dragontamer
Smash Ace
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2008
- Messages
- 514
- NNID
- dragontamer5788
Hey all. I've never participated in the smash competitive community, but I've got a week or so worth of experience in "For Glory". So here's what I've figured out with Pac-Man. Criticism is welcome!
* Pac-Man's fruit and hydrant are his best tools, and they set him apart from the rest of the cast. Learn every fruit, you will use them all. Try to hold onto an Orange at least, and do not be dumb with the Key. There is a severe opportunity cost when you're holding onto the key (in particular, you can't use Galaga, Pear, or Bell, which are generally better projectiles than the Key in my experience).
When you hold onto "Bell", you can always charge the Bell into a Key and then throw the key. Or, you can use the Bell immediately. Since all of Pac-man's fruit are useful, charging all the way is a beginner's mistake.
I argue you should NEVER hold the key for an extended period of time. Defensively, you should have Apple if you ever wish to recover high. At low percentages, Galaga is the best for racking up damage. At ~100% or so, your kill options are Bell -> Running Up-Smash or Bell-> Forward smash. Key isn't a killing option till much later.
* Pac-Man has very few "safe killing" options. His down-smash is slow, and doesn't charge very much when punishing a roll. It seems to only kill reliably at relatively weak, getting a side-screen KO off Mario reliably only at 120% at the edge of Final Destination... maybe 150% or so from the middle. His up-smash has very poor range on the ground, it can KO opponents who fall on you, but few opponents are that dumb. Pac-Man's Forward Smash however is slow, but pretty decent overall.
Against defensive opponents, I find myself attacking till the opponent is ~170%, and killing them with a bair or a Pear.
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Gimp Kills
Pac-Man excels at gimp kills. I've gimped Little-Mac, Mario, Link, Gannondorf (be careful of his side-b), and even aggressive Robs, Jigglypuffs and Yoshi with Pac-Man's f-air combos. It isn't quite as good as Melee Jigglypuff's "wall of death" strategy, but you can use Pac-Man's f-air to push the opponent out and down.
When opponents are recovering mid or low, strike them with "f-air f-air (2nd jump) nair". Recover using Side-B and up-B as you need, and if done correctly many opponents will not be able to recover. For characters with huge recovery like Rob or Yoshi, you have to punish them when they're being overly aggressive on their return. (Rob using his up-B to attack you, instead of safely getting onto the ledge. Ditto with aggressive Yoshi's and his 2nd jump). Still, its important to remember to gimp these overly-aggressive opponents, and punish them for using their last jumps irresponsibly.
Gimp enemies who recover high with fair-fair (land on ground) jump fair fair (2nd jump) nair.
Ideal gimping % is around 60% or so. By 120%, you'll have to change your combos but its still possible to gimp with fair.
Some gimp sequences:
~60% to ~100%: fair-fair (2nd jump) nair.
You need to be traveling the same vertical velocity as the opponent. Also, be sure to aim "lower" at higher percentages. ~100%+ fair-fair links needs to be aimed at Mario's feet.
Try to sweet-spot with the "nair". It does a decent amount of knockback, and you can get side-KOs from the Nair.
~60% to ~100%: fair-fair (2nd jump) footstool "spike" jump
Pac-Man does not have a real spike, but if you catch the opponent recovering low, the "footstool" crappy spike is just enough to solidify a kill. The footstool "spike" can be spammed, as there are no penalties for spamming that "X" button to jump. It is fairly easy to follow-up after fair-fair.
The fair-fair combo is to force the opponent to fall for a slightly longer time.
~120%: fair (2nd jump) nair
At higher percentages, the opponent gets knocked back too much, and "fair-fair" turns into simply "fair". Keep an eye out on your opponent's percentage, and do the right "combo" if you want to gimp.
The ideal gimp-setups are Orange and sweet-spot Down-Smash, as these hit the opponent low and far. But fish for gimps with Back Throw, Forward Tilt, BAir, Nair. I've gimped Gannondorf at like 60% off of a back throw near the edge, so this is a very useful skill to have.
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Pear Mindgames
I'm of the opinion that the Pear is the best fruit option, so I feel like it is necessary to discuss the Pear mindgame. The Pear is a very slow moving projectile, and is extremely useful for Pac-Man's approach. It is an okay-killing attack (KOs opponents on FD at 140%), and deals a respectable 12% damage, forcing your opponent to truly respect the pear.
