- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
Hey, Zult here. This is not a beginners guide. I'm already expecting you to know how much percent moves deal, how much start up lag and endlag each move has, and what moves kill. Let's get right into it.
GRABS
Since pit has the second best dash grab in the game behind captain falcon, I'll start with his grab combos first. Keep in mind rage does skew numbers, and rage starts at 50%.
0-20%
And that's the end of the guide! Sorry if it looks like a mess. First time ever posting a guide. Hope these tips help. Will edit to add additional tips or fix errors.
GRABS
Since pit has the second best dash grab in the game behind captain falcon, I'll start with his grab combos first. Keep in mind rage does skew numbers, and rage starts at 50%.
0-20%
- Down throw into upsmash is probably best thing to do at the start of the match if you get an early grab. 20% combo.
- Forward throw into dash attack into upsmash is a 35% combo on heavy characters, but it is more risky to do depending on how your opponent reacts. It isn't guaranteed, but it works 80ish percent of the time. I don't use it in tournaments because I'd rather have a guaranteed 20% than an iffy 35%. If you miss this combo then you'll be stuck with a 6% down throw.
- Downthrow to RAR bair (pretty hard to do)
- At 0% to about 10% you can risk your guaranteed follow up to try and go for a jab lock on heavies and fastfallers. With Dark Pit only (because his ftilt is weaker), you can fthrow and continue to hold forward after you fthrow and when they miss the tech you can ftilt them for a jab lock. I usually follow up the jab lock with another grab. And with both characters you can fthrow and sweet spot down air them for a jab lock if they miss the tech. Both of these really work well on heavies and fastfallers because they're forced to tech. Middleweight and lightweight characters can just jump away. The dark pit ftilt jab lock is much easier to since it doesn't rely on you sweet spotting. If you manage to this, it's a good 40%+ combo. Here is a video showcasing some examples https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R26iCSqQztA&index
- Down throw into full hop dair into a double jump cancel nair. It's a 25% combo and way better than the standard 16% down throw uair combo at low percents. There's a small window where they can airdodge (but not jump) and if they do you can punish their air dodge landing with a downsmash (your fastest grounded move) or a regrab. This is basically a frame trap.
- Down throw to dair into dair into dair. Depending on how your opponent DIs, dair does combo into itself. (heavies and fastfallers only)
- Down throw into uair or fair depending on how they DI.
- If you're noticing them always DIing away then you can still follow up with an upsmash if you dash forward quickly. Them DIing away puts them closer to the ground so that upsmash can hit and you'll still be getting 20% damage off grabs. Most people don't know that DIing away from pit's grab is worse than DIing up.
- Forward throw if they're near the edge for a kill. Back throw to set up edge gaurds (which is great for pit).
- A good tactic to do is to down throw them at this percent even though you cannot follow it up at this percentage at all except if they air dodge. When people verse pit they usually spam their air dodge button after a throw, so you down throw them at around this percentage, they air dodge, and then you can upsmash. You can either jump up (even though you won't do anything) to apply air pressure and to bait out an air dodge and fast fall to an upsmash. Or you can dash and charge the upsmash if you know for certain they'll air dodge. Found a video of Nairo doing it at 23:10 https://youtu.be/3oukBXdeQVA?t=1387 When playing a good player, they'll stop air dodging after throws when hit by this and usually waste their second jump to get away. When playing a character with poor landing options you can use this knowledge and punish them when they land which should be easy since they don't have a jump. It's important to know when your opponent has jumps and when they don't.
- Up throw kills, so if you're in the middle of the stage or your back is facing the edge, you might as well up throw for the kill.
- Grab release near the edge into a forward smash will also get super early kills if the opponent panic jumps to try to grab the ledge. It's pretty safe to do most of the time.
- Remember to pummel at mid to high percents. 2-3 pummels is 4 and 6% respectively.
- After killing an opponent, if you have a lot of rage just stick with down throw into fair or uair.
- Pivot grabs are amazing with pit. Learn how and when to pivot grab. It's essential.
- Pit has good tilts for spacing. At low percents, down tilt can combo into a dash attack if they miss the tech which will also combo into an upsmash.
- Down tilt has the same range as forward tilt, so you should be using down tilt more since it comes out faster. However forward tilt covers more area, and you should use it when your opponent keeps short hopping in your face.
- At early percent short hop fair into ftilt works. Also his pivot ftilt is pretty decent. If you roll a lot, replace your rolling with pivot ftilts/pivot grabs.
- Uptilt is basically useless in my opinion. It has less endlag than the upsmash, and is only kind of useful on battlefield or stages with low platforms to apply shield pressure while under someone. Using an upsmash to apply shield pressure is more risky because it has more endlag and they can come down and punish you before you get to shield.
- Never ever use the multi hit jab. You will get punished every time. Instead use the other one by just holding your attack button. (Edit: Pit's jab has gotten buffed. Now it's harder to fall out of, but it's still pretty risky to use.)
- Use your full 3 hit jab to catch people spot dodging too much in front of you.
- Jab cancel into grab works very well with pit. Jab once or twice, then dash a little bit and grab them. This is how you can get easy grabs at low percents without whiffing grabs like crazy.
- Jab 1 or Jab 1,2 into fsmash or side b works on floaties (yoshi, ness, etc) They can jump away but most panic nair or panic airdodge. If you jab someone with your jab 1 only they will hit the ground before they can perform an action (unless they're really floaty). This means they can roll away, hold shield, and maybe even hit you back. Jab 1 cancel doesn't have enough knockback to keep them in the air for a little longer unless they're light. If you do jab 1 then jab 2 and stop, your enemy will be able to act in the air because jab 2 has greater knockback and will cause them to stay in the air longer. Your enemy will have 3 main options. Do an aerial and hope it hits you, jump away (the best option) or air dodge. Most people will try to roll away or stay in shield thinking they will hit the ground after the jab, but since they are still in the air (because jab 2 has greater knock back) they will instead air dodge. Since they will be landing with an air dodge and will have the landing lag from the air dodge this gives your time to forward smash or side b. This is a good pseudo kill set up on floaties. This should start working when they're above 110% usually, or maybe 90% if you have a lot of rage.
