The best Specials in Splatoon 3 – All special weapons, ranked

Specials in Splatoon 3 can end up turning the tide in battle. When used at the right time, you can easily wipe away an entire enemy team or empower your allies to take over a match. Everyone has a super that they like over the others, though. Here is every special in Splatoon 3, ranked on a set of tiers.

Related: How Anarchy Battles work in Splatoon 3 – ranked mode explained

Every special in Splatoon 3 ranked by tier

S tier

• Booyah Bomb
  • This has you charge up a Dragon Ball Z-esque blast by jumping into the air and mashing the Booyah d-pad button. When you unleash it, a massive ball of ink explodes on the field. This is not only a really cool move to watch, but it’s easy to use and deals tons of damage. Any enemies inside can expect to be sent back to spawn.
• Reefslider
  • This has you jump on an inflatable shark, run forward, and blow it up on a track. While this can send you to your death around ledges, we love this special’s speed and ease of use and think it should definitely be one you consider using.
• Zipcaster
  • You gain a suit that lets you grapple onto walls and floors and pulls you directly to them. You still have your main weapon during this time, so you can use this to get the drop on enemies. When it ends, you leap back to where you first activated it. It will take a little getting used to, but it is worth the effort.

A tier

• Big Bubbler
  • Creates a dome that blocks projectile ink from coming within. However, enemies can enter the dome, destroy the device, and damage you. That being said, it is the best defensive item in the game.
• Inkjet
  • Let’s you be propelled through the air and fire a launcher towards enemies on the ground. You can slightly go higher, but not much. While the Inkjet moves slowly and leaves you in the open for enemy fire, it can be difficult to hit people in the air, so you should be fine in most cases.
• Ink Vac
  • Pull out a vacuum to suck up enemy ink and launch it out as a large explosive ball. This can help remove enemy territory and give you a massive weapon to use, but it does take a lot of time to use. Don’t let anyone get behind you.
• Tacticooler
  • Places a mini fridge that deploys four cans of soda that you and your team members can each grab one of. When you drink it, you momentarily will get an overall movement boost, and if you get splatted during this time will instantly respawn. It can be a useful tool, but your teammates need to be within your vicinity to get the most use out of it.
• Triple Inkstrike
  • You throw out three beacons that decide where a vortex of ink will appear. This is really easy and fast to use and pretty effective when enemies are close to each other. Just treat them like grenades.

B tier

• Crab Tank
  • Take control of a walking tank that has heavy fire out of its front but is slow-moving and susceptible to flanking damage. You can roll it up into a ball to move it faster and protect yourself, but you’re wasting precious time with it doing this. It is an easy special to understand, but it’s very middle of the pack for us.
• Killer Wail 5.1
  • Lock onto enemies with lasers that follow and disrupt your enemies, allowing you to 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 kind of underwhelming.
• Tenta Missiles
  • Pull out a missile launcher that locks onto enemies and fires a barrage onto them. This is a very easy special to get good use out of and can deal pretty significant damage.
• Ultra Stamp
  • You hold a hammer and repeatedly slam it on the ground, moving forward. Enemies in your path have little hope of escaping, but anyone to the side or behind you has an easy shot at taking you down.

C tier

• Ink Storm
  • Throws out a device that causes ink to rain slowly in that area. While it covers a large area, the rainfall is very slow, and the cloud is easy to dodge in general. It’s really only good for mostly covering an area you don’t want to go to.
• Trizooka
  • Pulls out a launcher that has three shots of rotating splotches of ink that deal a ton of ink damage on direct hits. You move pretty slowly while carrying it and are a pretty easy target, so be sure to get those shots off sooner rather than later.
• Wave Breaker
  • You place a device that sends out a few shockwaves that reveal and damage enemies. It’s easy to use and can be lethal to unaware opponents, but dodging the waves is as easy as jumping over a slow line.