Splatoon 3 Special Design Tier List

Forgot to get back to Screen but you know where that one goes already LOL
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#splatoon3 #special #tierlist

[@crazfamily6931]

Screen was so poorly designed, it wasn't even mentioned in the list. Must've unlocked the secret tier below fundamental flaw to extreme flaws

[@NunnyNugget]

It’s also like, a humongous completely unavoidable obstacle if you want to progress because of the map design… so to compensate they gave it some shitty damage which doesn’t do much, the main culprit is literally the effects which depending on the person either do nothing as I hear, or if you’re like me you go genuinely blind xd

[@WelfareCenter]

Just remove screen it's problematic to neurodivergents in regards to visuals and sound.

[@irlselkie]

​@@WelfareCenterI get you're trying to talk about the issues, but the majority of people affected were physically disabled, not neurodivergent ❤️

[@tylazermk8271]

​@@WelfareCenterNeurodivergent isn't the right word there.

[@dznutskong]

@@NunnyNugget the fun thing about that already bad damage as well? you can just squid roll through it lmao. then you just get the debuffs.

[@lxchris5252]

Splatoon devs gonna look at this with their heads upside down

[@selenersavage]

LMFAOOOO

[@vtrista2165]

Yes, they see it as a challenge to balance the hardest to balance specials first, including the fact that they definitely would bring the worst specials into the next installment.

[@acer1kylesf943]

NOOOOOO, they'll look at it sideways reefslider, tristrike, zip, crab, and booyah

[@Kasmironies]

green=good right?

[@rockinggamerdude]

I wonder if any devs watch Splatoon KZbinrs

[@SloppyChar]

I feel like you should be able to jump off of the reefslider as a sort of fake out option, and the reefslider would continue its normal path after you jump off.

[@xavierdulla2000]

At that point that’s just what you do all the time though. It’s significantly less risk for the same result

[@blank_ivysaur]

@@xavierdulla2000add a wave to the sides of the special that deals less than lethal damage and make it not explode if you roll off the special. You can opt for the explosion and take on the lag or get some value with either the slider lethal hitbox or the wave chip.

[@charltm]

@@blank_ivysaurmaybe it could have a smaller, less powerful explosion?

[@chainmaillekid]

I like that. I'd suggest the longer you stay on it, the bigger the explosion. I also think after a certain point you'd need to be locked in to prevent synchronizing the end of player cooldown with the biggest explosion. Otherwise its just a mechanic that lets you cancel the cooldown.

[@blank_ivysaur]

@@chainmaillekid making the explosion vary based on distance would be inconsistent and a bit annoying to play against. But it would also require increasing lag along with the explosion or just making it overtuned. I think that would feel bad on the player side.

[@AquaQuokka]

I actually like Reefslider, it's a very fun idea, it's a shame it's not very good. Riding an explosive shark? You can't tell me that doesn't sound cool.

[@splatoonboy]

I like reefslider, and it just needs the right people to have much use with it.

[@romanaww]

Imagine if you could steer it a tiny bit and maybe even do a little hop haha

[@MeloniestNeon]

I think what's most sad is all it needed to be good was A. Being able to start up mid air, and B. Literally just halving the endlag, or even just reducing it by 1/3rd. That's it, I think it would have been a solid high-end B tier at worst, maybe a low/mid A tier if a meta favors it. Reduce the paint a bit but keep the explosion size the same to reduce zones cheese, and it'd be a really fun, well-balanced special.

[@Aego384]

​@@MeloniestNeonWhat if it gives the user ink armor when it explodes?

[@rocketlanterns]

Simple fix. as well as the option to press ZR to pop it early, be able to press B to just bail off it and let it explode on its own at the end of its path.

[@marietrans8950]

Screen getting what it deserves being ignored

[@sonicrunn3r895]

I actually think screen does genuinely present some cool ideas and synergies but it is RUINED by the debuffs and I can't bring myself to use it more because of that

[@lovemykids570mommyvlogger]

Screen is awesome

[@CaptainAyeJay]

@@lovemykids570mommyvlogger

[@yodal_]

I think wavebreaker really just needs a tweak to be decent and interesting. Something like the waves alternating between on the ground and in the air so you have to jump over one and swim under the other would be enough. People would need to pay attention a little more to not get tagged. No matter what they do, as long as it still breaks by someone looking at it funny it will never be overpowered.

[@DanielP-jq4dj]

Maybe the waves should come from the player and have them come out horizontally depending on the elevation, or maybe just make the waves less predictable.

[@NunnyNugget]

I feel like reefslider was designed to be a “risky startup, but big reward” kind of special. Only problem is Nintendo insists on balancing it in reverse, making it have invincibility faster to make it more of a panic button then a huge end lag so you just die

[@quinttwo]

^ reef on weapons like s-blast, tetras and dread would have loved the alternate universe where they correctly balanced it to make the endlag better instead of the startup

[@squirtleislife1312]

I'm pretty sure it was conceived the other way around. The problem with Splashdown is that you always die before the explosion, so how do we fix that? We make it so you can start the special far away, and instead you're vulnerable after the detonation, so you better splat whoever you were targetting or blow up the shark in a safe enough spot or you're toast. The risk-reward seems to be more "the farther you start the special, the more time opponents have to get out of the way, but if you're too close they might kill you before you can get going"

[@pyhrrous968]

such a shame that screen ended up being the way it is, I actually kind of love the concept of "big wall that you can't see through". it feels really tactical to use and it's really fun to shark with flingza roller after deploying the screen

[@Spacewizard9]

ikr, I honestly feel like ink-strike is better or similar because it also blocks everyones vision but just for way shorter with each explosion.

[@Mia279_]

Before it comes back (hopefully) to splatoon 4, please, we need more kits with inkjet, like please, 5 kits is not enough for my favourite special 😭

[@AquaQuokka]

Triple Splashdown too!

