- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
Zelda was overshadowed by her alter ego in both Smash bros Melee and Smash bros Brawl. The princess had a major buff in Project M. And now, in Smash bros 3DS/Wii U, she may not be as powerful as her Project M incarnation, but she still has some serious skills.
The Basics:
Here i'll be saying the things that you MUST know about Zelda.
Zelda is far from a fast character, in fact she is one of the slowest characters in the game, along with Ganondorf and Robin, but, Zelda's main game isn't about speed nor aggresively charging at the opponent. After all, what Zelda lacks in mobility and speed, she has it in her powerful attacks.
Zelda plays as a powerful keep away zoner, with powerful projectiles and also powerful moves if close combat is needed. Although Zelda isn't very mobile, she does have some decent combos that can deal a lot of damage if performad correctly, but the combos will be displayed in the advanced section.
Zelda also have her weaknesses, just like any other character. She is very light and floaty, the floatiness can be both a weakness and a strong point, the good thing is that you'll have an easier time recovering, but, you'll also be launched farther. So bear in mind that Zelda must play a very defensive game once her HP passes over 100%. This guide will go through all of her specials in order to cover most of their attributes.
Standard Moves:
Neutral
:
Zelda's Neutral A move hits 3 times and it is an excellent poking tool, and a nice combo move too since it has no ending lag whatsoever, so it's easy to follow up with a Side Tilt, a Dash Attack or a Foward Smash.
But be careful because some small characters like Olimar, Jigglypuff and others that can evade certain moves by crouching (Game&Watch), because this move does not hit the floor, or better saying, it does not affect if the opponent is crouching near Zelda's feet. So be wise.
Side Tilt (Foward/Backwards Tilt):
Zelda's side tilt does not have the 'send the opponent upwards' priority like it had in past Smashes, instead it has a more horizontal knockback and it's quite fast as well. Overall, a good poking tool and again, be careful with opponents that can crouch to dodge your attacks!
Up Tilt:
In past Smashes, Zelda's Up Tilt had some serious power and it was a reliable KO move, but in Smash 4, it lost it's KOing potential and it gained some slight combo potentials, besides from it's obvious anti air priorities, if you catch your opponent under 40% damage, you can combo an Up Tilt into a Neutral Air, Up Air (For lighter characters) or even another Up Tilt (for heavier characters).
At 0%, Zelda can combo up to 4 Up Tilts on Mario and rack up to 28% damage, if no other attacks are used as follow ups.
Down Tilt:
Now here is Zelda's main Combo Starting move. Her down tilt may not look like it's a big deal, but it's very important if you'd like to start combos safely. And it also makes Zelda's hitbox smaller, allowing her to become a harder target to hit.
Specific combos will be explained at the end of the guide.
Dash Attack:
Zelda's Dash attack is pretty powerful overall, it has a good amount of knockback if sweetspotted and good damage as well. It deals 12% damage when sweetspoted, and 9% when not. Also, he Dash Attack has very little ending lag, so if you hit an opponent at lower percentages with a Dash Attack, and if you don't accidentally input a side smash, you can combo 2 Dash Attacks one after another.
Side Smash(Foward/Backwards Smash):
Zelda's Smash Attacks are very powerful, he side smash for example, deals 17% damage uncharged, it has decent knockback, but, sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where her Side Smash may not get all of it's hits, which may lead into not launching your opponent since the last hit is the one with the most power and knockback, so bear in mind that you must place yourself correctly in order to deliver all hits without any failures.
Up Smash:
This move can be tricky sometimes, just like Zelda's Side Smash, it sometimes cannot hit all of it's attacks and instead of launching the opponent, it will pull it back to the floor. This can be very dangerous, or very good if you're near the edge and the move fails, but since there will be no floor for your opponent to fall on, they'll be sent downward towards the abyss. So it's nice to have that in mind, who knows, it might work!
Down Smash:
This is one of Zelda's most reliable moves. But be aware that in Smash 4, it has some slight ending lag at the end, so it'll be nice to not just throw it around like crazy. But regardless of that, it is a very fast kick, it has an almost instant startup. So it is a nice move to use to get some space between you and your opponent. Also, this move tends to sent your opponent flying at a low angle when sweetspotted, which may be trouble for characters that have poor vertical recovery.
Aerial Moves:
Neutral Air:
This is a nice spinning move, it hits multiple times, it's a nice follow up for combos, it can be a nice approaching move if you have yet to master Zelda's famous Light Kicks (Foward and Backwards Aerial).
