Gear ability
Gear abilities, or simply abilities, are special attributes that are placed on wearable gear in Splatoon and Splatoon 2. Each provides different effects, whose effectiveness is usually based on the amount of the specific ability the player has.
Primary abilities
All pieces of gear have 1 primary ability (also called main); in Splatoon, it cannot be changed; in Splatoon 2, it can sometimes be changed.
Some pieces of gear can appear on the SplatNet 2 shop with different primary abilities than their defaults. Gear obtained through Salmon Run does not have a default primary ability and is randomly assigned from all abilities that can appear as secondary abilities.
All pieces of gear do not have primary abilities that match the gear's brand's 'favored' ability; (except for a few, which were originally sold through SplatNet 2). As a result, achieving all slots on a piece of gear to be the same ability (colloquially called 'pure' gear) is more difficult.
Primary-only abilities and mutual exclusivity
Some abilities can only appear as primary abilities. These abilities are also tied to a certain type of gear (head, clothes, or shoes), which prevents the user from having more than one of those abilities. As a result, if a player equips Tenacity, they cannot also equip Comeback because both abilities are only available in the primary ability slot of headgear items.
The groups of mutually exclusive abilities are as follows:
Game | Headgear | Clothing | Shoes |
---|---|---|---|
File:Splatoonlogo.png | |||
Secondary abilities
All pieces of gear have 1, 2, or 3 slots for secondary abilities (also called subs), which are ×0.3 as effective as if they were primary abilities. The number of secondary abilities that are present by default is equal to the number of stars (rarity) on the gear. Secondary ability slots on a piece of gear are unlocked by getting points by playing battles (except for Private Battles) while that gear is equipped. Higher rarity gear usually takes more points to unlock slots, and each progressive slot on the same gear usually requires more points to unlock than the previous slot.
Rolling probability
In Splatoon, there are 13 possible secondary abilities; in Splatoon 2, there are 14. Brands that affect roll probability have a ×5 chance of rolling its favored ability, and a ×0.5 chance of rolling its unfavored ability. Secondary abilities are assigned using random number generation.
Amount in a row |
Favoring brand | Non-favoring brand | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Favored ability | Unfavored ability | Neutral ability | Any ability | |
1≤ | 30.303…% (10/33) | 3.030…% (1/33) | 6.060…% (2/33) | 7.692…% (1/13) |
2≤ | 9.182…% (100/1089) | 0.091…% (1/1089) | 0.367…% (4/1089) | 0.591…% (1/169) |
3≤ | 2.782…% (1000/35937) | 0.002…% (1/35937) | 0.022…% (8/35937) | 0.045…% (1/2197) |
In Splatoon 2, when unlocking slots, the probability of receiving a specific ability can be influenced with a drink ticket.
