At the start of your journey as Agent 3 in Splatoon 3’s campaign, you’ll meet Cap’n Cuttlefish, who sets you up with a nice new set of Hero Gear that’s just what you need to save the world. But just as soon as you start to get your bearings, you’ll have it all stripped away just as easily as you got it. After falling through the mysterious crater under Splatsville, you’ll be tasked with traversing Alterna in search of the professor – as well as all your lost gear. Functionally, this means finding materials to unlock your old abilities in a skill tree.
Related: The best Specials in Splatoon 3 – All special weapons, ranked
How Hero Gear upgrades work
Much like in any skill tree, the ultimate goal with your Hero Gear is to work down each available track to get to the upgrades you want the most. In this case, you should be able to unlock the entire thing if you’re searching thoroughly for materials in Alterna. There’s an additional twist to this tree, though. Unlike many other skill trees, which allow you to upgrade freely along a certain path, the skills here are locked in small groups that you need to unlock using a separate material: Sardinium.
Full skill list in Splatoon 3 Hero Mode
The skills are listed in their locked groups (if they have them) in order from left to right and top to bottom.
- First vertical group: 1 Sardinium to unlock
- Smallfry HP Up: Increases Smallfry’s overall health. Costs 1 Upgrade Point.
- Special Charge Up: Increases the rate at which the special guage fills. Costs 1 Upgrade Point.
- Second vertical group: 1 Sardinium to unlock
- Ink Resistance Up: Improves mobility when walking through enemy ink. Costs 3 Upgrade Points.
- Better Hero Shot: Increases the Hero Shot’s rate of fire. Costs 2 Upgrade Points.
- Ink-Tank Capacity Up: Increases your Ink Tank’s capacity. Costs 3 Upgrade Points.
- First pair of unlocked nodes
- Special Charge Up: Further increases the rate at which the special gauge fills. Costs 5 Upgrade Points.
- Smallfry Quick Respawn: Reduces Smallfry’s respawn time. Costs 5 Upgrade Points.
- First horizontal group: 3 Sardinium to unlock
- Smallfry Ink Saver: Decreases amount of ink consumed when throwing Smallfry. Costs 3 Upgrade Points.
- Ink Resistance Up: Further improves mobility when walking through enemy ink. Costs 4 Upgrade Points.
- Second horizontal group: 3 Sardinium to unlock
- `Get Splat Bombs: Gain access to bombs that explode a short time after they land. Costs 3 Upgrade Points.
- Get Sensor: Automatically marks nearby items and enemies while you’re submerged in ink. Costs 4 Upgrade Points.
- Third horizontal group: 3 Sardinium to unlock
- Suit Recovery Up: Increases the recovery rate of your suit after it’s broken by enemy ink. Costs 3 Upgrade Points.
- Ninja Squid: Become less visible while swimming through ink. Costs 4 Upgrade Points.
- Top locked node: 1 Sardinium to unlock
- Ink-Tank Capacity Up: Further increases your Ink Tank’s capacity. Costs 4 Upgrade Points.
- Bottom locked node: 1 Sardinium to unlock
- Get Splat Bombs: Gain access to bombs that explode a short time after they land. Costs 4 Upgrade Points.
- Fourth vertical group: 4 Sardinium to unlock
- Get Curling Bombs: Gain access to bombs that ink the floor in a straight line before they explode. Costs 5 Upgrade Points.
- Even Better Hero Shot: Further increases the Hero Shot’s rate of fire. Costs 8 Upgrade Points.
- Get Burst Bombs: Gain access to bombs that explode as soon as they touch something. Costs 5 Upgrade Points.
- Fifth vertical group: 5 Sardinium to unlock
- Get Sensor: Automatically marks nearby items and enemies while you’re submerged in ink. Costs 6 Upgrade Points.
- Suit Recovery Up: Increases the recovery rate of your suit after it’s broken by enemy ink. Costs 6 Upgrade Points.
- Last two unlocked nodes
- Get Curling Bombs: Gain access to bombs that ink the floor in a straight line before they explode. Costs 5 Upgrade Points.
- Get Burst Bombs: Gain access to bombs that explode as soon as they touch something. Costs 5 Upgrade Points.
- Final locked node: 5 Sardinium to unlock
- Smallfry Damage Up: Increases damage dealt by Smallfry. Costs 10 Upgrade Points.
- Ink your turf and defeat foes with the splat-tastic Nintendo Switch Pro Controller – Splatoon 3 Edition
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