Competitive:Splatana Stamper

Unofficial!

This article discusses content that is not part of the official Splatoon series but is part of the community or competitive gaming space.

For information about the Splatana Stamper, see Splatana Stamper.

Making its debut upon the initial release of Splatoon 3, the Splatana Stamper is the second weapon of its class introduced after the Splatana Wiper, trading mobility and ink efficiency for more damage, larger hitboxes, and longer range. Like the Splatana Wiper, the Splatana Stamper has two types of attack: a quick, horizontal tap shot and a powerful, vertical charged shot, the latter which enables its user to ledge-camp and allows the option to quickly lunge forward on the ground. While the mechanics of this weapon will take more practice time than usual to master, these extra options make it very formidable, providing a higher than average number of favorable matchups.

Splatoon 3

Splatoon 3

Splatana Stamper

Abbreviations	Stamper, Sword
Sub	Burst Bomb
Special	Zipcaster
Base damage	20 (Tap direct) 35 (Tap) 140 (Charged direct) 70 (Charged)
Base duration
Ink consumption	5.2% (Tap) 11.7% (Charged)
Special points	210p
Special depletion
Role	Skirmisher/Slayer
Strengths	High damage, high object damage, many combos, long range, zoning, movement options
Weaknesses	Requires line of sight, inefficient turfing, long downtime from charging shots and low ink efficiency

The Splatana Stamper (as well as the Order Splatana Replica) has a weapon set that both greatly increases its combo potential and addresses the main weapon's weaknesses, making it the most picked variant in top competitive play.

Use

While the Splatana Stamper's range, mobility, ability to ledge-camp, and Zipcaster make it primarily a skirmisher's weapon, its high damage and numerous combos make it a good slayer's weapon as well:

• Its horizontal tap slash (tap ) is quick, has a reasonabe ink consuption rate, and launches wide projectiles but has too low damage per second (DPS) to quickly splat opponents on its own. Use tap slashes in conjunction with other attacks in combos, to zone out mobile opponents (such as some splatlings, dualies, and the REEF-LUX) on open terrain, or to turf when farming Zipcaster or contesting a Splat Zone.
• Its vertical charged slash (charge for 20 frames, release) is powerful (the melee hit being a one-hit-splat) and has less end lag (to compensate for the charge time) and releases tall projectiles that have even longer range than those of the horizontal slash (almost matching those of some anchor's weapons) but has very high ink consumption, particularly since version 4.0.0.
  • It enables its user to ledge-camp beneath certain ledges (most notably the one beneath the opponents' spinner on Museum d'Alfonsino), punishing opponents who wander too close and zoning out others from their preferred positions.
  • Short-hopping (tap ) while charging an attack improves one's mobility while preventing the end-lag of full jumps. This will further improve your ledge-camping.
  • Similar to chargers, splatlings, and stringers, charging behind cover before peeking around it reduces your exposure to opponents' attacks and gives them less time to react.
  • Lunging on the ground (hold upon releasing ) can quickly close the distance between you and your opponent. Flicking either or the controller after the lunge begins can change its direction, enabling more movement options. Combining lunge flicking with charging behind cover enables you to attack opponents around corners.
• Its object damage is very high. Even without Object Shredder, a Splatana Stamper can quickly destroy the following:
  • Big Bubbler: charged ×4 on barrier and generator simultaneously
  • Booyah Bomb: charged direct ×2 (+ tap to splat the Booyah Bomb user) or charged ×3 (+ tap to splat)
    • Splatana Stamper also has access to the "Booyah Bomb tech", in which its user can splat an opposing Booyah Bomb user with one charged slash (or nearly splat them with a horizontal slash) during the interval between their launching of the Booyah Bomb and their landing on the ground, exploiting the still-active damage multiplier against the unarmored opponent
  • Wave Breaker: charged direct + charged or charged ×3
  • Crab Tank: charged direct ×2, or charged ×2 + Tap ×2
    • Of course, a charged direct slash on the Crab Tank rider will both splat them and destroy the Crab Tank

For all its strengths, the Splatana Stamper has three notable weaknesses:

• Because both tap and charged projectiles travel in a straight line (similar to a charger's shot), they require their user to have line of sight to damage opponents, who could exploit cover (such as the tower's pole) to avoid either projectile's giant hitbox.
  • Conversely, ranged area of effect (AoE) weapons (particularly the Range Blaster and S-BLAST) and AoE-like weapons (such as sloshers) can counteract a Splatana Stamper's ledge-camping from a relatively safe distance. The Range Blaster and S-BLAST also have the benefit of a one-shot-splat direct hit to punish direct assaults.
• While its turfing is not at all poor, it is certainly slower than that of a short-range shooter. This makes the Splatana Stamper less effective at checking opposing turf for sharks.
• Both its charging and high ink consumption contribute to its long downtime. They also reduce the number of opportunities to use Burst Bombs.
  • An opponent's Splash Wall has enough health points to offset the Splatana Stamper's high object damage. In addition to a Splash Wall, the Squeezer has a high DPS, enough range to match a Splatana Stamper, enough mobility to avoid charged slashes, and a Trizooka, which can splat a Zipcaster user through their armor.