Foward Air and Back Air (Light Kicks)
Zelda's famous light kick is just as strong as ever, dealing a whooping 20% damage when sweetspoted, but mere 4% when not. Zelda's Light Kick is one of her main KOing moves, it has absurd kockback as well, giving her the will to KO heavyweights like Bowser at around 110%! And most other characters can be KOed by the Light Kick between 80% (Light characters like Jigglypuff and Olimar) and 120% (All other characters).
But you have to know when to use the Light Kick because it has a lot of landing lag, which leaves Zelda vulnerable to opponent's punishments.
The difference between the foward and backward airs is that the Back Air has a faster startup and a lttle less ending lag, which means it's the best to use out of the two if your timing with the Foward air isn't very good.
Here we have a succesful Light Kick, as you can see, whenever it's sweetspotted, a rather loud sound effect will happen and the screen will have a very fast freezing moment before your opponent is launched.
Now this is a failed Light Kick, it doesn't even scratch the opponent and has a rather terrible knockback power, so if you fail a Light Kick, you'll be fine if you still have room to go, or else you better excpect to recieve a few hits to the face.
Down Air:
A lot of characters have a meteor smash, Zelda is one of 'em! Her meteor smash is very powerful if sweetspoted and will send opponents straight down without any hope of returning at around 70%. The move can still send opponents downward without being sweetspotted, but, they'll have chances of recovering.
The timing can be a little hard at forst, but it shouldn't take much time before you get used to it, right?
Special Moves:
Neutral (Naryu's Love)
Naryu's Love is a nice reflector move that lasts a good while, giving you more chances of reflecting projectiles even if you miscalculate the timing by half a second or so. It's also a nice "get away from me" move, in which it will protect Zelda in all directions while damaging opponents and knocking them back, giving Zelda some time to breathe. But keep in mind that spamming this move isn't very recommended since it's ending lag can cause some problems to Zelda.
Side (Din's Fire)
This is Zelda's most valuable move, her main zoning tool and also a great move to KO at distances. Din's fire's trajectory can be slightly controlled by imputting up or down as it travels and remember that the longer it travels (by holding the B button) the more power and knockback it gets and also the bigger the explosion will be.
You sent your opponent flying and you don't want to risk getting close? Din's Fire.
Your opponet is trying to recover? Edgeguard with Din's Fire.
Just be careful because fast characters can easily dodge Din's fire and go directly for damage on Zelda, so use it wisely against fast characters. (Sonic, Fox, Captain Falcon).
Up (Farore's Wind)
A decent recovery move, you can input any direction on the analog to make Zelda teleport in that direction, the teleport's range can go 1/2 of a Final destination stage.
In this Smash, Farore's wind got a major buff since it now has an absurd amount of knockback when Zelda reappears, making this move one of her most powerful KO moves along with the Light Kick. Zelda's Farore's Wind doesn't have much power, however, it has insane kockback power, beig capable of KOing most characters between 90% and 120%. And since it's a teleport move, you can easily avoid taking any damage until Zelda reappears. So if you know what your opponent is up to, you can surprise them with Farore's wind.
But be careful because Farore's Wind has some nasty ending lag, and also be aware of opponents that could be tricking you to use Farore's wind, only for them to block and punish you afterwards.
Down (Phantom Slash)
Zelda summons a phantom kight to attack enemies, this move can be a nice zoning tool along with Din's fire. Phantom SLash has 3 different variants, if you don't charge it at all, the Phantom will appear right in front of Zelda, performing a simple slash attack with minor power and knockback. The second variant is when you charge for about half a second, the phantom travels a little further and slashes with a little more power and knockback. The final variant is when the move is fully charged, which is indicated when the dark purple power in front of Zelda tunrs into a pink-ish color,the Phantom Kight travels a lot more, about 1/4 of a Final Destination stage, and it performs a stab mobe with it's sword and then an upwards slash, it has a good amout of power and knockback as well. Also, keep in mind that Zelda cannot hold the charge for too long like some characters can do with chargeable moves (like Link with his bow) and after a second the move is fully charged, Zelda will release the phantom automatically.
