Version 4.3.0 is an update to Splatoon 2 that was released on 5 December 2018 at 01:00 UTC after being announced on 24 November 2018 following the conclusion of the Inkling League finals at the Splatoon 2 UK Championship 2018 Grand Final. It was said to be the last update to add new weapons for Splatoon 2. However, several returning weapons from Sheldon's Picks were announced after the update on 27 January 2019.[1]
Changed the placement of existing obstacles and added new ones.
This marks the first time since 16 December 2017 that the stage's Rainmaker layout has appeared in a Ranked or League Battle rotation in Splatoon 2,[2] as one of the changes made was to adjust the balance in said mode.
Bomb Defense Up and Cold-Blooded on existing owned gear, ability chunks, and drink tickets were converted to Bomb Defense Up DX.
The new ability has the exact same effect as each of the old ones combined at equal ability points.
An additional new ability, Main Power Up, was also added to gear as well as in secondary ability slots.
This ability's effect varies between different main weapons, even in the same class (see the ability page for details). Examples given prior to release were:
Splattershot - increase shot accuracy when firing while jumping.
As a special promotion of the newly-introduced Main Power Up, several gear items worn by promotional Inklings in Splatoon (as seen here and here) with Main Power Up were sold from 5 December 2018 to 9 December 2018.[3]
▲ When holding to attack repeatedly, number of possible attacks has been increased by shortening the amount of time the stamp is cocked back, making it easier to block shots from directly in front of you.
▲ Increased player movement and rotation speed when holding to attack repeatedly.
▲ Previously, Run Speed Up only gave a significant boost to speed while firing a Splatlingweapon, but will now also significantly boost speed while charging a Splatling as well.
▲ When using weapons that feature lower movement and swim speeds when not firing, such as the E-liter 4K or Dynamo Roller, Swim Speed Up will now grant a significant boost to swim speed, even when using fewer instances of the gear ability than in previous updates.
▲ Extended duration of effect by roughly four seconds.
Fixes and adjustments
Multiplayer
Fixed an issue preventing players from landing in the correct location when activating the Booyah Bombspecial while super jumping to the edge of a piece of stage terrain.
Fixed an issue when using the Ultra Stamp special, in which pressing to cock back the stamp just prior to its duration ending caused a shot to be fired with the main weapon after the stamp's duration ended.
Fixed an issue causing players activating an Ultra Stamp special when trapped between stage terrain and the Tower Control tower to clip inside the stage terrain.
Fixed an issue when using the Drop Rollergearability and super jumping to a location near an obstacle that shortened the length of the roll performed when landing.
Fixed an issue with the Bomb Defense Up gear ability causing Curling Bomb damage that didn't exceed 100.0 to not be properly reduced. This issue will no longer occur with the new Bomb Defense Up DX gear ability.
Salmon Run
Fixed an issue in Marooner's Bay with a discrepancy between the appearance of certain walls and their actual geometry, obstructing player movement.
Narrowed the area on which players can stand on certain railings in Ruins of Ark Polaris, making it possible for Smallfry attacks to reach them.
Lowered the end point of certain ride rails in Ruins of Ark Polaris, so that attacks from Grillers will now hit players in those locations.
Fixed an issue causing Steelheads not to attack players aiming at them, depending on the quality of the player's network connection.
Other Changes
Fixed an issue causing Octolings not to blink while moving over the ground.
Fixed an issue when taking pictures with the Pearl and Marinaamiibo during a Splatfest causing them not to appear in their Splatfest outfits or hair color.
Fixed an issue when taking pictures with the Octoling Boy amiibo, where, depending on the pose, the Octoling Boy's eyes would appear in an unnatural state.
Fixed an issue allowing amiibo to be tapped and read while in the lobby during a Splatfest, though the amiibo icon was not displayed on-screen.
Fixed an issue when throwing sub weapons onto a Bounce Pad while in Recon mode, causing them to bounce differently than they would in an actual multiplayer battle.
Fixed an issue when using the Auto-Camera to follow the tower in Tower Control, causing the camera angle to differ depending on which team controlled the tower.
Fixed an issue in spectator mode when the Auto-Camera was set to ON and viewing the Splat Zone during a Splat Zone battle, causing it not to shift focus to other players.
Trivia
This was the second time when an update was incorrectly stated to be the last to contain new weapons. The Custom Hydra Splatling was allegedly the last weapon that was going to be added to Splatoon, but the release of the Sheldon's Picks series of weapons later contradicted this information.
Sheldon's Picks was also the set of weapons released in Splatoon 2 after its purported final weapons.