- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
Lucas is a very powerful character, he was released on June 14th with the amazing DLC that also contained Ryu, Roy and 3 stages. What an amazing DLC!
But Lucas almost sits in the shadows compared to Ryu's and Roy's popularity, but not for me! I have been experiementing and discovering, and i shall continue to do so. This guide will be updated if anything new is found out!
This guide will cover:
I probably will though, i want this guide to be as informative as possible!
Who am i?!
Terminology
Moveset breakdown
Lucas' Frame Data
Lucas' changes(buffs, nerfs)
Playstyles
Playstyle|How to play it
Semi-defensively| The way i like to play is sort of a semi-defensive style. I try to space my attacks and bait my opponent, once they run towards me will run away and pivot grab, f-tilt or forward smash. I also shortjump backwards and PK Fire to gain momentum away from my opponent. I wait out openings to where i can throw in an aerial on my opponent or catch them with a grab and combo them. Explanation on PK Fire in techniques. It is a very annoying playstyle to play against if your opposing character isn't fast and doesn't have good approach options like Sheik.
Semi-aggressive|If you happen to become impatient, then try to switch it up into more of a semi-aggressive playstyle. Then i try to run up and space attacks and wait for an opening where i can grab them and follow up with combos. Look for openings, but zone and space your attacks towards your opponent and wait for them to make a mistake where you can run in and deal damage or finish your opponent. Your best punish is usually the grab.
Aggressive| For an aggressive playstyle i will just try to poke them with PK Fire once and then run up to jump onto them with a N-air. You can cancel it off the ground if you fast fall and instantly grab, tilt or jab. But remember that this makes you very vulnerable to players who just shields it and knows what to do about it. They will probably punish you for this, so then you should try the semi-defensive play. Though this type of play has been really effective for me a lot of time. Lucas n-air is very safe.
You have to try new things if something doesn't work, adapt to your opponent and come up with new things and options constantly! Do this and you will also be very hard to read.
Remember that Lucas one of the best anti projetile tools in the whole game, he can just keep his Down-b up and heal himself, or reflect the projectile with a forward smash and increase the damage with 150%
There are some projectiles that can't be absorbed, then try to reflect it instead.
An example is Samus' side-b rocket cannot be absorbed, but it can be reflected.
Against roll happy players who like to roll past you, remember that Lucas has some of the strongest smash attacks in the game. Go for a read with up or down smash!
Players who like to roll and spam projectiles close to the edge shouldn't be a problem if you keep yourself calm! Adapt!
I will update this section as we come up with more options for approaching.
It is very likely to be updated in the near future.
Also if it's requested.
Pros & Cons
Combos
Techniques
When and how to kill
Stages that benefit Lucas
[GUIDE UNDERGOING MAINTENANCE]
Tell me if there is something that you wish to be added!
Matchups will be added in the future. It's a little bit early for that so soon after Lucas' release.
Special thanks will be given to anyone who finds, or mentions something that should be added to the guide!
Give feedback and tell me and tell me what i can improve in this guide, but also remember that it is a constant work in progress! I will do my best to keep this guide updated and perfected!
---
Special thanks to:
phili for making a video demonstrating my combo, but improved! 10% more dmg!
O Rai for inspiring me to do the "When and how to kill section" !
kmac$ for reminding me of "PKT2", making me add it to the guide!
Snackss for mentioning PKF gimp/forced airdodge in discussion!
Lord Retardus for the up-tilt OoS option! A good mixup!
extremechiton for the z-air combos!
But Lucas almost sits in the shadows compared to Ryu's and Roy's popularity, but not for me! I have been experiementing and discovering, and i shall continue to do so. This guide will be updated if anything new is found out!
This guide will cover:
- Who i am
- Terminology
- A moveset breakdown
- Lucas' Frame Data
- Lucas' changes(buffs, nerfs)
- Playstyles
- Pros & Cons
- Combos
- Combo strings
- True combos
- Techniques
- General techniques
- Lucas techniques
- When and how to finish your opponent
- Stages
- Beneficial for Lucas
- Disadvantageous for Lucas
- Something that you would like to be added?
I probably will though, i want this guide to be as informative as possible!
Who am i?!
I understand that you probably want to know who i am.
I'm a Smash 4 player from Sweden, my name is Alexander.
I haven't attented to any tournaments yet, pretty much because of where i live in Sweden and Sweden's lack of Sm4sh tournaments in general. I've stuck to playing against friends and playing For Glory.
Smash is something that i've always loved, i've been playing since Melee was released, of couse i was very bad at it and didn't take it seriously by any means.
In my Melee days i was very bad, given that i wasn't even 10 years old back then and i probably just walked around and SD:d and used smash attacks.
I bought Brawl the day it came out, the hype was insane and i would bring friends over and visit each other, all we did was playing Brawl. I was probably the best among my friends, such as i am in most of the fighting games around my friends because i play them the most. I played Brawl for maybe 3 years until me and my friends got tired of it and i never played it online.
Then, 7 years later. Smash 4 came out and i loved it more than any earlier smash game. So many fun characters! I have now played consistently since its release against my friends and For Glory. Now sitting at a 58% win rate, though a lot of my losses back when i was bad are included in this percentage. So i'd now guess that my winrate in for glory for my skill as of now would be around 70%.
I will continue to play this game and hopefully the Smash scene in general will grow in Sweden! I'm looking into setting up a tournament sometime to see how many in my city there would be who's interested to join in.
I'm a Smash 4 player from Sweden, my name is Alexander.
I haven't attented to any tournaments yet, pretty much because of where i live in Sweden and Sweden's lack of Sm4sh tournaments in general. I've stuck to playing against friends and playing For Glory.
Smash is something that i've always loved, i've been playing since Melee was released, of couse i was very bad at it and didn't take it seriously by any means.
In my Melee days i was very bad, given that i wasn't even 10 years old back then and i probably just walked around and SD:d and used smash attacks.
I bought Brawl the day it came out, the hype was insane and i would bring friends over and visit each other, all we did was playing Brawl. I was probably the best among my friends, such as i am in most of the fighting games around my friends because i play them the most. I played Brawl for maybe 3 years until me and my friends got tired of it and i never played it online.
Then, 7 years later. Smash 4 came out and i loved it more than any earlier smash game. So many fun characters! I have now played consistently since its release against my friends and For Glory. Now sitting at a 58% win rate, though a lot of my losses back when i was bad are included in this percentage. So i'd now guess that my winrate in for glory for my skill as of now would be around 70%.
I will continue to play this game and hopefully the Smash scene in general will grow in Sweden! I'm looking into setting up a tournament sometime to see how many in my city there would be who's interested to join in.
Terminology
Some terminology that we use in the Smash community in general that will be useful for you to know!
Term
|Meaning|Description
OoS | Out of Shield | The act you do immediately out of shield. Like a jump, grab or an attack. Some characters have really good OoS options. A fine example is Ness' n-air out of shield, or Mario's up-b out of shield. These options are so good because of their low startup frames.
Lag | Windup/Cooldown | Lag is a catch-all term used to indicate periods of time where a character is busy initiating or finishing a performed move, being left unable to perform in any other action (except for moving through the air with aerial moves) There are two main categories of lag. Those are startup lag and ending lag and for aerials and certain special moves when used in the air, there's an additional form of lag called landing lag . The more lag a move has, the easier it is to evade the attack and punish the user.
Startup lag|Delay between initiation and effect|Also known as startup and windup, is the delay between a move being initiated and the move having an effect. Examples of moves with no startup lag are Zero Suit Samus' jab or Little Mac's jab. Examples moves with extreme startup lag are King Dedede's F-smash or Ganondorf's Warlock punch(neutral-b)
Ending lag|Cooldown|Also known as cooldown, is the delay between the move's effect finishing and another action being able to begin. An example of a move with extreme ending lag is Jigglypuff's rest
Landing lag|Frames until you can act after landing|Landing lag is the lag incurred when an airborne character lands on the ground for any reason. The amount of lag depends on what action the character is performing upon landing.
FAF|First Actionable Frame| The first frame you can act out of after ending lag.
FF|Fast Falling|Fast falling is the act of falling faster than usual. It is performed by tapping the control stick down while falling. The character will continue to fast fall until landing on a platform or taking a hit. Fox has both the fastest fall speed and fast fall speed in Smash 4 while Jigglypuff has the slowest.
SH|Short hop|A short hop, also known as short jump, low jump or small jump is the act of pressing the jump button or pushing the control stick upward (easier if control stick isn't pushed all the way) and letting go before the character leaves the ground. This will result in a jump that is lower than a normal jump. This can be performed in all of the Smash games so far. The short hop technique is essential in competetive play, allowing the user to perform aerial attacks closer to the ground. This is useful for spamming aerials, especially aerials with low landing lag or attacks that auto-cancel.
Auto-cancel|Auto-cancelling landing lag|Auto-cancelling is the act of landing during the beginning or ending frames of an aerial attack, thereby circumventing the landing lag that would have occurred had the character instead landed during the middle of that attack's animation.
Frame|Unit of time|A frame is the primary unit of time in the Super Smash Bros. series. Every frame, the game reads controller input, performs calculations, and renders an image on the screen. In all the series' games so far, one frame is 1/60th of a second, meaning the game runs at 60 frames per second.
Hitbox|An attack's area of effect|A hitbox is the main structure for how attacks are executed in most fighting games. Attacks have one or more hitboxes associated with them, and when these hitboxes overlap with a target's damageable area (sometimes called their hurtbox) the attack is considered a hit. Hitboxes are invisible and usually, though not always, have the same shape as the attack's animation.
