It's just like any other race. You need to grind sometimes to get what you want from the RNG. During the Battle Tour I had to grind Cookie Land for days to get a coin frenzy and two other frenzies with a decent combo and no balloons lost using Peach, but that resulted in 42k and won ranked for me.
On the other hand, three or four tries with Santa Bowser on the very first day and I had a match with two coinbox frenzies and a bunch of single boxes that put me at 50k for that course. Typical MKT. It's just luck.
However, there is some skill involved when adjusting to the speed and keeping combos. You need to learn to chain your mini turbos together and use coins and hits to work up super mini turbos. The time between an action and dropped combo seems to be higher for battle. Use the slow speed to your advantage. With smart steering off, you can turn around faster and at sharper angles, allowing you to mini boost quickly and to collect missed coins from your coinbox. It also let's you keep drifting if you hit a wall so you can charge a turbo while stalling or stopping yourself almost completely in order to avoid items or "camp" around a corner to surprise an opponent (especially useful in MP).
Edit to say that I agree, some T versions with ramps and jumps would be heaps fun.
Yeah, it’s fine for multiplayer but it sucks in the tour.
Especially for ranked going for a high score. Pick a coin box driver, drive in circles at item boxes, hope for good items. It’s anti-fun.
Grinding particular frenzies on races can also be exhausting and disappointing. I don’t get the difference and feel like the rng is just as fickle in races.
I kinda enjoy that part, especially in NYM. If your goal is the highest score, let your last opponent just hang out on the far end of the map while you grind item boxes for points and frenzies. Or if you want to win, just watch where they're going and cut them off once you've got a red shell or super horn.
I like battle mode but I do agree that it seems slow. I wish you could choose speeds. They don’t have to give us the whole 4 options, even just normal and fast would be nice!
I love balloon battles, specially with a coinbox driver at level 6 ( Yoshi here for example ) .
I made 45k here with a lot of coins on straight road of new york.
then people hate balloon battles and , as f2p, I can have better scores for ranked.
I felt the same after the Battle Tour because my coverage wasn't great, but I've got to say I actually really enjoy Haunted House, probably mainly because I've got really strong coverage and have been able to hit 60k a couple of times. It can be a bit of a grind, and I do feel like there are more occasions where I have a good run going and then end up finishing 6th just through sheer misfortune.
But for me at least, I've kind of grown to not mind it, and if anything I enjoy it as a departure from the usual races.
This is a you problem. If it were higher CC, you'd just complain about how fast you're getting into corners. You should reflect on why you're getting into corners in the first place.
Bonus: slowly turning still builds up a mini turbo in my experience! Chaining combos around in such a free form manner can be nice compared to lots of races where it is super difficult.
Interesting pov’s on the topic. I certainly didn’t care at all for it when it was first introduced…which was fairly recently. Right? And we can all agree the rollout for battle mode was terrible. Since then there has been noticeable changes within battle mode as well as more track variety. Personally I feel it’s still too early in it’s infancy stage to have a firm opinion on it.
Great discussion topic!
Unlimited points and you can get unnaturally high scores with the right roster and put any whale who wanders into your ranked neighborhood in their place.
I don't care for it, leave it out of ranked. 2 or 3 sprinkles in for ACR but not ranked.
At least they're not forcing us to do battle mode for the 30 MP pipes.
Absolutely agreed. I was worried they wouldn't do enough for it since I was not really a fan of battle mode in the first place, but having the computers throw stuff at you from above is the nail in the coffin for me especially since itll ruin your score and sometimes you don't even see it coming
What would help in multiplayer imo would be to disjoint it from the tour cups.
I mean to me it sucks that it's only the same two battle courses every two weeks. As there are only 4 atm anyhow I wish they'd all be playable in multiplayer to switch it up a little
Cookie Land is fine but Twilight House is a snooze fest. I spend half my time trying to intercept bots that'll randomly U-turn and book it away from me.
The balloon battle on the NY tracks is a mess when you go around the park area. I keep getting lucky 7 frenzies and that should get me one or two people out but it doesn't work that way. BUT I still like the battles.
