Q&A Consult Your Navigator - Mega Man Q&A Thread

[DblCrest]

So one rare occasion where I got to play someone that wasn't a CPU at a group meet up. The guy was pretty good at the game only problem was he would always choose a character after me to try and counter or put the match up in his favour.

Now I picked Megaman and he picked Zelda and a few times literally sat there spamming Nairyu's love >.>

Now I need to know which moves go through it. Or what are my options since because of the reflective properties and damaging hitbox of that move I couldn't throw anything or even wait near her to slam her with a smash attack.

 

[ChopperDave]

So one rare occasion where I got to play someone that wasn't a CPU at a group meet up. The guy was pretty good at the game only problem was he would always choose a character after me to try and counter or put the match up in his favour.

Now I picked Megaman and he picked Zelda and a few times literally sat there spamming Nairyu's love >.>

Now I need to know which moves go through it. Or what are my options since because of the reflective properties and damaging hitbox of that move I couldn't throw anything or even wait near her to slam her with a smash attack.

With Naryu's Love spammers, just run up and shield as the move is on the downswing. You can then grab her or usmash her out of shield.

 

[Saltix]

Is there a comprehensive list of the projectiles we can beat out with our own projectiles?

 

[Red Shirt KRT]

I thought I remembered seeing one in the community guide although it wasn't super accurate if I remember Correctly.

 

[Galaxian]

So I feel like I play Mega Man wayyyy too aggressively. I go for grabs too much and I feel like I'm not playing him to his full potential.

How do I play Mega, really? I love him but he's confusing. Is it okay to play a little aggro with fairs, bairs, grabs, etc? Should I keepaway with melons? Why is Top Spin the best alt?

How do I deal with rushdown with Mega as well?

 

[Blade Knight]

It's perfectly fine to go aggro at times! In some matchups that's your best option overall. The best thing you can do for yourself as Mega Man is being what I'm going to call cautiously aggressive. Always try to be within the maximum range of your Jab/Nair/Ftilt Lemons, but only ever close in when you're confident you'll get something. In a lot of matchups and especially on stages with platforms Mega Man can capitalize in huge ways off of grabs or rogue aerial attacks.

Sometimes though it's best to hang back, in matchups like Samus, Ganondorf, and Ness it can be much more comfortable to simply sit at your lemon range and just keep firing away, fading in and out safely while tossing out metal blades and crash bombers to eat up more horizontal and vertical space. A lot of it comes with matchup experience and can even be on a player by player basis depending on how each opponent deals with pressure and projectiles.

For rushdown characters Mega Man has a few critical options to keep in mind:
1) Shield Grabbing is always a good option to keep in mind, throwing your opponent towards the nearest ledge both denies them space, and lets you either back off or put on pressure of your own. In a best case scenario it can lead to off stage play where Mega Man really shines and can gimp a huge swath of the roster.
2) Shielding or Spot Dodging into Mega Upper or Up Smash is an enormously good option in some matchups. Did a ROB player just throw their top at you or whiff a grab? Hit em with an up tilt. Did a Shiek just Dash Attack on your shield? Hit em with an up tilt. Not only does this retaliate in a big way (17%!), it also kills enemies absurdly early and puts them into the air.
3) Keep up a projectile wall. They can't hit you if they can't get close! This only works in matchups like Zero Suit Samus, Sonic, and Captain Falcon, where their options vs your projectiles are limited.

Try and keep each of these in mind and really experiment to find a way you enjoy playing vs each character. With Mega Man and in Smash 4 as a whole Matchup Experience is critical to doing well. Even if you're a better player if you have no experience fighting, let's say Peach for example, but that Peach has a lot of experience vs Mega Man, chances are you will lose. This game doesn't have that many terribly stilted matchups where you can just get by on knowledge of your own character. Keep your chin up and keep on playing.

 

[SanAntonioSmasher]

Is there a frame difference between b-reversing metal blades and the over the shoulder throw? Or other type advantage? I usually do the over the shoulder, but I haven't really tried to perfect which I use. The only time I think I care is if I'm in air and want to keep my back to opponent for a bair.

Also, many times when I do the diagonal MB downwards into utilt, the blade causes opponent to knock up so utilt doesn't sweet spot. I get more consistency following with usmash. Any tips? Am I slow in connecting when that happens? I usually take a moment to see if shielded, to know whether to throw or attack.