Punishing|Attacking when an opponent is vulnerable|Punishment is the act of attacking an opponent while they are vulnerable, usually from using an attack with slow start-up lag at a non-opportune time or having missed an attack with high ending lag
Recovery|Returning onstage|A recovery is the attempt to return onstage after being knocked or falling off. Some tools to achieve this end are the midair jump and the "third jump" (usually an up special-move). Some recovery moves only go nearly straight up, while others are for long horizontal differences. Some characters have multiple jumps, such as Meta Knight and Jigglypuff.
A lot of this was taken from the SSBWiki, as they(obviously) have better explanation of the terminology in Smash Bros. than i do.
Thank you SSBWiki for the clear information!
OoS | Out of Shield | The act you do immediately out of shield. Like a jump, grab or an attack. Some characters have really good OoS options. A fine example is Ness' n-air out of shield, or Mario's up-b out of shield. These options are so good because of their low startup frames.
Lag | Windup/Cooldown | Lag is a catch-all term used to indicate periods of time where a character is busy initiating or finishing a performed move, being left unable to perform in any other action (except for moving through the air with aerial moves) There are two main categories of lag. Those are startup lag and ending lag and for aerials and certain special moves when used in the air, there's an additional form of lag called landing lag . The more lag a move has, the easier it is to evade the attack and punish the user.
Startup lag|Delay between initiation and effect|Also known as startup and windup, is the delay between a move being initiated and the move having an effect. Examples of moves with no startup lag are Zero Suit Samus' jab or Little Mac's jab. Examples moves with extreme startup lag are King Dedede's F-smash or Ganondorf's Warlock punch(neutral-b)
Ending lag|Cooldown|Also known as cooldown, is the delay between the move's effect finishing and another action being able to begin. An example of a move with extreme ending lag is Jigglypuff's rest
Landing lag|Frames until you can act after landing|Landing lag is the lag incurred when an airborne character lands on the ground for any reason. The amount of lag depends on what action the character is performing upon landing.
FAF|First Actionable Frame| The first frame you can act out of after ending lag.
FF|Fast Falling|Fast falling is the act of falling faster than usual. It is performed by tapping the control stick down while falling. The character will continue to fast fall until landing on a platform or taking a hit. Fox has both the fastest fall speed and fast fall speed in Smash 4 while Jigglypuff has the slowest.
SH|Short hop|A short hop, also known as short jump, low jump or small jump is the act of pressing the jump button or pushing the control stick upward (easier if control stick isn't pushed all the way) and letting go before the character leaves the ground. This will result in a jump that is lower than a normal jump. This can be performed in all of the Smash games so far. The short hop technique is essential in competetive play, allowing the user to perform aerial attacks closer to the ground. This is useful for spamming aerials, especially aerials with low landing lag or attacks that auto-cancel.
Auto-cancel|Auto-cancelling landing lag|Auto-cancelling is the act of landing during the beginning or ending frames of an aerial attack, thereby circumventing the landing lag that would have occurred had the character instead landed during the middle of that attack's animation.
Frame|Unit of time|A frame is the primary unit of time in the Super Smash Bros. series. Every frame, the game reads controller input, performs calculations, and renders an image on the screen. In all the series' games so far, one frame is 1/60th of a second, meaning the game runs at 60 frames per second.
Hitbox|An attack's area of effect|A hitbox is the main structure for how attacks are executed in most fighting games. Attacks have one or more hitboxes associated with them, and when these hitboxes overlap with a target's damageable area (sometimes called their hurtbox) the attack is considered a hit. Hitboxes are invisible and usually, though not always, have the same shape as the attack's animation.
Punishing|Attacking when an opponent is vulnerable|Punishment is the act of attacking an opponent while they are vulnerable, usually from using an attack with slow start-up lag at a non-opportune time or having missed an attack with high ending lag
Recovery|Returning onstage|A recovery is the attempt to return onstage after being knocked or falling off. Some tools to achieve this end are the midair jump and the "third jump" (usually an up special-move). Some recovery moves only go nearly straight up, while others are for long horizontal differences. Some characters have multiple jumps, such as Meta Knight and Jigglypuff.
Thank you SSBWiki for the clear information!
Moveset breakdown
Ground Attacks
Special Moves
Move|Action|Damage|Thoughts
Neutral Special - PK Freeze|Lucas raises his hands upward and creates ice that grows as it travels under his control.|9% - 22%|An underused move already i feel, it has amazing horizontal speed and should always be used after you've sent your opponent far off stage. The pressure you put onto them into airdodging is insane, because this move KILLS. If they airdodge, they're probably screwed as well, so they might just take it and try to DI in to the stage. If they're closer to the ledge, just go for a down smash. It can also be used in neutral if you stay away from your opponent. Remember that you can b-reverse it and jump away and do it! Just make sure that you don't fall off the stage as you use it after jumping!
Side Special - PK Fire(PKF)|Lucas quickly charges a flame burst and sends it forward that explodes on impact.|9%|One of Lucas' best moves, using the PK Fire techniques in the technique section will allow you to reduce its lag. This is Lucas' main neutral game attack, use this while you wait for an opening to run in and grab. Use it to zone your opponent!
Up Special - PK Thunder(PKT)|Lucas crosses his arms and creates controllable lightning.|1% - 17%(?)|When Lucas hits himself with this move, he will be launched in the direction that the PKT hit him. Great for messing up recoveries! Use this when your opponent is off-stage and below the ledge to mess up their jump and/or up-special! Excellent against bad recoveries. When you hit yourself with it and launch yourself, you won't lose distance like Ness does when he hits an enemy. Instead, this PKT launch multihits and takes the enemy with you. Stand close to the ledge if you want to hit yourself with it before it thaws out for an easy escape if you missed and feel like you're about to get punished The best thing about this move is how far it actually launches you, you can almost recover from anywhere!
Down Special - PSI Magnet|Lucas puts his arm forward and opens his palm to create a magnetic field|9% at its core|This magnetic field absorbs projectiles, most explosions, and does damage once released close to the middle of the field where it shines as most. This attack is awesome. It has utility, damage and resets your vertical momentum in the air. If you catch a projectile it heals you for a crazy amount! If Mario uses a fireball (5%) onto Lucas PSI Magnet, it heals Lucas for a crazy 12,5%! (It says 13%, but 2 fireballs nd 25%) Also, this attack sends your opponent really far and kills near the edge at 110%~! With this you can't be scared to go offstage as it stops your vertical momentum. It has a quick startup and almost no endlag, especially on the ground. It is an insane edgeguard if you manage to master its use! Its only downside is the hitbox of it, sometimes it doesn't hit when you feel like it should've.
Aerials
Move|Action|Damage|Thoughts
Neutral Air|Lucas spins aroud, creating a small field of PSI energy around him.|8%|This is probably Lucas' most used aerial because how amazing it actually is, it auto-cancels if you do a SH and immediately n-air and you can string this at lower percents. Personally i like to use this as an aggressive approach, short jumping in with a n-air is something you should definitely try to get damage onto them. It's also a combo starter! More info in combos! You can try baiting with it using SH n-airs because of how fast it cancels.
Forward Air|Lucas does a fast kick forward, releasing a small PSI energy blast by the end of his shoe|Sourspot: 8% Sweetspot 11%|A very good aerial. You need to space this so that you hit the sweetspot of it. It combos out of n-air at low to mid percents. It has a some ending lag to it, you can't use it or anything else immediately after like you pretty much can do with n-air. It also has some landing lag, so don't go around and do SH f-airs, you're very likely to end up being punished for it. Even though its laggy, it's a really good aerial that has good range and kills at higher percents. What i like most about it is that you get rewarded for spacing it properly. Just like Marth but with all of his attacks.
Down Air|Lucas kicks towards the ground four times releasing small bursts of PSI energy at the tip of his shoes.|1st: 3,5% 2nd: 3% 3rd: 3% , 4th: 5%|This aerial can be pretty good if you land all four hits, but it doesn't draw people in like n-air does, so it's really hard to do so. It's even harder to spike with it because of this, you might hit the first 2 or 3 hits, but you might miss the final one which makes this aerial unreliable. And even if you would hit the final one, you might not sweetspot it. So it might not spike and then it would just send your opponent sideways. This move cancels on the ground only if you full hop d-air instantly. If it wouldn't have this landing lag and would draw in your opponent like n-air does, then this aerial attack would have been super good. One thing you can do though is to use it to cover recoveries that are very linear, say if Fox is aiming to grab the ledge(as he should). You can just jump off the ledge and cover it with the attack and spike him with the fourth hit with the range d-air actually has. Space it properly. If you have trouble using it, just use PK-Freeze to cover and pressure recoveries or use PK Thunder.
Back Air|Lucas flips backwards and kicks in a 90° arc behind him, releasing PSI energy at the tip of his shoes.|Sourspot: 7% Sourspot 2: 9% Sweetspot: 12%|This move has 2 sour spots: The first one is if you hit it too close to you and the second is if you it it at the very tip of the PSI energy. The sweetspot is in the centre of the PSI energy. It is my favorite aerial, i can't say enough good about it. It has no end lag, you can use it again immediately and wall out your opponents and it doesn't have a lot of landing lag. Almost as little lag frames as n-air! It's only draw back is the sourspot at the very end of it. But when you hit this move in the middle, it meteors and sends your opponent into the abyss and kills off stage at 50% and even if they're below that percent, it sets you up for an edgeguard. Though, if it kills at early percent is character dependant, as some characters have really good recoveries, and some don't. Sometimes it won't spike, but sends your opponent far sideways. So it's really good anyway. Learn to space this correctly and wall your opponent. Once they're off stage, try going for that sick spike. Let's be real though, it's the sickest looking spike in the game.
Up Air|Lucas heads his opponent.|13%|A very short attack. Ness' up-air is better because of how small Lucas up-air is. But It's very strong once it hits and it true combos out of d-throw! Though it's not very reliable considering how small its hitbox is. But if you read your opponent's DI out of a d-throw at higher percents you will get yourself the kill. But then again, it's a great kill move that true combos out of d-throw.