When wearing a brand that favors an ability | |||
---|---|---|---|
Amount in a row |
Chance of the brand's favored ability | Chance of the brand's unfavored ability | Chance of a specific neutral ability |
No drink ticket | |||
1≤ | 28.571…% (2/7) | 2.857…% (1/35) | 5.714…% (2/35) |
2≤ | 8.163…% (4/49) | 0.0816…% (1/1225) | 0.326…% (4/1225) |
3≤ | 2.332…% (8/343) | 0.00233…% (1/42875) | 0.0186…% (8/42875) |
With drink ticket matching the brand's favored ability | |||
1≤ | 30.000% (3/10) | 2.800% (7/250) | 5.600% (7/125) |
2≤ | 9.000% (9/100) | 0.0784% (49/62500) | 0.3136% (49/15625) |
3≤ | 2.700% (27/1000) | 0.00219…% (343/15625000) | 0.0175…% (343/1953125) |
With drink ticket matching the brand's unfavored ability | |||
1≤ | 20.588…% (7/34) | 30.000% (3/10) | 4.117…% (7/170) |
2≤ | 4.238…% (49/1156) | 9.000% (9/100) | 0.169…% (49/28900) |
3≤ | 0.872…% (343/39304) | 2.700% (27/1000) | 0.00698…% (343/4913000) |
With drink ticket matching a specific neutral ability | |||
1≤ | 21.212…% (7/33) | 2.121…% (7/330) | 30.000% (3/10) |
2≤ | 4.499…% (49/1089) | 0.0449…% (49/108900) | 9.000% (9/100) |
3≤ | 0.954…% (343/35937) | 0.000954…% (343/35937000) | 2.700% (27/1000) |
When wearing a non-favoring brand | |||
Amount in a row |
Chance of any specific ability without using a drink ticket | Chance of the drink ticket's ability | Chance of any specific ability that is not the drink ticket's ability |
1≤ | 7.142…% (1/14) | 30.000% (3/10) | 5.384…% (7/130) |
2≤ | 0.510…% (1/196) | 9.000% (9/100) | 0.289…% (49/16900) |
3≤ | 0.0364…% (1/2744) | 2.700% (27/1000) | 0.0156…% (343/2197000) |
Examples
Here are some examples to help with interpreting the table: The Aloha Shirt has the Forge brand. Forge is a favoring brand, as it favors Special Power Up, unfavors Ink Saver (Sub), and is neutral towards all other abilities.
- With no drink ticket: The Aloha Shirt has a 2.332…% chance of rolling Special Power Up at least 3 times in a row, a 0.00233…% chance of rolling Ink Saver (Sub) at least 3 times in a row, and a 0.0186…% chance of rolling any other specific ability at least 3 times in a row.
- With a 'Special-Up Smoothie' drink ticket: The Aloha Shirt has a 9% chance of rolling Special Power Up at least 2 times in a row, a 0.0784% chance of rolling Ink Saver (Sub) at least 2 times in a row, and a 0.3136% chance of rolling any other specific ability at least 2 times in a row.
- With a 'Sub-Saver Berry' drink ticket: The Aloha Shirt has a 20.588…% chance of rolling Special Power Up, a 30% chance of rolling Ink Saver (Sub), and a 4.117…% chance of rolling any other specific ability.
- With all drink tickets except for 'Special-Up Smoothie' and 'Sub-Saver Berry': The Aloha Shirt has a 21.212…% chance of rolling Special Power Up, a 0.0449…% chance of rolling Ink Saver (Sub) at least 2 times in a row, and a 2.7% chance of rolling any other specific ability at least 3 times in a row.
Gear with a non-favoring brand has an equal probability of rolling any specific rollable ability. For example, the Armor Jacket Replica has the Cuttlegear brand, which does not favor any ability.
- With no drink ticket: The Armor Jacket Replica has a 7.142…% chance of rolling Swim Speed Up.
- With a 'Swim-Speed Apple' drink ticket: The Armor Jacket Replica has a 9% chance of rolling Swim Speed Up at least 2 times in a row.
- With all drink tickets except for 'Swim-Speed Apple': The Armor Jacket Replica has a 0.0156…% chance of rolling Swim Speed Up at least 3 times in a row.
Stacking
Players can use more of an ability (stacking an ability) to achieve stronger effects. For exact details on the effects of stacking each gear ability, see the ability's article.
In general, the more a specific ability is stacked, the less additional effect is accumulated. The degree to which this occurs depends on the ability. To demonstrate this concept, the following charts show the stacking effects for some abilities. Note the diminishing returns as more of the same ability is used.
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Splatoon
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Splatoon 2
Splatoon
Spyke, who can be found in an alleyway in Inkopolis Plaza, will offer to re-roll secondary abilities or increase the number of gear slots in exchange for a Super Sea Snail or 30,000 cash.
Some abilities do not affect certain things, and in-game descriptions do not inform players of these exceptions. For example, Bomb Range Up does not affect some bombs. Another notable example is that Run Speed Up does not affect the run speed while pushing a roller.