[@Aego384]

Crab tank too

[@acer1kylesf943]

Zipcaster too!

[@Me_Myself_Maly]

I swear Nintendo is just scared to give weapons certain specials. Like when was the last time we had a decent Carb kit? And why have they not given a single shooter Zipcaster? 😭

[@shirokurodewanai]

They're afraid of the amount of paint you could put into the enemy base in the last seven seconds of a turf war if they'd given it to like the Orange N-Zap. Edit: now that I think of this, I only said Zap because I play it, but having Chumps on the kit instead does the same thing.

[@colonelraze2611]

He forgot to talk about the Splatter color screen. I guess it’s safe to assume that it goes in the forgettable tier

[@Rubellite-jq2kg]

Probably for the best, wouldn't want the accessibility issues to return in S4

[@Multitasker3]

Nah he said the thing didn’t have an icon for splatter color screen

[@colonelraze2611]

@@Multitasker3true, but he didn’t actually bring it up again after that

[@ScandinavianHail]

A rework for Inkstrike I've had on my mind is to turn it into a Hyperbomb from Octo Expansion. After you activate the special you can click anywhere on the map to drop one Hyperbomb there and, just like in Octo Expansion, you or your teammates have to shoot it a bit for it to release it's massive explosion. This keeps the unique ability of planning your attack using the map while requiring you to be a bit more strategic and placing it where your teammates are fighting. They could make it so that the enemy could destroy it, but the enemy would need to deal more damage than the Hyperbomb's team would need to detonate it (like Bubble Blower from S2). This could be really fun on an E-liter for example; you could detonate it instantly upon landing (it would have a telegraphed landing location, of course) from across the map but you would need to put it in a spot where you have a clear sightline on it. Though, it would probably need a name rework because just 'Hyperbomb' feels too similiar to Booyah Bomb.

[@MeloniestNeon]

That sounds awesome, and like a really good rework of Super Chump as well.

[@acer1kylesf943]

Maybe the teamates could need to do 1000 damage and the enemies 2500?

[@JohnWhite-c9c]

It sounds sort of fun but anything that would require you to open the map and select a point would probably be too slow to be effective unless you jump back to spawn to use it otherwise you’d likely get splatted

[@bazooga242]

i don't think a special that forces your teammates to change their current objective onto the big sub-weapon that'll sometimes do something is a good idea, it'll either be useless or a hindrance methinks

[@lemonquacklol]

I actually had a concept for hyperbombs as well. Assuming they don’t bring back S1 themed specials next game, then they could fuse Zooka with it. You get 4 slightly smaller radius hyperbombs to launch wherever you like, and though enemies cannot destroy them- they can lay on extra damage you have to undo before you can explode them

[@Treegrow131]

Big explosion „out of jail for free“ specials could disrupt enemies in future games by for example dealing knockback. That way, theyd act as valuable continuation tools like booyah bomb which keep your fight going instead of being all-or-nothing buttons

[@sonicrunn3r895]

I think Wave Breaker is actually really underrated, but it definitely needs more HP (also more multipliers for some weapons to help offset it). Maybe it would be solid if dualies were still stronger, unfortunately aside from VDualies (and occasionally now Glooga) we're not seeing enough of them to be a thing. I feel like most of the specials in the lower end of the tier list in strength are literally in the wrong game, like Wave would be a lot better if it was back in S2 for example, where not half the specials do crazy damage to objects.

[@flopps1051]

7:45 Says Wavebreaker is a really cool design and just needs a buff Puts it in “Leave in S3” section

[@thinkublu]

Did you not listen

[@PinkEnby]

I feel like wave breaker was better with the "jump or take damage" question during crab meta. Jumping in crab then meant the crab(s) had to ball form and stop firing or risk dying and canceling the crab. No crab meta, bad wave :/

[@ctom42]

I think the easy solution for Kraken cheese is to not let players super jump to a kraken. If you can survive after changing back then you are a super jump spot. It's a shame that many of the ones you put in the lowest tier are the ones that are most fun to use casually. Also tentamissle belongs in fundamental design problems. Unless they change the targeting on it to line of sight it's just not fun to play against, even if it doesn't kill often. Global location on it's own is strong, but it also gives global displacement. I actually think a really simple but effictive change for Zipcaster would to just be have the reticule change when you are looking at a zipable surface and are in range of it. That would be huge for fixing a lot of the issues people have picking the special up where they fire and just don't hit because they were out of range. The other issue I found when I used it was tying the ink tank to the special duration just made it feel like you couldn't actually fight with it well without it just ending.

[@Rubellite-jq2kg]

As someone who's spent several hundred hours playing stamper, I completely agree with the buffs you listed for zip as compared to the ones Gem mentioned. No offense, but these are way more helpful

[@chunkymonkey7983]

The duration is 100% the biggest issue for me

[@1unar_eclipse]

Alternatively, just make it so you drop a football on Super Jumping period. Was talking to my comp-playing friends about that and it was a good idea in their eyes, even if it dropped on landing since then there's time to react

[@lemonquacklol]

For clams.. couldn’t we just make you wait to be able to throw power clams until you hit the ground??

[@1unar_eclipse]

@@lemonquacklolI think that's the case already, there's just mashing and maybe buffering in the way

[@Typi]

Easy Kraken Fixes: Certain Specials can pierce it. Ink Vac, Zooka, Jet, Booyah, and Wail would be perfect candidates. Basically make it so you can counter it with other specials instead of your only option being running away. Clam Blitz: Make it so it is a psudo recall special, where the user doesn't recall, however while they are in Kraken form teammates jump to where the special was initiated. Yeah the special is very flawed, but it's my personal favorite special, and hands down one of the coolest conceptually.