 

[Blade Knight]

As far as I'm aware the frame data is the exact same regardless of how you throw a metal blade. I just did a bit of testing in training mode, and throwing the blade forward or backward allowed me to shield on (seemingly) the same frame, meaning B-Reversing would also be equally fast. There's no real advantage other than spacing and where Mega Man is facing, so keep things like that in mind when tossing metal blades.

The reason they've flown too far away is beause of that split moment you're waiting for. It could also be spacing, as diagonal down metal blade into mega upper has a pretty specific range for getting a sweet spotted true combo. Just practice a bit in training mode throwing it from just the right spot and try to pay attention your other queues (audio mostly) so you don't need to take that moment. Try looking at your opponent's character rather than your own, it can go a long ways toward consistantly landing combos like that.

 

[SanAntonioSmasher]

How would you describe "the right spot?" Also, are you saying you have time to react to opponent, and it still can be a true combo?

 

[Blade Knight]

You can react to the opponent blocking, but it'll take a degree of either watching their character or making good use of audio queues, otherwise you need to just throw out your next option on reaction. Either block or grab or Mega Upper based purely on reaction to what happened. Sometimes that gut feeling is just what's right. The range away you should be is about a character length or so away. It may be a bit more or less depending on who you're fighting. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0skE8R8pBYA&t=226 ) Here's a visual example of me doing it to a Link.

 

[ConsummateK]

I apologize if this isn't the right place for this question, it certainly doesn't warrant its own topic. When you've stuck a crashbomb, what do you find to be the most effective method of punishing? Most people I play shield out of it and I've read that I should be throwing I generally end up getting hit by the blast myself when I run in for the throw. Do I just need to be throwing sooner, or am I missing something?

 

[Rush 2112]

@ ConsummateK Throwing a Metal Blade is probably the safest option. The blade plus explosion really reduces their shield. If you can follow that up with another Crash Bomb, even if they block it again they will likely get hit and take damage. And if you throw another blade you might even break their shield. You can also do a charged Fsmash. A single bomb and full charged Fsmash might even break their shield. I read somewhere that you want to hit with explosion first, then Fsmash. You can also rush in and do a Dsmash.

 

[Sombreblanco]

I'll back up SSJ2Link's comments. Just yesterday I got them to block a metal blade and then stuck a crash bomb right after, I threw a couple lemons followed by metal blade and they had to do so much shielding that the shield broke and I KOed with an uptilt.

I have noticed some people like to advance on me when I stick a crashbomb and if thats the case I either retreat with some nair lemons or even jump and d/f+Metal Blade into an uptilt if they are high enough. They either continue to advance and eat the explosion or have to stop and shield where I can now approach safely while the bomb goes off. Try to see their reaction upon getting stuck with a sticky and go from there. Some get scared and sit still while others will try to get stuck to you. Pressure accordingly.

 

[ChopperDave]

I have trouble dealing with aggressive responses to Crash Bomber. Maybe it's just me, or the lag that's the problem.

A smart player who knows the timing as well as I do can run up to me and perfect shield my attempt to hit him with lemon or a smash or retreating aerial, then let the explosion hit me while he sits safely in shield. Just as we can, at low percentages he can also time smash attacks so that he attacks, then cancel the end lag by eating 1 hit of the Crash Bomber and shielding the rest.

Heck, even less smart players can get away with running or rolling right at me, then rolling behind me out of usmash/dsmash range, as Crash Bomber will generally transfer during the intangibility frames of a roll. OR it will explode during the roll, doing nothing to my opponent, which can reward roll spammers.

I mean, I can just retreat and toss a MB at him and hope he doesn't perfect shield it, but it seems kind of crappy that successfully attaching a Crash Bomber should result in me losing stage control.

Sometimes I feel like Crash Bomber benefits the player who it's stuck to more than the player it isn't stuck to, when both players have equal knowledge of the timing!

 

[Red Shirt KRT]

Run up and grab them if they do that. Backthrow should transfer it back to them. Or just charge fsmash

 

[digiholic]

If you hold shield while holding an opponent stuck with the bomb, you'll block most of the explosion (except the first 1% hit that will take you out of grab state) but your opponent is stuck in the air, and will get hit by the whole thing!

This only works if you're fairly low percent, though. If you're high up, the first pop will actually put you into hitstun so you won't be able to shield.

 

[SanAntonioSmasher]

For these reasons, I find myself using crash bomb less and less. If opponent is close-mid i use lemons and metal blade. If the opponent is far enough away that crash bomb is useful, I'd rather take that time to get a metal blade in hand and leaf shield. The only time I consistently use it is when returning to stage.

