Greene
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2018
- Messages
- 2
Resident Evil is Capcoms best selling franchise and that it doesn't have any representation in smash bros is appalling. Chris, in many ways, is the poster child for the series and has actually been implemented in capcom fighting game crossovers in the past. Nonetheless, I wanted to select a playstyle reflective of the panic and deliberation that goes into resource management when playing the resident evil series. Thus... Here is my take on Chris Redfield and what his moveset would be in smash bros.
Specials
(Take in mind, for each of his specials besides reload, there are three options... skip to the Gimmicks and playstyle section for a complete explanation)
Neutral special- reload
Held down it brings up nine square inventory as in RE5; release b on the option to reload that option. Each special gets one use before its empty and a reload is required. 1 reload on anything takes approximately 40 frames and the reload is rendered incomplete if interrupted by an opponents attack. If Chris is out of all ammo for a special when he inputs that special, he will instead spend 120 frames automatically reloading all three ammo options.
Up special- recoil (does not put Chris into freefall, but also does not grab ledge until attack is completely done ala terrys up special)
— 1 shotgun ( shorter range but widespread attack that soft-spikes; not much recoil jump, but the jump has a hitbox)
— 2 grenade launcher ( nitrogen round; freezes opponent, but has preliminary hit box before exploding at set distance or when hitting the ground ala g&ws fair; medium recoil and has the most lateral momentum. no hitbox on jump)
— 3 rocket launcher (explosion that launches directly in the direction rocket is traveling ie spike; high recoil with highest vertical distance of any up special. has a hitbox on the way up, but considerable cooldown on the way down, such that one should not have the time to use it, reload, and use it again for an infinite recovery without constantly losing net-height)
Side special- range
— 1 magnum(shot forward; does most damage closest to the gun and minimal damage further away; a bit stronger than frizzle with similar knock back angle. recoil aids in lateral recovery if used backwards in the air. sweet spot does high shield damage)
— 2 sniper (shot forward; does most damage near end of the hit box with homerun bat power at the very end of the hit box approx 3/4 FD length. recoil aids in lateral recovery if used backwards in the air. sweet spot breaks shields)
— 3 smg (3 second continual spray; essentially bullet seed knockback even throughout; can be angled up to 60 degrees during spray)
Down special- grenade (acts like splatbomb on shield and counters, bouncing off and THEN exploding. thrown in an arc similar to snakes base grenade toss)
— 1 flash grenade ( radial stun ala disable; opponent must be facing blast)
— 2 incendiary grenade (Pk fire but wider range and shorter, more ground hugging flame. flames will hurt chris as well if he's in them.)
— 3 grenade (explosion; high damage and knockback, comparable to uncharged pk flash. high shield damage)
Normals
Jabs- L elbow, right cross, pistol shot approximately ZSS stun gun range. 11% total with knockback angle similar to villagers fair, doing more knockback closer to the gun.
Ftilt- two hit; left palm strike followed by thrust kick ala ganon. (both callbacks to his two door-opening animations from RE)16% total with the second hit setting up tech situations from about 20-80 given its poor knockback growth.)
Dtilt- angled down pistol shot from crouching position. shot approximately ZSS stun gun range before dissipating if not stopped by the ground or a platform first. similar launch angle to inkling dtilt close to the gun and otherwise works like villagers sling shot further away. can gimp lateral recoveries when used at ledge.
Utilt upward pistol whip with attack angle similar to falcos upsmash; barely covering both sides of him, and avoidable by small or crouching opponents.
Dash Attack- shoulder charge and roll, like a hybrid of terry and snakes (that doesn't move as far as snakes however).
FSmash- combat knife. swipe and stab. Second hit needs to be inputted similar to links fsmash. low knockback growth and minimal damage (thinking 20% with both hits), but favorable lateral knockback angle ala Wiifits dsmash that makes it hard to recover if used near the ledge.
Dsmash- elbow drop. similar to incineroars dsmash with the initial hop. has a sweet spot in front of chris at the elbow, and a sour spot at his feet. sweet spot can kill hella early comparable in damage and knockback to capt. flacons knee, whereas sour spot is really weak with no combo potential given the high cooldown of the move.
Usmash- upward stab the the escrima stick. doesnt hit behind chris but has a rising hitbox in front of him that launches into the attack. low knockback but long hit detection with 26% damage if every hit connects. Low cooldown for a smash attack, allowing quick follow ups at low percents, but nontheless still very punishable on whiff given the moves long duration.
Nair- curled up elbow drop stance. acts similar to ryus nair. comes out frame 5
Fair- haymaker ala Banjos fair
Dair- downward stab with combat knife ala jokers ftilt. comes out at frame 3 and is chris' fastest get-off-me tool when juggled.
Bair- pistol shot ala miigunners fair
Uair- kick ala Terrys fmash but angled upward. high base knockback makes it scary when used on stages with low ceilings and platforms.
Pummel- knee ala marth
Fthrow- uppercut. similar knockback to ryus fthrow, but higher knockback angle. pretty much for stage control and positioning only. won't kill until passed 200% even at ledge.
