Salmon Run Next Wave

Salmon Run Next Wave is a co-op multiplayer mode in for up to four players. It is the sequel to Salmon Run in and was revealed on 9 February 2022 during a Nintendo Direct.

Description
Like in Splatoon 2, each Salmon Run shift consists of three waves; to complete each wave, players must collect Golden Eggs by defeating Boss Salmonids and depositing them at the egg basket to reach a given quota. Unless otherwise noted, each Boss Salmonid yields three Golden Eggs when splatted. If they are not picked up, a Snatcher will fly over after a few seconds to retrieve them.

Each player can carry only one Golden Egg at a time. While carrying a Golden Egg, players can press or  to perform an Egg Throw, launching the Golden Egg in an arc similar to thrown bombs. This requires the same amount of ink as a Splat Bomb to perform, but not as much ink is actually used and there is no ink-recovery lag. Performing the Egg Throw also causes a small explosion of ink around the player that deals 100 damage to Salmonids and inks a small area around the player.

If the egg is thrown directly into the egg basket, it is collected: otherwise, it remains on the ground where it lands and does not roll. Throwing a Golden Egg into the water results in it bouncing back to where it was thrown from; if it hits a wall or a Salmonid, it is deflected and changes its trajectory. Any player may pick up a Golden Egg as normal after it has been thrown.

The quota for each of the three waves depends on the number of players present and their ranks. If the quota is not filled before the wave timer ends or the team is wiped out, their shift is terminated. After a shift ends, players are rewarded Grizzco Points based on the amount of Power Eggs and Golden Eggs collected, which can be exchanged for bonuses. All players' ranks increase by 20 points after clearing a shift, unless they are playing with a friend with a lower job title than themselves (note that Profreshionals can gain points with Eggsecutive VPs since version ). Similarly, failing a shift reduces all participants' ranks by between 0 and 20 points based on the number of waves cleared (-20 points on the first wave, -10 on the second, and 0 on the third; the deduction is halved if at least one teammate has disconnected). Thus, failing a shift on wave 3 does not change participants' ranks.

The hazard level of a shift determines both the difficulty of the shift, such as how many bosses spawn in a time period, and determines the odds of getting silver or gold scales from an Xtrawave encounter. The hazard level is determined by a formula using the combined rank of all players in the shift. The hazard level for a completed shift can be checked by opening the Recent Jobs list from the menu in Grizzco or via SplatNet 3 (note that the display is rounded to the nearest integer but not internally), which can be used to estimate what the hazard level of the next shift will be. The maximum hazard level possible is 333%, which can only occur for a team whose ranks are all Eggsecutive VP with an average of 865 rank points.

Equipment for collecting eggs is provided by Grizzco, including a Grizzco uniform and a lifesaver, as well as a different supplied main weapon for each wave and two uses of a single special weapon for each shift. When players are splatted, their lifesaver appears at their last position and a teammate can revive them by inking them. Ink level and special weapon uses are displayed visually, with the lifesaver serving as an ink tank with markings, and the player's two specials appearing as packets on their headgear. Additionally, a notification saying "One player left!" now appears when only 1 player is still alive.

Known Occurrences return from Splatoon 2, with new ones being added, such as Mudmouth Eruptions and Giant Tornado. Additionally, an event called Big Run, where Salmonids invade inhabited cities, happen once every few months and take place on battle stages. There are also occasional Eggstra Work shifts, being 5 waves long on a fixed job scenario, with the aim being to retrieve as many Golden Eggs as possible.

The difficulty of Salmon Run Next Wave is considerably higher than Salmon Run in Splatoon 2, with the hazard level, quota, and spawn rates increasing drastically, partially due to the ability to throw Golden Eggs, and the new mobility provided by moves such as Squid Surging and Squid Rolling. Because of this, the game can begin to slow at higher levels unless players maintain control of the bosses. Additionally, players no longer reset to 400 upon the termination of a rotation, instead resetting back to 40, making the time taken to reach max hazard level and EVP 999 much longer.