Z Air|Lucas throws out his rope snake to deal damage to his opponent.|2% - 4%|You can use this to poke your opponent. It does 2% at the end of it and 4% when closer to you. Its range is amazing, and it can be used to grab the ledge. If you grab the ledge with it, you can move out of grabbing the ledge faster than characters that doesn't have a tether grab! And if you miss, you can just launch yourself towards the stage with PK Thunder. It's a good move for poke, but then again you have PK Fire. Personally, i don't use this a lot, but i should definatly consider it. It true combos into many attacks when used close to the ground! More info in combos!
Standard attacks
Move|Action|Damage|Thoughts
Jab|Lucas kicks three times in arcs towards his opponent.|1st: 2,5% 2nd: 2% 3rd: 4% Total: 8,5%|A very good and useful jab that hits three times with good range. It's as fast as Mario's jab and does a good 8,5% damage. D-tilt combos into this!
Forward Tilt|Lucas stretches his arm forward with his palm open, releasing a small PSI blast|Sourspot: 7% Sweetspot: 11%|A great tilt attack, it's fast and rewards you for hitting the sweetspot with its range. You can run and pivot tilt if your opponent chases you for a surprise 11% damage in their face, given the range and how fast it is! A pretty safe tilt with low startup and low ending lag!
Down Tilt|Lucas crouches and does a quick kick in an arc in front of him|3%|Another great tilt attack with good range and low startup and almost no ending lag. It combos into itself, but you can jump out of it though. String two or three down tilts into the jab, grab or forward tilt for some good damage! The best option is to go for a grab, most of the time.
Up Tilt|Lucas kicks straight upwards and releases a PSI blast by the tip of his shoe|1st: 1% 2nd: 8,5% Total: 9,5%|A good tilt for catching opponents above you if you want to be more safe than just throwing out an up smash, the first hit strings automaticly into the second as it should. You can string this move into itself at low percents. The best thing about it is that they get sent upwards into the air, where Lucas really gets in action. If you see them air-dodge every time after they get hit by this attack at low percents. Charge a up-smash and hit them with it as soon as their invincibility is over as a punish for not jumping.
Dash Attack|Lucas dashes forward and stretches out his arm for a small burst.|Sourspot: 9% Sweetspot: 13%|The sweetspot might be a little hard to land, but the sweetspot is in the PSI blast and the sourspot is on the hand and the arm. Just like most dash attacks, you will suffer end lag after it so be careful with it. But this one has a good amount of range, so you can throw it out earlier than others characters would and that can surprise some players! Practice where you need to throw it out so that you'll always land the sweetspot! It launches opponents off stage rather early, which is always good. Especially if you practice your edgeguarding!
Smash Attacks
Move|Action|Damage|Thoughts
Forward Smash|Lucas swings his stick like a baseball bat to hit his opponent.|14% - 19%(Charged) Sweetspot: 15% - 21%(Charged)| A strong smash attack, the sweetspot kills early. It can reflect projectiles and boosts the power of the projectile reflected with an insane 150%! If you're up against the projectile happy player and you're confident in timing this smash, then go ahead and use it! But personally i prefer to use the down b and heal myself. Though, you have to remember that there are projectiles that cannot be absorbed. Such as Link's arrow or his boomerang. But you can reflect them, so be ready for that and if not, just jump.
Up Smash|Lucas slightly bends forward to charge a massive PSI blast to be released above him.|21% - 29% (Charged)|You will be and should be rewarded when landing this smash attack! Remember that you can do run cancel it just like with all up smashes! Just.. don't spam it, it's not gonna get you anywhere. Catch people with it and punish them as they airdodge to the ground. The trick is to not use it too often, make it unexpected and you shall be rewarded with an early KO. One thing i think is fun to do when my opponent is aggressive and try to land with an attack on me, or just land on top of me is to charge the up-smash and wait for them to panic air-dodge. Then you just use your charged up-smash as soon as their invincibility is over.
Down Smash|Lucas charges his PSI energy and then points his finger towards the ground in front of him, releasing three PSI energy blasts.|17% - 23%(Charged) 14% - 19%(Charged) 11% - 15%(Charged)|This smash attack bursts out 3 times and gets a little bigger but weaker each time. It lasts for more than half a second and is amazing against opponents who aim to grab the ledge when recovering. When edgeguarding with it, make sure the middle of it is on at the edge. The first hit kills at 80% when close to the ledge and even earlier on characters with bad recoveries. It's an amazing down smash, the only flaw is that it only covers one side. But it has a surprisingly low amount of ending lag considering its kill power.
Grab & Throws
Move|Action|Damage|Thoughts
Grab|Lucas throws out his rope snake to reach his opponent.|0%|Lucas has a ranged grab, so called a tether grab that allows him to grab his opponent from a small distance. This also allows Lucas to grab the ledge when offstage using the grab button when facing the stage. Usually, tether grabs have a lot of ending lag. Lucas is an exception, his grab doesn't have that much ending lag but it's still more lag than a character without a tether grab has. Since it's a tether grab, you should use it a little bit differently. Use it when your opponent doesn't think that you can reach them. When people run up to approach you, run away and pivot grab to catch them. Some people tend to approach with a dash grab or a dash attack a lot, and this this is a pretty good stratergy against that. You can also throw out a Z-air and then follow up with a grab, this is a true combo if the z-air hits close to the ground.
Pummel|Lucas hits his opponent with his head while having them grabbed|1,2%|A very fast pummel, if not the best then it's among the best pummels in the game! Make sure to not forget using it before throwing your opponent! You'll always be able to get atleast one pummel in no matter the percent and of course even more as their percent goes up! Get as many in as you can, but just enough so that you still can throw them!
Forward Throw|Lucas swings his opponent up and then throws him forward using his PSI energy.|10%|A good throw, though i don't see myself using this unless i'm facing away from the stage and i want my opponent off stage. Or i'll just use it if my opponent is alive above 140% for some reason, but then again. You have your upthrow that kills anywhere by then so you should just use that to kill.
Down Throw|Lucas grounds his opponent and buries them head first.|6,5%|An amazing throw, you will always be able to followup on this throw all the way until your up-throw kills anyway. When at 100%~ percents, you can d-throw -> up-air for the kill. Works even earlier on stages with a low ceiling.
Back Throw|ucas swings his opponent backwards for a powerful throw using his PSI energy.|10%|Lucas main kill throw, kills around 120% when close to the edge. Can also be used to set up a gimp, its base knockback is also high.
Up Throw|Lucas hurls his opponent upwards using his PSI energy.|10%|Lucas' second kill throw. This kills around 140% on Battlefield, on the ground. It can also be used if you want to use PK Thunder and deal some damage from afar.
Lucas Grabs Frame Data
Grab|Hitbox Active|FAF
Standing Grab|12-19|56
Dash Grab-14-21|66
Pivot Grab|12-19|66
Jab|Lucas kicks three times in arcs towards his opponent.|1st: 2,5% 2nd: 2% 3rd: 4% Total: 8,5%|A very good and useful jab that hits three times with good range. It's as fast as Mario's jab and does a good 8,5% damage. D-tilt combos into this!
Forward Tilt|Lucas stretches his arm forward with his palm open, releasing a small PSI blast|Sourspot: 7% Sweetspot: 11%|A great tilt attack, it's fast and rewards you for hitting the sweetspot with its range. You can run and pivot tilt if your opponent chases you for a surprise 11% damage in their face, given the range and how fast it is! A pretty safe tilt with low startup and low ending lag!
Down Tilt|Lucas crouches and does a quick kick in an arc in front of him|3%|Another great tilt attack with good range and low startup and almost no ending lag. It combos into itself, but you can jump out of it though. String two or three down tilts into the jab, grab or forward tilt for some good damage! The best option is to go for a grab, most of the time.
Up Tilt|Lucas kicks straight upwards and releases a PSI blast by the tip of his shoe|1st: 1% 2nd: 8,5% Total: 9,5%|A good tilt for catching opponents above you if you want to be more safe than just throwing out an up smash, the first hit strings automaticly into the second as it should. You can string this move into itself at low percents. The best thing about it is that they get sent upwards into the air, where Lucas really gets in action. If you see them air-dodge every time after they get hit by this attack at low percents. Charge a up-smash and hit them with it as soon as their invincibility is over as a punish for not jumping.
Dash Attack|Lucas dashes forward and stretches out his arm for a small burst.|Sourspot: 9% Sweetspot: 13%|The sweetspot might be a little hard to land, but the sweetspot is in the PSI blast and the sourspot is on the hand and the arm. Just like most dash attacks, you will suffer end lag after it so be careful with it. But this one has a good amount of range, so you can throw it out earlier than others characters would and that can surprise some players! Practice where you need to throw it out so that you'll always land the sweetspot! It launches opponents off stage rather early, which is always good. Especially if you practice your edgeguarding!
Smash Attacks
Forward Smash|Lucas swings his stick like a baseball bat to hit his opponent.|14% - 19%(Charged) Sweetspot: 15% - 21%(Charged)| A strong smash attack, the sweetspot kills early. It can reflect projectiles and boosts the power of the projectile reflected with an insane 150%! If you're up against the projectile happy player and you're confident in timing this smash, then go ahead and use it! But personally i prefer to use the down b and heal myself. Though, you have to remember that there are projectiles that cannot be absorbed. Such as Link's arrow or his boomerang. But you can reflect them, so be ready for that and if not, just jump.
Up Smash|Lucas slightly bends forward to charge a massive PSI blast to be released above him.|21% - 29% (Charged)|You will be and should be rewarded when landing this smash attack! Remember that you can do run cancel it just like with all up smashes! Just.. don't spam it, it's not gonna get you anywhere. Catch people with it and punish them as they airdodge to the ground. The trick is to not use it too often, make it unexpected and you shall be rewarded with an early KO. One thing i think is fun to do when my opponent is aggressive and try to land with an attack on me, or just land on top of me is to charge the up-smash and wait for them to panic air-dodge. Then you just use your charged up-smash as soon as their invincibility is over.
