Jihnsius
Smash Lord
The Sword of Seals: An In-Depth Look at Roy
Last updated 04/09/07
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Index:
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Chapter 1. Preface
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Section 2. About Me
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Section 3. Movement and Actions
Act 1. General
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Chapter 3.
Act 2. Specifics
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Chapter 4.
Act 1. Basic Chains
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Chapter 4.
Act 2. Grab Chains
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Chapter 4.
Act 3. Advanced Chains
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Chapter 5. Edgeguarding
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Roy's best offensive position is his edgeguarding. Let's get to it:
The possibilities are endless, just be creative.
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Chapter 6. Character Specific Strategies
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These strategies are a compilation of strategies I've found on the forums and some
of my own thoughts. Corrections and/or additions are greatly appreciated.
Bowser
Doctor Mario
Captain Falcon
Falco
Fox
Marth
Mr. Game & Watch
Peach
Samus
Sheik
Zelda
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Chapter 7. Random Inclusions
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These are just random things I haven't gotten around to organizing yet.
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Chapter 8. What's to Come
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A list of things I intend on working on in the near future:
More specific hitbox details
Character specific strategies
Stage specific strategies
Videos?
Trying to figure out what his last name is (I think the announcer says it in the Japanese setting, I just can't understand it)
Organizing this even more
Perfecting my Roy
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Chapter 9. The Sword of Seals Needs Your Help!
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Did I get something wrong? Forget to mention something? Do you disagree with me? Have anything you'd like to share? Post it here and I'll test it out!
Thanks for reading (unless you've given up already.)
- jihnsius
Last updated 04/09/07
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Index:
- 1. Preface
- 2. About Me
- 3. Movement and Actions
- A. General
- B. Specifics
- 4. Combos
- A. Basic Chains
- B. Grab Chains
- C. Advanced Chains
- 5. Edgeguarding
- 6. Character Specific Strategies
- 7. Random Inclusions
- 8. What's to Come
- 9. The Sword of Seals Needs Your Help!
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Chapter 1. Preface
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- This is my attempt at a FAQ for Roy.
- A few notes before we begin:
- Super Smash Brothers Melee runs at 60 frames per second. One frame is equal to 1/60th of a second. More specifically, one frame is exactly one iteration of the main function in the code for the game. Restricting how often this iteration can occur (1/60th of a second, in this case), gives us how the game runs smoothly. This, of course, is only the upper limit to how many frames can run per second. It can go as low as less than a frame second (as seen in the blackhole glitch).
- If you don't know any of the terminology used in this guide, they can be found at http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=42749 or by typing the term into the search bar at http://www.smashwiki.com
- Frame data can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/games5/superdoodleman/frames.html
- If you'd like to learn about the history of Roy, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_%28Fire_Emblem%29
- I suggest reading this with Technomancer's Roy Playbook at http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=95400
Section 2. About Me
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- I grew up in a sma...... blah blah...
- This FAQ isn't about me, is it? This is Roy's show.
- ... Let's start the show.
Section 3. Movement and Actions
Act 1. General
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- Jump
- Airborne on: 6
- Air time: 48
- Fastfall as soon as: 25
- Shortest fastfall time: 35
- Land lag:
- Note: I recommend never jumping with the analog stick.
- Double Jump
- Double jump as soon as: 7
- Fastfall as soon as: 22
- Shortest fastfall time: 29
- Land lag: 4
- Note: As with most characters, Roy's double jump is shorter than the regular jump. This can be used by double jumping immediately after the first jump if you need to jump higher than a shorthop, but shorter than a regular jump.
- Shorthop
- Airborne on: 6
- Air time: 29
- Fastfall as soon as: 16
- Shortest fastfall time: 19
- Land lag: 4
- Note: This is, as with most characters, Roy's most common jump. This is because in order to maintian speed while doing an aerial attack, you'll want to hit the ground as soon as possible in order to continue attacking or defending.
- Turn-jump threshold: 24
- Air Dodge
- Total frames: 49
- Invulnerable: 4-29
- Note: 49 total frames is the longest airdodge time (although almost every character has either 49 or 48 total). Invulnerability is the same, almost every character has a total of 25 invulnerable frames.
- Spot Dodge
- Total frames: 27
- Invulnerable: 2-18
- Note: Roy has a higher than average amount of invulnerability frames, and his invulnerability to total ratio is just about average.
- Use: Spot dodging should be used whenever you expect an attack or a grab that you normally wouldn't expect to be able to shield grab. Roy is the perfect weight for a lot of chainthrows, so spotdodging after a tech is the best way to get out of it.
- Roll
- Forward total: 35
- Backward total: 35
- Forward invulnerable: 4-19
- Backward invulnerable: 4-23
- Note: His forward roll has an average amount of invulnerability compared to the other characters, but has a lower invulnerability to total ratio (more lag when not invulnerable.) His backward roll has more invulnerability than average, and an average ratio.
- Ledge attack less than 100%
- Total frames: 54
- Hit on frame: 24-27
- Invulnerable: 1-20
- Note: Average total, average invulnerability, slightly less than average window for hitting.
- Use: This can be useful for recovery if you mix it up with other recovery techniques, but shouldn't be used too often.
- Ledge attack greater than 100%
- Total frames: 68
- Hit on frame: 38-41
- Invulnerable: 1-34
- Note: Again, average total, average invulnerability, slightly less than average window for hitting.
- Use: Contrary to the average totals, this should rarely be used, due to how long it takes to come out and how long of a reaction time it'll allow your opponent. If you're over 100%, choose alternatives for recovery.
- Ledge roll less than 100%
- Total frames: 48
- Invulnerable: 1-38
- Note: Average total, much higher than average invulnerability.
- Use: Since the invulnerability time is so high, this can be used as a safe recovery for many situations, such as if the enemy is charging a smash while you're on the ledge. This is great for edgeguarding, too, due to the high amount of invulnerability. Rolling when the enemy is attempting to up B to the stage will guarantee that you won't be hit, will ledgehog, and will open you to a forward smash if they land on the stage.
