In this post we're going to look at Villager, the first newcomer to Smash 4 that we were shown, his customs aren't particularly interesting if you were hoping for maybe different tree models or fruit-bearing trees. But hopefully what we got will please some of the Villager fans.
Neutral Special 1 (Pocket)
The Villager extends his hand out in front of him, grabbing any projectile or item and stuffing it in his pocket for later use. The range is much larger than you'd expect it to be based on the visuals, being able to grab things above, below and even behind you, basically if the projectile is near you, you're probably going to grab it.
The projectile can't be held indefinitely, after about 30 seconds the move will expire and using it again will just do the grab animation. If you use the move before the projectile expires however, you'll throw it back with a 1.9x damage multiplier, knockback is also multiplied but that's a lot harder to quantify.
You can also grab regular items with the move, something which all the customisations do, except for Assist Trophies, Smash Balls, Grass, Sandbag and Pokeballs/Masterballs.
Grabbing Dragoon or Daybreak parts just adds them to your stash as if you picked them up normally
Grabbing items the Villager carries with two hands (Barrel, Crate, Rolling Crate, Party Ball, Explosive Crates), will store the item in your pocket until you use the move again, in which case it will instantly throw it.
Grabbing items that automatically get used(Food, Maxim Tomato, Heart Piece, Fairy Bottle [when over 100%], Mushrooms, Warp Star, Invincibility Star, Metal Box, Bunny Hood, etc), will store them in your pocket and using the move again will automatically use it.
Grabbing items that Villager carries in one hand but has too press another input to use (Or Fairy Bottles when under 100%) will be stored in his pocket, then brought out into his hand, ready to be used, when you press it again. Subsequent presses will either put it back in his pocket or take it out again.
Neutral Special 2 (Flower Plant)
In this variation, the startup increases and anyone Villager hits with it will get planted, taking damage over time. The plant seems to have a random chance of falling off after hitstun, but the initial hit will do 10% and the plant will do a further 1-16%, depending on how long it actually sticks.
Hitting someone with the move whilst they are already planted will increase the size of the plant, as well as the duration it stays on and decrease the chance of it falling off before it does the full amount of damage.
It's hard to test just how large the DoT can become due to the seemingly random nature of the move not lasting the full duration, but it is possible to get 30%+ from the DoT alone, though by that point they'll be at 200% damage just from using the move and you should have killed them with something else by then.
The move does knockback on the initial hit but it's an incredibly minor amount, not even being able to take someone to the other side of battlefield at 350%
The move still retains the ability to grab projectiles and throw them back, but it has no damage (and I imagine knockback) multiplier on thrown projectiles anymore.
Like most forms of item reflect projectiles, this seems like a straight upgrade when facing an opponent without projectiles, but the pretty high damage potential and the fact that you can still grab projectiles means it could still be useful in any situation.
Neutral Special 3 (Large Grab)
This variation increases the grab range, but the damage multiplier goes down to 1.3.
I guess this variation is supposed to be an "easy mode" of the default? Easier to use but less rewards, doesn't seem to be much else different.
Side Special 1 (Lloid Rocket)
Villager pulls out a Gyroid and either uses it as a projectile or a method of transportation, depending on whether the button was just pressed or held.
It travels much further when Villager is riding it than when it flies solo, going from one end of the screen to the other (and further) if you stay on it, but only the length of battlefield if you don't.
The damage is also increased when the Villager stays on it, doing 16%, whereas it only does 7% if you don't (and it will also decrease to only 5% if you hit them at the very end of the move, and 11% for the held version).
It's also worth noting that you press hold forward and back whilst riding the Gyroid to increase or decrease the travel speed, this doesn't affect the duration of the move but it does affect the range.
Knockback for both versions is enough to KO Samus at around 110%.
Side Special 2 (Lloid Climb)
Another "Goes vertically instead of horizontally" customisation, this time the Gyroid turns sharply upwards a few moments after it appears.
It can be used to recover vertically when rode or it can be used to hit someone returning to the stage, the damage is also increased, doing 19% if rode and 8% as a projectile and it doesn't seem to lose damage over time.
The drawbacks to this custom are that you can't change the end point when rode by holding forwards and back, and the KO power seems to be slightly reduced, only able to KO Samus at ~130% though this is probably due to the fact that knockback is a bit more vertical than the default.
Also, due to the knockback direction and the angle at which the Lloid rises, you can link 2 or even 3 of these together at medium percents, though they aren't true combos and they're probably impossible against anything with a brain, it was funny to see though.
Side Special 3 (Big Lloid)
This time the Villager pulls out a much larger Gyroid that is slower and multi-hit that does 13% damage if all hits connect when rode and 10% when used as a projectile.
The max range is always the same, going just over half of Battlefield, though you can decrease the range by holding back whilst riding it, though it's harder for all the hits to connect if you go slower.
The downside to this move is that it loses a lot of KO potential, it's not able to KO Samus at even 200%, it's better to use it as a projectile to trap someone and then try to use a better kill move.
It's also worth noting that for all three variations, the Gyroid will put you into special fall if you miss or if you press a jump or attack button, actually connecting with the move won't and allow you to try and followup.
Up special 1 (Balloon Trip)
Pressing the input will give Villager two balloons, whilst he has these, continually pressing B will give you a small bit of upwards momentum.
You have full horizontal control during the move and you can cancel it into special fall by press A.
This is a pure recovery ability, you can't use it to damage anyone in any way, though they can damage you and if your balloons get destroyed, you'll automatically go into special fall.