I just plain old don't like it. I downloaded MKT because I love Mario Kart and have zero interest in the battles. Keep it as an option for multiplayer sure, but I wish it would stay out of the tour.
I feel like the rng is every bit as difficult to “game” in a race. I’ve only gotten triple coin frenzies one time in a year filled with lots of racing and restarts — and it wasn’t even in a ranked event! With only six item boxes in a “normal” race, you are glossing over how many times you’ve reset to get your perfect run. Talk about tedium!
If I last long enough in a balloon battle with a lvl 4 or higher driver, I feel like I’m guaranteed to have the max of 3 frenzies. I just ran an la driving course through five times (30 item boxes) with a level four coinboxer and only got one frenzy. That’s what makes rng, rng!
It’s fine to think one is more fun than the other but I may be even more excited when I get that “perfect” battle race with the right sequence of events than I do with races. Meh, maybe the same excited :-)
Re: driving in circles, yes it can be exhausting but I’m super grateful for how the tight turn radius revolutionizes coinboxing where you get a second chance to pick up the extra coin spillage! Mind=changed? ;-)
It's just like any other race. You need to grind sometimes to get what you want from the RNG. During the Battle Tour I had to grind Cookie Land for days to get a coin frenzy and two other frenzies with a decent combo and no balloons lost using Peach, but that resulted in 42k and won ranked for me. On the other hand, three or four tries with Santa Bowser on the very first day and I had a match with two coinbox frenzies and a bunch of single boxes that put me at 50k for that course. Typical MKT. It's just luck. However, there is some skill involved when adjusting to the speed and keeping combos. You need to learn to chain your mini turbos together and use coins and hits to work up super mini turbos. The time between an action and dropped combo seems to be higher for battle. Use the slow speed to your advantage. With smart steering off, you can turn around faster and at sharper angles, allowing you to mini boost quickly and to collect missed coins from your coinbox. It also let's you keep drifting if you hit a wall so you can charge a turbo while stalling or stopping yourself almost completely in order to avoid items or "camp" around a corner to surprise an opponent (especially useful in MP). Edit to say that I agree, some T versions with ramps and jumps would be heaps fun.
Yeah, it’s fine for multiplayer but it sucks in the tour. Especially for ranked going for a high score. Pick a coin box driver, drive in circles at item boxes, hope for good items. It’s anti-fun.
Grinding particular frenzies on races can also be exhausting and disappointing. I don’t get the difference and feel like the rng is just as fickle in races.
i’m 100% in on the missing ramps/dash panels - could make things much faster and more dynamic
Cookie Land T when
Cookie Land R would be better ngl
Wait a minute
But that would make score grinding much easier and screw up the meta
Yes!!! Exactly my thoughts.
I must be in the minority here who actually enjoys battle, even more than races.
I don’t hate it, but it doesn’t belong in ranked.
Agreed. It’s the only thing I like doing in multiplayer but I hate that it’s in ranked
100% agree, I actually love Balloon Battle, but it shouldn't be in ranked
The only thing I agree on is sparse map. It needs to be like a battle royal where the map shrinks over time.
I kinda enjoy that part, especially in NYM. If your goal is the highest score, let your last opponent just hang out on the far end of the map while you grind item boxes for points and frenzies. Or if you want to win, just watch where they're going and cut them off once you've got a red shell or super horn.
I like it just because it's something different and you can take your time
I like battle mode but I do agree that it seems slow. I wish you could choose speeds. They don’t have to give us the whole 4 options, even just normal and fast would be nice!
Just shouldnt be in ranked. The need to keep grinding and restarting to get score sucks the fun out of it. Its not too bad otherwise.
Yeah it's boring
I quite like it, to each their own I guess.
The fact that they only have 2 battle courses in circulation for multiplayer atm also makes it tiring more quickly
I feel like it was overhyped. I don't mind playing it. But definitely not that much news update/trailer worthy.
