(Why I bother to keep posting, I'll never know)
Here's a full list of buffs, nerfs, changes attacks, damages, counters and otherwise information about Link in Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.
Attributes
Link appears to have greater speed in both the air and on the ground, alongside overall less lag in his attacks.- Link jumps much higher than he did previously.
Link's roll animations are now based on Link's abilities from Ocarina of Time.
Ground attacks
- Forward tilt has less ending lag.
- Dash attack is far stronger and can hit horizontally or vertically depending on which hitbox connects.
Dash attack is considerably slower to hit.- Dash attack now resembles the Jump Attack from Ocarina of Time, now being a jumping slash rather than a running stab.
- Forward smash is stronger, and the second hit can be comboed into from the first hit (like Toon Link's).
- Both hits of forward smash deal less damage (from 15%/20% to 14%/13%), and the first hit can only KO if the tip hits.
- Up smash's final hit deals 1% more damage and deals much more knockback.
- Down smash is now a powerful semi spike during the second hit.
Aerial attacks
- Neutral aerial's clean hit has been split into two parts: the front half does 11% damage, while the back half does 9% damage (previously, it did 10% damage overall).
- Forward aerial is much faster and has less ending lag and landing lag.
- Forward aerial does less damage (from 9%/12% to 8%/10%).
- Back aerial comes out much faster.
- Back aerial does less damage (from 11% to 8%).
- Up aerial has changed from its Zelda II: The Adventures of Link animation to a very wide scissor kick.
- Down aerial has an added meteor smash during the start of the attack, similar to Toon Link's in Brawl. Link's down aerial also experiences significantly less ending lag and landing lag, providing him now with a safer attack when bouncing off opponents, and allowing him to recover if falling off the stage.
- Outside the new meteor, down aerial is weaker overall, dealing a maximum of 18% damage as opposed to 22%.
- Grab aerial covers much more distance when used as a tether and comes out much faster as an attack.
- Grab aerial does less damage (from 10% to 6%).
Throws/other attacks
- Grab has less startup and far less ending lag.
- In the 3DS version, the Clawshot no longer falls to the ground as it retracts, like the Hookshot in SSB64.
- Link has a new edge attack based on the Crouch Stab from Ocarina of Time.
Special moves
- Hero's Bow charges faster.
- Gale Boomerang has increased knockback.
- Link's recovery with Spin Attack is overall much better, needing much less momentum than before, reaching much higher and farther than it did in Brawl.
- Spin Attack has a slightly altered animation in which Link spins his sword at subtly different heights. However, it has no obvious change in power or range compared to Brawl.
- If a Bomb explodes due to colliding with an opponent, the explosion doesn't hurt Link.
- Bomb fuses are shorter and Link can attack and explode his own bombs in the air after throwing them, improving his bomb-aided recovery.
- Bombs only deal 5% damage point-blank, but deal 8% damage when hitting the feet of the opponent.
- Bombs will absorb blasts from a fully charged Charge Shot and Aura Sphere, aiding his defensive and camping options threefold.
- Triforce Slash's damage has been lowered from 83% to 69%.
Moveset
Neutral attack - 2.5%, 2.5%, 5% A diagonal sword slash followed by a horizontal slash, with a lunging stab finisher. Loosely based on Link's final blow to Ganon in
Ocarina of Time. Is a
natural combo with fast startup and little knockback.
Forward tilt 13% An overhand sword swing with slow startup but high knockback.
Up tilt 9% A half-moon slice above Link's head. Good for low percent juggles.
Down tilt 12% A low sword swipe across the ground with vertical knockback.
Meteor smashes opponents in contact with Link's body.
Dash attack 14% (tip), 13% (non-tip) Link performs a leaping downward slash (his "Jump Attack" from
Ocarina of Time). Deals horizontal knockback when tipped and vertical knockback when hit close.
Forward smash - 14% (tip), 7% (non-tip) Link lunges forward with a wide sword swing in front of him, dealing good damage and knockback when tipped. The base of his sword has extremely little knockback, designed to
naturally combo into an optional second hit: a sword swing with greater KO power.
13% (tip), 12% (non-tip)
Up smash 4% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2), 11%/10%/9% (hit 3) Three half-moon sword swings above Link's head.
Down smash 17%/16%/14% (hit 1), 12%/11%/10% (hit 2) A low slash in front and then behind Link. First hit sends opponents at a vertical trajectory while having slightly increased damage and knockback the closer you are to Link. Second hit is a powerful semi-spike with slightly increased damage and knockback on his blade.
Neutral aerial 11%/9% (clean), 6% (late) Link thrusts his leg out in front of him for an extended time. Is a
sex kick with relatively fast startup and little landing lag. Deals more damage closer to his boot.
Forward aerial 8% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2) Swings his sword twice while spinning 360˚. While the second hit has more knockback, it's inconvenient to use, as it can only be landed if the first hit misses.
Back aerial 3% (hit 1), 5% (hit 2) A two kick combo behind Link with very little landing lag and low damage.
