Ink Vac

The Ink Vac is a special weapon in Splatoon 3. It is a vacuum that sucks up opponents' ink attacks and then fires out an exploding projectile, with the size of the explosion depending on the amount of ink sucked in.

Appearance

The Ink Vac is based on a diesel-powered backpack vacuum cleaner or leaf blower. The backpack consists of a white ink canister and a cyan vacuum engine below it. As the Ink Vac absorbs more opposing ink, the canister gets filled by glowing ink of the Ink Vac user's color and seems to shake more intensely. The engine has some control panels and a hose connecting it to a massive nozzle. The nozzle is cyan-and-black with two handles. The logo of a weapon brand (coloquially named "D") can be seen on the canister and the nozzle.

Splatoon 3

Splatoon 3

Ink Vac

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	220 (Explosion) 220 (Projectile)
Base duration	Special gauge: 6 sec Vacuum: 6 sec Charge hold: 2.5 sec
Ink consumption
Base range
Rate of fire
Muzzle velocity
Base accuracy
MPU effect
SPU effect
SPU effect
Other variant

Ink Vac has two distinct phases: suction mode and firing mode.

Ink Vac begins in suction mode upon deployment, during which the player can hold down to create a vortex that sucks up opposing ink projectiles (including ink droplets), bombs, and even some special weapons, though it cannot suck up opposing ink that has touched the ground. This vortex also protects the user and their teammates from taking damage from explosions, even though it does not entirely destroy them (the user can also still take damage from explosions from behind). Sucking in opponents' ink fills up the Ink Vac, and slows down the user's movement speed. A maximum of 1200 damage (buffed since Version 10.1.0) can be absorbed before the Ink Vac fills up fully. Opponents caught within the Ink Vac's vortex will lose ink and be slowed down, similar to Toxic Mist, and also fill the Ink Vac up at a rate of 1.5 damage per frame (90 damage per second), although they do not actually take damage. However, the vortex does damage most objects, such as Sprinklers, Wave Breakers, and brella shields, at a rate of 2 damage per frame (120 damage per second). Although the vortex is stopped by solid walls, it can pass through barriers such as Splash Walls and the Rainmaker shield.

The table below lists what can and cannot be sucked up:

Type of weapon	Vacuumable by the Ink Vac	Not vacuumable by the Ink Vac	Notes
Main weapon	Any ink projectile from any weapon ('shots' from shooters, splatlings, chargers, stringers, etc., 'droplets' from rollers, brushes, explosions from stringer arrows, etc., or splatana projectiles)	Splatana's charged direct hit Rolling roller Sliding brush Brella shields	Although they can hit the Ink Vac user by rolling/sliding, rollers and brushes are greatly slowed down by the Toxic Mist-like effect inside the vortex (more than just walking or swimming in front of it). Brellas shields take damage over time while inside the Ink Vac's vortex.
Sub weapon	Splat Bomb Suction Bomb Burst Bomb Fizzy Bomb Curling Bomb Autobomb Angle Shooter Point Sensor Toxic Mist Torpedo Ink Mine explosion Sprinkler droplets	Splash Wall barrier Squid Beakon Point Sensor effect area Toxic Mist effect area Angle Shooter line Sprinkler	Splash Wall, Squid Beakon, and Sprinkler take damage over time while inside the Ink Vac's vortex.
Special weapon	Trizooka shots Tenta Missiles Ink Storm device and ink from the rain cloud Booyah Bomb ink ball and explosion Ink Vac's ink shot Inkjet shots and exhaust Ultra Stamp when thrown and stamp attacks (indirect only) Crab Tank shots Reefslider explosion Zipcaster explosions (indirect only) Triple Inkstrike tornados Kraken Royale's jump and charge attacks The Ink Vac's vortex repels the Kraken Royale's attacks instead of sucking it in directly. Triple Splashdown explosions Splattercolor Screen device The screen slowly fills the Ink Vac; teammates who walk through the wall while in the suction vortex do not take damage but are still affected by the screen.	Big Bubbler Wave Breaker device and shockwaves Killer Wail 5.1 lasers Ultra Stamp direct stamp attack hit Triple Inkstrike guidance devices and missiles Tacticooler Super Chump	Big Bubbler, Wave Breaker, and Super Chump decoys take damage when hit by the Ink Vac's vortex. Reefslider, Zipcaster, and Ultra Stamp can damage and splat the Ink Vac user with direct hits. Kraken Royale can too, but the Ink Vac's vortex tends to push it back, preventing it from approaching from the front. Being inside a Booyah Bomb explosion or a Triple Inkstrike tornado will splat the Ink Vac user, but the Ink Vac will still get brielfy filled up before the user gets splatted.
Other	Rainmaker shot and shield explosion Fizzbang Sprinkler of Doom	Rainmaker shield itself Inkling/Octoling Vacuuming an opponent will increase the Ink Vac's charge, but the player themselves will not receive damage. However, they will suffer similar effects to Toxic Mist, with a slowdown in movements and the emptying of their ink tank.	-

The Ink Vac's suction vortex can also apply object damage to the following:

• Brella shields
• Sprinkler
• Squid Beakon
• Splash Wall
• Wave Breaker
• Big Bubbler
• Super Chump decoys

Six seconds after activation, or when the tank is filled, the Ink Vac enters firing mode, in which it readies a projectile of ink that can be aimed, launching manually upon releasing or automatically after approximately 2.5 seconds. This projectile damages anything it comes into contact with, and once it lands, a damage radius is displayed before exploding shortly afterwards, dealing damage to any opponents within radius and line of sight of the blast. The size of the explosion depends on how full the Ink Vac's tank was upon firing.