Xtrawave
Occasionally, after a successful third wave, an Xtrawave occurs, during which a large King Salmonid and multiple other Boss Salmonids appear. The primary objective is not to deposit eggs but to defeat the King Salmonid. During this wave, players are supplied with egg cannons; these convert Golden Eggs into powerful projectiles that deal 800 damage each and do not consume ink, but break on contact (even if they hit the ground). The egg cannon can be used to splat all Lesser Salmonids and most regular Boss Salmonids in one shot by hitting their weak point (if applicable), and they are largely used to damage the King Salmonid. If the player is holding an egg, a special weapon-esque notification encourages them to attack the King Salmonid with it. Players have 100 seconds to defeat the King Salmonid, and the wave ends prematurely if no players remain alive. If players fail to defeat the King Salmonid, the shift is still considered cleared.

If an Xtrawave is due to occur, the victory jingle after wave 3 will be slightly distorted, and the final triumphant horn will be immediately followed by a siren and a large, orange notification saying "EMERGENCY!". This is then followed by a short cutscene of the King Salmonid emerging from the water and roaring. The crew members then Super Jump back to the start point, or a unique lowered start point if the third wave was low tide, and the text "XTRAWAVE" will appear as they land. The Xtrawave also takes place with a unique red sky, rather than the normal orange sky or the night environment used for most Known Occurrences, and will use the same tide level as the previous wave (i.e. if wave 3 took place at high tide, the Xtrawave will too).

An Xtrawave is guaranteed to occur when the Salmometer, a Cohozuna-shaped meter appearing below the player's rank bar while they're in the Grizzco Lobby, is full for every player in the group. Otherwise, the chance of an Xtrawave occurring scales based on the total value. The meter fills after every shift, whether successful or not, and empties for everyone in the party when the special wave occurs. The Salmometer also resets between different rotations. Until wave 3 is complete, there is no way of knowing whether or not a shift will result in an Xtrawave, unless one is aware of the Salmometer levels of their teammates.

Fish scales
Damaging the King Salmonid during an Xtrawave rewards the player with fish scales, a precious resource that has three types: bronze, silver, gold; the less common varieties of which are associated with higher hazard levels. Fish scales can be exchanged for Splashtag banners, locker room items, and Grizzco-approved alternate work outfits.

The Xtrawave grants the player scales ranging from 2 to 13; two for entering the Xtrawave, one for every 12.5% damage the team dealt to the King Salmonid (a maximum of eight for a victory), and one for every ten seconds remaining on the clock when the King Salmonid is defeated (a maximum three for 30 seconds or more left).

Getting silver and gold scales is random, with the chance percentage correlates to the hazard level using the formula  for silver and   for gold, where H stands for hazard level percentage. At max hazard level (333%), there is a 20% chance per scale to be silver, and a 3% chance per scale to be gold. The list below shows some calculated examples.

Big Run
Big Runs are a special event where Salmonids invade the city, causing a multiplayer stage to become a temporary Salmon Run stage. Players can then fight against the invading Salmonids and collect their Golden Eggs on the reworked stage. Big Runs share similarities to Splatfests, as they are announced one week in advance, last for 48 hours, and feature final results with rewards for participating players.

Eggstra Work
Eggstra Work is a special event involving shifts lasting 5 waves, on a fixed job scenario, with the aim being to score as many golden eggs as possible. Similarly to Big Runs, players are awarded prizes after the end of the Eggstra Work based on their performance relative to the playerbase at large. Unlike Big Runs, these run concurrently with the regular Salmon Run stage rotations, allowing players who do not wish to participate/are unable to participate in the Eggstra Work to still play regular Salmon Run.

Rotations
Unlike in Splatoon 2, Grizzco Industries is almost always open for business - this includes during Splatfests. The only exception is during server maintenance, during which all multiplayer services are disabled.

Salmon Run rotations usually change every day-and-two-thirds (1 day 16 hours, or 40 hours), at 00:00, 16:00, and 08:00 UTC, in order and repeating. The exception to this is Big Run, which lasts 48 hours and often causes the previous rotation to end earlier or later.

