Frames
DI
[FONT="]~Deus ex Machina~[/FONT]
[FONT="]A R.O.B. Compendium by Frames[/FONT]
Hello, and welcome to my guide on R.O.B., the Robotic Operating Buddy! ROB is a well rounded and unique character in Brawl, and hopefully this guide will help give you some tips to be successful with him!
[FONT="]Table of Contents:[/FONT]
- Introduction: The ins and outs of ROB.
- How to Unlock ROB
- Pros/Cons
- Character Traits: The specialties of ROB, from his weight, to his speed.
- Running tests
- Costume changes
- Attacks: The bread-and-butter of the little buddy.
- Jabs/Dash Attacks
- Smashes
- Tilts
- Aerials
- Specials
- Throws/Ledge Attacks
- Taunts
- Strategies and Advice: The tips you’ll need every step of the way along your ROB-filled journey. Complete with matchups galore.
- Techniques/Advances
- Character Matchups (with video)
- Other Guides/References
Welcome to the Wonderful World of ROB! ROB started in the 80’s as a toy peripheral for the NES, but don’t be fooled, this little robot packs quite the punch! ROB has made numerous cameos in several different games over the years, but I won’t go into detail about that here. I know that t0mmy’s guide to ROB offers plenty of history into the little guy’s escapades, and I’ll link to that at the end of this guide. For now, let’s jump right into it, and see what makes ROB so great.
ROB is one of the most unique characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He’s slow, but has fast attacks. He jumps high, but is a slow faller. He has 2 awesome projectiles, but they’re not for spamming, unlike the space animals. He has a powerful recovery, and strong aerials, but lots of startup lag. With most characters, you can easily classify them, space animals have fast attacks with little knockback; strong characters are slow moving, but pack lots of punch. ROB is a unique combination; the best of both worlds, yet not without his weaknesses. Throughout this guide, we’ll take a look at the entirety of ROB and how he can be used effectively in competitive play.
How to Unlock ROB:
- Play 160 Brawls in VS Mode.
- Collect 250 trophies.
- Convince ROB to join your party in the Subspace Emissary.
Pros:
- Multiple uses of the Up-B and the ability to attack between them gives R.O.B. an incredible recovery
- Bair also pushes R.O.B. forward, aiding his already great recovery
- Side B moves him up a bit, also adding to recovery
- Several powerful aerials, smashes, and tilts
- Other aerials, smashes, and tilts are good, quick damage builders
- Two solid projectiles
- Side B reflects projectiles
- Fairly heavy
- Can use Wall of Pain (because of Robo Burner)
- Has very good range
- Rather slow
- Fairly large target
- All kill moves have large warm-ups
- Both projectiles are non-spammable
- Up-B and Neutral B moves require recharge time to work at maximum potential
- Diffusion Beam is very avoidable.
[FONT="]Section II: Character Traits:[/FONT]
Speed:
According to Mew2King’s character speed tests found here, he ranks 17th in terms of speed, tied with Lucas, Ivysaur, and Mario. For a giant metal robot, you would expect him to be slower, but he manages to beat out almost half the cast! This helps ROB, as his quick speed combined with his weight help increase his lifespan.
Weight:
Drack’s weight chart (featured here) has ROB ranking in at 22nd, above Yoshi, but below Samus. The weights are based on star KO’s so based on his place; it’s easy to infer that ROB can last long at high percentages, especially in the air.
Costume Changes:
These are ROB’s 6 costumes, his NES colors, his Famicom colors, his SNES colors, a blue color, a camo color, and the gold color. Credit goes to Seribii.net for the pics and 56k for organizing them. View all the characters here.
[FONT="]Section III: Attacks[/FONT]
Jabs/Dash Attacks
These attacks are short, quick, and good in between combos. You won’t find yourself killing with these moves, so much as using them to keep your opponent on their toes.
Jab (A): A standard Jab with his claw. It works well as a lead-in into other moves, no start up lag, no knockback, and good for comboing.
Damage: 3% (ROB can jab with his second claw also, totaling 6%)
Grab Jab (Grab your opponent, then press A): The grab jab is good for racking up damage quickly before you unleash throws. The jab has no startup lag, and no knockback.