- Ledge roll greater than 100%
- Total frames: 78
- Invulnerable: 1-56
- Note: No special advantage over the less than 100% roll.
- Use: It takes longer and has more lag, so it's pretty much a rarity when you'd want to use this. If you're over 100%, stick to ledgehopping.
- Ledge stand less than 100%
- Total frames: 32
- Invulnerable: 1-30
- Use: The amount of invulnerability on this makes it a great way to recover from the ledge safely if you can utilize the invulnerability or if you're just going for a speedy recovery (although I'd stick to ledgehopping for speed).
- Ledge stand greater than 100%
- Total frames: 58
- Invulnerable: 1-55
- Note: Same as less than 100%, but with an extra frame of vulnerability.
- Use: I wouldn't recommend this for recovery as much, because of how long it takes and how long you'll give the opponent to react.
- Ledge jump less than 100%
- Total frames: 50
- Invulnerable: 1-11
- Fastfall as soon as: 35
- Use: This is a very situational maneuver, you won't be using it too often unless you need to get airborne to avoid an attack that would otherwise hit you while holding onto the ledge.
- Ledge jump greater than 100%
- Total frames: 57
- Invulnerable: 1-18
- Fastfall as soon as: 42
- Use: Even less situational, you'll probably never use this.
- Dash becomes run at frame: 16
- Note: You cannot crouch cancel out of a dash, so you'll need to be running if you plan on doing so. I believe running should be situational with Roy, as you'll be wavedashing a lot more often.
- Run turnaround: 44
- NOTE: All knockback listings are in general, and are not for any specific case (you may notice a difference in knockback when the enemy is at ~50% as opposed to when they're at 999%. I stuck with the ~50%.)
- NOTE: I will put knockback directions in order of which is more noticeable. If I say "up and forward," I mean that they travel up more than they do forward, and vice versa.
- Neutral A
- Damage: 2-6%
- Total frames: 31
- Hit on frame: 4-7
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 26
- Priority: Moderate
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword
- Knockback: Very little; forward and very slightly up.
- Note: A basic jab. Quick to hit and does little damage.
- Use: If you just need to get in a quick hit to hinder an opponent's leadin. Also useful in some situations where the enemy shields your aerial leadin and you're expecting to be shield grabbed.
- Dash Attack
- Damage 6-12%
- Total frames: 57
- Hit on frame: 12-15
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 40
- Priority: Moderate
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: The tip will send them up and forward, the center will send them up and back.
- Use: Very situational. If you don't have enough range to attack, you can use the dash attack to set them up for a reverse forward smash.
- Forward Tilt
- Damage 8-10%
- Total frames: 40
- Hit on frame: 9-13
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 40
- Priority: Moderate-high
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: The tip will knock them very slightly up and forward, the center will send them forward and up a considerable distance.
- Note: As everyone's stated before, this is Roy's "Mini forward smash." It has great knockback, range, and priority. Also note that the area that the disjoint on the forward smash misses will be covered by this attack.
- Use: Since it is faster than a forward smash and still has considerable knockback, this can be used for a KO at higher percentages.
- Down Tilt
- Damage 6-10%
- Total frames: 57
- Hit on frame: 8-10
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 20
- Priority: Moderate-high
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Cannot be interrupted by shield
- Knockback: Tipper will send them forward and up a little, the center will send them up and forward.
- Note: Roy's best setup. This attack will put them in perfect range for you to start an aerial combo. Light characters and fastfallers at high percentages can often be forward smashed from this. Crouchcancelling will ruin any down tilt setup, however.
- Use: If not crouchcancelled, this can set the enemy up in perfect range for a forward air, neutral air, up air, forward smash, and forward tilt. If fastfalled, you can chain this into a grab.
- Up Tilt
- Damage 6-8%
- Total frames: 45
- Hit on frame: 7-13
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 40
- Priority: Moderate-high
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: It depends on what part of the swing hits the character. The sweetspot knockback pretty much follows the trajectory of the sword swing, minus a forward influence. For example, if the enemy is hit when the sword is beginning to swing (which is travelling upwards), the enemy will be sent up and very slightly forward. If the enemy is hit when the sword is at the top of the swing, the enemy will be sent up and slightly backward. The tipper knockback follows the same trajectory, but is rotated 90degrees forward (beginning sends forward, end sends up and forward).
- Note: A very situational attack. The cooldown lag doesn't help it at all. I'd rather use a delayed SHFFL up air.
- Use: If the enemy is approaching from above and you don't have enough time to SHFFL up air. Due to the weird knockback properties on this attack, it will be very difficult to use this to set up into another attack, although not impossible.
- Forward Smash
- Damage 10-20%, 26% when fully charged
- Total frames: 57
- Hit on frame: 12-14
- Charges as soon as frame: 3
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 54
- Priority: High
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: Forward and up. The tipper is the same, with much less knockback.
- Disjointed hitbox: The beginning of the swing (up and behind Roy) will not hit the opponent unless they are up and in front of you.
- Note: This is one of Roy's main killing attacks. It does decent damage and has a lot of knockback (it can KO enemies from around 70-80% if sweetspotted). Learning to wavesmash is a must with Roy.
- Use: This can be chained out of the majority of his lead-in attacks at reasonable percentages.
- Down Smash
- Damage 13-21%, 25% when fully charged
- Total frames: 74
- Hit on frame: 6-8, 23-25
- Charges as soon as frame: 3
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 72
- Priority: High
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: The sweetspot of the sweeps knock the enemy up and away (forward if it hits with the forward sweep, back if it hits with the back sweep.) The tipper of the sweep will knock the enemy very slightly into the air up and away.
- Note: I believe this is an underestimated attack. Though you shouldn't be doing this attack when the enemy is at lower percentages, it can be a much easier way to kill someone at higher percentages due to how much faster it comes out than the forward smash.
- Use: If the enemy is rolling onto the stage, or if you don't have enough time for a forward smash.
