Projectiles and Link in general

[Ieven]

Hi,

I play Link since a lot of time now, and i dunno really well when use which projectile and when, often, when i throw a boomerang, i get punish because the animation is pretty long, and if the opponent shield it, you're still punishable.

In general, i dunno how react when my opponent shield my projectiles, and when switch melee to projectile.


And, do you have any trick with Link ?

 

[A_Phoenix_Down]

Boomerang is the most versatile due to allowing it to be thrown in every direction. It helps to space and rack up damage as well as setup a combo. Arrows are the quickest but are best use from far away so you can charge it and do more damage. Bombs are my favorite when someone is knocked high into the air... usually they expecr you to jump at them but I'll throw a bomb to throw them off.

However, in my opinion you shouldn't rely on projectiles the whole match. You got a sword and board for a reason!

Btw, throw bombs at a shield and follow up with a grab if they're still shielded or trick them with a dash attack. Gets them every time.

 

[Zelkam]

Hi,

I play Link since a lot of time now, and i dunno really well when use which projectile and when, often, when i throw a boomerang, i get punish because the animation is pretty long, and if the opponent shield it, you're still punishable.

In general, i dunno how react when my opponent shield my projectiles, and when switch melee to projectile.


And, do you have any trick with Link ?

I'm gonna let you partially off the hook because we don't have resources devoted to your question. However, you're only partially off the hook because you didn't use the dang Q&A thread to ask a question! I go through all that work to create a Q&A thread so as to cut back on spam threads and yet they still keep popping up. So this is your first and final warning, if you have a question, ask it in the Q&A thread. I can tell you didn't even bother reading through it because I know for a fact that the very first FAQ would've answered your second question.

And while you're at it, read the rest of the stickies. Especially the Link Board Rules

Alright now to answer your first question. Probably the biggest thing to remember while projectile spamming with Link is to always keep moving. The reason you get punished for spamming projectiles is because you're not moving. Learn how to incorporate jumps into your spam game, this is the best way to keep moving. Also, other mobility techs like bombsliding, JCT, and wavebouncing are great to keep in mind.

Here's some other general tips concerning Link's projectiles: (1) Honestly, you never want to catch the boomerang. The catching animation is much shorter in Smash 4, but that doesn't matter. You should always try to be doing something else when the boomerang returns. Some good options would be Zair, Fair, or a bomb pull. (2) Charging the bow is generally considered a bad idea. Charging your bow makes it easy for your opponent to block or even avoid the arrow completely. Not to mention that it keeps you from moving, and remember that we want to keep moving. If you want more range from your bow then try firing an uncharged shot from the peak of a short or full hop. (3) Bombs are great vs shields. When you throw a bomb at a shield it doesn't explode, it just bounces off. This means that it's still there to put pressure on your opponent. A lot of times, the opponent will stay in their shield and wait for the bomb to explode. This leaves them wide open for a grab. (4) remember that you can throw bombs in the 4 compass directions, and you can drop them by pressing grab in mid air. Try to learn to incorporate all of these into your game to keep things fresh.

As far as when to switch between projectiles and melee goes, you should be switching between them freely throughout a match. Things like following up a boomerang with a Zair or Fair. jumping towards your opponent while throwing a bomb and then follow up with jabs. Grabbing someone, doing a forward/back throw and then throwing an up angled boomerang. You shouldn't really think of melee and projectiles as two separate things, but rather as different tools that work together and compliment each other.

To finish it all off, here's a couple of videos that might help you get a grasp on things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGBn57C2NM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYzQfF0Z-e8



And seriously, read the stickies and post further questions in the Q&A thread...I got my eye on you.

 

[A_Phoenix_Down]

It was a fine thread Zelkam. You did well. You may rest now.

 

[ShinTwist ScreamPaste]

I personally feel like we could still light up the new guy. We'll see whether it proves warranted I suppose. I'll have my eye on him.

 

[Elessar]

Considering that his avatar is Dark Link he should be up for some good ol' hazing. The scrub.

It's quite hard to give feedback without a video of you playing, my advise is to record, nothing fancy just use your phone or something, and upload it to youtube and share it here. We need to see what you're doing wrong to five better advise.

