Splatoon 3 has an amazing number of ways for players to make their character their own. Weapons, the locker, and physical appearance (including eyebrow color) are the most obvious ways for a player to express themselves through their online persona.
A character's gear is another way for players to customize their character in Splatoon 3. This isn't just a visible affectation though. The various pieces of gear — headgear, shoes, and clothes — all give the wearer abilities that improve performance on the battlefield. Of course, some headgear choices are better than others.
Headgear gained from Amiibos will be omitted from this ranking, since they require an Amiibo figurine that may not be accessible to all players.
10 Ink-Tinted Goggles
- Brand: Emberz
- Ability: Swim Speed Up
- Cost: 10,500 (15,750 at SplatNet 3)
Swimming is a necessity in Splatoon. In fact, most players probably spend about half their time swimming during a Turf War. With the exception of the Super Jump, swimming is the fastest way to get around a map. Swimming is also the fastest way of refilling the character's ink canister.
This makes the Swim Speed Up a valuable ability to possess. Most brands have a better chance of getting a specific ability when gaining a secondary ability. Emberz gear doesn't have a favored secondary ability; every ability, capable of being a secondary ability, has an equal chance.
9 Studio Headphones
- Brand: Forge
- Ability: Ink Saver (Main)
- Cost: 2,800 (5,600 at SplatNet 3)
Winning a Turf War, or Tower Control, typically comes down to which team can lay down the most ink. The Studio Headphones help accomplish this by reducing the amount of ink a player uses with their main weapon. This piece of headgear is moderately priced, and it looks pretty cool too.
Being made from Forge, the Studio Headphones' most favored secondary ability is Special Power Up. Special weapons are important; many players pick a main weapon solely due to its accompanying special weapon. Special Power Up makes the best weapons in the game even better.
8 Lo-Vis Visor
- Brand: Grizzco
- Ability: Random
- Cost: N/A
This piece of headgear is pretty exclusive. It can't be purchased — not even from Murch. The Lo-Vis Visor can be gotten as a monthly reward from Salmon Run Next Wave. It can also be obtained from a Purple Capsule during the month of October 2022. This headgear gets a random primary ability. Any ability that can be a secondary ability has an equal chance of being the primary ability.
There are four abilities that cannot be secondary abilities: Comeback, Last Ditch Effort, Opening Gambit, and Tenacity (all of which are exclusive to headgear). Any secondary abilities are also randomly selected from all possible secondary abilities.
7 Jean Dream Bucket
- Brand: Splash Mob
- Ability: Ink Recovery Up
- Cost: 2,100 (4,200 at SplatNet 3)
This might be the best piece of headgear in Splatoon 3. Ink Recovery Up is one of the best abilities; it allows the player's ink canister to refill faster. A faster-filling ink canister means more time spent inking the ground and splatting the enemy. The price of the Jean Dream Bucket is also within reach for nearly every player.
There are several pieces of headgear that give Ink Recovery Up, but this one was chosen for its most probable secondary ability: Ink Saver (Main). If this is the secondary ability, then this piece of headgear not only refills the ink canister faster, but it reduces the amount of ink used by the player's main weapon.
6 Tennis Headband
- Brand: Tentatek
- Ability: Comeback
- Cost: 300 (750 at SplatNet 3)
There are a few pieces of headgear that give the Comeback ability, and out of those the Tennis Headband is arguably the best. Comeback gives the players AP (ability points) in Ink Saver (Main and Sub), Ink Recovery Up, Swim Speed Up, Run Speed Up, and Special Charge Up. This bonus only lasts for 20 seconds after respawning, and only if respawning after getting splatted.
At 300 gold, this is one of the cheapest pieces. The probable secondary ability for the Tennis Headband is Ink Recovery Up. A good alternative for the Tennis Headband is the Woolly Urchins Classic hat; this gives Comeback, but has Swim Speed Up as a probable secondary. It all depends on what a player feels they need more: swimming faster, or fewer time spent reloading.
5 Firefin Facemask
- Brand: Firefin
- Ability: Run Speed Up
- Cost: 650 (1,625 at SplatNet 3)
Being able to move quickly is important in Splatoon 3. If a character can move faster, they have a better chance of avoiding enemy ink. There will also be times when the enemy inks the ground underneath a character. This takes away the ability to swim away to safety, leaving the player to escape on foot. The Firefin Mask increases the wearer's run speed.
This mask also comes with a high chance of getting Ink Saver (Sub) as a secondary ability. Sub Weapons are powerful in Splatoon, and the tradeoff for this power is the heavy toll they take on the character's ink canister. Some sub weapons can drain as much as 70% of the canister. Having Ink Saver (Sub) is a huge help.
4 Swim Goggles
- Brand: Zink
- Ability: Last-Ditch Effort
- Cost: 100 (250 at SplatNet 3)
This is t he cheapest piece of headgear in Splatoon 3, and despite its low price, it's one of the best. The Swim Goggles give the wearer the Last-Ditch Effort ability. This ability improves the efficiency of weapons (ink usage), and improves ink recovery for the final 30 seconds of a match. It also activates during Overtime in Ranked Matches, and when the opponents' countdown reaches 50. It's always smart to have a player have this ability during Turf Wars and Ranked Matches.
The favored secondary ability for Zink gear is Quick Super Jump. This secondary works well with Last-Ditch Effort, and can help a team snatch victory from the tentacles of defeat.
3 Ink-Black Flap Cap
- Brand: Barazushi
- Ability: Special Power Up
- Cost: 11,200 (16,800 at SplatNet 3)
This pricey head covering comes with the Special Power Up ability. Players who want the Reefslider explosion to be even bigger, or the Wave Breaker to send out bigger shockwaves, should pick up this hat. A lot of special weapons are dangerously close to game-breaking, like the Crab Tank and Big Bubbler. This headgear makes them even stronger.
There isn't a favored secondary ability with the Ink-Black Flap Cap; all secondary abilities have an equal chance. This could give the player a combination of abilities that's quite rare, but it could also give the player a secondary ability they don't want. Fortunately, secondary abilities can be rerolled and removed.
2 Squidband
- Brand: Zink
- Ability: Quick Respawn
- Cost: 800 (1,000 at SplatNet 3)
Quick Respawn isn't for everyone. If a player is on top of their game and rarely gets splatted, they probably don't need this ability. However, beginning players might want to purchase this trendy headband for the Quick Respawn ability. This will shorten the wait-time after getting splatted if the wearer didn't splat an opponent since the last respawn.
This will help players get back into battle quickly. In fact, so will this headband's secondary ability, Quick Super Jump. The combo of Quick Respawning and Quick Super Jump can get the wearer back into the fight so quickly that it will be easy to surprise the enemy.
1 Triple-Deck Specs
- Brand: Enperry
- Ability: Sub Power Up
- Cost: 11,300 (16,950 at SplatNet 3)
Sub weapons are often overlooked due to the large amount of ink they use; most players would rather use that ink with their main weapons. These weapons have their uses, though. For instance, the Curling Bomb is perfect for creating lanes of friendly ink into enemy territory. The Sub Power Up, in most cases, increases the travel speed of sub weapons, making them much harder to dodge or counter.
The Enperry brand has Sub Power Up as its favored secondary ability. This will likely give the wearer a piece of headgear that dramatically improves the performance of sub weapons. Keep in mind that in Splatoon there is a diminishing returns factor for gear that has duplicate abilities.
Splatoon 3 is available now for the Nintendo Switch.