Splatoon Raiders Guide#

Splatoon Raiders is the first spin-off in the Splatoon series, released worldwide on July 23, 2026 as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. It is nothing like the previous entry’s 4v4 competition: this is a primarily single-player PvE treasure-hunt raid. You play a mysterious Mechanic who crash-lands on the Spirhalite Islands alongside the Deep Cut trio, fighting off waves upon waves of Salmonids while digging up the treasure buried across the archipelago.

Basic Info at a Glance#

From Announcement to Launch#

Core Loop: the Mechanic, Deep Cut, and 3 Tanks#

The gameplay loop fits in one sentence: take a raid mission, drop onto one of the Spirhalite Islands, sweep Salmonid swarms with ink weapons and gadgets, haul the treasure back to the hideout ship, upgrade yourself with the loot, and push toward deeper islands and dungeons.

The core systems holding this loop up:

• The Mechanic — the only character you play; choose Inkling or Octoling and customize your appearance. There is no class system — your growth direction is decided entirely by the gear you assemble.
• 3 Tanks — Speed (mobility), Power (close-range firepower), and Tactical (deployables and crowd control). You start with 2 gadget slots and unlock a third through progression; at Super and Ultra ranks you can equip one gadget and one relic power from a different Tank family.
• Gadgets — a Mechanic-exclusive system: equip and upgrade gadgets with Gadget Parts — Blast Boot, Dash Bomb, Booyarang, Shot Pot, Bombloons, and more. About 15 gadgets have published details (5 per Tank).
• Deep Cut bot buddies — Shiver, Frye, and Big Man fight alongside you, each with a signature Showstopper special, and each runs a facility aboard the hideout ship: Shiver manages the gadget workshop, Frye the weapon depot, and Big Man the cataloging of your collections.
• Salmonids — the enemies arrive in swarms, extending the Salmon Run roster from the series; the on-screen enemy count goes far beyond what the previous game could render, and that density is the Switch 2 version’s most visible visual selling point.

Weapons and Stage Scale#

Difficulty and Playtime#

The game offers three difficulty tiers — Tourist / Raider / Survivalist — switchable at any time, and difficulty does not affect the drop pool. On playtime, different trackers disagree slightly, so all counts are listed for reference:

Prices and Editions#

There is no deluxe edition and no season pass. The Japanese bundle is a console-plus-game set sold only in Japan.

Global Scores and Sales#

Switch 2 Performance#

Digital Foundry’s testing confirmed the figures above and stressed that the game is not 4K. The real visual selling point is on-screen enemy density — Salmonid swarms far beyond what the previous game’s hardware could put on screen.

Main Story and Endgame#

• Main story: mission/dungeon-based progression across the Spirhalite Islands, capped by the final boss Salmonarch in the Great Salmon Mess Hall’s throne room.
• Endgame: after defeating Salmonarch and clearing 3 Hidden Ruins with each of the 3 Tanks, Bottomless Buffet unlocks — a standard 100 floors, with a secret boss Lord Saltimatum and a secret ending on floor 100; from there you can keep climbing to floor 1,000, the theoretical endpoint.

What the Full Hub Covers#

Beyond this overview, the Chinese hub runs 20 sub-pages: achievements and 100% collection, beginner basics, challenges and dungeons, characters and buddies, the combat system, controls, endgame content, a FAQ, the gallery, items and growth materials, the game’s backstory, co-op multiplayer, resources and farming, hidden content, the growth system, tips and strategies, version updates, the walkthrough, the weapon compendium, and the game world.

Related Games#

• Helldivers 2 — squad co-op shooting against endless enemy swarms, the closest PvE cousin to Raiders’ raid loop
• It Takes Two — a co-op action adventure built entirely around playing together
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 — third-person shooter catharsis against overwhelming hordes
• Overwatch 2 — a colorful team shooter for when you want player-versus-player instead of PvE
• Minecraft — the sandbox survival classic, recommended in the Chinese hub as the evergreen pick

Related Rankings#

Best Co-Op Games · Best Shooters

Full Guides#

In-depth sub-guides — beginner basics, controls, the combat system, the full weapon compendium, characters and the Deep Cut buddies, the 12-island walkthrough, co-op multiplayer, tips and farming routes, challenges and dungeons, endgame content, achievements and 100% collection, lore, secrets, version updates, and a FAQ — are available in Chinese on NTGame’s Splatoon Raiders section.

If you read Chinese, the updates sub-guide there carries the full Ver.1.1.0 and Ver.1.1.1 patch details behind the timeline above.