- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
hello, this is my second smash 4 beginners character guide. seeing how my first guide "koopa king's conquest" reached an overall 4 out of 5 stars, this encouraged me to make another one (despite the major problems with the first guide)
there are a few changes from the first guide. mostly that character rankings and stats bars wont be a thing anymore. and stars (★) will be put up to signal my favorite attacks from the characters, EDIT: i think i had that in the first guide....oh well)
Special thanks to ptrk83. most of the information came from him. go check out his guide on pac-man too
so enough padding, lets get straight into it.
Pac-man
Pac-Man is a very hard character to understand, if you don't know his techniques, you probably won't last long on a match. but like all characters, a good player for them will always exist.
Pac-man is a character that relies heavily on his projectiles. and thus rarely sees tournament use.
Land attacks
Jab
Pac-man's Jab is a three hit combo, great as a "get away from me" move, like all jabs it can be use to attack a foe when they try to rush in for a grab
dash attack ★
This attack has little to no ending lag. meaning you can do anything after doing this attack and it can pretty much combo into Anything
F-Tilt
This attack can be angled.....mostly used for combos.... thats all i really got for F-Tilt
U-tilt
this move has a small hitbox and is hard to land without getting punished, it has a hitbox on the back of pac-man. most combos you will see involving U-tilt is Two U-tilts into an air move
D-tilt ★
a very quick surprise attack, mostly used for spacing for if you feel like you can land it.
ledge attack
a pretty quick attack.....does the same job as all other ledge attacks
Get up attack
just like the ledge attack. it does the same job as other get up attacks....
Aerial Attacks
N-air ★
Great for edge guarding, combo breaking, and for your own combos. downside is that it has a smaller hitbox then most other n-airs in the game
U-air
Great for combos and generally keeping your foes in the air (especially after a dash attack)
D-air
used for edge guarding and starting air combos (though dash attack and U-throw does a better job), this move is also punishable due to the small hitboxes of the attack. it also does not Meteor(Spike) like other D-airs do
F-air ★
a Very fast and very spammable move that is perfect for combos, but not a very good approach move due to the little damage and knockback. still a good move
B-air
good ledge guarding move and high % kill move. its also safe on block
EDIT: it also works as an off stage kill move
Smash Attacks
F-smash
a very slow yet very strong smash, great for punishes and reads. it also works well with Hydrant Sliding
D-smash
Great with Hydrant Sliding due to its range, but slow start up
U-smash
Pretty strong and like his other smashes, it works great with Hydrant Sliding but long start up
Specials
N-Special: Bonus Fruit ★
Arguably one of his most important moves. Holding the attack will cycle bonus fruit/items from his original game, depending on how long the attack is held. there are 7 items from this move. They are in order: Cherry, Strawberry, Orange, Apple, Melon, Galaxian, Bell, and the Key.
Cherry
a "get away from me" move come out fast enough to push people back.
Bounces Twice
Strawberry
Same as cherry, but with more damage and range. it just comes out slower.
Bounces three times
Orange
Great for gimping, and damage from a great distance.
Flies at a straight line
Apple
Great for Edge guarding due to the speed and angle the bounce.
bounces 4 times and goes at a 45 Degree angle off stage
Melon
a Very Slow fruit with some Decent knockback and can kill, it is also used for traps
Very slow flying, bounces once and vanishes mid way after the bounce
Galaxian
Great for mix-ups and Combos. it is also very easy to pick up again to use a second time.
flies at a loop
Bell
Great for punishes. it stuns the foe in place. making them vulnerable to a smash attack or other kill options. it can kill but not at a Useful %.
Flies up...then down
Key
has huge knockback and is a kill move. It travels rather quickly. It is so quick that it usually catches opponents off guard. think of it like samus' charge shot but faster and stronger.
flies at a straight line very fast
Careful each projectile can be caught and be used against you.
S-Special: Power Pellet ★
a versatile attack that can be used for damage, and horizontal recovery. The power pellet can be controlled, potentially changing the path of Pac-Man's attack. you can even attack foes behind you, eating the power pellet will do an attack that can kill, has super armor, AND eats through projectiles. if you get hit before eating the power pellet. the pellet drops and can be eaten for a small health recovery. it is also hard to punish. that does not mean it is not punishable so be careful with it
U-Special: Pac-Jump
used as a vertical recovery to get on the stage. The trampoline can be bounced on three times, (twice if you don't include the original bounce by Pac-Man) jumping higher and higher each time the trampoline is jumped on. The trampoline left behind after the initial jump can be used by opponents as well. it can be used as a zoning tool as it forces foes to jump if they are on it and it screws up a foe's Ground game and Flow and it can be used to escape combos and traps such as a Ness' PK fire
because of this move pac-man has a REALLY good ledge game due to his lagless F-air and this Trippy as hell recovery. because of this it is hard to edge guard this character
careful when using off stage Smart opponents can jump down and steal your last bounce causing you to lose a Stock early.
