Shadow Light Master
Smash Journeyman
Preface
Hello. My name is Shadow Light Master and I've cleared Boss Battles on Intense with several characters (without glitches) and am in the process of doing more. At the end of the guide I will list the characters I have done it with besides Toon Link, so you can make requests and possibly I will write guides on them in the future. I have decided to make a contribution of information to the board by posting this mini-guide about how to clear the mode with Toon Link, and have written a guide on how to clear this mode with Marth as well (on the Marth boards).
Table of Contents
Introduction to Toon Link and General Strategy
I) Master Hand
II) Crazy Hand
III) Petey Pirahna
IV) Galleom
V) Porky
VI) Duon
VII) Rayquaza
VIII) Ridley
IX) Meta Ridley
X) Tabuu
Quick Strategies (Short Version of Guide)
Introduction to Toon Link and General Strategy:
Excluding The Wind Waker fans such as myself and others, when Toon Link was first announced there was a general outrage, because people were upset that they "just got another clone of Link." However, once people began to play as him, their rage turned into happiness because there was just no denying the fact: Toon Link was, and is, a really good character.
There are a few significant differences between Toon Link and Link. One is that Toon Link is much more speedy and has better jumping and recovery capabilities. The others are that he has two different aerials, his bair (back in the air) and his nair, as well as his usmash being a single lightning-quick hit. There are other smaller differences as well, but for Boss Battles, these are the most important ones, and these are also what makes Toon Link an excellent character to choose for the mode.
When you are playing Boss Battles on Intense with Toon Link, your main offensive tools will be your aerials. You'd do good to remember that. More specifically, you will be using your nair a lot, then your bair almost as much, and then occasionally your fair. You will never, however, be using your uair. It has a long duration and leaves you vulnerable, not to mention that if you have the time to be doing it then you could be pulling off multiple nairs or bairs instead. The dair is also an option, but I will cover that in the next part of the introduction, which will talk about aerials. You will be using your projectiles as well, the arrow most often, and if you get the chance versus grounded enemies such as Rayquaza, you will be using your usmash also.
Aerials. Without a question, they are some of Toon Link's best moves, regardless of whether you are in Boss Battles or not. You will be using the nair most often. Because bosses are vary large, most often, if not always, both hits will connect, dealing 20%. The pros to this are that the nair is very quick and covers both sides of Toon Link. It will be your main tool of offense. The other aerial that is an excellent option is the bair, which when strung together with other bairs, can rack up 50% if you connect every possible hit. I should mention however, when I played this morning to get a brief refresher before writing the guide, I made it through solely with nairs and a few fairs and arrows on my first try. This isn't to say that bair is useless (it's very good!), it's just that nair will be used more often. Fair is excellent for poking at distance, you can deal about 16% with each hit. This is handy for bosses like Duon and Galleom during his quadruple hop. The zair is very weak compared to his other aerials, but it's lagless when landed and is more useful than his uair. You more than likely will not be using it however.
Now for the dair... a lot of people, including Sakurai, say that the dair is one of the best moves to use during Boss Battles. I'm not saying he's wrong, but this only applies to a few scenarios, and in nearly everything else it's not much more effective than combining multiple nairs or bairs. The problem with the dair is that when you use it, you will want to camp on top of the boss with multiple dairs. The only problem with this is that it takes time, and you cannot do anything after the first bounce, and are left vulnerable in between bounces. This means you cannot air dodge, shield, roll, or even short hop aerials. It limits you. Regardless, I will mention Toon Link's dair on Bosses where it may be of use. I have found it to be genuinely useful, however, on Porky.
So let's get started.
The Bosses
I) Master Hand/II) Crazy Hand
This battle is easy. There is no other way to put it. Simply air dodge their attacks, your move of choice will be nair. Just use it over and over again, the hands are huge targets. You can dair camp on them a well, but nair strings will be safer, because you can dodge easily if they decide to initiate an attack. Just watch out for the Finger Drill and DI towards the stage if you're thrown off. When Crazy Hand begins throwing tantrums, pelt it with arrows and bombs. Same applies to when he floats up and begins bombing the center of the stage. You should have no problems with this fight.
III) Petey Pirahna
As soon as the match starts, you can dair over Petey and continually bounce. If you keep riding the bounces and don't fall, you should KO him without taking any damage.