Up aerial 15% (clean), 13% (late) Link thrusts his sword up for a long duration. Moderate landing lag unless used alongside a full hop.
Down aerial 15% (early), 18% (clean), 15% (late) Aims his sword directly below him for a long duration, based on his "Downthrust" from Zelda II: The Adventures of Link. It's possible for Link to "bounce" on opponents into a second hit. The early hit is a powerful
meteor smash.
Grab aerial Midair Clawshot 2.5% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2) Fires his Clawshot forward in the air with great range and no landing lag. Link can cancel his
air dodge at any point via his tether, however it will not cancel the landing lag suffered from the dodge. The Clawshot also serves as a
tether recovery that auto-snaps the ledge, covering great horizontal distance.
Grab Clawshot — Link fires his Clawshot forwards. This tether snaps straight back once fully extended, like the Hookshot from
Super Smash Bros.
Pummel 2.1% Hits opponent with the hilt of the Master Sword. A fairly fast pummel.
Forward throw 3% (hit 1), 4% (throw) Link releases the opponent from his
pummel and kicks them away.
Back throw 3% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2) Link takes his opponent behind him and kicks them away.
Up throw 5%/4% (hit 1), 2% (throw) Link raises the opponent above him and slashes upward.
Down throw 3% (hit 1), 4% (throw) Link takes the opponent onto the ground and elbow drops them.
Floor attack (front) 7% Does two slashes front and back.
Floor attack (back) 7% Does another two slashes front and back.
Floor attack (trip) 5% Essentially the same as his other two floor attacks.
Edge attack 7% Stabs forwards while climbing up.
Neutral special Default Hero's Bow 4%-12% Link equips his bow, with the arrows serving as projectiles. Charging increases the speed, distance and damage dealt by an arrow.
Custom 1 Power Bow 4%-20% Compared to the default, arrows deal more knockback at the expense of range and speed. When fully charged, they deal very heavy knockback.
Custom 2 Quickfire Bow 4%-8% Compared to the default, these arrows go straight and can go through enemies and projectiles. However, they have a very short range and deal no knockback.
Side special Default Gale Boomerang 7% (near), 5% (middle), 0% (far/return) A projectile which damages opponents as it flies away and drags opponents towards Link during its return. Can be angled up or down. A "smash throw" (similar to performing a smash attack) increases the distance the boomerang can travel.
Custom 1 Boomerang 9% (near), 7% (middle), 5% (far), 3% (return) Travels on the same route as the Gale Boomerang, however, unlike the Gale Boomerang, this one retains its properties from both
Super Smash Bros. and
Super Smash Bros. Melee, where there's no whirlwind effects whatsoever but adds damage to the boomerang's return. It does have less knockback, but more angle.
Custom 2 Ripping Boomerang 4% (near), 2% (middle), 1.5% (far), 0.7% (return) Travels across a much shorter range than the Gale Boomerang, but also deals multiple hits of low damage and adds stun to the opponents.
Up special Default Spin Attack 12%/9%/7%/5% (ground), 4% (air hit 1), 2% (air hits 2-8), 4% (air hit 9) This move functions differently when grounded and airborne; an aerial Spin Attack is used as recovery which grants Link great vertical distance. Hits 5 times in the air. A grounded Spin Attack is akin to most Zelda games, and functions similarly to a smash attack with great knockback.
Custom 1 Shocking Spin 14%/9%/7%/5% (ground), 4% (air hit 1), 1% (air hits 2-4), 6% (air hit 5) A much more powerful version of the Spin Attack, where Link is able to deal much more knockback with an electric effect and can charge the move more quickly. The downside however, is the fact that Link's recovery is much shorter and has poor horizontal motion. The aerial version can semi-spike.
Custom 2 Whirling Leap 0% A special type of Spin Attack that can only be used as a recovery move. It produces no hits and thus, no damage whatsoever, but actually travels much higher and much further than the normal recovery, even to the point of not relying on momentum and performing multiple left and right movements.
Down special Default Bomb 5% (upper body), 8% (feet) An item based
projectile Link pulls out, with its design from
Twilight Princess. An explosion deals damage when in direct contact with an opponent, though it's possible to get additional damage from an indirect hit from a blast. Link can hurt himself with this move, which can grant him an extra Spin Attack if used skillfully. An odd function is that it will deal 8% damage when it hits the feet.
Custom 1 Giant Bomb 8%-10% A bomb that's grown to massive size, increasing its hitbox and properties, though it remains practically the same. However, they cannot blow up when thrown at the opponent, and need time or another explosion to blow up. They deal damage based on range.
Custom 2 Meteor Bomb 5% Weaker versions of the bombs at lower percents with a noticeably short fuse. However, they have the unique property of causing a meteor to happen, which can damage Link as well. It's not good for recoveries whatsoever, though it provides a new tool for Link's arsenal.
Final Smash Triforce Slash 1% (snag), 30% (last hit) Link locks onto an opponent and proceeds to slash them repeatedly with his Master Sword. A luminous image of the Triforce appears around the opponent as Link slashes them. The final strike launches the opponent.
