Nintendo announced that Splatoon 2 will receive another update this week that will bring changes to weapons and game modes.
Nintendo announced the new update on the official Splatoon 2 Twitter account and even linked to the official patch notes for update 1.3. The update will take place between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. EST on Sept. 7, so be prepared to not be able to play the game for a couple of hours.
The Splatoon 2 update 1.3 patch notes are in Japanese, but frozenpandaman over on the Splatoon subreddit translated it to English. The most notable changes to Splatoon 2 are the nerfs to the Tri-Slosher and Rapid Blaster weapons. The Splatfest t-shirt will also get a change to how many points it takes to unlock ability slots. While the number of points needed to unlock the initial ability slot has increased, overall the number of points to unlock all three slots has decreased.
Here are the complete patch notes translated to English. When the official Nintendo patch notes are released, we will link to it but in the meantime let us know what you think of the new update in the comments section.
Match/battle changes:
- Changed the performance of some Special Weapons:
- Sting Ray
- After shooting ink continuously for 1.5 secs, shock waves are generated and damage-dealing beam size is greatly increased
- Default duration extended by 0.5 secs
- Splashdown
- Shortened the amount of time spent paused in the air (at the peak of the jump) by 1/6th of a second
- Increased the jump height by 31%
- Changed minimum explosion damage from 40.0 to 55.0
- Reduced special charge points of some weapons that come with the Splashdown
- Ink Storm
- Expanded radius by 13%
- Reduced the special points needed to charge on most weapons
- Baller
- Knockback decreased
- Increased default endurance/stamina by 33%
- Increased explosion radius – 17% more damage, 7% more inking
- Changed minimum explosion damage from 30.0 to 55.0
- Increased knockback effect against opponents on explosion
- Ink Jet
- Increased hitbox of player versus enemy bullets (Shooter weapons), so it will be easier to shoot down
- Decreased explosion radius at point of impact – 17% for damage, 20% for inking
- Decreased damage dealt by exhaust (underneath the Ink Jet) by 75%
- Ink Armor
- Decreased invincibility at the time when the armor is broken by 8/60 of a second
- When receiving more than 100.0 damage at once, any excess damage will knock the Ink Armor user back (upper limit capped at 80.0)
- Sting Ray
- Changed the performance of some Sub Weapons:
- Sprinkler
- Ink is released in three stages; increased the middle of these stages in duration by 5 seconds (this one was a bit difficult to translate, sorry)
- Ink consumption decreased from 80% to 70% of the ink tank
- Point Sensor
- Expanded radius by 20%
- Reduced the amount of time it took to start recovering ink after throwing it by 15/60 of a second
- Splash Wall
- Shortened the time between throwing and deployment by 0.5 seconds
- Squid Beakon
- Ink consumption decreased from 90% to 75% of the ink tank
- Sprinkler
- Changed the performance of Main Weapons:
- Tri-Slosher
- Maximum damage dealt decreased from 62.0 to 52.0
- Range shortened by 9%
- Tri-Slosher
- Changed the special charge points of some weapons:
- 210 → 200
- .96 Gal
- 200 → 190
- N-ZAP '85
- 190 → 170
- E-Liter 4K, E-Liter 4K Scope
- 180 → 170
- Sploosh-o-matic, Splash-o-matic, Aerospray RG, Splattershot Pro, Blaster, Hero Blaster Replica, L3 Nozzlenose, Splat Roller, Hero Roller Replica
- 180 → 160
- Carbon Roller, Goo Tuber
- 170 → 160
- Inkbrush, Brella, Hero Brella Replica
- 180 → 190
- Splat Charger, Splatterscope, Hero Charger Replica
- 180 → 210
- Rapid Blaster
- 210 → 230
- Tentatek Splattershot
- 210 → 200
Various battle fixes:
- Auto-special gauge charge (dependent on mode/ruleset) now based on points needed (per-weapon basis) rather than consistent over an amount of time
- Bugfixes for the following issues: Sloshing Machine hitbox/inking turf, rare Inkbrush and Octobrush incorrect hitbox on floor, Inkbrush and Octobrush and sponge interaction, damage recovery issue when touching opponents using Brella or Rollers, Roller vertical swing bug, Sting Ray ink droplet display, Ink Jet bullet interaction with corners, Brella and Ink Armor interaction, damage through/on wire meshes, Suction Bomb/surface interaction ink display on Starfish Mainstage, possible to go OOB/clip through world on Sturgeon Shipyard
Salmon Run:
- Sting Ray, Splashdown – same changes as in battles (above)
- Made Steelhead bombs unable to get stuck on top of Scrapper and Flyfish
- When using the Sting Ray on Grillers and Steel Eels, fixed an issue where damage was not dealt when aiming at weak points (tentacles, or pilot/driver) through the body.
- In Lost Outpost, fixed a problem where Steelheads would not attack in certain places
- Fixed an issue where if, two players tried to pick up the same golden egg near the end of a wave, one of the players would become unable to pick up eggs in the following wave
- Fixed issue where, after playing online, party members in the plaza were shown to have the Splattershot Jr. equipped
- Fixed issue where, if a player disconnects just before starting, their weapon will be shown/stuck as the Rainmaker
- Fixed issue where, if a player disconnects just before the end, the arrow pointing to them (indicating "self") on the scoreboard may be seen by other players
- Fixed issue where a communication error would occur if a player was assigned a Roller-type weapon for a long period of time
Splatfest:
- Changed number of points required to level up Splatfest Tee slots
- Slot 1: 4000 → 7500
- Slot 2: 8000 → 7500
- Slot 3: 12000 → 7500
- Total: 24000 → 22500
- Fixed issue where players appearing in the plaza after Splatfest battles showed as having no shirt slots unlocked
Other changes:
- When talking to Murch, you can now see your money and Super Sea Snail count in the corner of the screen
- Fixed issue where ranked meters incorrectly displayed as breaking, in the case the bar was empty and there was a disconnection
- Fixed issue where some gear, such as the Splatfest Tee, would not be displayed in the correct order while sorting by frequently used
- Fixed damage issue with the Baller in the testing area
