#weapon guide

Salmon Run Specifics

Painting: efficient | okay | ink guzzler Role: fast runner | sniper | slayer | reviver | all-around Damage: quick & light hitter | mid-heavy hitter | hard hitter | weak Range: short | mid | long Other: slow | vulnerable | glass cannon

Efficient painter: [Weapons with this attribute are excellent at getting paint down on the floor quickly.] The Splat Dualies have great ink efficiency--with each shot only taking 0.8% of the inktank. This plus its high fire rate means that this weapon is great at keeping the map clear, so its user should always be painting the floor for teammates. Additionally, it is important to remember that each dodge roll uses 9% of the ink tank, as this can impact painting capacity. 

Fast runner: [These weapons can get across the map quickly either because they paint well or have high mobility. They are great at running eggs.] The Splat Dualies make fantastic use of the dodge roll, allowing its user to quickly zip out of dangerous situations. The roll is great for when you need to quickly get an egg to the basket, escape a horde of chum, or even save yourself from a bad jump. You can also use the roll to quickly jump down from a ledge, as rolling in mid-air propels you towards the ground faster than falling does. However, you do pause briefly when you're done rolling, meaning you lose all momentum. Be careful you don't accidentally roll into danger and then find yourself stuck! You must keep an eye on your ink tank as well, as a single roll consumes 9% of your ink. You get eleven rolls on a full tank, and obviously less than that if you're also shooting at chum. Always try and keep some ink in your tank so you can make a quick getaway if need be.

Slayer: [These are the weapons that kill indiscriminately and quickly. You can count on them to mow down chum and bosses alike.] With decent range and a high fire rate, the Splat Dualies can chew through chum pretty easily, and all bosses die to it quickly. If it is surrounded, it can dodge roll to safety or shoot its way out, which makes it highly effective in the middle of the battlefield. In addition, after a roll, the two Dualies briefly combine into one, firing shots at a slightly higher rate than usual, about one frame less between each shot. Shots are also more accurate, converging on a single point instead of being split into two. With proper aim, this short-lasting turret-like mode can deal a lot of damage to a specific enemy weak point very quickly.

Reviver: [These weapons excel at reviving fallen teammates and this should be one of their primary objectives.] With high mobility from the dodge roll and efficient painting skill, the Splat Dualies can get to fallen teammates quickly. Additionally, the turret mode that occurs after completed dodge rolls increases range and makes it even easier to revive far away teammates. 

All-around: [These are weapons that are good at everything: painting, killing, and egg running.] The Splat Dualies value speed and mobility above everything else, which makes them excellent at killing, but they also work great as egg runners and painters. 

Quick & light hitter: [These weapons do a lot of weak damage quickly, often resulting in quick kills.] With a base damage of 30, it takes four shots to kill a chum. However, with a high fire rate, the Splat Dualies make up for this weak damage with quick shots, which enables this weapon to take enemies down with ease. 

Mid range: [These are weapons that can stand comfortably back away from danger and still do what they need to do, but are also capable of doing well in close quarters combat.] The Splat Dualies have a range of 50, which puts this weapon right in the middle of the road. It excels at both up close battle and distance shots because of its high fire rate; its dodge roll enables it to back away from danger while its range allows it to continue to deal damage even while retreating. 

Bosses & Enemies

Stinger: Easy kill–be aware of chum that spawn nearby because these bosses spawn on the water line; high priority for this weapon

Drizzler*: Easy kill–stand close and fire away

Scrapper: Easy kill–Splat Dualies can pop the back open pretty easily and paint a path around the boss for the kill; high priority for this weapon

Flyfish: Medium kill because of the necessary bomb, but the Splat Dualies are a good choice here given their high ink efficiency

Steelhead: Medium kill–Splat Dualies’ range mean that they can shoot from a decent distance away, but they have to land a lot of shots in order to kill this boss in one cycle

Maws: Easy kill–bomb it and run

Steel Eel: Easy kill–the Splat Dualies have extremely high mobility, which makes getting around the Steel Eel’s body easy; just make sure you don’t accidentally dodge roll into its body

Chum: Easy management–Splat Dualies can take chum and cohocks out quickly as long as they stay out of their range; its wide spread makes handling the mob easy

*It goes without saying that you can hit the Drizzler’s balloon back at the boss, but you need to have good aim and a clear sight line. 

