Community Glossary

Unofficial!

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

This page is a collection of terms coined or used by the community. While some are most popular inside the community only, others are used in other gaming communities, or originated in Splatoon but were made popular throughout the internet as memes.

Gameplay

Buff and Nerf

Buff and nerf, used in competitive speech, refer to any attribute that became stronger or weaker respectively when compared to a previous version of the same attribute. For instance, the Tenta Missiles were improved to deploy all ten missiles onto single targets or five missiles on each of two targets in version 3.2.0 of Splatoon 2, meaning it was buffed. Conversely, the Rapid Blaster's radius of damage by exploding shots was nerfed in version 3.2.0 of Splatoon 2 since it was made harder to hit opponents with it, thus weakening it.

Loadout (Kit)

A loadout (also referred to as a kit) is a combination of a weapon set and abilities, the latter which includes all three mains and nine subs. It is possible to form optimal loadouts based on the weapon used, the role on a team, the stage, or the type of ranked mode.

Main and Sub

A main is a large ability slot. A sub is a small ability slot. Judd calls the big slot "main ability", but calls small slots "unlockable abilities" and "additional abilities", so there is no official way to refer to them. Players may also call big slots "primaries" and small slots "secondaries" so that there is no confusion with main weapons, sub weapons, Ink Saver (Main), and Ink Saver (Sub). In Splatoon 2, the Private Battle options refer to the small slots as "Secondary Abilities".

Pure

Pure is the term used when a piece of gear's abilities are all the same (e.g. three sub-slots and one main-slot of Ink Saver (Main)). The piece of gear must have three slots for this to happen, which can be obtained by having Murch use Super Sea Snails (if the gear does not have three ability slots from the start).

Having pure gear is often desired in casual play, as it allows for greater flexibility when choosing abilities for a particular weapon or match. For example, a player who uses a Carbon Roller may use a piece of headgear with pure Special Charge Up, a piece of clothing with Ninja Squid and Swim Speed Up and a pair of shoes with pure Main Power Up. The player may then decide to switch to the Kensa Splattershot Pro, and could then replace the clothes with a piece with pure Ink Saver Main without losing the Special Charge Up or the Main Power Up. However, obtaining pure gear can take a lot of time, as pure gear occurring naturally is rather rare, and the amount of ability chunks needed increases with each existing secondary ability of the same type on the same piece of gear, leading some players to instead distribute the abilities evenly across all three pieces of gear. In addition, competitive players' gear builds typically do not use pure gear, due to diminishing returns for using too much of the same ability and some abilities working best in small amounts, such as Bomb Defense Up DX or Quick Super Jump.

To obtain pure gear, it is recommended either to equip gear that has the desired ability as the favored ability or to use a drink ticket for said ability. However, if one wishes to have pure gear with the same main ability as the secondary gear abilities, they cannot use the brand that has the desired ability as the favored ability, as none of the brands have gear as such (for example, the brand Skalop, who favors Quick Respawn, has no gear that has Quick Respawn as its main).

Value sub

Value subs are abilities that are strong when small amounts of it are ran - typically one sub, though some can be ran with two subs. Bomb Defense Up DX is an example of a value sub, as one sub of Bomb Defense Up DX will grant its user increased survivability against explosives and special weapons, in addition to certain weapons that can combo with bombs. Quick Super Jump is another, as one sub will reduce the Super Jump time from 80 frames to 58, while adding an additional sub only further reduces Super Jump time by an additional 8 frames, to 50 frames.

Mirror match

A mirror match is a name used to describe a match during a Splatfest where one's team goes against its side. This happens when the matchmaking system cannot find a ready team on the other side and instead matches the team with its own. These types of matches, however, do not reward the player with any clout and do not count towards the final score of the Splatfest. An example would be a Ketchup team going against another Ketchup team, rather than a Mayo team. These are especially common if the chosen team is more popular than the other, with the more popular team getting many mirror matches if it's very popular and the less popular team rarely receiving any if at all, as there are not enough opponents to feed the more popular team otherwise.

Sparks

Sparks or sparking is the term used to describe a blaster shot that hits a solid surface and explodes early. This typically does very low damage in comparison to a direct or indirect hit.

Spread mode

Spread mode refers to the standard dual-reticle firing mode of dualie weapons when the user is firing while standing or strafing. This mode is also sometimes referred to as painting mode. Spread mode is used to differentiate from turret mode, the other form of fire used after performing a Dodge Roll.

Turret mode

Turret mode refers to the crouched state that dualie weapons enter after performing a dodge roll, with the two reticles displayed on-screen merging into one.

Vanilla

The weapon term Vanilla is a name for a weapon's default variant (e.g. Vanilla Splattershot Pro). This is to separate them from their other variant(s), and sometimes it may be abbreviated to just the letter "V" (e.g. V-Splattershot Pro). It is also a term for stages that are more understood or balanced in the game toward the community ( e.g. Inkblot Art Academy).

White ink frames (Ink recovery lag)

White Ink Frames.

White ink frames (also known as ink recovery lag) is the term used to describe the state in which the player is unable to recover ink. This is most commonly seen when throwing a sub weapon. While every main weapon has white ink frames, it is typically short and ends by the time the ink tank appears on screen after entering swim form (although it still prevents the slower ink recovery that happens while not submerged in ink). Some sub weapons, such as Squid Beakon, still show the white ink frames visual despite not having any. The name most likely comes from the appearance of the player's ink tank, where the consumed ink turns white and depletes.