Down Smash|Lucas charges his PSI energy and then points his finger towards the ground in front of him, releasing three PSI energy blasts.|17% - 23%(Charged) 14% - 19%(Charged) 11% - 15%(Charged)|This smash attack bursts out 3 times and gets a little bigger but weaker each time. It lasts for more than half a second and is amazing against opponents who aim to grab the ledge when recovering. When edgeguarding with it, make sure the middle of it is on at the edge. The first hit kills at 80% when close to the ledge and even earlier on characters with bad recoveries. It's an amazing down smash, the only flaw is that it only covers one side. But it has a surprisingly low amount of ending lag considering its kill power.
Grab & Throws
Grab|Lucas throws out his rope snake to reach his opponent.|0%|Lucas has a ranged grab, so called a tether grab that allows him to grab his opponent from a small distance. This also allows Lucas to grab the ledge when offstage using the grab button when facing the stage. Usually, tether grabs have a lot of ending lag. Lucas is an exception, his grab doesn't have that much ending lag but it's still more lag than a character without a tether grab has. Since it's a tether grab, you should use it a little bit differently. Use it when your opponent doesn't think that you can reach them. When people run up to approach you, run away and pivot grab to catch them. Some people tend to approach with a dash grab or a dash attack a lot, and this this is a pretty good stratergy against that. You can also throw out a Z-air and then follow up with a grab, this is a true combo if the z-air hits close to the ground.
Pummel|Lucas hits his opponent with his head while having them grabbed|1,2%|A very fast pummel, if not the best then it's among the best pummels in the game! Make sure to not forget using it before throwing your opponent! You'll always be able to get atleast one pummel in no matter the percent and of course even more as their percent goes up! Get as many in as you can, but just enough so that you still can throw them!
Forward Throw|Lucas swings his opponent up and then throws him forward using his PSI energy.|10%|A good throw, though i don't see myself using this unless i'm facing away from the stage and i want my opponent off stage. Or i'll just use it if my opponent is alive above 140% for some reason, but then again. You have your upthrow that kills anywhere by then so you should just use that to kill.
Down Throw|Lucas grounds his opponent and buries them head first.|6,5%|An amazing throw, you will always be able to followup on this throw all the way until your up-throw kills anyway. When at 100%~ percents, you can d-throw -> up-air for the kill. Works even earlier on stages with a low ceiling.
Back Throw|ucas swings his opponent backwards for a powerful throw using his PSI energy.|10%|Lucas main kill throw, kills around 120% when close to the edge. Can also be used to set up a gimp, its base knockback is also high.
Up Throw|Lucas hurls his opponent upwards using his PSI energy.|10%|Lucas' second kill throw. This kills around 140% on Battlefield, on the ground. It can also be used if you want to use PK Thunder and deal some damage from afar.
Standing Grab|12-19|56
Dash Grab-14-21|66
Pivot Grab|12-19|66
Special Moves
Neutral Special - PK Freeze|Lucas raises his hands upward and creates ice that grows as it travels under his control.|9% - 22%|An underused move already i feel, it has amazing horizontal speed and should always be used after you've sent your opponent far off stage. The pressure you put onto them into airdodging is insane, because this move KILLS. If they airdodge, they're probably screwed as well, so they might just take it and try to DI in to the stage. If they're closer to the ledge, just go for a down smash. It can also be used in neutral if you stay away from your opponent. Remember that you can b-reverse it and jump away and do it! Just make sure that you don't fall off the stage as you use it after jumping!
Side Special - PK Fire(PKF)|Lucas quickly charges a flame burst and sends it forward that explodes on impact.|9%|One of Lucas' best moves, using the PK Fire techniques in the technique section will allow you to reduce its lag. This is Lucas' main neutral game attack, use this while you wait for an opening to run in and grab. Use it to zone your opponent!
Up Special - PK Thunder(PKT)|Lucas crosses his arms and creates controllable lightning.|1% - 17%(?)|When Lucas hits himself with this move, he will be launched in the direction that the PKT hit him. Great for messing up recoveries! Use this when your opponent is off-stage and below the ledge to mess up their jump and/or up-special! Excellent against bad recoveries. When you hit yourself with it and launch yourself, you won't lose distance like Ness does when he hits an enemy. Instead, this PKT launch multihits and takes the enemy with you. Stand close to the ledge if you want to hit yourself with it before it thaws out for an easy escape if you missed and feel like you're about to get punished The best thing about this move is how far it actually launches you, you can almost recover from anywhere!
Down Special - PSI Magnet|Lucas puts his arm forward and opens his palm to create a magnetic field|9% at its core|This magnetic field absorbs projectiles, most explosions, and does damage once released close to the middle of the field where it shines as most. This attack is awesome. It has utility, damage and resets your vertical momentum in the air. If you catch a projectile it heals you for a crazy amount! If Mario uses a fireball (5%) onto Lucas PSI Magnet, it heals Lucas for a crazy 12,5%! (It says 13%, but 2 fireballs nd 25%) Also, this attack sends your opponent really far and kills near the edge at 110%~! With this you can't be scared to go offstage as it stops your vertical momentum. It has a quick startup and almost no endlag, especially on the ground. It is an insane edgeguard if you manage to master its use! Its only downside is the hitbox of it, sometimes it doesn't hit when you feel like it should've.
Neutral Air|Lucas spins aroud, creating a small field of PSI energy around him.|8%|This is probably Lucas' most used aerial because how amazing it actually is, it auto-cancels if you do a SH and immediately n-air and you can string this at lower percents. Personally i like to use this as an aggressive approach, short jumping in with a n-air is something you should definitely try to get damage onto them. It's also a combo starter! More info in combos! You can try baiting with it using SH n-airs because of how fast it cancels.
Forward Air|Lucas does a fast kick forward, releasing a small PSI energy blast by the end of his shoe|Sourspot: 8% Sweetspot 11%|A very good aerial. You need to space this so that you hit the sweetspot of it. It combos out of n-air at low to mid percents. It has a some ending lag to it, you can't use it or anything else immediately after like you pretty much can do with n-air. It also has some landing lag, so don't go around and do SH f-airs, you're very likely to end up being punished for it. Even though its laggy, it's a really good aerial that has good range and kills at higher percents. What i like most about it is that you get rewarded for spacing it properly. Just like Marth but with all of his attacks.
Down Air|Lucas kicks towards the ground four times releasing small bursts of PSI energy at the tip of his shoes.|1st: 3,5% 2nd: 3% 3rd: 3% , 4th: 5%|This aerial can be pretty good if you land all four hits, but it doesn't draw people in like n-air does, so it's really hard to do so. It's even harder to spike with it because of this, you might hit the first 2 or 3 hits, but you might miss the final one which makes this aerial unreliable. And even if you would hit the final one, you might not sweetspot it. So it might not spike and then it would just send your opponent sideways. This move cancels on the ground only if you full hop d-air instantly. If it wouldn't have this landing lag and would draw in your opponent like n-air does, then this aerial attack would have been super good. One thing you can do though is to use it to cover recoveries that are very linear, say if Fox is aiming to grab the ledge(as he should). You can just jump off the ledge and cover it with the attack and spike him with the fourth hit with the range d-air actually has. Space it properly. If you have trouble using it, just use PK-Freeze to cover and pressure recoveries or use PK Thunder.
Back Air|Lucas flips backwards and kicks in a 90° arc behind him, releasing PSI energy at the tip of his shoes.|Sourspot: 7% Sourspot 2: 9% Sweetspot: 12%|This move has 2 sour spots: The first one is if you hit it too close to you and the second is if you it it at the very tip of the PSI energy. The sweetspot is in the centre of the PSI energy. It is my favorite aerial, i can't say enough good about it. It has no end lag, you can use it again immediately and wall out your opponents and it doesn't have a lot of landing lag. Almost as little lag frames as n-air! It's only draw back is the sourspot at the very end of it. But when you hit this move in the middle, it meteors and sends your opponent into the abyss and kills off stage at 50% and even if they're below that percent, it sets you up for an edgeguard. Though, if it kills at early percent is character dependant, as some characters have really good recoveries, and some don't. Sometimes it won't spike, but sends your opponent far sideways. So it's really good anyway. Learn to space this correctly and wall your opponent. Once they're off stage, try going for that sick spike. Let's be real though, it's the sickest looking spike in the game.
Up Air|Lucas heads his opponent.|13%|A very short attack. Ness' up-air is better because of how small Lucas up-air is. But It's very strong once it hits and it true combos out of d-throw! Though it's not very reliable considering how small its hitbox is. But if you read your opponent's DI out of a d-throw at higher percents you will get yourself the kill. But then again, it's a great kill move that true combos out of d-throw.
Z Air|Lucas throws out his rope snake to deal damage to his opponent.|2% - 4%|You can use this to poke your opponent. It does 2% at the end of it and 4% when closer to you. Its range is amazing, and it can be used to grab the ledge. If you grab the ledge with it, you can move out of grabbing the ledge faster than characters that doesn't have a tether grab! And if you miss, you can just launch yourself towards the stage with PK Thunder. It's a good move for poke, but then again you have PK Fire. Personally, i don't use this a lot, but i should definatly consider it. It true combos into many attacks when used close to the ground! More info in combos!