Damage:2% for each hit (Can be used multiple times in one grab)
Dash Attack (Press A while dashing forward): The dash attack is great for advances, or in between combos. It comes out fast, having no startup lag. The knockback is not enough to kill, but spacing it out right will lead into combos. A very good attack overall.
Damage:6%
Smashes
ROB’s smashes are powerful, and fast. You will be using these while your opponent is still on the ground, and where they make mistakes, you will punish with the cold fury of a killing machine.
Forward Smash (Press A and forward together, or forward on the C-stick): ROB’s forward smash is a small laser that shoots of his eyes, it’s really more like a flash then an actual hit. This smash has some knockback, and minimal startup lag. It can be angled up or down, and has a disjointed hitbox, so it works at a slight range. This attack is great for edgeguarding, but it can also work in regular play. The laser will stun enough to get a grab in, or dash attack, or whatever you feel like.
Damage: 14% (19% fully charged)
Up Smash (Press A and up together, or up on the C-stick): ROB flips himself upside down and fires his boosters from a handstand, dealing damage to anyone caught in the blast. There is a moderate amount of knockback (able to kill), and slight startup lag. ROB’s up smash doesn’t work like other characters up smashes. You can’t run up to people and up smash them into the air to combo. The hitbox of the up smash is only on the flames of the booster, so it works best when people are falling into it, or on a platform directly above ROB.
Damage:14% (19% fully charged)
Down Smash (Press A and down together, or just down on the C-Stick): ROB extends his arms out and spins them around, trapping the opponent for a few seconds and racking up damage. There is some knockback, and no startup lag. This is one of ROB’s best smashes, since it has a wide area of attack and deals a hefty amount of damage. This is great for people who spam rolls a lot, if they roll behind you, you can still down smash and hit them. Also, you can roll behind people and use it unsuspectingly, though that technique is becoming more popular, so people will be less likely to fall for it.
Damage:13% (18% fully charged)
Tilts
A Note about Tilts: With the way the C-stick works now, you can now do tilts with both sticks. ROB can do his Up tilt and Down tilt in this manner, but not his forward tilt. Simply tilt and then press up or down on the C-stick in the corresponding direction. This way you can go right into a smash after a tilt!
Forward Tilt (Tilt forward and press A): ROB extends one claw outward, hitting the opponent. Follow up with jab or dash attack, or short hop double fair. There is no knockback and zero startup lag.
Damage: 6%
Up Tilt (Tilt up and press A): ROB extends his claws out and then up, dealing damage. There is some knockback, but no startup lag.
Damage: 9%
Down Tilt (Tilt down and Press A): ROB crouches down and attacks with his claws. There is no knockback and zero lag.
Damage: 5%
Aerials
Aerials are the pinnacle of ROB’s arsenal. While he may be slow to run on the ground, in the skies is where ROB truly shines. One of his aerials spikes and others can be used to juggle your opponent furiously in the air. ROB’s aerials are slow to come out, but with proper timing, he can unleash a barrage of attacks.
Forward Aerial (Press forward and A while in the air, or C-stick forward): Simply put, ROB’s forward air is GOOD. Really good. ROB can short hop double fair, which is great for dealing fast, strong punches on the ground. Alternatively, ROB can also use the fair to juggle his opponents horizontally, in a technique we know as the Wall of Pain (more on this later). The forward air is fast, with little lag, has decent knockback, and good priority over other moves.
Damage: 10%
Neutral Air (Press A while in the air): ROB’s nair is a powerful move, in which he spins around in a 360 degree circle, and has a blast radius of 270 degrees. Anything caught in the blast zone will suffer damage, and get knocked back quite a distance. There is a significant startup lag with this move, so caution must be exercised when using it. Use it too early and you’ll set yourself up to get knocked out. Use it too late and you’re also in trouble. User ZelgadisA027123 recently utilized this move with the Up-B to create a rising nair, which you can read about here. This strategy will prove to be a useful one, especially when dealing with edgehoggers.
