Splatoon has a great diversity of weapons for shooting ink on the map and at your opponents. However, not all of these weapons are anywhere near as viable as they're hoped to be.
For a list of weapons and kits that are too overpowered, see here.
Main Weapons
Quintessential Skill Gate Weapons
- The Aerosprays are consistently rated pretty low in the competitive metagames. Their inability to focus fire and poor range means that for users that can get their aim on resisting targets, they're only optimal at splatting when right up against someone's face (which the Sploosh-o-matic outclasses it at), which is not very helpful for controlling space and effectively reduces them to a mediocre support that's good at covering the ground, spamming their special and doing little else. They require good kits and a team built around their presence to be functional, which rarely occurs since many competitive teams would rather build around a more versatile support weapon.
- The Clash Blaster is well-known for falling off against veterans. Getting a kill using Blasters' signature indirect hits requires four shots, and skilled players are bound to either snap to the user and fire, or move to a position where the Clash Blaster is outranged.
- Its default Splatoon 3 kit (Splat Bomb + Trizooka) is ideal for the main weapon, but redundified by the default Splattershot (Suction Bomb + Trizooka) which paints faster, has better DPS, longer range, and is more agile.
- The Splatoon 3 Neo Clash Blaster's Curling Bomb + Super Chump kit doesn't synergize well with it. The single unique thing it had (the largest Blaster explosion in the game) became superseded by the S-BLAST 92 when it released, with its jumping mode having the same indirect time-to-kill and blast radius as the Clash Blaster, but the S-BLAST also had a long-range mode that can hit further-away opponents as well as the potential to One-Hit Kill with a direct hit, whereas the Clash Blaster is easily outranged and struggles to finish off opponents who react fast enough.
- The Undercover Brella is a lightweight member of the Brella class, with slightly longer range than the Splat Brella. It has the gimmick of not deploying its shield after holding the trigger for a prolonged period of time, meaning the user can continuously shoot while maintaining cover, rather than having to alternate between an attack and defense mode like the other Brellasnote . This may seem overpowered at first, but it has a lot of weaknesses that makes it widely viewed as the worst weapon in the series by a wide margin.
- As a trade-off for being able to keep up a shield while always firing, said shield is very weak compared to other Brellas, having a mere 200 HP compared to the middleweight Splat Brella's 500 HP and the heavyweight Tenta Brella's 700 HP.
- It has the worst DPS in the entire game, needing three well-aimed shots to splat any opponent, with the fastest it can accomplish that task being two seconds, an eternity in a game as fast-paced as Splatoon. At a distance, it can't readily take out opponents until either a longer-range weapon attacks from a safe distance, or the likes of a Roller or Splatana gets up close and tears through the shield.
- It has lackluster ink coverage for a ranged weapon, so tough luck making a quick escape route during an engagement.
- The vanilla Undercover Brella (AKA Vunder) kits have the short end of the stick in particular:
- Their shared sub weapon, Ink Mine, isn't suited for a mobile, aggressive main weapon. The Undercover's low DPS means it can't combo the damage from an Ink Mine as well as any bomb.
- In Splatoon 2, its special weapon is Splashdown. To be fair, in low-level play, it's a good panic button that will splat anyone nearby. In high-level play, however? Anyone ranked S+ and above can react and take out the user during the brief vulnerability period at the special's start-up.
- In Splatoon 3, it has the Reefslider, but it is only a marginal upgrade so far that players can use it without immediately being punished since they're activating it from a farther distance; now they get punished afterward, for missing the Reefslider explosion means that they're now in very close proximity with at least one other opponent, which the Undercover Brella can't hope to fend off given all its listed problems.
- Ironically, a variant of it did see competitive play when Splatoon 2's Kensa Undercover was released, as Torpedos were one of the best subweapons in the game when they were new, but since Torpedos were nerfed the Kensa has dropped to being a serviceable, but otherwise outclassed support weapon.
Multiple Games
- Brellas in general have long been a victim of awkward balancing decisions dating back to late Splatoon 2, leading to a lengthy agreement that they were the worst weapon class in the entire game:
- Their nerfs from Splatoon 2 prevent them from countering the Shooter class, and weren't directly reversed in Splatoon 3.