The instant explosion and good ink efficiency of Burst Bombs offer a Splatana Stamper user plenty of uses:

• Their quick damage enables more combos than with the main weapon alone (see below) and can lead off attacks or finish off damaged opponents attempting to flee.
• They also restrict your opponents' mobility and reduce their sharking opportunities, making them rather effective against weapons that either rely heavily on sharking (e.g., most rollers) or depend on map control to be effective (Squiffers and Nautiluses).
  • Any opponents hit by Burst Bombs will be surrounded by your team's ink, further damaging them and limiting their mobility.
• They can serve as a movement tool by turfing inkable surfaces, permitting either a fast pursuit of an opponent or a rapid retreat from an unfavorable situation.
• Both their trajectory and low ink cost also help mitigate two of the Splatana Stamper's weaknesses: line-of-sight and downtime.

Zipcaster can improve survivability and, distract, harass, and splat opponents:

• The best time and place to target an opponent with Zipcaster is when they are preoccupied with other tasks, from an angle outside their range of vision, and in a path away from the middle of the action. Attempting to fly head on towards an opponent looking in your direction (especially most chargers, blasters, and any weapon with a high shot velocity, such as Nautiluses) will likely result in getting splatted—even with armor.
• Whlie slower weapons (especially the Rainmaker) are easier to target (with both Zipcaster and any follow-up with the main weapon) than more mobile weapons, some opponents are more worthwhile to splat (e.g., any Tacticooler provider), harass, or distract (e.g., anchors) than others.
• Both contacting opponents in mid-flight and the small explosion created upon landing can inflict damage, which can be comboed with itself and the main weapon (see below).
  • Hitting opponents with both forms of damage (60 HP and 35–45 HP respectively) will severely damage (if not outright splat) most opponents, including those using certain protective (HP) special weapons like Big Bubbler and Crab Tank.
• Generally avoid traveling too close to the ground since doing so makes you a relatively easy target. Aiming for locations that are higher, beside, or behind your opponents will force them to alter their aim and attention and make it easier for you to splat them.
  • Some stages, such as Humpback Pump Track, have fewer raised surfaces to which a Zipcaster user can attach to force opponents to change their sightline, making Zipcaster less valuable on them.
• It is possible to jump during the interval between grabbing a surface and flying towards it. Although rarely practical, this can be used to avoid opponents' attacks.
• In general, prioritize your survival over scoring a splat. The longer you can divert your opponents' time, attention, and resources, the easier it will be for your teammates to push forward (and possibly finish splats that you started).

The multiple combos enabled by the Splatana Stamper's entire weapon set (various main weapon attacks, sub weapon, and special weapon) make it very lethal in well-trained hands. Practicing each one will improve your ability to more quickly and effectively splat your opponents:

• The most basic, "bread and butter" combo is a charged slash (70 HP) followed by a tap slash (35 HP). Combine this with short-hopping (see above) to maintain your mobility.
• Burst Bombs (either direct hits–60 HP–or medium splash damage–35 HP–but not minimal splash damage—25 HP) can be combined with the main weapon for more combos:
  • Charged slash + Burst Bomb medium or direct: this order is generally preferred because throwing a Burst Bomb is quicker than charging a slash
    • If a Super Jumping opponent's landing point is too far to punish with a charged direct slash, one can lob a Burst Bomb than fire a charged slash so both attacks hit nearly simultaneously.
  • Tap slash ×2 + Burst Bomb medium or direct: may be performed in any order, including the Burst medium in between both tap slashes
  • Simultaneous (tap slash direct + tap slash) + Burst Bomb direct: best used at close range, may be performed in either order
  • Burst Bombs can also serve as a movement tool to perform any of the combos above, provided you have enough ink
• Both the Zipcaster's direct hit (60 HP) and the landing splash (35–45 HP) can replace the Burst Bomb's direct hit and medium splash respectively in any of the Burst Bomb combos above:
  • Zipcaster splash or direct + charged slash: this order (the reverse of the Burst Bomb version) is usually preferred because the Zipcaster travel time is often longer than the main weapon's charging time
  • Zipcaster splash or direct + tap slash ×2: preferred over the previous combo against mobile opponents
  • Zipcaster direct + simultaneous (tap slash direct + tap slash) : only feasible if you land directly upon an opponent