Big Run rotations work differently. These rotations last for 48 hours (two full days), presumably always starting (and then ending) at 0:00 UTC. It appears that a Big Run will replace the Splatfest for the month in which they occur and that they only happen once per season (with the exception of Drizzle Season 2023). Any player can play in a Big Run, regardless of rank. Finally, unlike most regular rotations, Big Runs are publicly announced in-game a few days in advance of occurrence. After a Big Run ends, the normal rotation schedule resumes immediately.

Loaned weapons
Almost all main weapons are usable in Salmon Run Next Wave, with the exceptions being the Splatterscope and the E-liter 4K Scope. The damage dealt by main weapons is adjusted for Salmon Run when compared to other multiplayer modes, especially for charging weapons or weapons with slow firing rates - for example, the Splat Roller deals 200 damage rather than the usual 150 with a horizontal flick, while the Heavy Splatling and Nautilus 47 are both buffed to deal 35 damage per shot when fully-charged. The dummies in the Salmon Run waiting area reflect these changes to damage scaling.

Like in Splatoon 2, the only sub weapon available in Salmon Run Next Wave is the Splat Bomb.

Unlike in Splatoon 2, there are more than four special weapons available in Salmon Run Next Wave. Special weapons are loaned out at random at the beginning of each shift, do not change between waves, and are unaffected by rotations. Since version, a team will always be assigned at least two “long-range” specials (marked with a ‡ in the list below). The available special weapons are:


 * (since version 6.0.0)
 * (since version 6.0.0)
 * (since version 6.0.0)
 * (since version 6.0.0)
 * (since version 6.0.0)
 * (since version 6.0.0)
 * (since version 6.0.0)
 * (since version 6.0.0)
 * (since version 6.0.0)

Each player receives two of their assigned special to use during the regular waves. If an Xtrawave occurs, all players are given one use of their special for that wave. Any specials that go unused in the regular waves cannot be carried forward to the Xtrawave.

Big Run stages
Big Run is an occasional event in Salmon Run Next Wave, in which the Salmonids invade the Splatlands and/or Inkopolis. Each time a Big Run occurs, the Salmonids invade one particular multiplayer stage, changing its layout and flooding it with water for the duration of the event.

Wildcard rotation
Wildcard rotations return in Salmon Run Next Wave, the first started on 2022-10-01 at 16:00 (UTC). All types of wildcard rotations from Splatoon 2 return, including all-wildcard rotations, single wildcard rotations, in which only one of the four weapons is random, and rare-only rotations.

During an all-wildcard rotation, or a rare-only rotation, the only weapon available in the testing range is the Splattershot. After a shift ends, players are still equipped with the weapon they ended the shift with in the testing range, but it is replaced with the Splattershot when the bihourly multiplayer stage rotation happens, or when they interact with the weapon-equipping container. During single-wildcard rotations, players may only equip the non-wildcard weapons in the testing range.

Grizzco-brand weapons return for wildcard rotations and three new weapons, the Grizzco Stringer, Grizzco Splatana, and Grizzco Dualies, have been added.

For a history of wildcard rotations, see Salmon Run Next Wave data.

Events
There are nine different events in Salmon Run Next Wave, with some having variants. Seven of the events return from Salmon Run in Splatoon 2.


 * Water Levels (high and low tides)
 * Rush
 * Fog
 * The Griller
 * Cohock Charge
 * Goldie Seeking
 * The Mothership
 * Mudmouth Eruptions
 * Giant Tornado

Job scenario
A feature added in allows saving and replaying job scenarios. It allows players to replay a previous Salmon Run shift. Job scenarios can be accessed from the Grizzco Terminal, and can be shared via codes. These job scenarios can also be viewed from Splatnet 3. Big Run job scenarios cannot be saved. Unlike Battle Replays, the players' inputs are not saved. Due to this, it is not possible to watch a replay of the original shift. Players must play the job scenarios using Private Jobs.

Job Title
"The Profreshional title has been usurped by Eggsecutive VP, providing a shining new rung on the corporate ladder. Your earning power will increase with a higher title, but the job sites will get more intense too.

