Charger

- Sniper redirects here. For the Octarian unit, see Octosniper.
Chargers are one of the main weapon classifications in the Splatoon series. Chargers have the ability to charge up their shot, which can take enemies out immediately with a long-ranged attack, as well as a "tap shot", which is a partially charged shot that does not deal as much damage. It is an ideal weapon for players who like to support from the back lines of battle. In Splatoon 2, the ability for most chargers to store a charge was added. By holding while swimming in ink, a charge can be held for a few seconds, along with a "piercing mechanic" for full charges in which multiple opponents can be splatted with one shot. The former is not available for all scoped chargers plus the Grizzco Charger while the latter includes it. Bamboozlers and the Snipewriter 5H are the exceptions for both.
With the Inkling Girl amiibo, the player can use the Hero Charger for Octo Valley missions to win a Hero Charger Replica, which can be used in multiplayer matches.
List of chargers
Note: The series are arranged by the order of their respective Tableturf Battle cards.
Series | Description | Variants | Games | ||
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![]() Squiffer |
A short-range charger with a fast charge time that is unaffected while in mid-air. | ![]() |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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✓ | ✓ | |||
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✓ | ✓ | |||
![]() Splat Charger |
The standard charger, featuring a long range and a decent charge time. | ![]() |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ✓ | |||
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✓ | ||||
![]() Splatterscope |
A Splat Charger with a scope, for extra range and precision at the cost of the inability to store charges. | ![]() |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ||||
![]() E-liter |
A charger with extreme range and damage in exchange for a slow charge time and heavy ink consumption. | ![]() |
✓ | ||
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ✓ | |||
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✓ | ||||
![]() E-liter Scope |
An E-liter with a stronger scope than the Splatterscope, allowing for more range and extra precision. However, it cannot store its charge. | ![]() |
✓ | ||
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✓ | ||||
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✓ | ✓ | |||
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✓ | ||||
![]() Bamboozler 14 |
A mid-range charger with an extremely fast charge time. However, its fully charged shots cannot splat opponents in a single hit. It also lacks the ability to store its charge and pierce targets. | ![]() |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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✓ | ✓ | |||
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✓ | ✓ | |||
![]() Goo Tuber |
A mid-range charger that can hold both full and partial charges for an exceptionally long time at the cost of a slow charge time. A single partially charged shot from this weapon can deal enough damage to splat an undamaged target on its own. | ![]() |
✓ | ✓ | |
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✓ | ✓ | |||
![]() Snipewriter 5H |
A long-range charger that holds five, medium-damage shots per full charge, requiring two hits to splat an opponent. It lacks the ability to store its charge and pierce targets. | ![]() |
✓ |
Sets
Animations
Splatoon
Victory:
- Both genders jump up and down, ending in a pose while aiming their weapon left and right.
Defeat:
- Inkling Girl: Falls to the ground, dropping her weapon in front of her while wiping her face.
- Inkling Boy: Jumps twice before holding his head in anger all while holding his weapon until ending in a slouched pose, pointing his weapon at the ground while slapping his hip with his left hand.
In Ammo Knights (Clicking ):
- Both genders briefly inspect the weapon, aims it around, then relax their arm and look at the weapon one more time.
Splatoon 2
Spawning in before a match starts:
- Both Inklings and Octolings raise their weapon towards the sky after shaking off their excess ink.
Victory:
- Inklings: Thrust their left fist into the air a few times before striking a pose while holding their weapon upward.
- Octoling Girl: Tosses her weapon into the air and catches it with her left hand and wipes her forehead before striking a pose.
- Octoling Boy: Similar to the Octoling Girl's, but does a fist pump.
Defeat:
- Inklings: Rests their head on their weapon in disappointment.
- Octoling Girl: Drops her weapon while kneeling down before grabbing it again with her right hand and giving off a mad expression.
- Octoling Boy: Similar to Octoling girl's but with a different direction of the head at the end.
In Ammo Knights (Clicking ):
- Inkling Girl: Looks at it for a few seconds then, peeks through the scope area.
- Inkling Boy: Same as Inkling girl.
- Octoling Girl: Taps the charger a few times then lightly throws it a few times.
- Octoling Boy: Same as Octoling girl.
Splatoon 3
Spawner pose:
- All styles: Dangles from the spawner with their left hand while pointing their weapon forward.
Victory:
- Flip Out: Turns backwards, pumps the weapon into the air once, and holds it pointing upwards while giving a thumbs-up with their left hand, turning to look behind as they do.
- Reppin' Inkopolis: The player makes a spinning jump, holds their charger in the air, then grabs it with their left hand and begins angling it from side to side while glancing around.
Tips
- The reticle turns into an X when it is over an enemy that is not hiding in ink inside the charger's range.
- If an enemy has taken some damage already, a fully charged shot may not be necessary to splat them.
- If an enemy is closing in or launches a surprise attack, it is a good idea to run away; chargers are weak at close-quarters combat.
- If cornered, shooting a few well-aimed semi-charged shots at the opposing player may help the user to stay alive. Spamming shots (especially when playing with motion controls) can throw a player's aim off, and, more than likely, the other player may have taken a bit of damage. It is faster to hit them with one well-aimed charged shot than multiple uncharged shots.