Synergy

The Splatana Stamper has quick splatting time and chip damage to be an efficient slayer and survivability to be an aggressive pacesetter that can initiate pushes by drawing the opponents' attention and resources, enabling their teammates to push into opposing turf and possibly finish off splats. They will greatly benefit from the presence of Tacticooler, efficient turfing teammates, and sometimes a lethal bomb:

• A steady, reliable provider of Tacticooler (e.g., Snipewriter 5H, Heavy Edit Splatling, and N-ZAP '85) allows a Splatana Stamper user to more liberally follow their preferred fast-paced, aggressive style of play. A Snipewriter (which has low object damage), in turn, will mutally benefit from the Splatana Stamper's high object damage.
• A quick turfing teammate can help a Splatana Stamper user check for sharks and enable them to focus more on pressuring and distracting opponents.
• A teammate with lethal bombs can not only provide chip damage which can combo with the Splatana Stamper's attacks but also help soften an opponent's Splash Wall.
• Opponents distracted or harassed by Zipcaster are easier targets for long-ranged main and special weapons (including Trizooka and Crab Tank) and less capable of counteracting Splat Zone recaptures.
• The three Splat Dualies kits pair well with a Splatana Stamper. The Splatana Stamper can deal high damage with charge slashes (70 damage) to pair with the Dualies' shots (30 damage) to splat opponents efficiently. In addition, all three kits have specials that help stall, allowing Splatana Stamper users to jump in safer. The Zipcaster on Splatana Stamper can also help provide jumps to Dualies users.

Countermeasures

An opposing Splatana Stamper user is often the tip of the spear for the opponents' pushes, setting the pace, drawing attention, and weakening (if not splatting) their targets, all which make it easier for their teammates to push in and complete splats. Limiting their impact on the game usually requires exploiting their few weaknesses:

• Both Ink Resistance Up and Sub Resistance Up–already valuable utility abilities–provide various measures of protection against an opposing Splatana Stamper user:
  • Ink Resistance Up partially offsets both the reduction in mobility and damage taken when touching opposing ink on surfaces, including upon getting hit by a Burst Bomb.
  • Sub Resistance Up reduces the amount of damage taken from both direct hits and splash damage by Burst Bombs.
• Direct matchups between Splatana Stamper users on opposing teams are determined by each player's skill, positioning, turf control, and the presence of any teammates.
• Be wary of ledges whenever an opposing Splatana Stamper user is active (i.e., neither splatted nor at Spawn). Some sub and special weapons (e.g, Point Sensor, Wave Breaker) can help detect them. If they are attempting to ledge-camp, then use AoE-style weapons (e.g., blasters and sloshers) and bombs to flush them out.
• Whenever possible, use cover to avoid the Splatana Stamper user's line of sight to limit their opportunities to damage you from a distance.
  • However, avoid cover that an opposing Splatana Stamper user is directly behind since they can lunge around corners for a quick one-hit-splat.
• Shorter-ranged weapon users should rely more on flanking and sharking to confront an opposing Splatana Stamper user, but beware their lunging charged direct slash.
  • The "sweet spot" for any short-ranged shooter (except the Sploosh-o-matic) is just at its maximum range—close enough to inflict rapid, consistent damage but outside the range of a lunging charged direct slash. While the Splattershot Jr. and Aerospray both have the range that fit these criteria, their high shot spread makes them less reliable at consistently splatting an opposing Splatana Stamper user.
• Users of some splatlings, dualies, and the REEF-FLUX can extend skirmishes against an opposing Splatana Stamper user with their mobiliity, forcing them to resort to weaker tap slashes. Using cover will further improve your survivability. However, you will likely need another teammate to help finish off your opponent due to their superior range.
• If your weapon set includes a Splash Wall, then use it to take space away from the opposing Splatana Stamper user, stall them, and force them to either devote more time and resources to destroy it or travel a different route.
• Charger users outrange an opposing Splatana Stamper user and can not only fire upon them with impunity but also can snipe them during Zipcaster.
• When facing an opposing Zipcaster, assess where is a safe place to either reroute an attack or reposition on defense:
  • In general, avoid getting caught near an opposing Zipcaster user for an extended time, but also be wary of other opponents waiting to pick off anyone fleeing them.
  • Even while avoiding an opponent's Zipcaster, it is still possible to turf or otherwise influence the area underneath. Long-ranged weapons, thrown sub weapons, and other special weapons (such as a Trizooka or Crab Tank) can splat opponents or dissuade them from occupying themselves with splatting teammates.