- You should be jabbing as much as you are going for grabs because Pit's jabs are amazing too. Mix it up.
- Dash attack into upsmash is guaranteed at low percents if they don't DI away, 25% combo. You can dash attack into another dash attack if they DI the first one if they are heavy, but it is rare you will do this because barely anyone DIs dash attacks.
- Dash attack is amazing when going against projectile spammers to close the distance. It has great range, just don't throw it too much because it is punishable on shield. It's also great for catching landings.
- Fair is great for spacing and approaching, and you can follow it up with plenty of moves at early percents. I usually follow it up with an ftilt or grab if it was a short hop fair. Great for edge guarding. You cannot be afraid of going offstage with pit. Go off stage and try to bait out their air dodge, and punish it with a fair. A good amount of characters can't recover from an offstage fair without their 2nd jump. Has very low end lag.
- Nair is a great tool to approach with if your opponent is on the defense. Short hop nairs will catch spot dodges because the move stays out for so long. Also nair is your fastest aerial and great for breaking combos with for that reason. At low percents, a short hop nair into a dashed upsmash is an amazing 25% combo. Nair out of shield is alright too. Nair is also great for covering ledge get up options. Hits them if they jump or neutral get up.
- Dair is my favorite aerial because of how versatile it is. Dair out of shield amazing. If you have a bad habit of rolling, practice using dair out of shield. Also good for applying shield pressure from above. But where dair really shines is offstage. It has the potential to spike, or even stage spike opponents.
- Bair is good for shield poking and killing. I'm not a bair heavy pit player, so I don't have much to say. Still learning the best time to use it.
- Uair is great for juggling. Try to bait out air dodges and punish them with an uair. Also there's a kill set up with this move, but it's kinda hard/and risky to pull off. Doing a fastfall uair and hitting with the middle of the hitbox (too far to the left or right will cause them to slide) will pop them up a certain height no matter the percent and you can follow up with an upsmash. This does not work on small characters. I usually do this when I'm jumping over them and bait them into grabbing or upsmashing then I fastfall uair for the punish.
- Forward smash kills early, but has a lot of end lag. Never use this move unless you are attempting to read an opponent.
- Up smash is great for catching air dodges. If your opponent is in the air, you can jump and act like you are about to do an aerial then if they air dodge, fast fall down to the ground and up smash. Also good to pressure opponents from under a platform at high percents because if you get a shield poke then you might take their stock.
- Down smash is pit's fastest move on the ground. Even faster than the d tilt and jab (even though down smash is faster than down tilt, note that down tilt has more range than the down smash even though it looks the same, so do not use down smash to space). Down smash out of shield is amazing, and also amazing to catch rolls. The second hit of the d tilt is stronger. If your opponent air dodges into the ground or hits your shield then down smash is your fastest move to punish with if they are not within your grab range. If you miss your first down smash, throw out another one. Often players come in for the punish because you whiffed your first down smash, then while coming in for the punish they'll get hit by your second down smash. Sometimes I purposely whiff a down smash knowing they'll try and come in for a punish and throw out a second to hit them. AKA baiting.
- Use up special to recover, simple. Practice recovering at different angles in training mode. Also don't also recover immediately. Pit has no hit box on his up special, and people will try to stage spike you. Use your jumps to stall in the air to bait out stage spikes than recover. You're eventually going to get stage spiked though, so it is important you know how to tech consistently. Pit also can't grab the ledge while facing backwards.
- The infamous side special. This move is only as good as your ability to read opponents. Being able to read opponents comes with experience. A few tips though is if your opponent air dodges into the ground at high percents than that's basically a free kill. Regular get up from the ledge into side b works really well believe it or not. Even on high level players. Also if your opponent spot dodges a lot then run past them and then side special towards them. I like to call it a cross over. (https://youtu.be/3cCbh5b8Lsw?t=402 and https://youtu.be/3cCbh5b8Lsw?t=234) Also, since you will be grabbing a lot with pit, you will conditioning your opponent into spot dodging a lot. As soon as you notice them spot dodging a lot or rolling back, start using you side special to punish. Cross them over and side special if they spot dodge too much, or run past them and side special when the roll back. When they start sitting in their shields because you're using your side special then start grabbing again. It's all about mixing it up and countering their counters. Dark pit's sets up for edge guards, and pit's kills off the top. If you're good at edge guarding than dark pit's side special might be better for you. Dark pit's special is usually better against characters with terrible recoveries. But overall pit's side special is better against most of the cast since it kills off the top. Side special is also great to recover with. It gives you super armor to eat up any attack your opponent will throw at you offstage.
- Down special is really good offstage. Orbitals come in clutch when you're offstage because sometimes you don't want to air dodge because your opponent might read it. So just use you orbitals until you are below the stage then recover.
- Arrows are great for gimping characters and forcing them to air dodge off stage which will also make them recover low. Once they are below the stage from your arrow pressure, go in for a spike. Arrows on stage however are mediocre at best. You will lose to any other character with decent projectiles, but it's great for forcing characters with no projectiles or worse projectiles than you to approach. Pit's arrows are pretty much better than dark pit's arrows in every way except for damage output.
And that's the end of the guide! Sorry if it looks like a mess. First time ever posting a guide. Hope these tips help. Will edit to add additional tips or fix errors.