Like the Hands, you should not have difficulty with Petey. If you're not good at bouncing with the dair, the nair is the best here. It hits both sides, having the potential to hit both Petey and a cage, and you can repeat over and over again to really rack up damage and end the fight with speed. When Petey swings a cage, this is a prime oppurtunity to jump over it and start stringing nairs. When he attempts to change sides, follow him with fairs or bairs. Remember to air dodge so you don't get hit when he comes down. This fight should be as easy as the Hands.
IV) Galleom
You will have to implement the air dodge often. Because you lack a Counter move, timing is crucial. You can nair here, but bair and fair work better. The reason is because Galleom has a type of "invisible wall" right in front of him that pushes you slightly away, so both hits may not connect unless you're hugging him (a dangerous proposition). The fair breaks through this wall and is great for spacing, and the same applies to the bair. When he attempts his quadruple hop, roll to the opposite side and begin pursuit with bair or fair. I have trouble with bair here however, and I think it's because you cannot gain horizontal momentum here fast enough to chase him with it. I could be wrong though, but I personally prefer the fair. When Galleom falls, after you dodge, it's a perfect oppurtunity to spam your usmash, this applies for when he's firing missiles as well. During the fight you can use your projectiles, but if you air dodge well Galleom's melee attacks shouldn't pose much of a problem, and neither should Galleom.
V) Porky
The dair's ultimate implementation. This should be your primary strategy, and supplement it with the paragraph below. Dair over Porky. When this happens, keep riding the bounces and do not let yourself land on the top of him. If done correctly, this fight should be one of your easiest. The reason being is that when you dair over him and do not land, and instead jump keep bouncing, Porkey cannot react because he is still waiting for you. This may be how the game scripted it, but in any case just keep bouncing on him dead center with your dair. This usually forces him to jump unleash his Porky bombs, but since you're riding on top of him this should pose no threat.
If you mess up the dairs, hit him with a fair or bair and then jump over and continue your bair strings. You will be using bair primarily because you can hug Porky and continue pumping him full of bairs. When he drills you, make sure to constantly try to b^ and DI out of it to the opposite side. This is crucial because Toon Link is a lighter character. The same goes for his side rush, he cannot survive it with ease. When he uses the yellow laser, run far and air dodge it each time it passes over you. The bombs may seem intimidating, but if you short hop bairs and flip over from side to side, you can stall long enough for them to explode. As for the red laser, make sure it does not get a lock on you. If it does, you will have to roll or airdodge away from it at the last second before it fires. The red laser, side rush, and last hit of his drill are the greatest threats, but if you can avoid those three you should secure victory.
VI) Duon
Your arrows' shining moment of glory. Besides arrow camping, you will be using fair to space and for distance poking. Toon Link's jumping abilities allow him to double jump over Duon's charge rush with ease. If he tries to spin drill you ala Master Hand, roll away and pierce him with arrows. The safest time to approach is when the pink side is facing you, but if you decide to attack during the blue side's turn, make sure when you fair you move back during the fair after you poke him (which you should be doing anyway). When the pink side is attacking you with lasers, you have no choice but to play the defensive and air dodge. When it fires the blue lasers, make sure to roll inward, outward, and then inward again. If done correctly they will all miss, but if you're like me you will get hit once. If this happens, DI towards the stage and airdodge the last laser (because the second one will miss you automatically). As for the blue side's attacks, just air dodge them and fair poke, or arrow camp. Oh, and don't use the dair, because although you may ride the blows like with Porkey, you may mess up, causing Duon to initiate the spin drill and rack up a lot of damage on you. With patience (because that is really key), you should take Duon down.
VII) Rayquaza
Rayquaza has a slight invisible wall like Galleom as well. This can make nairing him not as effective sometimes if you aren't hugging him. This means you will be bairing and fairing. because they automatically break the wall. If he is one of your early opponents, you will have the oppurtunity to usmash him in between his attacks (which you simply air dodge, by the way). Your projectiles are nearly uselss here however because they hardly damage him at all. Rayquaza just requires timing and spacing, especially if he's one of your later opponents, because your window of oppurtunity to attack and dodge is limited. Once you've figured out how many attacks you can safely launch in between each of his own, the fight is just memorizing patterns.
