Rainmaker

Rainmaker is a Ranked Battle mode in Splatoon that was announced in the Splatoon Direct on May 7, 2015 and was added on August 14th at 7pm PT.

History

Rainmaker was first announced in the Splatoon Direct on May 7, 2015. However, its description was extremely vague and only a picture of the Rainmaker itself was released. The weapon was later shown in action in a Japanese Splatoon commercial, released in late July 2015. Months before the mode was released, its general gameplay description was leaked. Rainmaker was then released on August 14, 2015.

Description

“	In Rainmaker, both teams compete to snag the Rainmaker. Once you've got it, the goal is to carry it into the other team's base! So as soon as the battle begins, grab that Rainmaker! It's guarded by a shield, though, so you'll need to bust it out first. Once you snag it, head for the other team's base. And be quick about it! If you run out of time or get splatted, the Rainmaker will be dropped. Its shield will also reactivate. The Rainmaker is crazy heavy, so you can't Super Jump while carrying it. Your teammates will have to watch your back! The Rainmaker can also shoot ink like an Inkzooka, so you can clear a path! The closer you get to the enemy base while holding the Rainmaker, the lower your goal distance will drop. If the battle ends without anyone carrying the Rainmaker to the goal, the team with the lowest goal distance will win!	”
— In-game description

The Rainmaker weapon.

Rainmaker on the map, covered in a bubble shield.

Rainmaker is similar to Tower Control in that it requires teams to move a certain object to a point in the other team's base. However, in Rainmaker, only one player may have control of the Rainmaker, and they themselves must control where it goes. The device is encased in a shield similar to a Zapfish's bubble in Octo Valley, and must be freed before it can be captured. If one team bursts the shield, all Inklings of the other team caught in the blast radius are instantly splatted. Touching an intact shield causes a small amount of damage.

Rainmaker explosion time ticker

The player who holds the Rainmaker must carry it to the goal in the other team's base within 60 seconds or the Rainmaker will explode and splat the wielder and everyone who's in the blast radius with the enemy team's ink color. The marker of the seconds will appear above the wielder's Inkling head. Retreating with the Rainmaker to your side of the stage below lowest goal distance of the enemy team, will resolve in the Rainmaker explosion timer to tick faster than normal until you've reached the lowest goal distance of the enemy team and stopped retreating anymore. the Rainmaker explosion timer ticker will also tick faster than normal when the wielder is in the prohibited areas in certain stages that have these areas.

Firing the Rainmaker

The Rainmaker itself is capable of shooting large twisters of ink, like an Inkzooka, but with charge mechanic from small twister to big twister the longer you hold the button until maximum charge, allowing the player in control to have a form of defense.

Tracing the Rainmaker

The player holding the Rainmaker also has the mode's marker on them for everyone with clear line of sight towards them, to see, making them a huge target. This even applies when swimming in ink with additional glow where the wielder swims, so wielders must be cautious of their surroundings. While the enemy team has The Rainmaker, big mode's icon will appear and dissapear in the Gamepad and also on the TV screen when the player is not in clear line of sight on the wielder.

Rainmaker effects on the wielder

Because the Rainmaker is so heavy, the player holding it cannot Super Jump, nor use any of their sub or special weapons. The player's Movement Speed and Swim Speed have been reduced. Also the Special Gauge does not charge while holding it. After firing a twister of ink, the Rainmaker has knockback effect on the player. If it is dropped, its shield will reform around it. It can then be recaptured by any player on both teams.

If the player has the Rainmaker and splats themselves by falling off the map while behind the halfway point, the Rainmaker will respawn in the center of the map. This will not happen when the player splat themselves by falling of the map over the halfway point and the Rainmaker will drop where the player fell from.

The pushback from firing the Rainmaker can be used to go through enemy ink reasonably quickly, so if the player is stopped without a chance of making a new path, firing the Rainmaker behind repeatedly can get the player a little extra push before being splatted.

Overtime Rules

Overtime will begin when:

• The winning team loses control of the Rainmaker less than 15 seconds before end.
  • The losing team has 10 seconds to pick up the Rainmaker after the winning team loses control of it.
• The losing team is in control of the Rainmaker.

Overtime will not begin when:

• The winning team is in control of the Rainmaker.
• The winning team loses control of the Rainmaker more than 15 seconds before end.
• The losing team was in control of the Rainmaker and loses control of it, less than 15 seconds before end.
• The Rainmaker has not been touched for the whole match (in this case, Random team will win).