Social

Ban

A 14-day ban for "unsportsmanlike conduct", as written in an email

A ban is a disciplinary action that may be taken by Nintendo that prevents a player from participating online for any period ranging from 24 hours to permanent ("indefinite" in North America).

Griefing

Griefing is a blanket term for an activity engaged by players who negatively or do not impact the game, usually at the expense of another player's progress or enjoyment. This includes, for example, staying at the spawn point for the entire match, not actively participating, following another player around, "squidbagging", or spamming signals. Players that are doing this can sometimes encourage other players to do the same, which could eventually lead to the entire room missing out on a fight altogether and start a Squid Party.

Doing so in Ranked Battles can be extremely harmful to other players who wish to play normally, as it gives the opposing team an unfair number advantage and may damage the teammates' ranks. As such, many players in the community generally react in outrage and/or disappointment to such actions.

Netcode

Netcode is a blanket term used to refer to the internal networking (online communications) systems in video games. Splatoon games use a combination of peer-to-peer and client-server networking systems for multiplayer gameplay; due to latency issues that may occur with the games' peer-to-peer system, often referred to as "desync", players often blame the netcode for communication errors.

Peak

A peak refers to a player's highest ever rank in Ranked Battles. The term is used mostly in the X rank community to ask what a player's highest ever power was. For example, if a player asks, "What is your X Peak?", they are asking for the highest X Power the player has ever managed, regardless of game mode.

Salt

Salty redirects here. For the Splatfest, see Salty vs. Sweet.

A Miiverse post expressing salt.

A player that has salt or is being salty is considered to be exhibiting bad sportsmanship, usually about a perceived unfairness about something like lag or situations where another player had an advantage in combat. Salt can take the form of anger, whining, or calm but unjustified complaining. This term can be found in several other communities as well.

Throwing

Throwing is a form of griefing, salt or feeding in which a teammate stops playing in a match due to frustration. Common examples are deliberately falling out-of-bounds repeatedly or staying in their team's spawn-barrier while doing nothing, certain taunts or even squidbagging, giving the enemy an advantage by accident, or disconnecting completely.

Smurf

A Smurf is a player with a high Rank and/or skill who plays online with a newly created, alternate user account to experience the game on a clean slate, or to rank up again more easily. A new Nintendo Network ID user for Splatoon or a Nintendo Switch Online membership for Splatoon 2 is required to do this.

Sploon

Sploon is referred to playing Splatoon, or to the game itself, a short name that is used sometimes by the community. It was originally used by PeanutButterGamer in his Splatoon review video. Quote: "Hey Jeff, wanna Sploon?" A variant of this term is "Spoon", not referring to the utensil, but rather having the same meaning as the term above.

Squid party

The term squid party was first used by the player known as "DogPooMan" who invited everybody via a Miiverse post with a peace sign on and a caption "Squid Party, Don't Kill". This is when most or all players in a room decide to party using taunts instead of fighting against each other. One may also occur at the end of a successful Salmon Run shift. This usually happens as a chain reaction started by one pacifist player (or a player that intended on griefing). Players in a party generally interact peacefully with their opponents, use a lot of taunts, perform flashy moves, showcase tricky jumps, shots, and glitches, and/or perform actions that players normally would not, such as staying in squid form on dry land. The Octoling variant of this is called an "Octo Party", and in the case of combined characters, a "Cephaloparty". Other examples of a "squid party" include but are not limited to throwing bombs into water or other similar areas, super jumping to nearby team members repeatedly, throwing bombs straight up in the air or Squid Rolling back and forth repeatedly. Squid Parties can also occur for the winning team if the tower in Tower Control is near the goal, or if the player with the Rainmaker is near the enemy pedestal. In Splatoon 3, if a player disconnects within 1 minute of the game starting, the game will end shortly as a draw. Since all players are aware that the game will end without consequence, short-lived squid parties may break out during this period as well.

Taunt

For signals given to other players using the Control Pad, see Signal.

Three Inklings squidbagging.

Taunting is a type of action meant to convey victory or to anger opponents, and usually does not affect gameplay in any way. Players have used game mechanics in ways not originally intended to create various taunts:

