Can arrows be used to approach?

[Rejjae]

So I've noticed that arrows are fast and have decent stun, and I see in some vids of Pit that some players will spam arrows and keep distance for portions of a game, but could arrows be used for the opposite of that?

In Melee, Falco was able to use laser to approach and follow up with a grab or other attack. I know Pit's arrows aren't quite as quick and have a little lag to them, but they might be able to produce a similar strategy.

Some combo's I have in mind are (not tested, but that's why I'm asking about it):

Short Hopped arrow to F-smash, F-smash has decent speed, good range and priority and could go through whatever counterattack they try to hit with

SH arrow to jab or F-tilt, they're fast than F-smash so more likely to hit but don't have as much range or power

SH arrow to grab, might require shield-slide grabbing

SH arrow to D-tilt/D-smash, he might be able to duck under the counterattack

Can someone check to see if any of these work consistently and if they lead to any follow-up combos?

 

[nojoes]

For the most part the short hop arrow has too much lag upon landing and after the shot to work every time or be a central strategy like Falco lasers, plus with how easy power shielding is even if you weave the arrow they may have no hit stun or lag if they see it coming and you'll just set yourself up.

To the suggestions you made, none of them really work due to lag after the arrow and since all of the situations are ones that are in close proximity you're just likely to get grabbed unless the other person has no idea what they're doing. Yeah, sort of disappointing.

Now what I have had work in tournament play was to approach with the arrow from a distance, so I would short hop forward to gain some distance and fire and guide the arrow to keep them at bay, while making sure I spaced it so they couldn't run in and hit me. The distance varies for every character based on how fast they can move and their range on attacks and grabs. Anyways when I would get in closer I would short hop a f-air and space it so I wouldn't get grabbed if they shielded. Also this doesn't necessarily work as well on the smaller stages, but I've used it a bit and it does have a little application.

P.S. If you want to look at some 2dios vids I think he mixes in the arrows in between attacks decently.

Edit: I was just doing some testing and if you arrow early in the short hop, soon to as soon as you possibly can you'll finish the animation and have no landing lag, problem is even with curving it goes over the opponent's head for most characters, I'll test more when my brother gets up and try to implement your suggestions into gameplay.

 

[nojoes]

Just finished some more testing, from what I've seen and tested none of your suggestions or like situations work unless done on super tall characters like Ganondorf and Bowser, and even then they aren't very practical. Also I wasn't sure if they was just me being tired or not but does hit stun diminish with knock back and damage? It appeared so to me throughout testing.

 

[gammonwalker]

This may help ya' out yo.
http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=147400

 

[Rejjae]

Nojoes, I get what you're saying about the landing lag and it's probably the major problem with this tactic. The one thing I disagree with you on is the whole "going over their heads" thing, cuz you can point them on an angle downwards, there's a few shots of arrows being shot at a downwards angle in the arrow guide: http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=145647 , thanks for testing it though.

and Gammonwalker, well done on the guide.

 

[nojoes]

Nojoes, I get what you're saying about the landing lag and it's probably the major problem with this tactic. The one thing I disagree with you on is the whole "going over their heads" thing, cuz you can point them on an angle downwards, there's a few shots of arrows being shot at a downwards angle in the arrow guide: http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=145647 , thanks for testing it though.

and Gammonwalker, well done on the guide.

I know they can curve but you can't curve to a degree high enough to hit them when you're in a close proximity, trust me.

 

[GamerGuitarist7]

i wouldn't recommend approaching with arrows in a Falco-SHL-esque style.

 

[nojoes]

i wouldn't recommend approaching with arrows in a Falco-SHL-esque style.

You can retreat arrow like falco and fox did with their lasers though. It's pretty useful.

 

[Hardcorenesser]

Stop thinking all complex and just shoot your ******* arrows!