Now, from your post I feel that your problem is that you're slow is your spam and you have only one projectile on screen at a time. And you don't move, just stand there, throw out something and hope the goddesses will be gracious enough as to help you hit anything with them. You should be moving as you spam (like Zelkam said) and spam all three, or at least 2 at the same time. Link is kinda unique in that we can have 4 projectiles (aka disjointed hitboxes) out at once; that gives enormous shield pressure and stage control. Try this as practice I'm training: do a full hop and take out a bomb while in the air. As soon as you take out the bomb double jump and throw a boomerang, angle it towards the stage. As soon as the boomerang is out throw your bomb. Jump again and tap b to shoot an uncharged arrow. Double jump to take another bomb. Boomerang should be returning now and the bomb catching will eliminate that catching animation. Throw another boomerang and upon landing throw your bomb. Practice this to get a feel of the timing of each projectile. This is just to get used to a more dynamic style of spamming, it's just exercise.

 

[Ieven]

I'm gonna let you partially off the hook because we don't have resources devoted to your question. However, you're only partially off the hook because you didn't use the dang Q&A thread to ask a question!

Yeah, sorry i'm pretty new here and i dunno exactly where i should post. English is not my mother tongue, so sorry if i did something wrong.

I can delete the post if needed.I promise i won't do the same mistake again, i know that a lot of people didn't read the rule and you may get tired of theses people, so sorry, i will do my best from now.


And thanks for the answers !

 

[Dumbfire]

Yeah, sorry i'm pretty new here and i dunno exactly where i should post. English is not my mother tongue, so sorry if i did something wrong.

I can delete the post if needed.

It's all right for now, and ask all the questions you want in broken English or not, just do it here in the Q&A thread next time.

 

[Elessar]

So let me see. He comes, posts, get threatened with a welcome party Link Boards style, to which I say:

Considering that his avatar is Dark Link he should be up for some good ol' hazing. The scrub.

And next thing I know, he changed his avatar to green Link.

Perfect.

 

[Ieven]

And next thing I know, he changed his avatar to green Link.

Perfect.

I just wanted to, this old picture of Dark Link was ugly finally, Green Link is a lot better .

And, i will post a video soon as you recommended, even if it will be in bad quality, but i plan to buy a video capture card one day.

 

[FSK]

It was the same problem in brawl with the boomerang. In brawl I just stopped using it cause I wasn't able to find a good way to use it.
Something you could try is to gimp people with it. If you hang by the ledge you can drop back and throw a boomerang. If they seem to recover high you can ledge jump and throw it instead. Although this probably doesn't work well, but I'll try it out atleast.

 

[Mysteltainn]

The biggest thing with Link is not being one of those kids who spam their arrows and Boomerang while standing still and panic and start roll-spamming to the other side of the stage the moment your enemy is on you. Please, please, please don't be one of these guys. Good enemies will just punish it with D-Smashes and grabs. Instead, it's best to do what the majority here said, and use hops to constantly change your position, and this also allows your projectiles to cover multiple trajectories, which causes confusion, pressure and doesn't give the enemy much time to think about steps to get close. Bomb pressure (seriously, use the Bombs! They are beautiful... It kills me every time I see a Link go a whole match without pulling even one out), like these guys said, is very important, most people tend to Shield when a Bomb is on the way, use this opportunity to grab or F-Tilt. F-Tilt is also great along with Jabbing, and U and D-Tilt for spacing.

Only other thing I can think of is pretty obvious, but I'll say it anyway. Don't spam D-Air too much. Yeah, it's a nice skill, but it will get you punished if you overuse it because the enemy will predict it. Treat it more like Charizard's Flare Blitz; the element of surprise. There are also times where if you know your enemy is vulnerable from stun-lock, you can use it, or throw a Bomb down, stun your enemy, and then use it, but even then... Be careful.