I've seen all the tricks you can do with them, but they are hard to pull off against strong opponents.

Do you guys think using crash bombs is a must to play mega man optimally? He has so many great moves, that I prefer sticking with tactics that are reliably effective, and not a move that can be a gamble.

 

[Red Shirt KRT]

I like that is almost always makes the opponent do one of two things. Rush at you to try and transfer, or shield. And each one of these can be punished accordingly.

Not many times during a match do you limit your opponents to just 2 options.

 

[ConsummateK]

Wow thanks for all of the great insight guys. Does FG have any sort of ELO or hidden match making? I'm pretty terrible but have been hitting around 50% win rate so I was just curious. Anyway against most people that I play they're not skilled enough to pull off what @ S SanAntonioSmasher was talking about.

I think my big areas for improvement are mechanical. I need to learn to short hop reliably, learn my spacing, start dropping the MB as opposed to just tossing it out, use directions on the MB other than straightforward (lol) etc. some of the ATs I have seen I just have nowhere near the mechanical reliability to pull them off.

 

[Sombreblanco]

Do you guys think using crash bombs is a must to play mega man optimally? He has so many great moves, that I prefer sticking with tactics that are reliably effective, and not a move that can be a gamble.

I really don't feel like it's a gamble for the reasons that Red Shirt mentioned. Opponents have two options when stuck with a crash bomber: run at you or defend. Both put us in favor. Hell, sticking a crash bomber allows to put a metal blade in your hand just like you mentioned if they choose to defend. I don't think anyone is saying that Crash Bomber should be a healthy part of your diet, but its good to snack on from time to time.

I think my big areas for improvement are mechanical. I need to learn to short hop reliably, learn my spacing, start dropping the MB as opposed to just tossing it out, use directions on the MB other than straightforward (lol) etc. some of the ATs I have seen I just have nowhere near the mechanical reliability to pull them off.

Just practice and a lot of it will become muscle memory. Short Hop lemons were kind of difficult for me but I would just sit in training and practice tapping the jump and mixing in different numbers of lemons until one day I noticed I was doing it without even thinking. I don't think Mega Man is a very demanding character when it comes to dexterity.

 

[SanAntonioSmasher]

I think saying they only have 2 options is not really true of good players. They will know the timing, so they could apply some pressure like with a projectile and then quickly air dodge or shield. If someone just sits in shield, or blindly charges that is them not playing correctly. Two seconds can be a long time in this game.

 

[Sombreblanco]

I understand and do agree with you on that point, I just think with the threat of damage incoming, it's still something they have to consider and it does limit what any player is able to do. Again, I'm not saying Crash Bomber is one of Mega Man's better moves, but I'm not saying its useless. I feel it has its uses as a pressure move to be mixed in with metal blades and lemons and puts pressure on the opponent if it sticks. they have to do something about the bomb and must regress from their normal gameplan. Reading what they do and reacting accordingly can lead to control in the match up for Mega Man.

 

[ConsummateK]

I don't think anyone is saying that Crash Bomber should be a healthy part of your diet, but its good to snack on from time to time.

So I'm tossing these and MBs out pretty much constantly. I find this is how I have the best luck controlling the pace of the match. It sounds like maybe I should be doing something differently?

 

[Sombreblanco]

So I'm tossing these and MBs out pretty much constantly. I find this is how I have the best luck controlling the pace of the match. It sounds like maybe I should be doing something differently?

I'm no expert, judging from what is here, i'd say you and I sound to be about the same level. I typically use Crash Bomber from longer range than I would use Metal Blade. I use it as a mix to Metal Blade and lemons. Mega Man is best played at mid range right at the tip of his lemons. Crash Bomber is a little awkward to use at that range which is why I say its the lesser of his projectiles. Once you have gotten beyond lemon range is when I start to mix in crash bomber because then I can use the space to read their reaction to being stuck with it or even avoiding it (do they jump over it or shield it). Because I don't usually want to be at such a long range, Crash Bomber doesnt see the use of lemons or Metal Blade.

To me, Crash Bomber allows pressure from outside of Mega Man's prime range allowing me to get into the range I want to be in. If it sticks, it limits my opponents options which I can also use to put myself in the position I want to be in while they deal with the crash bomber. If you're playing a great Mega Man game, you may not see Crash Bomber a lot because it's not a tool for Mega Man's prime range. It has its uses beyond that range, in my opinion.

