Guide Pac Attack - Advanced Techniques and Strategy Guide

[Pacack]

Okay, it is not the greatest video but it shows the basics. I would record a voice over but I have a very poor recording environment. Like I stated previously, you can seriously do any action after a dash attack ends. Some attacks will carry over dash moment. So In theory Pac-man could finish this similar to a DACUS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmMH5bTlKlI

Hmm. Gotta try that a bit more. Looks like it could potentially be a big part of Pac-Man play if used properly. But it should only be used sparingly, since it is possible to predict it and grab us out of it.

 

[AGES]

Back from a small hiatus, had a slightly busy past couple of weeks but all should be good for now

Was recently pointed towards a cool guide of sorts that details a lot of cool stuff, including the different hydrant launches much more in depth than I did: http://smashboards.com/threads/pac-...ry-and-bonus-fruit-hijinx.372423/?ckattempt=1 I think I want to include at least a little bit of this post in here.

BTW: Strawberry's priority is significantly higher than Cherry, and not much worse than any of the later fruit.

Strawberry seems to cancel out fully charged Lucario Aura Spheres, run through Sheik's needles, and provide cover vs Megaman Smash Attacks.

Using fruit defensively means charging up to Strawberry at least. Melon definitely has more priority, but I find that Strawberry's priority is "good enough" for defensive purposes. There's rarely a reason to throw out something higher than Strawberry in defensive situations.

In fact, Lucario's micro-spheres can be canceled out by strawberry on the ground. Positioning a "downed strawberry" has been my means of controlling space recently. It doesn't do any damage, but it provides cover against a surprising amount of projectiles. (Link Boomerang, Aura Sphere, Sheik's Needles even at the right height...)

Cherry doesn't have this property. So I have finally found a huge use for Strawberry.

Oh awesome, grats strawberry you've been promoted from **** tier to useful.

Okay, it is not the greatest video but it shows the basics. I would record a voice over but I have a very poor recording environment. Like I stated previously, you can seriously do any action after a dash attack ends. Some attacks will carry over dash moment. So In theory Pac-man could finish this similar to a DACUS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmMH5bTlKlI

Lmao, I actually found this out weeks ago(chaining dash attacks together) but thought it was purely just funny looking, didn't think too much of it. Thinking more about it though it does look like it has its uses with its momentum carrying to other followups, also that dash attack into a reverse grab or ftilt sounds awesome for catching those people trying to run after you to punish you.

Will update momentarily, keep in mind I haven't caught up on all the posts in this thread

 

[Opana]

Pretty sure using the Hydrant when midair by the edge of say bf's lower platforms allows you to slide off it.

Otherwise, an awesome combo I pulled off involves putting a trampoline under a bf low platform, and when they get on it usmash.

EDIT: Also, rising dair into platforms cancels it with a bit of lag.

EDIT2:

Pac Man Hydrant Jump and Trampoline Hydrant Jump
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPL47cqaePI']Pac Man Hydrant Grab Break Tech
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75IQrj2yd6w']Hidden Trampoline and Dair Trampoline
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmuQWTZP1-E']Power Pellet Platform
[/URL]
[/URL][/URL]

 

[Solitude2IZ]

Ok, I'm not sure if this has already been discussed, but Abadango has a youtube channel, found some nice tech with the key. Only problem is that I haven't post enough to share the link

He also has a couple sets against some of the top players from Japan. We should take a couple notes and dissect these later.

 

[Lord Cruxis]

Ok, I'm not sure if this has already been discussed, but Abadango has a youtube channel, found some nice tech with the key. Only problem is that I haven't post enough to share the link

He also has a couple sets against some of the top players from Japan. We should take a couple notes and dissect these later.

You're right. Just posted it one of the matches i haven't seen in the video critique thread. http://smashboards.com/threads/pac-mania-video-library-critiques-new-video-11-3-2014.373048/page-2

But I didn't find his page......

 

[Paper Maribro]

https://www.youtube.com/user/yutnamie

There you go guys, I found it

 

[Lord Cruxis]

https://www.youtube.com/user/yutnamie

There you go guys, I found it

You're a gentle man and a scholar O:


edit:


and the first thing I see is this guy throwing the key at the tip of the ledge and catching it....wow....now he can z-drop it...did not know that.

