11.3 And Why Patches Are Continuing To Fail

Storyline / Setting

• This video is not a narrative storyline summary. Instead, it focuses on Splatoon 3 patch 11.3 balance changes and what they could mean for the game’s competitive future.
• It also mentions progression-gated content:
  • The Raiders plastic bottle Splattershot becomes available as a Splattershot skin for players who have save data and have completed the main story.

Gameplay Highlights (Patch 11.3)

New weapon/content

• Raiders plastic bottle Splattershot (Splattershot skin)
  • Unlock requirement: save data + completed main story
  • Includes Tentatek kit style as a skin offering

Main weapon changes

Carbon Roller

• Vertical flick damage improved
  • Roughly ~50 and ~100 damage ranges increased (improves vertical-flick performance)
• Mobility buff
  • When holding ZR to move forward: about +5% movement speed
• Overall impact (as described)
  • Much longer vertical-flick kill range under ledges
  • Stronger combos with Burst Bombs
  • Roller roll option is described as very fast, potentially more viable than expected

“Zuca” (Squeegee-like buff callout)

• The speaker frames this as:
  • ~13% faster shot velocity
  • A shift toward more skill-expressive weapon/special changes rather than just increasing radii
• Expected interactions:
  • Stacks alongside Carbon Roller’s buffs
  • Improves follow-up timing

Tri-Slosher

• Buff: -5% ink hunger (uses less ink)
• Emphasis:
  • Helps most with Tri-Slosher Nouveau, especially after throwing a fizzy bomb (more tank/uptime described)
• Characterization:
  • Small but real, and somewhat surprising

Glooga Doodles

• After a dodge roll: +10% accuracy
• Speaker’s take:
  • Essentially a nearly meaningless / “nothingburger” placement change

Nerfs to key weapons / anchor backline problems

The speaker argues these changes target reducing paint spam and improving downtime/attack windows that opponents can use to push.

52 Gal

• -8% painting range
• Speaker’s reasoning for context:
  • The 52 Gal became dominant in Splatoon 2 due to earlier direction (shot velocity buff plus ink efficiency nerf that didn’t fully check it)
  • Over time, other midline slayers were nerfed, allowing 52 to take over again
• Critique:
  • The nerf is not enough
  • They still expect it to remain top-tier, including solo queue and competitive play

E-liter

• Nerf logic:
  • Harder to maintain output due to ink efficiency stacking
• Gear implication (speaker’s estimate):
  • Previously: 4 subs of Ink Saver Main could grant an extra shot on full tank
  • After patch: likely 5–6 subs are needed

Pencil

• -7% direct ink consumption
• Gear implication (speaker’s estimate):
  • Previously: could get 3 shots with ink efficiency stacking using fewer subs
  • After patch: likely needs 3–4 subs (up from needing fewer)

Tri-Stringer

• Paint output: slight overall decrease in paint pressure
• Special charge / kit note:
  • Super Chump points increased from 190 to 200p (slower special)
• Speaker’s main point:
  • Hits paint pressure and special tempo at once, creating more downtime for backline anchors
  • Tri-Stringer may remain strong, but is expected to be harder to run successfully due to more recovery time

Specials changes

Ink Vac

• HP reduced by ~9%
  • Speaker estimate: 1200 → 1100 HP
• Intended effect:
  • Make it easier to fill/cap the special again and generally make it less obnoxious
• Targeting (speaker’s notes):
  • Aimed at high-level issues (notably Splatling 96), though they wanted it broader

Triple Splashdown

• Major rework
  • Becomes invulnerable ~1/6 second faster (~10 frames earlier)
  • Makes Splashdown cancels much harder (intended)
• Compensations
  • Damage area per explosion reduced by 9% (multiple explosions make the total reduction add up)
  • Fists travel distance increased by 9%, potentially changing overlap behavior and damage thresholds
• Practical result described
  • Harder to kill, but with a smaller kill/lethal radius
  • Expected counterplay: shift to methods like shooting down the fist
• Speaker’s main concern
  • It’s attached to Custom Blaster, which wasn’t nerfed
  • Belief: Custom Blaster is already among the best, so Splashdown’s increased strength could cause imbalance
  • They also expect strong 52 Gal + Blaster synergy to remain (“best friends” comp effect)

Other special point changes (briefly mentioned)

• Frozen Pro: 180p
• Custom Hydra screen variant: 190p
• Speaker claims:
  • The bubble-focused hydra is significantly better than the other hydras
  • Therefore the exact point numbers are less meaningful to overall balance

Strategies / Key Tips Mentioned

• Countering Triple Splashdown
  • Expected approach: shoot the fists rather than panicking
  • Reason: fists influence both survivability and damage behavior after the rework
• Backline “downtime” awareness
  • The patch’s design goal is emphasized:
    • Reduce how long anchors can maintain drastic zone pressure
    • Create clearer attack windows for opponents to push

Overall Takeaway / Critique

• The speaker says none of the individual changes are “bad,” but:
  • The changes were not large enough to meaningfully shift the main meta
• Biggest complaints:
  • 52 Gal nerfed, but not enough
  • Blaster effectively gets a power spike via synergy because Custom Blaster wasn’t nerfed
• Additional sentiment:
  • The speaker feels updates are slowing down, with resources likely shifting toward the next installment (Splatoon 4)
  • As a result, they view the patch as more incremental than decisive
• Conclusion:
  • Even with hope for future improvement, they call the patch disappointing because it didn’t create a major competitive shift

Gamers / Sources Featured

• No specific other gamers, streamers, or external sources are named in the subtitles.
• The summary indicates the only content present is the speaker’s commentary.
• No end credits or channel names are included.