One could argue its better than metal blade at longer range because it can't be caught like Metal Blade can.

 

[ConsummateK]

Okay, so my spacing in general probably needs work. Because I'm not super skilled in lemon short hopping etc. I find myself at either long or short range. What you're saying makes a lot of sense though. Lemme know if you ever want to practice.

 

[Sombreblanco]

Sure thing. I would practice lemon hopping and those kinds of things, i started winning more consistently after practicing that.

 

[Mike_Tha_Hero]

How do I get my pellet game up? I'm looking back on matches and it's the one part of MM's essentials that I barely utilize. Mid-match it just feels cumbersome and pointless even though I know it has a variety of uses.

 

[CopShowGuy]

Shooting pellets allows you to keep up your offense and mobility! It allows you to cancel the lag from your other attacks if you can manage to shoot a single shot before landing (at least it allows you to walk and jump immediately on landing). That's super useful during a match at any point.

Does the opponent have too much momentum? You can nearly put that to a halt just by staying back a little while shooting. Suddenly they have to do more work to approach you. That's time you can take to rethink how the game is going.

 

[neohopeSTF]

I don't know if this is a glitch but when using Danger Wrap two of the projectile will come out instead of one. Does anybody know why this happens?

 

[Sombreblanco]

I don't know if this is a glitch but when using Danger Wrap two of the projectile will come out instead of one. Does anybody know why this happens?

I have had this happen as well but for the life of me could not recreate it. I have had it happen when i jump and have the projectile come out right before I land and two pop out instead of one.

 

[CopShowGuy]

It happens with Danger Wrap and Ice Slasher if you fire it at just the right time before landing. As in the projectile has to be leaving your buster just before you land. It causes you to fire two. They are both real and can hurt.

 

[Blade Knight]

Sounds pretty broke if somebody could get it oesn consistently.

 

[Locke 06]

If mastered, you have a 26% move that you can throw out with relatively little risk. Or... an 8% move. lol Ice Slasher.

Question: Can you buffer things during the lag after buster shots? It's kind of a weird question... but I've been trying to crossup AAA>dsmash lately with little success.

 

[Sombreblanco]

It happens with Danger Wrap and Ice Slasher if you fire it at just the right time before landing. As in the projectile has to be leaving your buster just before you land. It causes you to fire two. They are both real and can hurt.

It must be a frame thing. Maybe there is a small 1-2 frame window where it can occur making it difficult to recreate.

 

[ChopperDave]

It must be a frame thing. Maybe there is a small 1-2 frame window where it can occur making it difficult to recreate.

Yeah. There doesn't really seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, otherwise. I've tried to reproduce it while doing a bunch of other things (from short hop, from full hop, tumble, from ledge, b-reversing, etc) to see if any of it has any effect, but it seems that the only thing that consistently needs to happen is for you to be landing while firing the DW or IS.

 

[CopShowGuy]

I'm pretty sure NinjaLink made a video about this...

EDIT:
Found it!

 

[digiholic]

My guess is, the air danger wrap animation comes out one frame earlier than the grounded one does, and the game is coded to transition from one into the other if you land during it. Basically, on frame N, you create a bubble, then land, and the game sees you as grounded on frame N+1, which it has listed to make another bubble.

 

[Sombreblanco]

My guess is, the air danger wrap animation comes out one frame earlier than the grounded one does, and the game is coded to transition from one into the other if you land during it. Basically, on frame N, you create a bubble, then land, and the game sees you as grounded on frame N+1, which it has listed to make another bubble.

Makes sense. Would be interesting if anyone got this down pat to the point where it's a consistent danger (no pun intended). Danger wrap is such a good move covering that area that Mega Man has an issue with already. Two of them is like eating a smash attack for jumping in.

 

[digiholic]

Makes sense. Would be interesting if anyone got this down pat to the point where it's a consistent danger (no pun intended). Danger wrap is such a good move covering that area that Mega Man has an issue with already. Two of them is like eating a smash attack for jumping in.

The problem is that you're effectively adding the time you spend airborne to the startuplag of the move. It's a great move to use on a read, but we'd effectively be getting an airborne Falcon Punch out of it.

 

[Gombi]

hey all megaman main i wanted to know what is the most effective control maping for megaman ? What do you choose for the C-stick ? attack or smash ?

thanks a lot !