Three Category Spam

Three Category Spamming or known for short as 3 Cat Spam or Quick Switching is an infamous tactic where a player quickly fires their one-shot weapon (or weapons that deal 2-3 shots at most) and then quickly switches to 2 other one or two shot weapons. 

The weapons used are usually Wall Break weapons, and the three main categories for three category spamming are Sniper, Special, and Backup.

This practice is also paired with spamming one-shot heavy weapons such as the Proton Freezer, using high mobility melees like the Double Cashback or at least something like the Steampunk Fists, and shotgun primaries such as the Ultimatum as a backup. The player also may Rocket Jump while doing this, albeit risking chances of being vulnerable after consecutive times of doing so due to self-damage. However, it is mostly viewed as borderline unsportsmanlike and is widely panned as such by casual players who rely on normal tactics and gameplay. Furthermore, Three Category Spam does require skill but so does achieving a high kill count while playing the game normally, or successfully countering Three Category Spammers.

For players who want more insight and tips and tricks, check out 3 Category Spam Tips & Tricks. 

If you want some more info on delay mechanics and other tips, take a look at How to Cat Spam (For New and Advanced Players). 

3 Category spam tutorial

History

The tactic existed since 2014 when the five-weapon-category loadout cell interface was introduced, but this tactic was rarely practiced back at that time and usually didn't involve three categories of weapons, but rather two, usually the Sniper (which was originally in the "Special" section) and the Heavy (formerly called "Premium") sections. This tactic would indirectly increase the fire rate by shooting, switching, and doing this task repeatedly. Fans originally coined the term "sniper spam".

This tactic evolved into involving three weapons from three different categories which could take out the player in 1-2 shots and was popularized in 2018. Due to this tactic's popularity, the developers tried eliminating this tactic by requiring to wait until the weapon can shoot again. These mechanics are called Delay Mechanics. Updates later, these mechanics received animations.

Weapons Examples

Primary

• Ultimatum
• Viking
• Acid Shotgun
• Photon Shotgun
• Prehistoric Shotgun
• Undertaker
• Witchunter
• Mega Destroyer
• Assault Shotgun
• Last Kiss
• "Predator"
• Rhino
• Saturn
• Space Devastator
• Devastator
• Dino Slayer
• Christmas Spirit
• Gift Stitcher
• X-Mas Destroyer
• Heavy Shotgun

Note: You do need to be close range to Three Category Spam with a Shotgun (Unless you have Ultimatum or Viking which still both have a good range.)

Backup

• Exterminator
• Thunderer
• Alien Blaster
• Dual Anger
• Ritual Revolvers
• Dual Hawks
• Executioner
• Laser Cycler
• Triple Musket
• Sawed-Off Shotguns
• Shotgun Pistol
• Werewolf
• Lovebirds
• Red Twins
• Harpy
• Winged Revolver
• Hitman Exoskeleton
• Big BANG! Revolver
• Space Blaster

Special

• Laser Bouncer
• Reflector
• Necklace of the Ice King
• Poison Darts
• Poseidon Trident
• Witch Broom
• Portable Death Moon
• Alligator
• Snowball
• Charged Injector
• Neon Lightning

Sniper

• Sniper Dude
• Call of Sirens
• Harsh Punisher
• Underwater Carbine
• Overseer
• Block Rifle
• Laser Crossbow
• Prototype
• Laser Bow
• Alien Sniper Rifle
• Aphrodite Crossbow
• Anti-Champion Rifle
• Anti-Hero Rifle
• Sniper Exoskeleton
• Arahna Bite
• Ultra Beam
• Harsh Punisher
• Brutal Headhunter
• Gauss Cannon
• Prototype S
• Elephant Hunter
• Photon Sniper Rifle
• Railgun
• Demon Catcher
• Supercharged Rifle
• Third Eye
• Digital Sunrise
• "Sunrise"
• Comet
• Elf's Revenge
• Cold Silence
• Antivirus
• Morgana
• Frost Shot
• Portalium Rifle
• Laser Carbine
• Liquidator Z1
• Succubus
• Mister L.
• Electro Blast Rifle
• Last Hope
• Heavy Sniper Rifle
• Frosty Railgun
• Flag Keeper
• Magic Bow
• Mr. Squido
• Project 'Marlin'
• Scouters Rifle

