Luigi player
Smash Master
DK Tips & Tricks
Welcome to the DK Tips & Tricks thread!
Here you'll find a few advices and techniques that can enhance your DK gameplay and experience.
1. neutralBWelcome to the DK Tips & Tricks thread!
Here you'll find a few advices and techniques that can enhance your DK gameplay and experience.
1.1 strength
DKs giant punch was always his signature move of his Smash Bros. appearances. It's strength is not what you might expect at first. It is getting more powerful the more you charge it, but if you fully charge it, it will be less powerful! So decide between superarmor and power. Also: this time DK does 11 swings to fully charge the punch (if you cancel during the 11th swing DK will still get the full charged punch though!).
The aerial punch is weaker than a grounded one.
Some KO %s: (training mode; cpu Mario standing in middle of Battlefield)
fully charged: 78 %
10 wind: 53 %
9 wind: 61 %
8 wind: 70 %
7 wind: 79 %
1.2 cancelling the giant punch
You can cancel your charging animation by using shield (or pressing left/right to roll, if you're on the ground). If you shield, DK will always make the full swing of his wind so it will take a bit before you can do something out of it. In the air it is now easier to not airdodge out of it, but it can still happen if you cancel it at the wrong frames (exact ones still need to be tested by someone). Also this time, if you cancel a wind you will not gain the 1 swing added to your charge, even if DK finishes the full swing animation after inputting the cancel. But if you're charging your 11th swing and cancel you will still have the fully charged one.
1.3 back hit
While striking out for the punch DK wants to get a lot of force by moving his arm back & up first to then strike with more momentum. This has it's own hitbox, IF your punch isn't fully charged. It is very strong.
To compare it to the other KO%s at 1.1: it KOs Wii Fit Trainer at about 40 % (keep in mind WFT is a little lighter than Mario)
On battlefield you can hit opponents who are on platforms above you with the weak hit back hit which still does 28 % from a 9 wind (10 % with no charge).
2. UpB
2.1 upB brake
This was a technique used in Brawl to survive some hits through cancelling all momentum you had with upB. In Smash4 this is way less useful, but it does still help. The best "momentum cancelling" in Smash4 seems to be pressing left/right (to the stage) and doublejumping (maybe B-reversals are still better/working, but afaik nobody has tested this as of right now).
This will help you survive a few %s longer than if you wouldn't do it, but in some cases you can still see yourself doublejumping in the bubble and dying immediately. That is because the doublejump doesn't cancel all momentum, just some of it. In this scenario, if you would have that very tiny window to still act before dying - then would be the time to use your upB to stop all momentum and maybe make it back and trying to trick your opponent so he won't catch you.
Also since upB has it's own momentum it does not care about it's surroundings. Water/Wind or any pushing moves will be ignored, so don't worry about Greninjas or some windboxes moving you away. Be aware though to use it before being pushed away/up, or else you might end up using your upB too high or something (which can then be punished easier).
2.2 upB momentum shift
DKs upB has it's own momentum, but you can shift it by reversing the move! During the very first few frames of upB you can press the other horizontal direction that you weren't moving in to suddenly turn around. This can be useful for 2 things:
- if you're running away from your opponent / or into your opponent and wanting to turn back with a grounded upB to move into a direction with it that your opponent doesn't expect (or if the edge is already there so you wouldn't have much room to move)
- aerial upB sometimes doesn't have it's fast momentum from the start while you're trying to recover, this mostly happens when you're already moving into the other direction than you want your upB to go. Now there's two methods to change this:
The first one is easy, just double jump into the direction you want to go and then immediately upB. This will change your momentum and upB will carry it over. The problem with this is sometimes you don't want that little extra height from the jump, or you don't even have the doublejump available! In this case you have to move your controlstick immediately to the direction you want it to move to after initiating the upB (important: before/during you input your upB you have to hold the stick in the direction you're already moving into (the one you don't want to go) and then immediately change it to the other one).
3. SideB
3.1 sideB destroys shields
DKs headbutt is now even stronger than before (on shields that is)! It kills about 90 % of a shield so if you notice your opponents trying to shield while you e.g. have to land or if they're expecting a bair mix it up to catch them off guard. Even if they don't shield: the headbutt gained a lot of range and it still burries if your opponent doesn't avoid or shield it, so that can be useful too (less than in Brawl though). The only things you don't want to happen are: it's getting powershielded; it's getting dodged (maybe also to trade, but that will depend on the situation)
3.2 burried opponents
Opponents burried into the ground now get less knockback from attacks than normal. This makes KOing burried opponents way harder. If you want to KO them you could wait for them to jump out and hitting them with upair / fair / upsmash / dsmash (but it's more difficult to hit them with grounded moves for obvious reasons). Using aerials is also a good idea if they only have few %s since they're likely to break out pretty quickly.
3.3. sideB to the ledge
DK can now grab the ledge during his sideB. This can be useful to make it more safe or to just be able to use it while you're above a ledge.
