Smash Wii U How do I Smash?

[IAmRyanHearMeRoar]

I've been trying time and time again to get better at the game. I can easily throw down against a level 8 CPU, level 9 CPUs of course being borderline unfair. But with the online community I can't do ANYTHING. I might be able to get a kill in ONCE in a match but then I'll immediately get punished. You could say "Oh, play more Online! You'll learn!" but I don't feel like I've learned anything. All it's really done is become extremely frustrating to the point where I'm close to just stopping play altogether. I don't know if this is in the wrong section or not but I'm completely out of ideas. Any advice?

 

[Bunns]

First and foremost, if you don't have a friend that's
good at smash, save every single replay when you play for glory (especially the ones that you lose badly.)
Second, watch the replays and look at what you are doing. You might be rolling too much, using smash attacks too much, ect. If you are doing something too much your opponent will catch on and start punishing you for it.
Third, if you feel that reviewing your replays isn't helping you, just send me a message with your nnid and I'll try to help a bit when I am available.

Lastly, we all start off playing bad, we gotta start from somewhere right, so don't be discouraged.

PS. CPU's are not a good way to learn how to play. You need a human opponent. CPUs habits can be learned or you can easily play keep away with them because they are programmed to be aggressive all the time. You need a human opponent because they are unpredictable and will help you develop your adaptation skills.

 

[IAmRyanHearMeRoar]

First and foremost, if you don't have a friend that's
good at smash, save every single replay when you play for glory (especially the ones that you lose badly.)
Second, watch the replays and look at what you are doing. You might be rolling too much, using smash attacks too much, ect. If you are doing something too much your opponent will catch on and start punishing you for it.
Third, if you feel that reviewing your replays isn't helping you, just send me a message with your nnid and I'll try to help a bit when I am available.

Lastly, we all start off playing bad, we gotta start from somewhere right, so don't be discouraged.

PS. CPU's are not a good way to learn how to play. You need a human opponent. CPUs habits can be learned or you can easily play keep away with them because they are programmed to be aggressive all the time. You need a human opponent because they are unpredictable and will help you develop your adaptation skills.

I'll definitely try that replay thing. I didn't even know Sm4sh had replays. Thanks.

 

[Bunns]

I'll definitely try that replay thing. I didn't even know Sm4sh had replays. Thanks.

No problem, and most of all. Have fun.

 

[IAmRyanHearMeRoar]

After watching demos and a little bit of play I've come to realize that it's the controls. I didn't even know that you had different attacks when running and then full-blown sprinting because my controller loves to make me sprint 24/7. I hate that in this game to sprint you DOUBLE TAP, cause it makes tap-based movement really hard to pull off without sprinting 10 feet away from the target. Thumbstick also feels kindof unresponsive too. I'll move it up to jump but because I slanted a tiny bit to the right I start moving to the right instead of jumping. I think Nintendo needs an option to make the movement based on the D-pad rather than the left thumbstick. I also find it impossible to run and not sprint, even when I don't double tap it activates sprinting.

 

[KashKey]

After watching demos and a little bit of play I've come to realize that it's the controls. I didn't even know that you had different attacks when running and then full-blown sprinting because my controller loves to make me sprint 24/7. I hate that in this game to sprint you DOUBLE TAP, cause it makes tap-based movement really hard to pull off without sprinting 10 feet away from the target. Thumbstick also feels kindof unresponsive too. I'll move it up to jump but because I slanted a tiny bit to the right I start moving to the right instead of jumping. I think Nintendo needs an option to make the movement based on the D-pad rather than the left thumbstick. I also find it impossible to run and not sprint, even when I don't double tap it activates sprinting.

Wow... You're definitely inexperienced. Firstly, there are two types of actions that are made with the stick. You tilt it, or just smash it. Tilts are integral in this game, up tilts, down tilts, side tilts, these are all different types of attacks with different properties. Then you have specials, which I assume you've figured out but I will go over them anyway. By pressing B, you perform a special Attack, one of four depending on which direction you pressed, assuming you pressed a direction at all. Side B, Up B, Down B, and Nuetral B, when you don't push anything. Then you have Smash Attacks, which are done by either hitting a direction on the C/Right Stick, or Smashing the controller while hitting A, like when sprinting. It may seem complicated at first, but this is all very integral, and quickly begins to feel natural. Play around with it in training mode, which is under games and more, then Social. (Stupid, I know.)