We've even recorded a 333% increase in hazard level at the sites where Eggsecutive VPs work."

- Squid Research Lab

All job titles from Splatoon 2 return. A new title, Eggsecutive VP, has been added following the Profreshional title. At Eggsecutive VP, the pay grade is calculated as. The highest possible pay grade is ×3.25 at Eggsecutive VP 950 - 999.

IDV stands for internal difficulty value and is how the game keeps track of the difficulty without using job titles and rank points. One IDV is worth 0.2% hazard level, which is capped at 1665 for Eggsecutive VP 865 - 999, equivalent to hazard level 333%.

As in Splatoon 2, titles are retained across Salmon Run rotations, but the point ranges are reset to the 40-point mark within the player's current title, including the new Eggsecutive VP title. Beginning in version 6.0.0, players who have previously earned badges on a particular stage will start new rotations at a higher level within Eggsecutive VP:


 * Bronze (for reaching EVP 400): reset to 200
 * Silver (for reaching EVP 600): reset to 300
 * Gold (for reaching EVP 999): reset to 400

At ranks Go-Getter and above, it is possible to manually demote oneself by pressing in the menu of the Grizzco Lobby.

Rewards
Completion of a round of Salmon Run Next Wave grants players Grizzco Points, which they can redeem at the exchange desk inside Grizzco Industries for bonuses. The points earned after any run are calculated with the formula, where G is the pay grade number after any raises or penalties, E is the number of Golden Eggs collected, P is the number of Power Eggs collected, and C is 1 upon completing all 3 rounds successfully, 2 upon successfully defeating the King Salmonid, otherwise 0. (However, due to a bug as of Version, C is equal to 2 even if losing to the King Salmonid.) All counts are rounded down to the nearest integer. Players also earn Catalog Points which increase their catalog level (300 points per wave cleared, including if the Xtrawave is cleared). If the player participates in an Xtrawave and damages the King Salmonid, they receive fish scales.

Every 100 Grizzco Points (200/400 after reaching 1200/4000 points in a rotation, or 2400/5200 for a Big Run rotation) earns the player one bonus "capsule", which come in different colors representing the type of the contents, or a piece of gear. The main ability of this item is randomly determined when the bonus is redeemed. It usually has up to three randomly filled secondary gear ability slots. If the player receives gear they already have, they can either replace the old gear with the new version or receive ability chunks (equal to the filled slots) instead.

Normal, non-superbonus capsules have a 50% chance of providing a poor reward, a 40% chance of providing a good reward, and a 10% chance of providing an excellent reward. At 600 and 1200 points, the player earns a superbonus, which always contains the 10% chance reward. The type of superbonus capsule is fixed for the length of a rotation. After 1200 points, the player only earns the current gear or pink capsules until the rotation ends. During a Big Run, all types of rewards can appear up to 2400 points, with additional superbonuses at 1800 and 2400. The capsules of the rewards until the second superbonus are different for every player.

Pink capsules contain gear aside from the one currently in rotation. During the first gear rotation, when the Bream-Brim Cap was the only gear piece available, pink capsules did not appear as a reward.

The exchange desk stores only a maximum of 99 capsules. Each additional capsule that the player receives without collecting the previous rewards will be lost.

Gear
Gear by Grizzco Industries is obtained from Salmon Run bonus rewards. When obtained, each gear reward has random initial star power and abilities. The star power is initialized from 0 to 2 stars with all secondary ability slots filled, while the initial primary ability cannot be any primary-exclusive one. If the player receives gear they already have, they can either replace the old gear with the new version or exchange the new gear for ability chunks (equal to the secondary abilities, but not the primary ability) instead. A new piece of gear is added each month, similar to Splatoon 2.

Shop
By defeating or damaging a King Salmonid, players are rewarded with Fish scales that they can use to purchase work suits, gear, decorations, stickers, or banners. Most items are locked by default, however, the rest are unlocked by spending more scales. The first set of unlockable items requires spending at least and  to unlock, while the rest of the items requires spending at least a total of, , and .

