Ultimate Gear Guide (v1.2.0)

If you want to be among the freshest squids in Inkopolis, this is the guide for you! Here you'll find info on all pieces of gear in the game, including unlockables and amiibo content, we also detail how you can level up your gear and have just the ability you want.

This is a work in progress, and more will be added based on you suggestions and as the game updates with new items, here are the topics we explore in this guide:

Summary:
1. Gear Basics

To get started, there are 3 main categories of gear in Splatoon: Headgear, Clothing and Shoes. Each piece of gear has one Main Ability and up to three Sub-Abilities, the number of Sub-Abilities a piece of gear has by default depends on the number of stars it has, each star correspond to an extra slot for Sub-Abilities. Every gear can have 3 slots, 3-star items have 3 slots by default, and extra slots can be added to gear that only has 1 or 2 stars, you'll need Super Sea Snails to do so, you can find more info on this on section [5.Splatfests] and [6.Spyke] of this guide.

Main abilities are more powerful than Sub-Abilities, and two pieces of the same gear will always have the same Main Ability, that is not the case for Sub-Abilities, which are assigned randomly once you level up your gear. Gear levels up as you play Online Multiplayer, the number of points each gear requires to level up depends on the number of stars it has, here are the requirements to unlock each slot:

1-Star
Slot 1: 1,000 points
Slot 2: 3,000 points
Slot 3: 5,000 points

2-Stars
Slot 1: 2,000 points
Slot 2: 6,000 points
Slot 3: 10,000 points

3-Stars
Slot 1: 3,000 points
Slot 2: 9,000 points
Slot 3: 15,000 points

Now that you know the basics I'm sure you are eager to get those 3-stars items, but when you first start the game you'll be an unfresh Level 1 inkling, and you'll have to reach at least Level 4 if you want to shop at Booyah Base, and you need to level up even more before the owners offer you 2 and 3-star gear to buy. Until then you can count on your starting set of gear:
You can level them up and get some boosts, but as soon as you reach Level 4 you can start to explore new options at...

2. Booyah Base
Here you'll find many shops, including Ammo Knights, the weapon shop that is not covered in this guide, and the three gear shops, Cooler Heads, Jelly Fresh and Shrimp Kicks. The catalogue on all stores changes daily according to your local time.


Annie is the shopkeeper on Cooler Heads, she has a little sharp tongued friend, Moe, and you'll want to pay them a visit to check out cool Headgear for your Inkling. The Main Abilities: Opening Gambit, Last-Ditch Effort, Tenacity and Comeback are exclusive to headgear. Here is a list of all items you can buy on this shop:


Jelonzo is the charismatic owner of Jelly Fresh, he doesn't have extended knowledge on the Inkling language but has a charming way of saying things, he is always wearing a new fresh shirt everyday. Here you can buy Clothing items, from T-shirts to Jackets. The main abilities: Recon, Ninja Squid, Cold-Blooded and Haunt are exclusive to clothing. Here is a list of all the items you can buy on this shop:


Crusty Sean, with his incredibly fashion jacket (and 4 pair of shoes), is the owner of Shrimp Kicks, here you'll find all the Shoes you need. The main abilities: Stealth Jump, Ink Resistance Up and Bomb Sniffer are exclusive to shoes. Here is a list of all the items you can buy on this shop:

3. Cuttlegear Items
There are various sets of Cuttlegear items available in the game, they are unlocked in different ways in the game. Some are obtained from finishing the Octo Valley campaign, all pieces from the following sets are unlocked after beating the final boss:

Following the 2.0.0 update there is now a second set of Cuttlegear items, which are unlocked as the player progresses over the new level cap, unlocks start at level 25, the following items can be obtained:


4. amiibo Unlocks
Curretly Splatoon is compatible with three amiibo, the Inkling Boy, the Inkling Girl and the Inkling Squid. These amiibo unlock special missions that once completed reward the player with a variety of rewards, including some gear sets. Here is the list of gear each amiibo unlocks and their stats:


5. Splatfests
Splatfests are themed events where players can choose one of two sides, for example one event will ask players if they prefer Cats or Dogs, each team will then battle to see which side is victorious. During Splatfests you will receive a special piece of clothing after voting, the Splatfest Tee, its use is obrigatory during Splatfest Matches and it can level up as any other piece of gear, but it will be removed from your inventory when the event ends.

