Pills

[fraypika]

To make the pills come out faster and be less laggy do you short hop and then fast fall or just short hop.

Also is it a good thing to follow your pills when you shoot them so the have more to worry about? You and the pill.

[CORY]

they have the same lag, no matter how you jump, as far as i know.

[Dr Drew the Dragon]

The lag is most likely the same, but the pills travel a little bit faster if you throw them in the air.

Knowing this, you can get two pills to hit at almost the same time if you throw them on the ground and then in the air, and by switching back and forth between air/ground pills, you can throw off people's timing.

And yes, following pills is a good strategy, sometimes called "pill rushing." If the pill hits, they're stunned for long enough to fit in a smash or fair.

[fraypika]

oh allright... i was just watching a doc play and his pills were **** fast.. just trying to figure it out on my own. This makes more sense. When should the pills generally be thrown in close or farther away or both.

[CORY]

if you do a full jump and pill right after you begin the jump, the pill leaves your hand at the apex of the jump and you recover a few "feet" above the ground if you don't fast fall. it's best to launch pills from further away, then, so you have more time to follow the bounce and recover from your lag. if you do a ground, then a full jump pill, they'll both end at just about the same spot. if you're just trying to create a "wall" mixing up ground, hop, and full jump pills works fine as you're just creating diversions.

man, i hope that helped some, because i'm tired so i'm not sure how much sense i'm making here...

[fraypika]

yea it made sense and just to make sure i got it right i want to send an array of pills at full jump, short hop and ground all at same time just to create diversions then if i want to pill rush then send one on the ground and then one at a full jump and hopefully kick their arse with them.

[Suretman]

I haven't tested any of this yet but: you can full jump shoot a pill then jump again and shoot another pill(so if they jump over the first pill they should get hit by the second and I suppose you could up air them if your close after it hits them) You can triangle jump instead of jumping again, so you could get a grab if they stand there whether they sheild or not?

[maelstrom218]

OK. . .this is an excerpt from a Doc FAQ that I'm writing, and this whole Pill Rushing thing should be described pretty clearly. Props to Captain Jack for actually effectively implementing double-jumped pill spam. And sorry about the length.

The Pill, despite its slight lag, is strong and incredibly versatile. It's also useful in pissing off your opponents.
What makes the Pill so incredible (besides its deceptively powerful attack, 4%-8%) is its variable trajectory. Depending on the height at which you fire the Pill, you can alter its altitude (the height), and its amplitude (the horizontal distance between each bounce). Controlling the trajectory of the pill is crucial, as by doing so, you can restrict--or even control--the movement of your opponent, allowing you to safely approach. Combine the Pill's enemy-restricting properties, and its incredible follow up options, and you have the ultimate offensive tool--on par with, if not equal to Samus' Missile Cancels, IMO.
Of the following uses of the Pill below, the Short Pill Rush and High Pill Rush are critical, and should be learned immediately. Double-Jumped Pill Spam is also pretty nice (especially if you've seen CJ's Doc TG6 vids).

1) Standard Pill
This is the standard trajectory for the Pill. It bounces slightly lower than Doc's height and hugs the ground. Attacking w/ a ground-based pill is almost useless--the huge amount of ending lag leaves you very vulnerable. Your best bet is to avoid this altogether, as you have much better pilling options.

2) Retreating Pill
Doc's not built for defense, but using a retreating pill can be occasionally useful in deterring an opponent who's breathing down your back. While running away from your opponent, jump in the air, gently and quickly tilt the Control Stick towards your opponent, and immediately press B. If done correctly, Doc will turn around and fire a pill at your opponent while still following the path of his jump--that is, away from the opponent. As useful as this is, the Pill's offensive applications are much better.

3) Double Jump Pill Spam
If you insist on pill spamming, this should probably be your most-used means of delivering the pill. Like Falco's SHB, the point of delivering a pill while airborne is that when you land, the Pill's usual lag is either greatly reduced, or completely absent. Basically, you want to fire a rising pill (fire the pill as soon as you leave the ground while you're rising), double jump as soon as possible, fire a second pill, then fast fall.
The point behind the double jump pill span is not, actually, to hit your opponent--the pill's trajectory is steep, so the chances that it'll hit an opponent are slim. However, it's able to pressure the opponent in order to facilitate your approach, or just plain piss him off. Happily, upset opponents tend to think less clearly.
Note that when you jump during the double jump pill spam, you have the opportunity to DI. You really want to DI slightly back and forth during your 1st and 2nd jump in order to randomize where the pill will hit the ground, making it harder for your opponent to advance on you.

