Splatoon 3 update Ver. 5.1.0: Game Balance Tweaks and Changes to Mahi-Mahi Resort & Spa

Nintendo announced the details of Splatoon 3‘s Ver. 5.1.0 update which is planned for release on October 17 (UTC).

In this update, the Mahi-Mahi Resort & Spa stage will undergo some terrain changes. An announcement with a “blueprint” of these changes was made on October 13 through the official Splatoon X/Twitter account. According to the blueprint, it seems that there will be a general expansion of the areas near the home base. This is likely aimed at mitigating instances of spawn camping, where teams can push opponents deep into their home base in ranked battles.

Additionally, there will be overall adjustments in the strength of weapons. Roller-type weapons will now have increased potential to deal great damage by being swung horizontally. Shooter and maneuver-type weapons will have a slower rate of damage reduction, which might reduce instances where players feel they were just slightly short of a splat. The patch notes state, “We have made it easier to utilize the strengths of some main weapons and increased the options for other main weapons that fulfill similar roles.”

From Nintendo Switch’s support page

The sub-weapon, Curling Bomb, will be seeing a reduction in ink consumption, from 70% down to 65%. According to the patch notes, this change was made to make it easier to use Curling Bombs in combination with main weapons. This adjustment might make it more convenient for players to use Curling Bombs for baiting or aggressive plays. Additionally, the enhanced L-3 Nozzlenose, Splat Roller, and Painbrush in this update also come equipped with Curling Bombs as their sub-weapon, making it easier to utilize the capabilities of these improved weapons.

As for special weapons, the Trizooka and Tenta-Missile have been adjusted to be less powerful. Trizooka’s explosion damage in particular will decrease from 60.0 to 53.0. The patch notes state, “For the Trizooka, we made it more difficult to splat opponents by accident, while preserving the ability for players to splat opponents by aiming well and firing two consecutive shots. ”

From Nintendo Switch’s support page

After Trizooka’s blast damage was increased from 40.0 to 60.0 in Ver.4.1.0, it has continued to be a powerful way to secure a splat. With this recent damage reduction, it maintains the ability to defeat opponents with two hits while reducing the excessive blast damage. However, since the number of shots needed for a kill remains the same if you’re accurately targeted, it will still pose a significant threat, just as it did before.

Tenta Missiles have also been weakened in a similar manner, and according to the patch notes, this adjustment has been made to “reduce instances where players still took damage even if they took measures to evade enemy missiles.” Along with the weakening of the Trizooka, it might suggest that adjustments were made to reduce the amount of unintended damage or kills, such as accidentally defeating opponents or taking damage even when attempting to avoid it. For details about the adjustments in update data Ver. 5.1.0, please take a look at the official patch notes.

Splatoon 3’s update data Ver. 5.1.0 is set for release on October 17. Additionally, a special Splatoween festival is scheduled to take place from October 28.

Written by. Remi Morisawa based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-10-17 11:18 JST)