Overtime will end when:

• The winning team gains control of the Rainmaker.
• The losing team loses control of the Rainmaker.
• The losing team carries the Rainmaker past the winning team's score, giving them the victory.

Other info:

• The status of the Rainmaker's shield (popped or not) does not matter.

Weapon Damage Multiplier on Rainmaker's Shield

The Rainmaker's Shield has 1000 HP, but many weapon types have a damage multiplier applied when they hit the Shield. The values are as follows:

Weapon	Damage multiplier
Main Weapon
Shooter	1x
File:S Weapon .png [[]]	1.2x
File:S Weapon .png [[]]	1.4x
Splatling	1x
Blaster	2x
Roller	2x
Slosher	~2.4x
Charger	~2.8x
Sub Weapon
File:S Weapon Sub .png [[]]	1x
File:S Weapon Sub .png [[]] File:S Weapon Sub .png [[]] File:S Weapon Sub .png [[]]	2x
File:S Weapon Sub .png [[]]	3x
Special Weapon
Special Weapons	2x
File:S Weapon Special .png [[]]	3.5x

Unlike against Inklings, weapons do not have a damage cap when hitting the Rainmaker's Shield with Damage Up buffs. This means that Damage Up can be used to pop the Shield faster than normal.

Prohibited Areas

File:Rainmaker Prohibited Areas Flounder Heights.jpg

Prohibited Area in Flounder Heights.

Prohibited areas are areas in certain stages that penalize the wielder for entering while carrying the Rainmaker. As the penalty, the Rainmaker explosion timer will tick faster, just like when retreating with the Rainmaker behind the enemy team lowest goal distance.

If the player runs out of time or gets splatted in the prohibited area, the Rainmaker will respawn in the center of the map.

Stages that have prohibited areas are Walleye Warehouse, Saltspray Rig, Arowana Mall, Flounder Heights, and Piranha Pit. The prohibited areas in these stages are shown in the following overviews, indicated with the File:Rainmaker Prohibited Area Icon.png icon.

• File:Arowana Mall Callouts.png

  Arowana Mall

• File:Flounder Heights Callouts.png

  Flounder Heights

• File:Piranha Pit Callouts.png

  Piranha Pit

• File:Saltspray Rig Callouts.png

  Saltspray Rig

• File:Walleye Warehouse Callouts.png

  Walleye Warehouse

Trivia

• The Rainmaker weapon resembles a tiger/fish with a nozzle in its mouth, known in Japan as a Shachihoko.
• Details of Rainmaker were datamined on June 21st, 2015.
• Images of Rainmaker being played on an unnamed stage were revealed in the July 24th Japanese Splatoon trailer detailing future updates.
• The Rainmaker itself is the only weapon that cannot be bought or equipped.
• After 60 seconds, or when a player approaches their own base, the Rainmaker will explode and it will say "The Rainmaker Inksploded"^(NA)/"Splatted when the Rainmaker exploded!"^(EU/OC).
  • A player going towards their own Spawn Point with the Rainmaker brings up a "Don't Retreat!" message and causes the Rainmaker's timer to decrease more quickly. They cannot enter their own Spawn Point, bouncing off the surrounding force field as if they were an enemy. If they get splatted while behind their team's goal, the Rainmaker will reappear at the center of the stage.
• When in motion, the Rainmaker carrier will be expressionless. When still, they make a big smile.
• Rainmaker bears a strong resemblance to Team Fortress 2's Capture The Flag mode, where a team needed to grab the objective from enemy's base and bring it to their base. However, in Splatoon they need to grab the objective in the middle and carry it to the enemy's base onto a goal. Some maps include a custom-version that functions identically to Capture The Flag, with a intelligence in the middle that needed to be carried to enemy's base.
• It is possible to be splatted by the Rainmaker's shield. This usually happens by an inkling getting squished between the shield and a wall as the shield expands, but it could also be because of lag.

Gallery

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  The Rainmaker's shield covered in Ink.

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  The Rainmaker's shield exploding.

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  An Inkling firing the Rainmaker.

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  The holder of the Rainmaker under fire.

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  An Inkling simply holding the Rainmaker.

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  The Rainmaker about to fire.

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  The player holding the Rainmaker firing in a ink-laden battlefield.

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  An Inkling with a straight face while moving with the Rainmaker.

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  An Inkling smiling while standing still with the Rainmaker.

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  The Rainmaker firing an ink tornado.

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  The ink tornado approaching its target.

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  A teaser of the Rainmaker from the 5.7.2015 Splatoon Direct.