[@miimiiandco]

I feel like Wail countering Kraken could be un-fun, as the Kraken would have a significantly harder time, while the Wail user just has to press the Stick, and aim vaguely at the Kraken.

[@level0maid]

What if Big Bubbler got a rework similar to Frost from Warframe where they make it temporarily invincible at the start of it, and then scale its HP partially based on the damage it absorbed while invincible? It'd make it satisfying to use for the player when they block something big like Tenta Missiles, an Ink Vac shot, or a Trizooka's initial shot, and there'd be more thoughtful playing around the special than just shooting at it when you see it. Maybe even make the internal weak spot have none of the special scaling so getting inside to break the inner weak point would be very important to dealing with the special, giving a place for specials like Reefslider or Killer Wail which can go through the barrier?

[@dznutskong]

One thing that I don't think people appreciate enough about Booyah Bomb is that there's not a single weapon in the game that doesn't want something it does. It's basically impossible to make a kit with it that doesn't have synergy.

[@Rubellite-jq2kg]

I'd argue MOST weapons can do well or at least ok with booyah Take stamper for example - going off of its vanilla kit, it excels at slaying enemies and giving it a booyah bomb that could easily be shredded by an opposing sword player wouldn't be all that nice. It doesn't exactly require extra paint since it can do that itself (albeit not for long) and zip, crab are good at holding space, pushing back and killing the enemy team. Both can even be used for survivability in certain scenarios.

[@alexgreen6877]

I've had a few reworks in mind, and here they are: Wave Breaker: The waves have waves. By this, I mean that the waves oscillate in height either in time or along the circumference, possibly both. The oscillations should make the waves harder to avoid because the player would also have to figure out how high they have to jump. Of course, it should still get an HP boost (maybe 50-100 extra) because it is far too easy for a single person to shred. Splattercolor Screen: Rework the visual debuff to mimic the Blooper item from Mario Kart. Instead of a grayscale, the player's screen has ink splatters in the enemy's color to reduce their field of vision, and the sound effect is reworked to be muffled or sound underwater. Depending on the way that ink colors and effects are organized in the code, it could be easier to implement than a color swap or making all ink look the same color. Triple Splashdown: Similar to the proposed rework of being able to jump off Reefslider for a reduced explosion radius, Splashdown can be activated early for reduced damage or AoE. Personally, I lean more toward reduced damage (the main explosion would do 50-70 damage and the fists would do 35-45 damage on early activation) because a point-blank special with a smaller AoE is easier to avoid and punish, and Splashdown cancelling already exists. We don't need more opportunities to splat Splashdown users.

[@QsteaI]

I got 2 rework idas for screen and wave breaker. for screen I think visually it can make all ink look like the same color to you without any additional filters on top or make it so that you are completely deafen for the duration and not hear anything at all instead of the static we have now since sound is very important in game (specials going off or someone inking nearby) or maybe add both modifiers if needed. For wave there will be 4 waves now, however each dealing 30 each with the added effect that the waves will alternate between low and high where low is the one we have currently and high where you can only dodge it through ducking in squid form.

[@TownDarling]

I like the fact that Wave requires you to jump, it means that the entire special surrounds detecting enemies. Either they jump and are visible, or don’t jump and get marked. I just think that the waves need to be significantly faster. Maybe there should be more waves in total with less damage done by each

[@MysteriousStranger50]

You know reefslider is coming back and somehow it still won’t be good. I bet splashdown comes back too.

[@maplemiles3381]

Slider is amazing and their is a good reason as to why I see a lot of people using it in competitive play

[@illuminousaura]

I think your Tacticooler comments were spot on. Cooler would be fine if the QR and Special Saver was toned back, which would let QR weapons like the Tetras have their niche back as well as making deaths actually punishing.

[@Stephen-Fox]

"Splatoon 2 Baller was well designed" - Nothing will be more comical to me in Splatoon than the couple of times I somehow snuck up on someone in an inflatable hamster ball and exploded it right behind them. Would be interested to see you doing this with the S1 and S2 specials we haven't seen come back in S3 - Which would you want them to attempt to do new versions of for S4? (Favourite sweatshirt? Black and somewhere in the nebulous zone between beige and cream, in a pattern not dissimilar from a DS9 Trek uniform (so it's a colour stripe is on the collar, with black outside of that. Had that thing for about 20 years now, and the only thing wrong with it is the zip on the collar broke meaning it's always unzipped but it was rare that I zipped that thing up anyway)

[@TopsyTurvy686]

I think the "coolness" factor of a special is important to factor in too. Kraken might be tough to balance properly, but becoming a giant monster squid is just so cool that I'm happy it came back in S3 anyways. I'm also bored and wanted to share some changes I would want to see with specials. Not much thought was put into them. Please be nice :) Reef Slider - Not sure. Give it the ability to do a jump while moving forward. Could get it over certain ledges to be trickier. Also, make it so it can be used while super jumping, like Splashdown. Of course, this makes more sense if we don't have Splashdown at all. Kraken - Mostly good as is imo, cheese and all. I might make it so the surge attack is slower to turn and aim. And make it so a single player could reasonably push back the kraken with their main weapon. That way its possible to fight back and not just run away from, but it demands 100% attention. Wave Breaker - It needs a lot more waves. Like way more. Make it do 12 instead of 3. Its fine that players are good enough to jump over it consistently. But for how good players have gotten, this special is over too quickly. By being a longer lasting nuisance to enemies, they will be more incentivized to destroy it rather than wait for it to finish. If paired with a range buff too, it could be strategically placed in a way to bait out opponents out of their safe positions and into traps. Tacticooler - I could see the instant respawn being removed. But if it does, it needs something else. Might be cool if it had extremely good ink refill rate, so you could effectively use your main weapon infinitely without refilling ever. But it wouldn't stop white frames, so sub spam wouldn't work. Killer Wail - I hate how this special only forces its targets to move. It feels too similar in usage to tenta missiles. If we had to keep killer wail, I make it like S1 killer wail, but with the damage output of sting ray instead of an insta kill. Super Chumps - To me, the coolest part of this special is the super jump markers that get placed on the map. But its not something anyone can really take advantage of. I would make it so the special is more staggered with how it launches the chumps so players have more of an opportunity to aggressively jump into chumps. It might also be cool if players could launch themselves out of the chump cannon, kind of like the cannons in sea of thieves. Zipcaster - Kind of just needs maps to have better spots to zip up to, even if these spots are not accessible without zipcaster. It would make it more fun for beginners at least. Ink Vac - I wish it had an option to launch its shot early without filling up your tank or waiting for the timer to end. And maybe make it so it can absorb more and be a proper counter to other specials.