Damage:10%
Down Air (Press A and down while in the air or C-stick down): ROB’s down air is a powerful, albeit slow attack that fires his boosters down on an unsuspecting victim. Since meteor canceling is no longer in brawl, all attacks that could or would be meteor smashes are now simply spikes. This is good news for ROB, as this down air is a great way to punish people off the stage. It has a lot of startup lag, and I wouldn’t recommend it as a move you use often, instead, use it when the time is right for it. When you see someone coming toward you, and you think you can nail it, then go for it, but don’t try and go out of your way to spike someone, you’ll probably end up missing, and ROB has plenty of other great aerials in his arsenal.
Damage:11%
Up Air (Press A and up in the air, or C-stick up): ROB’s up air is a fast series of punches with his claws. The move has very little knockback, but does the most damage out of all of his aerials. This move is good for juggling your opponent in place, and deals a lot of damage. Since it has such little knockback, you won’t be killing anyone with it, anytime soon, but you can follow up with an upsmash when you land, or jump to fair.
Damage: 19%
Back Air (Press A and back in the air, or C-stick back): ROB’s back air is a powerful move, in which he fires his boosters horizontally to deal a powerful blast. The back air has a unique property; in firing your boosters, ROB actually gains some forward momentum. This is good for his already amazing recovery, and can also be used at the end of a Wall of Pain combo to deal the final blow. The back air has a good amount of knockback, and has a lot of startup lag, not one of ROB’s faster moves, but not his slowest either.
Damage: 11%
Specials
ROB’s specials are some of his best moves (other than his aerials). These consist of the almighty laser, the amazing recovery, the spinning tops of doom, and…the helicopter…
Up Special (Press up and B): Ok people this is it, the big one. ROB’s recovery has generated a lot of controversy, and rightly so, for it is considered one of, if not THE best recovery in the game. Many would claim Pit has it better, but the fact that ROB can chain aerials in between bursts of his rocket makes his recovery not only long, but also deadly. During the move, ROB rises up high in the air, and you can control bursts using up on the control stick, or with B. ROB can only fly for a limited amount of time before he needs to recharge his rockets. He can only recharge while on the ground, and it takes approximately 1.5 seconds to fully recharge. In between bursts, he can do aerials, and while this is great for stalling, he can’t last forever and will eventually need to land. To give you an idea, ROB can do about 9 fairs in between bursts before running out of fuel. The combination of aerials and boosting are key for juggling your opponents while in the air, as well as launching them off screen. Also, during ROB’s recovery, he is unable to airdodge, nor shield, which could prove somewhat problematic if dealing with a projectile user.
Damage: 0%
Neutral Special (Press B): From the depths of ROB’s cold metal eyes comes a powerful laser, the likes of which nothing can stop (except a powershield). ROB fires a pink laser from his eyes, and depending on how long you wait in between uses, will affect how much damage and knockback the laser does. To determine the level of laser, look at the diode on ROB’s head, or watch the timer in the corner (if you have it turned on). When ROB’s light is off, which is only for an instant, you will get Laser 1. If it is flashing steadily, you will get Laser 2. If it is flashing brightly and rapidly, you will get Laser 3. Also, a fully charged laser may sometimes do only 5% damage.
Laser 1 (0 seconds of recharge time): ROB flashes his eyes and deals small damage in melee range. Knockback is small, and there is no lag.
Damage: 7%
Laser 2 (1-19 seconds of recharge time): ROB fires a weaker version of the fully charge laser, with small knockback, and slight startup lag.
Damage:5% (12% at point blank range)
Laser 3 (20+ seconds of recharge time): ROB fires a powerful blast from his eyes, causing great knockback and some decent damage. The attack has a lot of startup lag.
Damage: 9% (16% at point blank range)
Forward Special (Press forward and B): ROB rotates his arms like a helicopter, dealing close damage, with no knockback. This move is also able to reflect projectiles, though because of its huge startup lag, it can be hard to time in a crucial situation. In my opinion, this is ROB’s worst move, but even so, it can still prove useful when dealing with projectiles.