Lucas' Frame Data
Lucas' Ground Attacks
Attack|Hitbox Active|FAF|Base Dmg.|Angle|BKB/WBKB|KBG
Jab 1|2-4|20|2.5|30/66/87|W: 30/18/16|100
Jab 2|3-5|20|2|30/70/88|W: 30/18/16|100
Jab 3|6-8|30|4|48|60|80
Dash Attack|15-16|39|9/13|75/46|60|76/70
Forward Tilt (All Angles)|7-8|26|7.5/11|361|20/30|60/75
Up Tilt (Hit 1)|4|37|1.5|120|W: 60|100
Up Tilt (Hit 2)|7-10|-|8|93|50|100
Up Tilt (Hit 2, Late)|11-14|-|5|90|50|100
Down Tilt|3-4|16|3|70/0/0|10/10/8|50/50/40
Forward Smash|14-15 (Reflects on: ? (1.5x, 80% Break Threshhold)|47|14/15|361|50|88
Up Smash (Launcher)|28|99|2|110|W: 110|90
Up Smash (Hit 2, Early)|30-32|-|19|95|48|77
Up Smash (Hit 2)|33-37|-|18|95|42|77
Up Smash (Hit 2)|38-42|-|16|95|37|77
Up Smash (Hit 2)|43-47|-|14|95|32|77
Up Smash (Hit 2)|48-52 (Aerial Only)|-|12|95|27|77
Down Smash (Hit 1)|20-21|64|17|361|43|90
Down Smash (Hit 2)|29-30|-|14|361|30|90
Down Smash (Hit 3)|39-40|-|11|361|20|90
Lucas' Grabs
Grab|Hitbox Active|FAF
Standing Grab|12-19|51
Dash Grab|14-21|61
Pivot Grab|12-19|61
Lucas' Throws
Throw|Weight Dependant?|Base Dmg.|Angle|BKB|KBG
Forward Throw| |10|48|80|65
Back Throw| |10|41|80|65
Up Throw| |10|90|78|69
Down Throw| |6.5|80|78|51
Lucas' Special Attacks
Attack|Hitbox Active|FAF|Base Dmg.|Angle|BKB/WBKB|KBG
Neutral Special - PK Freeze|40|67|-|-|-|-
Side Special - PK Fire|21-35|53|3|-|-|-
Side Special - PK Fire (Contact)|1-|-|6|-|-|-
Up Special - PK Thunder|20-137|70|-|-|-|-
PK Thunder 2 (Hit 1)|1| |8|361|60|110
PK Thunder 2 (Hits 2-6)|2-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14-15|-|2|366|30|50
PK Thunder 2 (Hits 7-11)|16-17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29|-|1.5|366|30|50
PK Thunder 2 (Hit 12)|30-31|-|10|50|90|74
Down Special - PSI Magnet|17|36|8|25|40|98
Lucas' Aerial Attacks
Attack|Hitbox Active|FAF|Base Dmg.|Angle|BKB/WBKB|KBG
Neutral Air|7-23 (Rehit rate: 5)|45|1|367|20|70|13|37>
Neutral Air(Final Hit)|26|-|4|60|40|140|-|-
Forward Air|9-10|42|9/11.5|361/46|10/30|100/97|15|38>
Forward Air (Late)|11-12|-|6|361|7|100|-|-
Back Air|15-20|40|9/12/12/7|361/280/361/361|30/30/30/10|80/90/90/60|15|39>
Up Air|7-9|46|13|80|10|100|12|38>
Down Air (Hits 1-3)|10-12, 18-19, 25-26, 32-33|57|3.5|90/270|B: 42/W: 20|10/100|24|47>
Down Air (Hit 4)|39-40|-|5|270/361|10|110/130|-|-
Z Air|9-12|60|4|45|60|30|-|-
Z Air (Late)|13-19|-|2.8|45|40|30|-|-
Lucas' Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous|Intangbility|FAF
Spotdodge|3-19|28
Forward Roll|4-19|31
Back Roll|4-19|31
Airdodge|3-28|34
Jab 1|2-4|20|2.5|30/66/87|W: 30/18/16|100
Jab 2|3-5|20|2|30/70/88|W: 30/18/16|100
Jab 3|6-8|30|4|48|60|80
Dash Attack|15-16|39|9/13|75/46|60|76/70
Forward Tilt (All Angles)|7-8|26|7.5/11|361|20/30|60/75
Up Tilt (Hit 1)|4|37|1.5|120|W: 60|100
Up Tilt (Hit 2)|7-10|-|8|93|50|100
Up Tilt (Hit 2, Late)|11-14|-|5|90|50|100
Down Tilt|3-4|16|3|70/0/0|10/10/8|50/50/40
Forward Smash|14-15 (Reflects on: ? (1.5x, 80% Break Threshhold)|47|14/15|361|50|88
Up Smash (Launcher)|28|99|2|110|W: 110|90
Up Smash (Hit 2, Early)|30-32|-|19|95|48|77
Up Smash (Hit 2)|33-37|-|18|95|42|77
Up Smash (Hit 2)|38-42|-|16|95|37|77
Up Smash (Hit 2)|43-47|-|14|95|32|77
Up Smash (Hit 2)|48-52 (Aerial Only)|-|12|95|27|77
Down Smash (Hit 1)|20-21|64|17|361|43|90
Down Smash (Hit 2)|29-30|-|14|361|30|90
Down Smash (Hit 3)|39-40|-|11|361|20|90
Lucas' Grabs
Standing Grab|12-19|51
Dash Grab|14-21|61
Pivot Grab|12-19|61
Lucas' Throws
Forward Throw| |10|48|80|65
Back Throw| |10|41|80|65
Up Throw| |10|90|78|69
Down Throw| |6.5|80|78|51
Lucas' Special Attacks
Neutral Special - PK Freeze|40|67|-|-|-|-
Side Special - PK Fire|21-35|53|3|-|-|-
Side Special - PK Fire (Contact)|1-|-|6|-|-|-
Up Special - PK Thunder|20-137|70|-|-|-|-
PK Thunder 2 (Hit 1)|1| |8|361|60|110
PK Thunder 2 (Hits 2-6)|2-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14-15|-|2|366|30|50
PK Thunder 2 (Hits 7-11)|16-17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29|-|1.5|366|30|50
PK Thunder 2 (Hit 12)|30-31|-|10|50|90|74
Down Special - PSI Magnet|17|36|8|25|40|98
Lucas' Aerial Attacks
Neutral Air|7-23 (Rehit rate: 5)|45|1|367|20|70|13|37>
Neutral Air(Final Hit)|26|-|4|60|40|140|-|-
Forward Air|9-10|42|9/11.5|361/46|10/30|100/97|15|38>
Forward Air (Late)|11-12|-|6|361|7|100|-|-
Back Air|15-20|40|9/12/12/7|361/280/361/361|30/30/30/10|80/90/90/60|15|39>
Up Air|7-9|46|13|80|10|100|12|38>
Down Air (Hits 1-3)|10-12, 18-19, 25-26, 32-33|57|3.5|90/270|B: 42/W: 20|10/100|24|47>
Down Air (Hit 4)|39-40|-|5|270/361|10|110/130|-|-
Z Air|9-12|60|4|45|60|30|-|-
Z Air (Late)|13-19|-|2.8|45|40|30|-|-
Lucas' Miscellaneous
Spotdodge|3-19|28
Forward Roll|4-19|31
Back Roll|4-19|31
Airdodge|3-28|34
Lucas' changes(buffs, nerfs)
1.1.0 (07/31/2015)
Forward air had its sweetspot enlarged and sweetspot smaller, and the sourspot damage was increased by one percent.
I wouldn't say that this was a very needed buff in terms of damage, but the hitbox changes are great, they make you have to worry less about being very precise with spacing the attack.
Forward tilt got some changes in the hitboxes too, both made bigger, not sure why this was needed. Personally the only use i find this attack to have is jab locking, so i don't use it too often.
I wouldn't call it a nerf nor a buff, just a change.
Down tilt had its angle changed and kbg lowered so that it's easier to link a down tilt into a grab or side tilt, pretty good!
The grab got some very needed buffs, personally i consider Lucas having the worst grab in the game, even with his rewards for hitting it. But now, hitboxes are enlarged and the endlag is reduced, which is great and honestly something i didn't see coming. It could still have some more buffs though.
1.1.1 (09/30/2015)
- Forward Air
- Sour spot damage increased 8% → 9%
- Sour spot hitbox size 3.8 → 3.3, vertical displacement 1.0 → 2.9
- Forward Tilt
- Sweet spot hitbox size increased 4.0 → 4.4
- Sour spot hitbox size increased 2.0u → 2.2u; horizontal? displacement 1.6 → 0
- Down Tilt
- Far hitbox horizontal displacement 7.0 → 7.2
- Middle hitbox angle altered 0° → 40°, growth reduced 50 → 45, horizontal displacement 2.7 → 3.0
- Close hitbox angle altered 70 → 76, base increased 10 → 18, y/z? displacement 0 → 3.5
- Grab (All)
- Grab Box (early) size increased 2.5 → 3.0
- Grab Box (late) size increased 2.4 → 2.8
- End frames reduced from 56/66/66 → 51/61/61
- PK Thunder (Up Special) hitbox size increased 3.5 → 3.8
Forward air had its sweetspot enlarged and sweetspot smaller, and the sourspot damage was increased by one percent.
I wouldn't say that this was a very needed buff in terms of damage, but the hitbox changes are great, they make you have to worry less about being very precise with spacing the attack.
Forward tilt got some changes in the hitboxes too, both made bigger, not sure why this was needed. Personally the only use i find this attack to have is jab locking, so i don't use it too often.
I wouldn't call it a nerf nor a buff, just a change.
Down tilt had its angle changed and kbg lowered so that it's easier to link a down tilt into a grab or side tilt, pretty good!
The grab got some very needed buffs, personally i consider Lucas having the worst grab in the game, even with his rewards for hitting it. But now, hitboxes are enlarged and the endlag is reduced, which is great and honestly something i didn't see coming. It could still have some more buffs though.
1.1.1 (09/30/2015)
This wasn't too much of a patch that changed characters heavily, except Luigi, who doesn't always have guaranteed kill confirms anymore which was a good change. Now he's not as overwhelming, but he's still great.
