Star power

Star power, known as the star count in and sometimes referred to as rarity, is an attribute on gear items. A gear item's star power corresponds to its initial amount of secondary ability slots and, if purchasable on an in-game shop, its price in cash.

Splatoon
In, the star count goes from 1 to 3 stars (equal to the number of initial secondary ability slots) and is static, not changing even if ability slots are added afterwards.

The higher the star count, the more gear experience is required to obtain a secondary ability per slot to compensate for the amount of initial slots.

Italicized numbers represent ability slots that must be added by Spyke beforehand.

The number of items in Cooler Heads, Jelly Fresh, and Shrimp Kicks by star count depends on the player's level.

Splatoon 2
The star count in functions exactly like how it did in Splatoon, with different amount of required gear experience per secondary ability slot.

Italicized numbers represent ability slots that must be added by Murch beforehand.

The number of items in Headspace, Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe, and Shella Fresh by star count depends on the player's level, with identical values as in.

Pricing for items in SplatNet Gear Shop is based on their star count.

Splatoon 3
In, the star power is dynamic, now affected by the number of secondary ability slots. The star power in this game goes from 0 to 5 stars, with all items having initial star power of 0 to 2 stars, which is equal to 1 to 3 secondary ability slots, respectively. Beyond 2 stars, no extra ability slot is given, instead increasing the gear experience multiplier by roughly 0.03× per star (caps at 1.10× at 5 stars).

Upgrading a gear item's star power to the next one can be done by buying its duplicate from shops with cash (at fixed price regardless of item, listed on the table below), if available for purchase that day, or by paying Murch Super Sea Snails at any time.

Grizzco-branded gear items from Salmon Run Next Wave bonus rewards uniquely lack default star power values, instead being randomly assigned from 0 to 2 stars when the item is received, unlike their Splatoon 2 counterparts where they are always 3-star items (equivalent to Splatoon 3 2-star ones). Grizzco items bought with fish scales all have the default star power of 2.

The number of items in gear shops in Splatsville and Booyah Base by initial star power depends on the player's level. Prior to version increasing the amount of sold items from six to nine, the amount is identical to the previous games (with 0-star items being equivalent to previous games' 1-star ones and so on).