There are four main ranked modes in Splatoon 3: Splat Zones, Tower Control, Clam Blitz, and Rainmaker. Today, we’re looking at the latter. Generally speaking, Rainmaker is easier to understand (and coordinate) than Clam Blitz. Of all the ranked modes in the game, Rainmaker matches have the potential to end quicker than all the others.
What is Rainmaker?
In this mode for Splatoon 3, there’s a super-powerful (and super-slow) weapon called the Rainmaker that spawns in the middle of the stage. When it appears, it’s surrounded by a barrier that you have to shoot. Once it’s taken enough damage, the barrier explodes, splatting any opposing team members within its range. From there, you can pick up the Rainmaker and use it as a weapon. It charges slowly and reduces your movement speed, but it does fire off a powerful projectile with great range and damage. The object of this mode is to bring the Rainmaker to the enemy’s checkpoints. Some stages only have one checkpoint, while others have two potential checkpoints to choose from. Once a checkpoint is broken, the goal becomes available. Bring the Rainmaker to the goal and you’ve won the game!
If the player holding the Rainmaker is splatted, the weapon will respawn with its barrier at the location where they were splatted. If the player holds the Rainmaker for over 60 seconds, it will explode and splat them. If this happens (or if the player holding the weapon jumps off-stage), the Rainmaker and its barrier will respawn at the center of the stage, thus “resetting” it. If the opposing team is getting close to your goal, it’s often a good idea to fling yourself off-stage with the Rainmaker to reset its location and force the enemy team to return to center-stage.
What weapons are best here?
As with all game modes, it’s good to bring a variety of weapons to your team. That being said, frontliners with good mobility and a high fire rate work especially well here. The Rainmaker’s barrier takes a good few hits to break, and wearing shoes with the Object Shredder Ability Chunk will help you break it much faster. You might be tempted to run a weapon like the Hydra Splatling or something similar thanks to its range and fire rate. These definitely have great potential here, but you may want to switch to a long-ranged weapon with higher mobility like the Snipewriter. That way you can follow the teammate with the Rainmaker at a safe distance while splatting anyone who gets too close to them. Snipewriter in particular can also throw a stat-boosting Tacticooler to the rest of the team to strengthen their advance.
Specials that can remotely target players are also a bit stronger in Rainmaker. The player holding the Rainmaker moves much slower than normal, so targeting them with Tenta Missiles or a Killer Wail has a decent chance of splatting them outright. Booyah Bomb works good too, as you can use it to prevent an enemy Rainmaker and their team from moving past it. In terms of sub weapons, Autobombs are another solid choice: they can catch up to foes with the Rainmaker and then splat them before they can get away. Overall, though, go with whatever weapon you feel most comfortable with. That’s probably the one you’ll perform best with!
General tips and tricks for Rainmaker in Splatoon 3
If you grab the Rainmaker, keep in mind that your position is very visible to the enemy at all times. No matter where you hide, you’ll eventually have opponents come up to you and try to take the Rainmaker back. Otherwise, you can only hold onto the Rainmaker for 60 seconds before it self-destructs and takes you with it (and any other teammates caught in the explosion). If you retreat while holding the Rainmaker, the timer will tick down even faster. When you’re holding it, you’ll generally want to push forward and make as much progress as possible. Head towards the nearest checkpoint, and make sure to say “This Way!” to your teammates if they’re not protecting you. Do keep in mind that you cannot run out of ink while holding the Rainmaker, so feel free to fire a bunch of shots forward. Try to aim your shots where you think your opponents are going to be in a couple of seconds.
If your teammate picks up the Rainmaker, you have a job to do: protect them and make sure the ground underneath them is inked. Bonus points if you ink the enemy’s checkpoint before the Rainmaker gets there! If an enemy approaches the Rainmaker and gets too close, get in their way and try your best to splat them before they splat the Rainmaker. If you’ve got a special charged, it’s a good idea to use it right before the Rainmaker hits the checkpoint to clear out the opposing team.
When the opponent grabs the Rainmaker, you should make a point to splat them as soon as possible – even if it means ignoring their teammates to do so. Double-check your checkpoints and make sure the enemy hasn’t painted them in advance. If they did, they’ll have a much easier time breaking through when the Rainmaker approaches the area. And if the enemy brings the Rainmaker too close to your team’s goal, you can grab it and then jump off-stage to reset it like we mentioned earlier.
Overall, Rainmaker in Splatoon 3 is rather easy when you get the hang of it. As with all of the game’s ranked modes, it’s much easier to coordinate if you can set up a voice chat with your team ahead of time. That alone gives you a big advantage over teams composed of random players matched together, and it also allows you more control over your team’s weapon composition. If you’ve got any tips for Rainmaker that you’d like to share for beginners or more casual players reading the guide, feel free to drop them down below. In the meantime, be sure to check out our Splatfest guide, too.
Splatoon 3 is available now for Switch. Access the official site here.