- Up Smash
- Damage 1-20%
- Total frames: 62
- Hit on frame: 15-24
- Charges as soon as frame: 8
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 46
- Priority: High
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword (larger center than usual)
- Knockback: Sweetspot will send the opponent straight up a considerable distance, while a tipper will spike the opponent down and forward.
- Note: This is considered to be one of Roy's three spikes, but it is highly impracticle due to how hard it is to pull off and the fact that it can be meteor cancelled.
- Use: If the enemy is at too high of a percent to be chained into a forward smash, or if they are directly above you and there's no chance of missing.
- Neutral Air
- Damage 4-10%
- Total frames: 57
- Hit on frame: 7-8, 17-20
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 50
- Auto cancel: 6, 32
- Landlag: 20
- L-Cancelled: 10
- Priority: Moderate
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: The first hit doesn't have any knockback, and the second sends the enemy away and up (If they are hit by the front of the blade, they will be sent forward, and vice versa).
- Note: One of Roy's main lead-in attacks for low damage enemies. It has great distance, decent priority, and decent damage. The SHFFL of this move should be timed so that you fastfall later than you normally would, so that the second swing of the sword actually has time to connect before you L-Cancel.
- Use: I've heard a few people say that you should use this and land on the other side of the opponent so that they can't shieldgrab, but you need to be wary that you can be shieldgrabbed between hits on this attack. This attack sets up for a forward smash at low to mid percentages, and can also set up for a down-tilt and forward air. If the first hit connects and you L-Cancel immediately, you can grab out of this.
- Forward Air
- Damage 4-8%
- Total frames: 38
- Hit on frame: 5-7
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 35
- Auto cancel: 30
- Landlag: 20
- L-Cancelled: 10
- Priority: Moderate-high
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: This depends on what part of the swing they are hit by. If hit by the top, they will be sent at about a 45degree angle up and forward. If hit by the front, they will be sent forward and slightly up. If hit directly above Roy, they will be sent backward and up at a 45degree angle.
- Disjointed hitbox: The beginning of the swing (behind Roy) will not hit the opponent unless they are directly above you, and the end of the swing will not hit whatsoever (below Roy.)
- Note: Roy's best aerial attack. It never hurts to throw a few of these out if you have nothing better to do.
- Use: This can be chained from any of his aerial attacks or his down tilt and can be chained into any of his aerial attacks, a down tilt, a grab, a down smash, a forward smash, a DED, or even a flare blade.
- Back Air
- Damage 6-9%
- Total frames: 45
- Hit on frame: 8-10
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 43
- Auto cancel: 34
- Landlag: 24
- L-Cancelled: 12
- Priority: Moderate
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: Backward. If hit by the disjointed section of the hitbox, the enemy will be sent forward.
- Disjointed hitbox: The hitbox extends to very slightly in front of Roy.
- Use: This attack can be used to cover behind you, and can be chained out of a down throw (if DIed behind), an up throw, an up tilt, or an up air. It's generally more useful to do a forward air, though.
- Down Air
- Damage 5-9%
- Total frames: 68
- Hit on frame: 7-10
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 64
- Auto cancel: 6 55
- Landlag: 32
- L-Cancelled: 16
- Priority: Moderate
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: The hitbox anywhere below Roy will send the opponent straight up, and is the largest hitbox. The hitbox directly to either side of Roy will send the opponent straight down, and is rather small. The hitbox diagonally above Roy will send the opponent away and up, and is the smallest of the three.
- Note: One of Roy's biggest drawbacks, in my opinion, is that when you spike with this, it can be meteor cancelled.
- Use: Setting up for combos if you are directly above the opponent. This can be chained out of any of his aerial attacks and can also be chained into any of his aerial attacks. Spiking with this at high percents can almost guarantee a kill.
- Up Air
- Damage 5-8%
- Total frames: 52
- Hit on frame: 5-10
- Interruptible as soon as frame: 49
- Auto cancel: 4 30
- Landlag: 18
- L-Cancelled: 9
- Priority: Moderate
- Sweetspot: Center of the sword.
- Knockback: Straight up.
- Use: If the opponent is off the ground, this is the perfect setup for a forward smash or forward tilt. This can be chained from forward air, back air, down air, down tilt, and up throw, and can be chained into a forward smash, forward tilt, back air, forward air, down air, or even a grab.
- Standing Grab
- Total frames: 30
- Grab: 7-8
- Note: It's a grab.
- Dash Grab
- Total frames: 40
- Grab: 10-11
- Note: A grab from a dash. This is extremely situational and shouldn't be used unless you need the distance on the grab and you don't have the time to dash cancel grab.
- Forward Throw
- Damage 4-5%
- Knockback: Forward
- Note: A standard forward throw. I usually wouldn't use this attack unless the edge of the stage is in front of you and you want to throw them off.
- Back Throw
- Damage 4-5%
- Knockback: Back and slightly up.
- Note: This throw has a lot of cooldown lag and doesn't open the opponent for anything. If the opponent DIs incorrectly (toward you), you can chain this with another grab.
- Up Throw
- Damage 3-4%
- Knockback: Up and slightly back.
- Note: This throw can be useful for a few situations: You can chaingrab fastfallers a few times, lighter characters can be comboed into a Reverse Blazer, and it can also lead into a forward smash if they try to DI away from you.
- Down Throw
- Damage 5-6%
- Knockback: Up and back.
- Note: This is my favorite throw. Although it has a bit of cooldown lag, it can still be chained into a forward smash on lighter characters (or any character that DIs incorrectly), and if a light character doesn't DI away or jump out of it, you can chain this a few times.
- Flare Blade (Neutral B):
- Damage 6%-50% (10% to self if fully charged)
- Total frames (max): 231
- Total frames (min): 16
- Charges as soon as frame: 11
- Hit (from release of B): 5-10
- Max charge time: 211 frames
- 41%: 210 frames of charging, or 221 frames total
- Full charge hits only on 1 frame
- Knockback: Forward and up.