[@shaba22]

"Acid Rain" - minor version of screen's effects mixed into existing rain Rework kraken and zipcaster into one special. Remove invincibility but give zipcaster the kraken's melee attacks while swimming. Also rebrand this into a jellyfish themed special. Rework wavebreaker to give it more health, an extra wave, and make each wave contain a little bit of ink coverage that spreads wider and wider with each wave. Zooka, and ink strike are boring and not needed. Bring back bubble blower. Make super chump a recall special, where the launcher gets super jumped to one of the chumps for X number of seconds before jumping back after all the chumps explode. Have the center-most chump of the chump radius spawn a beakon if it isn't destroyed by the other team before exploding. I also think it'd be funny to give crab bloblobber bubbles as it's main firing mode, and two pincers worth of nerfed zooka shots rather than unlimited explosher shots.

[@Anubonek]

This is just my personal opinion but ive always loved killerwail 5.1 even if its not the strongest thing ever. I think the concept of it is really interesting and it sucks to see it always ranked pretty low

[@MeloniestNeon]

Its issues are very prevalent though, it tracks people through walls, across the whole map, and has no counterplay besides "dodge around in circles for a bit lol" which isn't any kore fun than being targeted by Missiles.

[@Rubellite-jq2kg]

​@@MeloniestNeonthe issues are made worse by the damage buff imo. Why does a global range laser that pierces walls get a damage buff????

[@silentglyph3751]

Splashdown should carry your previous horizontal momentum. Some ideas for Wave breaker: >can alternate (possibly random) between low and high waves, low you must jump, high you must be in squid form on the ground to dodge >Just give it echolocator on activation

[@fishyviolet]

mt favorite sweat shirt is boring grey. my old favorite was grey on the outside but white on the inside BUT the inside of the hood (i use hoodie and sweatshirt interchangeably) was BLACK and the color variation made me happy. but eventually i realized that my old favorite sweatshirt was thin as all hell and was not very effective as a means to keep me warm so now i have a just plain grey sweatshirt

[@titanoflight4890]

When you think about it, super chump is a similar idea to booyah bomb, but it throws multiple explosives and not one big explosion.

[@vtrista2165]

My favourite colour in general is orange. I would want most, if not all my clothes be that colour. Either that or complimentary colours to it. Purple seems to fit well

[@tornadosandstorm7431]

fusion of Storm/bubble and cooler? An Area of effect where you recive a buff while inside

[@TheBearProphet]

Purple. But also I love the idea of more training/practice options for the specials. I always feel like I’m dragging a team when I’m using a special I am not familiar with, like zipcaster. Learning to use ink vac, crab tank, ink jet, even zooka doesn’t feel good right now.

[@FortyTwoBlades]

An easy fix for missiles--make it so you target your own team instead. All of a sudden it no longer has global range, and it's acting as a buff for a teammate who may be in the middle of an engagement. This is what I THOUGHT Chumps were gonna' do since it would then be able to better hide a super jump point (the targeted player.)

[@TheLaXandro]

