Rainmaker

Rainmaker is a Ranked Battle mode in Splatoon that was announced in the Splatoon Direct on May 7, 2015 and was added on August 14th at 7pm PT.

History
Rainmaker was first announced in the Splatoon Direct on May 7, 2015. However, its description was extremely vague and only a picture of the Rainmaker itself was released. The weapon was later shown in action in a Japanese Splatoon commercial, released in late July 2015. Months before the mode was released, its general gameplay description was leaked. Rainmaker was then released on August 14, 2015.

Description
"In Rainmaker, both teams compete to snag the Rainmaker. Once you've got it, the goal is to carry it into the other team's base! So as soon as the battle begins, grab that Rainmaker! It's guarded by a shield, though, so you'll need to bust it out first. Once you snag it, head for the other team's base. And be quick about it! If you run out of time or get splatted, the Rainmaker will be dropped. Its shield will also reactivate. The Rainmaker is crazy heavy, so you can't Super Jump while carrying it. Your teammates will have to watch your back! The Rainmaker can also shoot ink like an Inkzooka, so you can clear a path! The closer you get to the enemy base while holding the Rainmaker, the lower your goal distance will drop. If the battle ends without anyone carrying the Rainmaker to the goal, the team with the lowest goal distance will win!"

- In-game description



Rainmaker is similar to Tower Control in that it requires teams to move a certain object to a point in the other team's base. However, in Rainmaker, only one player may have control of the Rainmaker, and they themselves must control where it goes. The device is encased in a shield similar to a Zapfish's bubble in Octo Valley, and must be freed before it can be captured. If one team bursts the shield, all Inklings of the other team caught in the blast radius are instantly splatted. Touching an intact shield causes a small amount of damage.

The Rainmaker itself is capable of shooting large twisters of ink, like an Inkzooka, allowing the player in control to have a form of defense. The player holding the Rainmaker also has a marker on them for everyone with clear line of sight towards them, to see, making them a huge target. This even applies when swimming in ink, so wielders must be cautious of their surroundings.

Because the Rainmaker is so heavy, the player holding it cannot Super Jump, nor use any of their sub or special weapons. If it is dropped, its shield will reform around it. It can then be recaptured by any player on both teams.

Overtime Rules
Overtime ❌ or Extra Time on Rainmaker has the following rules:

Rainmaker Mechanics
The Rainmaker's Shield has 1000 HP, but many weapon types have a damage multiplier applied when they hit the Shield. The values are as follows:

Unlike against Inklings, weapons do not have a damage cap when hitting the Rainmaker's Shield with Damage Up buffs. This means that Damage Up can be used to pop the Shield faster than normal.

If the player has the Rainmaker and splats themselves by falling off the map while behind the halfway point, the Rainmaker will respawn in the center of the map.

The pushback from firing the Rainmaker can be used to go through enemy ink reasonably quickly, so if the player is stopped without a chance of making a new path, firing the Rainmaker behind repeatedly can get the player a little extra push before being splatted.

Prohibited Areas
Prohibited areas are areas in certain stages that penalize players for entering them while carrying the Rainmaker. As the penalty, the Rainmaker explosion timer will tick faster, just like when retreating with the Rainmaker.

If the player runs out of time or gets splatted in the prohibited area, the Rainmaker will respawn in the center of the map.

Stages that have prohibited areas are Walleye Warehouse, Saltspray Rig, Arowana Mall, Flounder Heights, and Piranha Pit. The prohibited areas in these stages are shown in the following overviews, indicated with the icon.

Trivia

 * The Rainmaker weapon resembles a tiger/fish with a nozzle in its mouth, known in Japan as a Shachihoko.
 * Details of Rainmaker were datamined on June 21st, 2015.
 * Images of Rainmaker being played on an unnamed stage were revealed in the July 24th Japanese Splatoon trailer detailing future updates.
 * The Rainmaker itself is the only weapon that cannot be bought or equipped.
 * After 60 seconds, or when a player approaches their own base, the Rainmaker will explode and it will say "The Rainmaker Inksploded"❌/"Splatted when the Rainmaker exploded!".
 * A player going towards their own Spawn Point with the Rainmaker brings up a "Don't Retreat!" message and causes the Rainmaker's timer to decrease more quickly. They cannot enter their own Spawn Point, bouncing off the surrounding force field as if they were an enemy. If they get splatted while behind their team's goal, the Rainmaker will reappear at the center of the stage.
 * When in motion, the Rainmaker carrier will be expressionless. When still, they make a big smile.
 * Rainmaker bears a strong resemblance to Team Fortress 2's Capture The Flag mode, where a team needed to grab the objective from enemy's base and bring it to their base. However, in Splatoon they need to grab the objective in the middle and carry it to the enemy's base onto a goal. Some maps include a custom-version that functions identically to Capture The Flag, with a intelligence in the middle that needed to be carried to enemy's base.
 * It is possible to be splatted by the Rainmaker's shield. This usually happens by an inkling getting squished between the shield and a wall as the shield expands, but it could also be because of lag.