- The less-stable netcode of Splatoon 3 can cause shots to penetrate Brella shields regardless of if they're open or not, the new Splatana class' high object damage makes Brella shields even weaker,
- All of the Splatoon 3 vanilla kits have something wrong with them in some form. The Undercover and Splat Brella don't have bombs that close-range weapons love in order to push in and take space; Undercover and Tenta Brella respectively get the Reefslider and Ink Vac Specials, seen as the worst Specials in the game for months after launch; and Splat Brella gets Triple Inkstrike, which leaves the user vulnerable if they use it in the up-close positions that Brellas like.
- Bugfixes to the shields and the Sorella variants for the Tenta Brella and Splat Brella with amazing kitsnote have led to the weapons returning to popularity over time.
- The Goo Tuber is a charger designed to be able to store its charge longer in ink than other chargers and can even store an incomplete charge, on top of having good mobility and being able to instantly splat an opponent at a 70% charge, making it a versatile weapon.
- Unfortunately, the weapon's partial-charge range is shorter than the max range of any other Charger, and its charge time is slow. The weapon thus falls below the balance between range and kill speed. Its case isn't helped by most other Chargers storing full charges for a small amount of time, and the Squiffer being able to charge in mid-air on top of having better kits, which are enough to outclass the Goo Tuber in every way.
- The special weapons of some kits don't synergize well with it either. Splatoon 2's vanilla Goo Tuber has Splashdown, and Splatoon 3's Custom kit has Ultra Stamp. Neither special can be readily used at long-range like many others (e.g. Triple Inkstrike, Crab Tank) can.
- An example that only counts if you compare it to its older incarnation: Are you an old Carbon Roller main from the first game? Want to use that quick, accurate playstyle that made it so feared, or perhaps the unorthodox subweapons that people hardly expect from a Deco? Tough luck. Aside from pre-existing nerfs (which would at least be adjustable to), the Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3 vanilla kits suck for that playstyle. The Ink Storm is okay enough, but the Autobomb almost kills it given it's just about the slowest, least accurate bomb sub-weapon on a weapon that requires a fast, accurate playstyle. This, in turn, is probably what contributes to so many roller mains using the default Splat Roller, as it not only doesn't need to worry so much about nerfs, is a lot more adjustable, and has much better sub and special weapons. This is generally averted in Salmon Run by proxy of having the regular Splat Bomb as a sub-weapon—while it's no Burst Bomb, this at least makes the kit usable, even if you're at the Profreshional level of difficulty. And on Griller/Glowfly waves, nobody is more admired than a competent squid with a Carbon Roller. The Carbon Roller Deco also averts this by not only bringing back Burst Bombs as its sub-weapon, but by having an Autobomb Launcher (the first weapon introduced to have this special), taking better advantage of the bombs' harassment potential by deploying them in greater numbers without consuming ink. The vanilla Carbon Roller was saved in Update 3.2.0 of Splatoon 2 not only reducing the amount of ink consumed by all Rollers' rolling attack, but also from the Autobomb's ink-consumption reduction.
Splatoon 1
- While most of the weapons are fun to use and are really intuitive, there's a number of them that are almost useless in certain modes and maps.
- For instance, the Blaster (which fires out a firecracker of ink that explodes, much like a grenade launcher), Splat Charger (sniper rifle with huge range but fires in a straight line), and a few others have less pronounced use in Turf Wars due to the emphasis on covering ground with shots rather than splating enemies, (and none of these guns being as useful as something like the Aerosprays in that regard). This is pronounced in maps that are less linear and more similar to corn mazes, making combat and turf less effective for long-range weapons.
- However, in Splat Zones, these weapons are absolutely killer due to the emphasis on combat and on taking and defending objectives (the Blaster clears areas easily due to the excellent close range damage and spread of the explosion making it far more viable in Ranked and the Splat Charger allows a team to travel in large lines quickly and are invaluable for defending and taking said objectives). It's not "some weapons suck", it's "some weapons are better suited for one game mode over the others". Avoiding this is also one of the reasons the game rotates sets of two maps per mode per four-hour period, rather than allowing all maps to be played anytime — it means players can pick weapons that work better with the available maps, rather than necessarily picking one that works best over all maps.
