"Let's Tip The Scales!" - An Advanced Guide to Robin

Every Tactician needs to read his books, but learning is half the battle. Robin's ability to see the field will allow him to look at certain aspects of the battle and tip the scales in his/her favor, but since there aren't any Fredericks to deploy this time around, they need to muster everything they have to create a battle plan for victory. "Let's Tip the Scales!"



"Tipping the Scales" - Part 1: Knowing your Limits

As every Fire Emblem fan should know, every weapon has a limited amount of uses before it breaks, which is Robin's unique mechanic: Durability. Mitigating this will help Robin fight against even the toughest foes without his tomes. First of all, let's get in-depth about Durability, in case you haven't read LIQUIDFGC's Guide or the Robin Boards for that.

Each weapon has a set durability, for every tome and the Levin Sword. Should Robin's Durability on a Tome/Levin Sword reach 0, he will automatically eject it from his inventory. This is considered a "broken" weapon/tome. The values for each of Robin's special weapons are below:



As for the Thunder Tome, each of its uses are based on how long you charge it. Here are the values for the Thunder Tome charges:



There's no need to worry, however, as Robin's Tomes and Levin Sword will recharge over time.

Now, if you read above, I mentioned "broken" weapons/tomes. These can be caught as an item and used as a thrown projectile.

Advanced Technique #1: "Knowledge is Power!"

When one of Robin's weapons reaches 0 Durability, he'll eject it from his inventory and send it in an arc similar to Diddy's Bananas. If you're free, you can jump back and obtain the book/sword in mid-air using a Neutral Air or an Air Dodge. Also, it is possible to Z-Cancel Grab and obtain the item without using a Neutral Air or an Air Dodge. How do you do a Z-Cancel Grab? Look onward.

This is one of Robin's main kill moves as well, considering the power behind them is great. It has high Knockback and damage with a Power Throw(do a smash input or move the C-Stick in the direction desired). This can help Robin KO enemies from a distance while his other tomes/Levin Sword is recharging. You need to be aware however that others can catch what you throw at them as well and send them back to KO Robin, so stay focused.

Now, as for the Z-Cancel Grab...

Advanced Technique #8: Z-Cancel Item Grab

When you're attempting to catch your tome/sword, press the grab button to catch the tome. This counts as an air dodge but the animation for Robin's Air Dodge won't happen, so you'll be able to use the tome immediately. Just remember that you can't cancel your landing with an item throw, since that was taken out since v1.0.4. You won't receive landing lag on the catch if you Z-Canceled.

Useful for posing a threat and not become predictible with dodges and NAirs. It helps when you want to mix your game up a bit and throw it at them immediately.


Moving on, there are some combos you may already know, such as stuff from Arcfire and Arcthunder. Now we're going to see about extending those combos and make Robin a bit more threatening when he catches people.

"Tipping the Scales" - Part 2: This is how it's done!

For starters, let's begin with Arcfire. Considering it's a projectile, it's one of Robin's main spacing moves. What's more is it allows for landing traps with Robin's Up Tilts and also helps give Robin time to charge his Thunder Tome. So let's get to work, shall we?

Advanced Technique #2: "Blazing Arcfire"

This is a very difficult thing to do, and it is VERY situational, so please use it sparingly and only if you have the oppurtunity to use it!

First off, you need to hit your opponent with Arcfire at a certain range, typically very close to Robin. This all depends on where your opponent is and when you start-up Arcfire. How difficult it will be to manage it will also depend on the character's size(anything similar to Bowser being a tad easier, and Pikachu being very hard). You need to be fast to set off a second Arcfire and figure out which direction the opponent is using Direction Influence(from Brawl). The only space I've found that it's only useful in is a small space in front of Robin. Immediately after Robin's casting animation for Arcfire is over, do a short hop and use Arcfire again. If the enemy is caught, you will have succeeded in doing it.

Note: This technique isn't very useful due to LSFAir being already available for you to do, which is faster and safer than attempting a double Arcfire, so use this at your own risk.

Moreover, you can extend the original combo "Arcfire -> LSFAir" to "Arcfire -> LSFair x2" if you add a hop, allowing Robin to tack on 30% easily from Arcfire. Just know that the second Levinair can be air dodged, but it is very safe.

Advanced Technique #3: "Soul Burner"

This tech has strict timing, and depends heavily on your opponent's current percent and where your Arcfire hit at. This is practically useful at low percents if you catch people with Arcfire. What you want to do is catch an enemy with Arcfire at mid-range, then run as quickly as you can after the animation and short hop Nosferatu. However, Robin's Arcfire must hit at mid-range. If it's too close, Robin won't be able to catch with Nosferatu. This, most of the time, ensures healing until they're out of the low percents.

This is definitely useful when your enemy is on a fresh stock, since you can rack up damage and also heal yourself considerably. Just take into mind that people can DI out of Arcfire, and depending on how large their character is it may be harder or easier to land this, so keep that in mind.


With that out of the way, now it's onto Robin's edge guarding game, where he needs to Protect The Stage.

"Tipping the Scales" - Part 3: Edge Guard Tactics

Robin needs to hold the fort down, especially against those that can run right past him. Depending on who you're fighting, you may or may not want to go off the stage to protect the edge because they either have an impressive air game(Diddy Kong) or their recovery is bad(anyone with a sharp vertical recovery). Exploiting these weaknesses and respecting their strengths can help Robin plan for the best and worst.