Another use of the Phantom Slash is that you can use the Phantom as a shield, when the Phantom is still active it will push enemies away from it, but it'll take damage as well if attacks are being dealt against it. One of the shielding methods you can use it to protect yourself from incoming projectlies, but bear in mind that If the phantom takes enough damage , it will be destroyed and Zelda will not be abled to use it again until her hand stops glowing purple.
Throws:
Grab and Pummel:
Zelda's grab is pretty decent, no major downsides besides the normal ending lag that all grabs have. Her pummel is also pretty good, it's rather quick, so you can do it once or twice before hrowing your opponent depending on their percentage.
Foward Throw:
Zelda's foward throw is the one that deals the most damage out of them all, but it doesn't have combo potential nor the knockback power to make it reliable.
Backward Throw:
The backward throw has the highest knockback out of them all, if your near the edge and perform a back throw, sending your opponents flying off-screen at high percentaes, it has some nice chances of KOing.
Up Throw:
Zelda's Up throw doesn't have much knockback at lower percentages, which allows her to follow up with Neutral air or an Up Air. Keep in mind that if you perform an Upward thrown on a heavy character that is bellow 10% you can follow up with an Up Smash.
Down Throw:
A quite awesome looking throw, this is a good combo starter throw, giving Zelda several follow up options depending on the opponents percentage. Keep in mind that this throw will aways make the opponent go behind Zelda, so if you'd like to follow up with a Back Air, do it!
Combos:
Zelda's combos aren't very fancy, but they deal a lot of damage, he is a little list of some basic combos and some more fancy things at the end.
Neutral A > Dash Attack
Neutral A > Foward Smash (At Low percentages)
Down Tilt > Down Smash
Dash Attack > Dash Attack (At Low percentages)
Down Tilt > Up Tilt > Up Smash (Low percentages, must be close to opponent)
Down Tilt > Foward Smash
Down Tilt> Farore's Wind *aimed upward* (Must be close to opponent)
Down Tilt > Down Tilt > Neutral A > Dash attack (At low percentages)
Grab > Up Throw > Up Smash (Low percentages, works better on heavyweights)
Grab > Up Throw > Neutral Air
Grab > Up Throw > Up Air (At higher percentages)
Grab > Down Throw > Neutral air
Grab > Down Throw > Jump > Double jump > Back Air (Must jump and immediately double jump while performing Back air, works better at lower percentages)
Thank you very much if you read through everything, this is my very first guide, i hope to do more in the future.
GrouZekJr. Signing out.
The Basics:
Here i'll be saying the things that you MUST know about Zelda.
Zelda is far from a fast character, in fact she is one of the slowest characters in the game, along with Ganondorf and Robin, but, Zelda's main game isn't about speed nor aggresively charging at the opponent. After all, what Zelda lacks in mobility and speed, she has it in her powerful attacks.
Zelda plays as a powerful keep away zoner, with powerful projectiles and also powerful moves if close combat is needed. Although Zelda isn't very mobile, she does have some decent combos that can deal a lot of damage if performad correctly, but the combos will be displayed in the advanced section.
Zelda also have her weaknesses, just like any other character. She is very light and floaty, the floatiness can be both a weakness and a strong point, the good thing is that you'll have an easier time recovering, but, you'll also be launched farther. So bear in mind that Zelda must play a very defensive game once her HP passes over 100%. This guide will go through all of her specials in order to cover most of their attributes.
Standard Moves:
Neutral
: Zelda's Neutral A move hits 3 times and it is an excellent poking tool, and a nice combo move too since it has no ending lag whatsoever, so it's easy to follow up with a Side Tilt, a Dash Attack or a Foward Smash.
But be careful because some small characters like Olimar, Jigglypuff and others that can evade certain moves by crouching (Game&Watch), because this move does not hit the floor, or better saying, it does not affect if the opponent is crouching near Zelda's feet. So be wise.
Side Tilt (Foward/Backwards Tilt):
Zelda's side tilt does not have the 'send the opponent upwards' priority like it had in past Smashes, instead it has a more horizontal knockback and it's quite fast as well. Overall, a good poking tool and again, be careful with opponents that can crouch to dodge your attacks!
Up Tilt:
In past Smashes, Zelda's Up Tilt had some serious power and it was a reliable KO move, but in Smash 4, it lost it's KOing potential and it gained some slight combo potentials, besides from it's obvious anti air priorities, if you catch your opponent under 40% damage, you can combo an Up Tilt into a Neutral Air, Up Air (For lighter characters) or even another Up Tilt (for heavier characters).