 

[dragontamer]

The real tech IMO is Fair -> crossup -> Bair. This sort of recovery prevents most characters from counter-attacking us when we land. (can't be grabbed, because we're crossed up).

The key thing is cute, but it seems pretty difficult to pull off in training. Maybe I need more practice, but I wouldn't call that "easy" by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Lord Cruxis]

The real tech IMO is Fair -> crossup -> Bair. This sort of recovery prevents most characters from counter-attacking us when we land. (can't be grabbed, because we're crossed up).

The key thing is cute, but it seems pretty difficult to pull off in training. Maybe I need more practice, but I wouldn't call that "easy" by any stretch of the imagination.

:X Depends on the map. Wall ones are easier where as the thin ones you gotta eye that *******. But....its not that hard :X.... but thats just me then.

That instant Nair into whatever is awesome though. That has gotten him out of everything lol. I saw his ledge control too. Hold on the ledge drop off a little then piano the jump button into A button and it blocked the ledge from the incoming diddy.....that is awesome.

 

[dragontamer]

I'm talking about the neutral game. He uses Fair to crossup a grounded Rosalina, then uses Bair when behind her.

With this methodology, Rosalina can't grab Pac-man when he lands, and PacMan still gets two attacks off. For "static" enemies who watch you come in on them, this is an absolutely invaluable technique (Rob opponents especially stand still most of the time and grab afterwards. Ditto with Bowser, although I played a really good Bowser today who started using his up-tilt to punish me from his back)

 

[Nu~]

I'm telling you, the rosa matchup just looks easier and easier. We just need to play a mid range game. She can't use down B at the right time all of the time, and we just apply more pressure throughout the match than she can

 

[Revibe]

I wanted to share some of my best K.O. stories, when using Pac-Man. Actually, I am starting to think that he his really good at punishing the opponents recoveries. A recovery pun-ish-er, lol.

His Side-B has power and control. I like to land this move while the opponent is almost off-screen, because it would super armor, then k.o. as early as 60% (varies obviously, but still).

Hydrant. Man, has anyone ever had a satisfying victory because the water pulsed at the right time, to push the other player an inch away from the ledge when they could do no more? I mean, it has backfired on me, but I can't be mad. Took a Sheik's stock when the match was against me.

Trampoline Taunting- Just bouncing around as far down as you can off the stage. I got some opponents to jump after me then they would miss or just fail to recover. Once again, this can back-fire, but totally worth learning and getting the timing down hehe.

 

[CCCM89]

I've been finding myself Hydrant Surfing more and more lately. It's like the hydrant dash, only you stand on top/jump to fall into the water and ride it along while you do aerials. it's a fun and confusing approach option, I think, since you're just high enough to not get grabbed

 

[WeirdChillFever]

A cool combo I use with the apple is the Fruit Triangle.

The Recipe:
When the opponent is recovering low:
-Throw an apple
-Opponent gets knocked up....
-In the right place for a nice orange.


If the opponent is going low again, repeat, if not spam oranges.

Note: Replace Apples with Hydrants for a watery taste

Happy Cooking!

 

[ptrk83]

^ I actually did this today on wifi lol.. was like THANKS WEIRDCHIIL

 

[wildvine47]

So here's something interesting I found messing around in Training Mode last night.

Pac's dash attack launches foes at a very similar angle to the Bell, and because the dash attack ends so early, you can actually combo dash attack into bell and it'll work on some characters until about 50ish% with some character-specific variance. (Metaknight gets hit until percents around 65%, while Rosalina only until 35%, and I've not tested everyone yet.)

However, where it really gets interesting is when you throw a jump into the mix before throwing the bell. Adding said jump, I was able to combo training dummy Rosalina up until 110%.

Going even further with this, because Bell has the stun effect on it, you can follow up with an aerial. With the grounded version, any aerial will work given the stun is long enough. With the air/jump version at 110%, I could only follow up with uair and occasionally fair. From the middle of FD on Rosalina at 110%, Dash Attack > Full Jump > Bell > Doublejump > Uair kills and looks to be a true combo.

