Best Specials in Splatoon 3 – All Special Weapons, Ranked

Specials in Splatoon 3 can turn the tide of battle. If used at the right time, you can easily wipe out an entire enemy team or empower your allies to take over a match. However, everyone has a super that they prefer over the others. Here’s every special in Splatoon 3, organized by a series of tiers.

Related: How Anarchy Battles works in Splatoon 3 – Ranked mode explained

All specials in Splatoon 3 sorted by rank

S level

• Booyah Bomb
  • Charge up a Dragon Ball Z-like explosion by jumping in the air and pressing the Booyah D-Pad button. When you release it, a giant ball of ink will explode on the playing field. Not only is this a really cool move, it’s easy to use and deals tons of damage. Any enemies inside can expect to be sent back to spawn.
• reef glider
  • Jump on an inflatable shark, run forward and explode it on a track. While this can drive you to your death on ledges, we love the speed and ease of use of this special and think you should definitely give it a try.
• zipcaster
  • You get a suit that allows you to grab onto walls and floors and pull right up to them. During this time, you still have your main weapon, so you can use that to hit enemies. When it ends, jump back to where you first activated it. It will take a little getting used to, but it’s worth it.

A step

• Big bubbler
  • Creates a dome that prevents projectile ink from entering. However, enemies can enter the dome, destroying the device and damaging you. Other than that, it’s the best defensive element in the game.
• inkjet
  • Float through the air and fire a launcher at enemies on the ground. You can go a little higher, but not by much. While the Inkjet moves slowly and leaves you open to enemy fire, it can be difficult to hit people in the air, so you should be fine for the most part.
• ink sucker
  • Pull out a vacuum to suck up enemy ink and shoot them out as a big explosive bullet. This can help clear enemy territory and give you a massive weapon to use, but it takes a lot of time to use. Don’t leave anyone behind.
• tactical cooler
  • Places a mini-fridge that provides four cans of soda for you and your teammates to grab one each. Drinking it will give you a temporary general movement boost, and if you get splashed during that time, it will immediately respawn. It can be a useful tool, but your teammates need to be around to get the most out of it.
• Triple ink strike
  • They throw out three flares that decide where an ink swirl appears. This is really easy and quick to use, and pretty effective when enemies are close to each other. Just treat them like grenades.

B level

• crab tray
  • Take control of a running tank that has heavy fire from its front but is slow moving and vulnerable to flank damage. You can roll it into a ball to move faster and protect yourself, but you’re wasting valuable time by doing so. It’s an easy-to-understand special, but for us it’s very much in the middle.
• Killer Howl 5.1
  • Lock on enemies with lasers that follow your enemies and disrupt them so you can hit them with your main weapon. It’s easy to use and an early favorite in the game for its ease of use, but it can be slow and a bit disappointing.
• Tenta Missiles
  • Pull out a rocket launcher that locks onto enemies and fires a barrage at them. This is a very simple special that’s easy to use and can do some pretty serious damage.
• Ultra stamp
  • You hold a hammer and repeatedly hit the ground to move forward. Enemies in your path have little hope of escaping, but anyone to your side or behind you has a slight chance of tripping you.

C level

• ink storm
  • Ejects a device that causes ink to slowly rain down in that area. Although it covers a large area, precipitation is very slow, and the cloud is generally easily dodged. It’s really only good for mainly covering an area you don’t want to go to.
• Trizooka
  • Pulls out a launcher that has three shots of rotating inkblots that deal a ton of ink damage on direct hits. You’ll move fairly slowly while wearing it and are a fairly easy target, so make sure you get those shots off sooner rather than later.
• breakwater
  • You place a device that emits some shockwaves that reveal and damage enemies. It’s easy to use and can be deadly to unsuspecting opponents, but dodging the waves is as easy as jumping a slow line.