D- Special: Fire Hydrant ★
Hands down his most important move, The fire hydrant shoots out water from both sides(or above if you are on top of it) pushing back any character hit by it. If the hydrant was dropped in the air, any opponent caught in the path of the fall will be hit and take damage.
The fire hydrant has a lot of uses. It can be used as a shield against ground based characters. It can be used as a projectile to edge guard or to be thrown back at your opponents. Careful not to let your opponents use this move against you. B-air to F-tilt is the quickest way to launch the hydrant across the screen. sometimes bair is only needed to accomplish this. finishing launching it with a jab combo will have the hydrant move like dedede's up angled gordos
The water shooting from the hydrant allows Pac-Man(and any character to sort of slide across the stage while still maintaining the ability to attack, similar to a wave dash in melee. lets call this Hydrant Sliding
Grab and throws
His Grab, unfortunately is pac-man's Biggest weakness. due to the Huge amount of ending lag to it. it can punish certain spot dodges but really only use this move when your certain you will grab them (the grab does work well with Hydrant dashing and the speed of his pivot grab is decent)
Pummel
This is actually one of the strongest pummels in the game. Decent speed and Damage.
F-throw
Its pretty much the same as mario's F-throw. not that great but decent for combos
B-throw
Kill throw, Decent knockback and can be set up for combos at early percents
U-throw
great for getting foes in the air to set up for air combos
D-throw
Great for setting up combos, and it can combo right into dash attack
Crawling
useless but fun to watch.
Techniques
Hydrant Sliding
first off is Hydrant Sliding, very easy to do since all you have to do in to put down the hydrant and just stand infront of it, you can use this to expand the range of certain attacks and the speed of the bonus fruit (most notably the Melon and apple), it is VERY readable, so use it sparingly.
Conclusion
Pac-man is one of those characters that require a lot of skill to use effectively, thus is not seen much very often in tournaments. shame too, i think he is one of the most fresh character we have seen in a while. and has a ton of potential.
well i hope this guide helped you. just like the last one it was fun to write this one. go out there and munch on your foes to oblivion.
again thanks to ptrk83. go check out his pac-man guide
there are a few changes from the first guide. mostly that character rankings and stats bars wont be a thing anymore. and stars (★) will be put up to signal my favorite attacks from the characters, EDIT: i think i had that in the first guide....oh well)
Special thanks to ptrk83. most of the information came from him. go check out his guide on pac-man too
so enough padding, lets get straight into it.
Pac-man
Pac-Man is a very hard character to understand, if you don't know his techniques, you probably won't last long on a match. but like all characters, a good player for them will always exist.
Pac-man is a character that relies heavily on his projectiles. and thus rarely sees tournament use.
Land attacks
Jab
Pac-man's Jab is a three hit combo, great as a "get away from me" move, like all jabs it can be use to attack a foe when they try to rush in for a grab
dash attack ★
This attack has little to no ending lag. meaning you can do anything after doing this attack and it can pretty much combo into Anything
F-Tilt
This attack can be angled.....mostly used for combos.... thats all i really got for F-Tilt
U-tilt
this move has a small hitbox and is hard to land without getting punished, it has a hitbox on the back of pac-man. most combos you will see involving U-tilt is Two U-tilts into an air move
D-tilt ★
a very quick surprise attack, mostly used for spacing for if you feel like you can land it.
ledge attack
a pretty quick attack.....does the same job as all other ledge attacks
Get up attack
just like the ledge attack. it does the same job as other get up attacks....
Aerial Attacks
N-air ★
Great for edge guarding, combo breaking, and for your own combos. downside is that it has a smaller hitbox then most other n-airs in the game
U-air
Great for combos and generally keeping your foes in the air (especially after a dash attack)
D-air
used for edge guarding and starting air combos (though dash attack and U-throw does a better job), this move is also punishable due to the small hitboxes of the attack. it also does not Meteor(Spike) like other D-airs do
F-air ★
a Very fast and very spammable move that is perfect for combos, but not a very good approach move due to the little damage and knockback. still a good move
B-air
good ledge guarding move and high % kill move. its also safe on block
EDIT: it also works as an off stage kill move
Smash Attacks
F-smash
a very slow yet very strong smash, great for punishes and reads. it also works well with Hydrant Sliding
D-smash
Great with Hydrant Sliding due to its range, but slow start up
U-smash
Pretty strong and like his other smashes, it works great with Hydrant Sliding but long start up
Specials
N-Special: Bonus Fruit ★
Arguably one of his most important moves. Holding the attack will cycle bonus fruit/items from his original game, depending on how long the attack is held. there are 7 items from this move. They are in order: Cherry, Strawberry, Orange, Apple, Melon, Galaxian, Bell, and the Key.