Changes from Salmon Run in Splatoon 2
There are multiple changes between Salmon Run Next Wave and Salmon Run, including:


 * The Test Range serves as the lobby and shop where rewards are given and fish scales can be traded, as well as the current weapons available can be tested.
 * The training area now allows players to call any Boss Salmonid they want to practice on, instead of going through a specific order.
 * Players can now choose the gear they wear during Salmon Run and set up private matches between friends outside of the Shoal.
 * Matches can no longer start with fewer than four players. Instead, the player must try again to find players if matching takes longer than 160 seconds.
 * In matches, the host of the room is not always the player who creates it, instead being the player who has the fastest and most stable network.
 * Players have the ability to throw Golden Eggs to reach their quota more easily, with the quotas increasing in number to compensate.
 * The highest rank is no longer Profreshional, instead, it is Eggsecutive VP, which is four ranks greater.
 * Players no longer reset to a maximum of 400 rank points between rotations, instead resetting to 40 every time.
 * The moon is no longer visible during Known Occurrences, and the sky becomes considerably darker as a result.
 * The Mothership now makes splashes when it appears from and re-enters the water.
 * Goldie Seeking has been greatly altered, with Lesser Salmonids no longer spawning from incorrect Gushers. Instead, they spawn constantly from the shore in smaller numbers, as well as from the Gusher that the Goldie is inside of, making these waves considerably easier.
 * Fishing Frenzy no longer plays during the Mothership and Goldie Seeking, instead being replaced by Frothy Waters.
 * Scoped chargers can no longer appear as weapons in rotations, nor be given during wildcard rotations.
 * An Xtrawave can sometimes occur after a shift, containing a boss fight with a King Salmonid and providing the player with fish scales once it is damaged and the shift is over.
 * Four new Boss Salmonids can appear: Fish Sticks, Big Shots, Flipper-Floppers, and Slammin' Lids.
 * Steelhead explosions are now much larger and deal more damage, as well as inking a larger area.
 * Flyfish behaviour is now constant once weakened regardless of which basket was damaged, the remaining one now only targets the closest player.
 * Two new Known Occurrences can occur: Mudmouth Eruptions and Giant Tornadoes.
 * Enemies can now use the propeller lifts on Marooner's Bay to reach the basket faster if a targeted player lifts it up for them.
 * Salmonid pathing is no longer bound by nodes, making Lesser Salmonids and Goldie movement much more direct. When combined with the increased damage and knockback from lessers, this makes lessers much more dangerous than in Splatoon 2.
 * Snatchers now fly, can carry up to eight Golden Eggs, and escape faster than their grounded counterparts from the prior game.
 * The overall difficulty peak is greater, having more bosses, higher quotas, and a higher hazard level than the previous game. This in turn causes gameplay to slow at higher levels if players do not manage bosses correctly.
 * Many of the lines from Mr Grizz, especially those which describe known occurrences, have changed, and notably have a friendlier tone than in the previous game.

Quotes
"SRL HR dept. here. No, it's not another mandatory seminar about conserving printer toner. Rather, we're confirming that Salmon Run is available 24/7 in the game! That means you can work nonstop to climb the corporate salmon ladder - maybe all the way to Eggsecutive VP!

Now, at the end of the day, it's all about that paycheck. And we think Salmon Run workers are handsomely rewarded! Diligent employees who have collected fish scales can trade them in for bonus items like designer work suits. As always, we support a healthy work-splat balance."

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

"Salmon Run is open for business 24/7 in #Splatoon3, and you can team up with friends in private lobbies too! If you defeat the big 'ol King Salmonid, you may earn some rare fish scales that can be exchanged for snazzier uniforms."

- @NintendoEurope on Twitter

Trivia

 * The Salmometer is internally referred to as "smell". This, as well as wording in the Employee Handbook, may imply that the Salmometer is a metaphor for the King Salmonid gradually learning the scent of the crew members as they keep returning to the same location.

Salmon Run Next Wave pay grades

 * Pay grade names


 * Pay grade names (SplatNet 3)