Special abilities and perks are always a nice touch to a shooter game like Splatoon 3, where there is so much chaos on the map that you need something to keep you alive and also win the battle.
Gear Abilities play an integral role, as they give you certain benefits such as increasing your mobility or the ability to conserve ink. There are tons of gear abilities with each one bringing something new and exciting to the table.
Since Gear Abilities are vital in the game therefore we will talk about Best Gear Abilities in Splatoon 3 while also discussing how this mechanic works.
Splatoon 3 best Gear Ability tier list
S-Tier
| Gear Ability | Description |
| Comeback | This ability enables you to get benefits by dying from it. It can be used with Quick Super Jump, and it helps you to maximize your time spent using it. |
| Ink Resistance Up | It is considered the best ability as it increases your survival chances by reducing damage when you are facing enemies at the front line. |
| Quick Super Jump | This ability is useful to advance around the map quickly. It can be combined with Quick Respawn. |
| Special Saver | This ability is recommended for you if you tend to play on the frontlines, in anarchy battles. It allows you to keep your loss to a minimum and enables you to charge your special quickly. |
| Stealth Jump | This ability allows you to Super Jump towards your allies without being targeted by the enemy weapons. It also grants you an upper hand by making your landing invisible. |
| Swim Speed Up | This ability helps you to increase your mobility which in turn can assist you in dodging the attacks. It is very useful in difficult situations, and it can be used with any weapon. |
A-Tier
| Gear Ability | Description |
| Run Speed Up | This ability helps you in dodging enemy attacks. It is useful when you want to charge enemies on un-inkable grounds. |
| Ninja Squid | This ability can assist you in moving around in squid mode while removing ink splashes at the same time as well. |
| Intensify Action | This ability is for aggressive players, and it can be used to outmaneuver your opponents. |
| Ink Saver (Main) | This is a useful ability that can come in handy with every weapon. It can be used on weapons with high ink usage, and it decreases the cost while giving you the opportunity to shoot more. |
| Ink Saver (Sub) | This ability helps in lowering the ink consumption of the sub-weapon and it assists you in shooting more ink after using the sub-weapon. |
| Quick Respawn | This ability decreases your respawn time while allowing you to return faster to the fight. It is useful in scenarios where you want to rush your opponents and it can be used with Quick Super Jump. |
| Special Charge Up | This ability can help specials to fill up gauges efficiently. It is most useful for you if you die frequently during the game. |
B-Tier
| Gear Ability | Description |
| Sub Power Up | This ability enhances the ability of sub-weapons such as Autobomb will travel faster with Sub Power up. |
| Opening Gambit | You can have more speed in Ink and Squid form with this ability for the first 30 seconds of battle. |
| Sub Resistance Up | The damage and effects afflicted by the sub-weapons will be reduced with the help of Sub Resistance up. |
| Tenacity | If your team has fewer active players, Tenacity will help you charge the special gauge. |
C-Tier
| Gear Ability | Description |
| Drop Roller | As soon as you land the Super Jump, you can roll and will have enhanced abilities for some time with Drop Roller. |
| Object Shredder | The objects such as Baller and Squid Beakons will take fewer hits to destroy, and overall damage done will be increased. |
| Haunt | Any player who splatted you can have their location revealed for some time with Haunt. |
| Thermal Ink | If the other player splats you with their main weapon, their location will be revealed with Thermal Ink. |
Best gear abilities for each weapon
Blaster
- Ink Saver (Main)
- Intensify Action
- Run Speed Up
Brellas
- Ink Resistance Up
- Sub Resistance Up
- Ink Saver (Main)
Brush
- Ink Resistance Up
- Ink Saver (Main)
- Ink Saver (Sub)
Charger
- Respawn Punisher
- Tenacity
- Ink Saver (Main)
Dualie
- Intensify Action
- Ninja Squid
- Swim Speed Up
Roller
- Quick Super Jump
- Comeback
- Ink Resistance
Shooter
- Intensify Action
- Ninja Squid
- Ink Resistance
Sloshers
- Ink Resistance Up
- Ink Saver (Main)
- Thermal Ink
Splatanas
- Ink Saver (Main)
- Ink Resistance Up
- Ninja Squid
Splatlings
- Run Speed Up
- Ink Resistance Up
- Ink Saver (Main)
Stringer
- Ink Saver (Main)
- Special Powe Up
- Special Charge Up
How to unlock gear abilities
Weapons alone cannot win all battles in Splatoon 3 so that is why you will need the aid of Gear Abilities. Gear Abilities come along with all of the gear that you purchase through the shop.
Every piece of gear that you will own including headgear, shirt, pants, and shoes, of them, will have one primary ability and up to 3 secondary abilities.
By default, all of these slots won’t be unlocked and there won’t be any ability in most of them. You will have to add more abilities and unlock more slots to make your loadout more powerful.
To unlock more slots for your gear, you will have to increase the star level for that particular piece of gear. To do that there are several ways.
The first one is by going to the in-game shop and upgrading your star level for 10,000 Cash for each upgrade.
The second method is by going to Murch and paying him Conch Shells to upgrade your star level.
Once you have the slots for abilities unlocked, you will be able to add different abilities in those slots by using Ability Chunks and other methods.
Brand abilities
Below we have mentioned all the gear brands in Splatoon 3 as well as the abilities that you will usually find on their gear items.
Amiibo
- Common Ability: None
- Uncommon Ability: None
Annaki
- Common Ability: Ink Saver (Sub)
- Uncommon Ability: Special Saver
Barazushi
- Common Ability: Intensify Action
- Uncommon Ability: Sub Power Up
Cuttle Gear
- Common Ability: None
- Uncommon Ability: None
Emberz
- Common Ability: Intensify Action
- Uncommon Ability: Sub Power Up
Enperry
- Common Ability: Sub Power Up
- Uncommon Ability: Ink Resistance Up
Firefin
- Common Ability: Ink Saver (Sub)
- Uncommon Ability: Ink Recovery Up
Forge
- Common Ability: Special Power Up
- Uncommon Ability: Ink Saver (Sub)
Grizzco
- Common Ability: None
- Uncommon Ability: None
Inkline
- Common Ability: Sub Resistance Up
- Uncommon Ability: Intensify Action
Krak-on
- Common Ability: Swim Speed Up
- Uncommon Ability: Sub Resistance Up
Rockenberg
- Common Ability: Run Speed Up
- Uncommon Ability: Swim Speed Up
Skalop
- Common Ability: Quick Respawn
- Uncommon Ability: Special Saver
Splash Mob
- Common Ability: Ink Saver (Main)
- Uncommon Ability: Run Speed Up
Squidforce
- Common Ability: Ink Resistance Up
- Uncommon Ability: Ink Saver (Main)
Takoroka
- Common Ability: Special Charge Up
- Uncommon Ability: Special Power Up
Tentatek
- Common Ability: Ink Recovery Up
- Uncommon Ability: Quick Super Jump
Toni Kensa
- Common Ability: Ink Saver (Main)
- Uncommon Ability: Sub Power Up
Zekko
- Common Ability: Special Saver
- Uncommon Ability: Special Charge Up
Zink
- Common Ability: Quick Super Jump
- Uncommon Ability: Quick Respawn
