Shell
Flute-Fox Only
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2007
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L U C A S +
He's scary like that.
In general, this guide will focus on the newer changes / techniques for Lucas in Brawl+, although nearly all of his old regular Brawl tactics still apply. For this reason, I recommend you get some background reading on regular Lucas first if you are new to him.
Index of Important (Standard Brawl) Lucas Threads
Also, this thread is not meant for Buff / Nerf requests. Those can be mentioned on the Plusery thread, the IRC channel, or you can feel free to send me a PM.
Table of Contents
He's scary like that.
In general, this guide will focus on the newer changes / techniques for Lucas in Brawl+, although nearly all of his old regular Brawl tactics still apply. For this reason, I recommend you get some background reading on regular Lucas first if you are new to him.
Index of Important (Standard Brawl) Lucas Threads
Also, this thread is not meant for Buff / Nerf requests. Those can be mentioned on the Plusery thread, the IRC channel, or you can feel free to send me a PM.
Table of Contents
I) Lucas in Brawl vs. Brawl+
II) Moves
III) New and Preserved Strategies
IV) Videos
II) Moves
III) New and Preserved Strategies
IV) Videos
I - Lucas in Brawl vs. Brawl+
In regular Brawl, Lucas was very much an average character who was solid in most aspects, but didn't have any tremendously powerful techniques like those exhibited by much of the upper tiers. Additionally, his tournament viability was heavily limited by grab-release infinites.
In our initial releases of Brawl+, very little about Lucas had changed, and while the rest of the cast gained an abundance of new options through combos, Lucas fell behind. With the most recent set, however, we've given Lucas a lot of special attention, making him genuinely excel in a few areas, namely pressure and edge-guarding. Additionally, he's overall more mobile and suffers less lag from arials than many characters, blurring the line between some of his new-found arial abilities and his excellent ground game. Finally, grab-release infinites have been removed from the game, which is excellent news for Lucas.
Why play Lucas in Brawl+?
Pros:
+Can destroy low recoveries that must either grab the ledge or go near above it
+A multitude of recovery options with good range
+Amazing shield pressure game
+Excellent arial mobility
+Smash attacks kill at low percents
+Small target with many slightly disjointed attacks
+Best pummel in the game (dmg/second)
+A multitude of recovery options with good range
+Amazing shield pressure game
+Excellent arial mobility
+Smash attacks kill at low percents
+Small target with many slightly disjointed attacks
+Best pummel in the game (dmg/second)
Cons:
-Limited range on many attacks
-PKT2 is harder to sweetspot, and can still be gimped effectively
-Throws neither kill well, nor combo well
-Fewer set-ups for kill moves than some other characters
-PKT2 is harder to sweetspot, and can still be gimped effectively
-Throws neither kill well, nor combo well
-Fewer set-ups for kill moves than some other characters
II - Moves
These are the moves that are either directly different from Brawl to Brawl+, or which have been effected by other overall changes.
Tilts & Smashes
Up-tilt - It's now has a bit faster cooldown (1.175x), which means it's a more effective setup tool. A Nair to u-tilt will put some serious pressure on a shield, and Dair to u-tilt can create a nice pillar-esque combo at low to mid/high percents.
Up-smash - This move is also faster, but it's subtle (1.15x). It now starts on frame 24 (was 28) and ends on frame 85 (was 98). While it's slightly easier to land this move, the consequences for whiffing it are even higher, as dash canceling allows anyone to dash right at you into any attack, and grabs can lead to combos which lead to damage / KOs ... Overall it's still a risky move, just very slightly less so.
Down-smash - While this move isn't different per se, the lack of auto-sweet-spotting ledges (ASL) means that this move is very effective at edge-guarding against those that usually return to the ledge during recovery (Spacies, etc.). It's also still great at punishing compulsive spot-dodgers.
Forward-smash (The Stick) - Like the down smash, this move isn't directly altered, but gains a few advantages from general changes. Dash Canceling allows you to be more aggressive / mobile with this move. Also, because of hitstun, if you can get someone with a Nair at killing percents and you DI out of them before the attack finishes (auto-canceling it), you can often follow this up with an immediate forward smash for the kill / edge-guard.
Arial Attacks
Bair - As you're probably aware, in regular Brawl, Lucas's toe is a meteor smash throughout the arc of the Bair, while the hexagons pushed the opponent away. Now, the final hexagon or two will also act as a meteor, making Bair "spikes" slightly more reliable and spaceable. Additionally, this new hit will pop a grounded opponent into the air, much like other character's meteor smashes. It's somewhat difficult to land, but try a RAR'd bair to combo. Situational, yes, but another option.