The Pear in isolation is surprisingly difficult to deal with. It is so slow, that it is basically impossible to side-step or backwards roll. Your opponent will be often forced to shield, jump, or roll forward to avoid the pear, all of which can be punished by Pac-Man. A well-spaced conservative Fair is a safe followup to any Pear, but you can attempt to get lucky with a smash to try and catch a jump or roll. Savvy opponents may attempt to catch or reflect the pear however, which honestly seems like the best way to deal with this marvelous fruit.
As an approach option, Pac-Man is reasonably safe when running behind a pear. The Pear cancels out Luma, Aura Spheres, Boomerangs... and even absorbs all 5 of Shiek's needles. Even the might of Megaman's lemons and side-B fail to stop this juggernaut. (All three lemons absorbed... even weak Megaman smash attacks get eaten up by the Pear) The pear is not a complete miracle fruit however, as Ness's PK Fire makes running close to the Pear a dangerous option. For most of Pac-Man's matchups however, running behind the Pear is a solid approach strategy, especially if you get a running up-smash to punish your opponent's inevitable jump or roll-forward.
Opponents who are knocked off stage can have their recovery made significantly harder by a slow-moving pear. Opponents who air-dodge the pear can be punished with a fair-fair -doublejump- fair-fair gimp combo. Opponents who "recover low" are similarly punished with the fair gimp combo... or at least have to deal with Pac-Man's falling Hydrant.
As an approach option, zoning option, and as an anti-recovery tool... the Pear is honestly Pac-Man's best projectile. Use it, and use it wisely.
Note: do not *constantly* use the Pear approach. Mix it up with orange, cherry, strawberry, apple, galaga, bell and key. Pear might be the bread-and-butter approach for Pac-Man, but there are plenty of other projectiles he can use.
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Hydrant "Mindgames"
The Hydrant is currently overrated in the neutral game. Its good... but Pac-Man seems to have better options in general. Still, its important to learn how to use the Hydrant to approach and annoy the opponent, but fruit options seems significantly safer and more reliable.
There is an exception however... the Rosalina matchup seems to favor the Hydrant approach over fruit. Fruit are absorbed by Luma, while the Hydrant blasts through Luma and hits Rosalina as well. Furthermore, Luma gets gimped on occasion by the bouncing hydrant.
IMO, its useful to lay down when opponents are recovering, but the majority of Pac-Man's "hydrant mindgames" are projected. Hydrant sliding into a Smash Attack only works because opponent's fail to understand Hydrant mechanics... not because you're out-playing the opponent. If you do wish to master Hydrant sliding, be sure to master the "Shield-Sidestep" to cancel out the water pulses.
The primary time I use the Hydrant is as an anti-recovery tool. I prefer the Pear for when the opponent is recovering mid, but if they recover low... just drop the Hydrant on top of their face. This includes punishing mirror-match Pacmans who use the annoying "up the wall" side-b recovery.
Sometimes, I find that it is safer to set up the Hydrant + Pear and let the opponent recover. Then you can Hydrant -> Bair -> Pear -> approach... if the opponent lets you of course. In these situations, keep the Bair fresh and practice hitting the sweet-spot. Keep track of your Bairs... only when the Bair is fresh + sweet-spotted will Hydrant actually be knocked back in a single blow.
Learn the properties of the following Hydrant strikes:
* Hydrant -> Bair -- If Bair is fresh, this is the quickest way to send the Hydrant flying to the opponent.
* Hydrant -> Bair -> forward tilt -- You will make mistakes in the field. If the Bair isn't fresh, use the forward tilt to send the hydrant flying.
* Hydrant -> Side-b semi-circle -- When Bair is not fresh, this is the quickest way to sent the Hydrant flying. This is only safe on the middle of the stage. On the edges of stages, Pac-Man may instead bounce along the edge and fall helpless off stage. This is a *hugely* punishable move, so only do this rarely.
Note: The "projectile" hydrant launches need to be timed in between the water jets. Water jets will alter the path of the projectiles.
* Hydrant -> Pear -- This "eats up" the Pair. Useful in the mirror match vs Pac-man, but honestly I don't see this setup very often. The Pear gets "eaten up" by the Hydrant, but the Hydrant then flies out in front of you.
* Hydrant -> Galaga sweet spot -- Requires both strikes of Galaga. Hydrant moves _very_ slowly.