Some thoughts. Kraken, I feel, is actually a well-designed special. It has to be used smart to have an effect, but despite being a melee-range special it's not "locked in" like Splashdown, it can push and create space for its team. Disengagement is a valid form of counterplay and a valid thing for a special to force (Booyah Bomb literally exists to do that first and give consolation death ball second), and with Kraken especially so as with no range and no inking it can't capitalize on disengagement by itself, without a team around it is usually wasted. It's an interesting dynamic for a seemingly egoistical special, and I think it works great. Remove ability to jump to it with a clam and it's both balanced and well-designed. Bubble's biggest problem is that it acts like Splash Wall, and that means that it's a giant instant death ball to every teammate outside as bombs explode against it. Wall is a great defensive tool but it's purely defensive because should you or your teammates walk past it they're getting bombed. Now take that and make it huge and last twice as long, that's an instant "halt the match" button, they can't push against you while you're bubbled, but you can't push forward them if they have bombs (and bombs are ubiqtous right now). Moreover, it shrinks over time, so you can find yourself outside on accident. If it destroyed bombs instead of exploding them, it'd become a really interesting special that can be used defensively but also can be abandoned at any moment if you see an opportunity to gain ground. Wavebreaker's forced jump might seem lame, but for a precise weapon that is focused on punishing predictable actions it's just the perfect amount of effect to constitute as useful for somehing coming out of a low-commitment special. Both Range and Eliter, relatively popular weapons in current meta, make good use of it, not nearly as good as if they had Trizooka but nothing should be as good as Trizooka. I'd kill for Wavebreaker over Tacticooler on H3, being a cooler bot is lame. Wave's overall disruption power is about on par with the "boring and forgettable" tier, it just doesn't paint. They can make it paint, it'd be interesting if it painted a bit around itself with every wave sent, that way it kind of becomes a safe haven for you and teammates. Alternatively, gives it capability to repeatedly contest the zone if it's not destroyed. Missiles design-wise I think can benefit from a nerf. Not because they are too strong, but to inscentivise more strategic play. Make it potentially take a bit of time to lock onto targets, from nothing up to a ~second, depending on distance between you and them and how close they are to the middle of the targeting circle. This would harken back to early S2 Missiles that dis-inscentivized aiming for everyone at once by making missiles fly out one by one, except here you have a lot more control over what you want to target, while inscentivising more aggressive usage against targets that are closer to you, and also keeps high-effect jackpot of catching multiple players close by in the reticle intact. Missiles' forte is not "moving" the opponents, it's forcing them to split up, and separation is only worth something if you are close enough to divide and conquer. Even if they stay as they are now, they are fine. There is no inscentive to not play them lame, but they can still be used a lot more aggressively than most other low-commitment specials. lol @ Chump getting skipped. I remember you had a short where you mocked Chump's many niche usage cases, that one on Humpback where in the end you pull a Zooka and get a quad and say "I would rather have my special do that", but to me, it just seemed like a good demonstration of what a special should not be able to just do, and how interesting Chump strats can be. Tri-Strike and Booyah Bomb are sidegrades, not redundant. Tristrike is a much, much faster special, at cost of not forcing disengagement like B-Bomb does. Both have their worth. Trizooka is a game design nightmare. It is powerful, versatile (in terms of its ways to murder opponents), consistent and fast to both activate and go away at the same time, with dubious difficulty as its only supposed downside (which, since making its splash 2-shot, is a non-issue). There has never been an offensive special that is so good at not overstaying its welcome, and with how dumb it ended up, I hope there will never be one again. Also, it doesn't have post-use delay like Missiles do, so it's still perfectly spammable. Splat1 Zooka is a LOT more balanced. Just go away with "kill this mofo" buttons, they are never fun, give everything extra steps. Hammer is weird in that it's one of the last specials that is so polarizing in terms of matchups. For a lot of mains Hammer is cannon fodder, but for a lot of other ones it's a complete no-sell, and like with armor it's often weapons that don't need any help that have. It's also a bit wack in terms of effect, it's not good but it's also kinda bullshit in many ways. Idea-wise it's solid but as far as mechanics go it's a mess of a special and if it comes back it gotta have some fundamental reworks. I do appreciate its ability to become 1/3 of a Trizooka, complete with ending special early which is Trizooka's hallmark. That one is actually balanced. Screen is not even worth mentioning, it's stupid.

[@EclipseAtDusk]

Booyah Bomb is my favorite special on sheer flavor & vibes - it’s one of the most fun, for sure, and when gold Aerospray came out I spent that whole season in turf war spamming booyah bombs

[@charltm]

Personally, I’d move wave into “tweak” tier - simply having a random rhythm that forces you to actually pay attention (plus a hp boost because you should not be able to 1 shot with obj shredder stringer) could help it be less predictable. Alternatively, maybe one could be a triple set (again, random)? (Taking ideas from the A hat in time dlc boss that uses similar waves)

[@charltm]

Also, I don’t like how cooler just became old qr when they changed qr (probably to validate this special existing.). If respawn time was straight up removed, special saver from cooler nerfed, and qr as an ability was buffed (so it still has a use even if you get kills, albeit less - like a change from 4 s to 2.5 s), I’d like it more.

[@SquidSystem]

I feel like Kraken is a special that is worth having just because being a Kraken is so fun and so cool. Kraken Royale is a design issue, and it's underpowered because it has to be, but I prefer it existing, even if it's sort of a "trap playstyle". The balance of it should probably just be turning it into an HP special. Same core design concept, but if you tame a Kraken well enough, you just get to stop their shenanigans immediately.

[@Pre-Omniscient]

Ink vac could get REALLY cool if it ate subs and specials and spat some or all of them back out (with specials it’d fill up faster as to not become broken). It’s a big risk already, but how crazy would it be if you could redirect a booyah bomb? An ultra stamp throw? It’d add some defensive utility.

[@hydrodynamo6558]

I think Kraken and Splash down are fun, but I can see why people dont like it. Also, I really hope they bring back some S2 Specials like baller and bubble blower

[@jordicochegrus657]

My favourite sweatshirt is white with splashes of colour, which is actually very fitting for this game

[@brendanmc.5346]

The color of my favorite sweatshirt is gray, thanks for asking :)

[@yousquiddingme]

I actually really like Super Chump in theory. A support special that allows your team to fight at an advantage (like Armor, Cooler do) but it's an advantage whose impact is reduced as you get better at the game (unlike Armor or Cooler which provide the same effect regardless of how good your opponent is) is cool, especially when being good at the game also makes the special more useful (dodging your opponents shots by maneuvering between the chumps for cover, using their explosions for damage combos, etc). It just needs some changes to make it easier and more useful to be in and fighting with the chumps, like more HP on the chumps, a slightly reduced maximum launch distance and a tighter spread on their landing. As it is now people tend to use it to paint a zone but I would suggest the best way to use the special is to send it somewhere your teammates can take advantage of that extra cover and being surrounded by explosions. Maybe the chumps themselves should just be larger. My point is it's a cool special on a basic design level and just needs to be a bit better at doing what I think it's meant to do.

[@messydesk_animation_studios]

I think a good buff/rework for Wave Breaker is the pulses will temporarily disrupt two of the secondary abilities of anyone on the other team for 15 seconds if they jump over the pulses, and it will also disrupt one of their primary abilities for 15 seconds if the pulse hits them (Instead of just jumping over it) as well as the damage and marking. However, if there are no remaining abilities to disrupt, their movement speed will be decreased by 10% for 15 seconds. Oh, and for abilities like special charge up, special saver, special power up, quick respawn, comeback, ect, they will be disrupted until after the next use of whatever they affect. Idk if the disruption lasts too long or if all abilities should have the same treatment, this is just a concept.

