Thunderstorm - Thunder tome and its levels

[Loki]

It is no surprise to anyone that Robin's playstyle revolves heavily around using thunder and its different charges to control the spacing and flow of the battle (to the best of the match-up capabilities), however quite a handful of battles, I've noticed (at least on my own playstyle) a certain growing preference on certain charges.

In my case for example, I've seen myself prioritizing more Elthunder over the stronger two charges, specially when it comes to figthing speedsters like Lil'Mac, Greninja and Sheik. Thunder simply fails to provide me with the overall power I need to keep those tricky fighters in place, it lacks range, size, knockback and speed to be of any meaningful use. Elthunder on the other hand has proved to be the superior charge again and again thanks to his quick accesibility, great speed and size and pretty decent knocback.

Overall, I've come to really preffer Elthunder because of its properties over the rest. It is quick to charge (Only about a second instead of the handful more of the others), good coverage both horizontaly and verticaly, and decent hit-power. Also I've used this again and again effecively in not only gimping, but also controlling falling characters, making touching the ground the hardest thing for them.

I still use arcthunder and Thoron even more than thunder and the later, however none of these see as much action (and provide as much reward) as Elthunder. Arcthunder altough powerful is rather slow and takes a long time to charge. Thoron is without a doubt the faster, but also the most taxing in both time and uses and most of the times you will not be getting to Thoron for free. Thunder is overall a bad projectile... some characters can easily avoid it by crouching (or sliding) and/or the hit it provides is so neglectable you might as well be jumping or atacking with a sword instead.

This is how I feel overall about such a key move of Robin. How do you feel abou it? wich level you find yourself using more and why? I am also opening this in hopes of discusing the importance of the move in certain match-ups and situations.

 

[Tuvillo]

Arcthunder is likely the best option in a neutral game. It's the only one that can combo the way Arcfire does.

 

[Jade_Rock55]

I agree I also use elthunder the most for the reasons you stated and I use arc thunder for combos.

 

[lunarum]

Yup, Elthunder is pretty useful for its range and speed. As a plus, it doesn't do much less damage than Arcthunder, which would need a followup with your sword for its best potential. I tend not to use Thoron a lot, as I'm a bit wary of burning through the uses. But it does good damage for a projectile, and I sometimes use it for finishing off opponents at high percentages, to avoid risking damage.

I may be forgetting someone, but I also don't think any other character has a chargeable projectile, which offers such drastically different properties and versatility. (Another reason to love Robin :D)

 

[Hong]

I may be forgetting someone, but I also don't think any other character has a chargeable projectile, which offers such drastically different properties and versatility. (Another reason to love Robin :D)

Pac-Man's Bonus Fruit is actually more distinct.

The Key, the Thoron-equivalent, is the "strongest", but all of the Bonus Fruit starting from the Apple have their own unique advantages.

 

[lunarum]

Pac-Man's Bonus Fruit is actually more distinct.

The Key, the Thoron-equivalent, is the "strongest", but all of the Bonus Fruit starting from the Apple have their own unique advantages.

Oh yeah, it's been a while since I saw a pac-man online.

 

[Loki]

Arcthunder is likely the best option in a neutral game. It's the only one that can combo the way Arcfire does.

I dunno, I kind of disagree. Unlike arcfire, arcthunder does not trigger unless it hits the opponent and because of its speed it is easy to shield or plainly avoid. For neutral game I would say thunder and once again, Elthunder are the best options, Elthunder avobe thunder even. This because of the time you need for tha charges. Also, Elthunder covers way more ground than thunder and has a bigger hitbox, making it hard for small rushdown characters like greninja to get close. Against the likes of him I doubt you will ever have the chance to charge beyond Elthunder anyways...

 

[CharZane]

As a note, my favorite use of Elthunder ever is reflecting gordos at Thoron speeds back at Dedede-- Elthunder makes for such a great first move in that matchup, and it's great for gordo reads in general. Thunder tends to be pretty non-useful as a projectile, but I find it handy to use at medium ranges just to screw with timings-- hitting before they can get into dash-attack range will often confuse them for a half-second enough that the follow-up Arcfire or whatnot lands all the easier. Its priority is really pathetic, though, unfortunately. I tend to use Arcthunder a bit more in most matchups for the power at midrange and the combos up close, though versus Samus I find myself using Thoron and Thunder to cut through missiles more than the other two. I feel like thunder might be nice versus Lucario to stop force-palms, but I've not had much chance to test that yet. Thoron's speed makes it surprisingly easy to fake someone out with, though-- starting a dash or short hopping just to use one really messes with peoples' heads sometimes. Though, it surprises me how often distant Arcthunders hit when they're landing after escaping some juggle or the like.