• Bowing: an uncommon taunt that involves players lowering their heads using or tilting the controller down with motion controls. This action is used either respectfully or sarcastically, depending on whether it is used on a teammate or an opponent. A more demonstrable way of bowing is by holding , which will put the player's hand up at the same time (as if they were about to throw a bomb) and then bowing. After a player is splatted, another player that wishes to bow will place a Squid Beakon on the place the player died, as if it was a grave, and then bow their head downward. This can serve to mock an enemy's death or to communicate a message of encouragement, companionship, or vengeance to a friendly player. The taunt can be taken even further if the taunter super-jumps at the Squid Beakon they just placed.
• Headbanging: a somewhat uncommon taunt and can be an alternative to the bowing taunt. The player who wishes to headbang must hold if they're equipped with a throwing bomb (such as the Autobomb or Splat Bomb) and look up and down rapidly. This is often used either in a friendly manner, often in a squid party, or as a way of mocking the opponent's death.
• Squidbagging/Octobagging: rapidly changing between either squid/octopus and kid forms with , deriving from the popular first-person shooter community term "teabagging". This action is usually performed by a player after they have splatted an opponent, sometimes over the splatted player's spot of death. Because splatted players must briefly watch their killer's actions while waiting to respawn (unless looking at the map), this taunt is typically used to signal victory and mock the defeated Inkling or Octoling. Squidbagging and Octobagging are also common in squid parties. Players may also choose to jump and move around as they're squidbagging. Squidbagging can also potentially be used to dodge attacks, as the player's hitboxes change from being tall and narrow in kid form to short and wide in squid form.
• Twirling: twirling in place, sometimes with a charger and holding then looking to the air. It is an alternative to squidbagging and is also a carryover of "teabagging".
• Dabbing: A taunt exclusive to Splatoon 2 in which after a player splats another player, the player can throw a Curling Bomb and then attempt to hold another with insufficient ink and look down directly after to dab on the victim. Dabbing is typically used as a way of mocking the victim. Note that the weapon the taunter is using needs to have the Curling Bomb as its sub, otherwise the taunt cannot be properly performed.
• Hiking: A victory emote or taunt that can be used in both games. It is based on the Fortnite dance called the Hike. To perform this, use a weapon with a throwing bomb (like Autobombs, Splat Bombs, or Burst Bombs) and mash and at the same time. This can only be used while refilling ink.

Competitive

For the terms used as callouts in competitive teams, see Callouts.

Area denial

[WP:Area denial weapon|Area denial] is a strategy used to prevent an opponent from either occupying or traveling through a specific area of the stage, such as the Tower. Spamming bombs is one example of a tactic used for area denial.

Area of effect

Area of effect, or AoE, refers to the space in which a weapon can inflict damage onto multiple targets. Bombs, Ink Mines, Blasters, some Sloshers, and some Stringers can inflict AoE damage.

Ban

In competitive play, a ban refers to players who are not allowed to play in a specific tournament for breaching the rules. This happens in both fan and official tournaments. It also refers to weapons and abilities that are not allowed to be used in a specific tournament due to its format (e.g., a fan tournament called "F***Shooters", which banned all shooter-class weapons, except blasters and semi-automatics, from being used in matches.).

Base invading

Base invading is the act of moving into the enemy base. Base invading can be done for a variety of powerful purposes, from spawn-camping (see below), to distracting the enemy from firing at important players (e.g. the Tower rider, the Rainmaker holder, or any Power Clam holders). Typically, the more players that are base invading, the more powerful the tactic will be.

Bubble canceling

Bubble canceling is performed while using Bubble Blower by morphing into squid or octopus form (by pressing ) during the bubble blowing animation. This will cancel its end lag, allowing the player to both reduce vulnerability time and launch bubbles more quickly.

Bunny/squid hopping

Bunny/squid hopping is the act of inking the ground and jumping away in squid form repeatedly at a fast pace, usually to escape areas with enemy ink around them.

Burst canceling

Burst canceling is a splatting technique that is used to quickly splat an opposing player with a combo of the main and sub weapons, mainly when using a Burst Bomb.

Camping

Camping is a term used in several communities and refers to when a player stays in the same place over a long time as if they had made a camping site there. Players can do this for many reasons. Charger users may camp in one spot, as they are most effective attacking at long range and not so much when moving about. However, this is intended, and "camping" is normally used when referring to other scenarios: at times, players will stand next to an incoming Super Jump marker or Squid Beakon, waiting to get a splat right as the opponent lands. Players can also stay in place near the opposing team's spawn point to attack them right as they leave safety; this is known as "spawn-camping".

Sharking

Sharking is a form of camping in Splatoon involving hiding in a stranded puddle of one's own ink. Because of the mechanics of Splatoon, hiding in ink makes camping more effective. In contrast to just hiding in a largely inked area, sharking is less obvious, and can be effective when one is severely damaged or in a tight situation with no form of getaway. This tactic can be used for a variety of purposes, from ambushing the Rainmaker carrier to intercepting a would-be defender.

Cap

Cap or capping is short for "capture" or "capturing". It is used in several competitive games and refers to when a team is in the middle of capturing an objective. In the case of Splatoon, this could be taking over a Splat Zone.

Carrying

Carrying, used in the context of "carrying the team", is what some players say when they feel like they were the best players of their team and if it was not for their efforts, the team would have gotten a much lower score or lost. This is an analogy to carrying the other members of the team on one's back while that person does all the work.

Cheese

Cheese refers to any tactic that requires little skill or coordination but has the potential for a great reward. One notorious example of cheesing in Splatoon 3 is using Kraken Royale to safely travel underneath the opponents' basket in Clam Blitz while teammates, all carrying Power Clams, Super Jump to their teammate in Kraken form for a quick score.

Composition

A composition or comp consists of all four weapons used by a team, which can determine its strengths, weaknesses, and suitable play style. For example, a team composition of a Tentatek Splattershot, N-ZAP '85, Tri-Slosher, and Nautilus 79 can be considered an aggressive composition due to the presence of four relatively mobile, good-turfing weapons, two Inkjets, and a mobile anchor. Conversely, a comp consisting of an L-3 Nozzlenose D, Tenta Brella, Custom Explosher, and Custom Jet Squelcher is safer and more defensive due to four medium to long-ranged weapons, including two anchor weapons.

