it, with a high grate platform facing the center. In front of the tower is a square with a conveyor belt that tends to move outward from the center. To the left of the tower is a usually inactive conveyor leading down into a low, irregularly shaped land surrounded by water that surrounds the main arena. Perpendicular to the large conveyor is another also usually inactive conveyor leading back up to the center area.

The middle region is shaped like a ring with an odd conveyor structure at its center. There are small pockets extending out from the ring where taking the right path from spawn would drop you off at. There are also barriers around two corners of the conveyor structure for cover. The structure is a pair of ramps facing opposite directions. The ramps have conveyors on them, moving in the uphill direction. There is usually a wall between the conveyors when there isn't a mode objective situated there.

Turf War
Turf War is the mode with the greatest number of active conveyors. Specifically, the two conveyor belts leading to the lower region off to the side are active, with the longer belt moving down into the region and the shorter belt moving out of it. There is also some random furniture at the corner of the lower region that is absent in other modes.

Piranha Pit is quite unusual for Turf Wars compared to other maps in that there is a massive chunk of area, the gulf to the left of spawn, which is both far from the central battlefield and distant from spawn as well. That means there's a lot of free turf points to grab, but the area is so uncontested and inconvenient that it is likely to be neglected entirely. However, it makes up roughly a quarter of the map, so actually getting it inked will give your team an easy edge. If you manage to sneak into the enemy's gulf area, you can camp out the area and be quite a nuisance to the enemy team.

The ring at the center is typically where most of the action is, even though it doesn't make up a lot of space on the map. The sharp corners of the map will result in fierce standoffs as either team tries to fire at each other peeking around the corner. The central conveyor belts serve as a boost on to a small patch of the enemy high ground, as well as a one-way escape path to the other side of the ring. The alley between the high end of the conveyor and the raised platform is dangerous to traverse, since it both walls form a valley that lets enemies ambush from above. The raised platform is a popular sniper perch though it is vulnerable to long-range attacks and bombs. If the fight moves closer to your base, the grate platform on the tower is a great perch to harass foes from.

Splat Zones
The map's two splat zones are fairly big, taking up an entire corner of the central ring, and are positioned outside of each team's spawn. There is an inkable block that lets attackers reach the enemy team's right battlements.

This is one of several twin zone maps in the game, featuring one of the larger zone sizes for this mode variant. However, the zones are also placed close together, which emphasizes mobility between the two zones for all players on a team instead of splitting a team into rigid offense and defense duties, though certain weapon types still lean toward particular roles, like a Charger for defending the closer zone. The conveyors play a part in enabling said mobility, as it can let you switch focus on to the other zone quickly, such as to defend your zone from enemies attacking around the corner.

Generally, the preferred path to attack the zone is still by going off to the right from spawn and pushing around the corner. There is more space to maneuver when attacking from this direction, as well as both cover from barriers and the conveyor belt for an alternate attack path. Pushing in from the alleyway in front of the enemy high ground lets you partially fire on to the point from a distance, but puts you close to the enemy spawn. The additions to the map in this mode encourages battles in this area, as attackers have blocks for cover and the ability to get on to the raised platform for better odds against the enemy team.

The plain at the far side of the zone can be a good spot for a purely defensive player, especially when the enemy successfully pushes and holds the zone in front of zone. If you can get an allied player on to that side of the enemy's zone, they can be a major nuisance from the constant harassment at the enemy's defense and home zone while having lots of space to fall back. Foes trying to pursue them will be drawn away from the zones into the low ground, and the lone rogue can just Squid Jump out after wasting the enemy's time.

Tower Control
The tower is sandwiched between the two center conveyors and is slightly shorter than normal. It moves away from the middle, does a u-turn and moves along the alley in that the enemy's right battlements overlook. It then moves in front of the defending team's tower and does another 180 degree turn back over a conveyor belt to reach the goal. The final conveyor belt the tower moves through has had its direction flipped, now moving toward the center. A sizable piece of land has been added to one of the corners of the center ring.

Since the tower is located on an awkward spot, teams usually focus on picking off enemies and getting some control of the center of the map at match start before attempting a push. With the wall between the two central conveyors removed, you can move around the ring much more freely, which can be handy when both pushing and retreating. The 90-80 mark is a convenient spot for the attackers since the tower is directly in front of their spawn, so stalling the tower here is pretty easy. Resistance will be heavier once the tower moves into the alley, as the defenders now firmly have the high ground.

Of special note is the additional ground added around the corner of the ring that has the wall. The wall is now a platform that can only be climbed from behind, giving a height advantage against other foes in the immediate vicinity. There is also a path that goes around the wall/platform which can serve as cover or as a flank route. Its position means that both teams can make use of it on attack or defense.

Around the 50 point mark is a chokepoint for both teams, as the defending team can use the raised platforms to bombard the tower, while the attackers can occasionally leap from the conveyor belt to assault defending players up high. Beyond the chokepoint, the tower makes a winding turn to the goal that puts it in front of the enemy spawn for a while, so a sustained offense is necessary to get a full knockout win. The defending team can use the grate here to attack the pushing team from above as the tower makes its way below them.

Rainmaker
The Rainmaker is between the two ramps at the center, while the goal is located at the very end of the lower region. The spawn point has been moved to the left of the broadcast tower, while the old spawn has been completely walled off. The long conveyor belt leading into the lower region is now active, moving outward from the region. The added land in Tower Control is present in Rainmaker, while various blocks have been added below the battlements in order to access them. The valley in front of the former spawn point is a Rainmaker restricted area, which means the Rainmaker timer counts down faster and losing it there causes the Rainmaker to respawn at the center.

Due to the shifted spawn point and position of the Rainmaker podiums, this mode plays very differently compared to other Ranked modes on Piranha Pit. Players will approach the central ring from a different angle, and the lower patches of land see more activity due to the ultimate objective of the mode being placed there, though it will still be mostly ignored until the Rainmaker moves past the enemy spawn. Right from the start, the placement of the Rainmaker spawn makes for an odd starting battle, as players without a lot of range must attack the Rainmaker bubble from odd angles due to the conveyors being in the way.

The location of the spawn points and the goal splits the middle ring into three paths, two of which are similar but mirrored with one center path cutting across the central conveyor belts. Much of the battle will take place on flat ground; though the layered sniper perches are still accessible, the placement of the metal blocks make it inconvenient to get on them.

Battles tend to slow down around the 60-40 mark, which is when the Rainmaker carrier must travel right in front of the enemy spawn point. The defenders have a clear advantage at this point, as they can use the tower beside spawn as high ground. This area of the map is also not as wide as the center, which makes it easier for the defenders to block off the pushing team. However, Piranha Pit has a weird quirk where the Rainmaker goal is not located close to the enemy spawn. Once the carrier goes beyond the 40 mark, spawning defenders will be forced to pursue the Rainmaker as it makes its way downhill, so a successful fight around the enemy's spawn point can give your team a massive edge.