Splatoon 3 continues to receive a lot of support from Nintendo and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The game received DLC support thanks to the Expansion Pass, and the game is updated very regularly with new updates that add more stuff, rebalance the game, and fix bugs.
Well, the latest example of this has arrived. Splatoon 3 has received a brand new update. After you update the game, Splatoon 3 should now be on version 9.0.0. The main focus of this update is adding new amiibo support as well as e-balancing weapons and bug fixes. The patch notes can be seen in full below.
Amiibo changes
- Added support for the following amiibo.
- Callie (Alterna)
- Marie (Alterna)
- Pearl (side order)
- Marina (next row)
Connection changes
- Improved connection programming to reduce the time between the receiver receiving the sent data and the response being then returned.
- For general connectivity during multiplayer gameplay, an average reduction of approximately 0.4/60 seconds is expected.
- The amount of reduction will vary depending on the amount of information sent back and forth over the connection and the processing load.
- In situations such as dealing damage or defeating an opponent, an average reduction of approximately 3.4/60 seconds is expected.
- For general connectivity during multiplayer gameplay, an average reduction of approximately 0.4/60 seconds is expected.
Changes to the multiplayer game
- Specifications for some major weapons have changed.
| Weapon | Change details |
|---|---|
| Colander Foil strainer |
Slowed the speed of the first shot fired after pressing the ZR button by approximately 5% and shortened its flight distance. Reduced movement speed while shooting by approximately 8%. |
| Range Blaster Custom range blaster |
Reduced radius of damaging blast by approximately 6%. The radius of the ink splash at the point of impact with the floor or wall or when detonating in the air has been reduced by approximately 9%. |
| Sniper 5H Sniper 5B |
Slightly reduced width of spray droplets created by shots. |
| Slosher Slosher Deco Order a Slosher replica |
Increased amount of ink used by approximately 9%. |
| Heavy splatter editing Heavy Edit Splatling Nouveau |
Slightly reduced the number of spray droplets created by shots. The frequency of player foot problems is unchanged. |
| Wellstring V Custom Wellstring V |
The radius of the ink splash that occurs on impact has been reduced by approximately 8%. |
- The specifications for some special weapons have changed.
| Special weapon | Change details |
|---|---|
| Three-eyed | Increased the time between activation and being able to fire by approximately 1/12 of a second. |
- The points required for some special weapons have changed.
| Weapon | Ago | After |
|---|---|---|
| Custom range blaster | 200 | 210 |
| Slosher Order a Slosher replica |
200 | 210 |
- UX Battles, reduced the chance of players rematching with players they just met in a previous X Battle.
- This will not completely prevent players from re-matching with players they just met in a previous X battle.
- Made it so that Japan and regions near it cannot select the Tentatek division when selecting the X Battles division.
Changes to Splatfests
- It allowed players who achieve the title of Splatfest Ruler or higher to board the Splatfest Float and take pictures with the allies they last won a Splatfest Battle (Open) or Splatfest Battle (Pro) with.
- It is made so that players can choose additional poses from the top of the Splatfest float after achieving the title of Splatfest Ruler +1 or higher.
- Made it possible to select a Deep Cut pose on top of a Splatfest Float.
- It allowed players who downloaded the Expansion Pass to select the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook poses on top of the Splatfest Float.
Changes to Salmon Run
- Added data for the special Big Run.
- Added tradeable item for fish scales.
- Made it so you can get capsules containing fish scales from the reward meter.
- The gear you can get from the reward meter will now change every shift instead of every month.
Other changes
- Reduced the XP required for weapon freshness to reach 1 ★ from 10,000 to 5,000 to make Sheldon licenses easier to obtain.
- The total XP required to reach 2 ★ or more will not change.
- Weapons that had 5,000 XP or more but less than 10,000 XP before applying the update data will reach 1 ★ after applying the update data and using that weapon once in battle.
- Changed the design of some Splashtag banner designs.
This update focuses on adding data for a special Big Run that will take place in the near future, improving connectivity and adjusting battles.
In terms of connectivity, we’ve reduced the time it takes to communicate in-game events to other players by optimizing the game’s internal processing and adjusting communication control processing.
For multiplayer balance, we’ve made the changes we previously notified you about to reduce the effectiveness of some select weapons.
The Squeezer and Foil Squeezer are meant to be weapons that are difficult to master but can produce high performance when mastered. However, since their shots could reach from a long distance and because they had a high movement speed while firing, it was easy to make many attempts, making it easy to make up for the difficulty of control. For this reason, their performance is reduced.
For the Range Blaster and Custom Range Blaster, by reducing the area of attack and coloring due to the explosion, we have kept the property that deals damage to enemies you target carefully, while reducing the property that deals damage to enemies whose positions are not known accurately.
Our intention with both weapons is to make it so that players who have specialized in other weapons are not forced to switch to those weapons, while still maintaining a level of performance sufficient for players who have already specialized in these weapons to continue fighting using them.
For the Snipewriter 5H and Snipewriter 5B, we’ve slightly reduced their ability to maintain ink status from a distance.
With Slosher, Slosher Deco, and Order Slosher Replica, we’ve adjusted the performance and points needed for specials to make them similar to many other sloshers because they have high instant combat power and color, but when you fight them continuously over time, it’s easy to run out ink.
Regarding Heavy Edit Splatling and Heavy Edit Splatling Nouveau, we changed their aspect where, compared to other splatlings with shorter flight distances, they were very effective at maintaining ink coverage when exchanging fire over areas such as Splat Zones.
For Wellstring V and Custom Wellstring V, we made changes to slightly lower performance when maintaining ink status from a distance.
With the Trizooka, we’ve made changes to increase the opening when used on an opponent at close range, and we’ve also slightly increased the time it takes to find a safe place to shelter after hearing the activation sound of the opponent’s Trizooka.
Additionally, we’ve changed it so that Japan and regions near it cannot participate in the Tentatek Division for X Battles.
Of the total number of players in Japan and nearby regions, an extremely small percentage choose the Tentatek Division (America and European division) despite living in Japan or nearby regions. However, we made this change because it has reached a percentage that has a negative effect on ranking among players participating in the Tentatek division.
The next update will focus on adding data for the Grand Festival.