- This game's Rapid Blasters stand out as one of the few weapons in the entire series that are almost universally considered bad. While they have more range and higher rates of fire than the normal Blaster, they have much less power. It lacks the one-hit kill that the other Blaster types are used for while other weapons like .52 and .96 Gals are more reliable for kills due to having a higher range and fire rate. It's not helped by the fact that the Damage Up ability can't reduce the number of hits needed to splat someone, meaning that it can't be used as a regular blaster, and even having the decent sub-weapon and special sets of Ink Mine and Bubbler or Suction Bomb and Bomb Rush does little to redeem it.
Splatoon 3
- The vanilla kit of the Big Swig Roller was long considered one of the weakest weapons in the game, for being a roller with weak combat capability in exchange for a high-efficiency roll and paint output. While it did earn even better paint to the point of being the best painter in the game, and high object damage to give it an object-shredding niche, the vanilla kit was still held back by its sub and special weapon. Splash Wall can be used to support teammates, but Rollers - a class known for constantly moving forwards - get little use out of it because it's stationary and always gets thrown a set distance; and it could paint and farm for Ink Vac, but that special requires a second teammate and enemies in close proximity to get mileage, unlike the Flingza Roller which can safely paint for Tenta Missiles and spam them as soon as it gets them thanks to their global range.
- The Dynamo Roller is seen as one of the game's most painful low-tier weapons, with practically every factor in the game existing to hurt its usability. It's a slow weapon, which makes it less favorable in metagames focused on aggression and fast movement. The new armored Squid Roll can be used to negate otherwise-One-Hit Kill attacks from its powerful flicks, but the Dynamo itself gets bad mileage out of it because being in the air makes it use its even slower vertical flick with a narrow area of effect. It has stark competition with other weapons for its playstyle.note Its kit is lackluster and doesn't play to the weapon's strengths, as having Sprinkler means it can't move with Curling/Fizzy Bombs or poke enemies with lethal Bombs, and the speed-boosting Tacticooler is antithetical to its Stone Wall playstyle. With more and more seasons since launch having passed, many Dynamo Roller fans have been clamoring to finally get an alternate kit for the Gold Dynamo shown in one of the first trailers, at least to fix that last issue if nothing else.
Sub Weapons
- Theoretically, Splatoon 3's Angle Shooter is a jack-of-all-trades support sub that can deal damage if you're skilled at aiming it, but can also be used to tag opponents with its tripwire to snuff them out, like a combination Burst Bomb, Point Sensor, and Ink Mine. In practice, its form at release was very difficult to use lethally, as its hitbox was too small to hit anything with most of the time, ricochets are the definition of Awesome, but Impractical except in tiny boxes, and it did a measly 30 damage on direct contact, which is about as good as a single ink bullet. Meanwhile, the tripwire effect did no damage and the tracking effect was short compared to the Point Sensor (or even the already-underwhelming Ink Mine). The final nail in the coffin would be that the two weapons featuring it at launch, the Splattershot Pro and the Jet Squelcher, are good long range shooters anyways, meaning the single thing it can do uncontestably well (having longer range than almost every main weapon as a sub) was pointless even if you could hit enemies with it. It has notably been a recipient of multiple buffs, including boosts to its direct hit damage, range, and paint on contact with a surface, but it is still largely considered an underwhelming weapon.
Special Weapons
Splatoon 2
- At launch, The Sting Ray combined all the negative traits of the Chargers and the Killer Wail from the previous game. It's slow and clunky to aim (the only way to aim it in a different direction is to stop firing, but by the time it fires again, any targets may have moved out of the way already), it takes multiple hits to splat someone from full health, the blast radius was nowhere near as high, it slows your movement immensely when in use, and it doesn't even have a targeting reticule; the ability to see targets through walls without Thermal Ink (which is inactive while firing the weapon) doesn't compensate nearly enough. It was always much better in Salmon Run, as it carves through Chum and Smallfry by the dozen, especially in high tide, and it can damage all Boss Salmonids regardless of where or when the player hits them (minus the Steel Eel's body and Stinger's head), even when they're in an invulnerable state or can only be damaged by their weak spot. Version 1.3.0 gargantuanly buffed it by increasing its radius after firing it for about 1.5 seconds.note
- Splashdown is a punchline in high-level Splatoon 2. It does have a sizable blast radius, but with practice it's possible to react to it and stuff it out before it comes down, thus it's rendered ineffectual since good players will rarely give it the chance to finish. Nintendo did try to address this by reducing the special loss when it gets stuffed, but consensus remains that it's little more than a suicide button in top-level play; it's often considered a downside for a weapon to even have this special.