But let's get to the point.
Lucas wasn't touched, at all. But instead there was a global change that affects all the characters positively and Lucas is definitely not counted out.
Shielding. Shielding in Sm4sh was so good, but now, they have added shield stun!
This means that if you're hit by an attack while holding shield, you will not be able to act out of your shield immediately to go for a punish but instead you have a certain amount of frames(depending on the attack that hit your shield) where you can't drop shield in any way and THIS means that all attacks are now more safe on shield!
WHO EXPECTED THIS TO HAPPEN?!
This means that playing defensively isn't as effective anymore, since the best defensive option of the game has been significantly nerfed/changed.
This means that aggression will be more awarding in this patch, instead of shielding and having a bunch of shield stun you might just go for trades sometimes.
You now CAN go for a n-air or a z-air into grab being more safe than before as both Lucas(and other characters such as ZSS)
Just to clarify: You should still shield(preferably perfect shield, of course) but aggression on shield isn't going to get you punished as hard anymore, or maybe not even punished at all.
In case you didn't know..:
Shields in Smash4 1.1.1
1-3: Perfect Shield
4-11: Locked into shield (8 frames minimum) ~
12-18: Shield drop lag (7 frames)
But let's get to the point.
Lucas wasn't touched, at all. But instead there was a global change that affects all the characters positively and Lucas is definitely not counted out.
Shielding. Shielding in Sm4sh was so good, but now, they have added shield stun!
This means that if you're hit by an attack while holding shield, you will not be able to act out of your shield immediately to go for a punish but instead you have a certain amount of frames(depending on the attack that hit your shield) where you can't drop shield in any way and THIS means that all attacks are now more safe on shield!
WHO EXPECTED THIS TO HAPPEN?!
This means that playing defensively isn't as effective anymore, since the best defensive option of the game has been significantly nerfed/changed.
This means that aggression will be more awarding in this patch, instead of shielding and having a bunch of shield stun you might just go for trades sometimes.
You now CAN go for a n-air or a z-air into grab being more safe than before as both Lucas(and other characters such as ZSS)
Just to clarify: You should still shield(preferably perfect shield, of course) but aggression on shield isn't going to get you punished as hard anymore, or maybe not even punished at all.
In case you didn't know..:
Shields in Smash4 1.1.1
1-3: Perfect Shield
4-11: Locked into shield (8 frames minimum) ~
12-18: Shield drop lag (7 frames)
Playstyles
Semi-defensively| The way i like to play is sort of a semi-defensive style. I try to space my attacks and bait my opponent, once they run towards me will run away and pivot grab, f-tilt or forward smash. I also shortjump backwards and PK Fire to gain momentum away from my opponent. I wait out openings to where i can throw in an aerial on my opponent or catch them with a grab and combo them. Explanation on PK Fire in techniques. It is a very annoying playstyle to play against if your opposing character isn't fast and doesn't have good approach options like Sheik.
Semi-aggressive|If you happen to become impatient, then try to switch it up into more of a semi-aggressive playstyle. Then i try to run up and space attacks and wait for an opening where i can grab them and follow up with combos. Look for openings, but zone and space your attacks towards your opponent and wait for them to make a mistake where you can run in and deal damage or finish your opponent. Your best punish is usually the grab.
Aggressive| For an aggressive playstyle i will just try to poke them with PK Fire once and then run up to jump onto them with a N-air. You can cancel it off the ground if you fast fall and instantly grab, tilt or jab. But remember that this makes you very vulnerable to players who just shields it and knows what to do about it. They will probably punish you for this, so then you should try the semi-defensive play. Though this type of play has been really effective for me a lot of time. Lucas n-air is very safe.
You have to try new things if something doesn't work, adapt to your opponent and come up with new things and options constantly! Do this and you will also be very hard to read.
Remember that Lucas one of the best anti projetile tools in the whole game, he can just keep his Down-b up and heal himself, or reflect the projectile with a forward smash and increase the damage with 150%
There are some projectiles that can't be absorbed, then try to reflect it instead.
An example is Samus' side-b rocket cannot be absorbed, but it can be reflected.
Against roll happy players who like to roll past you, remember that Lucas has some of the strongest smash attacks in the game. Go for a read with up or down smash!
Players who like to roll and spam projectiles close to the edge shouldn't be a problem if you keep yourself calm! Adapt!
I will update this section as we come up with more options for approaching.
It is very likely to be updated in the near future.
Also if it's requested.
Pros & Cons
Lucas' pros & cons
Pros
Be careful as Lucas, but not too careful!
Explore your options and come up with new ones!
Pros
- Amazing combos
- Great aerial attacks
- Little end and landing lag on most aerials
- Special attacks with many uses
- Amazing anti-projectile game
- Good kill throws
- Rewarding spacing and sweetspotting attacks
- Struggles in some high tier matchups
- Some attacks have a slow start-up
- Huge end-lag on up-smash
- Low damage and knockback if attacks are sourspotted.
- Linear recovery with PKT
Be careful as Lucas, but not too careful!
Explore your options and come up with new ones!
Combos
We're here at last! If you like to combo, then Lucas is the character for you.
He has a massive arsenal of combos and strings that are hard to beat! Not to mention that they're stylish!
There are two types of combos.
A combo string is a combo that you can escape from, it is only a sequence of attacks that combos if the opponent doesn't use any combo breaking technique such as jumping out of it, air-dodging or countering with a very fast aerial.
This doesn't make a combo useless though, if you read your opponent it should combo just fine!
True Combos
Combo strings (Works against most of the characters)
MORE COMBOS COMING SOON!
He has a massive arsenal of combos and strings that are hard to beat! Not to mention that they're stylish!
There are two types of combos.
- True combos
- Combo strings
A combo string is a combo that you can escape from, it is only a sequence of attacks that combos if the opponent doesn't use any combo breaking technique such as jumping out of it, air-dodging or countering with a very fast aerial.
This doesn't make a combo useless though, if you read your opponent it should combo just fine!
True Combos
True combos 0-70%
If this is going to work, you need the following things
---
The Zero to death combo
Very tricky to pull off if your opponent DI's well.
But of course, practice makes perfect!
Shoutouts to TheRealCartererer for the video!
Basically you d-throw -> footstool -> FF D-air
This will "jab lock" them and force them to stand up, allowing you to follow up with anything you want!
---
More true combos will be added to the guide as they're found!
- D-throw -> Any aerial
- D-Tilt -> Jab
- D-tilt -> More d-tilts
- D-tilt -> Any tilt attack
- Falling z-air -> Any tilt
- Falling z-air -> Jab
If this is going to work, you need the following things
- Momentum towards your enemy
- Z-air to be used so that it just has enough time to hit your enemy before you land.
- You to use your attack of choice as soon as you can.
---
The Zero to death combo
Very tricky to pull off if your opponent DI's well.
But of course, practice makes perfect!
Basically you d-throw -> footstool -> FF D-air
This will "jab lock" them and force them to stand up, allowing you to follow up with anything you want!
---
More true combos will be added to the guide as they're found!
Combo strings
Grab, D-throw -> turnaround jump/dash jump b-air -> FF N-air > Grab, D-throw -> U-tilt -> FH N-air -> F-air(Sweetspot)
This does 48% if both the b-air and F-air was sweetspotted.
45% if only one of the moves were sweetspotted.
41% if none of the moves were sweetspotted.
39% if the b-air was sourspotted and f-air was not sweetspotted.
If the f-air was sweetspotted, try to go for a PK Fire for an additional 9% damage!
This combo is worth trying out every now and then, and if you didn't get any further than landing the b-air after d-throw, you still got atleast 13% on em', right?
There is another version of this combo!
Instead of finishing the combo off with a sweetspot fair, you jump cancel your double jump with a n-air and follow it up with an up-air.
Here's a video of the combo being demonstrated!
Shoutouts phiIi11 on YouTube/SmashBoards for the video!
---
Down you go! -Spike into spike
Now, this one is very unreliable but you will have people cheering for you if you manage to get it.
What you do is covering you opponents recovery as they go for the ledge with your down air, this works because of the active hitboxes and if this fails it's because of their recovery doing damage and Lucas' d-air hurtbox not being active. So you have to time this considering there is a 6 frame window between every kick, and every hit(hurtbox) is active for 2 frames.
But if one of the hits connect, the rest(hopefully) will even though they don't auto-connect like his n-air does, you fast fall and follow it up with a sweetspot b-air to finish them off if it's needed which depends on their percents and how good their recovery is.
This is demonstrated vs. a bot. Sometimes we find things out in the weirdest of ways don't we?
Demonstration:
This works best against characters with a very linear recorvery, even better if it doesn't do damage. Best case is if someone is just trying to recover from below the ledge.
Good examples: Fox, Ryu, Luigi
Grab, D-throw -> turnaround jump/dash jump b-air -> FF N-air > Grab, D-throw -> U-tilt -> FH N-air -> F-air(Sweetspot)
This does 48% if both the b-air and F-air was sweetspotted.
45% if only one of the moves were sweetspotted.
41% if none of the moves were sweetspotted.
39% if the b-air was sourspotted and f-air was not sweetspotted.
If the f-air was sweetspotted, try to go for a PK Fire for an additional 9% damage!
This combo is worth trying out every now and then, and if you didn't get any further than landing the b-air after d-throw, you still got atleast 13% on em', right?
There is another version of this combo!
Instead of finishing the combo off with a sweetspot fair, you jump cancel your double jump with a n-air and follow it up with an up-air.
Here's a video of the combo being demonstrated!
---
Down you go! -Spike into spike
Now, this one is very unreliable but you will have people cheering for you if you manage to get it.
What you do is covering you opponents recovery as they go for the ledge with your down air, this works because of the active hitboxes and if this fails it's because of their recovery doing damage and Lucas' d-air hurtbox not being active. So you have to time this considering there is a 6 frame window between every kick, and every hit(hurtbox) is active for 2 frames.