Bthrow- puts a grenade in the opponents hand as he spins them behind him and them drop kicks them right before they expode. this throw has a knockback angle of about 50 degrees, and low base knockback, but high knockback growth killing midweights on ledge around 110% and off the top closer to 160%. This attack has high collateral damage, and is also unique in that it puts chris in fall-down animation, forcing him to roll, get up, or get up attack afterwards as opposed to following up his opponent. uses grenade. if chris has no grenade in stock, it'll just be the kick which puts both characters in fall down animation and otherwise has no knockback.
Dthrow- throws on ground and electrocutes with escrima stick prior to launching, similar to pikas fthrow regarding collateral hitbox and knockback angle. Low base knockback with higher than average knockback growth allowing for combos at low-mid percents and tech chases with platforms at mid-high percents but that's about it. Won't kill on ledge until near 190%
Uthrow- gets under opponent and hits them with the butt of his rifle, then pulls the trigger, allowing recoil to knock them away and even make HIM hop a little bit into the air like his down smash. high base knockback and can kill midweights off the top at 120%. If the rifle has no ammo, there is no followup recoil hit, so the throw becomes -20 on the opponent who only suffers hitstun similar to kens heavy jab so it becomes a very punishable and objectively bad option.
Final smash- Shango Satellite laser. acts like deoxys in that its a vertical beam, except you aim where it goes off.
Character Traits-
Weight- similar to samus
Run speed- similar to corrin
Fall speed- similar to falco
Air accel- similar to link
Jump height- similar to incineroar
Double jump height- similar to cpt falcon
Air speed-similar to greninja
Dodge distance- similar to snake
Wall jump- no
Crawl- no
Neutral shield- no
Walk speed- similar to DK
General Playstyle and gimmicks-
With generally sub-par mobility and unimpressive frame data, Chris Redfield falls into the heavy-zoner archetype like snake and the belmonts. He does, however, have a higher skill floor since each of his specials are one of three moves that all require their own individual resource in one use before needing a reload. In line with Resident evil games however, his specials are all fairly good at keeping opponents at bay and controlling the flow of the battle, but there is always a constant sense of panic as to managing resources and fear of being out of the ammo with the weapon you need. Redfield players will find themselves constantly reloading when they get any free moment to make sure they're stocked up; especially when it comes to their up special, which makes for a solid edgeguarding tool, but a risk to use offensively, as even at full ammo, chris would have only three chances to recover vertical distance if gimped or relentlessly edge trapped. if the special button is tapped using up, side, or down special, chris will use specials in order from left to right (1-3 resectively). If the special button is held, after pressing up, side, or down special, chris can then press left or right prior to releasing the button to select the weapon of his choosing. the Menu will only show up during the reloading special, not during the weapon selection for any other special so (similar to resident evil) its up to the player to know which weapon is assigned to left right or middle for each special in the heat of battle. This additionally helps redfields ambiguity in neutral. Barring Dsmash which has its own sweet-spot mechanic, most of Chris' normals would have considerably high base knockback but very poor knockback growth. Despite his high base-knockback and above-average damage, without ammo, Chris has difficulty killing with just his normals. Additionally, Chris' normals do very little shield pressure (again, with the exception of sweetspot dsmash), so mixing up the timing of his multihit moves like jab, ftilt, and fsmash becomes paramount when boxing without ammo, as his atacks with otherwise be fairly unsafe on shield. Given his high base knockback Chris is fairly good at putting his opponents in disadvantage, forcing them to land, or get back to the ledge; however, due to his resource, he cannot keep his opponents there indefinitely, so it's up to the player to not over-extend using specials, and take time to reload the attacks they intend to use next.
Chris has a few different kill options. at any percent, expect redfield players to bait get up attack from ledge and then punish with down smash for an early kill. besides down smash shenanigans, Redfields can use 1&3 up special variants when edgeguarding 2 up special on grounded opponents to freeze them and then try for some follow ups with down smash or another special. side special can kill with its 1&3 variants, but It'll be difficult to hit a smart opponent with. down special 1 can combo into anything if it lands, and down special 3 is a good kill option especially if an opponent is locked in down special 2. above 120% expect redfields to look for grabs as well.
Recovering with chris is interesting as he has a few different mixups with his up and side specials to keep your opponent on their toes and constantly guessing. However, offstage pursuits can be extremely fatal to chris since he has such limited resources without reloading and his above average fall speed and poor air speed work against him in this endeavor.
All in all, chris is a character with little combo potential whose strength lies in his amazing and variable specials. He plays a unique high-risk-high-reward keep-away game in that any whiffed special in neutral is a special he'll have to take time to reload later, and is one less option his opponent will have to worry about until he does so. When cornered, he's not completely defenseless, but is definitely subpar, lacking any good get-off-me moves and few landing options when ammoless. His ftilts tech chase potential lends itself well to giving chris a much-needed opportunity to reload when cornered however, and his heavy weight gives him ample time to reload in the air when launched up before recovering when at high percents. His relatively fast fall speed hurts him when recovering and getting comboed, but helps in baiting approaches since it attributes itself to considerably quick fastfall speed.
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