Damage per second

Damage per second, or DPS, is a measurement commonly used in various video games, such as the Splatoon series, to determine how quickly certain weapons can output damage and, more importantly, how quickly they can eliminate certain targets. Weapons with high DPS are generally favored by slayers.

Dualie hopping

Dualie hopping is a technique used with the dualie class of weapons, similar to jumping while firing with a shooter. Normally, when firing while strafing, pressing will execute a dodge roll. However, jumping while firing can be done by returning to the neutral position before pressing . This can also be performed by briefly releasing while inputting a jump.

Farming

In the Splatoon series, farming refers to the act of turfing to quickly build up the special gauge in order to constantly have a certain special weapon ready. For example, in Splatoon 2, the Splattershot Jr. is considered the fastest weapon at farming Ink Armor, making it a popular pick for many team compositions.

Feeding

Feeding refers to getting splatted by an opponent without providing one's team something useful in return, such as map control, a useful trade, or denial of the objective. Feeding the opponent splats leaves one's teammates at a numbers and special weapons disadvantage.

Flanking

Flanking an opponent means to attack in more than one direction, particularly at an angle to the opponent's direction of engagement. In both Splatoon and Splatoon 2, flanking often involves at least one player attacking the opponent either from the side or from behind, either attacking a vital midline or backline player by surprise or drawing attention away from the front. Flanking is often combined with sharking (see above).

Flick-shots

Flick-shots are sudden fast, calculated movements in which a player flicks their wrists or the right-stick to suddenly aim in a different direction, firing during the movement, in order to splat a player. This type of shot is very prominent with charger players, who often flick their aim to hit shots without the laser being visible to the player. Most flick shots are small movements, but there are times where players do much larger rotations during a flick. Slosher, roller, and blaster players also use flick-shots.

Ink extension

Ink extension is when a player climbs an uninked wall, taking advantage of a mechanic that adds a small amount of ink to a body of ink when the player moves the slightest at the edge at the ink.

Instapop

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Instapoping Bubbles (link to source)

Instapop is a technique in Splatoon 2 that allows a user with Bubble Blower to quickly pop their own bubbles upon deploying them. While the methods in which this action is performed are different among weapons, it typically involves throwing out a bomb, activating Bubble Blower, launching bubbles into the bomb, then throwing another bomb to quickly pop the bubbles. This technique usually requires both Object Shredder and enough ability points of Special Power Up to work.

Jump tech

Jump tech, sometimes called jumptech, is a technique in Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3 exclusive to the Dualie Squelchers and Custom Dualie Squelchers. This takes advantage of how these weapons can slide or jump immediately after performing a dodge roll. This is done by doing a dodge roll, releasing , then immediately jumping afterward. Doing so will preserve turret mode accuracy for a brief moment while jumping and can be performed until the user runs out of ink without any end lag.

K/D and KA

In Splatoon and Splatoon 3, the ratio of 'players splatted' and 'getting splatted', is often referred to as the "kill-death ratio" just like other shooting games, or "K/D" for short.

In Splatoon 2, the ratio is instead 'players splatted including assists' and 'specials used'. This is often referred to as "KA" which stands for "kills and assists", while specials remained unchanged without initials.

King throwing and king cycling

In Salmon Run Next Wave, king throwing is a strategy used by teams which involves intentionally losing five shifts as fast as possible to quickly fill up the Salmometer. This is used to encounter King Salmonids faster than through normal gameplay. King throwing is usually done to speed up the process of acquiring fish scales or defeating King Salmonids for badge progress.

King cycling is a variant of king throwing where players will lose a set amount of games (typically three or four) without necessarily filling up the meter, then proceeding to play as normal until a King Salmonid is encountered. This method is slower as the king fight is not guaranteed, but it prevents the players' ranks from decreasing as much and therefore lowering the hazard level, so there are better odds for silver and gold scales.

Ledge canceling

Ledge canceling is used to climb inkable vertical surfaces more quickly while reducing the time while in the air upon jumping atop a ledge. To perform this, simply release just before reaching the ledge. The Inkling or Octoling will be able to mount the ledge and reduce the "hang time" of the jump up the ledge, allowing them to immediately swim forward or fire at an opponent.

Lockout

In Splat Zones, after a team has taken control of the Zones and usually gained a numbers advantage, it will begin a lockout of the opposing team to prevent them from taking back the zones by cutting out all routes to them. The team that is locked out will have to execute an effective means to push their opponents back and reclaim the Zone before either the countdown timer or game clock runs out.

Map control

Map control or stage control is a term used for having the majority of turf covered in the map. A team that gains map control simultaneously increases its mobility while restraining the opponent's mobility. Having map control enables a team to more effectively mount an attack, rapidly react on defense, lockout the opposing team in Splat Zones (see above) and collect clams more easily and safely in Clam Blitz.

Mode abbreviations

Abbreviations for the game modes are used by tournaments and by the community for all the online modes that are currently in the games.

• TW: Turf War
• SZ: Splat Zones
• TC: Tower Control
• RM: Rainmaker
• CB: Clam Blitz
• PB: Private Battle
• SR: Salmon Run

One-word abbreviations are used too, being much more friendly for newer players to understand. Private Battles do not have this type of abbreviation.

