Splatoon Raiders Direct Makes A Big Splash

Nintendo has released the Splatoon Raiders Direct, which provided a wealth of information about the game. We will be taking an in-depth look at everything we learned.

The game is focused on treasure hunting, where you play as The Mechanic. Treasure is spread across the game’s islands, each with distinct biomes and themes. You fight enemies that swarm treasure. If you can defeat all the enemies, you get the treasure loot. The game’s simple premise is reminiscent of a dungeon roguelite, where you can keep getting items to make your next raids stronger and better.

Enemy Types

All of the enemies in the game are called salmonids. Enemies drop Power Eggs, with harder enemies dropping Mega Power Eggs (1 MPE = 100 Power Eggs). There are three different types of enemies that you can encounter in the game.

1. Lesser Salmonids: the easiest, most common enemy type. These are not a big threat but can be spotted in groups. Can include:
   • Spoon salmonids
   • Frying pan salmonids
   • Tong salmonids
   • Spring salmonids
   • Exploder salmonids
2. Boss Salmonids: a harder, medium-level enemy type. Includes:
   • Scrappers (DPS-like, must be stunned and defeated)
   • Salty Tongues (study tanks)
   • Salivators (flying-type enemies)
   • Smokers (fume-producing enemies, buffs allies)
3. Seasoned Salmonids: the hardest type of enemy, bigger than bosses. Includes:
   • Minced Scrapper (big armor with a roller attack)
   • Thick-Cut Salty Tongue (large beam shot)
   • Big-Stack Stinger (3 laser shots)

According to the Direct, the saltier the salmonids, the more powerful they will be; this means that each type of enemy is also scalable.

Weapons and Gadgets

Like every Splatoon game, players can dive into the ink on the ground to refill weapons. There are going to be over 100 weapons to choose from and unlock throughout the entirety of the game. Salmonids will sometimes drop weapons, while others may be included in the treasure hunting loot. Players are able to level up their weapons as usual, and it is possible to find rare weapons out in the wild as well.

Gadgets will be a very fun, highly customizable addition to the game. Players can equip two gadgets at once, and they attach to your ink tank. There are three different types of ink tanks you can sport: Speed, Power, and Tactical.

1. Speed Tank Gadgets
   • Blast Boost: leap forward and attack or escape.
   • Dash Bomb: launch yourself with an explosion in various directions.
   • Booyarang: throw a boomerang to hit enemies in front of you.
2. Power Tank Gadgets
   • Splatchet: perform a quick slash in front of you.
   • Splatellities: attacking disks that hurt enemies and drop ink in a circular form around you.
   • Spinwheel: swirls and sprays ink while pushing back enemies can lock onto bosses.
3. Tactical Tank Gadgets
   • Shot Pot: set in one spot and attack enemies, like a Zyra flower from League of Legends.
   • Bombloons: link together and make bigger chains of bomb-like balloons to blast.
   • Tether Wail: connects to your tank and deals dmg to enemies in the path line.

There will also be a feature to customize your gadgets, where players can use gadget part slots to upgrade them, earn XP, and become stronger to tackle harder raids.

Stages

The Direct covered four distinct stage types that will be featured in this dungeon raid-type game.

1. Mine for treasure in wide open areas
2. Dens covered with salmonids
3. Warehouse-like facilities that make you use certain gadgets
4. Ruins where you dig deeper into sublevel stages

Getting Stronger

This is where the roguelite aspect really comes into play for this game. If you fail a raid, you still get to keep all of the XP, weapons, and gadgets that you earned along the way. The more experience you get, the stronger you and your weapons are.

Players upgrade their gadgets with XP, and ink tanks get stronger power-ups as the player uses them. You can scrap weapons you don’t want for XP, meaning that there is value in picking up weapons, even if you do not want to use that weapon type. Lastly, Big Man catalogs information from previous treasure hunts, so you can go back and reference anything that you have encountered or completed in the game.

Additional Features

There are a wide array of additional features that were highlighted at the end of this Nintendo Direct:

• Customizable outfits with obtainable styles from playing.
• Can use amiibos from the Splatoon series.
• Different difficulty options ranging from tourist (easy), raider (normal), and survivalist (hard).
• Multiplayer: while the game is single player focused, there is multiplayer with up to 4 players, local or online.
• Call for help: players can use the “call for help” option in ruins or dungeons where they are struggling to complete the raid. This option has a cooldown, but it allows someone to come help you, or you can go help someone else with their raid.
• Salmonid relics: find different treasured relics across the islands.

Splatoon Raiders is set to come out on July 23rd, 2026, and will cost $49.99. Pre-order is available now. For all your gaming news, come visit GameObserver.