- Note: This Roy's most powerful move (unless you count the counter), one of his main killing attacks, and probably his most interesting in concept. The blade of the sword actually goes below the ground slightly, meaning if you do this to a character trying to sweetspot the ledge, you can still hit them. This is one of, if not, the best of his edgeguarding attacks. The Flare Blade also has an interesting fact that if you hit someone on the 210th frame of charging (I think that equals out to the 21st spark you see on his blade,) the enemy will actually be sent farther than a fully charged hit. Not too practical for a battle, but it's the key behind acheiving a good score on Homerun Contest.
- Double Edge Dance (Forward B to start):
- 1st hit (forward)
- Damage: 3-4%
- Total frames: 29
- Hit on frame: 6-8
- Can be continued between frames: 8-26
- Knockback: None (up and forward at extremely high percents)
- Note: This can be considered one of Roy's "jab" attacks. It comes out fairly fast, doesn't have any knockback, and can be comboed into other things. This attack also has the ability to stop Roy's vertical motion while maintaining a horizontal motion. This means that this attack can be used as a recoverymethod to get closer to the stage.
- 2nd hit (forward)
- Damage: 3-4%
- Total frames: 40
- Hit on frame: 14-16
- Can be continued between frames: 17-33
- Knockback: Forward (up and forward at extremely high percents)
- Note: Another quick jab, filler until the next in the combo.
- 2nd hit (up)
- Damage: 4-5%
- Total frames: 40
- Hit on frame: 12-15
- Can be continued between frames: 17-32
- Knockback: None (up at extremely high percents)
- Note: Another quick jab, filler until the next in the combo. I'd choose up for the second hit, due to the lack of knockback.
- 3rd hit (forward)
- Damage: 6-7%
- Total frames: 46
- Hit on frame: 11-14
- Can be continued between frames: 16-37
- Knockback: Up and forward (forward and up at extremely high percents)
- Note: This can make for a good KO. Has the best knockback out of any of the three sets so far.
- 3rd hit (up)
- Damage: 6-7%
- Total frames: 46
- Hit on frame: 13-17
- Can be continued between frames: 18-37
- Knockback: Down (Up if they're on the ground)
- Note: This is one of Roy's three spikes, but can be meteor cancelled and is thus inefficient to be used as a spike. If they don't tech once hitting the ground, this attack opens for you to hit them while they're down. If they tech in place or towards you, you can either grab or forward smash, and if they tech away, you can techchase.
- 3rd hit (down)
- Damage: 1-7%
- Total frames: 46
- Hit on frame: 16, 18, 20, 22
- Can be continued between frames: 23-35
- Knockback: Up and forward at a 45degree angle.
- Note: This move kills crouch cancelling by knocking the enemy to the floor.
- 4th hit (forward)
- Damage: 5-8%
- Total frames: 50
- Hit on frame: 23-26
- Knockback: Forward and up
- Note: The best KO hit out of the entire DED, although it will be very difficult to connect. This attack can hit opponents that are exposing a bodypart through their shield.
- 4th hit (up)
- Damage: 5-8%
- Total frames: 50
- Hit on frame: 20-25
- Knockback: Forward and up
- Note: The second best KO hit out of the DED. Hits a bit faster, but doesn't have quite as much knockback as the forward.
- 4th hit (down)
- Damage: 2-6%
- Total frames: 60
- Hit on frames: 13-15, 19-21, 25-27, 31-33, 37-38
- Knockback: None (up and forward at extremely high percents)
- Note: This is a multiple hit attack. Good for wearing down a shield. It also has the least amount of cooldown lag after the last hit, in case your opponent has shielded everything and you want to try to get out before they can grab you.
- 1st hit (forward)
- Blazer (Up B)
- Damage: 4-7%
- Total frames: 48
- Hit on frame: 9-21
- Invulnerable: 9
- Angle can be altered up to: 9
- Direction can be altered up to: 10
- Ledgegrab as soon as: 32
- Landlag: 30
- Cannot be L-Cancelled.
- Knockback: The knockback of this attack depends on which part of the attack the opponent is hit with. In basic: There is none. The opponent is pushed by the blade and is then sent up. The knockback on this attack is not variable to the percent of damage, it will always be the same amount.
- Note: The Blazer is unique in that you can change the arch at which Roy travels by immediately pressing left or right after pressing up+B. Note, though, that the gain of horizontal distance means the loss of vertical distance to make up for it. Be wary that when sweetspotting, a heavier character than you can lightshield to be pushed into an edgehog, causing you to self destruct. Don't attempt sweetspotting the enemy knows about this. This attack should never be used in combat (see below for Reverse Blazer).
- Reverse Blazer (Up B + back)
- Damage: Instant kill
- Total frames: 48
- Hit on frame: 9
- Invulnerable: 9
- Angle can be altered up to: 9
- Direction cannot be altered.
- Ledgegrab as soon as: 32
- Landlag: 30
- Cannot be L-Cancelled.
- Note: Here it is, HAL Laboratory's best oversight in the game! (Note the use of the word "oversight" and not "glitch." There is a big difference between the two.) This attack will only work on extremely light characters under certain conditions. You must be playing on a stage that doesn't have a higher than average ceiling, and you must be playing against an extremely light character. Jigglypuff is the prime example in this case, because she has the perfect weight for this to work on Final Destination straight off of the ground. The idea is that when you do the Blazer and immediately press back, Roy registers that he needs to turn around, and does so, but his sword doesn't make the same fluid transition, which gives it a very odd hitbox that connects below and behind Roy. If the light enemy in question is to be hit by this small disjointed hitbox, he or she will be sent flying to his or her doom. The idea of doing it is quite simple: Either be directly next to or slightly above your opponent, facing them. Press up+B and then press back. If done correctly, the enemy should stay behind you and be sent straight up towards the ceiling. There are very few characters this works on, and only Jigglypuff can be killed without having to be comboed into it off the ground.
- Counter (Down B)
- Damage: 1.5 times the power of the countered attack.
- Total frames: 59
- Attack will be countered on: 8-20
- Knockback: Up and away at a 45degree angle, and then down and away at a 45degree angle.