• Turf: Turf War
• Zones: Splat Zones
• Tower: Tower Control
• Rainmaker: Rainmaker
• Clams: Clam Blitz
• Salmon: Salmon Run
• League: League Battle

Peeking

Peeking is the act of charging a charger behind cover before strafing, quickly aiming, and firing at a target. Hiding behind cover not only provides a measure of protection but also hides the laser sight, reducing the time opponents can react to it. Because all Inklings and Octolings are right-handed, right-side peeking is generally more effective than left-side peeking. However, the ability for unscoped chargers to store a charge, and dualies holding a weapon in both hands, has made left side peeking more viable in Splatoon 2. In Splatoon 3, splatanas can hold a charge shot on their left side by charging a shot after using one tap shot, however the origin point of the ink slash remains the same (the middle of the Inkling or Octoling who fired the shot).

Phases

Games in competitive play can be divided into three phases:

• Attacking phase: a team pushes forward into enemy territory, such as pushing either the Tower or the Rainmaker towards the goal. This phase is often referred to as "pushing".
• Neutral phase: neither team has started a push, yet both teams are still busy: players are turfing, collecting clams in Clam Blitz, and even engaging in some one-on-one battles around the stage. This phase ends once a team has an advantage (e.g., More turf, specials charged, and have more players alive) and are able to begin a push.
• Defensive phase: a team is trying to stop a push by the enemy.

Pity clam

The Power Clam that will spawn by the goal of the team who was scored against after their barrier got broken has been dubbed the Pity Clam by official Splatoon 2 competitive commentators. Competitive teams will usually keep the Pity Clam untouched until a Super Jump opportunity to toss it into the enemy's goal presents itself. The Pity Clam can also be used to force Overtime in matches where the team is losing and does not have a Power Clam on the field aside from it.

Placements

Placements is a term used for the calculation period that determines the player's power level going into Rank X in one of the ranked modes. Placements are so-called because the power level and estimate position indicate the player's initial X Ranking.

Roles

Weapons in Splatoon specialize in different roles, of which the community uses the terms slayer, skirmisher, support, and anchor. These roles are all designed to accomplish certain tasks that help the team win the game. Players are also expected to shift roles depending on the situation, as they may need to fill in for teammates that have been splatted (such as a skirmisher filling in for an anchor if the rest of their team was splatted), or for teammates who are unable to perform their regular role in their current situation (such as a slayer and skirmisher swapping roles if the opponents begin to focus on the slayer).

Slayer

Slayers are charged primarily with winning fights by splatting opponents, allowing their team to push forward. They usually prefer to engage only with opponents that they can quickly splat without much resistance, primarily ones that are actively fighting their teammates. They usually accomplish this by taking off angles to isolate and surprise players and get quick splats without putting themselves in danger. While the slayer usually looks to do this during fights started by the skirmisher, they are also expected to help all teammates that get into fights, helping their team stay alive.

While a player's weapon of choice often depends on the mode and stage, certain weapons are more suited for slayers than are others. Slayer weapons are expected to shift between fights quickly, win fights consistently, and splat multiple opponents quickly. Mobile, fast-firing weapons are well-suited for this role, as their speed lets them shift between fights quickly and take off angles well, and their fire rate allows them to more easily land shots on opponents and tear through multiple enemies fast. Short- to mid-ranged shooters and dualies usually fall into this category. Additionally, weapons with decent mobility, solid range, and large hitboxes also function well, as they can position further and safer than other options and use their large hitbox to consistently win fights, and often feature the ability to one-shot opponents. Weapons such as high-damage blasters and certain sloshers fall into this category. Additionally, weapons in these categories can also function as weak evade or trick skirmishers, allowing them to more easily shift into a skirmishing role when needed.

Slayers generally select abilities that permit them to take risks when attacking opponents, such as Comeback, Quick Respawn, Quick Super Jump, and Stealth Jump. Swim Speed Up, a useful ability for almost any role or weapon, is beneficial for slayers to enable them to both pursue and evade opponents more quickly. Ninja Squid can be valuable for a slayer if one's weapon requires stealth, such as a roller; however, one should note the speed reduction and might pair it with Swim Speed Up.

Skirmisher

Skirmishers are meant to initiate fights with the enemy team, distracting them to provide the slayers with easier splats. Effective skirmishers are expected to stay alive while taking on the brunt of the enemy team long enough for the slayer to do their job, after which the skirmisher themselves getting splatted should be nearly inconsequential to the team.

There are three major types of skirmishers. Weapons that can effectively evade enemy fire while still being threatening are known as evade skirmishers. Weapons that make use of tools that can shield the user such as Splash Wall, the Tenta Brella's shield, Big Bubbler, or Baller are known as tank skirmishers. Weapons that can abuse unique gimmicks to hit opponents from behind cover, such as blasters and sloshers, are known as trick skirmishers.

Skirmishers run abilities similar to that of slayers, but with a larger focus on Quick Respawn and Stealth Jump; due to the nature of these weapons, assists will be more common or the possibility of not getting any splats at all, which do not impact the activation of Quick Respawn.

Support

A support player is expected to control space — whether by turfing or zoning, help their team take or maintain map control, provide support fire, and use certain sub and special weapons that benefit the entire team. Support players are also expected to push the objective more than any other role, but only usually after map control is established and enough opponents have been splatted to ensure a more successful push.