4) Short Pill Rush
Doc's Short Pill Rush is just incredible. Simply awesome. In order to Short Pill Rush, dash, short hop, fire a rising pill, then fast fall. Make sure that you're dashing when you fire the pill; you'll be able to tell by examining the pill's exit angle. A standing pill has a -45 degree exit angle, a dashing pill's exit angle is almost perpendicular to the ground.
Why is Doc's Short Pill Rush so great? It has little lag, and allows you to advance directly behind the pill to follow up with your own attack. If an opponent decides to shield it, you should wait for the pill to hit it, cause shield stun, and then shield grab. If the opponent decides to dodge it, time a d-smash so it hits when the dodge ends. If the opponent jumps, try to intercept him with an AUA, ANA, or a precisely placed AFA. Or you can immediately follow up the Short Pill Rush with a High Pill Rush for double the fun. The point is, using the Short Pill Rush allows you to safely approach the opponent, and taking advantage of the pressure put on him.
A quick warning, though: the Short Pill Rush should only be used at medium to long range. If you use it at short range, the lag from the pill will prevent you from properly following up, meaning that your opponent might take advantage of your lag.

5) High Pill Rush
The High Pill Rush is executed in almost the same way as the Short Pill Rush. In order to High Pill Rush, dash, full jump, fire a rising pill, then fast fall. Again, be sure that you're dashing when you fire the pill; you'll be able to tell by examining the pill's exit angle. A standing pill has a -45 degree exit angle, a dashing pill's exit angle is almost perpendicular to the ground.
The High Pill Rush isn't as effective as the Short Pill Rush in terms of approaching the opponent, and that's because of its trajectory. Instead of hugging the ground, the High Pill Rush has a high, angular trajectory the size of Doc's full jump.
The main advantage to using the High Pill Rush is that Doc lands w/ no lag at all (compared to the noticeable lag after a Short Pill Rush). No lag means less vulnerability and a better chance to follow up w/ attacks. The other advantage is that the trajectory of the Pill (usually) forces your opponent to stay grounded, allowing you to use a shffl'd aerial. And since the High Rush Pill can be pulled off w/o much reducing the horizontal distance between you and your opponent, this pill set up is perfect for doing 2 in a row during your approach.
As this has no lag and nice anti-air trajectory, this is as useful as the Short Pill Rush. An additional note--b/c this pill set up has no lag upon landing, it's more suitable for medium-short to medium range.

[CORY]

and remember: after a full jump pill, you can do a landing wd in or out, so you can full jump pill while di-ing back, then wd in or some other variation of that.

[fraypika]

I am not so sure i get the double jump pill spam. Do you do both jumps without landing.... if its like this i can not do it for the life of me.

[Rebel581]

I have never seeen this before but rfrom what I just read what he said you have to throw a pill in your first jump like youo start Marth's dfair and then after the first pill at the peak of your jump jump again and use another pill.

[Lxl]

Yes fraypika, you got it right. You do a full jump, throw pill immediately, and if you didn't fastfall, you'd be just above the ground before you can use your second jump. After your second jump, throw pill again, and go on from there with whatever you prefer. (wavedash, etc.)

[maelstrom218]

Curse my general lack of clarity. . .

Yes, Rebel's got it right. In fact, the double jump pill spam is almost identical to Marth's double AFA. Just full jump, fire a rising pill, use your double jump ASAP, fire another rising pill ASAP, fast fall into wavedash + whatever, or just keep on firing pills.

Be sure to do a rising pill--just fire the pill as soon as you leave the ground. If you wait until the apex of the 1st or 2nd jump, then you'll end up w/ more lag time in between each pill.

Try watching Captain Jack's Doc vids from TG6. He pulls it off flawlessly.

[VilNess]

eww... marth double fair doesn´t require 2nd jump and can´t be fastfalled and is most effective with shorthopping... apart from that, the idea is the same...

[fraypika]

Thanks for the help everyone i got all the pill techniques down and are pretty much ready to be used in a match. Just a little fine tuning and the doctor is in.