It appears in two 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 Ink Vac increases the radius of its vortex. The size of the larger portion of the vortex gets increased by up to about 30%, while the size of the smaller portion gets increased by up to about 75%.

Version history

Version	Adjustments
2.0.0	▲ Damage of the return shot has been increased from 120.0 to 220.0. This change is intended to increase the damage done to Big Bubbler and Rainmaker shields and to allow players to defeat opponents armored due to Squid Roll or Squid Surge.
3.1.0	▲ Increased the radius of the outer perimeter when vacuuming up ink by roughly 10% to cover a larger area than before: 3 units → 3.3 units.
4.1.0	▲ Increased the radius of the ink-shot explosion by approximately 50% when the amount of the opponent's ink that was sucked up is at the minimum: 4 units → 6 units. ▲ Increased the radius of the ink-shot explosion by approximately 25% when the amount of the opponent's ink that was sucked up is at the maximum: 8 units → 10 units.
8.0.0	▲ The ground slightly behind the user will be inked periodically while it is active.
8.1.0	▲ Made it so that when the ink shot impacts a wall, the explosion will also ink nearby ground. ▲ Made it so that when the ink shot impacts the ground, the explosion will also ink nearby walls.
10.1.0	▲ Increased the amount of opponent ink that can be sucked up: 800.0 damage → 1200.0 damage. ▲ Increased the radius of the ink-shot explosion when the amount of the opponent ink that was sucked up is at the maximum by approximately 10%: 10 units → 11 units.

Quotes

“

Make your ink shots more powerful by sucking up enemy attacks! Hold to generate a vortex that sucks up enemy ink attacks. Once the tank is full, or after the timer runs out, let go of , and you'll launch a souped-up super ink shot!

”

— In-game description

“

Squid Research Lab here with breaking news! We've identified another new weapon - the formidable Ink Vac! This special device is equipped with a massive nozzle capable of inhaling the ink from an enemy's attack and sending it back via a powerful counterattack. The more attacks it inhales, the more powerful the Ink Vac becomes. This is the sort of weapon that could provide security for an entire squad! Rest assured that our excitement is tempered by academic rigor.

”

— @SplatoonNA on Twitter

“

The Ink Vac is equipped with a massive nozzle capable of inhaling the ink from an enemy's attack and sending it back via a powerful counterattack. The more attacks it inhales, the more powerful the Ink Vac becomes!

”

— @NintendoEurope on Twitter

Sets

Main weapons with Ink Vac in Splatoon 3

	Main	#ID	Sub	Special	Special Points	Level	Price	Class	Introduced​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
	.96 Gal	80	Sprinkler	Ink Vac	190p	17	1	Shooter	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)​​
	Jet Squelcher	90	Angle Shooter	Ink Vac	180p	15	1	Shooter	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
	Rapid Blaster Pro	250	Toxic Mist	Ink Vac	180p	26	1	Blaster	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
	Big Swig Roller	1040	Splash Wall	Ink Vac	180p	16	1	Roller	Version 2.0.0 (Chill Season 2022)​​​​​​​​​​​​​
	Splat Charger	2010	Splat Bomb	Ink Vac	190p	2	1	Charger	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)​​
	Order Charger Replica	2015	Splat Bomb	Ink Vac	190p	1		Charger	Version 7.0.0 (Side Order)
	Splatterscope	2020	Splat Bomb	Ink Vac	190p	10	1	Charger	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
	Ballpoint Splatling Nouveau	4031	Ink Mine	Ink Vac	200p	30	1	Splatling	Version 5.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2023)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
	Tenta Brella	6010	Squid Beakon	Ink Vac	190p	16	1	Brella	Version 1.0.0 (Drizzle Season 2022)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Badges

Main article: Badge#Special weapon wins

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

Ink Vac badges
	30 wins with Ink Vac
	180 wins with Ink Vac
	1,200 wins with Ink Vac

Gallery

• 

  Using the Ink Vac.

• 

  Shooting the projectile at the end of the special.

• 

  An Inkling using the Ink Vac

• 

  Icon in the special gauge (Splat Charger or Splatterscope).

• 

  An earlier version of the Ink Vac icon.

• 

  2D icon

• 

  The Tableturf Battle card icon of the Ink Vac.

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  Ink Vac model rotating (link to file)

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  Using the Ink Vac (link to file)

Strategy

For competitive tips about the Ink Vac

View the strategy page.

Trivia

• When an Ink Vac's projectile explodes, it creates a mass of liquid spikes reminiscent of how ferrofluid acts in the presence of a magnet.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	キューインキ Kyū inki	Possibly from 吸引 kyūin ("absorbtion") and 機 ki ("machine"), with a pun on the word "ink"
Dutch	Inktdief	Ink thief; from kruimeldief ("minivac", literally "crumb thief").
French	Aspirencre	From aspirer ("inhale" or "suck") or aspirateur ("vacuum cleaner") + encre ("ink").
German	Tintegrator	From Tinte ("Ink") and Integrator
Italian	Vampinchiostro	From vampiro ("vampire"), in reference to its ability to drain, and inchiostro ("ink")
Russian	Краскосос Kraskosos	From краска kraska (paint) and пылесос pylesos (vacuum cleaner). Paintsucker
Spanish (NOE)	Aspiratinta	From "aspiradora" (vacuum cleaner) and "tinta" (ink)
Chinese (Simplified)	吸墨机 Xīmòjī (Mandarin)	Ink Sucking Machine
Chinese (Traditional)	吸墨機 Xīmòjī (Mandarin)	Ink Sucking Machine
Korean	흡입기 Heubipgi	Sucking Machine
Internal	SpBlower	Sp for special weapon. Blower is in reference to the Ink Vac being a blower vacuum.