3.4 range
This seems to be DKs 3rd best move in terms of horizontal range (after grounded downB and fsmash). On the ground he reaches even further than in the air (if you initiate the move in the air and land on the ground DK will continue with the grounded version). The aerial version moves back a little bit further than his starting position after the move is done.
This moves hitbox is not only DKs head... No, also not +his chest either. It seems to be almost his entire body. You can even hit with his feet if you're using it in the air!
4. DownB
4.1 punishing rolls...
Are you annoyed by your opponents for rolling around all the time and trying to find a surefire way to hit them? Well, search no longer! DownB has excellent range (in front a little more than behind DK) and it's hitboxes are pretty frequent so it's easy to catch others with it.
4.2 downB to punish shielding?
DKs groundpound now eats shields for breakfast. Just about 4 hits are enough to break them and if you manage to catch them near an edge and they don't stop shielding they'll be pushed away from the stage during their shieldbreak and fall to their death.
4.3 downB reversing
You can now reverse all of DKs B moves easily which can be really useful. As for downB - don't forget that you can use it in the air now! Even if it isn't that great and has a little of lag. Sometimes it can be useful to change your momentum with it to avoid juggles.
4.4 below a platform?
If you're on a platform, above your opponent, and he's standing on the ground below the platform... he'll still get hit by a grounded downB (Mario still gets hit on lower battlefield platform). This even uses all the great range of downB. Your opponent does not even need to be exactly below the platform, as long as he's near enough (about a Mario-length inbetween him and the platform - if it's more he won't get hit, even if you're right above him on the edge of a platform).
You can also hit opponents from battlefields top platform if they're on the side platforms and near enough.
4.5 counters...
Grounded groundpound only hits opponents not in the air... or so we thought. If your opponent uses counter he can be hit even if he's in the air if he's close by, so watch out for that.
General tips:
Armor and invincibility:
Superarmor:
- fully charged punch (during the hit)
- grounded upB (a little before the first hit)
- custom move: special sideB 3 (whole move until shortly before it ends)
Heavy armor:
- while DK is having someone in the cargo-hold
Invincibility:
- while going from normal grab to cargo someone
- aerial upB (on first hit)
For general invincibility: http://smashboards.com/threads/invincibility-and-armor-list.371822/#post-17771035
Damage (Training mode):
jab1,2: 4, 6
ftilt: normal 10, up 11, down 9
utilt: normal 9, sweetspot 11
dtilt: normal 7, tip 6
dash attack: strong 10, weak 8
nair: strong 11, weak 8
fair: normal 16, late normal 13, meteor 15
bair: strong 13, weak 8
uair: 13
dair: meteor 16, other 13
fsmash: 20, full charge 28
dsmash: far sides 18/full 25, strong hit 17/full 23, weak (inside/near DK) 14/full 19
usmash: 18, full charge 25
neutralB: weakest 10/upper back hit 10, full charge 28, 9 wind upper back hit 30/weak 28
sideB: 10
upB: grounded first hit 7, other hits 1-2, final hit 4 ; aerial first hit 10, other hits 5, final hits 2
downB: grounded 14 ; aerial first 5, second 6
grab pummel: 2
fthrow - cargo: ftoss 8, btoss 8, utoss 7, dtoss 6, opponent releases 6
bthrow: 11
uthrow: 9
dthrow: 7
2bairs1shorthop:
You can do two bairs during a shorthop. Shorthop bair to upair works too, but no other aerial will have it's hitbox out in time before DK's landing (not even nair, even though it looks like it could work...).
DKs disjointed moves:
This time DK has disjointed moves. Here's a list of moves I came up with with which you can destroy bob-ombs without getting hit:
- ftilt
- dtilt
- uptilt (above and behind him)
- fair (only when the hitbox is right in front of him)
- upair (falling upair)
- dsmash (behind and in front of him)
- upsmash (above him)
- neutralB (only non-fully charged!! fist/forearm seem to be intangible)
- sideB
- upB (grounded: in front of him ; aerial: left and right spread hands)
- downB (obviously)
Upsmash:
Upsmashs hitbox now reaches even lower. You can hit grounded characters like Mario with it too.
Dsmash:
It's hitboxes are very diverse. Depending on with which part of the hitboxes you hit your opponent there seem to be very many different angles where he can be sent flying to.
Some KO %s to compare DKs KO moves:
(training mode; Mario (doing nothing) standing in middle of Omega-Battlefield) | remember: opponents can VI/DI etc. to live longer
fully charged punch: | 74 | 69
9 wind: | 49 | 46
8 wind: | 57 | 53
7 wind: | 65 | 61
6 wind: | 75 | 70
fsmash (full charge): | 55 | 51
fsmash (no charge): | 93 | 87
dsmash (full charge): | 70 | 67
dsmash (no charge): | 110 | 105
usmash (no charge): | 109 | 103
utilt (sweetspot) | 116 | 111
uair | 139 | 133
bair | 141 | 134
fair (back hit) | 141 | 134
fair (normal) | 141 | 134
fair (late) | 127 | 120
fair (meteor) | 147 | 141
dair (meteor) | 155 | 148
nair (first hit) | 162 | 153
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