Ability chunk

Ability chunks are a type of currency in and. They are used to add specific types of abilities to gear.

Use
Ability chunks are a more reliable method for acquiring secondary gear abilities than rerolling gear or using probability-influencing drinks from the Crust Bucket. Due to this, they are often used for getting or stacking abilities that are unlikely to appear in a re-roll.

In, applying ability chunks is the only way to replace the main ability of a piece of gear.

Obtaining chunks
Ability chunks can be obtained from green capsules that are rewarded in Salmon Run. Ordinary green capsules have a 40% chance to contain two ability chunks and a 10% to yield four, while shiny green capsules guarantee four chunks. Gear rewards can also be exchanged for the abilities present on the given gear, turning those secondary gear abilities into chunks.

Murch has the option to scrub any gear the player has, where the secondary abilities are "scrubbed" off and turned into chunks that the player obtains with the cost of cash (or  cash when scrubbing the Splatfest Tee). The player also gains chunks when rerolling gear, where the previous secondary gear abilities are turned into 1 chunk per old secondary gear ability.

As of Version, the player was able to earn ability chunks from the Splatfest Tee if all the slots were already filled out, as the shirt continued filling in experience points, which awarded a random ability chunk every 7500 points. This only occurred during the Splatfest and not in the period of time following its announcement.

Adding abilities
In, ability chunks can only be used to add or overwrite secondary gear abilities.

The price of one secondary gear ability depends on the number of the same secondary gear ability already present on the gear. The primary ability is not counted for this calculation. The amounts are:
 * 10 chunks for the first copy;
 * 20 chunks for the second copy; and
 * 30 chunks for the third copy.

For example, a gear with three secondary gear ability slots has one Run Speed Up and one Swim Speed Up as its secondary gear abilities.
 * 20 Run Speed Up chunks are needed to apply Run Speed Up to the empty third secondary slot since one sub of Run Speed Up is already present on the gear.
 * 10 Special Saver chunks are needed to apply Special Saver to the empty third secondary slot since no sub of Special Saver is already present on the gear.
 * 20 Swim Speed Up chunks are needed to replace Run Speed Up on the first secondary slot with Swim Speed Up since one sub of Swim Speed Up is already present on the gear.

Overwriting a secondary gear ability with ability chunks grants 1 chunk of the old ability.

Splatoon 3
introduces the ability to replace the primary ability of a piece of gear with ability chunks, once again done via Murch. It requires 45 ability chunks of the desired primary ability and after replacement 6 chunks of the old ability are refunded. The cost is unaffected by the brand and number of stars or secondary abilities of the piece of gear.

For primary slot-only abilities, their installation requires 15 chunks of three specific abilities (for a total of 45 chunks) and when overwritten they refund 2 chunks of said component abilities (for a total of 6 chunks). The primary slot-only abilities that can be applied with chunks and their component chunks are listed below.

For the Splatfest Tee, the primary ability installation only requires 6 chunks (for non-exclusive abilities) or 2 chunks of three component abilities (for primary slot-only abilities; with a total of 6 chunks). The amount of refunded chunks is the same as any other piece of gear.

Ability Doubler is exclusive to the Splatfest Tee, cannot be applied with ability chunks, and when overwritten will not refund any chunks.

Alongside the same methods as in Splatoon 2, ability chunks can also be obtain my continuing to obtain experience on a piece of gear after its slots were filled, giving a chunk of a randomly rolled ability, and as rewards from the Shell-Out Machine.