At 0%, Zelda can combo up to 4 Up Tilts on Mario and rack up to 28% damage, if no other attacks are used as follow ups.
Down Tilt:
Now here is Zelda's main Combo Starting move. Her down tilt may not look like it's a big deal, but it's very important if you'd like to start combos safely. And it also makes Zelda's hitbox smaller, allowing her to become a harder target to hit.
Specific combos will be explained at the end of the guide.
Dash Attack:
Zelda's Dash attack is pretty powerful overall, it has a good amount of knockback if sweetspotted and good damage as well. It deals 12% damage when sweetspoted, and 9% when not. Also, he Dash Attack has very little ending lag, so if you hit an opponent at lower percentages with a Dash Attack, and if you don't accidentally input a side smash, you can combo 2 Dash Attacks one after another.
Side Smash(Foward/Backwards Smash):
Zelda's Smash Attacks are very powerful, he side smash for example, deals 17% damage uncharged, it has decent knockback, but, sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where her Side Smash may not get all of it's hits, which may lead into not launching your opponent since the last hit is the one with the most power and knockback, so bear in mind that you must place yourself correctly in order to deliver all hits without any failures.
Up Smash:
This move can be tricky sometimes, just like Zelda's Side Smash, it sometimes cannot hit all of it's attacks and instead of launching the opponent, it will pull it back to the floor. This can be very dangerous, or very good if you're near the edge and the move fails, but since there will be no floor for your opponent to fall on, they'll be sent downward towards the abyss. So it's nice to have that in mind, who knows, it might work!
Down Smash:
This is one of Zelda's most reliable moves. But be aware that in Smash 4, it has some slight ending lag at the end, so it'll be nice to not just throw it around like crazy. But regardless of that, it is a very fast kick, it has an almost instant startup. So it is a nice move to use to get some space between you and your opponent. Also, this move tends to sent your opponent flying at a low angle when sweetspotted, which may be trouble for characters that have poor vertical recovery.
Aerial Moves:
Neutral Air:
This is a nice spinning move, it hits multiple times, it's a nice follow up for combos, it can be a nice approaching move if you have yet to master Zelda's famous Light Kicks (Foward and Backwards Aerial).
Foward Air and Back Air (Light Kicks)
Zelda's famous light kick is just as strong as ever, dealing a whooping 20% damage when sweetspoted, but mere 4% when not. Zelda's Light Kick is one of her main KOing moves, it has absurd kockback as well, giving her the will to KO heavyweights like Bowser at around 110%! And most other characters can be KOed by the Light Kick between 80% (Light characters like Jigglypuff and Olimar) and 120% (All other characters).
But you have to know when to use the Light Kick because it has a lot of landing lag, which leaves Zelda vulnerable to opponent's punishments.
The difference between the foward and backward airs is that the Back Air has a faster startup and a lttle less ending lag, which means it's the best to use out of the two if your timing with the Foward air isn't very good.
Here we have a succesful Light Kick, as you can see, whenever it's sweetspotted, a rather loud sound effect will happen and the screen will have a very fast freezing moment before your opponent is launched.
Now this is a failed Light Kick, it doesn't even scratch the opponent and has a rather terrible knockback power, so if you fail a Light Kick, you'll be fine if you still have room to go, or else you better excpect to recieve a few hits to the face.
Down Air:
A lot of characters have a meteor smash, Zelda is one of 'em! Her meteor smash is very powerful if sweetspoted and will send opponents straight down without any hope of returning at around 70%. The move can still send opponents downward without being sweetspotted, but, they'll have chances of recovering.
The timing can be a little hard at forst, but it shouldn't take much time before you get used to it, right?
Special Moves:
Neutral
(Naryu's Love)Naryu's Love is a nice reflector move that lasts a good while, giving you more chances of reflecting projectiles even if you miscalculate the timing by half a second or so. It's also a nice "get away from me" move, in which it will protect Zelda in all directions while damaging opponents and knocking them back, giving Zelda some time to breathe. But keep in mind that spamming this move isn't very recommended since it's ending lag can cause some problems to Zelda.
Side
(Din's Fire)This is Zelda's most valuable move, her main zoning tool and also a great move to KO at distances. Din's fire's trajectory can be slightly controlled by imputting up or down as it travels and remember that the longer it travels (by holding the B button) the more power and knockback it gets and also the bigger the explosion will be.