VIII) Ridley
Unless he's one of your later opponents (meaning he'll attack very, very quickly) Ridley shouldn't pose a significant threat. Simply nair him repeatedly, dair camp if you want to (as usual, I don't recommend it). When he's tail grinding bair chasing is great. Use fair to poke and retreat, although you really shouldn't have to. Beating Ridley just requires nairing him over and over, and airdodging his attacks.
IX) Meta Ridley
Even easier than Ridley, if that makes sense. Because he's stretched out so wide horizontally, he's a prime target for nairs, you should be able to deal 40%-60% worth no problem before he attacks if he's one of your first five opponents. Besides just air dodging his attacks, when he initiates his multi-hit fire breath, just grab the ledge on the left, you can tether it to although it's not necessary. If he grabs the edge of the ship usmash him twice. You can dair camp him like Ridley or the Hands, but nair is ultimately better here because you can pull off more, and retain your ability to airdodge. With good dodging and nair precision, Meta Ridley should go down fast.
X) Tabuu
The only problematic thing that Tabuu unleashes is the Off Waves. Once you practice a few times, Tabuu is actually very easy to beat (some players can even 0-death him!). To dodge the Off Waves, as soon as you see him release a wave, ground dodge. This will always let you survive if done correctly. The other problem move he does is his whip. If you're like me, you will almost always get caught. If this happens, DI towards the stage so you don't die. When fighting Tabuu, batter him with nairs consistently and constantly. When he becames a huge head and starts firing lasers, jump and start bairing him. This Tron/Marx rip-off should be done in no time.
Quick Strategies
This section is basically a "too long, didn't read" version of the guide and will give you a brief rundown of what to do for each boss.
Master Hand/Crazy Hand
Air dodge their attacks, nair them to death, if Finger Drilled DI towards the stage so you don't die.
Petey Piranha
Stay close to the middle, and nair him so you hit both cages. When he swings a cage that's a good oppurtunity. When he switches sides hit him with bairs or fairs when he's in midair. Airdodge the flying slam.
Galleom
Airdodge his attacks and bair/fair him to break through his invisible wall. When he starts hopping, roll away and follow him with fairs. When he falls, dodge and usmash him.
Porky
Dair camp him, and make sure you never land on him and stay bouncing in the center. If you mess up, hug him and attack him with bairs. If caught in drill attack, ^b until you're free and fall to the other side. If he tries the yellow laser, run away and airdodge twice. SHFF him with bairs and fairs.
Duon
When the blue side is facing, either fair poke and retreat or arrow camp. Airdodge his attacks. When pink side is facing, attack with impunity with fairs and bairs, even usmashes if you get the chance. Airdodge lasers, roll from blue lasers. If Duon tries to spin, roll and spam arrows. If it tries to rush you, you can jump over it safely.
Rayquaza
Airdodge his attacks and attack with bairs, sometimes fairs, and nairs if you're hugging him. Spacing is key, and time your attacks accordingly in between his attacks. If he's an early opponent you can usmash him.
Ridley
Ridley has no special moves to mention, so all his attacks can be avoided by airdodging. He is a great target for nairs, when he tail drills you can bair him.
Meta Ridley
Like all the other bosses, airdodge his attacks. When he uses multi-hit fire, grab the left edge and wait for it to be over. You can defeat him very quickly by just spamming nair over and over, it will always hit both strikes. If he grabs the edge usmash him twice.
Tabuu
Ground dodge each Off Wave as soon as you see him release it. DI towards the stage if he grabs you with whip. Rest of attacks can be airdodged or jumped over. If he fires lasers from his eyes, jump and continually bair him, in all other situations nair will be your move of choice.
Thank you for taking the time to read my guide. I enjoy passing on things I learn to others, so if you learn anything from this guide my work is done. Here's the list of characters that I've beaten BB on Intense with that I mentioned at the beginning of the guide. You can make a request for one of those characters, but it will take a little time because I like to put effort into my work. Before this I wrote I Marth guide for this mode which you can find on the Marth boards.