Gear abilities

Wielders of the Splatana Stamper, a weapon equally suited for initiating and finishing fights, benefit mainly from abilities that both enhance its combat potential and promote a fast-paced, aggressive playstyle.

Comeback

Aggressively pursuing and confronting opponents leads to a greater risk of getting splatted. Upon respawn, it is important to maintain pressure on the opposing team. For 20 seconds after respawning, Comeback provides one primary ability or main, equal to 10 ability points (AP), each of six different gear abilities:

• Ink Saver (Main), Ink Saver (Sub), and Ink Recovery Up reduce their downtime, allowing them to use their Burst Bombs more often.
• Run Speed Up and Swim Speed Up improve the mobility of a Splatana Stamper user.
• Special Charge Up allows for faster farming of Zipcaster right after respawning.

Ink Resistance Up

Every player is expected to come in contact with opposing ink on many surfaces, which can both be damaging and reduce mobility. Ink Resistance Up delays the time when damage is taken from contact with opposing ink and partially offsets the reduction in mobility, the latter trait being important when pursuing opponents.

AP	Mains	Subs	Run speed in opposing ink (DU/f)	Invulnera- bility time (frames)	Rate of damage (HP/s)	Maximum damage (HP)
0	0	0	0.240	0	18	40.0
3	0	1	0.334	10	12	38.0

Ink Saver (Main)

After its ink efficiency was nerfed in version 4.0.0, the number of charged slashes a Splatana Stamper could perform from a full ink tank reduced from 11 to 8. Improving the main weapon's ink efficiency will reduce its downtime, allowing its user to use their main and sub weapons more often and spend less time refilling their ink tank.

• Two subs, or 6 AP, provides a Splatana Stamper user an extra charged slash, whether from a full ink tank (nine charged slashes) or after throwing a Burst Bomb (five).
• Even if using Comeback, reducing downtime throughout the entire battle can mean the difference between finishing splats and allowing opponents to either flee or splat you.

Quick Respawn

This ability has since been less viable since version 4.0.0, since the update increased the Splatana Stamper's ink consumption by 30%, causing the weapon to have more downtime. However, it continues to see some use in some modes such as Rainmaker.

Quick Super Jump

After respawning, a Splatana Stamper user usually would like to quickly return to the front lines to maintain pressure on their opponents. Quick Super Jump shortens the lag time at the start of performing a Super Jump, not only hastening their return to the action but also increasing their likelihood of escaping whenever they need to retreat.

AP	Mains	Subs	Vulnerabi- lity frames	Vulnerabi- lity time (s)	Total Super Jump time (s)
0	0	0	80	1.333	3.633
3	0	1	58	0.967	3.267

Special Power Up

The longer a Splatana Stamper user can keep their opponents occupied with their Zipcaster, the higher the likelihood of their teammates successfully completing a push. Just one sub of Special Power Up both extends the duration of Zipcaster and reduces the ink consumption of its grappling hook.

Special Saver

A valuable utility sub for any aggressive weapon user, Special Saver reduces the amount of special gauge lost upon getting splatted, even if splatted while using Zipcaster.

Stealth Jump

An essential ability for any frontline weapon user, Stealth Jump better covers their Super Jump landing marker from distant opponents, allowing them to more safely return to the front lines and maintain pressure on the opposing team.

Sub Power Up

Two subs, or 6 AP, allow Burst Bombs to be thrown farther, more closely matching the range of its charged slashes.

Sub Resistance Up

Due to their role as a frontliner, a Splatana Stamper user is prone to receiving splash damage from opposing bombs. Sub Resistance Up reduces the amount of damage taken from splash damage (but not direct hits) by lethal bombs and both direct hits and splash damage by nonlethal bombs, such as Burst Bombs.

Swim Speed Up

As a frontline weapon user, the Splatana Stamper user greatly benefits if they are more mobile. Swim Speed Up enables its user to more quickly close the distance towards an opponent, and generally benefits from greater mobility due to the end-lag of some of its attacks.

AP	Mains	Subs	Swim speed (units per frame)
0	0	0	1.920
6	0	2	2.010
10	1	0	2.065
16	1	0	2.140