[@TownDarling]

The best thing about Inkjet is that it’s powerful yet balanced at every level of play. For casuals, it’s difficult to aim but still provides a lot of oppressive force on the other team. For experts, the danger of getting splatted goes up. Amazingly designed special that feels good to use no matter what.

[@EclipseKirby]

Zip is the coolest thing in this game I think. At worst, it belongs in "flawed, but too damn cool to not keep" Wavebreaker is a simple special I like, and I think would work well with a small rework. I have two ideas for it. I do not necessarily think both need to be used at once First idea: increase the width of each wave to be about as wide as a Wiper horizontal Slash. Then on top of that, have there be a weak and strong hit. The strong hit is exactly the same size and damage as current Wave. The weak hit is all the extra area I added. It could be about 30 DMG. You'd still be marked for the same amount of time if you get hit by the weak hit. Also update the visuals so it's clear where the added extra area is and differentiate where the strong and weak hits are. The reason for this idea is obvious - make it more difficult to jump over a wave scot free, but not be punished quite as hard if your jump is a little off. Second rework idea is to change it so that if your team shoots your own wave, the time until the next Wave is fired is reduced based on how much your team shoots it. So if you throw a Wave and leave it, it works the same. But if you throw it and shoot it, the waves shoot...say twice as fast. You could even mix it up. Throw the wave and wait for a slow wave, then shoot the bobber so the 2nd wave comes quickly, then leave it for a slow third wave. The idea here is that this mix-up potential will make it harder for the enemy to predict when each wave will come at them

[@_pancakes1734]

i don't think your second rework idea would work. the issue isnt that players memorized the timing, but the wave itself is too slow to be a challenge to jump over once you get past the initial learning curve. i dont think making it faster is a good idea, & the best your rework could do is to try and send the waves with timing such that you land on the second/third wave from jumping over the first.

[@Celeste-ty5pb]

to give wavebreaker more skill expression id combine it with crab tank. bits and pieces of each and a dash of zipcaster now when you deploy wave breaker you're stuck in place. you're riding the wavebreaker on the ball with a cockpit that sticks out the back like crab tank. you can shoot your main gun and throw subs but it takes some of your special gauge like zipcaster does. you jump to make waves, and the radius goes slightly behind you but much further in front of you. also the ball will slowly lift after sending a wave as usual, and depending on how high it is when you send out the next wave, it'll affect that waves radius. for balancing we can give it a little more health since it'll have a weak point now, and remove the initial huge point sensor buff it got. itd make for a rly fun kit paired with splash wall and a mid-range weapon :)

[@Celeste-ty5pb]

also, grey, with cat ears on the hood and a picture if a sleepy cat on the front

[@HeyExclamationPoint]

My favorite sweatshirt is green and his 5 little Pikmin near where a shirt pocket would typically be

[@mooshdragodile]

Honestly i really like purple sweatshirts cause purples my favourite colour, but sometimes i just go with a basic cream one cause it looks nicer with the rest of my fit

[@zephyr5390]

My favorite sweatshirt is tie dye so it has many colors!

[@ggjoshr2720]

Looking at the other specials from a game perspective, I can see why some of them would be preferred not to enter another Splatoon game. Kraken is Kraken, Triple Strike is fun, but not memorable due to backing up to use it properly, and Booyah Bomb being well made as a powerful yet counter-able special.

[@eaa1338]

What they probably could do to make wavebreaker better, is to give it 3 waves per cycle. Enemies have to jump 3 times to avoid 1 cycle instead of 1 time, 1 cycle can splat an enemy, it does more object dmg and it fits with the theme in S3.

[@nilsfooroo9353]

My favorite sweatshirt that I have is navy blue!

[@TTG_JG]

A small Reef Slider buff that would make sense is if they got rid of the neon outlines that make the trajectory way too obvious.

[@RiverOfTheHeart]

Fun vid! Was nice to look over where all the specials are in terms of fun design right now after all the balance patches. Color of my favorite sweatshirt? That would be pink. It's this cozy sweater with a braided pattern.

[@goforgreengaming]

My favorite sweatshirt actually has a fun light green that fades into a white as it travels down the shirt. I really like that fade design and hope to start incorporating it more into my wardrobe

[@DanielP-jq4dj]

I think it’d be cool if slider and splashdown should be combined into one special called slide n splash. Basically, you ride the reefslider, and at any point you can jump off the slider to perform a triple splashdown. I also think instead of the two lines representing the slider’s trail should be replaced with a linear indicator that fades in and out depending on the slider’s location making it less predictable.

[@rockinggamerdude]

I bet Nintendo has a no repeat kit rule, but I want splat bomb in jet again on splatter shot for Splatoon four and a third kit for spider shock would be burst bomb and triple splashdown

[@dewroot5176]

what's spider shock

[@shirokurodewanai]

I absolutely have not played Anarchy, like at all, so mostly I will approach weapon kits by how much paint it can put down during its use. That and I have a single weapon star at the very least on every single kit so as to own everything, so I have tried all of them. That being said, as much as I enjoy more simple area denial or disrupt specials like the Inkstrikes, 5.1, or Chumps; I can really see why you say they're not really doing much for a higher level of play or just have the nuance of better disruption like the Booyah. About Inkjet though, I can understand why you like that special, and its in a great spot for balance right now but its oddly just not one I can find myself liking, at least right now. The very limited number of Inkjet kits has been a small mercy for which I'm grateful for in having gotten weapon stars. I'm just not good at using it and it feels even in regular turf war its too easy to knock down at the ranges where the shots can even hit their marks. The range of the weapon fizzles out where I want to actually shoot it at (further away where I'm not in danger), and then when I get into the range I can use it at I'm just swatted down. I only managed to have fun with the Annaki Nova kit for Inkjet just by relying more on the main weapon and counting the special as a bonus if it does anything but more often I'd find it wasting time when I could paint more with the Nova. Really love your videos Gem, and this channel has been a fantastic resource for me to get better at the game. I'm very content to be getting noticeably better ever since I began taking Splatoon more seriously than I played it back in the second game.