What about Grillers? 

The Splat Dualies are a well-rounded weapon for everything Grillers has to throw at it, so its role depends on team composition. If there is a weapon that is better suited to killing smallfry (Splattershot Jr., any high mobility roller, Sploosh-O-Matic), then the Dualies should focus their attention on the Griller. If there is a Splatling, Charger, or Dynamo Roller in the comp, however, the Dualies should be on smallfry duty to keep the slower, hard-hitting weapons from being bullied. No matter what, the Splat Dualies should be painting the floor. 

If targeted by the Griller, the Splat Dualies can easily escape because of their mobility. Just make sure that you don’t accidentally guide it over one of your less mobile teammates. 

Salmon Run Specifics

Painting: efficient | okay | ink guzzler Role: fast runner | sniper | slayer | reviver | all-around Damage: quick & light hitter | mid-heavy hitter | hard hitter | weak Range: short | mid | long Other: slow | vulnerable | glass cannon

Okay painter: [Weapons with this attribute provide okay ink coverage. They focus mainly on painting the feet of the user for movement.] A fully-charged shot uses 18% of the Splat Charger’s tank, which means that it has 5 fully-charged shots before it runs out of ink. It fires one long line of ink instead of separate droplets, which means that it is excellent at inking paths for its user and teammates but not at covering turf. 

Sniper: [These are perch weapons that benefit from climbing onto safe platforms and killing from afar.] The Splat Charger does a lot of damage with a fully-charged shot, which means that it can perch and kill many bosses and enemies from afar. Its decent range means that it can stand away from battle and still blast through enemies. 

Reviver: [These weapons excel at reviving fallen teammates and this should be one of their primary objectives.] Because the Splat Charger can stay out of danger and has long range, it is excellent at reviving splatted teammates, often from far away. One shot from this weapon will bring someone back and it can do so without jumping into the fray. 

Hard hitter: [These weapons do a lot of damage all at once, often in a burst.] One shot of the Splat Charger does 300 damage, but most importantly, the Splat Charger does collateral damage, which means that it can fire through multiple enemies and kill them simultaneously. Shooting at a line of chum will kill all of them, and the Splat Charger can use this to clear the battlefield quickly and efficiently. It also does an extreme amount of damage to bosses that can absorb damage--such as the Drizzler--which enables a faster splat for more mobile teammates. 

Long range: [These weapons can shoot from a long ways away, allowing them to keep out of immediate danger. Long range weapons also grant the user the chance to view the fight from a more outside perspective, to more easily determine how the battle is going and what needs to be done.] With a range of 88, the Splat Charger has a longer range than almost all shooters. This enables it to stand apart and stay safe. Additionally, when playing with friends that you can voice chat with, this grants it the ability to call out bosses or threats for the other teammates. If not using voice, this is the weapon that should utilize the this way function the most, as it can point the team in the right direction. 

Vulnerable: [These weapons are in big trouble if they get surrounded. They are easily mobbed by chum and not very good at escaping when in the thick of it. Smallfry are a large threat.] With only five fully-charged shots at its disposal, the Splat Charger is as good as dead if it gets surrounded. Chum are easy to tap shot, but Cohocks can kill an inkling or octoling in two swings of their pans and smallfry are hard for the Splat Charger to hit because of their serpentine movement. If you see your Splat Charger in the thick of it, kill any bullies and help them get free. 

Bosses

Stinger: Hard kill--each pot requires one shot from this weapon, whether they be full charged or tap; avoid going after this boss

Drizzler: Medium kill--use the Splat Charger to deal a massive amount of damage to this boss both while it is in the air and on the ground, but because the Drizzler has 900 HP it will take 3 fully-charged shots from this weapon to kill it

Scrapper: Medium kill--the Splat Charger’s priority should be stopping and popping any Scrappers that it sees to enable quick kills by teammates

Flyfish: Medium kill because of the necessary bomb; watch your ink tank and try not to get too surrounded by chum

Steelhead: Easy kill--one fully-charged shot to its bomb from the Splat Charger will destroy it

Maws: Easy kill--bomb it and run; watch your ink tank

Steel Eel: Medium kill--if the Splat Charger can get a clear shot at its backside from its perch or from across the map, then it’s easy to take out, but getting around its body might be difficult

Chum: Decent management--if the Splat Charger isn’t surrounded, it can plot through chum will fully-charged shots, but if it is surrounded, it could be in trouble

What about Grillers? 

