L-3 Nozzlenose

Nozzlenoses · Sub: Curling Bomb · Special: Crab Tank

A Shooter that fires a 3-round burst per trigger pull. It has longer range and better painting than the Splattershot, nimble run speed and good ink efficiency, so it's great at painting and farming specials. It takes at least 2 bursts to splat, so its splats are slow, and its unique controls take some getting used to. The kits are Curling Bomb + Crab Tank, Burst Bomb + Ultra Stamp, and Splat Bomb + Inkjet.

Role: Midline painter and support (keeps specials coming with strong painting and uses its mobility to join fights) · Difficulty: hard

Strength by modeTier and score (win-rate points vs. an average weapon).

Mode	C–A	S–S+2	S+3 and up	X Battle	Regular
Splat Zones	Few games +0.4	Few games +1.2	Few games +3.5	Few games +0.4	—
Tower Control	Few games +0.1	Few games -0.2	Few games +1.9	Few games -0.6	—
Rainmaker	Few games -2.4	Few games -2.6	Few games -1.0	Few games -2.6	—
Clam Blitz	Few games -0.5	Few games -0.1	Few games +1.1	Few games -0.7	—
Turf War	—	—	—	—	Few games +2.5

Best stages / Worst stages

Splat Zones

★Museum +2.3

Tower Control

No clear standouts

Rainmaker

No clear standouts

Clam Blitz

No clear standouts

Turf War

No clear standouts

Strengths

Range, painting and run speed all beat the Splattershot, and it's ink-efficient, so it paints very efficiently
Fast painting makes it easy to build special, and it gets Crab Tank out faster than most Crab Tank weapons
Accurate shots that don't spread much, even on jump shots
One burst can finish an enemy who's taken even a little damage, and bomb combos speed up your splats

Watch out for

Needs at least 2 bursts (4 shots) to splat, so its TTK is slow
There's end lag after every burst, so if you take the first hit you'll almost never win the fight
Its range edge is small, so faster-splatting short-range weapons like the Splattershot and N-ZAP '85 can easily get into range
Carelessly showing yourself to long-range weapons often means getting splatted before you can escape
Few scouting tools, so it's weak to Ninja Squid and lurking ambushes

Tips

Prioritize painting and specials over splats, and shake up the map with Crab Tank and the like
Use Curling Bomb to push forward or open escape routes. Hold the button to make it explode nearby, which even hits enemies below cliffs
Start fights from just outside the enemy's range, and use your run speed to strafe while landing shots
For faster splats, land a Burst Bomb (D) or Splat Bomb (Glitterz) first, then finish with one burst from your main

Common gear

Run Speed Up, Swim Speed Up, Intensify Action, Special Charge Up, Ink Resistance Up, Comeback, Stealth Jump, Drop Roller

This kit

Curling Bomb opens paths to advance or retreat, and Crab Tank, charged up quickly from painting, attacks distant enemies and strong positions.

Recent changes

11.0.0: System change for all weapons: main weapons get bigger hitboxes against players (the shorter the range, the bigger the boost), squid form gets a smaller hurtbox, and the game adds "Flow Aura" (a temporary power-up when you keep performing well) plus a remaining-health display (source 11)
11.0.0: Main weapon: shot speed up by about 24% (range unchanged), paint radius at impact down by about 15% (source 11)
11.1.0: Special change, Ultra Stamp: 220-damage radius of the throw reduced by about 10% (L-3 Nozzlenose D) (source 12)
11.2.0: Main weapon: shot speed up by about 5%, which increases range (source 13)