- Note: One of my favorite of Roy's moves. Roy's ability to do this can severely limit slower character's ability to KO sufficiently. I like to throw at least one of these out randomly in a match to surprise my opponent. Be wary, though, that you can only counter A and B attacks, you cannot counter grabs. Also note that attacks that move horizontall quickly (Phantasm or a horizontal Foxfire, for example) can move straight through you and completely miss your attempt to counter-attack. The cooldown lag on this attack severely limits it's ability as an edgeguarding tactic, since it's impossible to jump off the stage, counter, and return. If the enemy misses a sweetspot with an up+B, this can easily kill them, since up+B returns are generally quite powerful.
Chapter 3.
Act 2. Specifics
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- Forward Smash
- Roy's most important move. This attack is his main KO attack, and can kill many characters from as low as 75%, and at lower percents can get them off for some early edgeguarding. The sweetspot is the center of the sword, and shouldn't be chained unless you can connect it to the sweetspot, otherwise you're opening yourself up with the cooldown lag.
- Can be chained from: Up air, down air, forward air tipper (mid to high percents), forward air sweetspot (low percents), back air tipper (mid to high percents), back air sweetspot (low percents), down tilt, down throw (light characters), up throw (heavy characters.)
Down Smash- This move is a killer against floaty characters. It can KO at mid percents, and at higher percents against heavier characters. This can be used as a substitute for the forward smash in a lot of cases, due to the lower amount of startup lag, but I wouldn't use it unless it's guaranteed to connect, due to the longer amount of startup lag. This move also attacks behind Roy, but the sweetspot on the back sweep of the blade doesn't have enough knockback to kill an opponent until much higher percents.
- Can be chained from: Up air, down air, forward air tipper (mid to high percents), forward air sweetspot (low percents), back air tipper (mid to high percents), back air sweetspot (low percents), down tilt, down throw (light characters), up throw (heavy characters.)
Neutral B (Flare Blade)- This can be used as an aerial forward smash, just keep in mind that the sweetspot is at the tip of the blade, contrary to all of Roy's other attacks. An uncharged flare blade will do about the same as a sweetspotted forward air, but has a larger hitbox and a bit more upward knockback, so this can be used in place of a forward air in a lot of cases. On the ground, this move can be charged and unleashed when the enemy is stunned or recovering. A semi-charged flare blade can be as devastating as sweetspotted forward smash, and has a larger hitbox (both above and below.) Charging this move so the tip of the blade will hit off the edge of the level is one of Roy's best edgeguarding attacks, as it will hit a lot of sweetspot attempts. Just be wary that a fully charged flare blade will do 10% damage to yourself.
- Can be chained from: Up air, down air, forward air tipper (mid to high percents), forward air sweetspot (low percents), back air tipper (mid to high percents), back air sweetspot (low percents), down tilt, down throw (light characters), up throw (heavy characters.) Just be wary that in order to do it in the opposite direction, you must be in the air and tap the opposite direction, then press B.
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Chapter 4.
Act 1. Basic Chains
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- Down tilt -> Forward smash
- A fairly simple way to chain into a smash on floaty characters and fastfallers at higher percentages. DI and crouch cancelling can ruin this.
- Down tilt -> Forward air...
- One of the basic chain starters. Light characters and fastfallers at medium percentages can be chased all the way across the stage with chains of forward airs.
- SHFFL Forward air tipper -> Forward smash
- One of the more reliable ways to chain into a Forward Smash. DI won't be too much of a problem here, since your forward air will chain almost immediately into your forward smash.
- (air) SHFFL delayed Up air tipper -> Forward smash
- Probably the most reliable way to chain into a forward smash, since the up air will knock them up and not away. Delaying the up air in the SHFFL will allow you to put them in stun right before you hit the ground and to throw in your forward smash without a chance of missing. DI is a slight problem here, so you'll have to predict which way they'll go before you do the forward smash.
- (air) SHFFL Up air -> SHFFL Up air...
- On light characters and fastfallers with moderate percents, you can chain this a few times before they can recover, and eventually lead into a SHFFL delayed up air tipper -> forward smash to end the chain.
Chapter 4.
Act 2. Grab Chains
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- Down throw -> Forward smash
- Only possible on lighter characters and medium-weights with moderate percentage.
- Up throw -> Grab...
- Fastfallers can be chained a few times with this.
- Up throw -> Forward smash
- This should be possible at lower percents on most characters. If they DI too far, go for a wavesmash.
- Up throw -> Up air tipper -> Forward smash
- For if they have too high of a percent to hit them with the forward smash in time.
- Down throw -> Down throw
- Light characters that don't DI correctly can easily be down throw chained for a while.
- Down throw -> Techchase
- They should be hitting the ground the same time you start dashing, so just dash towards them and wait for them to tech. If they tech forward, grab, if they tech in place, grab, if they tech away, continue running to a grab. Be wary of a rising attack if they don't tech.
- Back throw -> Back throw
- Again, light characters with bad DI can be back chained throw at higher percentages.
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Chapter 4.
Act 3. Advanced Chains
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- Neo Combo: Forward throw -> Grab -> Back throw -> Down tilt -> Grab -> Up throw (repeat) -> Grab (hit) -> Up throw -> Up air -> Forward Smash
- This only works on fastfallers (Fox, Falco.) The first forward throw cannot be teched, they will land standing up so you can grab them again. After the back throw, you have to hope they won't know what's going on so they don't techroll. Once grabbed for the second time, you'll want to up throw until around 40-50%, depending on the character. Once you hit the spot where you think they'll be able to escape the up throw chain, hit them once (or twice if they're not wiggling), and then another up throw into the SHFFL up air into the forward smash, which will end at around 70-80%, and put you in the situation to start edgeguarding.
- Ken Combo: Forward air -> Forward air -> Forward air -> Down air
- Of course this works with Roy, but it's highly impracticle. The Down Air is very difficult to spike with, and can be meteor cancelled.