The Splat Charger should prioritize popping and destroying Grillers. It has a hard time managing smallfry and thus needs helps from a shooter or roller to keep it safe from ankle biting. However, it is very good at dispatching Grillers, especially because it can charge its shot and swim with it. This enables it to maneuver quickly and position itself for the best shot. 

If targeted by the Griller, the Splat Charger will have a difficult time escaping if surrounded by smallfry. Keep your head and use tap shots to paint a path for yourself. Lead it in a predictable pattern so that your teammates can easily dispatch it without getting into danger, and once it’s stopped, fire fully-charged shots at it to destroy it quickly. 

Other Modes? 

Mothership is an excellent fit for the Splat Charger. In the hands of a good shot, it can kill spawning chinooks before they reach the ground, causing golden eggs to rain from the sky faster than its teammates can pick up. Stand in a central location and fire away! 

I think greatsword (and probably switch axe) benefited the most from the basic mobility improvements of MH Rise.

In greatsword’s case you’re always trying to reach the hilariously large damage of the True Charged Slash. This is famously the most damaging single hit in the game, but comes at the end of a combo that, done normally, takes some silly amount of time like ten seconds or more. The basic combo is X (plus direction, hold and release when charged) three times.

Part of what makes this not awful is that the damage scales both with how long you charge the hit and which hit it is. This makes the combo a kind of self-contained press-your-luck game. If you think you somehow have those ten seconds, you can charge the first hit all the way up, then charge the second hit all the way up, then charge the third hit all the way up, and if the monster sits still that long it basically deserves what you dish up. But if you think you have half that you can skip charging up the first and second hits and they’ll come out faster but do less damage and then maybe you’ll get that third hit in and maybe you won’t. Or if you want to hedge your bets you charge up the first and maybe second hits and give up entirely on the True Charged Slash for this shot.

In Rise there are two different combos leading into big damage: At long range, there’s an aerial leap you can use with your weapon sheathed. From there you can start charging up a slash in midair. When that lands you hit A to do a wide sweep, and if you hit X and a direction again you’ll do the True Charged Slash. This is not only a faster way to get to that final hit than the normal combo, it offers 2 chances to change direction in the middle of it and it lets you charge up your first swing while closing the distance. This makes it much easier to position yourself to land that all-important final hit.

At medium range (once you’ve been playing a bit) you have a replacement for your aerial wirebug attack (which I’m not impressed with, especially considering how good the normal “jump and attack” is for this weapon) that rushes you forward and does a big overhead swing. Better yet, you can follow up the swing with, you guessed it, True Charged Slash. Basically it zips you next to your target AND skips a step in the combo to get to the juicy bit faster.

Salmon Run Specifics

Painting: efficient | okay | ink guzzler Role: fast runner | sniper | slayer | reviver | all-around Damage: quick & light hitter | mid-heavy hitter | hard hitter | weak Range: short | mid | long Other: slow | vulnerable | glass cannon

Efficient painter: [Weapons with this attribute are excellent at getting paint down on the floor quickly.] Both flicks and the roll of the Splat Roller are great at painting the floor. The roll is good for forging a path through chum for yourself and your teammates; the horizontal flick covers a wide area right in front of the user, which makes it excellent at inking small areas, such as the area around the basket; the vertical flick can create long, straight paths of ink, often in order to forge through enemies to deliver eggs or to get to safety. Additionally, the Splat Roller can do 11 flicks on a full ink tank, which can chew through a lot of enemies. 

