In Splatoon 3, some players have hopped into a Splatfest with a really strong team setup and been prompted with a glow and a unique team name without knowing why. This mechanic is called "Synergy," and its only gameplay effect is a multiplier on the player's clout. The multiplier is determined by how coordinated the player's team is and what parts team members do or don't have in common.
While clothes usually only affect independent stats, Splatoon 3 makes it so they can synergize with others and provide a practical advantage for winning the Splatfest. This guide will cover everything there is to know about Synergy, Clout, and what players can do to maximize both.
What is Clout?
Clout is one of the determining factors in which team wins any given Splatfest, and it was introduced back in Splatoon 2. It mainly measures how well players have been covering the ground with ink at the end of every game. This metric also resets every Splatfest, encouraging players to play the game and do as well as possible during these events.
Clout can be increased in a few ways: winning matches or partaking in 10x, 100x, or 333x battles. However, a team's synergy will also give a modifier to clout; the more synergized the team is, the more power it will earn. This means the most effective strategy would be having a perfectly synergized team, covering as much ground as possible, and consistently winning matches.
What is Synergy?
Teams with good synergy will be marked with a unique name, such as "The Devilish Neo-Octobooted Dark-Tetra Tentacurl Quartet," for players with the same gender, weapons, hairstyle, and clothing. This means a synergy bonus will automatically be given out if players enter a team with all four players being Inkling Girls. Therefore, for the highest possible synergy bonus, players should strive to make all four players have the following:
- Hairstyle, Gender, or Species matching
- All main weapons matching
- All Sub and Special weapons matching
- All Headgear matching
- All Shoes matching
Having all of these will grant all players a 2.4x bonus for clout. But, of course, all team members having the same weapon isn't great for strategy, so some teams would instead opt for the 2.3x bonus from having all different weapon types. This means a clout score of 50, boosted by a 10x battle to 500, gets further increased to 1200.
All this to say, while the clout bonus is a great asset, it doesn't matter too much in the long run. What matters more is having at least a little bit of synergy to boost clout and hitting up 10x, 100x, and 333x battles as much as possible. So, Splatoon 3 players should try and get some extra synergy for the bonus but should never skimp on the items with the best stats or their preferred playstyle to get a slight increase in clout.
Splatoon 3 is available now for Nintendo Switch.