 

[IAmRyanHearMeRoar]

Wow... You're definitely inexperienced. Firstly, there are two types of actions that are made with the stick. You tilt it, or just smash it. Tilts are integral in this game, up tilts, down tilts, side tilts, these are all different types of attacks with different properties. Then you have specials, which I assume you've figured out but I will go over them anyway. By pressing B, you perform a special Attack, one of four depending on which direction you pressed, assuming you pressed a direction at all. Side B, Up B, Down B, and Nuetral B, when you don't push anything. Then you have Smash Attacks, which are done by either hitting a direction on the C/Right Stick, or Smashing the controller while hitting A, like when sprinting. It may seem complicated at first, but this is all very integral, and quickly begins to feel natural. Play around with it in training mode, which is under games and more, then Social. (Stupid, I know.)

Tilting it changes the attack? That's good to know. Is there a certain sweet-spot for doing tilts that give both good speed and the tilt-ability, because if I move the stick too little I walk really slow, and if I move it too much I sprint. I know about Bs and smash attacks by the way, no worries about that.

Another thing I have a problem with is that I feel like I'm unable to recover as fast as others. If I get launched in the air, I can't attack at all, even if I try to air dodge or attack, but if others get launched, they recover almost instantly.

 

[KashKey]

Tilting it changes the attack? That's good to know. Is there a certain sweet-spot for doing tilts that give both good speed and the tilt-ability, because if I move the stick too little I walk really slow, and if I move it too much I sprint. I know about Bs and smash attacks by the way, no worries about that.

Another thing I have a problem with is that I feel like I'm unable to recover as fast as others. If I get launched in the air, I can't attack at all, even if I try to air dodge or attack, but if others get launched, they recover almost instantly.

While tilts are just a matter of moving the stick slower than what makes you sprint, (Smashing to the left or right then not attacking) I reccomend turning tap jump off so you don't accidentally jump when trying to up tilt or smash, just use the jump buttons. About recovering, I can't really give you any tips without seeing what you're doing, and I own a 3DS. But yeah, in terms of tilts, there are no sweet spots, you just gotta move that stick slower.

 

[IAmRyanHearMeRoar]

While tilts are just a matter of moving the stick slower than what makes you sprint, (Smashing to the left or right then not attacking) I reccomend turning tap jump off so you don't accidentally jump when trying to up tilt or smash, just use the jump buttons. About recovering, I can't really give you any tips without seeing what you're doing, and I own a 3DS. But yeah, in terms of tilts, there are no sweet spots, you just gotta move that stick slower.

Okay. Thanks you all for being so helpful. It's nice to get advice that isn't "Git gud".

 

[FamilyTeam]

If you really want it, here's a list of universal inputs for every character.

Spoiler: Inputs

Input | Action
| Jab, Get-Up Attack (if on ledge), Wake-up Attack (if laying on the floor)
(repeatedly) | Jab Combo/Rapid Jab
(running) | Dash Attack
, hold | Up Tilt
, hold | Down Tilt
, hold either horizontal direction | Side/Forward Tilt
/ | Up Smash
/ | Down Smash
and either horizontal direction | Side/Forward Smash
| Neutral Special (Commonly, projectile or powerful kill move, such as Mario's Fireball or the Falcon punch), Get-Up Attack (if on ledge), Wake-up Attack (if laying on the floor)
| Up Special (Vertical Recovery)
| (Commonly, the characters most "unique" move, such as Mario's FLUDD, Cloud's Limit and the Swordsmen's Counter)
and either horizontal direction | Side/Forward Special (Horizontal Recovery for some)
(in the air) | Neutral Aerial
(in the air) | Up Aerial
(in the air) | Down Aerial
and forwards (in the air) | Forward Air
and backwards (in the air) | Back Air
| Grab
| Shield, Roll to Stage (if on ledge)
and any direction, gently | Shield Shuffling (changes the position of your shield)
at a specific speed | Shield Drop (if you're on a platform)
, tap | Sidestep/Spotdodge
, tapping either horizontal direction | Dodge Roll
Quickly tapping either horizontal direction | Sprint
// (if Tap Jump is on) | Jump
// (if Tap Jump is on), releasing the button before your character leaves the ground | Shorthop

Only a few characters deviate from these inputs, such as Ryu, and only slightly.