Damage: 14%
Down Special (Press down and B): ROB charges a gyromite, a small, top-shaped device, which he can then store and fire later. The gyro can be picked up after it lands, making it useful as an item. If left unattended, the gyro can be picked up by enemies, however this is only after it stops spinning, as it will continue to do damage until it disappears. The gyro loses spin while it is charged, and it loses power as well. The gyros speed and distance are also affected by the length of time you charge it. The gyro also lasts longer depending on how long you charge it. As an item, you can perform the Glide Toss maneuver with the gyro, adding a new method of starting combos. Here are the numbers:
Damage:
Instant shot: 7%
Fully charged shot: 18%
As an item thrown at someone: 9%
Walked into it while spinning: 5%
Time/Length:
Time is measured from the instant it lands on the ground until it disappears. If you pick the gyro up, the time is not reset; it will simply disappear as soon as it hits the ground. However, as long as you keep grabbing the item in air, it will last permanently.
Duration of the gyro after immediately being fired: 5 seconds
Duration of the gyro after a full charge: 8 seconds
The length the gyro will travel at full charge is exactly twice the distance of the length it will travel when immediately fired. So when fired from the edge of FD, it will travel half the length immediately, but when charged, it will almost make it to the other side.
Throws/Ledge Attacks
Up Throw (Grab with Z or L/R+A, and press up): ROB grabs the opponent, rises up in the air, flips him upside down, and throws him down. This throw has the least knockback, and is good for setting up an aerial combo. At higher percentages however, it proves to be more useful as a killing move then as a comboer, offering high enough knockback to kill.
Damage: 10%
Down Throw (Grab and press down): ROB grabs the opponent, flips him upside down, and drills him into the ground, causing damage, and more knockback than the up throw. Knockback is only better at 0% and up, however up throw is greater at higher percentages.
Damage: 10%
Forward Throw(Grab and press forward): ROB grabs the opponent and throws him forward.
Damage:10%
Backwards Throw: (Grab and press back): ROB grabs the opponent, spins around and throws him.
Damage:10%
Ledge Attack 1 (Less than 100 percent damage): ROB jumps up and extends his arm flat out, causing damage.
Damage: 8%
Ledge Attack 2 (Greater than 100%): ROB does the same motion as with the first ledge attack, but with more damage, and a longer reach.
Damage:10%
Taunts
Up Taunt: ROB does the robot, go figure.
Side Taunt: ROB rotates his head around and his eyes flash brightly.
Down Taunt: ROB’s arms slide down his body and then pop back up.
Final Smash: “Diffusion Beam”
As far as ROB’s final smash is concerned, I won’t go into great detail about it, mostly because I wrote this guide in a competitive manner, and I don’t think that final smashes will be allowed in major tournaments. However, both t0mmy’s guides as well as an excellent final smash guide written by IceEmblem, gives great detail into ROB’s final smash. I will link both of those guides in the reference section.
[FONT="]Section IV: Strategies and Advice[/FONT]
Techniques/Advances
Glide Toss: The glide toss is a maneuver in which you begin a roll and then cancel the roll with a toss, creating the appearance of sliding from a standing position into a toss.
How to perform:
Simply fire a gyro, and then pick it up. Once you have it in your hands (or any item for that matter), then begin a roll. About 1/7th of the way through, press A to throw the item. If performed correctly, ROB will slide forward from a standstill and then throw the item.
This has some advantages over simply throwing while dashing. While you do a glide toss, you are considered standing by the game; therefore you can launch any attack afterwards. If someone thinks they can powershield you, let’s see how well they do when you glide toss a gyro to laser. It’s a great way to keep them on their toes.
R.O.P – The ROB of Pain (Yes I know it’s just a WoP, but I needed a cool title, ok?)
Once upon a time, long ago, there were many happy jigglypuff players. They played smash and it was good.
Then a smasher by the name of Andy O'Brien released this video…PuffStuff.
It showed how Jigglypuff could knock opponents away by repeated uses of the back air and forward air. This move, later dubbed the “Wall of Pain” (a termed coined by SWF user Amorasaki), became a stable of the jigglypuff metagame, so much so that other characters who could float would learn to adopt this strategy for their own (i.e. Kirby and the “Fence of Pain”).
With the discovery of ROB’s up special and it’s ability to chain aerials in between bursts, in combination with the speed of the forward air, ROB himself can WoP opponents off the edge. Typically, I like to do this with about 2 or 3 fairs and then finish with a reverse bair. The final knockback finishes off the opponent, while I drift back onto the stage. Punishing a WoP is difficult, since the move allows for an easy approach by ROB.