* Hydrant -> Key -- The Key does NOT get eaten up, and now your opponent has two powerful projectiles bouncing towards him erratically.
* Hydrant -> Orange -- 8% damage is not enough to launch the Hydrant. If your opponent has dealt 5% or more dmg to the Hydrant, use the Orange to send it flying. The other three projectile options (Pear, Galaga, and Key) are more useful.
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Bell Kills
Although the Bell doesn't have much knock-back or KO potential by itself, the incredible amount of stun makes the Bell the first reliable kill option for Pac-Man... but only if you master the following "Bell Punishes".
1: Bell -> Running Up-smash is the most common. With a moderate charge, you can kill Mario as low as 87% at Final Destination. Be careful to not grab the Bell instead of up-smashing.
2: Bell -> Forward Smash. Use the Bell as if it were a slow melee attack. Basically, you are "hit-confirming" the Bell into a Forward Smash, since the Forward Smash is very punishable. Don't throw out smashes when you don't have to, it is safer to throw the Bell out instead, and hitconfirm.
Bell + Forward Smash is one of Pacman's best kill options. This can kill as low as 85% from the edge of Final Destination, and often sets up gimped recoveries.
3: Bell -> Bair. When enemies jump outside the range of your up-smash, but get hit by the Bell anyway, you need a punish nonetheless. Use a running-reverse jump Bair in these cases. You won't kill till you're opponent is above 150%, but its your best option when #1 and #2 are infeasible.
I'm repeating things from the "fruit section", but this is important. The Bell stays on the ground for a long time, and is an excellent tool to punish a defensive back-rolls. Killing an opponent at 100% who back-rolled into the Bell is going to be key for Pac-Man's metagame, I'm calling it now.
It should be noted that Bell Followups seem easier, quicker, and more flexible when you re-throw the Bell. ("Catch" the bell with a Dash attack after throwing it). You can throw the bell "forward" (the normal weird angle), straight up, or straight down from the air if you're holding it. (aka, if you're throwing it with "A button" instead of "B button")
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Matchups
IMO, Pac-Man seems to have poor matchups against Lucario, Rosalina, and Yoshi. A safe-playing Lucario is hard to KO, and I often find myself attacking Lucario till he's 170% to go for the bair KO. Aggressively use the Bell near 100%, and try to gimp Lucario before he gets to 150%+. Lucario's hitboxes become insane at high percentages, try not to let him get there.
Rosalina's Luma seems to absorb most of the fruit. Pac-man's fruit-based zoning options are very much dead against Rosalina, although running behind a bair'd Hydrant seems to provide a safe approach. Learn Pacman's alternative approach options, Hydrant seems to be a better tool in this matchup.
Yoshi has an extremely good air-game, and his egg throwing seems superior to Pac-man's zoning and approach options. You have to be slightly above Yoshi so that Pac-man's Fair's beat out Yoshi's nair and down-airs... but that position is ideal for egg-spam. A defensive Yoshi playing the Egg-spam game is very hard to approach. Orange is the best fruit for this matchup. Be sure to punish aggressive double-jumps recoveries by gimping Yoshi with a fair fair double-jump fair nair combos... and grab the ledge precisely. Good Yoshi's will cover every one of your recoveries with a fair meteor, so you cannot afford to miss the ledge.
Pac-man's (normally) terrible up-tilt seems to beat a lot of Yoshi's aerials however. The hitbox on the up-tilt is weird, so I'm going to need more experience before recommending it for sure.
It should be noted that Pac-Man's safest recovery is often the side-B up the wall trick. However, Link, Mega-Man and Rob can spike this recovery path very easily and safely (Bowser down-air can also do so unsafely)... and Pac-Man mirror matches will drop the Hydrant on you. Therefore, you must master the diagonal recovery with precise aim for these matchups. Side-B up the wall is easy and usually safe, but some characters can punish you. Missing the ledge means that Pac-Man bounces off the stage and falls to his doom.
Shiek has issues with Pac-man's fruits. ALL the needles get eaten up by something as simple as Cherry and Strawberry, and you can always use the hydrant if you need cover for a long charge fruit.
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Gimping Pac-Man
Pac-Man has absolutely insane recovery, but it is possible for him to be gimped. So be careful of this.