Splatoon 3
- The Ultra Stamp in the launch version of the game, due to an attempt to Nerf its hitboxes accidentally making them non-functional half the time. Its most effective use at launch was as a stronger version of a Burst Bomb, since the Stamp's throw damage was buffed by 100 points to a One-Hit Kill on direct contact — and even that could sometimes refuse to work. The 1.2.0 update fixed no less than nine different bugs related to the Ultra Stamp, improving its usability significantly, but the fact that it still lacks protection from the front makes it rather ineffective as the aggressive Special it is designed to be played as since it's relatively easy for a decent player to just mow down the Ultra Stamp before it gets close enough to splat.
- Of the game's new Specials, the Zipcaster was incredibly mediocre at launch, initially consuming a lot of the player's ink tank for each attack before the 2.0.0 update decreased the ink consumption by 67%. The Zipcaster retains other flaws, however; the point of the special is to allow short-ranged, but powerful weapons a way to quickly close the distance between themselves and their long-ranged opponents. In practice, its slow speed makes it horrifically telegraphed, negating the theoretical advantage of being able to quickly get behind enemy lines and splat foes before they can react to your presence, and most stages lack the kinds of tall walls needed to optimally perform the unpredictable approach options it otherwise promises. While the Octobrush benefits the most from it and synergizes well with its rapid-fire attacks, the Zipcaster also happens to be on the Carbon Roller, Luna Blaster, and Splatana Stamper, weapons that are either too short in range, too slow, or too weak to get anything out of a Zipcaster before being splatted by their target. While the special provides armor, it only lasts for a brief period, meaning anyone who can predict your movements (easy due to the slow travel speed) can splat you before you can make use of the special to attack. Not helping matters, your ink tank still constantly drains while in use, and grappling consumes a sizable portion of it. The Zipcaster finally got a buff in version 5.0.0, which increased the radius and damage dealt by its grappling explosion. However, all other beforementioned flaws regarding its predictability and lack of significant armor while travelling still persist. Despite its direct weaknesses, the competitive scene has assigned it a niche as a dedicated "look at me" button, as for what it lacks in direct offensive pressure it makes up for in the sense that it makes the player using it a really good distraction, which can be used to divert the opposing team's attention away from your allies or punish them for not taking the bait by getting some cheesy splats.
- The Reefslider is considered the worst Special Weapon in the game by many players. On paper it is a superior version of the Splashdown, starting from a farther distance to avoid getting splatted immediately on activation and allowing them to break through an enemy line by rushing through at high speed before exploding. While this is technically accurate, it still functionally falls into the same pitfalls as its predecessor; it has zero protection during usage (both during and after), it is incredibly telegraphed and predictable, does not one-shot if the victims are far enough from the inner blast radius, and has atrocious endlag leaving the user vulnerable despite granting a handful of invulnerability frames. Against a skilled player who does not panic upon seeing a Special and has good reaction timing, a Reefslider deployment is effectively a free splat. The issues with the Reefslider were exacerbated when Chill Season 2023 added the Triple Splashdown, an upgraded Splashdown that does attempt to fix one of the main issues with the Splashdown, leaving the Reefslider even more redundant.
Non-Multiplayer Modes
- The general consensus around Side Order is that most of the subs are good... except for Splash Wall. This sub's functionality enables it to block Jelleton advancement from one direction. However, it takes a brief moment to set up, doesn't last very long, consumes too much ink to use very often, can't be improved with the various explosive-oriented Color Chips, and usually enemies will just be able to walk around it. Experienced players will generally steer clear of it whenever possible.