[@salsatuna177]

i want them to bring kraken as a concept but they need to un invincible it, atleast give it like minimum tent HP or like a bit more than that

[@Rootof-2]

I thought cooler was quite cool, maybe toned back a bit balance wise it would be better, granted, but I think that the way that it brings a focus to fighting and actually playing the game with the main weapons is quite good for the game. Sure, the QR and special saver are a bit broken, but the movement and ink efficiency buffs create a focus on fighting with the main weapons that no other special can really do. Maybe I’m weird, but that’s what I think. 😁

[@jasonlavalleur]

What do you think about mode specific special designs? Chumps/booyah are good at ink coverage for zones. As you mentioned, krag is good for clam (and occasionally rain maker). Bubble shines on top of a tower to stretch a dying push just a little further (or revive it with protected super jumps). I don't think every special should have universal utility because that would tend towards more static strategies and game play.

[@Spalfos]

For the record, my favorite sweatshirt is kind of a rusty orange color with navy accents

[@healexhelixvideos4680]

"... Whatever people on social media say."

[@silikeez9641]

Curious to see if your opinion will change at the end of all the balance patches and such considering that this list was made with the current state of the specials in mind.

[@myrothiosthegullible6315]

My favorite sweatshirt is Grey with orange stripes. Great video!

[@s-charm8004]

I think one of the biggest crimes is that kraken hasn’t been on a dulie yet Dodge roll into kraken would be so cool,atleast in my head I also think that maybe if people don’t like the invincibility they make it HP based but it takes no knockback,could be a good trade off

[@dewroot5176]

Forgot my favorite sweatshirt because I had to buy my own personal window air conditioner. Splatoon 2 tentatek splattershot still goes very hard (thanks, Inkjet) S4 Jr. with Splat Bomb and ??? directionless defensive supportive special

[@babywizard9027]

24:00 I dont know if were playing the same game here. Ultra Stamp is basically the same as playing the lottery. By design, its supposed to turn you into a close range powerhouse that is protected from the front, but vulnerable everywhere else, with unwieldy movement and slow speed. The problem is, it doesnt actually protect from the front. Its so-called "armor" is so laughably inconsistent that its actually pathetic. At this point, they need to rip off the band aid and either give it invincibility from the front or just make it an HP special. Either way, even if it was fully invincible from the front, it would still probably be bad, since its so easy to counter. Its a shame, really. Because by design this special has built-in, interesting counterplay, but why would you bother getting behind the Stamp, or forcing it into a 2v1, or doing any kind of "counterplay" when you can just shoot it from the front like a normal player? The design is completely undermined by the fact that its protection is so horrendously awful. It would be a far more fun and interesting special for both sides if it was just invincible from the front.

[@triforcecomet]

I genuinely think wavebreaker is much better in terms of healthy design than you give it credit - it provides a nice quick low impact tracking tool that forces movement to a certain extent. Perhaps it could have waves tighter together to create a faster impact in a team fight - and also release the first wave much quicker once landing. Cooler with less extreme respawn mechanics but still movement buffs would be fine, honest. I don't mean no quick respawn and special saver, but maybe half what it grants now.

[@turtledreaintsht3289]

*Favorite hoodies blue* just want to say crab & wail 5.0 are my personal faves and id LOVE to see either on a splatana wiper / douser dualies😅

[@Pre-Omniscient]

Wave breaker could be made into a sub weapon where you choose when the waves are launched with with R

[@Lerker2000]

My favorite sweatshirt is red

[@nmotschidontwannagivemyrea8932]

Something to keep in mind is that not all specials are designed for the competitive level. Some kits and some specials are probably designed specifically with far more casual players in mind. Splashdown may not have been good at a higher level of play (at least in PvP), but for a child or a newer player, it doesn't take much skill to use and it feels awesome. Also, some of the specials are a lot better or have different use cases in other game modes (hero mode, Salmon Run, Side Order). Also, doesn't Wavebreaker forcing players to jump mean it forces them to reveal their positions?

[@hallwaerd]

I’ve been playing Super Chumps a lot recently, and while it’s refreshing to use a more tactical Special that isn’t focused on pure aggression, they just feel hopelessly underpowered. They’re just too easy to cancel. For other Specials, there are generally 2 ways they can be cancelled. Either you have to splat the user (Inkjet, Trizooka, Ultra Stamp, Zipcaster), or they’re an HP Special that you have to shred (Booyah Bomb, Big Bubbler, Wavebreaker, Crab Tank). The first method is expensive because it’s extremely dangerous. Most Specials like this have access to multiple instant-kill attacks during their duration, so even if the Special is successfully cancelled, the user still gets value or potential value because the canceller had to put themselves in a vulnerable situation. The second method is expensive because it requires a lot of resources. Either it requires multiple members of your team to spend multiple seconds emptying their ink tanks on a single target, or someone on your team has to spend a Special of their own. Do you see how all these Specials can get value whether they are used successfully or not? But with Super Chumps, they’re just too easy to cancel. Almost any weapon can destroy them in 1 or 2 hits, and there’s only 12 of them, so if even 2 people focus on clearing them for a couple seconds, they all be destroyed. Unlike Booyah Bomb, which forces you to look up to shred it, or Crab Tank, which will be shooting you with machine guns and exploding ink lobs while you attack it, or Big Bubbler, which just has a huge amount of HP, clearing Super Chumps is barely an inconvenience. And that’s not to mention how little value they offer you even if they don’t all get destroyed. The paint they put down after exploding can be covered up in seconds by a full team, and while you only need to get hit by 1 inside explosion and 1 outside explosion to get splatted, we’ve established why that’s very unlikely to happen. I think that if Super Chumps is ever going to be worth using for anyone, they either need to make them much more difficult to clear, or much more threatening not to clear, possibly both. No matter what, I think there should definitely be more Chumps. Instead of 12, how about 16, in a slightly wider area, so that tracking them all down is a little more difficult, and slightly increased explosion radius so they still cover the full area. Then either the HP per Chump should be buffed from 60 to 80 so they take 1 or 2 more hits to kill for most weapons, or the damage of the inside Chump explosion should be buffed to a one shot so that it’s much more threatening not to clear them out. Hell, we could even give them marking on the outside explosion if we want (Off topic, but did you know that Wavebreaker is the only Special that can mark people? Whereas there are 3 subs that can mark people: Ink Mine, Point Sensor, and Angle Shooter). If those changes happened, maybe Chumps would be worth using over other displacement/distraction specials.