Cherry
a "get away from me" move come out fast enough to push people back.
Bounces Twice
Strawberry
Same as cherry, but with more damage and range. it just comes out slower.
Bounces three times
Orange
Great for gimping, and damage from a great distance.
Flies at a straight line
Apple
Great for Edge guarding due to the speed and angle the bounce.
bounces 4 times and goes at a 45 Degree angle off stage
Melon
a Very Slow fruit with some Decent knockback and can kill, it is also used for traps
Very slow flying, bounces once and vanishes mid way after the bounce
Galaxian
Great for mix-ups and Combos. it is also very easy to pick up again to use a second time.
flies at a loop
Bell
Great for punishes. it stuns the foe in place. making them vulnerable to a smash attack or other kill options. it can kill but not at a Useful %.
Flies up...then down
Key
has huge knockback and is a kill move. It travels rather quickly. It is so quick that it usually catches opponents off guard. think of it like samus' charge shot but faster and stronger.
flies at a straight line very fast
Careful each projectile can be caught and be used against you.
S-Special: Power Pellet ★
a versatile attack that can be used for damage, and horizontal recovery. The power pellet can be controlled, potentially changing the path of Pac-Man's attack. you can even attack foes behind you, eating the power pellet will do an attack that can kill, has super armor, AND eats through projectiles. if you get hit before eating the power pellet. the pellet drops and can be eaten for a small health recovery. it is also hard to punish. that does not mean it is not punishable so be careful with it
U-Special: Pac-Jump
used as a vertical recovery to get on the stage. The trampoline can be bounced on three times, (twice if you don't include the original bounce by Pac-Man) jumping higher and higher each time the trampoline is jumped on. The trampoline left behind after the initial jump can be used by opponents as well. it can be used as a zoning tool as it forces foes to jump if they are on it and it screws up a foe's Ground game and Flow and it can be used to escape combos and traps such as a Ness' PK fire
because of this move pac-man has a REALLY good ledge game due to his lagless F-air and this Trippy as hell recovery. because of this it is hard to edge guard this character
careful when using off stage Smart opponents can jump down and steal your last bounce causing you to lose a Stock early.
D- Special: Fire Hydrant ★
Hands down his most important move, The fire hydrant shoots out water from both sides(or above if you are on top of it) pushing back any character hit by it. If the hydrant was dropped in the air, any opponent caught in the path of the fall will be hit and take damage.
The fire hydrant has a lot of uses. It can be used as a shield against ground based characters. It can be used as a projectile to edge guard or to be thrown back at your opponents. Careful not to let your opponents use this move against you. B-air to F-tilt is the quickest way to launch the hydrant across the screen. sometimes bair is only needed to accomplish this. finishing launching it with a jab combo will have the hydrant move like dedede's up angled gordos
The water shooting from the hydrant allows Pac-Man(and any character to sort of slide across the stage while still maintaining the ability to attack, similar to a wave dash in melee. lets call this Hydrant Sliding
Grab and throws
His Grab, unfortunately is pac-man's Biggest weakness. due to the Huge amount of ending lag to it. it can punish certain spot dodges but really only use this move when your certain you will grab them (the grab does work well with Hydrant dashing and the speed of his pivot grab is decent)
Pummel
This is actually one of the strongest pummels in the game. Decent speed and Damage.
F-throw
Its pretty much the same as mario's F-throw. not that great but decent for combos
B-throw
Kill throw, Decent knockback and can be set up for combos at early percents
U-throw
great for getting foes in the air to set up for air combos
D-throw
Great for setting up combos, and it can combo right into dash attack
Crawling
useless but fun to watch.
Techniques
Hydrant Sliding
first off is Hydrant Sliding, very easy to do since all you have to do in to put down the hydrant and just stand infront of it, you can use this to expand the range of certain attacks and the speed of the bonus fruit (most notably the Melon and apple), it is VERY readable, so use it sparingly.
Conclusion
Pac-man is one of those characters that require a lot of skill to use effectively, thus is not seen much very often in tournaments. shame too, i think he is one of the most fresh character we have seen in a while. and has a ton of potential.
well i hope this guide helped you. just like the last one it was fun to write this one. go out there and munch on your foes to oblivion.
again thanks to ptrk83. go check out his pac-man guide
