Splatoon 3 weapons: Best choices for every weapon type
Do you know your splatlings from your splatanas?
Choosing your weapon in Splatoon 3 makes a bigger difference than in most shooters, with a diverse array of types that can shoot, splat and slosh paint in a surprising number of ways.
It's therefore essential that you choose a weapon type that suits you and, of course, that you choose the best weapon of that type.
With the release of Splatoon 3, there's now quite the number and variety of weapon types. We'll outline them all below and give our recommendations on how best to splat the competition.
If you want to splat in style, don't forget to check out the Nintendo Switch OLED Splatoon 3 Edition - such a colourful game is ideal for an OLED screen!
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Shooter
Shooters are a great all-around weapon type that make choosing a standout difficult. The Splattershot Jr and Splattershot are both solid picks - particularly for beginners - but they're just edged out by the N'Zap '85.
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Not only does it have the novelty of being modelled after the classic NES Zapper, but the retro shooter has a little more oomph in its fire rate rather than trying to be the jack of all trades.
The N'Zap '85 has a decent range too for such a light gun, and comes with great special weapons also - the Tacticooler and Suction Bombs are ideal for larger scale encounters.
Roller
Incorporating melee into Nintendo's shooter franchise, the rollers have become popular for their ink coverage and are infuriating if you take one on up close. It's hard to go wrong with a roller if you prefer short-range encounters, but the Flingza Roller is our weapon of choice largely due to its superior range, unique vertical swing and fast handling.
It will take some practice if you're more accustomed to the more traditional ranged shooters, but the Flingza Roller is versatile when it comes to both rolling, throwing ink and melee attacks.
Charger
The resident snipers of the Splatoon universe, chargers are naturally poor at coverage but can be extremely effective for eliminations if you can get over the high skill threshold. The biggest weakness of the chargers, however, is easily the charging period that leaves you vulnerable, which is somewhat mitigated by the Bamboozler 14 MK1.
You'll lose the one-shot splat ability but you'll still keep the effective range, and it is well complimented by the Autobomb which can finish opponents off.
Slosher
Perhaps not the best choice for coverage, sloshers can nonetheless be deadly weapons in the right hands. While the Tri-slosher is great for coverage and the Sloshing Machine has a devastating amount of power, the Slosher is your best all-around choice here.
Other weapons require a high amount of accuracy or make big sacrifices in certain areas, so unless your playstyle is specifically suited to the other options, the Slosher will remain the best choice for most from the start.
Splatlings
You'll instantly know if a splatling appeals to you - this Gatling gun-esque weapon is an absolute machine when it comes to sending ink out. In terms of raw power, it's hard to beat the Heavy Splatling. With incredible damage, wide range and one of the best ink coverage stats in the game, the Heavy Splatling lets everyone live out their action movie fantasy.
You'll have to compensate for the decreased manoeuvrability, but good luck to anyone who tries to get close to you.
Dualies
For the run-and-gunners, dualies give you the ability to dodge roll which is perfect for getting in and out of battles. The Dapple Dualies are particularly suited to this playstyle, with a high fire rate, quick dodge rolling abilities and powerful damage that can splat in three hits.
For general fast mobility and to make the most of the dualies weapon type, the Dapple Dualies are hard to beat.
Brellas
First introduced in Splatoon 2, the brellas are an imaginative weapon class allowing users to shield themselves from enemy fire. While the other two brellas give the option to fire this shield off into opponents, the Undercover Brella's ability to fire with its shield up will be the bane of every enemy you meet.
You'll have to fire a bit longer to make up for the lighter damage, but this should easily be achieved by the time your opponents realise.
Blaster
The powerful blasters are great for anyone going after multi-eliminations, though their slow fire rate comes with a risk. While you may wish to mitigate that risk with the Rapid Blaster, to truly make use of a blaster's power we recommend the Range Blaster. As the name suggests, this will take the power of the blaster and transform it into a mid-range weapon, which can be devastating in the right hands.
You'll have to compensate for the fire rate, but this is well worth being able to one-shot enemies from a reasonable distance - and is complimented well by specials including the Suction Bomb and Wave Breaker.
Brushes
Brushes act as a counterpart to rollers, trading their spread for increased speed.
You're essentially choosing between speed and damage when it comes to the two brushes. While the Octobrush does have a greater range and power, we'd recommend the Inkbrush for its unique manoeuvrability, which is essential in close-quarters encounters.
Stringers
New to Splatoon 3, the Stringers are essentially crossbows with reasonable damage and coverage, and can even be shot vertically. While the REEF-LUX 450 has a better fire rate, the Tri-Stringer is undoubtedly the better weapon with a medium-to-long range as well as decent ink coverage.
However, it's the special weapon combination that can make this weapon an absolute beast. The Killer Wail 5.1 throws out six speakers that target opponents, which in addition to the Tri-Stringer's three shots can cover an unprecedented amount of the battlefield.
Splatanas
The other new Splatoon 3 weapon, Splatanas, can be tricky to use, but if you master their horizontal and vertical attacks you can deal decent damage up close. The Splatana Stamper cuts too much speed for a short-range weapon, so you'll be better off going for the Splatana Wiper. Its manoeuvrability allows for great ambushes, especially with the charged vertical swing.
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