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Chapter 5. Edgeguarding
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Roy's best offensive position is his edgeguarding. Let's get to it:
- Neutral B (Flare Blade)
- This attack goes slightly lower than the stage's floor, allowing you to hit sweetspotters with it. Get the timing right and your opponent won't want to try to sweetspot anymore.
- Down B (Counterattack)
- Once they decide not to sweetspot anymore, they'll try returning to the stage high. Roy's counterattack will destroy most up+B recoveries, though it won't guard against shieldbreaker recoveries (Ganondorf, Captain Falcon.)
- Edgehog, roll, forward smash
- Roy has a high amount of invulnerability frames for his ledgeroll. Put this to use by rolling through their up+B recoveries and throwing a forward smash in their face (down smash comes out a few frames faster, so that might be preferable if they're at high percentages.)
- Edgehog, jump back, back air
- This can stop people from even making it as far as the stage, though it is very difficult to time correctly so that you, yourself can make it back to the stage. Not to mention the small hitbox on the back air. Let's try not to throw this out every time they're returning, let's just say it's there if you need to use it.
- (theoretical) jump off, counterattack, return
- I've heard that weaker attacks will make your counterattack lag much less than usual. If this is the case, you should be able to jump off and throw out a counterattack to thwart their attempt to return to the ledge (assuming they'll try to keep you off of them by doing an aerial attack). If they do an up+B recovery and hit your counterattack, just claim that it was originally a suicide mission all along. I'm not sure if the theory is true, but I'll look into it sometime.
- Edgehog, roll, up smash spike
- Not too probable to happen, but it's there for a flashy KO if you can pull it off.
- Ledgehop, DED (forward, forward, up/forward)
- Edgehog and force them to try to recover high. When they start their up B, jump onto the stage and do a forward forward up DED to spike them back down, or a forward forward forward to KO horizontally at higher percents.
The possibilities are endless, just be creative.
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Chapter 6. Character Specific Strategies
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These strategies are a compilation of strategies I've found on the forums and some
of my own thoughts. Corrections and/or additions are greatly appreciated.
Bowser
- Stages in Roy's favor: ...
- Stages against Roy's favor: Yoshi's Story, anything with close horizontal deadzone borders.
- Bowser is the perfect weight for most of your chains.
- Try to avoid leadins from above to diagonally above, as his whirling fortress can outprioritize anything you throw at him. Never put yourself in the position of being directly next to him and unabale to move/attack immediately.
- Your best bet is to mindgame him out of crouch cancelling a whirling fortress whenever you attempt to leadin to him. Start most of your chains with grabs, and then throw out aerial leadins when he expects you to go in for a grab.
- Techchasing from chainthrows will ruin him, since he has a terrible spot dodge and an even slower jump.
- Bowser's up B can be L-Cancelled, thus changing your edgeguard game. Instead of rolling to a smash, you'll now be ledgehopping an up air to a forward smash to keep him off.
- Playing defensively can put you on the offense more often than not, due to his extremely laggy attacks. Throw out forward airs while not attacking to bait him in to
attack you, and then punish his misses with a grab, aerial, or smash.
Doctor Mario
- Stages in Roy's favor: Battlefield, Fountain of Dreams...
- Stages against Roy's favor: Final Destination, Yoshi's Story, large stages..
- Roy can be chaingrabbed at low to mid percents with Doc's down throw, so try to do all aerial leadins with tippers, or land behind him.
- Aside from being chainthrown, he will most commonly use his back throw. Try to DI towards the stage and up whenever grabbed, to avoid a back throw KO and chaingrabs.
- Doc's pills can be devastating, but keep in mind that your blade can cancel them out. The blade won't continue it's animation, it'll just cancel out with the pill, so DED is useless to get through them.
- Doc is a great weight for aerial and throw into smash combos, so don't hesitate throwing out a forward smash when you get an aerial tipper in on him. Also, all grabs should be either be down throws to get in a forward smash, or forward throws to throw off their DI and hope for another forward smash or tech chase.
- Down tilt will also be great, used for spacing, chaining into forward smashes, grabs, forward airs, and up airs.
- Stay on a small stage and keep the pressure on him with tippers to smashes or grabs, and he shouldn't have the spacing he needs to get off most of his KO attacks.
- Edgeguarding shouldn't be too big of a problem, since edgehogging will be simple, and your flare blade can destroy sweetspot attempts.
- Doc's most utilized throw is back, especially when he's near the ledge facing away. DI up and towards the stage in this case.
Captain Falcon
- Stages in Roy's favor: Final Destination, Pokemon Stadium, Past Stages: Dreamland.
- Stages against Roy's favor: Battlefield, Yoshi's Story.
- Roy is the perfect weight for Falcon's up air to forward air knee juggles. DI will be key in this matchup. If he hits you with an up air at 75% or lower, DI down and away to avoid being hit with another up air or a forward air knee. If at 75% or higher, DI up and toward to avoid the knee (another up air is guaranteed, though).
- At low percentages, if grabbed, expect to be down thrown to a techchase. Utilize Roy's good spotdodge and shieldhop up airs to put you on the offensive. Rising attacks instead of techs can also throw him off from time to time.
- At high percentages, If grabbed, expect a down throw to forward air knee combo. DI down and away and try to fastfall and tech as soon as possible. Although, at mid to high percentages, it is almost guaranteed for his knee to connect.
- If Falcon throws an aerial attack at your shield, do not shieldgrab unless you're positive it will connect. Falcon has the ability to either space himself and hit barely hit your shield with a neutral air, or to pass through your shield completely, both opening you up for punishment on a missed shield grab. Instead, either roll away from an aerial attack, or throw out a shield hopped up air or back air to either put you on the offensive or push him away.
- Up throw to forward smash will work well at low to mid percentages.
- DED Combo: Forward, Up, Down, Forward/Up. At most percentages, the up will set Falcon up perfectly for the down, which will set him up perfectly for the final hit.
- Edgeguarding will be the easiest part of this matchup. His up B recovery can be punished (even sweetspotted) quite easily with forward smash, Flare Blade, down smash, and down tilt.
Falco
- Stages in Roy's favor: Final Destination.
