Palette

A Palette, with color chips

Palettes are a feature in Side Order. They were first shown during the Nintendo Direct on 14 September 2023, specifially during the Side Order trailer.

Appearance

Palettes are large, thin, white Launchpad-like controller panels with 36 color chip inserts in place of where a Launchpad's buttons would be. They additionally resemble eye shadow palettes.

Palettes have a large button alongside two smaller twist-able toggles in their upper left-hand corner; a logo bearing the infinity symbol can be seen on the large button. A thin, long black interface screen is also present. On the right side of this surface screen, a small pixel depiction of the Palette's owner can be seen.

Functionality

A Palette is a form of skill tree which upgrades Agent 8's abilities, similar to Agent 3's Hero Gear in Return of the Mammalians. Palette are adjustable to the player's preferred stats via placing different color chips inside them; when progressing through the Spire of Order one Floor at a time, players must choose between three Floor options which each reward different color chips. Up to 36 color chips can be placed inside a Palette, leaving the player to decide of how to build their Agent 8's stats. Should the player get more than 36 color chips, the extras will be converted into Prlz.

Each Palette contains an assigned main weapon, sub weapon, and special weapon, as well as a primary and secondary common tone color chip affinities, with Pearl's Palette being the default Palette. A Palette's sub and special weapons can be swapped out at vending machines, albiet limited to what that vending machine is offering. Additionally, certain Palettes have color chips that only appear in runs that Agent 8 takes them on.

Each Palette is said to be tied to their respective owner's soul, and as such, Marina fears any influence onto a Palette could have real world consequences. By completing a run with that Palette with a terminal found on 30F, Marina is able to sever any lasting ties to the Memverse that may have lingered, as well as creating a replica of that Palette's weapon for use in multiplayer battles.

To unlock more Palettes, players must be able to win Keys from defeating bosses at 10F, 20F, and 30F with any Palette for the first time, then use the obtained Keys to open lockers, which is always in sequential order. Locker cubbies with Palettes are noted by a pulsating ring, and always shows the next two cubbies that contain Palettes. That being said, all Palettes after the first three are randomized. Additionally, it will eventually take more Keys to reach new Palettes, with the very last Palette, Agent 8's own Palette located in the very last cubby.

While Palettes can be freely changed by hitting the plus button, once Agent 8 enters the elevator, they are locked to their currently equipped Palette.

Agent 8's Palette has a secondary effect that limits the number of Color Chips it can equip by the number of Marina's hacks that are currently enabled. The Risky Rewards hack does not count towards the limit.

Hacks	Max color chips
0	36
1	30
2	24
3	18
4	12
5 or more	6

Palettes

Palette	Main weapon	Sub weapon	Special Weapon	Common Tones
				First	Second
Pearl	Order Dualies	Curling Bomb	Reefslider	Lucky	Support
Marina	Order Brella	Sprinkler	Ink Storm	Drone	Power
Agent 4	Order Shot	Splat Bomb	Trizooka	Range	Mobility
Callie	Order Roller	Burst Bomb	Kraken Royale	Power	Lucky
Marie	Order Charger	Ink Mine	Triple Inkstrike	Support	Range
Shiver	Order Stringer	Toxic Mist	Killer Wail 5.1	Mobility	Range
Frye	Order Splatana	Fizzy Bomb	Crab Tank	Lucky	Drone
Big Man	Order Slosher	Suction Bomb	Triple Inkstrike	Support	Drone
Murch	Order Blaster	Curling Bomb	Wave Breaker	Range	Power
Sheldon	Orderbrush	Ink Mine	Ultra Stamp	Mobility	Lucky
DJ Octavio	Order Splatling	Splash Wall	Booyah Bomb	Drone	Support
Eight	Octoshot	Splat Bomb	Triple Splashdown	Power	Mobility

Quotes

“	Here (wherever "here" is in Side Order) you can see a color chip being placed into a Palette device to give Agent 8 an edge in combat. Color chips can do all kinds of things for you, like boosting your damage, widening your area of effect, quickening your steps, and more. The SRL Color Guard recommends factoring in which color chip is on offer before selecting a floor layout. It's up to each player to decide the best way to develop your Palette over time. The Color Guard likes green, but you do you.	”
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter

View the quotation page.

Gallery

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  Render

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  Render, with color chips

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  Pearl's Palette

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  Agent 8 using a Palette, holding a color chip

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  Agent 8 using a Palette

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  Pearl's icon highlighted on her Palette

Promotional videos

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  Agent 8 approaching a locker leading to a weapon equip screen in the Square (link to file)

Trivia

• The trailer for Side Order shown in the Nintendo Direct on 14 September 2023 appears to show an oddity with color chips on the palette: the palette overview shows a single Run Speed Up color chip as the latest chip before the player selects a floor, though upon selecting the floor shows Agent 8 is seen re-inserting said Run Speed Up chip instead of adding a new one. The Run Speed Up color chip in the Palette menu is also not acting as a preview of the chip to be gained, as the menu appears while highlighting a floor which awards a Splash Damage chip. It is currently unknown whether this is an intended mechanic or a mistake in the trailer.
• Much like its inspiration, a Palette can be used like a musical instrument, with the current assortment of color chips being able to make musical notes. Different hued chips, even within the same tone, make different notes.

Etymology

Palette likely comes from "color palette", which is a thin board or slab on which a painter lays and mixes colors. It can also mean a range of colors available to an user of a computer or in a make-up kit. Both options reference how the color chips used on a Palette affect the coloration of Agent 8's hair and ink color.

Names in other languages

Palette

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	パレット Paretto	Palette
Dutch	Palet	Palette
French	Palette	-
German	Palette	-
Italian	Tavoletta	Board
Russian	Тон-бокс Ton-boks	Tone box
Spanish (NOA)	Paleta	Palette
Chinese (Simplified)	调色盘 Tiáo sè pán	Palette

[Character]'s Palette

Language	Name	Meaning
Dutch	[Personage]s palet / [Personage]'s palet	[Character]'s Palette
French	Palette de [personnage] / Palette d'[personnage]	[Character]'s Palette
German	Palette von [Charakter]	[Character]'s Palette
Italian	Tavoletta di [Character]	[Character]'s Palette
Russian	Тон-бокс [персонажа] Ton-boks [personazha]	[Character]'s tone box
Chinese (Simplified)	[角色名]的调色盘 [Juésè míng] de tiáosèpán	[Character]'s Palette