Competitive:Splattershot Pro

Unofficial

Splatoon 3
The Splattershot Pro through its various iterations has been a mainstay throughout the Splatoon series. Possessing both good range and damage, the Pro usually finds itself playing a slayer role, and this kit emphasizes that. The Crab Tank can rack up kills when used correctly, and surprisingly the Angle Shooter can be used to finish off damaged opponents. All in all, expect to do some splatting with this gun.

Use
Slayer is the name of the game
 * Primarily, there are three main points that make the Pro a good slayer; good range, good damage, good accuracy.
 * At 3 hits to splat and an ok fire rate, the Pro puts out some surprisingly decent damage. While beat out by many weapons in terms of time to kill, it is still really good when combined with...
 * Its excellent range. Particularly for the shooter class it's one of the best. You'll be out ranging a lot of close to mid range weapons like the regular Splattershot, the .52 Gal, Splat Dualies, the Blaster, etc.
 * That being said the Splattershot Pro is not helpless at close range, and can hold its own up close if the situation calls for it.
 * The Pro has great accuracy as well, meaning it can kill consistently even at its maximum effective range.
 * The Splattershot Pro is not a terrible turfing weapon per se, but it will be outpaced in this regard by quite a few weapons. Still it can cover up a Splat Zone decently enough, for example.
 * A Pro vs Pro matchup will usually come down to skill, and whoever gets the initiative on the other. Remember, if another pro (or any other weapon for that matter) gets the jump on you, retreat is always an option. Just be sure to not get gunned down while running away.
 * When confronting a Pro and other similarly ranged weapons, flanking and ambushing are good tools for safely picking them off.
 * Remember that shooting gives away your position. Sometimes it's better to simply hide in ink and wait for the enemies to come to you before picking them off, so try not to shoot willy nilly.
 * Focus fire, as in go after one enemy at a time. If you're going down, better to take one enemy down with you than partially damage two.
 * The Angle Shooter can be used to finish off already damaged opponents. In fact it has a better range than the Splattershot Pro, so if an opponent is fleeing from you, you can throw out an Angle Shooter to try to finish them off.
 * Of course, the Angle Shooter can also be used to mark out opponents for you and your team, which is always helpful.
 * The Angle Shooter is a relatively cheap sub, so you might as well throw one out. Just don't go crazy with it though, otherwise you might find yourself low on ink in a tight spot.
 * Note that the Angle Shooter is thrown out slightly below your aiming reticle. Remember to take that into account when aiming quickly.
 * The Angle Shooter comes out instantly (or near instantly), which makes it pretty handy in a lot of cases.
 * The Crab Tank is great for racking up kills with its main cannon. It's also great for holding, and attacking objectives. You aren't invincible in it though, and don't forget to watch your back.
 * Note that rolling away is a good way to get out of danger with the Crab Tank. You aren't very fast, but your vulnerable rear hitbox is covered up, so you might have enough protection to roll away to safety, but it really depends on the situation. Also you can't super jump when the crab tank is active.
 * DO NOT use the Crab Tank as a panic button, the days of instantly deploying Bubblers and Krakens are long gone. The Crab Tank takes a bit to activate, so you may just be shot down before you can even fight back.
 * The Pro's Crab Tank is cheaper then the Forge Pro's Booyah Bomb, so you'll generally be getting it more often.

Synergy

 * The Splattershot Pro can team up with shorter range high damage weapons. The Pro can deal with longer range enemies while the short range weapon can deal with enemies up close.
 * The Pro can also help out long range teammates by stopping any rushes aimed against them.
 * Anchor weapons also provide generally safe super jump spots and long range fire support, so keep that in mind.
 * Big Bubblers and Tacticoolers are always helpful, the latter of which will drastically reduce the penalty of dying. The former can provide protection against long range weapons.

Countermeasures
The Splattershot Pro has good range and damage, but several other weapons surpass one or both of these capabilities. Depending on your weapon, use these facts to your advantage.
 * High damage weapons like the .52 Gal can easily outshoot the Pro if allowed to get into range. If you have a weapon with a faster kill time but shorter range than the pro, try to get the Pro into your range, when it is safe to do so of course.
 * Even weapons with relativity low damage and range like the Inkbrush can still deal with the Splattershot Pro by ambushing, so keep that in mind.
 * Do not rush a Splattershot Pro head-on. It may not shred you like a Hydra Splatling, but you will still get splatted readily.
 * The Hydra Splatling and Heavy Splatling both have better range, damage, and accuracy than the Splattershot Pro. Keep this in mind and pick off any pick off any Splattershot Pro users before they can get into range.
 * The Ballpoint Splatling also beats the Pro out in terms of accuracy and range, though it has a slower time to kill at long range when compared to the Heavy and Hydra. Keep in mind you can always use close range firing mode when possible, it will eviscerate the Pro up close.
 * Likewise the Splat Charger and the E-liter 4K have much better range than the Pro. Keep the Splattershot Pro from getting into range, and pick them off whenever possible.
 * The Splattershot Pro has no good way to deal with splash walls (lack of bombs, average maneuverability, no way to shoot around), use it to provide protection against its shots
 * In general, bombs are a good way to put pressure on long range weapon users by forcing them to reposition. Any time the Pro isn't shooting is time you can use by advancing in on them and attacking.
 * The Squeezer and the H-3 Nozzlenose both have exponentially better accuracy than the Pro, giving them an advantage in one on one fights.
 * The Range Blaster has comparable range, but its splash damage and one hit direct make it a dangerous opponent for the Pro.

Gear Abilities
Gear abilities provide different effects in battle that benefit the player with their equipped weapon. This is a guide to gear abilities in relation to the weapon. Strategy, synergy, viability, and purpose may be written here.

The Pro chews through ink like a bad printer. Ink Saver Main is probably the best of the three, and two mains of it aren't unreasonable. You could probably stack enough ink saver sub to throw out three angle shooters on a single tank, but the slots you need would probably be better spent elsewhere.

It's a nice addition if you want to get Crab Tank faster and more frequently. Also helps that as of writing this, the special cost of the Pro is relatively cheap.

Arguably not as powerful as Special Charge Up, but still helps by increasing Crab Tank duration, and durability. A useful ability for any weapon. Two subs will increase the swim speed to match a lightweight such as the Splattershot Jr.

Splattershot Pro has 6 degrees of shot deviation while jumping. One main of this will reduce this by roughly 33%, to 3.99 degrees.

The Splattershot Pro has bad painting around the player's feet, so it may get stuck in enemy ink more frequently, which can sometimes be a death sentence. Also, this ability has good stacking, so one or two subs is a good investment for better mobility through enemy ink.

Another useful ability for any weapon, having one sub will massively cut down the startup time for a Super Jump. Just watch out for enemy chargers and splatlings if you don't have stealth jump or drop roller.

While not as potent as it was in, it can still be pretty useful in some situations, like when you make a trade (and you meet the numerous conditions for activation)

Has some utility for lessening the cost of death, but not all that game changing.

The Splattershot Pro is a slayer, which will often need to jump back into the action. With many chargers around in the current meta, having this ability will hide the Super Jump marker from them to avoid being camped.

Respawn Punisher is a double edged sword. If you're running this, make sure you get at least get more kills than deaths, otherwise you're just making things harder for yourself.

You don't have bombs, so object shredder might be a nice way to compensate for that fact, but that main slot would probably be better used somewhere else.

In competitive play
to be added