Characters I've Beaten BB Intense with:
Toon Link
Zero Suit Samus
Sonic
Mr. Game and Watch
Marth (http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=173186)
Meta Knight
Captain Falcon
Fox
Charizard
Ness
Lucas
Luigi
Wolf
Hello. My name is Shadow Light Master and I've cleared Boss Battles on Intense with several characters (without glitches) and am in the process of doing more. At the end of the guide I will list the characters I have done it with besides Toon Link, so you can make requests and possibly I will write guides on them in the future. I have decided to make a contribution of information to the board by posting this mini-guide about how to clear the mode with Toon Link, and have written a guide on how to clear this mode with Marth as well (on the Marth boards).
Table of Contents
Introduction to Toon Link and General Strategy
I) Master Hand
II) Crazy Hand
III) Petey Pirahna
IV) Galleom
V) Porky
VI) Duon
VII) Rayquaza
VIII) Ridley
IX) Meta Ridley
X) Tabuu
Quick Strategies (Short Version of Guide)
Introduction to Toon Link and General Strategy:
Excluding The Wind Waker fans such as myself and others, when Toon Link was first announced there was a general outrage, because people were upset that they "just got another clone of Link." However, once people began to play as him, their rage turned into happiness because there was just no denying the fact: Toon Link was, and is, a really good character.
There are a few significant differences between Toon Link and Link. One is that Toon Link is much more speedy and has better jumping and recovery capabilities. The others are that he has two different aerials, his bair (back in the air) and his nair, as well as his usmash being a single lightning-quick hit. There are other smaller differences as well, but for Boss Battles, these are the most important ones, and these are also what makes Toon Link an excellent character to choose for the mode.
When you are playing Boss Battles on Intense with Toon Link, your main offensive tools will be your aerials. You'd do good to remember that. More specifically, you will be using your nair a lot, then your bair almost as much, and then occasionally your fair. You will never, however, be using your uair. It has a long duration and leaves you vulnerable, not to mention that if you have the time to be doing it then you could be pulling off multiple nairs or bairs instead. The dair is also an option, but I will cover that in the next part of the introduction, which will talk about aerials. You will be using your projectiles as well, the arrow most often, and if you get the chance versus grounded enemies such as Rayquaza, you will be using your usmash also.
Aerials. Without a question, they are some of Toon Link's best moves, regardless of whether you are in Boss Battles or not. You will be using the nair most often. Because bosses are vary large, most often, if not always, both hits will connect, dealing 20%. The pros to this are that the nair is very quick and covers both sides of Toon Link. It will be your main tool of offense. The other aerial that is an excellent option is the bair, which when strung together with other bairs, can rack up 50% if you connect every possible hit. I should mention however, when I played this morning to get a brief refresher before writing the guide, I made it through solely with nairs and a few fairs and arrows on my first try. This isn't to say that bair is useless (it's very good!), it's just that nair will be used more often. Fair is excellent for poking at distance, you can deal about 16% with each hit. This is handy for bosses like Duon and Galleom during his quadruple hop. The zair is very weak compared to his other aerials, but it's lagless when landed and is more useful than his uair. You more than likely will not be using it however.
Now for the dair... a lot of people, including Sakurai, say that the dair is one of the best moves to use during Boss Battles. I'm not saying he's wrong, but this only applies to a few scenarios, and in nearly everything else it's not much more effective than combining multiple nairs or bairs. The problem with the dair is that when you use it, you will want to camp on top of the boss with multiple dairs. The only problem with this is that it takes time, and you cannot do anything after the first bounce, and are left vulnerable in between bounces. This means you cannot air dodge, shield, roll, or even short hop aerials. It limits you. Regardless, I will mention Toon Link's dair on Bosses where it may be of use. I have found it to be genuinely useful, however, on Porky.
So let's get started.
The Bosses
I) Master Hand/II) Crazy Hand
This battle is easy. There is no other way to put it. Simply air dodge their attacks, your move of choice will be nair. Just use it over and over again, the hands are huge targets. You can dair camp on them a well, but nair strings will be safer, because you can dodge easily if they decide to initiate an attack. Just watch out for the Finger Drill and DI towards the stage if you're thrown off. When Crazy Hand begins throwing tantrums, pelt it with arrows and bombs. Same applies to when he floats up and begins bombing the center of the stage. You should have no problems with this fight.
III) Petey Pirahna
As soon as the match starts, you can dair over Petey and continually bounce. If you keep riding the bounces and don't fall, you should KO him without taking any damage.
