The first credits in Splatoon Raiders are the start of a substantial post-game, not the final stopping point. Once the main campaign ends, you can replay most missions on Super Spicy, clear three new Hidden Ruins, open the Bottomless Buffet, and push to floor 100 for the game's true ending. You do not need to wander the map hoping that the next step appears: the route is deliberately signposted after the credits.
If you want the short version without the final boss name, follow this order:
- Load your cleared save and watch the post-credits conversation.
- Upgrade the Hideout Ship to Level 3 if you have not already done so.
- Clear Fischflak, Smoksam, and Myunyere Hidden Ruins with all three Tanks.
- Use the assembled Relic parts to enter the Bottomless Buffet.
- Reach floor 100 to finish the post-game story.
The guide remains light on story details until the floor-100 section. A second, clearly marked warning appears before the secret boss and true ending.
What unlocks after the first credits?
Defeating the campaign's Throne Room boss unlocks two kinds of endgame content. The first is Super Spicy, a much harder version of almost every non-tutorial challenge. The second is a set of three new locations: Fischflak Hidden Ruins, Smoksam Hidden Ruins, and Myunyere Hidden Ruins. The circular image with three golden beams shown at the end of the credits is your clue that these ruins are the next story route.
The Hidden Ruins are the direct progression gate. Each location contains a challenge associated with each of the three Tanks, and the complete set awards the Relic parts that open the Bottomless Buffet. Super Spicy is useful for practice, rewards, and testing a mature build, but current finished-game guides do not list a full Super Spicy clear as a requirement for the true ending.
That distinction saves time. If your priority is story completion, work through the Hidden Ruins. If one of them overwhelms you, use ordinary replays or manageable Super Spicy missions to strengthen your equipment, then return. Our beginner and progression guide is a useful refresher if the endgame exposes a movement or survival habit you skipped during the campaign.
Post-game preparation before the Hidden Ruins
The three Hidden Ruins begin at Salmonid Level 42 and climb from there, while the Bottomless Buffet starts at Level 50 and continues upward. There is no responsibly verified universal weapon level that guarantees success. Readiness is better judged by whether your preferred weapon still clears priority enemies quickly, whether your Gadgets are available often enough to control pressure, and whether you can recover after being forced out of your ink.
Upgrade the Hideout Ship to Level 3 before making a serious push. That unlocks Weapon Power Swapping and Part Upgrading, two systems that make late-game drops much more useful. A five-star weapon with an awkward power layout is no longer simply a disappointment; you can shape it around the job you need it to do. Part Upgrading likewise lets a promising Gadget setup grow instead of being discarded immediately.
Upgrade the Hideout and consolidate one reliable loadout
Start with one weapon you can aim and move with under pressure. A theoretically stronger drop is not an upgrade if its range, charge time, or ink demand breaks your rhythm. Put enough resources into that reliable weapon to make normal endgame encounters comfortable, but keep some materials available. Hidden Ruins force you to use Power, Speed, and Tactical Tanks, so a build that works beautifully with one category cannot carry all nine Tank-specific clears unchanged.
Before spending rare parts, compare compatible abilities in the Tank and Gadget Explorer. Look for a clear job: emergency space, focused damage, safe repositioning, or battlefield control. “Best” only makes sense in relation to that job. The Power Tank does not need to imitate the Speed Tank, and a Tactical setup should not be judged only by burst damage.
Decide when to use solo, direct multiplayer, or replay farming
Solo play makes enemy attention and timing more predictable, which is valuable while learning a new Tank. Normal raids also let you Call for Help, so there is little reason to grind past frustration when another raider can help you secure a clear. A planned party is different from Help matchmaking; the distinction matters later because the Bottomless Buffet blocks Call for Help but still permits direct online multiplayer.
Farm only when you can name the problem the next upgrade should solve. If a bulky enemy takes too long, improve sustained damage. If small Salmonids repeatedly interrupt your actions, add control or cooldown support. If you are failing traversal, changing a damage number may achieve nothing. The multiplayer guide explains the site's current solo, Help, and group options before you commit to a long session.
Clear the three Hidden Ruins in level order
The cleanest route is Fischflak at Level 42, Smoksam at Level 44, then Myunyere at Level 46. That is a recommended difficulty curve, not a hard lock. You can visit them in another order, but stepping through the listed levels gives your equipment a chance to grow between locations.
Each ruin has three Tank-specific challenges. Clearing only the route for your favorite Tank does not finish that location's full reward. Treat the set as a controlled build tutorial: the enemies may be familiar, but your available Gadgets and movement answers change. Check the mission rules, equip parts with a deliberate purpose, and make one change after a failure instead of rebuilding everything at once.
Fischflak Hidden Ruins
Fischflak is the lowest-level entry and the best place to test whether your campaign build is ready for post-game restrictions. Run your comfortable Tank first so you can learn the objective and pressure points without also learning a new kit. Then use that knowledge when switching to the other two Tanks.
If the second or third Tank clear feels dramatically harder, do not assume the category is weak. Check whether you brought a Gadget that solves the same problem as your weapon while leaving another problem uncovered. A flexible pair—one tool for the crowd and one for the priority threat—is usually easier to pilot than two abilities competing for the same moment.
Smoksam Hidden Ruins
Smoksam raises the Salmonid level to 44. The number is a warning that sloppy trades become more expensive, not a demand to replace your entire setup. Preserve safe inked ground, remove ranged or area-denial enemies early, and save a mobility or control answer for the moment the arena becomes crowded.
This is a useful point to review your failed attempts. If you reached the last wave comfortably and lost to one mistake, practice is likely more valuable than farming. If every wave runs long and cooldowns never catch up, your equipment needs attention. That simple diagnosis prevents hours of upgrading gear that was not causing the failure.