I've been calling it the Bellhop with people I've shown it to. I have not tested it with a vectoring opponent which might render it useless, but plan on doing that soon, as well as testing out to what percentages both ground Bellhop and air Bellhop work on characters.

 

[Opana]

Is it known that after getting a hold of the key you can zdrop it into a hydrant to launch it? Footstool->zdropped key->hydrant works due to the bouncing key, and you can grab the key after. Does 37%

Also, the bell goes through the stage when going up only, not going down.

Lastly, playing around with the key grabbing ledge tech, if you b reverse it out of a wall jump it'll be sent flying the direction you'd normally catch it but a bit farther, which could be great edge guard.

Pac Man Zdrop Key into Hydrant combo
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z-l-Ayyt3o']Pac Man Wall Jump Key Edge Guarding[/URL]
Pac Man Bell Through Walls

 

[ptrk83]

You can do that with the melon... A lot easier to catch off the edge of the stage. But yeah it is known

 

[Opana]

You can do that with the melon... A lot easier to catch off the edge of the stage. But yeah it is known

What about the Bell thing?

 

[ptrk83]

The bell doesnt do enough to send the hydrant flying in one hit.

 

[CCCM89]

The bell doesnt do enough to send the hydrant flying in one hit.

apple and melon do, though. and they're easier to grab then key, and they still z-drop at normal speeds in normal ways.

 

[ptrk83]

apple and melon do, though. and they're easier to grab then key, and they still z-drop at normal speeds in normal ways.

why did you quote me? I was the one who said that the melon does..

and the apple doesn't knock the hydrant in one hit.

 

[Opana]

The bell doesnt do enough to send the hydrant flying in one hit.

No lol, I meant was it known the Bell went through the stage on the way up, either used as a move or thrown?

 

[ptrk83]

I think you miss quoted the wrong person.. lol

 

[Opana]

I think you miss quoted the wrong person.. lol

I thought you thought I meant the bell on hydrant, so I quoted you and said the above lol.

Do you know though?

 

[ptrk83]

omggg know what?! lmfao..

 

[Opana]

I don't even know anymore lol

 

[BSP]

https://www.youtube.com/user/yutnamie

There you go guys, I found it

Abadango is a genius. Good lord, I feel like I'm not even playing the character when I see his Pac-Man.

 

[CCCM89]

fun combos I've found with z-dropping fruit:

First one I use a lot, toss out a cherry and run into short hopped Fair to grab it, possibly even a full jump. I think full jump if preferential for this. next, z-drop fruit over or just behind opponent. typically, they will try to run after you mid jump, so the fruit will either hit them, or they shield/clash with it.
follow up with a Bair, which will again pick up the cherry.
from here judge distance. if opponent was hit away, run and throw cherry into a dash grab. the cherry will cover your approach.. If they blocked or dodged and are close, move to next step.
if they're trying to bait a grab, jump and z-drop again into a Dair as you move behind them. as long as you finish the move in the air, you can immediately go into a gab. If they dodge, follow them and throw fruit straight down. As long as they're in front of you, the cherry will hit and let you get some breathing room to build up better fruit, or even just follow up with an orange to knock them even farther away, which will surprise them.

Second, this one uses the galaxian and is based off the above combo.
build up to galaxian and throw it immediately, or when you can predict a shield. The opponent needs to be far enough away from the galaxian to circle back around.
run up and hop into Fair to grab.
z-drop the galaxian in fromnt of them.
follow-up with a Bair.
The initial hit from galaxian as it loops will hit their shield, then as you z-drop, you bair them to lower their shield more, the force of the attack will push them into the still bouncing galaxian, which will typically break their shield, or get it low enough that a quick side tilt will break it.
Next, you can just taunt them and, based on damage, either full charge a side smash, or a down smash, down smah, I think, has better knockback, but less damage, and takes longer to pull out. since they're dazed, though, this won't be an issue.

I have replays of me doing both of these on my 3ds, but I can't upload them without a capture card of some sort. I'm hoping I can transfer the replays to the wii-u version and upload from there, but in the mean time, try these combos out for yourself when you want to put on the pressure.

