Inkbrush

Brushes · Sub: Splat Bomb · Special: Killer Wail 5.1

Of the ranked modes, Inkbrush wins most in Tower Control in version 11.3, where it is A tier at S–S+2. Its best stages there: Academy. Estimated from stat.ink battle data through November 9, 2026.

Data through November 9, 2026

An ultra-mobile Brush. Its range is among the shortest of any weapon, but it has brush-dashing as fast as swimming and high painting power. Its job is to run around the enemy side painting everything, flank and harass to keep enemies off balance, and cover its short range with bombs and specials. You need to mash very fast to get its full damage out.

Strength by modeTier and score (win-rate points vs. an average weapon).

Best stages / Worst stages

Find weapons that suit you with the 32-question Play Style Quiz→

Strengths

• Brush-dashing is about as fast as swimming and doesn't get slowed by enemy ink or grates, so you're quick at flanking, escaping and getting there first at the start
• Top-tier burst painting; in Turf War it's great at wrecking the enemy's turf
• Surprisingly high object damage, so it quickly breaks Wave Breakers, Booyah Bombs, Squid Beakons, Sprinklers and more
• The base version's bomb → Killer Wail (full ink refill) → bomb combo lets you pressure a wide area, even enemies your main can't reach

Watch out for

• Extremely short range and fast damage falloff, so it loses most head-on fights
• Getting a fast TTK takes super-fast mashing, and your damage drops when your fingers get tired
• You move slowly while swinging, so you can't catch enemies who back up while shooting
• Head-on, it's at a disadvantage against Brushes with more range or damage like the Octobrush, plus Brellas and Shooters. Blasters on the Tower and Big Bubblers are also hard to break with the main alone

Tips

• Don't charge in from the front. Brush-dash around to the side or behind, then ambush
• Brush-dashing uses more ink than you'd think, so swim normally and brush-dash only over enemy ink, on grates, or when it really counts
• Throw a bomb, refill ink with Killer Wail, then throw another bomb to move enemies who are out of your range
• If mashing is tiring, remap buttons in the system settings so you swing with an easier button. When you're just painting the ground, ease off a bit to rest your fingers

Recent changes

• 11.0.0: System change for all weapons: main weapons get bigger hitboxes against players (the shorter the range, the bigger the boost), squid form gets a smaller hurtbox, and the game adds "Flow Aura" (a temporary power-up when you keep performing well) plus a remaining-health display (source 9)
• 11.1.0: Special points 180→190 (Inkbrush Nouveau) (source 10)
• 11.1.0: Special change, Ultra Stamp: 220-damage radius of the throw about 10% smaller (Inkbrush Nouveau) (source 10)