Bowser Stat Changes
- Weight increase. Now 135 from 130.
- Run speed increase of 10% - which is a very average boost for most of the roster.
- Air speed increase of 15.5% - which is much higher than the average 5% air speed increase for most characters
- Fall speed increase of 27.34% - effectively no longer a "floaty heavyweight" now that he can fall faster than sheik. This should improve his vertical survivability but also make him even easier to combo vertically.
- Walk speed increase - though it doesn't matter much given what you can do from a run in this game.
Engine Changes
- Jumpsquats are now 3 frames universally. Bowser can take off from the ground five frames faster, vastly improving combos and the viability of shorthop aerials.
- Characters rise to the top of their initial jump height much faster. Further aiding combo starters from the ground. Be sure not to burn your double jump too hastily if you need to reach somewhere high fast.
- Landing lag drastically reduced on about 98% of aerials. See his aerials for the new numbers
- Run cancels. You can do any grounded attack out of a run without having to come to a complete stop first. Bowser's grounded moves have insane reach and priority and his run speed is still incredible so he benefits from this more than most.
Jab 1
- Base Damage: 4% from 5%
- Endlag increased by 4. Transitions to Jab 2 on frame 10 from 12.
- Knockback angle changed. Now hit victim toward Bowser if they are too far and away from him if they are too close. Bowser can now jab lock with this move as a result.
Jab followups other than maybe Side B are definitely a thing of the past thanks to the endlag increase and that's a shame. Your best bet is to finish the jab combo, to put them in a disadvantage state or edgeguard situation. As for the knockback angle change, this is technically a global change as almost every character in the game had their Jab 1 changed to this new autolink-esque angle. As well as better jab transitions to ensure victims don't fall out as easily. Being able to jab lock is an exciting set of possibilities completely new to Bowser, though it should be noted that
jab locking itself has been changed in Ultimate more for the worse than for the better.
Jab 2
- Base Damage: 6% from 6.5%
Ftilt
- New Knockback based heavy armor on frame 7-9.
- Relevant Engine Change: Character position barriers increased. Now that you can't walk or run inside another player when on the ground, Bowser will no longer F-tilt past an opponent
Utilt
- Utilt Base Damage 11% from 9%
- New Knockback based heavy armor on frame 8-10
Of all of Bowser's moves to get a little bit of armor, I find this to be the most exciting. Bowser's Utilt had the disjoint to beat a Cloud Dair with sufficient timing and being able to do this from a run gives him great pressure against landings and sharking platforms.
Dtilt
- Base Damage 7% and 8% from 14% and 11%
- Knockback based armor on frame 7-9
- Second swipe on frame 15 from 20. Total frames unchanged.
I didn't like the damage change at first, but since two swipes connecting almost never happened in Smash 4, the real damage change is 15 from 14. And a larger window to (randomly) cause trips at low percents is a nice bonus too. The second swipe appears to match Smash 4's swipe 1 in kill power as well, maybe even before the 1v1 damage multiplier is applied which is a nice surprise. I wish they put some armor frames in between swipes and toned down the endlag now that the move ends earlier, but otherwise I'm much more optimistic about this move than I was pre-release.
Dash Attack
- No longer has a weaker late hit.
Nothing significant has changed with this attack. It was a great burst option in the previous game, but now that Bowser's got his full toolset available from a run, I can't see this move competing as much with his tilts. About half of Smash 4's dash attacks got a buff in endlag to compete with their other grounded tools so it's a little bit of a shame to see Bowser's not get one.
Fsmash
- Knockback based armor on frame 17-19.
Still the old drop kick
Usmash
- Damage increased. 22% base on shell from 20%. Sourspot hit now 16% from 15. Landing hit now 12% from 6%
- Knockback based armor on frame 11-13 and 28-31. In other words, three frames before and four frames after invincibility window.
- Relevant engine change, you can Usmash directly out of shield, no need to jump cancel first.
Dsmash - Completely New Move
- Now a double swipe on frames 12 and 28 dealing 15 and 16% respectively. 73 FAF.
- Knockback based armor on 5-11
I haven't played much with this move. It hits ledge hangers, has good range, it will kill, it's laggy. Not much jumps out at me besides that armor window being quite generous. I wish the second swipe also had some armor before it came out. If you want an early kill move out of a run against a grounded opponent, use this instead of the longer windup Fsmash. But if they're already at very high 130+ percent, settle for the F-Tilt instead which will open up less of a punish window if you miss or get blocked.
Nair
- Landing lag now 15 from 20
Starfish combos look great in Training Mode but this is still an iffy move to fall on people with due to the arm and leg knockback values being wildly different. The combo potential is considerable. N-air to B-air is a fabulous true kill confirm, but you've just gotta hope your attacks hit the opponent right and targets smaller than Mario rarely get hit by the feet hitboxes unless your timing is excellent. And if they do block, hit them with Side B. It will probably work unless they panic dodge roll away.
Fair
- Landing lag now 14 from 24.
Landing Fair is miles better in this game, and can set up into combos of its own at certain percent windows. Switch between auto cancel timing and landing Fairs in order to stay unpredictable. If your Fairs come out at the same time every time while you space, you open yourself up to being perfect shielded. This move is still best as a spacing tool and its wide radius, range and damage make it a massive threat offstage for edgeguarding.