- Chargers show a thin glowing line when aiming a charged shot, revealing one's position. This can make it easier for enemies to dodge, so it is advised to limit the amount of time spent aiming.
- An effective way around this is to hold the reticle off to a side, and at the last second, quickly move it and fire in order to stop the enemy from dodging the shot.
- It is also possible to scare opposing teammates into going a different direction by using the laser sight.
- In Splatoon 2, storing one's charge makes the laser disappear from the sight of other players while a faint, translucent reticle remains on the user's screen and show where they are aiming.
- Keeping some distance from the main area where the battle is taking place and finding a comfortable spot to shoot from are necessary to play chargers to the best of their ability.
- As a result, it is advised to stay out of close-quarters situations, as chargers perform poorly in these scenarios.
- As a charger user, it is important to have an eye on the surrounding area - sneak attacks are very dangerous.
- It is best to cover lots of turf around the user so they do not get stuck on un-inked turf in case of a surprise attack.
- Jumping and shooting can help to level a player's aim in certain situations, allowing them to splat more players.
- It can also be used to hide the charger's laser sight.
- Sometimes as a charger user, it is best to make short cuts and try not to cover tons of ground.
- If using a charger, the player's main focus is to splat people, not cover ground. This way, it is possible to get more splats and ground coverage. Let the rollers, sloshers, shooters, and splatlings cover ground.
- If ground must be covered, do not spam shots to try and cover turf. It is more effective to charge a shot up and shoot it forward in a straight line.
- Even with low ink, chargers can still charge up to a full shot with the same power.
Countering
- If targeted by a charger, moving erratically may cause them to miss.
- Jumping is a bad tactic to avoid chargers, as changing velocity while jumping is really hard and usually leads to the charger user getting an easy splat.
- A charger's weakest spots are behind them and beneath them; surprising them from an unexpected angle is almost a guaranteed splat.
- Closing in on chargers quickly gives them little time to react.
- Forcing a charger user out of their chosen position and into one where they are vulnerable is a great way to give a player the advantage over chargers.
- One way to do this is to stay just out of their range or line of sight, forcing them to give chase.
- Another way is through the use of special weapons, such as the Inkstrike or Killer Wail in Splatoon or the Sting Ray or Tenta Missiles in Splatoon 2, which, when directed at their chosen spot, will either catch them by surprise or make them move out of the way.
- In the case of attentive chargers that are good at dodging special weapons and foiling sneak attacks, another option is to simply avoid them. Go ink a different area, one that they are not paying attention to.
- In Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3, if there is a glowing, white circle inside enemy ink, it is advised to stay hidden, as this is an enemy charger that is currently storing their charge and may be aiming to splat someone.
- The glowing, white circle also shows the charger's current location while they are storing their charge. One can use this to their advantage if attempting to splat the charger.
Quotes
Splatoon

Splatoon 3
“ | Squid Research Lab back with a report on "charger" weapons. We've been saving this one for a while and building up power. And that's exactly how these weapons work! Press and hold ![]() |
” | — @SplatoonNA on Twitter[1]
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“ | "Charger" weapons build up power for a super-charged shot that can hit faraway targets. The straight line of ink they leave on the ground can also serve as a speedy pathway into enemy territory! | ” | — @NintendoUKVS on Twitter[2]
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Trivia
Splatoon
- There are no chargers with the Seeker as their sub weapon.
- Inklings close one eye when aiming with a charger.
- However, if they are moving while aiming, both of their eyes remain open.
Splatoon 2
- There are no chargers with Torpedo or Burst Bomb.
- There are no chargers with Booyah Bomb or Ultra Stamp.
Splatoon 3
- Unlike in the original Salmon Run, the scoped variations of chargers are not available to use in Salmon Run Next Wave.
Gallery
SplatNet icons
The Splat Charger.
The Kelp Splat Charger.
The Hero Charger Replica.
The Bento Splat Charger.
The Splatterscope.
The Kelp Splatterscope.
The Bento Splatterscope.
The Classic Squiffer.
The New Squiffer.
The Fresh Squiffer.
The E-liter 3K.
The Custom E-liter 3K.
The E-liter 3K Scope.
The Bamboozler 14 Mk I.
The Bamboozler 14 Mk II.
The Bamboozler 14 Mk III.
Art
Hero Charger Replica and School Gear
New Squiffer and Ink Mine
Promo renders for Splatoon 2
Promo renders for Splatoon 3
Tableturf Battle cards for Splatoon 3
Names in other languages
Language | Name | Meaning |
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チャージャー chājā |
Charger |
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Lader | Loader[c] |
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Fusil | Rifle, Gun |
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Konzentrator | Concentrator |
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Armi a carica | Charger weapons |
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Нагнетатель Nagnetatel' |
Supercharger |
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Cargatinta | From cargador ("charger") + tinta ("ink"). |
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蓄力狙击枪 xùlì jūjīqiāng (Mandarin) |
Charged sniper rifle |
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蓄力狙擊槍 xùlì jūjīqiāng (Mandarin) |
Charged sniper rifle |
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차저 chajeo |
Charger |
Translation notes
References