I'm really going topic now with this, but it's still helpful. When recovering, get in the habit of having a Bomb in hand. Not only are they great for causing pressure on waiting enemies, but they are also useful in case you can't quite make it back to the stage. Pull out the Bomb and use your Spin Attack right when it's about to explode, you will perform your SA and then it'll explode, allowing you to either Z-Air to the stage if you got closer from your first SA, or use SA again to cover the remaining distance. Link's recovery is quite a bit better than Brawl's, but this trick is nice nonetheless.

Sorry for the long post, I hope that something was of help though.

 

[Ieven]

I'm not beginner with Link, it's just that i had that feeling with certain projectiles with Link. Maybe i just need to be more good at spacing Fair, Nair, Bair ...ect That should allow me to play more aggressive safer.

As promised, here is the video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09786M06HNU

 

[Dumbfire]

The video appears to be private. Meanwhile, do not double post, and post it here for the best results.

 

[Knife8193]

It was the same problem in brawl with the boomerang. In brawl I just stopped using it cause I wasn't able to find a good way to use it.
Something you could try is to gimp people with it. If you hang by the ledge you can drop back and throw a boomerang. If they seem to recover high you can ledge jump and throw it instead. Although this probably doesn't work well, but I'll try it out atleast.

I have to agree with this. Boomerang is amazing against characters with low mobility and is a good anti-approach tool. But do not use it at close range or you will probably be punished against a good player, despite the extra damage. You can also use it to punish getup rolls (don't know the technical term for this).
The ledge gimp with the gale rang doesn't seem to work that well in this game because the windbox got weaker. It could still gimp vertical recoveries like Ik's but, I'd rather just gimp with Nair.

 

[Ieven]

The ledge gimp with the gale rang doesn't seem to work that well in this game because the windbox got weaker. It could still gimp vertical recoveries like Ik's but, I'd rather just gimp with Nair.

I tried and it seems that they are push but not that much, although like you said, it's still useful on Ike, Marth, Lucina ...ect But the edge has been nerfed so, it's not that good then before i guess .

 

[Problem2]

I typically don't use a lot of boomerang until I have a bomb in hand. The combination of being able to throw one right after the other is far more threatening and a better keep away than the boomerang alone.

 

[A_Phoenix_Down]

Sometimes I'll throw the boomerang diagnally over the opponent to make then shield so I can follow up with a grab. Although sometimes, it will "force" the enemy into a mistake by letting go of block as I attack or scare them into rolling into me

 

[1FC0]

Link has projectiles. He has 3 projectiles. Link can launch these projectiles to the opponent to do damages. Link must be careful when doing this because some opponents might reflect the projectiles and do damages on Link instead!

 

[Zelkam]

Link has projectiles. He has 3 projectiles. Link can launch these projectiles to the opponent to do damages. Link must be careful when doing this because some opponents might reflect the projectiles and do damages on Link instead!

[sarcasm]thank you for your words of wisdom[/sarcasm]

 

[Elessar]

Link has projectiles. He has 3 projectiles. Link can launch these projectiles to the opponent to do damages. Link must be careful when doing this because some opponents might reflect the projectiles and do damages on Link instead!

Your post is useless. It is 3 kinds of useless. Reading the manual provides more information than your post. You must be careful when you do this because you might get flamed and receive an infraction on top for spam!

 

[I Am Normal (IAN)]

Something good the boomerang can do is punish tech rolls away. For example if you get a jab combo on your opponent, throw a boomerang immediately after. If they tech away, the boomerang hits them and a follow up is possible. If they tech into you it's either an futility or grab. If they tech in place then the boomerang still has a chance of hitting. I've caught a lot of players with this on For Glory (which isn't saying much, but meh).

 

[I Am Normal (IAN)]

Something good the boomerang can do is punish tech rolls away. For example if you get a jab combo on your opponent, throw a boomerang immediately after. If they tech away, the boomerang hits them and a follow up is possible. If they tech into you it's either an futility or grab. If they tech in place then the boomerang still has a chance of hitting. I've caught a lot of players with this on For Glory (which isn't saying much, but meh).[/quote
*f tilt not futility. Spell check...

 

[Elessar]

Why are you double posting only to quote yourself? Do you think that the mediocre strat you posted is so profound that it must be said twice?