Bair
- Landing lag now 24 from 40.
You can still expect to be punished when your landing Bair is blocked, but at least the punish will be something small rather than a smash attack. This move is still insane with its damage and kill power for a 9 startup attack.
Uair
- Landing lag now 17 from 28.
Landing lag isn't insane, but it will at least set up for its own combos if you manage to get a falling hit.
Dair
- Landing lag now 35 from 40.
Fire Breath
- Base Damage increase 1.7% from 1.2%
- Relevant engine change: All attacks have more hitlag in Smash Ultimate, and that directly improves this move's ability to link into itself.
Still can't reflect gordos, damn. Fire Breath is pretty great. No longer can opponents just hold up and mash jump after a few hits to escape. And the damage increase ups the reward for such a high risk attack. I think this is the first game where Fire Breath can finally serve as part of Bowser's general game plan. Don't forget to blast people recovering if you're too afraid to go offstage for the finisher.
Flying Slam
- Startup now 6 from 8 on the ground, and 6 from 17 in the air.
- FAF now 52 from 42 on the ground and 52 from 49 in the air.
- No longer auto cancels on every frame. If you land during this attack, it will play out the rest of your lag as the grounded version.
Frame 6 air grab should speak for itself - broken. Nobody anticipates being grabbed from the air unless it's a move that's reactable like Ganon or Incineroar, or a grab with very little reward like Wario or Mewtwo, so this move is insane to land with if your opponent thinks they can shield grab some regular aerial. You can Full hop SIde B somebody on a platform near you for a free grab. You can let go of ledge and jump up with Side B to surprise them. You can combo into Side B from aerials if that's your thing. And landing on platforms or on the edge of the stage can still result in some very early vertical kills. Please note that Bowsercide is still bugged and will release victims. Bowsercide should not be attempted unless you're certain they don't have the recovery to make it back, otherwise you will have gained nothing. Bowser survives more punishment than any other character before dying, so you don't want to throw those precious stocks away before you think you got the most out of them.
Whirling Fortress (ground)
- Final hit base damage increase of 4% to 6%
- Relevant engine change, you can Up B directly from a shield state. No need to jump cancel first. This is great because timing an Up B during a 3 frame window would be very tricky.
More damage on grounded fortress was actually on my wishlist of Bowser buffs, since I felt like it didn't grant as much reward as it should. It can also kill at much more reasonable percents if they are sent to the nearest horizontal blast zone. But otherwise the move's drawbacks appear to be intact.
Whirling Fortress (air)
- Total base damage reduced. Now 19% from 35%
- Hits 12 times total from 11.
- Hits now connect into the full move, and final hit now launches victim up and away from Bowser.
- Landing lag now 36 from 50
The damage reduction is drastic, but if you've ever tried using this attack in Smash 4 you knew how bad it was. Victims fell out of it without even making any inputs. Now the move combos into itself and the launching final hit protects Bowser from what would have been a guaranteed punish in Smash 4 if you successfully hit somebody with this move. The move also has respectable disjoint. In Smash 4, we couldn't even reliably trade hits from a late nair from Mario. But now we cut through such short range moves like butter. Edgeguarding Bowser is still very doable, especially with a sword, but not as effortless as it used to be for the average opponent. Hopefully resulting in fewer scenarios where Bowser spends the latter half of his stock getting repeatedly B-aired at the ledge before finally dying. The landing lag reduction also furthers this move's use as an air combo finisher, and makes it more enticing to fly past the ledge directly onto the stage. I should also note Fortress Boosting is still in the game. And from very minor testing I personally believe gaining optimal height is the same wait-before-mashing method as it was in Smash 4 which sucks. I wish we could just mash whenever we want like with Luigi Cyclone.
Bowser Bomb
- Now a meteor angle on the first hit frame when falling. This also applies to the ground version, though you won't see it unless your initial rising hit connected with an opponent already airborne or DI-ing in a weird way.
Probably the move I played with the least. I don't especially care for the meteor angle since our D-air already does this on its first active hit frames. And I'm worried the grounded version will be techable if the meteor angle connects. Though I am curious if there's a scenario you could bomb to the ledge from onstage and meteor somebody to their doom
Grabs
- Standing grab startup now 8 from 9. FAF now 41 from 39
- Dash grab startup now 11 from 10. Total frames now 49 from 48
All grabs have increased endlag in Ultimate compared to last game. Usually increases of around six with the exception of tether grabs. So Bowser got off the hook in this regard.
F and Bthrows (unchanged)
Uthrow
- Base damage increase. Now 11.5 from 6.5%
- 7 frames more endlag
- Collateral hitbox no longer ejects other characters caught in the multihit off to the sides. Now they are simply launched vertically.
- Obvious base knockback increase removing much of the combo potential
This is the big change. Combos still exist at a variety of percents since Bowser can ascend so much faster in this game, but often will instead lead to an air dodge chase. Granted, air dodge chasing is much more profitable in this game, but the lack of guarantees on damage hurts this move more than a little bit. The damage increase was a nice consolation boost, I guess.
Dthrow
- Base damage increase of 14% from 12%.
The damage boost helps this move's viability in keeping the F and B throws unstaled for killing. It will also send them off stage provided you're facing the nearest ledge. If the nearest ledge is behind you, I would recommend just using Bthrow for an edgeguard opportunity.