• Turfing support weapons generally turf the stage efficiently, have good mobility, and can farm specials for frequent use. Spray shooters such as the Splattershot Jr. fit this role due to their significant turf output but limited zoning capabilities.
• Zoning support weapons control space not by turfing but by zoning out opponents, either through long range, splash damage, or otherwise restricting the opponents' mobility. Brellas fit this category very well as do medium-ranged blasters. Note that many traditional support weapons have lethal bombs in their kits, enabling them to zone out opponents as well.
• Hybrid support weapons combine both turfing and zoning to control space. Weapons such as the Bloblobber fit this category.

Also, note that several slayer and anchor weapons have supportive elements to them and can even flex to a support role when their main role is rendered less effective at a certain moment.

Anchor

The anchor is responsible for staying alive to prevent a team wipe and provide a consistent spot for the team to Super Jump to. Anchor weapons are almost always long-ranged, as these weapons enable the user to take positions that are difficult for opponents to approach, providing safety to the anchor player and any jumps from their teammates. Anchor weapons are otherwise very flexible and can provide a wide variety of benefits to the team, including area denial, splats on unsuspecting opponents, consistent turfing, chip damage, special spam, and more.

Flex

A flex is capable of more than one position and role, sometimes changing between loadouts in-between battles. A flex player is familiar with a wide variety of weapons that can play a wide variety of different roles.

Showering

Showering in Splatoon is staying in the middle of a Splash Wall, making the player nearly invulnerable, which looks like a shower. This can only be used by the thrower's teammates and the thrower themselves because if enemies attempt to do this, they will take damage. However, a showering player is vulnerable to opposing bombs that strike the Splash Wall, instantly detonating and splatting the showering player.

Snowball

Like its proverbial namesake, a snowball is a situation in Tower Control in which the team pushing the Tower can do so with little difficulty particularly due to the stage layout. Each stage can be rated by how easily a tower can snowball toward the goal after a particular point on the path. For example, on Starfish Mainstage since version 4.0, once one team has cleared checkpoint two, the tower has an easy path to checkpoint three and the goal because the defending team's pit and snipe provide enough space for the attacking team's players to occupy, allowing them to hold off defenders at the stairs, at the window, and coming from spawn.

In Salmon Run and Salmon Run Next Wave, a snowball is when the team becomes overwhelmed by Boss Salmonids. A snowball can be prevented by being aware of spawn directions, splatting high-threat Boss Salmonids, and good special usage.

Spacing (Zoning)

The act of spacing (also known as zoning) refers to players keeping their opponents at a certain distance from themselves, their teammates, and certain areas of the stage. This can be accomplished with certain sub and special weapons – particularly with lethal bombs – and even with the range and any splash damage of a main weapon. Blaster weapons especially need to space themselves from opponents to deal damage.

Spamming

Spamming is the act of repetitive use of a weapon or tactic, such as bomb spamming. The term ultimately derives from the Monty Python sketch [[WP:Spam (Monty Python sketch)|"Spam"].

Splashdown Canceling

A Splashdown Cancel is when a player is splatted whilst stuck in the Splashdown animation (before it hits the ground and deals damage). It is nearly impossible to cancel a Super Jump Splashdown.

Stagger

A stagger is a situation in which a team's splatted players respawn in long succession, creating a trickle of individual players returning. This is often dangerous for the team who is staggering, especially if the staggering team is constantly at a numbers disadvantage (e.g., 2-4, 1-3, 1-4), as individual players rushing back into battle are easier for the opponents to pick off. One tactic to avoid staggering is for the first player splatted in succession to delay returning to the battle, pair up with a teammate who was splatted after them, and return to battle together. Conversely, if a team can stagger its opponent, it can maintain a constant numbers advantage.

Stealth swimming

Stealth swimming is a tactic that does not leave any trace that a player was around when swimming. It also does not create any ripples when swimming, though it decreases swimming speed. Slightly move the joystick and a player should be able to swim in ink without being detected.

Sub strafing

Sub strafing is a technique used in the competitive scene to change directions fast when swimming in the ink. Pressing (sub weapon button) when swimming will stop the deceleration of slowing down the swim speed and will cause the player to emerge out of the ink. This technique can be used with all sub weapons outside of seekers and ink mines in Splatoon. Sub strafing is not possible with the Rainmaker, so strafing is only possible using instead of .

Weapon strafing

Strafing is when a player constantly uses their weapons attacks. It can slow players down and decrease their speed slightly. An example is when a player repetitively sloshes a slosher. The player does not travel at full speed but instead ends up walking while using the weapon at the same time.

Torpedo combo

A Torpedo combo is performed by rolling or striking a thrown Torpedo into a surface before it rolls or ricochets towards an opponent before detonating. This permits certain weapons, especially the Kensa Rapid Blaster, to score quicker splats.

Trade

Due to the mechanics of the Splatoon series, it is possible for two opposing players to splat one another at or nearly at the same time, an occurrence known as a trade. Trades usually favor the team who has a numbers advantage either throughout the map or at a particular area of the map, such as where the Tower currently is or where the Rainmaker was last dropped.

Turfing

Turfing is the act of covering inkable terrain with one's ink. Besides being the objective in Turf War, it also helps establish map control, provides locations to either refill ink or shark opponents, and builds up the special gauge to have special weapons ready.

