The most attractive aspect of Splatoon 3's combat system is, of course, the Main Weapons. What kid doesn't love running around a big area, launching globs of toy store slime out of a squirt gun, or beaning each other upside the head with large foam implements? But in addition to your Shooters, Rollers, Stringers, and more, there's another vital piece of the Inkling arsenal that should not be discounted: the Sub Weapons.
Whether they take the form of handheld inky explosives or devious gadgets made to torment your foes, Sub Weapons can turn the tide of the Turf War just as well as any Main Weapon, sometimes even better! Any of the game's 14 Sub Weapons can be utilized to great effect if you know how, but there are a few that are a little more obviously useful.
7 Burst Bomb - Old School Water Balloon
Any kid who grew up in the suburbs knows how much fun a good ol' water balloon fight can be. It's even more fun when you make the perfect throw and pelt your sibling with one right in the face, sending water up their nose. If that sounds like fun, then channel those fun times into a Burst Bomb.
This basic ink explosive is exactly what it looks like: a water balloon full of ink. Throw it out, and it explodes into an inky mess on impact. Burst Bombs are good for in-your-face offensive players, providing instant damage and potential splat combos if your aim is good enough.
6 Ink Mine - Watch Your Step
A wise man once said that the key to winning a war isn't the guns you have or how many soldiers are on your side, but how well you prepare for every possible contingency. Few things say "murderous preparation" like an entire field of landmines, hidden within a pool of unsuspecting ink.
Ink Mines can be seamlessly hidden in any pool of ink in your own color. Some wise guy walks by, trying to clean up your mess, and BOOM! Now he's the mess. Even if the big burst doesn't splat him right away, Ink Mines also mark any enemies who set them off, giving you a nice little signal to run in and finish the job.
5 Auto Bomb - Fear The Wind-Up Swarm
The concept of the "uncanny valley," in regard to robotics, refers to any machine that looks almost human, but is just distinctive enough to be unsettling. So, for instance, if a gaggle of wind-up toys with weirdly realistic movements started charging at you with the express intent of blowing up in your face, what would you do? Well, you'd probably run screaming, and that's the point.
The Auto Bomb may be an explosive device like a Splat or Burst Bomb, but the explosion itself isn't really the crux of it. The true purpose of an Auto Bomb is to put pressure on enemies, force them away from certain spots and toward other ones. With a little bit of coordination, these little weirdos can be used to set up some truly dastardly ambushes.
4 Torpedo - Set It And Forget It
Here's a fun fact: statistically speaking, most people won't look directly up at something unless they've been given an express reason or instruction to do so. It's probably because it's in their blind spot, so they don't really think about it unless they need to. This is something you can exploit for fun and profit with the right equipment, namely a Torpedo.
While Splatoon has its share of homing weapons, the Torpedo is a particularly tricky one, as it'll stop in midair near an enemy and begin homing in on them from there. If you don't see the Torpedo coming and shoot it out of the sky, your only indication that it's coming is the soft radar "ping" it makes. Of course, in the heat of battle, you can't catch every "ping" you hear, so you won't notice the explosive device hurtling toward the back of your head.
3 Suction Bomb - Nobody Ever Expects The Plunger
Have you ever wondered about the first mad genius to think of sticking things to walls with a plunger? Plungers are for toilets, not adhesion, but since the dawn of cartoon shenanigans, they've been the optimal device for the temporary defiance of gravity. And the best part is that nobody ever sees it coming.
The Suction Bomb is another deceptively simple ink explosive. Rather than bouncing or detonating immediately, it sticks in place wherever it lands, then detonates a moment later. What many people don't realize is that the resulting explosion is a lot bigger than it seems like it'd be. When a Suction Bomb ends up smack in the middle of you and your buddies, you only have a split second to swim away as fast as possible before the lot of you get lit up like an inky birthday cake.
2 Squid Beakon - Scouting Out Enemy Territory
Not every Sub Weapon needs to blow people up. Some of them are more utilitarian in nature, designed to more easily facilitate blowing people up. There's a process to everything, it's a beautiful thing. One of the most utilitarian Sub Weapons is the humble Squid Beakon, a quiet emissary of imminent doom.
A Squid Beakon provides a single purpose: it's a free spot that you or anyone on your team can Super Jump to. All it takes is one enterprising teammate slipping behind enemy lines and dropping a Squid Beakon, and the whole team has an express pass to the pain train.
1 Curling Bomb - More Fun Than The Olympics
Curling has never been the most... exhilarating of the Olympic sports, but those big stones that they throw around can be put to a lot of practical uses. They make great paperweights, they're good for flattening stuff, and of course, they can be fitted with a handy explosive device! That's what curling needed all along, truly.
Curling Bombs, much like curling itself, take a bit of finesse to use, as the distance they fly depends on how long you hold them. If you can time their flight with their detonation, you can quietly roll one right under a foe as it goes off. Plus, it leaves a handy ink trail behind for you to swim through! It's like having your own little roller buddy. That explodes.