- Stages against Roy's favor: Anything else.
- Powershielding will be a big advantage for you in this matchup, severely reducing one of his advantages over you.
- Falco's weight opens him for a lot of tippered aerial to forward smash attacks.
- Down tilt will open Falco for a forward smash, grab, DED, or aerial chain at any low to mid-high percentages.
- DED Combo: Forward B, Forward B, Up B, Down B. This will kill crouch cancelling and hit him while he's down. If shielding, the last hits can really wear down the shield.
- DED Combo: Forward B, Up B, Forward B. At low to mid percentages, if they're not crouch cancelling, the second hit in this combo should hit Falco high enough for the third hit to connect, which can be a flashy KO.
- DED Combo: Forward B, Up B, Down B, Forward B. At around 100%, the third hit will knock them perfectly in the air to open for a forward B KO (assuming he doesn't DI up and away). Crouch cancelling ruins this.
- Chaingrab up throws: Falco can be chainthrown with up throw a few times. If Falco is to DI away, it will only help with the chaining. Works up to around 40%.
- Countering Falco's up+B Foxfire can be a KO at mid to high percentages. Make sure you throw out a counter if they try to recover high. Be wary, though, that if Falco is to recovery horizontally with Foxfire or Phantasm, he will go straight through your counter before it can hit him. Keep in mind, also, that if you're expecting to counter Falco's Phantasm, that he can adjust the distance he travels to miss your counter.
- Flare Blade can kill any sweetspot attempts with either Foxfire or Phantasm.
Fox
- Stages in Roy's favor: Final Destination, and to a lesser extent, Pokemon Stadium and Past Stages: Dreamland.
- Stages against Roy's favor: Anything else.
- Fox's shinespike is extremely detrimental to Roy, due to Roy's low amount of traction. Watch out for any shine combos Fox might throw your way, especially towards the edge of the stage.
- Fox's weight opens him for a lot of tippered aerial to forward smash attacks.
- Crouch cancelling is a must when in the center of the stage, due to Fox's up smash. Crouch cancelling towards the end of the stage could spell disaster if Fox shines you off the edge.
- Chaingrab upthrows: Fox can be chainthrown with up throw a few times. If Fox is to DI away, it will only help with the chaining. Works up to around 40%.
- Down tilt will open Fox for a forward smash, grab, DED, or aerial chain at any low to mid-high percentages.
- DED Combo: Forward B, Forward B, Up B, Down B. This will kill crouch cancelling and hit him while he's down. If shielding, the last hits can really wear down the shield.
- DED Combo: Forward B, Up B, Forward B. At low to mid percentages, if they're not crouch cancelling, the second hit in this combo should hit Fox high enough for the third hit to connect, which can be a flashy KO.
- DED Combo: Forward B, Up B, Down B, Forward B. At around 100%, the third hit will knock them perfectly in the air to open for a forward B KO (assuming he doesn't DI up and away). Crouch cancelling ruins this.
- Countering Fox's up+B Foxfire can be a KO at mid to high percentages. Make sure you throw out a counter if they try to recover high. Be wary, though, that if Fox is to recovery horizontally with Foxfire or Phantasm, he will go straight through your counter before it can hit him. Keep in mind, also, that if you're expecting to counter Fox's Phantasm, that he can adjust the distance he travels to miss your counter.
- A perfectly sweetspotted Foxfire cannot be Flare Bladed, although a Phantasm can.
- A good strategy to practice when about to be hit with an up air is rotating the control stick in circles to hope for a smash DI out of the hitbox of the second hit.
Marth
- Stages in Roy's favor: Fountain of Dreams, Past Stages: Dreamland. Anything you can easily keep pressure on without Marth distancing himself easily.
- Stages against Roy's favor: Battlefield, Final Destination, Pokemon Stadium.
- Marth has the obvious advantage of range over Roy (they have the same range, but Marth is more powerful with his range). Since Marth's sweetspot is the end of his blade and vice versa with Roy, keeping pressure on Marth is key. If you close to him at all times, he'll have a lot less time to line up a sweetspot, and you'll stay in range for all sweetspots.
- Down throw to forward smash works well at low to mid percentages.
- Down throw or back throw off the edge to a DED spike combo can get in a few hits and keep him off the stage. Never end the combo with the spike, though, since it can be meteor cancelled.
- Roy is heavier than Marth, meaning that a lightshield aimed off the edge of the stage can edgehog Marth's return if he uses his up B.
- Flare Blade can kill any sweetspot attempts with his up B, so long as you're not hit first.
Mr. Game & Watch
- Stages in Roy's favor: Final Destination, Past Stages: Dreamland, Pokemon Stadium.
- Stages against Roy's favor: Fountain of Dreams, Battlefield.
- G&W has slightly more range over Roy, but all of his moves have more lag in both startup and cooldown. If the G&W is playing aggressively, take a more defensive style of play and wait for his misses.
- G&W has the second worst shield in the game. Abuse it. If the shield isn't fully powered, almost every one of your hits will connect. If he shields, there's no such thing as too much DED.
- Remember that G&W's back air and neutral air cannot be L-Canceled, although his neutral air has much less lag than his back air. Do not forget to punish any missed attempts at hitting you with his back air.
- Roy is the right weight to be destroyed with G&W's throws, whether it be downthrow chains, or up throw to parachute. Try to keep your distance and watch out for shieldgrabs. Landing behind him is preferable if you hit his shield, because his down tilt will set you up for anything he wants.
- If grabbed, I'd say go for DI up and behind. This will help get out of chainthrows, up throw to parachute, and back throw to anything chains.
- Down throw to forward smash will work at low to mid-high percents, and you might even be able to up-throw chain him a few times.
- DED Combo: Forward, Up, Down, Forward/Up. At low to mid percents, all hits should connect if timed right. If he's on the ground, you're guaranteed to hit through his shield.