Fast runner: [These weapons can get across the map quickly either because they paint well or have high mobility. They are great at running eggs.] Because of its great painting capacity and rolling capability, the Splat Roller can easily get across the map and deliver eggs. As the user rolls with the roller on the ground, their running speed goes up, which further increases their mobility. Use this to your benefit in order to get to where you need to be. 

Slayer: [These are the weapons that kill indiscriminately and quickly. You can count on them to mow down chum and bosses alike.] The Splat Roller can literally mow down chum, and can take Cohocks down in two flicks or four bumps while rolling. Most bosses will fall quickly as well, though the Splat Roller shines when it comes to ground-bound, moving enemies like the Scrapper or Steel Eel. 

Reviver: [These weapons excel at reviving fallen teammates and this should be one of their primary objectives.] Because the Splat Roller has high mobility and can plow through most chum clogging up the map, it is excellent at reviving teammates. Simply roll over a teammate’s life preserver and they will be revived. Because of this, if the Splat Roller finds itself as the last one alive, its user merely has to put the roller down and run toward the nearest teammate. 

All-around: [These are weapons that are good at everything: painting, killing, and egg running.] Enough said! The Splat Roller has great stats and is well-rounded, which means it stands out as a capable, solid weapon, especially in the hands of a knowledgeable player. 

Hard hitter: [These weapons do a lot of damage all at once, often in a burst.] All three of the Splat Roller’s attacks do well over 100 damage, which means that it hits hard and fast. Rolling does less damage than flicking, so stay aware of your surroundings and don’t be afraid to flick when you need to! 

Mid range: [These are weapons that can stand comfortably back away from danger and still do what they need to do, but are also capable of doing well in close quarters combat.] The vertical flick really helps round out the Roller class, but especially the Splat Roller. With it, the user can aim and have more utility with their flings. In addition, the Splat Roller has excellent range when using the horizontal flick as well, which means that the user is able to back out of danger while also dealing massive amounts of damage to chum and bosses. The crushing power of the roller also allows it to do extremely well in close quarters. 

Bosses

Stinger: Hard kill–each pot will require one flick from the roller, and the impact between the roller and pot causes a bit of knockback, which pushes the user backwards a little bit. A different weapon should prioritize this boss, but don’t be afraid to protect your more capable teammates from chum, because Stingers spawn along the waterline. 

Drizzler: Medium kill–use the Splat Roller to deal a massive amount of damage to this boss while it is on the ground, but because the Drizzler has 900 HP it will take 5 flings from this weapon to kill it; it is best if you team up with someone else in order to take down this boss quickly, as it will likely take two cycles to destroy it on your own. 

Scrapper: Easy kill–as long as you have help popping it open; one flick from the Splat Roller will stop the Scrapper for a few seconds, but it takes multiple in order to stall it out; however, because it only has 500 HP on its body, three easy flicks will kill it if you target the backside. 

Flyfish: Medium kill because of the necessary bomb; watch your ink tank and try not to get too surrounded by chum

Steelhead: Hard kill--the heigh of this boss means that the Splat Roller needs to use its vertical flick unless the boss is positioned next to a ledge, which means that aim is a must. Additionally, the Steelhead’s bomb has 300 HP, which means that the Splat Roller will need to hit it with at least two vertical flicks, which can be hard to do when surrounded by chum; group up if you want to take down this one. 

Maws: Easy kill–bomb it and run; watch your ink tank

Steel Eel: Easy kill–Splat Roller’s high mobility enables it to get behind the Steel Eel’s body relatively easily, and with 500 HP this boss will go down in three flicks, just mind the chum!

Chum: Excellent management–Splat Roller can roll over any medium or small sized salmonids (chum, smallfry, snatchers, chinooks) and cohocks go down in two flicks. This is a weapon that is excellent at clearing the mob! 

What about Grillers? 

Splat Roller should be on smallfry and revival duty. It can run over any smallfry and kill them instantly, and revival is a piece of a cake for this weapon. Because the Grillers move erratically and the tails are hard to aim at, the Splat Roller should wait until the Griller is popped before wailing on it, dealing massive damage with each vertical flick. Of course, the Splat Roller can attack the tail, but it will take 2 hits (400 damage) to pop it open, and the Splat Roller would be better served inking the ground and killing smallfry. 