List of abilities
Name | Description | Gear | Favored by | Unfavored by |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bomb Range Up | Makes thrown sub weapons travel farther. | Any | ||
Bomb Sniffer | Enemy sub weapons appear on-screen as skull icons and non-lethal damage from them is reduced. | Shoes | ||
Cold Blooded | Shortens the duration of position trackers. | Clothing | ||
Comeback | Improves ink usage and recovery, swim and run speed, and special weapon charge rate for 20 seconds after respawning. | Headgear | ||
Damage Up | Increases damage dealt with all weapons. | Any | SquidForce | Inkline |
Defense Up | Decreases damage taken from all attacks. | Any | Inkline | Krak-On |
Haunt | Tracks the enemy that splats the user and increases damage, defense, and run speed when the user is tracked. | Clothing | ||
Ink Recovery Up | Increases ink tank refill rate while in squid form. | Any | Tentatek | Firefin |
Ink Resistance Up | Decreases damage, speed, and jump penalties when standing in enemy ink. | Shoes | ||
Ink Saver (Main) | Decreases main weapon ink usage. | Any | Splash Mob | SquidForce |
Ink Saver (Sub) | Decreases sub weapon ink usage. | Any | Firefin | Forge |
Last-Ditch Effort | Improves ink usage and recovery as well as respawn time towards the end of a battle. | Headgear | ||
Ninja Squid | The user is less visible while swimming, but reduces swim speed. | Clothing | ||
Opening Gambit | Increases swim and run speed for the first 30 seconds of a battle. | Headgear | ||
Quick Respawn | Decreases respawn delay. | Any | Skalop | Zink |
Quick Super Jump | Increases Super Jump speed. | Any | Zink | Tentatek |
Recon (ability) | Opponents and their weapons are seen on while at the spawn point. | Clothing | ||
Run Speed Up | Increases movement speed in humanoid form. | Any | Rockenberg | Splash Mob |
Special Charge Up | Increases the rate at which the special gauge fills. | Any | Takoroka | Zekko |
Special Duration Up | Increases the duration of special weapons and gives the Inkstrike and Killer Wail shorter cooldown times. | Any | Forge | Takoroka |
Special Saver | Mitigates special gauge loss after being splatted. | Any | Zekko | Skalop |
Stealth Jump |
|
Shoes | ||
Swim Speed Up | Increases movement speed while swimming in squid form. | Any | Krak-On | Rockenberg |
Tenacity | Slowly fills the user's special gauge when their team has fewer active players than the opposing team. | Headgear |
Splatoon 2
Murch, who can be found in Inkopolis Square, has multiple services that can affect a gear item's secondary abilities:
Service | Effect | Cost | |
---|---|---|---|
Increase Slots | Adds another slot to a or item. | 1 | |
Reroll | Reroll happens only if all 3 slots exist on the item. It rerolls all the filled slots on a piece of gear and provides one ability chunk for each removed ability. | 1 | |
Scrub Slots | Resets all the gear slots to and provides one ability chunk for each removed ability. | Default | 20,000 |
2,000 | |||
Use Ability Chunks | Places a specific ability in a specific slot.