 

[Opana]

Some weird kind of glitch I keep trying to replicate, when I zdrop the key it'd act like it was thrown. It has something to do with the Hydrant I think, but I'm not sure. Curious if it can be regrabbed. or if it's even possible to grab it out of the zdrop throw. Maybe it'd be good in teams?

 

[Gam3rALO]

Hey guys!

I haven't been playing much lately. I am mostly waiting for the Wii U. Lots of my matches are laggy so I can't practice that well.

I have been watching videos and I can say playing aggressive against projectile characters is the way to go since the hydrant can get hit right back at you.

 

[dragontamer]

There is an unshieldable portion at the beginning of every dash-animation, that differs from character to character. As such, this is the distance you will "dash" without being able to shield, roll, or sidestep. Master this distance, and you'll instantly become a safer player. Never dash when "too close" to an opponent, otherwise your only option becomes the horribly unsafe dash attack.

"Footsies" in this game revolve entirely around the following distances:
1. Dash distance
2. Roll distance
3. Shorthop distance

Bowser is considered really good because his dash distance is very tight, making him one of the safest characters in the game. When played correctly, he can move very slowly, but very safely.

Speaking of Bowser, if you ever end up getting power-shielded, its because you're getting read. NOT because the opponent has significantly better reaction speed than you. (well.... maybe that too. But chances are, he's playing footsies with you which allows him to powershield safely).

In these cases, just switch up the timing of your fruit tosses. Throw a strawberry or apple instead of an orange.

 

[Opana]

Side Special downward over the eldge while on the stage is pretty much suicide but it stage spikes them usually. Howver, it's not ssuicide if you plant a trampoline down, which is pretty amazing.

Also, Jump Cancel Tossing Cherries is useful for positioning the Hydrant.

 

[LayingSnow]

So here's something interesting I found messing around in Training Mode last night.

Pac's dash attack launches foes at a very similar angle to the Bell, and because the dash attack ends so early, you can actually combo dash attack into bell and it'll work on some characters until about 50ish% with some character-specific variance. (Metaknight gets hit until percents around 65%, while Rosalina only until 35%, and I've not tested everyone yet.)

However, where it really gets interesting is when you throw a jump into the mix before throwing the bell. Adding said jump, I was able to combo training dummy Rosalina up until 110%.

Going even further with this, because Bell has the stun effect on it, you can follow up with an aerial. With the grounded version, any aerial will work given the stun is long enough. With the air/jump version at 110%, I could only follow up with uair and occasionally fair. From the middle of FD on Rosalina at 110%, Dash Attack > Full Jump > Bell > Doublejump > Uair kills and looks to be a true combo.

I've been calling it the Bellhop with people I've shown it to. I have not tested it with a vectoring opponent which might render it useless, but plan on doing that soon, as well as testing out to what percentages both ground Bellhop and air Bellhop work on characters.

This is amazing. Simply amazing.
You can be a little cheekier too and start the whole combo with a d-throw into dash attack then Bellhop into Up Air and deal a loooooot of damage

 

[wildvine47]

Right, so I went and did a bit of testing on this thing morning. Tested both Ground and Air Bellhops on everyone in the first row and narrowed it down to the last percentage I could successfully get each to work. For reference, Ground Bellhop is Dash Attack -> Bell, and Air Bellhop is Dash Attack -> Jump -> Bell.

Those marked with "Kills!" means that the bell consistently kills after the combo. Those are not the lowest percents however at which the bell killed, just the highest percents at which the bell still linked.

These are the percentages the characters were set at before the first hit of Dash Attack connected on Training Mode dummies. I also included Metaknight due to having discovered this on him, but will retest his percentages when I get to him.

Spoiler

Mario: Grounded ~ 58% , Air ~ 135%

Luigi: Grounded ~ 41% , Air ~ 118%

Peach: Grounded ~ 36%, Air ~ 120% - Kills!

Bowser: Grounded ~ 58%, Air ~ 149% - Kills!

Yoshi: Grounded ~ 51%, Air ~ 155% - Kills!

Rosalina: Grounded ~ 34%, Air ~ 122% - Kills!

Koopalings: Grounded ~ 71%, Air ~ 146% - Kills!