Uptime and Downtime

Uptime is the amount of time a player is actively fighting, turfing, or otherwise contributing to their team. Conversely, downtime is the amount of time spent not contributing, particularly while one is refilling their ink tank, the time in between shots (in the case of slow-firing weapons), and–for weapons that require charging–the time spent charging a shot or stream of shots.

Wipe

A wipe (or a wipeout, as it is officially named in Splatoon 3) is when all players on one team are splatted. Wiping the other team is usually very advantageous, especially in Turf War and Splat Zones. However, particularly on Tower Control and Rainmaker, sometimes a wiped team can set up their defense more effectively because everyone on the team respawns nearly simultaneously, but usually only if the Tower or Rainmaker was pushed deep into enemy territory before the wipe. A crew wipe in Salmon Run means all workers in the shift have been splatted, immediately ending the Salmon Run shift in failure.

Luring and Over-Luring

Luring is a tactic used in Salmon Run and Salmon Run Next Wave, where a player leads certain Boss Salmonids closer to the Egg Basket for faster and more efficient collection of Golden Eggs. A perfect example of a Boss Salmonid that can be lured is Maws, where it targets the player closest to where it spawned and said player retreats to the Basket and readies to splat it. But too much use of this tactic can lead to a situation called Over-Luring, making the area around the Egg Basket swarmed by Lesser Salmonids as well as Bosses and could lead to the team getting wiped out and fail the wave.

• Boss Salmonids that can be lured are; Steelhead, Steel Eel, Scrapper, Maws, Drizzler, Flipper-Flopper, and Slammin' Lid.
• Boss Salmonids that cannot be lured are; Fish Stick, Flyfish, Stinger, and Big Shot, due to the former having fixed landing spots on the stage, and the latter three primarily staying at the shore during Low and Normal Tides due to their long range attacks.

Shore Rushing

Shore Rushing is a tactic in Salmon Run and Salmon Run Next Wave, where players rush to the shoreline to splat Boss Salmonids right as they spawn. This can be detrimental if done recklessly, as Golden Eggs dropped by the Bosses can entice players to return there to collect to Eggs they missed or stay there and use Egg Throw to toss them closer to the Basket for teammates to help deposit them, leaving the player exposed to Lesser Salmonids.

A good example of a Shore Rushing situation is on Gone Fission Hydroplant during Low Tide, where players continuously splat Boss Salmonids and leads to multiple Golden Eggs at the shore and the center narrow path being overrun by Bosses, such as Slammin' Lids, to block said path while spawning more Lesser Salmonids and lead to an Over-Luring situation. But an efficient way of Shore Rushing is to splat the Boss Salmonids that primarily stay at the shore; in Flyfish, Stingers and Big Shots, as they become deadly in both Shore Rushing and Over-Luring situations due to their long range attacks.

Memes

You're a kid now, you're a squid now

In May 2015, before the release of Splatoon, Nintendo of America launched a marketing campaign to promote the game, which received mixed to negative reception that resulted in widespread word-of-mouth discussion of the ads and Splatoon. It gained notoriety for the music created for it, featuring sung lyrics about the game and its features, such as "You're a kid now, you're a squid now, you're a kid, you're a squid, you're a kid, you're a squid, you're a kid now" and "Splat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-a Splatoon". The songs spawned memes, such as a video with a looped line of "You're a kid, you're a squid, you're a kid, you're a squid..."

Celebratory memes

The celebratory memes are the phrases "Booyah", "Woomy", "Ngyes", "Veemo", "Squimeedaily", and "Weyo/Oomi/Ngweh". They are usually written in all caps. They are each one of the celebratory sound effects and signals of the Inkling Girl, Inkling Boy, Octoling Girl, and Octoling Boy respectively, usually heard in Inkopolis when talking, or when they successfully deliver the Rainmaker to its goal. It is believed that "WOOMY" gained popularity from a 4chan thread in /vg/ (Video Games board). The sound effects for Woomy, Ngyes, Veemo, and Weyo/Oomi/Ngweh are available here. The Japanese audience has a similar interpretation of an Inkling sound effect, "Manmenmi" (マンメンミ).

Splat Tim

Splat Tim 'does it'

Splat Tim is a deformed Inkling boy dressed in the Team Dogs Splatfest Tee and Golf Visor, based off this image. He was first introduced on 6 July 2015 by Instagram user marble.soda. This meme became so well known that many parody accounts, custom images, a Splat Tim Wiki on FANDOM, and even a custom amiibo were made based on him. Many 'family members' of Splat Tim have also been created, including Splat Tina, Splat Tom, Splat Tailor, Cale, Mar and Captian Crunch. The tagline 'He does it!' has often been associated with Splat Tim after a mockup box art of a Splat Tim game introduced the tagline.

It is said that Splat Tim was deformed by an event called The Splatpocalypse (not to be confused with the Splatocalypse). His signature weapon is called the "Pistol", although little is known about it.

This meme has been acknowledged by Nintendo of Europe's Twitter account during the Splatoon 2 European Championship, held in late March 2018. One of the Russian teams, "Splat Tim", lost against "Alliance Rogue" from France. Nintendo of Europe later tweeted "Safe to say, Splat Tim did not do it", referencing Splat Tim's tagline.