 

[gamecubeguy214]

If you're at the point where fighting Lv. 8s is way too easy, go up to Lv. 9 CPUs. Once you master those, go online. Online, you'll find players slightly better than you, and once you fight players better than you, you'll slowly gain skill. In your days of For Glory, you'll become better and better and find players that are better than you, and the cycle repeats seemingly forever. Oh hey, you just JV3 stocked ZeRo.

 

[FamilyTeam]

Oh hey, you just JV3 stocked ZeRo.

Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, here.
Like, even thinking you might beat Zero is deluding yourself to some extent.

 

[KashKey]

*Watches one of Zero's Matches* Ugh... I am no where near at this man's level... One day.

 

[Wintermelon43]

I've been trying time and time again to get better at the game. I can easily throw down against a level 8 CPU, level 9 CPUs of course being borderline unfair. But with the online community I can't do ANYTHING. I might be able to get a kill in ONCE in a match but then I'll immediately get punished. You could say "Oh, play more Online! You'll learn!" but I don't feel like I've learned anything. All it's really done is become extremely frustrating to the point where I'm close to just stopping play altogether. I don't know if this is in the wrong section or not but I'm completely out of ideas. Any advice?

Can I at all see one of your matches so I can give you advice?

 

[MockRock]

I strongly recommend taking up Wintermelon's offer, and I wouldn't mind looking as well. Neither of us are top players, but we're not getting destroyed all the time either. It sounds like you've run into a wall; it's not enough to just play, you need to actually learn from your mistakes. Having other people critique your gameplay is a good way to do that.

 

[IAmRyanHearMeRoar]

I think my big problem right now is that getting out of combos is impossible for me, but when I start trying to pull off an attack, people just get right out of it no problem! I try DI'ing, air dodging, jumping, and nothing works! It feels like the game's just giving the the finger and saying "Go **** yourself" whenever I get grabbed.

 

[FamilyTeam]

I think my big problem right now is that getting out of combos is impossible for me, but when I start trying to pull off an attack, people just get right out of it no problem! I try DI'ing, air dodging, jumping, and nothing works! It feels like the game's just giving the the finger and saying "Go **** yourself" whenever I get grabbed.

You went from not even knowing the inputs properly to wanting to DI/SDI out of combos, that's too huge of a leap. Perhaps you should try improving on other more basic areas first before venturing into more advanced stuff like that.
But to answer your question: Palutena doesn't have a lot of true combos, I heard (combos that cannot be escaped). When comboing people, you need to take a lot into consideration: What moves will you use, their knockback, your rage level, if it's true or not and if you might need to read some sort of dodge from your opponent.
To escape combos, you to learn how to do those directional inputs properly, but like I said before, that's more advanced stuff. If you still insist on training that, watch these two videos if you haven't already. If you already have, then watch them again and pay closer attention.

 

[KidNeedler]

Everyone here pretty much said it all. Your best bet is to play against real people. For Glory tends to be full of lag for most people, so going up against Lv. 8's is okay if you do experience this. Spending lots of time in Training is also a good option as it let's you get more comfortable and familiar with your character. You should also read lots of guides on your character. Even if you see a lot of the guides repeating themselves, read them anyway because you might come across some new information. I would recommend watching top players that main your character, but I don't see many Palutena mains out there. Jtails has a good guide on her so you can check that out. Replays are your friend. Save replays of your losses AND wins. When you lose, try to understand why you lost and see how you can fix it. When you win, see what you can improve on and if you fall into any habits when you're winning. Lastly, I agree with the people above that it would be awesome if you posted some of your replays so we have something to go off of.

Remember, failure is a part of success. We were all beginners at one point. If you want to play with someone to help you improve, I'll be more than happy to! Just message me your NNID and I'll help you in any way I can.

 

[FamilyTeam]

Updated the input list so now it containts pretty much every single one, guaranteed.

 

[ZafKiel]

You can't learn everything just by playing CPU"s. As mentioned previously in this thread, learn the fundamentals (DI, SHFF, Edge Cancels etc) and try to play human players as much as possible. Don't ever get discouraged if you feel like you are never winning. I've been there and trust me, it will get better.