Up Special 2 (Explosive Balloons)
This variation doesn't last as long as the default and it won't take you as high as it could either, but this move can be used offensively.
Pressing A during the move will explode one of your balloons, doing 5-9% damage, depending on how close to the blast radius they are.
Losing both of your balloons will still put you into special fall, but unlike the other one, if you cause both of the balloons to explode yourself by pressing A, you'll jump quite high into the air first.
Like the other recovery, if you land on the ground during it or go the full duration, the balloons will detach and start floating away from you and upwards for a short duration, if you press the input again, you'll spawn 2 new ones and instantly explode the old ones, so this could have some stage control uses.
Up special 3 (Balloon Jump)
Villager jumps high enough to reach the top of the screen from the base platform of Battlefield, you have no horizontal control, except for the fact that you will move slightly forwards in the direction you're facing.
There is a hitbox at the start of the jump that does 10% damage and a small bit of vertical knockback that is only able to kill Samus around 300%
Everything else about this move is the same, the fact that it moves so fast means that your balloons can't easily be destroyed but it puts you really high into the air and in special fall, so be careful about missing sweetspots on the ledge, it's better to just go lower and guarantee the sweetspot as it will recover from practically anywhere below the ledge.
Down Special 1 (Sapling)
When used and there's ground directly in front of you, villager will plant a sapling (doing it in the air or without a place to plant it will cause villager to shrug).
Whilst there is an active sapling, pressing the input again will make villager pull out a watering can that does no damage and some minor push back.
If the water touches the sapling, it will grow into a tree, causing 18% damage and vertical knockback that's capable of killing Samus at 90% if sweetspotted, hitting outside of the center of the tree will only do 13% and much less vertical knockback.
Whilst the tree is active, pressing the input will let Villager swing an axe until the tree has completely disappeared. The axe does 14% damage and decent horizontal knockback if you use it to hit players, able to kill at 140%
Hitting the tree with the axe will chop that side of the tree, and hitting it a second time will cause the tree to fall, it has to be hit twice at either side to fall, you can't just hit each side once.
The tree does 25% damage and very good vertical knockback that's able to kill Samus at 75% and since it's a projectile, if it falls off of a ledge, it will keep going until it hits the floor, so it can be useful for edgeguarding below the stage.
The tree also has a random chance of spitting out a log as it hits the ground, causing 8% damage and minor knockback if it hits anyone, it can also be picked up and rethrown, doing 3% damage and similar knockback.
The tree will stay active for 10 seconds, taking a further 1-2 seconds after that to wilt, whilst wilting it is completely inactiive so you can't chop it down, but it will prevent you from planting another until it's gone, instead just letting you swing the axe.
The sapling will last longer than thee fully grown tree, staying active for around 15 seconds.
The tree will also block projectiles, attacks and movement, acting similarly to another played (You can run through it, but it's harder to walk through it), but attacks will reduce it's life expectancy, though it's hard to test whether it's based on the amount of damage it takes or just the number of hits.
Down Special 2 (Shaking Sapling)
This variation acts a bit more differently than what I would expect, I would have still liked it to be a different model though.
In this variation, whilst the sapling is active, it flashes blue and any enemy that walks into it will take 2% damage and get tripped. The watering can still does no damage and minor pushback, which can be used to push people into the sapling, trip them and then hit them with the tree growth.
The growth animation doesn't seem to have a sweetspot anymore and will do 12% and little knockback wherever you hit with it.
Whilst the tree is fully grown, it flashes red, if anyone attacks the tree during this time, including the villager as well as the axe, it will shake the tree and create a shockwave that does 5% damage and decent knockback.
The axe will only do 6% damage and much less knockback though, and the tree projectile once chopped down will only do 12% damage and can't kill Samus until 160%.
Everything else about the move seems exatly the same, it will still spit out a log that does 8% damage and can be rethrown to do 3%, although this time the log will cause tripping on the initial hit.
Down Special 3 (Tall Sapling)
In this variation, your tree grows larger and everything seems to do more damage.
Whilst the sapling is active, your watering can has a much larger range and better push back, but it's a slower move.
Missing the sweetspot on the growth hitbox will do 15% damage and minor knockback, but the sweetspot will do 20% and similar knockback.
The axe now does 16% damage but it's a slower move and the reduce knockback means it can't kill Samus until over 200%.
The endlag on the axe is definitely higher, but even moreso if you use it to hit the tree, which now does 27% damage and is able to kill Samus as low as 58%
Everything else about the move seems the same.
Final Thoughts
I would have liked a bit more variation model-wise in the customs, like a different Gyroid model for each custom or have the Shaking Sapling have a beehive in it with a a load of bees as the particle effect instead of just a shockwave, but the same can be said for a lot of custom moves that aren't Megaman's or Fox's.
The Item Grab variation seems like an easy mode variation of the default Pocket, letting people grab from further away and grab more things in return for lower damage, so I don't see much use for it in competitive play, the Flower Plant move is pretty fun though and you can really rack up damage if you keep hitting it right.
The Lloid Rocket and Balloon Trip variations seems pretty standard, not much of interest there other than the possibility of the Explosive Balloons giving the Villager access to another form of stage control.
The second tree variation is a bit wackier than I expected, but I think the 3rd custom is a straight upgrade as long as you get the timings right, though it may be a tad too slow to be useful and you can't use the axe as a killing move, if you were planning on doing that.
All in all, not too bad, I'd probably go with 2222 for my main Villager loadout.
Thanks for doing all of this!!