Don't double post, ever, specially to just quote yourself. If you typoed then use the edit option like any regular non scrubby user.

 

[Goulmania]

Hi,

I play Link since a lot of time now, and i dunno really well when use which projectile and when, often, when i throw a boomerang, i get punish because the animation is pretty long, and if the opponent shield it, you're still punishable.

In general, i dunno how react when my opponent shield my projectiles, and when switch melee to projectile.


And, do you have any trick with Link ?

If a fast opponent (falcon comes to mind) shields your projectiles a lot you're not spacing yourself correctly in the first place. Try not using grounded boomerang, I usually just shorthop back and throw it so even if they dash and shield I'm 95% safe.

Remember your goal is to be a moving target that shoots back! so short hop pretty much all you projectiles and throw some grounded ones only for mix-ups.

You can switch to melee when 1 of your projectiles hit to follow up on the hit stun it created. I like to think link throws projectiles to make his sword strikes easier to land . Another reason to switch to melee is when you have your back against the ledge and you want some space. (I've seen to many for Glory links try to roll all the way to the other side of the stage when I got close to them).

Some Follow-ups include:
close range boomerang to fair
short hop bomb to Nair or Uair
Bomb to Fair
On missed tech: arrow to any smash attack as it forces the neutral get up

Keep practicing, you'll figure some of this stuff out yourself!

 

[1FC0]

I use Link's bomb and Zair to do damages because the Zair dr

Your post is useless. It is 3 kinds of useless. Reading the manual provides for information than your post. You must be careful when you do this because you might get flamed and receive an infraction on top for spam!

I am sorry I did not read the manual.

 

[Elessar]

I use Link's bomb and Zair to do damages because the Zair dr

I am sorry I did not read the manual.

I'll tell you what. Since you're both trolling (albeit pathetically bad) and spamming for the second time in this thread now I'll infract you with 2 shiny points. You however can go ahead and think of each point as a merit star badge to mediocrity. You've earned it after all.

Consider this a gentle nudge out the door.

 

[1FC0]

I'll tell you what. Since you're both trolling (albeit pathetically bad) and spamming for the second time in this thread now I'll infract you with 2 shiny points. You however can go ahead and think of each point as a merit star badge to mediocrity. You've earned it after all.

Consider this a gentle nudge out the door.

Thanks for the badge and the gentle nudge. It is great that some people still appreciate mediocrity and respond to it with gentleness.

 

[Ieven]

You can switch to melee when 1 of your projectiles hit to follow up on the hit stun it created. I like to think link throws projectiles to make his sword strikes easier to land . Another reason to switch to melee is when you have your back against the ledge and you want some space. (I've seen to many for Glory links try to roll all the way to the other side of the stage when I got close to them).

Thanks for your advice !

I try to find a good way to fight in melee, but it's tricky, the Fair don't touch the small opponents, the Nair is hard to space, and the Zair is hard to land on small opponents too. I usually space with Jab or Fast Fall Bair but i have the felling that can be better.

 

[Goulmania]

Thanks for your advice !

I try to find a good way to fight in melee, but it's tricky, the Fair don't touch the small opponents, the Nair is hard to space, and the Zair is hard to land on small opponents too. I usually space with Jab or Fast Fall Bair but i have the felling that can be better.

Small opponents are one of link's weakness imo, I try to run a Ftilt happy game when I face the likes of kirby, ness or "gay". Its large, spammable hit box makes it harder for them to approach I think FTilt>all of their aerial approaches (except maybe ness Fair).

Also Fair does hit small opponents if you fast fall it at the 1st hit, it should give the illusion that the "sword trail" makes a wall from the apex of your jump to the floor.

Use Zair only at mid range (so only the tip of it touches) against small characters. If you use it too close, either it'll miss or they'll punish you for the landing lag as they won't get hit by the second hit.

I use nair if they spot dodge or jump a lot but I feel like I'm not very good with it so I won't comment on it very much

I must admit though my melee game, aside from the garanteed follow-ups, needs some serious work but those are my impressions so far.