Like the Hands, you should not have difficulty with Petey. If you're not good at bouncing with the dair, the nair is the best here. It hits both sides, having the potential to hit both Petey and a cage, and you can repeat over and over again to really rack up damage and end the fight with speed. When Petey swings a cage, this is a prime oppurtunity to jump over it and start stringing nairs. When he attempts to change sides, follow him with fairs or bairs. Remember to air dodge so you don't get hit when he comes down. This fight should be as easy as the Hands.
IV) Galleom
You will have to implement the air dodge often. Because you lack a Counter move, timing is crucial. You can nair here, but bair and fair work better. The reason is because Galleom has a type of "invisible wall" right in front of him that pushes you slightly away, so both hits may not connect unless you're hugging him (a dangerous proposition). The fair breaks through this wall and is great for spacing, and the same applies to the bair. When he attempts his quadruple hop, roll to the opposite side and begin pursuit with bair or fair. I have trouble with bair here however, and I think it's because you cannot gain horizontal momentum here fast enough to chase him with it. I could be wrong though, but I personally prefer the fair. When Galleom falls, after you dodge, it's a perfect oppurtunity to spam your usmash, this applies for when he's firing missiles as well. During the fight you can use your projectiles, but if you air dodge well Galleom's melee attacks shouldn't pose much of a problem, and neither should Galleom.
V) Porky
The dair's ultimate implementation. This should be your primary strategy, and supplement it with the paragraph below. Dair over Porky. When this happens, keep riding the bounces and do not let yourself land on the top of him. If done correctly, this fight should be one of your easiest. The reason being is that when you dair over him and do not land, and instead jump keep bouncing, Porkey cannot react because he is still waiting for you. This may be how the game scripted it, but in any case just keep bouncing on him dead center with your dair. This usually forces him to jump unleash his Porky bombs, but since you're riding on top of him this should pose no threat.
If you mess up the dairs, hit him with a fair or bair and then jump over and continue your bair strings. You will be using bair primarily because you can hug Porky and continue pumping him full of bairs. When he drills you, make sure to constantly try to b^ and DI out of it to the opposite side. This is crucial because Toon Link is a lighter character. The same goes for his side rush, he cannot survive it with ease. When he uses the yellow laser, run far and air dodge it each time it passes over you. The bombs may seem intimidating, but if you short hop bairs and flip over from side to side, you can stall long enough for them to explode. As for the red laser, make sure it does not get a lock on you. If it does, you will have to roll or airdodge away from it at the last second before it fires. The red laser, side rush, and last hit of his drill are the greatest threats, but if you can avoid those three you should secure victory.
VI) Duon
Your arrows' shining moment of glory. Besides arrow camping, you will be using fair to space and for distance poking. Toon Link's jumping abilities allow him to double jump over Duon's charge rush with ease. If he tries to spin drill you ala Master Hand, roll away and pierce him with arrows. The safest time to approach is when the pink side is facing you, but if you decide to attack during the blue side's turn, make sure when you fair you move back during the fair after you poke him (which you should be doing anyway). When the pink side is attacking you with lasers, you have no choice but to play the defensive and air dodge. When it fires the blue lasers, make sure to roll inward, outward, and then inward again. If done correctly they will all miss, but if you're like me you will get hit once. If this happens, DI towards the stage and airdodge the last laser (because the second one will miss you automatically). As for the blue side's attacks, just air dodge them and fair poke, or arrow camp. Oh, and don't use the dair, because although you may ride the blows like with Porkey, you may mess up, causing Duon to initiate the spin drill and rack up a lot of damage on you. With patience (because that is really key), you should take Duon down.
VII) Rayquaza
Rayquaza has a slight invisible wall like Galleom as well. This can make nairing him not as effective sometimes if you aren't hugging him. This means you will be bairing and fairing. because they automatically break the wall. If he is one of your early opponents, you will have the oppurtunity to usmash him in between his attacks (which you simply air dodge, by the way). Your projectiles are nearly uselss here however because they hardly damage him at all. Rayquaza just requires timing and spacing, especially if he's one of your later opponents, because your window of oppurtunity to attack and dodge is limited. Once you've figured out how many attacks you can safely launch in between each of his own, the fight is just memorizing patterns.