You sent your opponent flying and you don't want to risk getting close? Din's Fire.
Your opponet is trying to recover? Edgeguard with Din's Fire.
Just be careful because fast characters can easily dodge Din's fire and go directly for damage on Zelda, so use it wisely against fast characters. (Sonic, Fox, Captain Falcon).
Up
(Farore's Wind)A decent recovery move, you can input any direction on the analog to make Zelda teleport in that direction, the teleport's range can go 1/2 of a Final destination stage.
In this Smash, Farore's wind got a major buff since it now has an absurd amount of knockback when Zelda reappears, making this move one of her most powerful KO moves along with the Light Kick. Zelda's Farore's Wind doesn't have much power, however, it has insane kockback power, beig capable of KOing most characters between 90% and 120%. And since it's a teleport move, you can easily avoid taking any damage until Zelda reappears. So if you know what your opponent is up to, you can surprise them with Farore's wind.
But be careful because Farore's Wind has some nasty ending lag, and also be aware of opponents that could be tricking you to use Farore's wind, only for them to block and punish you afterwards.
Down
(Phantom Slash)Zelda summons a phantom kight to attack enemies, this move can be a nice zoning tool along with Din's fire. Phantom SLash has 3 different variants, if you don't charge it at all, the Phantom will appear right in front of Zelda, performing a simple slash attack with minor power and knockback. The second variant is when you charge for about half a second, the phantom travels a little further and slashes with a little more power and knockback. The final variant is when the move is fully charged, which is indicated when the dark purple power in front of Zelda tunrs into a pink-ish color,the Phantom Kight travels a lot more, about 1/4 of a Final Destination stage, and it performs a stab mobe with it's sword and then an upwards slash, it has a good amout of power and knockback as well. Also, keep in mind that Zelda cannot hold the charge for too long like some characters can do with chargeable moves (like Link with his bow) and after a second the move is fully charged, Zelda will release the phantom automatically.
Another use of the Phantom Slash is that you can use the Phantom as a shield, when the Phantom is still active it will push enemies away from it, but it'll take damage as well if attacks are being dealt against it. One of the shielding methods you can use it to protect yourself from incoming projectlies, but bear in mind that If the phantom takes enough damage , it will be destroyed and Zelda will not be abled to use it again until her hand stops glowing purple.
Throws:
Grab and Pummel:
Zelda's grab is pretty decent, no major downsides besides the normal ending lag that all grabs have. Her pummel is also pretty good, it's rather quick, so you can do it once or twice before hrowing your opponent depending on their percentage.
Foward Throw:
Zelda's foward throw is the one that deals the most damage out of them all, but it doesn't have combo potential nor the knockback power to make it reliable.
Backward Throw:
The backward throw has the highest knockback out of them all, if your near the edge and perform a back throw, sending your opponents flying off-screen at high percentaes, it has some nice chances of KOing.
Up Throw:
Zelda's Up throw doesn't have much knockback at lower percentages, which allows her to follow up with Neutral air or an Up Air. Keep in mind that if you perform an Upward thrown on a heavy character that is bellow 10% you can follow up with an Up Smash.
Down Throw:
A quite awesome looking throw, this is a good combo starter throw, giving Zelda several follow up options depending on the opponents percentage. Keep in mind that this throw will aways make the opponent go behind Zelda, so if you'd like to follow up with a Back Air, do it!
Combos:
Zelda's combos aren't very fancy, but they deal a lot of damage, he is a little list of some basic combos and some more fancy things at the end.
Neutral A > Dash Attack
Neutral A > Foward Smash (At Low percentages)
Down Tilt > Down Smash
Dash Attack > Dash Attack (At Low percentages)
Down Tilt > Up Tilt > Up Smash (Low percentages, must be close to opponent)
Down Tilt > Foward Smash
Down Tilt> Farore's Wind *aimed upward* (Must be close to opponent)
Down Tilt > Down Tilt > Neutral A > Dash attack (At low percentages)
Grab > Up Throw > Up Smash (Low percentages, works better on heavyweights)
Grab > Up Throw > Neutral Air
Grab > Up Throw > Up Air (At higher percentages)
Grab > Down Throw > Neutral air
Grab > Down Throw > Jump > Double jump > Back Air (Must jump and immediately double jump while performing Back air, works better at lower percentages)
Thank you very much if you read through everything, this is my very first guide, i hope to do more in the future.
GrouZekJr. Signing out.