 

[Karaoke Man]

I have to agree with this. Boomerang is amazing against characters with low mobility and is a good anti-approach tool. But do not use it at close range or you will probably be punished against a good player, despite the extra damage. You can also use it to punish getup rolls (don't know the technical term for this).
The ledge gimp with the gale rang doesn't seem to work that well in this game because the windbox got weaker. It could still gimp vertical recoveries like Ik's but, I'd rather just gimp with Nair.

I mean yes, it does do damage against the opponent, but lets think of it this way;

I don't know if you've played it or not, but in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Gale Boomerang's function wasn't to be used against enemies in an offensive manner. It's main function was to reel things that were beyond your reach and to swing it back to Link.

With that being said, the priority isn't really to throw it at them; but to throw it behind them. When the opponent is in the position between Link and the Gale Boomerang's returning stance, it's as if Link is in two places at once. From here (depending on the height of the character you're facing) you can pressure them with a clawshot or with a bomb you may have been holding prior. To snare them into the wind that will pull them back to where Link is, so you can follow up with whatever it is you'd like.

A way you can have the Gale Boomerang pressure them from behind (since throwing it at them doesn't work unless they dodge) is to do a retreating Full Hop and at the point where you start to descend from the peak of your jump, you throw your Boomerang completely horizontal. Any other direction and you won't gain any advantage from the wind pulling effect from the Gale Boomerang.

This is essentially what makes up for Link's somewhat sluggish mobility and it's not like he was ever quick to begin with. He doesn't really need to approach.

Gale Boomerang forces the opponent to do that for him. Hope this helps yo

 

[Knife8193]

I mean yes, it does do damage against the opponent, but lets think of it this way;

I don't know if you've played it or not, but in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Gale Boomerang's function wasn't to be used against enemies in an offensive manner. It's main function was to reel things that were beyond your reach and to swing it back to Link.

With that being said, the priority isn't really to throw it at them; but to throw it behind them. When the opponent is in the position between Link and the Gale Boomerang's returning stance, it's as if Link is in two places at once. From here (depending on the height of the character you're facing) you can pressure them with a clawshot or with a bomb you may have been holding prior. To snare them into the wind that will pull them back to where Link is, so you can follow up with whatever it is you'd like.

A way you can have the Gale Boomerang pressure them from behind (since throwing it at them doesn't work unless they dodge) is to do a retreating Full Hop and at the point where you start to descend from the peak of your jump, you throw your Boomerang completely horizontal. Any other direction and you won't gain any advantage from the wind pulling effect from the Gale Boomerang.

This is essentially what makes up for Link's somewhat sluggish mobility and it's not like he was ever quick to begin with. He doesn't really need to approach.

Gale Boomerang forces the opponent to do that for him. Hope this helps yo

I never bothered using the windbox to my advantage because its weaker in this game and it is somewhat hard to get the timing right. That;s great advice though, instead of haphazardly tossing out a boomerang and letting it hit a shield, maybe I can short hop and either let them shield long enough (because they don't want to get sucked in by the returning windbox) to grab them or see them drop their shield and wait for them to come to me so I can charge a smash/tilt.

 

[RODO]

I see too many Links spamming boomerang and getting punished for using it too much. For pressuring I use the bow mostly in short bursts as it's a faster alternative. As a general rule I only use the boomerang for 3 things: extending combos, reading aerial approaches and cutting them off, and edge guarding. I hardly ever use it to just pressure opponents and I have found that I'm not getting punished as much anymore.

 

[Problem2]

I see too many Links spamming boomerang and getting punished for using it too much. For pressuring I use the bow mostly in short bursts as it's a faster alternative. As a general rule I only use the boomerang for 3 things: extending combos, reading aerial approaches and cutting them off, and edge guarding. I hardly ever use it to just pressure opponents and I have found that I'm not getting punished as much anymore.

Agreed, the boomerang just has too much wind-up to be used in neutral by itself. Your opponent can simply perfect shield it on reaction then advance towards you, and you don't want that. Like you said, I find it best for air stuff. Mainly jump then mix-up downward/upward boomerangs to juggle opponents trying to get to the ground.