Dair - This move hasn't been directly changed, but the lowering of Lucas's landing lag affects this move especially drastically since it had the most landing lag of his moves previously. Again, try the pillar, or tech-chase with it. I'm still exploring all of it's new uses.
Specials / Dash Attack / Grab
Dash Attack - This move has been heavily changed. First, it's been sped up for the majority of the move (1.20x) but has additional lag on the end (0.70x at frame 31). Secondly, the outer hitbox (the hexagons) push the opponent away from you and does little damage (5%) -- basically a flub hit with a few situational uses. However, if you can connect with the hand, it will pop up your opponent in front of you quite nicely at a 75 degree angle with low knock-back growth -- perfect for following up with an arial or smash attack. It can also serve to link combo attacks together, such as Fair to Dash Attack to Fair. It's not wise to abuse this move, however, as it is quite easily predicted and shield grabbed when you go for the sweetspot (hand).
Standing Grab - Most tether grabs, including Lucas's, have had their cool-down reduced -- his is 1.50x faster after the hitbox comes out. This might seem like a huge buff, but you must consider that (as mentioned in the U-smash) laggy attacks are more punishable in general due to Dash Canceling and Combos. Overall less punishable than Brawl, but you still won't be landing this terribly often. Great damage per second with the pummel.
General Physics Changes
Gravity - Lucas's gravity has been raised very slightly, but his jumps have been adjusted back so that he still gets the same height out of them. It's just enough that he can move a little bit faster without affecting his recovery (1.025x Down Grav, 1.05x Full Grav).
Fast-fall and Double Jump - These are both slightly faster than regular, meaning he can still float a little when he needs to, but he can also rapidly ascend or descend.
Momentum - When Lucas jumps, he receives a boost of speed / distance to his jump over jumping from a stand-still (This sort of effect is most noticeable with Falcon in Melee / Brawl+). What this means is that he can cover roughly a little less than 1/3 of FD in a short hop, giving him a good way to make quick approaches to capitalize on openings or follow up setups.
III - New and Preserved Strategies
Approaches - Well spaced Fairs can be a safe approach. Also try a full-hopped (or even short-hopped) Dair. If you're already pretty close, cross over their shield with a Nair and follow it up with an u-tilt. You can also try the RAR'd Bair that I mentioned, or use dash canceling to run up into a tilt / smash / grab.
Comboing - Once you've approached and you've got them in hitstun, try using Nairs (Fast-falling before final hit), Pillaring, or Fair strings to wrack up damage pretty quickly. I'd be happy to make a whole section on this at some point if people want to help out with cool set-ups / combos they've found.
Killing - Use the tips mentioned in the Forward-smash section, and if you can land a sweet spotted dash attack that will usually set up for one of his kill moves. The U-throw is a late killer (~150ish%) and opponents generally die earlier in Brawl+, but it makes for another option. This may be tweaked slightly in the future. Also, d-tilt to trip can still lead to guaranteed smashes. Finally, the Fair is a bit more reliable killer at higher percents, especially when used off stage, which leads me to...
Edge-guarding Most of Lucas's old tricks still apply here. However, jump momentum makes it easier for Lucas to leap out there and Fair someone into the blast-zone. Also, Bair is slightly easier to "spike" with. All of his smashes are useful for guarding the ledge, and his PK Thunder / Freeze are still effective edge-guarding tools as well. Lastly, the end of his Down-B (PK Magnet) has a small semi-spiking hitbox, but Fair is usually more reliable.
Once again, any of these last sections could easily be developed a bit more, so bring on your tips and strategies!
IV - Videos
4.1 Set
NinjaLink (Lucas) vs. Fab (Peach)
SHeLL (Lucas) vs 0WN1N (Wario)
SHeLL (Lucas) vs 0WN1N (Wolf)
4.0 Set
Asura (Lucas) vs. Vista (PKMN Trainer)
DP's Mario (Lucas) vs Cape(G&W)
SHeLL (Lucas) vs 0WN1N (Wolf)
NinjaLink (Lucas) vs. Fab (Peach)
SHeLL (Lucas) vs 0WN1N (Wario)
SHeLL (Lucas) vs 0WN1N (Wolf)
4.0 Set
Asura (Lucas) vs. Vista (PKMN Trainer)
DP's Mario (Lucas) vs Cape(G&W)
SHeLL (Lucas) vs 0WN1N (Wolf)
To do:
-Match-ups
-Expand general Tips & Strategies
--------------------------------
Changelist:
04/16/09 - v1.00 - Initial guide with changes, limited tips/strategies
04/22/09 - v1.01 - Added a few videos
05/12/09 - v1.02 - Added new picture and updated move changes