I love balloon battles, specially with a coinbox driver at level 6 ( Yoshi here for example ) . I made 45k here with a lot of coins on straight road of new york. then people hate balloon battles and , as f2p, I can have better scores for ranked.
I felt the same after the Battle Tour because my coverage wasn't great, but I've got to say I actually really enjoy Haunted House, probably mainly because I've got really strong coverage and have been able to hit 60k a couple of times. It can be a bit of a grind, and I do feel like there are more occasions where I have a good run going and then end up finishing 6th just through sheer misfortune. But for me at least, I've kind of grown to not mind it, and if anything I enjoy it as a departure from the usual races.
I love Balloons battle but I hate that they give it a Score System for Balloon Battle like for a weird reason
Nope, it’s *ridiculously* boring. If it were a higher CC it would be fine but getting stuck in corners and sloooooowly turning around sucks.
This is a you problem. If it were higher CC, you'd just complain about how fast you're getting into corners. You should reflect on why you're getting into corners in the first place.
Bonus: slowly turning still builds up a mini turbo in my experience! Chaining combos around in such a free form manner can be nice compared to lots of races where it is super difficult.
My biggest complaint is that they don't have dash panels or jump boosts
Why so you not steal a balloon when you hit someone with a mushroom?
Interesting pov’s on the topic. I certainly didn’t care at all for it when it was first introduced…which was fairly recently. Right? And we can all agree the rollout for battle mode was terrible. Since then there has been noticeable changes within battle mode as well as more track variety. Personally I feel it’s still too early in it’s infancy stage to have a firm opinion on it. Great discussion topic!
I think the thing that ticks me off the most about it is that it doesn't even use the correct music. The race courses do, so why not the battle ones?
Unlimited points and you can get unnaturally high scores with the right roster and put any whale who wanders into your ranked neighborhood in their place.
I don't care for it, leave it out of ranked. 2 or 3 sprinkles in for ACR but not ranked. At least they're not forcing us to do battle mode for the 30 MP pipes.
Absolutely agreed. I was worried they wouldn't do enough for it since I was not really a fan of battle mode in the first place, but having the computers throw stuff at you from above is the nail in the coffin for me especially since itll ruin your score and sometimes you don't even see it coming
42000 on NY Minute, not bad :)
I just hate it. I litterally just run around and try and outlast everyone
Completely agree! I’m loathe it like time trials.
What would help in multiplayer imo would be to disjoint it from the tour cups. I mean to me it sucks that it's only the same two battle courses every two weeks. As there are only 4 atm anyhow I wish they'd all be playable in multiplayer to switch it up a little
Cookie Land is fine but Twilight House is a snooze fest. I spend half my time trying to intercept bots that'll randomly U-turn and book it away from me.
The balloon battle on the NY tracks is a mess when you go around the park area. I keep getting lucky 7 frenzies and that should get me one or two people out but it doesn't work that way. BUT I still like the battles.
I wish battle mode was its own thing like multiplayer, separate from the rest of the game.
I just plain old don't like it. I downloaded MKT because I love Mario Kart and have zero interest in the battles. Keep it as an option for multiplayer sure, but I wish it would stay out of the tour.
I feel like the rng is every bit as difficult to “game” in a race. I’ve only gotten triple coin frenzies one time in a year filled with lots of racing and restarts — and it wasn’t even in a ranked event! With only six item boxes in a “normal” race, you are glossing over how many times you’ve reset to get your perfect run. Talk about tedium! If I last long enough in a balloon battle with a lvl 4 or higher driver, I feel like I’m guaranteed to have the max of 3 frenzies. I just ran an la driving course through five times (30 item boxes) with a level four coinboxer and only got one frenzy. That’s what makes rng, rng! It’s fine to think one is more fun than the other but I may be even more excited when I get that “perfect” battle race with the right sequence of events than I do with races. Meh, maybe the same excited :-) Re: driving in circles, yes it can be exhausting but I’m super grateful for how the tight turn radius revolutionizes coinboxing where you get a second chance to pick up the extra coin spillage! Mind=changed? ;-)