Heavy

• Hurricane
• Armageddon
• Rocket Jumper
• Christmas Ultimatum
• Proton Freezer
• Royal Ashbringer
• Big Buddy
• Circus Cannon
• Destruction System
• Solar Power Cannon
• Storm of All Seas
• Dark Mage Wand
• Primal Beast
• Heart of Volcano
• Space Disinfector
• Rocket Crossbow
• Anti-Gravity Blaster
• Soda Launcher
• Wizard Wand
• Earth Spike Spell

(Because Cubic.Games added delay mechanics to the game, not all of the combinations above will work as well).

3 Cat Spammers use 85/100 mobility melee weapons such as Dark/Elder Force Saber, Katana, Pixel Stream Sword or Double Cashback for traversing the map. They may also use Heavy weapons for 3 Cat Spamming such as Solar Power Cannon, Christmas Ultimatum or Proton Freezer. With these weapons, they use them to Rocket Jump, even though they can inflict self-damage in the process.

If the enemy they hit is crippled they may finish them off with Automatic primaries such as Black Mamba, Golden Friend, Secret Forces Rifle, Future Police Rifle, Royal Fighter, Undertaker, Viking, Acid Shotgun or Ultimatum. Weapons that lack delays are used often with this tactic, albeit powerful delay-lacking weapons.

The delay of the weapon depends on the previously fired weapon's fire rate, so it would not be recommended to switch from the Ultimatum to delay weapons like the Exterminator, as the Ultimatum has an extremely low fire rate, and switching from that to the Exterminator will cause a time-consuming delay that will get you killed.

Counters

• Kill the user(s) of this strategy using high damage weapons like the Secret Forces Rifle or Arcade Rifle.
• Snipe them with high damage weapons and DPS snipers.
• Use area damage weapons such as Deadly Beat.
• Ambush its users while they are focusing on one enemy.
• Slow down/stun weapons can affect the 3 Cat Spammer if they are Rocket Jumping.
• Use the Stealth Bracelet so you will not make your presence easily felt by 3 Cat Spammers whenever you stick yourself out of the cover.
• You can employ certain strategies you are comfortable with against its users, such as Bunny Hopping, hiding in obscure areas of the map and confusing movement patterns.
• Being a 3 Cat Spammer yourself can be effective when countering.
• Try to avoid being on the ground considering the fact that 3 cat spammers rely on you being on the ground.
• Use the Reflector gadget so the 3 Cat Spammer will get a taste of his own medicine.
• Use powerful heavies such as Spark Shark, or Royal Ashbringer to slow the enemy player down.
• Use the Sly Wolf to protect you from them, and attack them.
• Try to use weapons with the Disable Jumps and Slows Down Target attributes to make you kill them easier as 3 Cat Spammers rely themselves having a higher ground to dodge and kill you at the same time.

Trivia

• It now takes significantly longer to switch weapons than it previously was for balancing purposes.
• Despite this strategy requiring skill, it is generally frowned upon by the casual side of the community, especially those who rely on normal gameplay with the frequent use of decent weapons.
• There are several weapons that have a pullout delay, which makes three category spamming with them rather difficult.
• There is a rare chance of seeing three cat spammers melee switching, which means switching to a melee between a weapon with Input Delay and a weapon with Output Delay to prevent delay from happening. This is a rare sight as it takes a significant amount of skill to utilize this tactic perfectly.
• The Royal Revolver used to be in the 3 Cat Spam M.E.T.A before its fixed delay was added, which was considered to be a nerf for this weapon, and became underrated after losing its popularity. This also was the case with the Laser Revolver.
• Fixed Delay weapons are underrated in the current meta, because of the pullout time which annoys the user and frustating them when they miss shots, which may benefit the victim(s) of the said tactic.
• This playstyle/tactic is heavily disliked by casual and normal players due to the fact that 3 Cat Spammers are repetitively crushing them with more kills and score, thus easily causing tension, duels, and toxicity between them.
• There was a glitch where the player can do the three category spam using the Comet.
  • It was patched in the 15.9.0 update.