Wario: Grounded ~ 79%, Air ~ 121%

G&W: Grounded ~ 32%, Air ~ 114%

Metaknight: Grounded ~ 65%, Air ~ 126%

From what I gathered it seems to be based on a combination of weight and aerial hitbox size, with some individual variations depending on which character. For example Wario and the Koopalings get hit by Grounded Bellhop until much higher % than average, while G&W and Rosalina are out of the Ground Bellhop's range at much lower percent. Meanwhile, Yoshi for some odd reason is worst off with Air Bellhop, as it successfully works on him until an astonishing 155%, while G&W and Luigi get much out earlier than the rest and survive.

I'm going to continue to test the rest of the cast later. I feel like this could be a very important strategy for us if we can refine it down. Also, would it be worth giving this it's own thread, or should I keep it here in the AT thread?

 

[LayingSnow]

Right, so I went and did a bit of testing on this thing morning. Tested both Ground and Air Bellhops on everyone in the first row and narrowed it down to the last percentage I could successfully get each to work. For reference, Ground Bellhop is Dash Attack -> Bell, and Air Bellhop is Dash Attack -> Jump -> Bell.

Those marked with "Kills!" means that the bell consistently kills after the combo. Those are not the lowest percents however at which the bell killed, just the highest percents at which the bell still linked.

These are the percentages the characters were set at before the first hit of Dash Attack connected on Training Mode dummies. I also included Metaknight due to having discovered this on him, but will retest his percentages when I get to him.

Spoiler

Mario: Grounded ~ 58% , Air ~ 135%

Luigi: Grounded ~ 41% , Air ~ 118%

Peach: Grounded ~ 36%, Air ~ 120% - Kills!

Bowser: Grounded ~ 58%, Air ~ 149% - Kills!

Yoshi: Grounded ~ 51%, Air ~ 155% - Kills!

Rosalina: Grounded ~ 34%, Air ~ 122% - Kills!

Koopalings: Grounded ~ 71%, Air ~ 146% - Kills!

Wario: Grounded ~ 79%, Air ~ 121%

G&W: Grounded ~ 32%, Air ~ 114%

Metaknight: Grounded ~ 65%, Air ~ 126%

From what I gathered it seems to be based on a combination of weight and aerial hitbox size, with some individual variations depending on which character. For example Wario and the Koopalings get hit by Grounded Bellhop until much higher % than average, while G&W and Rosalina are out of the Ground Bellhop's range at much lower percent. Meanwhile, Yoshi for some odd reason is worst off with Air Bellhop, as it successfully works on him until an astonishing 155%, while G&W and Luigi get much out earlier than the rest and survive.

I'm going to continue to test the rest of the cast later. I feel like this could be a very important strategy for us if we can refine it down. Also, would it be worth giving this it's own thread, or should I keep it here in the AT thread?

You should give this it's own thread for sure. It's a really good way to kill harder foes and deserves a mentioning with an own thread.
If you need help with the percentages, I can help for sure

 

[kid craft 24/sonic master]

Not sure if any of you knew this but if you time a hydrant just as your about to land on the ground after performing an airdodge pacman will send the hydrant through the stage instead of it spawning like it normally does.

EDIT: this can also be done after performing an aerial

 

[Firedemon0]

Not sure if any of you knew this but if you time a hydrant just as your about to land on the ground after performing an airdodge pacman will send the hydrant through the stage instead of it spawning like it normally does.

I seem to be having trouble duplicating this in training mode. When are you timing the air dodge?

 

[kid craft 24/sonic master]

I just do a short hop airdodge or short hop aerial and just as pac man is about to land i do hydrant. he does the animation but the hydrant pops up falling through the stage.

 

[Firedemon0]

I just do a short hop airdodge or short hop aerial and just as pac man is about to land i do hydrant. he does the animation but the hydrant pops up falling through the stage.

This doesn't seem to be working on battlefield. I am also doing this on 1/4 speed to go as close to frame by frame as possible. Pac-Man lifts up before dropping hydrant and it seems to come out of his crotch at the proper height as normal. Can you provide a video or a gif of this? I am not trying to be facetious, it would have it's uses.