[@Somefox5]

At first when I saw crabs placement I got a little mad, then I realized my issue with it is much more to do with the stage design rather than the special inherently. Having to flank it as a counter is a great idea, but it only works if your maps have flanks 💀

[@spark734_spl]

In my opinion, tacticooler is kind of necessary evil at this point since it's really the only thing allowing people to go in and fight (yes because of the hallway maps). Without it, the game would feel a lot more like Splatoon 2, meaning more bomb and special spam.

[@bagthecadran]

The color of my favorite sweatshirt is rainbow (color block) :D kinda like the Motley Hoodless and Rugby Kings in splatoon but really comfy

[@J0514H_K]

My favorite sweatshirt is black with a white paisley design

[@ThatOneVoiceInMyHead]

I thought this was more of a, "what special is COOL?" Either way, nice video. I think Reefslider and Kraken Royale are really cool in theory. Another Anime reference with the Akira Bike slide with Reefslide, and I just really like the design of the Krakens. Otherwise, pretty on the money.

[@carolinarente5133]

I only have one sweatshirt and it's completely black. Algorithm boost initiate.

[@jacobover3933]

Reefslider should let your turn the path or get off early for a debuffed variant. Something needs done, while it ain't ass it could be better

[@and_s3lkie]

as a whole I really want like a practise room where specials are always active would be so nice. zip - slower speed, make it fall slower in the air so that you have more time to aim, more armour, and when you're splatted by a person maybe you respawn faster or return to your cast spot

[@ReitheOffbeatOtaku]

I feel like Tacticooler was placed too low; when compared with the tweaks suggested for Trizooka, I feel like either getting rid of Cooler’s respawn timer buff or replacing it with something else would be a much easier tweak to implement, but that idea seemingly wasn’t considered. Ultimately you could suggest to move basically any of the specials in the bottom tier up because what constitutes a fundamental flaw vs a fixable one can be surprisingly subjective, but imo Cooler felt like the most egregious placement of the bunch. Anyway, the color of my favorite sweater, or at least my most-used sweater is gray with black sleeves.

[@turtlefalcon5546]

Hi Gem. Nice video. My favorite sweatshirt is black. Hopefully that will boost the algorithm

[@phoenixkittyq122]

As a Salmon Run player, Wave Breaker must be kept for us, at least. It's our favorite. ❤

[@vonbob5529]

Specials and bombs should be overpowering like in Splatoon 1 with the DEF ability being the counter.

[@Kay-ql2wl]

Would love to see this same video for splatoon 1 and 2 honestly

[@TTG_JG]

Unrelated to Specials but anyone here remember the Bomb Sniffer Ability? I rarely used it but it was a little cool sometimes and I wouldn't mind seeing it come back.

[@LVJYnepeta]

I think a good wavebreaker buff is to add either one or both of the following effects: Option A -Everytime the wavebreaker creates a wave, it shortens the time until it creates another. This allows the wavebreaker to be more powerful by having it create waves faster as it stays out longer, and emphasises the need to destroy it quickly Option B: everytime the wavebreaker ball does it little leap that creates the waves, all waves currently active "hop" up, creating a sort of pattern one needs to avoid so as to not jump when it jumps, or stay low when it stays low

[@zenith3594]

My favorite hoodie is black with grey sleeves

[@DanielP-jq4dj]

I think zooka should fire three direct arcing shots, and the recoil would result in each one arcing higher than the previous.

[@peter7596]

Wave breaker could just be reworked to be like the big shot cannon cuz we all know that shit is effective 😭

[@lemonquacklol]

They should give Reefslider an alternate explosion that acts as a “tidal wave” outside of the initial blow that provides value for the special. It paints, eats attacks, and does 40 damage to combo with the indirect damage from the base explosion. It gets smaller as it leaves the source of where it was detonated, and you’re still completely vulnerable from the top. This means that the end lag will still be a disadvantage, but the wave will make it much more doable

[@SJrad]

Tacticooler is a please keep but nerf. Like 75% or 80% special saver and 1-2 additional seconds of respawn time. Fundamentally the same but not as powerful. Killer wail 5.1 and tenta missiles are fundamentally flawed because of global range. Make them too strong and they are unfun to play against.

[@sleepymoss]

I've got this really cool hoodie that's half pastel blue, half pastel purple and the hood and pocket are green :))

[@devinsweet983]

I love super chumps I just wish they were useful enough to have an impact. I like the balance of you. Don't have a lot of impact on the starting state of the special, but it creates an environment where you can move forward more easily, but it's way too weak at this point to have a significant impact

[@nairu807]

Maroon Velvet sweat shirts are a banger color

[@JakoBpyroTech]

Personally I would swap Tri-Zooka and Tri-Strike, and then rework Tri-Strike by giving it access to Swim Form (with Tri-Zooka's speed penalty) or your Main Weapon, and then lowering the damage closer to what it started as.

[@egreaterthan753]

i think kracken is super funny. is it good? not really. i just think its funny to turn into a big squid and chase people