Wave Breaker

The Wave Breaker is a special weapon in Splatoon 3. It is a device that releases up to three expanding shock waves that damage and track opponents that touch them.

Appearance

The Wave Breaker consists of a conical device resembling a pop-and-catch toy. The sphere rests in an indentation in the cone and is connected to it via a wire. After being thrown, the sphere will start bouncing up and down, releasing circular shock waves of black squids.

Splatoon 3

Wave Breaker


Category	Special
Class
Sub
Special
Special points
Special depletion
Range
Damage
Impact
Fire rate
Charge speed
Ink speed
Mobility
Durability
Handling
Level
Cost
Requirement
Added in		Specifications
Weight
Base damage	30 per half second (Device) 45 per wave (Wave)
Base duration	Wave: 6 sec Track: 7 sec
Ink consumption
Base range
Rate of fire
Muzzle velocity
Base accuracy
MPU effect
SPU effect
SPU effect
Other variant

When activated, the user will hold the Wave Breaker above their head, which can then be thrown with . It can be held for an unlimited amount of time. Once the device lands, it marks nearby opposing players for less than a second. Right afterwards, the sphere starts bouncing up and down, releasing damaging shock waves that expand from the base of the cone with a wider area of effect than the one when landing. These shock waves follow the ground and go through walls, including barriers such as Big Bubbler.
Over its duration, the Wave Breaker will unleash a total of three shock waves before breaking. Opponents that come into contact with the shock wave are dealt damage and marked for a longer period of time. Opponents can also be damaged from contact with a Wave Breaker. The shock waves can be avoided by jumping over them, and opponents can only be hurt by each shock wave once. The Wave Breaker can be destroyed by dealing damage to it; it has 400 HP and takes damage with certain multipliers depending on the weapon used. It can also be crushed by moving platforms such as the tower in Tower Control or the rotating platforms on Museum d'Alfonsino.

This special is one of the nine available specials in Salmon Run Next Wave.

It appears in 2 Return of the Mammalians missions:

0000 After Alterna
Rocket 02 Alterna Space Center Hangar

Special Power Up

Main article: Special Power Up

Equipping Special Power Up with Wave Breaker increases the travel distance of its shock waves without increasing speed.

Version history

Version	Adjustments
1.2.0	— Fixed an issue where its waves would not be visible if placed in a location with a height difference, even in the area of effect. — Fixed an issue where it would not activate when placed on terrain at a certain angle, rather than catching and falling. — Fixed an issue where placing a Wave Breaker overlapping an opponent's Splash Wall would cause the Wave Breaker to disappear on the opponent's screen.
2.1.0	— Fixed an issue where it immediately vanishes from other players' screens if the elevation of its placement is close to the waterline. — Fixed an issue where if it is placed at a specific elevation, its waves do not display in adjacent lower spaces within the area of effect. — Fixed an issue where if it is placed at a specific elevation, adjacent lower spaces may or may not come within the area of effect due to slight differences in position by slightly increasing the area of effect in the lower area.
2.1.1	— Fixed an issue where there could be a delay in recovering from existing damage if you were within range of an attack from a Wave Breaker or Big Shot and avoided taking damage by jumping or other means.
3.0.0	— Fixed an issue that sometimes sent a player's Wave Breaker far away when they tried placing it on an edge.
5.1.0	— Fixed an issue where an enemy's Wave Breaker would sometimes still appear on their own screen even if another player used an Ink Vac to suck up and extinguish it. Salmon Run Next Wave: — Fixed an issue where the Wave Breaker would sometimes remain without vanishing when a player threw it at a Flyfish's cockpit.
6.1.0	▲ When placed, enemies around it will be marked for a short period of time.

Quotes

“

Deploys a device that generates sonic waves to drive hidden opponents out into the open. Waves expand along the ground, marking and dealing damage to any opponents they touch. To avoid damage, simply jump over each wave.

”

— In-game description

“

SRL here with breaking news about the Wave Breaker, a new special weapon! This tactical marvel sends out a fast-moving shock wave that both marks opponents' positions and deals a bit of damage too. Try tossing it into a spot with lots of traffic, and watch chaos theory in action!

Of course, no special weapon is perfect, and the Wave Breaker can be "defeated" by the advanced strategy of… rechecking video… jumping over the waves it sends out? Huh. Still, making an opponent jump from a hidden position could lead to a win. And that makes it win adjacent!

”

— @SplatoonNA on Twitter^[1]^[2]

Sets

Main weapons with Wave Breaker in Splatoon 3

Main	#ID	Sub	Special	Special Points	Level	Price	Class	Introduced
Custom Splattershot Jr.	11	Torpedo	Wave Breaker	190p	6	1	Shooter	Version 2.0.0 (Chill Season 2022)
Custom Wellstring V	7031	Point Sensor	Wave Breaker	200p	24	1	Stringer	Version 8.0.0 (Sizzle Season 2024)
Dread Wringer D	3051	Squid Beakon	Wave Breaker	190p	18	1	Slosher	Version 7.0.0 (Fresh Season 2024)
Dualie Squelchers	5030	Splat Bomb	Wave Breaker	200p	8	1	Dualie	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)
E-liter 4K	2030	Ink Mine	Wave Breaker	210p	18	1	Charger	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)
E-liter 4K Scope	2040	Ink Mine	Wave Breaker	210p	27	1	Charger	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)
Heavy Splatling	4010	Sprinkler	Wave Breaker	200p	4	1	Splatling	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)
Order Splatling Replica	4015	Sprinkler	Wave Breaker	200p	1		Splatling	Version 7.0.0 (Side Order)
Painbrush	1120	Curling Bomb	Wave Breaker	190p	14	1	Brush	Version 4.0.0 (Sizzle Season 2023)
Range Blaster	220	Suction Bomb	Wave Breaker	210p	11	1	Blaster	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)

Badges

Main article: Badge#Special weapon wins

Winning a certain number of battles with the Wave Breaker will reward the player with special badges that they can use on their Splashtag.

Wave Breaker badges
	30 wins with Wave Breaker
	180 wins with Wave Breaker
	1,200 wins with Wave Breaker

Gallery

Promotional render
Wave Breaker releasing a shock wave
An earlier version of the Wave Breaker icon.
2D icon.
2D icon used in Side Order
The Tableturf card icon of the Wave Breaker.

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Wave Breaker model rotating (link to file)
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Using the Wave Breaker (link to file)

Strategy

For competitive tips about the Wave Breaker

View the strategy page.

Trivia

The Wave Breaker bears a loose resemblance to Splatoon's Echolocator special weapon, being able to mark a large number of opponents at once.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ホップソナー Hoppu sonā	Hop Sonar
Dutch	Golfbeker	From golfbreker ("breakwater") and beker ("cup")
French	Sonar paf	"Paf" is an onomatopoeia for an explosion "Sonar" Also resembles the Echolocator's name in Splatoon.
German	Schauerwelle	Shower wave
Italian	Sonar esplosivo	Explosive sonar
Russian	Волноплюхер Volnoplyukher	Wave splatter
Spanish	Emiteondas	Wave-emitter
Chinese (Simplified)	弹跳声呐 Tántiào shēngnà (Mandarin)	Jump Sonar
Chinese (Traditional)	彈跳聲納 Tántiào shēngnà (Mandarin)	Jump Sonar
Korean	홉 소나 Hob Sona	Hop Sonar
Portuguese	Wave Breaker^{[Citation needed]}	-
Internal	SpShockSonar^[3]	Sp for special weapon. ShockSonar is in reference to the shock wave emitted as a sonar ping.