- Edgeguarding will probably be the worst part of this matchup, since G&W can grab the ledge from a mile away. Your best bet is probably to let him grab the ledge and try to return from there, since his rolls, standup attack, and ledgehopping isn't too great. If he's on the ledge, he pretty much only has one option: forward air onto the stage. Anticipate when he's about to do it, and throw out a counter to show that Roy can be more flashy than him. If he does anything else, a flare blade or forward smash should put him in his place.
Peach
- Stages in Roy's favor: I'd go for Final Destination, but it's debatable that Roy has none in his favor.
- Stages against Roy's favor: Possibly all of them.
- Crouch cancelling will ruin you in this matchup.
- Grabbing will be about half of your strategy in this matchup. Your dash canceled grab will outprioritize and outrange a lot of her attacks.
- Down throw is a perfect setup to forward smash at low percentages.
- Up throw can KO at medium-high percentages.
- Your range will be your key factor to the melee portion of this matchup, tipping any aerial leadins will prevent her crouch cancelled down smash from touching you, and open up for a forward smash.
- Your sword can knock her turnips out of your way, and your counter can kill if she tries to throw a stitchface or bobomb at close range. Also practice grabbing items in mid-air, giving you a serious advantage over her. Teach her not to use turnips. Once that's done, she's lost a major part of offensive advantage over you.
- DED combos will help you cover ground, stay offensive, and knock turnips out of the way.
- Flare Blade will be an awesome way to keep her off the stage, since her parasol will slowly glide her back and you'll have plenty of time to charge it. If you line up for a tipper Flare Blade to hit her sweetspots, her up B Parasol won't have any chance of hitting you.
- Her neutral air will ourprioritize any of your attacks so long as it hits your body. Keep this in mind when doing chains, don't attempt to keep chaining unless you're certain of getting the hit in.
- Peach's forward throw is deadly and is almost guaranteed to be used at mid-high percents. DI up and towards her to nearly half the horizontal distance she throws you.
Samus
- Stages in Roy's favor: ...
- Stages against Roy's favor: Pretty much anything.
- Roy's sword can stop any missile attacks from hitting you. If you're afraid of missing the missile, though, Roy can duck lower than her straight-fired missile's trajectory. Homing missiles are slow enough to not have to worry about ducking under.
- Your counterattack can destroy Samus on a misfired charged shot, so try to anticipate when she'll throw one at you.
- Samus is a great crouch canceller, which severely limits your leadins and combos. Grabbing can turn out to be one of the keys on keeping her airborne and not allowing her to crouch cancel anymore.
- Down throw to forward smash should work at lower percentages.
- DED at close range should help to keep missiles off you, and hopefully open you up to hit her with the third spike to knock her down if she's crouch cancelling.
- Your ledge roll at less than 100% will have plenty of invincibility frames to force her to fluke a sweetspot and recover on the stage, opening you for a forward or down smash, or even a forward tilt.
- Flare Blade can kill any sweetspot attempts with her up B.
Sheik
- Stages in Roy's favor: ...
- Stages against Roy's favor: All of them.
- Staying in the center of the stage is a must.
- Use your range to your advantage, and try to do all tipper combos you can possibly pull off. Don't allow her to grab you, as Roy is the perfect weight for any of her chainthrows.
- If grabbed, the best bet to get out of chaingrabs is to either DI off the edge if you're close to it or DI very slightly behind her and try to jump as soon as possible so as to throw off her grab rhythm.
- Sheik is the perfect weight for a mid to high percent down-throw to forward smash combo, though you may need to wavesmash.
- Try to capitalize on her up B cooldown lag by forcing her to recover high with a ledgehog. With good timing you can ledgejump an up air to forward smash.
Zelda
- Stages in Roy's favor: Final Destination, Pokemon Stadium, Past Stages: Dreamland.
- Stages against Roy's favor: Battlefield, Yoshi's Story, Kongo Jungle, Past Stages: Kongo Jungle.
- This is one of Roy's most interesting matchups. All of your aerial leadins have the same range and priority of Zelda's, thus hindering your desire to want to jump in at her. She is fairly light, demolishing any air or throw chains you would otherwise want to do. This match pretty much boils down to ground game and punishment.
- If you're too far to punish, throw out a few one, two, and an ocassional three hit DED combo to try to jab her into some damage. Due to her slow approaches, she won't have any choice but to avoid or shield.
- Down tilt into forward smash. If you're close enough to get it in, do it. It's one of the only chances you'll have to chain into a smash.
- Shieldgrabbing is the only time you'll want to grab, as there's always the better option of smashing for punishment. If you grab her, try to mix between forward and down throws. If she DIs incorrectly, both can lead to a forward smash. If she DIs correctly, she'll either attack or jump. Either way, it'd be the perfect time to throw in a DED combo to close ground slowly and possibly punish her inability to punish you.
- Dashdance often. Try to get her to open herself up with a fluke. If she doesn't know whether to play offensively or defensively, your sword can take care of the rest.
- And above all: DON'T LET HER DOWN B!
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Chapter 7. Random Inclusions
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These are just random things I haven't gotten around to organizing yet.
- Stage of choice: Final Destination. He does extremely well in flat spaces, since he can stay in control of both the ground and the sky. Some of my other favorite stages for Roy would have to be Pokemon Stadium and Past Stages: Dreamland, since they both utilize a wide flat space with platforms that are out of the way of the main area.
- Bad matchups: Peach, Sheik.
- Against shieldgrabbers: Use Roy's tipper game to your advantage. Most of his smashes are set up through aerial tippers, just spam them like crazy to wear down their shield and wait for your opening for a grab or smash.
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Chapter 8. What's to Come
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A list of things I intend on working on in the near future:
More specific hitbox details
Character specific strategies
Stage specific strategies
Videos?
Trying to figure out what his last name is (I think the announcer says it in the Japanese setting, I just can't understand it)
Organizing this even more
Perfecting my Roy
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Chapter 9. The Sword of Seals Needs Your Help!
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Did I get something wrong? Forget to mention something? Do you disagree with me? Have anything you'd like to share? Post it here and I'll test it out!
Thanks for reading (unless you've given up already.)
- jihnsius