If an occupied slot is overwritten, 1 ability chunk of the overwritten ability will be provided. The number of secondary abilities already on the gear that match the ability chunk's ability is used to determine the cost. |
Slots Filled | Cost |
0 | 10 | ||
1 | 20 | ||
2 | 30 |
List of abilities
Name | Description | Gear | Favored by | Unfavored by |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ability Doubler | Doubles the effect of other abilities attached to the gear piece. | Clothing | ||
Bomb Defense Up DX |
|
Any | Inkline | Krak-On |
Comeback | Improves ink usage and recovery, swim and run speed, and special weapon charge rate for 20 seconds after respawning. | Headgear | ||
Drop Roller | Tilting during a Super Jump allows the player to perform a directional roll upon landing. | Shoes | ||
Haunt | Tracks the enemy that splats the user with thermal ink. | Clothing | ||
Ink Recovery Up | Increases ink tank refill rate. | Any | Tentatek | Firefin |
Ink Resistance Up | Decreases damage, speed, and jump penalties when standing in enemy ink. | Any | SquidForce | Enperry |
Ink Saver (Main) | Decreases main weapon ink usage. | Any | Splash Mob | SquidForce |
Ink Saver (Sub) | Decreases sub weapon ink usage. | Any | Firefin | Forge |
Last-Ditch Effort | Improves ink usage and recovery towards the end of a battle. | Headgear | ||
Main Power Up | Raises performance of main weapons. | Any | Annaki Toni Kensa |
Inkline |
Ninja Squid | The user is less visible while swimming, but has reduced swim speed. | Clothing | ||
Object Shredder | Increases damage dealt to non-player targets. | Shoes | ||
Opening Gambit | Increases ink resistance, swim, and run speed for the first 30 seconds of a battle. | Headgear | ||
Quick Respawn | Decreases respawn delay if splatted repeatedly without splatting an opponent. | Any | Skalop | Zink |
Quick Super Jump | Increases Super Jump speed. | Any | Zink | Tentatek |
Respawn Punisher | Increases respawn time and special gauge spawn penalty for the player and any enemy they splat. | Clothing | ||
Run Speed Up | Increases movement speed in humanoid form. | Any | Rockenberg | Splash Mob |
Special Charge Up | Increases the rate at which the special gauge fills. | Any | Takoroka | Zekko |
Special Power Up | Raises performance of special weapons. | Any | Forge | Takoroka |
Special Saver | Mitigates special gauge loss after being splatted. | Any | Zekko | Annaki Skalop |
Stealth Jump | Hides the Super Jump landing marker from a certain distance away. | Shoes | ||
Sub Power Up | Increases performance of sub weapons. | Any | Enperry | Toni Kensa |
Swim Speed Up | Increases movement speed while swimming in squid or octo form. | Any | Krak-On | Rockenberg |
Tenacity | Slowly fills the user's special gauge when their team has fewer active players than the opposing team. | Headgear | ||
Thermal Ink | Allows the player to track distant players hit with shots from their main weapon. | Clothing |
Retired abilities
The following abilities were once present in the game but were later removed or replaced:
Name | Version Removed On | Description | Gear | Favored by | Unfavored by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bomb Defense Up | 4.3.0 | Reduces damage taken by sub weapons and special weapons. | Any | Inkline | Krak-On |
Cold-Blooded | 4.3.0 | Shortens the duration of position trackers. | Any | Annaki Toni Kensa |
Inkline |
Version 4.3.0
In Version 4.3.0, the following ability replacements took place:
- All existing gear slots and ability chunks for Bomb Defense Up and Cold-Blooded were replaced with Bomb Defense Up DX.
- Gear items available in shops that had Cold-Blooded as the main ability changed to Main Power Up.
- The following exclusive gear items that had Cold-Blooded as the main ability changed to Bomb Defense Up DX:
Gallery
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Diagram of abilities and brands in Splatoon, which brand favors and not favors each ability.
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Promo image of the abilities in Splatoon 2.
Names in other languages
Ability | Primary ability | Secondary ability |
Template:Foreignname | Template:Foreignname | Template:Foreignname |
References
External links
- Splatoon ability calculator
- Splatoon 2 ability calculator
- Splatoon 2 ability effect tool
- Splatoon 2 popular abilities and gear loadouts. Data is pulled from stat.ink, which generates data from a small sample of the Splatoon 2 player base.
- Splatoon 2 gear loadouts and ability effect caculator. Anyone can submit loadouts. The loadout featuring the top 500 crown appears first, then the premier league players' builds, then the rest. The most recent saved appears around the top within each group.