Short-hop Double Fair
That’s right folks, Marth did it in melee, and now ROB can do it in brawl. The short hop double fair is great with ROB; you can combo into grabs, smashes, tilts, whatever. It’s performed exactly how it sounds, just short hop, fair, then fair again just before you hit the ground. This is a good move, and it will prove to be useful in the future.
*More to come later*
Character Matchups/Video Database
Here is where I plan on listing matchup strategies; unfortunately I don’t have enough experience against everyone to fully list detailed strategies, so until then, I’ll just list the video database by character, and you guys can watch and learn some stuff until I get some writeups in.
[FONT="]Video Database[/FONT]
This is where any and all videos of ROB in action will go, any user who wants their videos posted, just post, and I’ll add them. This list will grow as more tournaments and battles happen, and hopefully this list will grow to be huge! In addition to listing the names of the people and their characters, I will also put a little W or L next to the match, indicating whether or not the ROB player won or lost. Even though we’d like ROB to win all the time, sometimes he doesn’t, and it’s important to see what happened and understand why they lost.
Sonic
Revenantkyoku (ROB vs. Sonic wifi match) (W)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xmk8b7EO2tY
Olimar
Jrlx (ROB) vs. zorakbane (Olimar) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vd8oE_PrDOs
Ice Climbers
Rob West (ROB) vs. DK (I.C.) (W)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vt_vIEjg3c4
Rob West (ROB) vs. DK (I.C.) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bA1nXLEBUBA
Rob West (ROB) vs. DK (I.C.) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3Yjo3NoRAqU
Toon Link
Marcus (ROB) vs. LeeHarris (Toon Link) (W)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wWhes1noXRM
Metaknight
Azen (ROB) vs. Forte (MK) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OAVRleNeXXs
Azen (ROB) vs. Forte (MK) (W)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=stvpgT9zypc
Wolf
CP (ROB) vs. Darkest (Wolf) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_CF9CDt5pPY
CP (ROB) vs. Darkest (Wolf) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sXKPPXCdAO0
ROB
Azen (ROB) vs. NaCK (ROB) (W, duh!)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-fOn-Cx2FJY
Pit
ZTM1 Exalador (R.O.B) vs Ryuker (Pit) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6rPwLoyhl4A
ZTM1 Exalador (R.O.B.) vs Ryuker (Pit) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AYHg6LzrJsc
Cyrus (ROB) vs R1ku (Pit) (W)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1EfSQy9D1c0
Cyrus (ROB) vs R1ku (Pit) (L)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=S_mvguoHimg
Kirby
t0mmy (ROB) vs. t!mmy (Kirby) (L)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqOQJTse9EE
t0mmy (ROB) vs. t!mmy (Kirby) (W)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IExhvip23gg
t0mmy (ROB) vs. t!mmy (Kirby) (W)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uUlpWMJ6bU
t0mmy (ROB) vs. t!mmy (Kirby) (W)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFLi2IYdFoE
t0mmy (ROB) vs. t!mmy (Kirby) (W)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc9eGj7kxJo
[FONT="]Other Guides/References[/FONT]
Here are some links you may find useful in your journey with ROB!
Owners Manual: How to use your Robotic Operating Buddy: This is it, the original guide! Written by t0mmy, half of the Super Smash Twins, this guide is an informative look into the world of ROB! A MUST READ for any ROB main!
Reign Of Blasters- A R.O.B. Guide: You may have noticed this sitting at the top of your page as you entered. This is another ROB guide by Eaode, and this one features more strategies and techniques, with offensive and defensive strategies galore. Also a MUST READ for ROB mains. Also by Eaode is the ROB Friend Code Database, which is keeping track of every ROB in the country. Any new visitors who main ROB should definitely post their information in it.
Diffusion Beam Guide: This guide by SWF user IceEmblem goes into detail about the final smash, showing how ROB truly destroys when he gets the final smash! Go ROB!
[FONT="]Final Thoughts:[/FONT]
Thanks to everyone who read this, thanks to t0mmy, Eaode, and IceEmblem for their great guides! Also, for those of you who disliked ROB, I hope you’ve learned something along the way about the cute little buddy that ROB is.
So after reading about all the great stuff ROB can do, let me leave you with this final thought:
