Splatoon 2 Guide: Basic Tips for Salmon Run Success

The biggest new feature to Splatoon 2 is the new Salmon Run mode. In it, players are put into a team of four inklings whose goal is to collect Salmon Eggs, with the ultimate goal being the collection of Golden Eggs.

In this guide, we’ll take a look at just what it takes to win, and how to collect your rewards!

Starting the Run

Your Salmon Run experience starts at none other than gaining employment at Grizzco Industries. This store can be found at the back of Inkopolis Square on the left, just behind where Marie and the single player campaign are found. Once you enter, you will be asked by the company’s owner, Mr. Grizz, to complete several training exercises to help you understand how to fight Salmonids.

General Tips

A successful Salmon Run round is highly dependant on coordination. Even without voice chat, you can do many things to help make things smoother:

• Use the “Over Here” beacon by pressing up on the directional pad to ping your teammates. Using this to alert players of which direction the Salmonids are coming from will make taking down Boss Salmonid much easier.
• The “Booyah” beacon (down) can be very useful to alert your allies of where Golden Eggs are.
• “Help!” is an option only after you have been splatted by a Salmonid (or if you were silly enough to try swimming). Use this to alert allies to your location while slowly making your way to them using the life preserver. Remember: your allies don’t know where you are until you tell them!
• Whenever Mr. Grizz mentions the Shoreline, that means the tide has gone out, and the basket has been moved to the revealed area. The basket will be moved at this time to the low-ground, so don’t run back to where it used to be once you have a golden egg!
• Fog will obscure your viewing distance dramatically. To compensate for this, make use of your beacons to ensure players know where the Salmonid are, and where teammates are as well.
• When a wave ends, take a few moments to make sure the tide isn’t rising. If you get splatted by falling (or drowning) in the water during a wave countdown, that can severely impact your team’s performance during that same wave.
• Keep tabs on your teammates at all times. If you don’t know where they are at all, chances are that unless you are fighting the boss Salmonids, you are in the wrong area. In the case that you are in the right place, use the “Over here!” marker to call your teammates over. Spam it if you must.
• Learn the Map! While this may seem obvious, learning the shortcuts littered throughout the map can make or break a run. This is especially true in harder difficulties where precious seconds can mean the difference between having just enough eggs or coming short.

Special Bosses

Beyond the seven Boss Salmonid you are taught to fight, there are three special Boss Salmonid that are only seen at higher difficulties. These are the Goldie, Griller, and Mothership Salmonid. While Goldies only show up at night and can be easily defeated by shooting them, the other two can prove themselves to be tough to handle.

Griller

Grillers get their name from the fact that they look like… grills. Griller Salmonid are always followed by Smallfry swarms, and the Griller will always follow a single inkling until they are splatted. Grillers are fully armored, and as a result it can be tough to take them down.

To destroy a Griller, your team will have to hit the exposed tail to stun it. Three other tails will appear while it is stunned, and will need to be destroyed in order to take down the Griller. Shooting at the iron body will do no damage whatsoever, so aim your shots carefully. Any inkling caught in its ink will be splatted on the spot, making these swift moving enemies extremely dangerous, so be careful!

Mothership

Found at the highest difficulties, the Mothership is a force to be reckoned with. Not only will it drop crates of Salmonid down on you, but it can also come down to the Egg Basket to steal the eggs you have gathered!

The only way to handle a mothership is to take out the crates before they land, and to attack the mothership whenever it starts sucking on the egg basket. The “Raspy Voice” will always alert you when this is happening, so be on guard as it will take all four of you to drive it away in time.

Whenever a Mothership appears, the main source of Golden Eggs are the Chinooks that drop the crates. Take these out to get the Golden Eggs, and get closer to your reward.

Claiming Your Bonus

Once you have earned enough points, head just outside of Grizzco Industries to find this little window. Here you can ask for your bonus once you have earned them. You can only store 8 at a time, so be sure to claim them before you continue doing Salmon Runs or you will lose them permanently! Also, keep in mind that this is the main source of Meal Tickets. 

Earn that Bonus!

That’s all you need to know about Splatoon 2’s Salmon Run mode. As Mr. Grizz would say “the rest will be learned at sea!” So strap on your chum aprons, and get to work!

Be sure to check out the rest of our Splatoon 2 guides to get even more tips and tricks for your next match.