VIII) Ridley
Unless he's one of your later opponents (meaning he'll attack very, very quickly) Ridley shouldn't pose a significant threat. Simply nair him repeatedly, dair camp if you want to (as usual, I don't recommend it). When he's tail grinding bair chasing is great. Use fair to poke and retreat, although you really shouldn't have to. Beating Ridley just requires nairing him over and over, and airdodging his attacks.
IX) Meta Ridley
Even easier than Ridley, if that makes sense. Because he's stretched out so wide horizontally, he's a prime target for nairs, you should be able to deal 40%-60% worth no problem before he attacks if he's one of your first five opponents. Besides just air dodging his attacks, when he initiates his multi-hit fire breath, just grab the ledge on the left, you can tether it to although it's not necessary. If he grabs the edge of the ship usmash him twice. You can dair camp him like Ridley or the Hands, but nair is ultimately better here because you can pull off more, and retain your ability to airdodge. With good dodging and nair precision, Meta Ridley should go down fast.
X) Tabuu
The only problematic thing that Tabuu unleashes is the Off Waves. Once you practice a few times, Tabuu is actually very easy to beat (some players can even 0-death him!). To dodge the Off Waves, as soon as you see him release a wave, ground dodge. This will always let you survive if done correctly. The other problem move he does is his whip. If you're like me, you will almost always get caught. If this happens, DI towards the stage so you don't die. When fighting Tabuu, batter him with nairs consistently and constantly. When he becames a huge head and starts firing lasers, jump and start bairing him. This Tron/Marx rip-off should be done in no time.
Quick Strategies
This section is basically a "too long, didn't read" version of the guide and will give you a brief rundown of what to do for each boss.
Master Hand/Crazy Hand
Air dodge their attacks, nair them to death, if Finger Drilled DI towards the stage so you don't die.
Petey Piranha
Stay close to the middle, and nair him so you hit both cages. When he swings a cage that's a good oppurtunity. When he switches sides hit him with bairs or fairs when he's in midair. Airdodge the flying slam.
Galleom
Airdodge his attacks and bair/fair him to break through his invisible wall. When he starts hopping, roll away and follow him with fairs. When he falls, dodge and usmash him.
Porky
Dair camp him, and make sure you never land on him and stay bouncing in the center. If you mess up, hug him and attack him with bairs. If caught in drill attack, ^b until you're free and fall to the other side. If he tries the yellow laser, run away and airdodge twice. SHFF him with bairs and fairs.
Duon
When the blue side is facing, either fair poke and retreat or arrow camp. Airdodge his attacks. When pink side is facing, attack with impunity with fairs and bairs, even usmashes if you get the chance. Airdodge lasers, roll from blue lasers. If Duon tries to spin, roll and spam arrows. If it tries to rush you, you can jump over it safely.
Rayquaza
Airdodge his attacks and attack with bairs, sometimes fairs, and nairs if you're hugging him. Spacing is key, and time your attacks accordingly in between his attacks. If he's an early opponent you can usmash him.
Ridley
Ridley has no special moves to mention, so all his attacks can be avoided by airdodging. He is a great target for nairs, when he tail drills you can bair him.
Meta Ridley
Like all the other bosses, airdodge his attacks. When he uses multi-hit fire, grab the left edge and wait for it to be over. You can defeat him very quickly by just spamming nair over and over, it will always hit both strikes. If he grabs the edge usmash him twice.
Tabuu
Ground dodge each Off Wave as soon as you see him release it. DI towards the stage if he grabs you with whip. Rest of attacks can be airdodged or jumped over. If he fires lasers from his eyes, jump and continually bair him, in all other situations nair will be your move of choice.
Thank you for taking the time to read my guide. I enjoy passing on things I learn to others, so if you learn anything from this guide my work is done. Here's the list of characters that I've beaten BB on Intense with that I mentioned at the beginning of the guide. You can make a request for one of those characters, but it will take a little time because I like to put effort into my work. Before this I wrote I Marth guide for this mode which you can find on the Marth boards.
Characters I've Beaten BB Intense with:
Toon Link
Zero Suit Samus
Sonic
Mr. Game and Watch
Marth (http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=173186)
Meta Knight
Captain Falcon
Fox
Charizard
Ness
Lucas
Luigi
Wolf
