Getting used to the normal attacks first is a great idea, especially with Hero since you can replenish your MP pretty quickly by landing some attacks.
My take on the specials:
Neutral B (Frizz, Frizzle, Kafrizz): The 3rd stage works a bit like Samus Charged Shot, it's a very potent killmove and it charges pretty quickly. You can try to use it from far away but i think it's more efficient if used relatively close, your opponent have less/no time to react. Personally, i use it to punish bad spacing/endlag or to catch rolls, works well so far. It is important to note that it takes a lot of MP (36) so make sure you land it or else it's about 1/3 or your MP thrown out the window. The 1st and 2nd stages are pretty good to zone/poke from far away but once you get in mid-range/up-close, the side-b (Zap and Zapple in particular) becomes a better option imo.
Side B (Zap, Zapple, Kazap): The first two stages are really good in neutral. They're excellent zoning tools imo and Zapple can also kill at high %. I used them a bit like a Z-air, the timing for the 2nd stage is a bit hard to pull off at first but it is most useful one imo. Stage 3 is a bit tricky to land, especially if your opponent knows what's up, just keep it in mind if someone is rushing at you as you charge your side-b, it seems to have armor when you release it so if you make it to full charge, don't even worry about getting hit. Again, it takes a lot of MP (42) so it's better to not throw that move around needlessly. You can charge while in the air to give you 3 very good options: if your opponent jumps at you, release the stage 1 in midair. If they stay on the ground, at a distance, release stage 2 as soon as you land or a bit before. If they rush at you to punish your landing, charge it until stage 3 and release as you land. You might need a bit of practice to master the timings and distances but i swear, it'll be worth it, this move is insanely good.
Up-B (Woosh, Swoosh, Kaswoosh): They have some offensive uses. If you see that your opponent is recovering low, you can use it to edgeguard. Just drop from the ledge, charge in midair (falling speed is greatly decrease when you charge so you'll basically float near the ledge) and release it so that the tornadoes will block the access to the ledge. Pretty efficient against certain characters. You can also use Woosh as an out-of-shield option but you'll ideally need a platform to land on or else you'll be in a helpless state, in the air. So yeah, not the best option but it's there.
Down-B Menu Spells: You can split the spells into categories if it helps you, that's what i do. It might help you choosing your spell faster if you know what
kind of spell you're looking for. Basically, if you already made your choice (partly)
before opening the menu you'll be able to pick faster once the menu appears.
Buffs (Oomph, Psyche-up, Acceleratle, Bounce, Heal): They're all pretty good but i think
Oomph is the most reliable, you can get some pretty good dmg out of the 10 sec so i recommend picking it up every time you see it appear in the menu.
Psyche Up is a bit tricky to use efficiently, the best way to use the increased knockback imo is to spend it on a up-throw or back-throw at high percent, it basically gives Hero two killthrow options which can be very useful.
Acceleratle is also tricky, it's basically a Bunny Hood, you'll move faster jump farther but you won't attack faster. Dash grab is a pretty good option while Acceleratle is active.
Bounce is one of the best buffs when used against characters who relies on projectiles.
Heal is always a good choice imo, you can use it up to 2 times per stock, recovering 11% each time for a total of 22%, not bad. Every buff starts with a little animation, just a thing to keep in mind, you can't act out of it so it's better to have a minimum of 'breathing room' to activate a buff safely.
Standard projectiles (Sizz, Sizzle, Bang, Kaboom): Particularly efficient to snipe an offstage opponent. If they're offstage and above the ledge, chances are they're going to try and reach for to ledge. Just wait for them to be in range and shoot, those projectiles have a decent speed so it'll be hard/impossible for people to react in time.
Kaboom's explosion can also be used to cover the whole ledge area, can be used similarly to Palutena's Explosive Flame and i think it is worth mentionning that it kills very early.
Slashes (Kacrackle Slash, Flame Slash): I don't use those a lot tbh. You can surprise opponents rushing at you with them and their hitbox are big enough to hit a character that holds onto the ledge without invincibility. You can try to hit people offstage with
Kacrackle Slash, it's likely to kill them if they don't mash fast enough (à la PK Freeze). I find them a bit unreliable tbh.
Misc, really good in a really specific context (Magic Burst, Kamikazee, Zoom, Hatchet Man):
Magic Burst is already infamous for being the best edgeguarding tool in the game... (or some say it's the best
move in the game) it's just insanely good, it can kill most characters around 30%. You can try to use it in neutral but it's a bit riskier (it can be shielded, it can also be canceled if you get hit by a projectile and in either cases, you'll lose all your MP for nothing),
if you do it, it is safer to try it on an airborne opponent.
Kamikazee is very situational, it can kill pretty much every character around 50% and have a huge hitbox (similar to Magic Burst), it's unblockable so if the opponent is in range it is going to hit no matter what. Personally i try to 'fish' for Kamikazee when i'm at very high percent with a stock lead. Even if you don't kill your opponent with Kamikazee it'll still do 60% iirc, which is quite a lot of dmg.
Zoom is probably the best recovery move in the game, if you're too far offstage to recover safely with Kaswoosh, check the menu for Zoom. I heard that it appears more frequently in the menu the closer you get to a blastzone. Hatchet Man requires a hard read on your opponent, it has a really slow startup but great killpower (think of Falcon/Warlock Punch) it can also break an opponent's shield in one hit but yeah, it's pretty hard to land usually.
Gamble/One-hit-kill projectiles (Snooze, Whack, Twack): There's no secret on how to land those moves, just try using them if you want and there's a chance your opponent won't dodge/shield them.
Snooze and
Whack are relatively slow moving projectiles so kind of easy to avoid but again, just like Kafrizz, if you use them at close range it gives less time to react. I included Snooze in this category because most of the time you can kill off of it, if your opponent is at low percent, you might want to check the menu real quick for Hatchet Man or Psyche-Up (or even Magic Burst).
Easter Eggs/Joke spells (Kaclang, Metal Slash, Hocus Pocus): I recommend just skipping those (or select Hocus Pocus if you feel lucky!
).
As for the 'right' moments to open the Spell Menu, mostly when your opponent is offstage/far enough or when they're respawning (it's the best time to 'fish' for a buff).
I hope it'll help and btw, welcome back to the boards