Robin's Tools

-Levin Sword

This is Robin's main edge-guarding tool, with its high Knockback(especially from Back Air) and damage, it can keep people away and knock them towards the Blast Zone. Just note if you're offstage you may not be able to obtain the item using an air dodge or Neutral Air depending on the situation. Robin's Down Air with a Levin Sword can spike. The only problem is when executing a Down Smash Air, there is a pretty high chance you will trigger fast falling on the 3DS, so be careful when using it that way. On the Wii U, however, Robin has access to a C-Stick. The C-Stick allows him to pull off Levin DAirs now without fast falling.

-Arcfire

This is Robin's spacing tool for guarding the edge due to its angle. It's Robin's safest move from the stage, and is usually good for a Levin Sword follow-up depending on the height and space away from the stage.

-Elwind

This is one of Robin's best edge-guarding tools, considering it has a special property involved:

Advanced Technique #4: "Elwind Spike"

When you're close to an enemy's head and you're above them, you can spike them using Elwind and send them into the lower blast zone. Most characters cannot recover from this unless they have a long-reaching recovery like Olimar or Villager. It is impossible to recover against this at high percents.

This is an extremely important technique that every Robin should think about using. This technique is risky to use when he's on-stage, since Robin propels himself up and then puts him in a helpless state afterwards, making him open for punishment upon landing.

-Neutral Air

Robin's gimping tool. This helps against all sorts of characters, especially those with vertical recoveries and is very useful off-stage for knocking people away when they're attempting a recovery since it's very fast.

-Elthunder/Arcthunder/Thoron

These are Robin's best tools to keeping people off the stage. Elthunder covers 2/3rds of FD(Final Destination), making it troublesome to deal with should they attempt to recover high. What's more, Arcthunder has multiple hits that can cause medium knockback and a good amount of damage to stop counters(unless it's Shulk). Even then, you can also combo anywhere out of Arcthunder, provided you have the correct range for it. Here is a list of possible Arcthunder combos that are possible, which vary in range:



The ones that are most notable are his aerials, which are used off-stage most of the time when edge-guarding. What's more is his LSDAir can spike in the sweet spot, which is usually somewhere near the tip of the sword, meaning you can spike from Arcthunder off-stage if you're careful about not fast falling to your death.

As for Thoron, it more or less can prevent people from reaching the ledge from a distance due to its high speed when coming out, making it a very useful tool for killing opponents that are off-stage. Just be aware that if they're falling, they can air dodge through it. Also, there's something you might want to try sometime:

Advanced Technique #7 - Thoron Reverse

Do you remember B-Reverses from Brawl? If so, this should be easy for you. For beginners and those who do not know how to B-Reverse, B-Reversing is turning your character around with a Special(which is usually set to B), mainly used with Neutral B. The thing is for Robin, is that B-Reversing isn't what it was back in Brawl. You need to be fast and tilt your Control Stick in the opposite direction Robin is facing, then hit B to unleash Thoron. It takes a bit of practice, but once you get it down it can be a nice tool to use as a mindgame. Other than that, it's nothing special.

Next we need to figure out how Robin is going to recover back to the stage in the case he gets knocked off himself.

"Tipping the Scales" - Part 4: Recovering

Robin's only recovery is Elwind, which can propel him upwards from as far as the bottom of a FD(Final Destination) stage. There are some factors to remember, which depend on which way Robin is recovering.

-Recovering High

Elwind can be used as a mindgaming tool to give Robin the element of surprise, but most players who are used to it will be watching for it. This is when you do the following:

Advanced Technique #5: Falcon Fade-out

A tech coined by Raziek which works wonders in mindgaming. What you need to do is move back and forth, on the stage and off to try and confuse them. This can give Robin a chance; depending on the character's range, they may miss due to the Falcon Fade-out with a Smash. Just try not to overuse it.

-Recovering Low

The usual route for any Robin is recovering low. Just be aware that others can spike you if they have a downward spike or, if you're facing another Robin, an Elwind Spike. If you mix-up your recoveries you won't be as predictable and you'll have another chance at defeating your opponent.


After all this, you should be ready to see the field and change your tactics accordingly after a bit of practice. It does make perfect, after all. If you apply everything you've learned along with what you learned with this guide, you could become a Grandmaster yourself! Now go out there and show the world what Robin can do on his own!

"Tipping the Scales" - Part #5: Mindgame Tactics

There's one last thing I'd like to talk about before we finish this guide, and that's mindgames with Robin. As far as we know, mindgaming only goes as far as the skill of the player and the knowledge they have against an opponent's character, along with learning the habits of another player. What's special about Robin is he has a special mindgaming mechanic that comes from Brawl:

Advanced Technique #6: Fox-trotting

Robin has a unique foxtrot that can boggle the mind if used correctly. For those who do not know what fox-trotting is, it is simply using the initial frames of a dash to move along a platform at a steady pace, provided you flick the control stick repeatedly in the same direction. This can lead to pivots, tilts, and Robin's other moves that he can do, though it is only limited to when he is grounded. Other characters also have foxtrots that they can do similar to Robin, so stay aware of any tricks they may attempt to pull.

Aside from that, Thoron is an excellent mindgaming tool due to its capability of punishing both reflectors such as Falco or Zelda, and also the likes of Villager's Pocket with the right timing.

Conclusion

That's all I know for now, considering I've yet to learn Roll Cancel Grabs(which are pretty hard to do on Robin on the 3DS in all honesty), but should anything new come up please PM me or leave a comment so I can add it. Just know that it must be viable in order to be added to the guide and also be performed. If you have any questions or opinions about the guide, please state so in the comments below and I'll get back with you. In the meantime, fellow Tacticians, do your best to achieve victory and plan your strategies carefully.