Splatfest Tee:

Brand: SquidForce
Main Ability: Special Saver
Stars: ★★★

This event is also an opportunity to get Super Sea Snails, as you rank up on matches you garantee you'll earn some, and if you are part of the winning side of the event you'll earn a special bonus. Super Sea Snails are really valuable in Inkopolis, but you'll need to talk with the right person to use them.



6. Spyke
Spyke stays away from the crowd in the alley and can provide some useful "services" for you. After you reach level 4 you can talk with Spyke to enable gear ordering, this way you can call Spyke while looking at gear from other inklings in the plaza to order them. You can queue up to 3 ordered items, but Spike will only get one piece of gear each day (based on your local time).
You can order any piece of gear that is sold at stores and also from your starter set, but gear unlocked in single player and via amiibo are not for sale. You can't have duplicates of gear, so if you order a duplicate you'll be asked at the time of purchase if you want to keep the old one or buy the new ordered gear.

Spyke sometimes will get gear with the same sub-abilities unlocked, including added slots, but this is not guaranteed, the price asked for the items will depend on the number of stars and the sub-abilities unlocked, more info to be added after some more research, but these are the costs for some gear:

1-star, no abilities: 1,000 coins
1-star, 1 ability: 2,000 coins
1-star, 2 abilities: 20,000 coins
1-star, 3 abilities: ?


2-stars, no abilities: 5,000 coins
2-stars, 1 ability: 10,000 coins
2-stars, 2 abilities: ?
2-stars, 3 abilities: 100,000 coins

3-stars, no abilities: 15,000 coins
3-stars, 1 ability: 30,000 coins
3-stars, 2 abilities: 50,000 coins
3-stars, 3 abilities: ?

Spyke can also add slots to gear that only has 1 or 2 stars, to add a new slot you'll need a Super Sea Snail, earned in Splatfests or if you are already level 20 Spyke will offer to use one of his own Super Sea Snails if you pay 30,000 coins.

If your gear is fully leveled up with 3 sub-abilities Spyke can also re-roll them, again this will cost a Super Sea Snail, but this way you can try to get exactly the combination you need. There is one more thing to keep in mind about sub-abilities though, we discuss it on the next section.


7. Brands
You might have noticed each item is associated with a brand, this isn't only for show, the brands actually have some influence on what sub-abilities you might get. Each brand has a common sub-ability and a rare sub-ability, common abilities have 5 times the chance of appearing than other abilities, and rare abilities only have half the chance of appearing than the others. some brands don't have any effect on abilities though, Cuttlegear, amiibo and KOG don't favor any specific sub-abilities, the remaining brands and their common and rare abilities are as follows:

Firefin - 5x Ink Saver (Sub), 1/2 Ink Recovery
Forge - 5x Special Duration Up, 1/2 Ink Saver (Sub)
Inkline - 5x Defense Up, 1/2 Damage Up
Krak-On - 5x Swim Speed Up, 1/2 Defense Up
Rockenberg - 5x Run Speed Up, 1/2 Swim Speed Up
Skalop - 5x Quick Respawn, 1/2 Special Saver
Splash Mob - 5x Ink Saver (Main), 1/2 Run Speed Up
Squidforce - 5x Damage Up, 1/2 Ink Saver Main
Takoroka - 5x Special Charge Up, 1/2 Special Duration Up
Tentatek - 5x Ink Recovery Up, 1/2 Quick Super Jump
Zekko - 5x Special Saver, 1/2 Special Charge Up
Zink - 5x Quick Super Jump, 1/2 Quick Respawn


8. Sub Guides
I've also been working on other guides with additional info, the first extra guide is a visual list for all equipment sorted by main ability, you can quickly check out all gear with a certain ability and the effects from the brand for the sub-ability rate, you can check it out on this link: http://ow.ly/OTIJy


9. Credits
I'd like to use this section to thank some users who helped with this guide:
Thanks to @DaBoss for helping collect all the info since before the release. Thanks to @D3RK for creating some of the icons used on the guide. Thanks to @Xeiros and @Irves for pointing out brand effects on abilities. Thanks @Phobos for helping collecting data from the 2.0.0 update. And thanks to everyone that commented and supported the guide, it really motivates me!