Which gadget tank should you pick in Splatoon Raiders?

The gadget tank choice that shapes your early raids

After your first few treasure raids in Splatoon Raiders, the game asks you to commit to a gadget tank. It feels weighty — three distinct playstyles, each with a unique starting tool — but you're not locked in forever. You can swap later at the ship base. Still, your first pick sets the tone for how you learn the rhythm of combat, and one option gives you significantly more breathing room to experiment.

Why the technical tank wins for newcomers

The technical tank's starter gadget, the Shot Pot, is a turret that lobs ink globs at the nearest enemy. It stays active for several seconds while its cooldown ticks, and by the time it disappears, it's ready to deploy again. That persistence alone puts it ahead of the alternatives: the other two tanks hand you single-use abilities with long downtime.

More importantly, the Shot Pot acts like a slightly underpowered second player covering your blind spots. You can place it to choke off a corridor, thin out weaker Salmonids while you focus on a boss, or create an escape route when the horde presses in. It rewards positioning over reflex, which is exactly what you want while learning enemy patterns.

Speed tank: flashy but limited reach

The speed tank starts with the Blast Boot, a high jump into a ground stomp that damages nearby enemies. It looks great in motion, but the area of effect is tight. Against the dense Salmonid waves you'll face regularly, it struggles to make a meaningful dent before you're back on the cooldown timer. The mobility is fun, yet it doesn't solve the core problem of crowd control.

Power tank: high risk, narrow reward

The power tank's Splatter Hatchet launches you forward in a straight line, cleaving everything in your path. Damage is impressive, but a whiffed charge leaves you stranded in the middle of the swarm. Later gadgets like Splatellites and Spinwheel add synergy, but the fundamental trade-off remains: you trade safety for burst, and the game rarely rewards that exchange when you're still mastering spacing.

Technical gadgets scale better into the mid-game

The advantage compounds as you unlock more tools. Bombloons let you scatter floating mines, link them together, and detonate the chain for a massive ink explosion — all without stepping into danger. That kind of zoning and area denial keeps paying dividends in later raids where enemy density spikes. The power tank's combo potential is real, but it demands precision the technical tank simply doesn't require.

How to switch tanks when you're ready

Open the gear menu with the Plus button, select "tanks," and pick your new loadout. Changes only take effect at the ship base between missions — no mid-raid swaps. Skill-point upgrades apply globally across all tanks, so investing in one benefits the others. Experience points, however, are not shared. Leveling a fresh tank means grinding Salmonid eggs from scratch.

If you want to accelerate that process, repeat dungeon stages that let you stack multipliers and shatter multiple crystals before the timer expires. It's the fastest way to build a secondary tank without stalling your main progression.

The technical tank isn't the only viable endgame choice, but it's the only one that teaches you the game's spacing and rhythm without punishing you for learning.

Pick the technical tank first. Use the Shot Pot to buy yourself thinking room. When you're comfortable — or just bored — swap to speed or power and see how differently the same encounters play. The system encourages that curiosity, and the global upgrades mean nothing feels wasted.