Ink tank

From Inkipedia, the Splatoon wiki
File:Ink tank transparent.png

The ink tank is an object that Inklings and Octolings use to store ink. It appears in all battle modes.

Description

A roller runs out of ink.

The ink tank is a cylindrical container made primarily of clear plastic, while its top and bottom are covered in green caps. Player characters typically wear an ink tank on their back during battle as a way to store ink. As players use a weapon, the contents visibly decrease. When an ink tank is nearly out of ink, weapons can no longer be used in their regular state, and a notification appears, stating "low ink!". Ink tanks can be refilled slowly by ceasing to use a weapon, or quickly by being submerged in a puddle of similarly-colored ink. While submerged, an ink tank icon appears, displaying the current capacity of the ink tank that disappears once full. Using a special weapon immediately refills the ink tank.

The ink tank on the back of the player indicates the amount of ink in real time and flashes red when a player is out of ink. Upon using a weapon, the ink tank temporarily stops recharging ink, showing a white space where the ink was used until the player finishes. An LED on top of the ink tank lights up when there is enough ink to deploy the sub weapon and a small red arrow indicates how much ink is necessary to use it. While recharging ink, a slight sound effect occurs when enough ink has been restored to use the sub weapon.

Splatoon

In Octo Valley, Agent 3 is given a unique ink tank from Cap'n Cuttlefish, along with the Hero Suit and the S Weapon Main Hero Shot.png Hero Shot. It can be upgraded by bringing up the Power Up menu by pressing X in Octo Valley.

Ink Tank
Level 1 2 3 4
Capacity ×1.0 ×1.3 ×1.6 ×2.0
Cost N/A Power Eggs 100 Power Eggs 300 Power Eggs 800

Using the Inkling Squid Inkling Squid (Splatoon) amiibo gives the chance for the player to unlock limited-ink challenges for Gusher Gauntlet, Floating Sponge Garden, Inkvisible Avenues and Spongy Observatory in which the player has to complete the levels without running out of ink. Agent 3 is given additional ink tanks, represented by a large indicator that appears on the left side of the screen, showing how much ink is left. These extra ink tanks are in addition to the player's normal ink tank. Agent 3's Hero Shot initially uses up ink from the additional ink tank. However, submerging in ink only refills the regular ink tank. Once the additional ink tank is fully used up, Agent 3 can still use their regular ink tank, although it can no longer refill. Once the main ink tank is used up as well, the mission fails. The player is given one additional ink tank in Gusher Gauntlet, one and a half in Floating Sponge Garden and two in Inkvisible Avenues and Spongy Observatory.

Splatoon 2

In Splatoon 2, the ink tank functions identically to how it did it Splatoon, although it now has a more stylized design compared to the first game. The indicator to show how much ink is needed in order to use a sub weapon now appears in the icon while submerged in ink. In Version 3.2.0, a new version of the ink tank was introduced. It has 10% more ink capacity than the normal version, and is visually wider and has a rounded cap. It is exclusive to the S2 Weapon Main Splattershot Jr..png Splattershot Jr. and its variants.

In Salmon Run, players have a lifesaver which also functions as an ink tank, having the contents of the wheel filled with ink where the ink depletes clockwise from the wheel.

In Octo Canyon, Agent 4 is also given a unique ink tank from Marie, along with the Hero Suit and S2 Weapon Main Hero Shot.png Hero Shot. It, too, can be upgraded, but now it must be upgraded at the Ammo Knights Enhancifier.

Ink Tank
Level 1 2 3
Capacity ×1.0 ? ×2.0
Cost N/A Sardinium Shadow 2 Power Eggs 1000 Sardinium Shadow 2 Power Eggs 1500

In the Octo Expansion, Agent 8 wakes up with a uniquely designed ink tank on their back, resembling more of a backpack than a bottle. It has a hook which is used to hold a balloon that fills up and explodes, splatting Agent 8 whenever they fail a test. Agent 8 still wears the ink tank even during unarmed missions. The Octo Expansion introduces the Ink Refill item, which instantly refills the tank to full when picked up, while also featuring the return of limited-ink challenges, comprising of C02 Shrinky Ink Station, D05 All That 8-Ball Station, I02 Dinky Ink Station, and J06D11 Ink & Watch Station. In this version of the challenge, the player receives no additional ink tanks but can use Ink Refill items. Submerging in ink does not refill the tank and displays a no symbol next to the indicator. Using up all ink leaves a couple of seconds to collect an Ink Refill. Failure to do so causes the mission to fail.

S Judd Artwork.png
Judd's Advice
Meow! (Did you ever notice that light on your Ink Tank? It tells you when you've got enough ink to use your sub weapon!)

Abilities

Abilities on a player's gear can affect usage of the ink tank:

Ability Effect Games
Splatoon "S" icon.svg Splatoon 2 "2" icon.svg
S2 Ability Ink Saver (Main).png Ink Saver (Main) Decreases main weapons' ink usage. Template:Ya Template:Ya
S2 Ability Ink Saver (Sub).png Ink Saver (Sub) Decreases sub weapons' ink usage. Template:Ya Template:Ya
S2 Ability Ink Recovery Up.png Ink Recovery Up Increases the ink tank's refill rate while in squid form, as well as in kid form in Splatoon 2. Template:Ya Template:Ya
S2 Ability Last-Ditch Effort.png Last-Ditch Effort Decreases ink usage for both main weapons and sub weapons as well as speeding up ink recovery during the last thirty seconds of a battle. Template:Ya Template:Ya
S2 Ability Comeback.png Comeback Has an effect equal to four subs of S2 Ability Ink Saver (Main).png Ink Saver (Main), S2 Ability Ink Saver (Sub).png Ink Saver (Sub) and S2 Ability Ink Recovery Up.png Ink Recovery Up lasting twenty seconds upon respawning. Template:Ya Template:Ya

Gallery

Splatoon

Splatoon 2

Trivia

  • The ink tank resembles a sports bottle with a plastic cap on top. Splatoon 2 makes a closer resemblance with a curved indent in it and a plastic latch on top of the sub weapon light.
    • The larger-capacity ink tank exclusive to the S2 Weapon Main Splattershot Jr..png Splattershot Jr. and its variants has a baby bottle-like shape, referencing the fact that the Splattershot Jr. is the starting weapon for beginners.
  • Due to the Splattershot Jr. having a 110% ink tank instead of the usual 100%, The S2 Weapon Main Custom Splattershot Jr..png Custom Splattershot Jr. can throw two S2 Weapon Sub Autobomb.png Autobombs even without S2 Ability Ink Saver (Sub).png Ink Saver (Sub).

Names in other languages

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