Grizzco Weapons
Splatoons 2 and 3 have a Salmon Run mode. On some occasions, they feature Grizzco weapons that are drastically different from other weapons of that class.
Based on vibes and experience, I feel like there’re a few different eras of these weapons in play.
Wildcard Rotations
Some rotations (once or twice a month?), Salmon Run’s weapon pool has three “normal”1 weapons and a single green question mark, which means one player will get a random weapon, which might be a Grizzco weapon.
Sometimes, all four weapons are green question marks, which takes the rotation away from your everyday “good” composition or “bad” composition. Instead, it’s a per-round thing which is interesting, because sometimes you might dominate with a good composition and the very next match completely eat shit because you got all chargers on a glowflies wave or something.
Some weekends, Salmon Run’s weapon pool is just four golden question marks. Everyone gets a random Grizzco weapon. While the same per-round composition question still applies, the power of the weapons will generally push the whole event to a higher hazard level, which means it’s more intense, and more rewarding.
Thesis: Regular Weapons but Faster
The first three Grizzco weapons were the Grizzco Blaster, Grizzco Brella, and Grizzco Charger. All three of these are basically regular weapons but more. You can shoot ‘em all super fast, which guzzles ink, but the pure speed of these weapons means you can usually find time to do that in the intervals between when they’re solving all your salmon problems.
All three of these are powerful tools, and while they’re not equally good at every salmonid you see, these weapons are fun and satisfying as hell.
Hypothesis: Regular Weapon but Thoughtful
The last Grizzco weapon in Splatoon 2 was the Grizzco Slosher, a bucket that lobs an absurdly slow projectile that is absurdly good at deleting some particularly troublesome salmonid bosses. If you’ve got the bucket, you’re officially on Flyfish patrol, and not half-bad against Steelheads, Eels, Drizzlers, and Scrappers. The downside is it’s slow to start firing, and you can only shoot it off four times before you need to re-up on ink.
This was the first Grizzco weapon that was kind of divisive. It’s a hard one to get used to, and mechanically pretty different from the other weapons that require the kind of planning it does.
Antithesis: Regular Weapon but Tricky
Splatoon 3 brought the Grizzco Stringer and Grizzco Splatana in 2022, and the Grizzco Dualies in 2023. I’ve grown to accept the Stringer, but not the Splatana or Dualies.
The Splatana and Dualies are pretty similar in that they cut out a lot of range and instead turn you into the most useful projectile. This means if you’re not extremely good at deciding where you want to be in 15-30 frames, you’ll be a burden to your team instead of a credit.
The Stringer is tricky in a different way. I feel like it focuses on projecting damage and inking over a large area instead of popping bosses. Incidentally, it is good against Stingers, and supposedly the Kings are big enough to make it worth directly attacking them with the Stringer instead of hunting bosses and using their eggs. When you get close, it does get good at popping bosses, but the charge time means I’m reluctant to get close.
I’d say that the usefulness of these is pretty situational. The Dualies and Splatana having no range really goes against how I like to play, and when I use them I mostly wish my octoling knew how to swim.
Synthesis: Regular Weapon but Incredible
The Grizzco Roller (“Groller”) dropped in June 2024. Rollers are inherently fun and hilarious (roll them towards the camera and see your character grin like a maniac) and this one rolls faster than any non-projectiles in the game. As a roller2, it’s top-tier at flattening anything that’s not a boss, and pretty ink-efficient at it too.
On Glowflies rounds it’s a godsend, because with everyone behind you, you can put it down, let ink start to regenerate, and inch forwards when there’s too big a pile of frenzied salmonids pushing you back.
You can get Maws with a couple taps if they’re in the middle of a shark attack. Eels and Scrappers (cars) get popped real quick if you can get behind them too.
Slapping with it is fine, as long as you don’t do it while you’re not flat-footed. I was initially incredibly frustrated with the vertical swing on it, which feels like it takes an eternity (72 frames, or 1.2 seconds) when you trigger it by accident.
However…
However…
That vertical swing has two secrets: incredible range and incredible damage. You can one-shot a Steelhead from an absurd distance, and transition smoothly to mopping up all the trash that spawned with them.
Does it have weaknesses? Absolutely. It’s fast as hell and can’t turn super-well, which means if you’re not careful you’ll be watching a lot of inkling swimming lessons. Steelhead pops feel like a trick more than a strategy. Maybe not something you can reliably execute while in the frenzy the last thirty seconds of a round finds you in.
But I think that’s fine. The engine noises, dominating damage, and sheer groller glee you get are just plain fun.
Conclusion
There’re a few holes in the Grizzco lineup (Brush, Splatling, Shooter, any new classes for Splatoon 4) that I’m excited to see filled. If they’re on par with the Grizzco Roller it’s gonna be good times.