But if one of the hits connect, the rest(hopefully) will even though they don't auto-connect like his n-air does, you fast fall and follow it up with a sweetspot b-air to finish them off if it's needed which depends on their percents and how good their recovery is.
This is demonstrated vs. a bot. Sometimes we find things out in the weirdest of ways don't we?
Demonstration:
This works best against characters with a very linear recorvery, even better if it doesn't do damage. Best case is if someone is just trying to recover from below the ledge.
Good examples: Fox, Ryu, Luigi
Techniques
Techniques
Techniques, what defines smash alongside its many other wonderful aspects.
It is most of the time performed by doing a row of button inputs in a specific order and timing.
Smash 4 hasn't even been out for a year yet, and we actually have some techniques. Some that has stayed since earlier installments of Smash and some that are newly found.
Who knows what crazy techniques that will be found in the future?!
This section will be divided in two parts.
Let's get into it!
Lucas techniques
General game techniques
Techniques, what defines smash alongside its many other wonderful aspects.
It is most of the time performed by doing a row of button inputs in a specific order and timing.
Smash 4 hasn't even been out for a year yet, and we actually have some techniques. Some that has stayed since earlier installments of Smash and some that are newly found.
Who knows what crazy techniques that will be found in the future?!
This section will be divided in two parts.
- Lucas' techniques
- General game techniques
Let's get into it!
Lucas techniques
PK Fire techniques
PK Thunder Techniques
PKF Techniques
If you use it so that the Fire is shot just before you land, you
will do a small retreating dash away from where you shoot it.
You can also do it with a retreating SH, which will give you lots of momentum backwards. It takes Lucas across Final Destination with three retreated short jump PK Fires if done correctly.
Decided to record with my phone for more clarity, sorry about the bad quality. (compared to capture cards)
Let's say that your opponent is to your right.
/(SH) -> (timing is crucial)
Landing PK Fire:
http://gfycat.com/PersonalBonyHyrax
---
Let's say that you want to retreat to the left.
(dash) -> /(jump) ->
Retreating SH PK Fire:
http://gfycat.com/MediumQuarrelsomeAnemoneshrimp
I felt like these are some more defensive options, but what if you want to be a little more aggressive? Well i thought out that you can run up and reverse side b. You use the PK Fire but your momentum from your jump forward and PK Fire is reversed, so that you retreat away as it starts up!
---
Let's say that your opponent is to your left.
(dash) -> / (jump) -> -> (quick!) (reverse side-b)
The whole idea of it is that you still have the running up momentum as you do the PK Fire, so you have to be fast after you jump or else you will stop as you use it and only get the momentum from PK Fire, and not your movement.
I'm totally going to use this. I accidently use PK Freeze sometimes when i try to do this though.
Running up reversed side b:
http://gfycat.com/RequiredEasygoingBelugawhale
If you use it so that the Fire is shot just before you land, you
will do a small retreating dash away from where you shoot it.
You can also do it with a retreating SH, which will give you lots of momentum backwards. It takes Lucas across Final Destination with three retreated short jump PK Fires if done correctly.
Decided to record with my phone for more clarity, sorry about the bad quality. (compared to capture cards)
Let's say that your opponent is to your right.
/(SH) -> (timing is crucial)Landing PK Fire:
---
Let's say that you want to retreat to the left.
(dash) -> /(jump) ->Retreating SH PK Fire:
I felt like these are some more defensive options, but what if you want to be a little more aggressive? Well i thought out that you can run up and reverse side b. You use the PK Fire but your momentum from your jump forward and PK Fire is reversed, so that you retreat away as it starts up!
---
Let's say that your opponent is to your left.
(dash) -> / (jump) -> -> (quick!) (reverse side-b)The whole idea of it is that you still have the running up momentum as you do the PK Fire, so you have to be fast after you jump or else you will stop as you use it and only get the momentum from PK Fire, and not your movement.
I'm totally going to use this. I accidently use PK Freeze sometimes when i try to do this though.
Running up reversed side b:
PK Thunder Techniques
PKT2
Lucas can use his PK Thunder for his recovery twice if you PKT yourself directly into a wall and immediately use PKT again!
This is demonstrated as Ness, but it works for Lucas as well.
-It's use?
To recover, of course! It's showcased right below! I'd call it a mixup to mindgame the opponent if anything!
Here's a Vine showcasing it!
Shoutouts to.. The vine user who made this! I don't know who he is.
Lucas can use his PK Thunder for his recovery twice if you PKT yourself directly into a wall and immediately use PKT again!
This is demonstrated as Ness, but it works for Lucas as well.
-It's use?
To recover, of course! It's showcased right below! I'd call it a mixup to mindgame the opponent if anything!
Here's a Vine showcasing it!
Shoutouts to.. The vine user who made this! I don't know who he is.
General game techniques
Out of Shield
Perfect Pivoting
B-reverse and Wave-bounce
Ledge Trump
Jump cancel up-smash
Out of Shield is to perform an attack out of shield, the shield is usually cancelled by jumping.
OoS N-air
Out of Shield neutral aerial attack.
This can be very useful to do when being pressured when shielding. Ness' OoS n-air is said to be amazing because of its low startup, sitting at 5 frames. Lucas n-air starts up at 7 frames, so this is also a very good OoS option!
This is performed by pressing the jump button while holding shield and instantly pressing your attack button. Do NOT drop the shield before jumping, then this will take much longer and you might get punished.
This is useful when you're being pressured of being grabbed when shielding, or when your opponent is using a row of quick attacks on your shield that you can't just punish by dropping your shield and attacking.
Some characters may not have a good OoS aerial attack option, but instead has a good OoS special atack option, usually being the up-special.
An OoS up-special is performed by jumping out of shield and cancelling the jump by using the up-special before leaving the ground, even if the shield still was jump cancelled.
Most people who use up-special out of shield set their second jump button to their L button and get used to shielding only with their R button.
Characters with good OoS up-special:
Bowser (Counts as a ground up-special, making him spin on stage)
Mario
Shulk
Zero Suit Samus
You can also OoS up-tilt, but this isn't as efficient because you have to drop your shield first. But it could be good as a mixup if your opponent is about to hard read your OoS n-air!
OoS N-air
Out of Shield neutral aerial attack.
This can be very useful to do when being pressured when shielding. Ness' OoS n-air is said to be amazing because of its low startup, sitting at 5 frames. Lucas n-air starts up at 7 frames, so this is also a very good OoS option!
This is performed by pressing the jump button while holding shield and instantly pressing your attack button. Do NOT drop the shield before jumping, then this will take much longer and you might get punished.
This is useful when you're being pressured of being grabbed when shielding, or when your opponent is using a row of quick attacks on your shield that you can't just punish by dropping your shield and attacking.
Some characters may not have a good OoS aerial attack option, but instead has a good OoS special atack option, usually being the up-special.
An OoS up-special is performed by jumping out of shield and cancelling the jump by using the up-special before leaving the ground, even if the shield still was jump cancelled.
Most people who use up-special out of shield set their second jump button to their L button and get used to shielding only with their R button.
Characters with good OoS up-special:
Bowser (Counts as a ground up-special, making him spin on stage)
Mario
Shulk
Zero Suit Samus
You can also OoS up-tilt, but this isn't as efficient because you have to drop your shield first. But it could be good as a mixup if your opponent is about to hard read your OoS n-air!
Perfect Pivoting
Perfect Pivot
A perfect pivot is basically the wave-dash for Smash 4.
It holds your neutral position, while you slide the lenght of your dash and you can do almost anything out of it!
Check out this video about perfect pivoting! My Smash Corner has an amazing video for the Smash 4 community about it!
So what are Lucas best options out of a perfect pivot?
Some of the best options are the grab, down-smash and forward-smash and PSI Magnet(down-special).
Perfect pivot grab is amazing because it's already a ranged grab and now you can space it even better and safer!
For a sliding up-smash, there's a different technique.
This is super useful for Lucas when you've mastered it! Take your time and don't be afraid to try it out when playing against someone! How else are you going to learn how to do it for real and use it?
A perfect pivot is basically the wave-dash for Smash 4.
It holds your neutral position, while you slide the lenght of your dash and you can do almost anything out of it!
Check out this video about perfect pivoting! My Smash Corner has an amazing video for the Smash 4 community about it!
So what are Lucas best options out of a perfect pivot?
Some of the best options are the grab, down-smash and forward-smash and PSI Magnet(down-special).
Perfect pivot grab is amazing because it's already a ranged grab and now you can space it even better and safer!
For a sliding up-smash, there's a different technique.
This is super useful for Lucas when you've mastered it! Take your time and don't be afraid to try it out when playing against someone! How else are you going to learn how to do it for real and use it?
B reversing and Wave-bouncing
As Lucas you should use B-reversed PK Fires as a safe way of zoning. Using your air-momentum and reversing it is something you can do with all of yor special attacks. An amazing video My Smash Corner explains this further!
As Lucas you should use B-reversed PK Fires as a safe way of zoning. Using your air-momentum and reversing it is something you can do with all of yor special attacks. An amazing video My Smash Corner explains this further!
Ledge Trump
Ledge Trumping
Ledge trumping is the act of "stealing" the edge from your opponent and forcing them off it, leaving them open to be attacked and forcing them to get on the stage.
If you grab the ledge twice without jumping up on stage, you will not have any frames of invincibility when grabbing it, leaving them open for an attack.
Further explanation on Ledge trumping can be found in this video, made by My Smash Corner with another amazing video.
BIG shoutouts to this man.
Ledge trumping is the act of "stealing" the edge from your opponent and forcing them off it, leaving them open to be attacked and forcing them to get on the stage.