Also, few things feel worse than Arcthundering a flare blitz from too close to cancel it. Other than perhaps Elthundering it and having that Brawl-Mach-Tornado priority flat ignore you. I feel like thunder might make for a great dash-cancel grab combo by interrupting foes, but I've not managed to try such yet, myself.

 

[Dark Lady]

I like using regular thunder to shut down other players' shorthop approach. It's fairly good at stuffing them.

 

[False Sense]

Personally, I think Elthunder, Arcthunder, and Thoron are all very useful and potent in their own right. As the OP mentions, Elthunder has a solid speed and a quick charge up that make it ideal for hitting characters before they have a chance to react. Arcthunder, while slower, has more power than Elthunder and can actually trap the opponent in place like Arcfire can. This means that you can follow the attack up with something else, whether that be a powerful Levin Sword strike or an Arcfire spell to rack up even more damage. And just because it's a projectile doesn't mean you have to use it from a distance; its stunning properties make it an effective tool to use when the opponent is close to you, as they usually won't expect it and it makes it that much easier to hit the opponent while they're locked in place. Thoron, of course, combines the speed and power of Elthunder and Arcthunder into a powerful beam that can send the opponent flying if they make contact with any part of it. Aside from being a good move to rack up damage with or just outright kill opponents with, it also puts a certain amount of pressure on the opponent; no one wants to get hit by a Thoron, and just by having one fully charged up, you can force the opponent to play more defensively (sometimes dangerously so) than they usually would. And this works quite well for Robin considering that he/she usually wants to keep opponents at a distance.

In short, I think all of the charged forms of Thunder have their own unique uses in battle, and a good tactician should be able to use the best qualities of each to tip the scales in their favor.

 

[Folt]

I use Arcthunder to rack up damage and force shielding, use Thoron to launch and possibly kill opponents, and Elthunder as a surprise projectile because of it's speed and because people tend to expect the other two. I also use Thunder for projectile spamming if I can.

 

[CosmicFuzz]

Elthunder is good to throw an opponent off their game. Arcthunder is usually used as a safe approach for me, if I hit with Arcfire you can bet that an Arcthunder is coming followed by a Levin Smack.

I'm finding less and less use for Thoron though, I guess it can work as a surprise launcher but power shielding seems pretty easy in this game to find much use for it.

 

[CharZane]

Elthunder is good to throw an opponent off their game. Arcthunder is usually used as a safe approach for me, if I hit with Arcfire you can bet that an Arcthunder is coming followed by a Levin Smack.

I'm finding less and less use for Thoron though, I guess it can work as a surprise launcher but power shielding seems pretty easy in this game to find much use for it.

I've found Thoron to be useful mostly for the fact that airdodges have that landing lag where they can't shield-- though an aerial Thoron can really screw with someone's recovery (though it can be quite difficult to use as such). Not as all-around useful as Arcthunder, certainly, but there are certainly times when the projectile speed plays to your favor-- such as against characters who're generally quite safe from Arcthunder (be that via reflectors, their own projectiles, or being Rosalina). Given that it has some multihit properties (albeit more end lag as well), it can still work for most of the purposes that Arcthunder would, as well-- so it's not too common you find yourself to have charged 'too much', as you might on occasion for having an Arcthunder when you might be wanting to toss out some Elthunders or whatnot.

A great parallel I've found for Thunder, though, is that its usage is almost exactly when a Megaman would be using the lemons-- or not quite the usage of Greninja's water shuriken, perhaps... finding parallels might help find more usages for some. ^^

 

[Zareidriel]

In the beginning, I found myself using Thoron only. Charge it up, dodge, attack sometimes, and Thorons all day.

But, after learning the intricacies of Robin, I found myself using a lot more El Thunder and Arcthunder to punish from range and set up combos.

I can't hardly use Thunder at all. Something to work on.

However currently I went back to using mainly Thoron. Why? One main reason: it is the fastest. Although it is also the most powerful, it's the one that is most easily to punish the opponent's mistake. Even a roll, at any range, can be punished with a well-timed Thoron! It's superb!

So I'm currently probably at these percentages of spells cast:

Thunder: 1%
El Thunder: 20%
Arcthunder: 10%
Thoron: 69%