Myunyere Hidden Ruins
Myunyere is listed at Level 46 and makes the best final stop before the Buffet. Complete the Tank route that worries you most while the earlier ruins are fresh in your mind. You now know which parts of your build are genuinely dependable across categories and which were being carried by a favorite Gadget.
Once all required Tank challenges across the three ruins are complete, their Relic parts combine to open the way forward. If the gate does not progress, return to each Hidden Ruins node and check for an uncleared Tank icon. The usual problem is an incomplete category route, not a secret collectible hidden somewhere in the campaign.
Use Super Spicy missions as training and upgrade runs
Super Spicy takes the familiar Spicy idea much further. Enemies are stronger and more numerous, Seasoned and Boss Salmonids appear more often, and the mission is fixed to Survivalist—the toughest global difficulty. Most non-tutorial campaign challenges receive a variant, producing a large catalog of optional endgame replays.
Use these missions with a purpose. A short arena you understand well is good for testing whether a new part changes a cooldown or damage breakpoint in a meaningful way. A mission that repeatedly defeats you before rewards arrive is poor farming, even if its listed level looks impressive. Consistent clears create more useful practice than repeatedly forcing the hardest node on the map.
Super Spicy also teaches the habits the Buffet expects: remove dangerous targets before they combine, keep an escape lane inked, and use Gadgets early enough to get another activation later. You are not required to clear every variant before opening the final route, so move on when you have the equipment and control you need.
How Bottomless Buffet works
Major post-game area spoilers begin here. The assembled Relic opens the Bottomless Buffet beneath the Throne Room, entered through the Great Salmon Mess Hall. The activity begins at Salmonid Level 50, advances in sets of three sub-levels, and increases the enemy level after each set. Survivalist difficulty is fixed.
The name is both a joke and a useful warning. There is a defined story objective at floor 100, but the randomized challenge sequence continues afterward. Think of 100 as the bottom of the narrative route, not the final number the mode can display.
The floor structure and multiplayer limits
The three-floor grouping makes session planning important. Enter when you have enough uninterrupted time to concentrate through a batch rather than treating every displayed floor as a separate campaign mission. Rising Salmonid levels mean a build that feels effortless early can gradually lose the damage and control margin that protected you from mistakes.
You cannot use Call for Help in Bottomless Buffet. You can still enter with a friend through direct online multiplayer, so organize the group before starting instead of expecting an emergency matchmaking prompt inside the activity. In a team, agree who will create space and who will focus priority targets; four players chasing the same small enemy wastes the advantage of co-op.
A sustainable floor-100 preparation loop
Do not interpret every failure as a command to grind indefinitely. First ask whether the loss came from execution, target priority, or insufficient output. Retry when a cleaner route would solve it. Return to easier content when ordinary enemies have become damage sponges, when your Gadget pair cannot manage the new density, or when several attempts fail at the same point for the same numerical reason.
- Push until clear times or survival become inconsistent.
- Replay a reliable Hidden Ruin, normal raid, or manageable Super Spicy mission.
- Upgrade one weapon or part tied to the observed problem.
- Return and compare the result before spending again.
This loop is slower than copying a supposed universal build, but it remains useful as the enemy level rises. It also protects rare resources from being scattered across equipment you do not enjoy using.
Floor 100, the secret boss, and the true ending
Final spoiler warning: the next paragraphs name the post-game boss and describe the true-ending reward. Stop here if you only wanted the route.
Floor 100 is home to Lord Saltimatum, the secret final boss. This is not another name for Salmonarch. Salmonarch closes the main campaign in the Throne Room; Lord Saltimatum closes the post-game route after the full Buffet climb. Defeating the floor-100 boss triggers the true-ending sequence, totals the Relics gathered on the expedition, and sends the group sailing back toward the Splatlands.
The clear also awards the Endless Search Relic Power, which makes undiscovered Gadget parts easier to find and can be equipped separately from other Relic Powers. That reward is deliberately useful after the story ends: it turns completion of the hardest narrative goal into a tool for collection and build experimentation.
This guide keeps the cinematic explanation brief because the search intent is mechanical. For the story meaning, character payoff, and the difference between the two endings, read Splatoon Raiders Ending Explained.
What remains after the true ending?
Reaching floor 100 completes the post-game story, but it does not close your save. Bottomless Buffet continues generating challenges, and the rest of the islands remain useful for incomplete Relics, weapons, Gadget parts, outfits, Super Spicy clears, and personal build goals. Narrative completion and 100% completion are separate achievements.
There is also a social endgame. A well-developed character can answer Calls for Help and turn equipment earned during the climb into faster clears for other players. If endless floors stop being enjoyable, helping on shorter missions provides a different reason to use the build without pretending that a higher floor number is mandatory.
Splatoon Raiders post-game FAQ
How long does the endgame take?
Nintendo Life estimates at least another ten hours to reach floor 100, while GameSpot says a broader post-game completion run can push total playtime beyond 40 hours. Both are editorial estimates. Your weapon luck, upgrade choices, co-op use, and appetite for Super Spicy clears can move the number substantially.
Do you need every Super Spicy clear for the true ending?
No published finished-game route lists a complete Super Spicy clear as the gate. The required progression is the three Hidden Ruins, their Tank-specific Relic parts, and Bottomless Buffet through floor 100. Super Spicy is valuable optional preparation.
Can you play Bottomless Buffet in co-op?
Yes, direct online multiplayer is supported. Call for Help is not available inside Bottomless Buffet, so form the party before entering. Check the co-op guide if you need the difference between a room and Help matchmaking.
Is floor 100 really the bottom?
It is the end of the post-game story and the location of the secret boss. It is not the mechanical end of Bottomless Buffet: randomized challenges continue beyond floor 100 for players who want an open-ended test.
Loading comments...