If targeted by a Griller, the Splat Roller should be perfectly fine. Merely put your roller down and run, guiding the Griller safely around your teammates so that they can pop it open. Then, wail on it or take care of any pesky smallfry! 

Other Modes? 

Goldie Geysers is an excellent mode for the Splat Roller, as it can rush after the boss and do massive amounts of damage, spawning eggs in the process. Any chum will easily fall to the roller and it can keep the ground painted for teammates to deliver eggs. Additionally, if the Goldie drops a lot of eggs in one spot, the Splat Roller is a excellent pick to stand guard, as you want to avoid popping geysers as often as you can to keep the map clear. Use your mobility and high damage to your advantage! 

Salmon Run Specifics

Painting: efficient | okay | ink guzzler Role: fast runner | sniper | slayer | reviver | all-around Damage: quick & light hitter | mid-heavy hitter | hard hitter | weak Range: short | mid | long Other: slow | vulnerable | glass cannon

Okay painter: [Weapons with this attribute provide okay ink coverage. They focus mainly on painting the feet of the user for movement.] The Splattershot is one of the better weapons at inking turf, but because it is more accurate than the Jr., its coverage is not as good. It has less bullet spread. However, its ink efficiency is good (100 shots on a full tank before it runs out of ink), so it can cover the map when it needs to.

Slayer: [These are the weapons that kill indiscriminately and quickly. You can count on them to mow down chum and bosses alike.] With a fast rate of fire, and decent damage stat, the Splattershot excels at seeking out bosses and wiping them out. Chum stand no chance as long as the Splattershot user is conscious of their ink tank. 

All-around: [These are weapons that are good at everything: painting, killing, and egg running.] Because the Splattershot is the most balanced, middle-ground weapon in the game, it is the prime example of an all-around weapon. It can move quickly across the map if it needs to because it paints its user’s feet well, it deals a lot of damage quickly, and it can paint fairly well. It’s mobility makes strafing while firing easy, so it is also good at staying alive. Perfect for beginners and veterans alike. 

Mid-heavy hitter: [Weapons with this attribute do a lot of damage with their individual shots, but still take multiple shots to kill.] At a base damage of 35, the Splattershot is a 3 hit kill on inklings and octolings, which makes it a decent splatter. Because of this, it is excellent at taking down bosses and chum because its shots hit hard without using up too much ink.

Mid range: [These are weapons that can stand comfortably back away from danger and still do what they need to do, but are also capable of doing well in close quarters combat.] Middle of the road range at 50 means that the Splattershot doesn’t have to get up-close and personal with chum or bosses. But, it can also handle itself if it gets swarmed. 

Bosses

Stinger: Easy kill–be aware of chum that spawn nearby because these bosses spawn on the water line; will take down the pots quickly

Drizzler: Medium kill–it will take two cycles if you’re doing it alone

Scrapper: Easy kill–stop, pop, and drop that carboy; Splattershot can stand back with its mid range and be safe from the exhaust as it shoots at the boss’s backside

Flyfish: Medium kill because of the necessary bomb; watch your ink tank

Steelhead: Medium kill–decent range means that the Splattershot can shoot it from a decent distance

Maws: Easy kill–bomb it and run; watch your ink tank

Steel Eel: Easy kill–as long as the Splattershot gets around it, its range will make taking it out easy

Chum: Okay management–if the other weapons in the comp aren’t good at killing chum, then the job defaults to the Splattershot; keep the mob under control to keep the map clear from your teammates, even if that means letting someone else get the boss kill

What about Grillers? 

On Grillers, the Splattershot can do just about anything. It can pop and kill the Grillers, kill smallfry, or paint the map. The Splattershot’s role in this mode depends largely on the comp. If there is a charger or a splatling, then the Splattershot should be on smallfry cleanup duty so that the slow, heavy-hitters can take care of the Grillers without being bullied. However, if the comp includes something like a Sploosh-O-Matic, Jr., or roller, then the Splattershot can focus on the Grillers. 

If targeted by the Griller, the Splattershot can easily escape because of its mobility. Just make sure that you don’t accidentally guide it over one of your less mobile teammates.