Test failed

Test failed is a phrase spoken by C.Q. Cumber in the Octo Expansion whenever the player fails at specific objectives during the tests. Examples of quotes containing this phrase are "You let the 8-ball fall - test failed" and "You took damage - test failed", whereafter the player is splatted by a detonating bomb attached to Agent 8's back. Various posts have referenced or made variations of the phrase, containing a different commentary that ends with "test failed", such as "You breathed, test failed". In Return of the Mammalians, this phrase is replaced by O.R.C.A. saying "Mission... failed.", after which enemy ink is poured onto the player, splatting Agent 3, such as "Mission... failed. You did not break all the targets."

The Connection Is Unstable

The Connection Is Unstable is a communications error message that appears in-game when a person's internet connection is weak, and the game cannot keep playing on the internet. It is widely known for being a great annoyance while playing, due to the fact that unstable connections can lead to a suspension when disconnected and can lower the player's rank when a Ranked Battle is considered a loss once a player disconnects, compounded by the Nintendo Switch's notoriously weak Wi-Fi range.

Frye using swear words

One of Frye's speech soundbites sounds very similar to a common English expletive. It is most commonly heard when Frye is surprised or frustrated, and has led to the creation of a variety of videos and images memeing the soundbite.

Flyfish

The Flyfish Boss Salmonid was infamous in Splatoon 2 and became increasingly so in Splatoon 3, the primary rationale being that the Flyfish is widely considered to be the most difficult Boss Salmonid to combat, being harder to splat than any other Boss Salmonid. There are numerous reasons for this, such as the Flyfish usually requiring two well-aimed Splat Bombs to splat, being immune to all main weapons besides the Explosher, Grizzco Slosher, and Grizzco Splatana (being the only Boss Salmonid that cannot be splatted by all main weapons), firing dangerous Tenta Missiles which can potentially splat a player in one hit, having unlimited range, having the ability to move around after firing, and being immune to Splat Bombs and some special weapons when its missile launchers are closed. The Flyfish was even more resistant in earlier Splatoon 2 versions, being only harmed by Splat Bombs, the Inkjet, and the Sting Ray, with the former two only working when the Flyfish is firing, and the latter causing the player to become dangerously immobile.

Tetris and hallways

Tetris and hallway stages refer (often derisively) to the general shape of many of the stages in Splatoon 3. Tetris stages bear a resemblance to pieces from the game Tetris. An example of a Tetris stage is Barnacle & Dime, whose shape resembles that of an S-Tetrimino. Hallway stages are long and thin, hence the name "hallway". An example of a hallway stage is Hammerhead Bridge, which has length vertically but is relatively thin horizontally. When asked about the shape of these stages in an interview, the developers stated that it was a conscious decision to make the stages shaped like this, in order to optimize certain play styles.

Gold Dynamo Roller

For information about the Gold Dynamo Roller weapon, see Gold Dynamo Roller.

The Gold Dynamo Roller is a meme in the Splatoon 3 community due to its reputation. The Gold Dynamo Roller was seen in multiple pre-release and post-release trailers alongside promotional material of Splatoon 3, with the weapon even clearly visible in Ammo Knights for the game's entire lifetime. Despite that, it took twelve months to be released in Drizzle Season 2023, with its kit being Splat Bomb and Super Chump. Memes about the Gold Dynamo Roller include but are not limited to making fun of the fact that it had not been released yet, saying it would never release, disappointed posts about it not being released yet, saying its weapon kit would be "garbage" when it eventually released, calling it the "forgotten child," and more.

Wahoo Pole

The Wahoo Pole is the name given to the pole added to the center of Wahoo World in version 3.0.0 of Splatoon 3. Its addition was widely mocked by the community for being the only change made to the stage during the update when some players felt that the stage needed more drastic changes. The Wahoo Pole was meant to reduce the effectiveness of long-range weapons as stated in the patch notes, but it failed even to do that as it is not wide enough to cover someone behind the pole while in swim form. Version 3.0.0 has also sometimes been referred to as "the pole update" due to similar changes made to other stages.

Joe

The tweet where the automatic translation calls Megalodontia "Joe"

Joe is a nickname given to the King Salmonid Megalodontia. It originated from the SplatoonJP Twitter account when Twitter's automatic translator mistakenly translated "ジョー" ("Jaw"), Megalodontia's Japanese name, to "Joe" in English.

Speedrunning

The Octopark

Cool Skip is just after checkpoint two and is performed by jumping off the rail over the balloon and then performing a dualie roll to catch the rail below.

Noli Skip is at the end of the Ride Rail after checkpoint four and is executed by shooting then immediately jumping onto the rail hidden in a crate to the left. This skip bypasses checkpoint five. It is very important to shoot before jumping, as this lets the player gain enough momentum to make the jump. The skip is named for the Splatoon 2 speedrunner Noli who pioneered it to gain the then-world record on this stage.

Octozeppelin Invasion

The Sting Ray Skip requires the Sting Ray that can be acquired after checkpoint two by grabbing the canned special near the Octomissile launchers before leaving the area. Immediately after getting to the next checkpoint, the Sting Ray is activated and is used to hit the propeller, then the Grapplink that leads to the platform in front of the Zapfish. This skips most of checkpoint 3 and checkpoint 4. A speedrun for this mission was posted on Nintendo's YouTube and Twitter accounts using this skip.