If you grab the ledge twice without jumping up on stage, you will not have any frames of invincibility when grabbing it, leaving them open for an attack.
Further explanation on Ledge trumping can be found in this video, made by My Smash Corner with another amazing video.
BIG shoutouts to this man.
Jump cancel up-smash
Jump cancelled up-smash
When performing an up-smash in the middle of a run, you pretty much stop instantly without any glide. This technique changes that and it varies on the characters jump lenght, air mobility and the longer you hold the jump button. (SH/Normal jump)
This is performed by tapping the c-stick upward immediately after you hit your jump button.
(dash) -> /(jump) -> (up-smash)
This can be done mid run.
Lucas will glide a little and do his up-smash. You might not notice the different it makes unless you look closely, but it can be decisive.
If you make this a habit when you want to run and upsmash, great! You will now have a more effective mid run up-smash!
When performing an up-smash in the middle of a run, you pretty much stop instantly without any glide. This technique changes that and it varies on the characters jump lenght, air mobility and the longer you hold the jump button. (SH/Normal jump)
This is performed by tapping the c-stick upward immediately after you hit your jump button.
(dash) -> /(jump) -> (up-smash)This can be done mid run.
Lucas will glide a little and do his up-smash. You might not notice the different it makes unless you look closely, but it can be decisive.
If you make this a habit when you want to run and upsmash, great! You will now have a more effective mid run up-smash!
When and how to kill
When to kill and how.
Lucas has a lot of kill options, he rocks two kill throws and some insane attacks! Not to talk about his sweetspotted aerials!
So when can you kill as Lucas...?
Here are your most used kill options!:
30% - 50%
Lucas has a lot of kill options, he rocks two kill throws and some insane attacks! Not to talk about his sweetspotted aerials!
So when can you kill as Lucas...?
Here are your most used kill options!:
30% - 50%
- D-air spike off-stage (character recovery dependant)
- B-air spike off-stage
- Successful PK Thunder gimp
- D-air spike off-stage
- B-air spike off-stage
- Up-smash (stage dependant)
- D-smash on edge, catching your opponent's recovery
- Successful PK Thunder gimp
- D-air spike off-stage
- B-air spike off-stage
- Up-smash
- D-smash (first hit)
- F-smash (sweetspot)
- D-throw -> up-air
- B-throw (close to edge)
- D-special - PSI Magnet (close to edge)
- PK Thunder launch into your opponent
- Successful PK Thunder gimp
- PK Fire off-stage, forcing an airdodge or gimping them.
- Z-air gimp against characters with poor recovery
- D-air spike off-stage
- B-air spike off-stage
- All smash attacks
- F-air and up-air
- Up-throw and b-throw
- F-throw (close to edge)
- D-special - PSI Magnet
- N-special - PK Freeze
- PK Thunder launch into your opponent
- Successful PK Thunder gimp
- Sweetspoted dash attack
- PK Fire off-stage
- Everything above
- I mean, even PK Fire kills now.
- N-air kills? Yup.
- Your opponent shouldn't live to this percent.
Stages that benefit Lucas
Pick & Ban as Lucas
Lucas doesn't really have any disadvantage on a stage. What really changes for him is what he can do and how effective it is.
I will only go through the competetive stages that are legal as of now.
Final Destination, all Omega stages(No platforms)
Pros for stages without platforms:
Final Destination, and other stages that are flat are great for Lucas. It's easy to camp and zone your opponent and countering projectiles can be done with ease.
This benefits the zoning Lucas, that pokes a lot with Z-airs and PKFs to build up damage and then go in for the kill.
-
Battlefield, Miiverse, Dreamland 64(stages with platforms)
Pros for stages with platforms:
-
Halberd
Halberd is a very good stage for Lucas, the low ceiling benefits his upsmash, up-throw and down-throw into up air to kill earlier than you think they would. The platform alone is really good too for attacks from below or above.
Remember that you can recover through the stage from below in its normal, flying form.
When you reach the area with the cannon, play safe and stick close to the platform in the middle. Zone with PKF, you do not want to get knocked off stage. The sides of that part of the stage are deadly and can get you stuck as you try to recover from below.
Utilize the platform to the best of your advantage and use your strong vertical kill options with the help of the platform!
Remember that this can also be an advantage for the enemy, if they have good vertical kill power.
-
Delfino Plaza
A stage that brings back memories.
This is also a very good stage for Lucas, the transition into other parts of the stage will make the ceiling unbelieveably low and will let you kill ridiculously early with your strong vertial kill power.
The stage also has 2 platforms on top of each other which reaches very high which makes it even eaiser for you to kill vertically... If you're the one taking use of it. Be careful to not get grabbed on the top platform, especially when the stage changes. Be extra careful against characters with good vertical power, Meta Knight can take massive use of this stage.
-
Smashville
The most favorited stage in the Smash community.
It's great and has one moving platform.
This stage is great for Lucas, you have both of your benefits from Final Destination and Battlefield here depending on where the platform is.
The ceiling is about as high as on FD and you die almost at the same percent on the sides.
This stage benefits Lucas greatly, try to start out with this stage in a set. Your opponent will probably try to get the starter stage to be played on Battlefield or Lylat. If it gets banned, try aiming for Final Destination.
-
Lylat Cruise
This stage destroys your projectile game, there are three awkwardly placed platforms and the stage isn't flat and it tilts.
Here you need to play the combo and up close game. Projectiles won't be very effective but if you see any coming towards you. Just absorb them.
Ban this stage. Always.
-
Town and City
This is actually a good stage for Lucas, the flaw is that the platforms are so high. But something that is beneficial is that the ceiling is relatively low. Your vertical kill options work well here.
Play the combo game here and poke using z-airs, PK Fire isn't as efficient on a stage with platforms. Use PK Fire, just not as often as you would on a stage without platforms.
-
Duck Hunt
-To be added
Lucas doesn't really have any disadvantage on a stage. What really changes for him is what he can do and how effective it is.
I will only go through the competetive stages that are legal as of now.
Final Destination, all Omega stages(No platforms)
Pros for stages without platforms:
- Lucas can PK Fire with ease, enemies can't camp on a platform to prevent it
- Grounded PK Freeze won't hit a platform and disappear
- PK Thunder won't hit a platform and disappear.
- Reflecting and absorbing projectiles is easy
- When on an Omega stage with walls, like Omega Unova Pokémon League, you can PKT2 with ease
Final Destination, and other stages that are flat are great for Lucas. It's easy to camp and zone your opponent and countering projectiles can be done with ease.
This benefits the zoning Lucas, that pokes a lot with Z-airs and PKFs to build up damage and then go in for the kill.
-
Battlefield, Miiverse, Dreamland 64(stages with platforms)
Pros for stages with platforms:
- You can up-smash under a platform to reach your enemy
- You can d-smash when on a platform to hit enemies below
- You can grab on a platform into a kill u-throw or d-throw -> upair, making it killing with these options easier
-
Halberd
Halberd is a very good stage for Lucas, the low ceiling benefits his upsmash, up-throw and down-throw into up air to kill earlier than you think they would. The platform alone is really good too for attacks from below or above.
Remember that you can recover through the stage from below in its normal, flying form.
When you reach the area with the cannon, play safe and stick close to the platform in the middle. Zone with PKF, you do not want to get knocked off stage. The sides of that part of the stage are deadly and can get you stuck as you try to recover from below.
Utilize the platform to the best of your advantage and use your strong vertical kill options with the help of the platform!
Remember that this can also be an advantage for the enemy, if they have good vertical kill power.
-
Delfino Plaza
A stage that brings back memories.
This is also a very good stage for Lucas, the transition into other parts of the stage will make the ceiling unbelieveably low and will let you kill ridiculously early with your strong vertial kill power.
The stage also has 2 platforms on top of each other which reaches very high which makes it even eaiser for you to kill vertically... If you're the one taking use of it. Be careful to not get grabbed on the top platform, especially when the stage changes. Be extra careful against characters with good vertical power, Meta Knight can take massive use of this stage.
-
Smashville
The most favorited stage in the Smash community.
It's great and has one moving platform.
This stage is great for Lucas, you have both of your benefits from Final Destination and Battlefield here depending on where the platform is.
The ceiling is about as high as on FD and you die almost at the same percent on the sides.
This stage benefits Lucas greatly, try to start out with this stage in a set. Your opponent will probably try to get the starter stage to be played on Battlefield or Lylat. If it gets banned, try aiming for Final Destination.
-
Lylat Cruise
This stage destroys your projectile game, there are three awkwardly placed platforms and the stage isn't flat and it tilts.
Here you need to play the combo and up close game. Projectiles won't be very effective but if you see any coming towards you. Just absorb them.
Ban this stage. Always.
-
Town and City
This is actually a good stage for Lucas, the flaw is that the platforms are so high. But something that is beneficial is that the ceiling is relatively low. Your vertical kill options work well here.
Play the combo game here and poke using z-airs, PK Fire isn't as efficient on a stage with platforms. Use PK Fire, just not as often as you would on a stage without platforms.
-
Duck Hunt
-To be added
[GUIDE UNDERGOING MAINTENANCE]
Tell me if there is something that you wish to be added!
Matchups will be added in the future. It's a little bit early for that so soon after Lucas' release.
Special thanks will be given to anyone who finds, or mentions something that should be added to the guide!
Give feedback and tell me and tell me what i can improve in this guide, but also remember that it is a constant work in progress! I will do my best to keep this guide updated and perfected!
---
Special thanks to:
phili for making a video demonstrating my combo, but improved! 10% more dmg!
O Rai for inspiring me to do the "When and how to kill section" !
kmac$ for reminding me of "PKT2", making me add it to the guide!
Snackss for mentioning PKF gimp/forced airdodge in discussion!
Lord Retardus for the up-tilt OoS option! A good mixup!
extremechiton for the z-air combos!
The most important thing is that you find a character that suits you!