I'm going to expand a bit on Samus' Shield+B concept. It's somewhat different from the idea I had in the Make Your Move with my Samus (Improved) concept. I also forgot about Dark Samus, so I'm going to cover her as well.
Charge Shot: This default neutral special deals 3% damage uncharged, and 26% damage when fully charged. It's one of Samus' kill moves, and when combined with Bomb or Super Missile on the opponent's shield, Charge Shot will break shields.
Ice Shot: Ice Shot is slow, but somewhat faster than
Dense Charge Shot. It deals 2% damage uncharged, and has a brief freeze effect on the opponent when he or she is at higher percents, much like the Ice Climber's
Ice Shot. When fully charged, it deals 18% damage and has a guaranteed freeze effect. It launches the opponent at an 80° angle.
Wave Shot: This neutral special has a paralyzing effect, and it fires slightly faster than Charge Shot. It deals 4% damage uncharged, and 22% damage fully charged. The more Wave Shot is charged, the longer the effect it will have. It's capable of passing through shields, although it won't do any damage to the opponent. It's also incapable of killing, since its main purpose is to set up combos or openings.
Plasma Shot: The fastest traveling neutral special and most powerful in terms of dealing damage, this neutral special deals 5% damage uncharged and 30% damage fully charged. This is one special many Samus mains might be interested in using. Plasma Shot cripples shields with ease, and while a fully charged form of it won't break shields, it will considerably reduce the size of the shield, forcing the opponent to play a little more evasive to allow his or her shield to heal. Due to Plasma Shot's effect, it doesn't kill as early as Charge Shot would.
Scatter Shot: This default neutral special is based on Dark Samus' Charge Shot variant, but behaves differently, since it fires Phazon bullets. It deals 3% damage uncharged, with each bullet producing 1%. Fully charged, Scatter Shot deals 21% damage.
[1] It's not a kill move, but when the opponent is caught in a partially or fully charged attack, he or she is incapable of SDI'ing from it.
Dark Shot: Dark Shot retains its scatter property with an added freeze and darkness effect.
[2] Uncharged, it now deals 1.5% total, while its fully charged form deals 16% damage. Much like Ice Shot, Dark Shot is slower by comparison and will briefly freeze enemies as their damage increases. When fully charged, the bullet effect is replaced with black round shots, generating an inky, sticky encasement. When immobilized, the darkness effect will cause additional 0.5% damage. Unlike Ice Shot, the opponent isn't launched, but remains grounded and immobilized. Because of this, a recovering opponent could end up caught in this, leading to his or her death off-stage.
Volt Shot: Although this neutral special is meant to mimic Samus' Wave Shot in terms of paralyzing, it lacks such effect. Rather its effect is electrical, which is produced by less hitstun, making Volt Shot a nuisance. When fired, it retains its scatter visuals, although this time in the form of electric bolts. Uncharged, it deals 2% total, while a fully charged Volt Shot will deal 18% damage.
Incendiary Shot: Dark Samus releases an explosive attack, which behaves similarly to
Melee Charge Shot. While visually similar to Melee Charge Shot, the entire attack is composed of flames, with embers emitting from the diagonal top and bottom.
[3] The longer Incendiary Shot is charged, the farther it goes. The closer the opponent, the more damage and knock-back it deals. This neutral special produces 6% to 10% damage uncharged, depending on the sour or sweet spot. Fully charged, it deals 24% to 30%, once again depending on the sour or sweet spot. Incendiary Shot deals considerable damage on the opponent's shield when fully charged at the sweet spot.
- 21% damage is the amount of damage the Dark Samus Assist Trophy causes, and each Phazon bullet actually deals 1% damage. I decided to retain this feature.
- Based on the Dark Beam from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, I thought this would be a fitting alternative to Samus' Ice Shot, especially since the Dark Beam uses dark energy, which was generated by the Ing. See Luminoth Lore - New Weapons.
- Incendiary Shot is based on Dark Samus' plasma attacks, which she acquired after absorbing Ghor's essence. To avoid using the term "Plasma Shot" for both Samus and Dark Samus, I decided I'd choose a different name and effect.