The gameplan to gimp Pac-man is to cancel his side-B by attacking the pellet with projectiles or powerful aerials. Then, when Pac-Man attempts to recover with up-b, steal the 3rd jump from his trampoline. I've faced precisely one opponent in my 100 matches of "For Glory" online who knew this secret and got a solid gimp against me.
* Pac-Man's fruit and hydrant are his best tools, and they set him apart from the rest of the cast. Learn every fruit, you will use them all. Try to hold onto an Orange at least, and do not be dumb with the Key. There is a severe opportunity cost when you're holding onto the key (in particular, you can't use Galaga, Pear, or Bell, which are generally better projectiles than the Key in my experience).
When you hold onto "Bell", you can always charge the Bell into a Key and then throw the key. Or, you can use the Bell immediately. Since all of Pac-man's fruit are useful, charging all the way is a beginner's mistake.
* Cherry : Very quick and spamable. Like Lucario's micro-aura spheres, use these to cancel out your opponent's projectiles and make them think while running in onto you, or to punish their back-rolls.
* Strawberry : Very similar to cherry, but much less spammable. Not only is Strawberry a slower attack (the 2nd fruit), it also stays out the longest, preventing you from using other fruit or charging up. Strawberry stays out the longest out of every fruit, I'd argue this is the least useful fruit. Use this like a "longer range Cherry". Its quick, eats up opponent's projectiles and annoys the hell out of them.
* Orange : Perfect horizontal motion, great horizontal control. This is Pac-Man's first long-range option, and should be the go-to fruit for "zoning" at full-screen and gimping an opponent's recovery. Despite being the 3rd fruit, Orange still comes out very quick. Short-hop B will throw out an orange before you land.
* Apple: This is thrown "down" at negative 45 degrees. When knocked high, use Apple to cover your descent. Otherwise, if thrown close to the ground, the Apple behaves very much like Cherry and Strawberry. Shorter-characters can duck under Apple as it bounces however, so you should prefer Orange or Pear on flat surfaces. Use a jump+Apple if your opponent is spamming Aura Spheres / Boomerangs / PK Fires. The gimping potential of Apple is poor, because it is thrown low and knocks the opponent high. Use Orange or Pear for gimps instead.
You will often use Apples "blind". Memorize the sound of Apple, its the 4th fruit when fresh. Its useful to throw this while very high to mess with your opponent, and make your descent slightly safer.
* Pear: Similar to the Orange, except it is very slow. Pear is probably the slowest projectile in the game, and is in fact slower than Pacman's run. As such, this is one of the best "approach" fruit. This is your first potential kill option, killing Mario at ~140% on Final Destination. It also has ~13% damage when fresh, so you can use the Pear to knock back the Hydrant.
Throw the Pear and run behind it. A moderate distances, you will reach the opponent at the same time as the Pear, restricting the options your opponent can do. With proper prediction / punishment, most characters have difficulty dealing with this very simple approach option. It is also great for attacking opponents as they recover. IMO, this is the best all-around fruit for Pac-Man.
* Galaga: High damage option. When properly spaced, this will strike the opponent twice for 11% damage each. Use at low percentages and throw at the sweet spot for extra damage. This "fruit" can be caught if you dash.
* Bell: Excellent, but highly technical Kill Option. This will take some practice, so go into training mode. The Bell has a 45 degree arc upwards, and comes down. While the spacing of the Bell is very tricky, this is one of Pac-Man's best killing options. So it is essential for you to master the Bell if you want to reliably kill opponents. The more damage the opponent has, the longer they will be stunned. Near 100% enough stun exists for smash-attack followups.
Furthermore, the Bell is useful for *striking* zoners, such as Ness, Lucario, or Link (who will PK Fire / Aura Sphere / Boomerang your other fruit options). The Bell itself rarely kills, but due to the incredible amount of stun, it is often possible to get a fairly powerful running up-smash to KO opponents who get struck by the Bell.
Use like a Melee attack near 100% to guarantee a forward smash. Use on airborne opponents to guarantee a bair. The bell can be "picked up" much like Galaga by a running attack (allowing you to use it a 2nd time), but you can also leave the bell on the ground as a potential roll punish. The Bell is relatively meaty and limits your opponent's rolls. The reward is _huge_ when you hit the opponent with it.
* Key: Killing Projectile. This is a straightforward throw. I argue however that the Key is one of the less useful projectiles. While holding the key, you cannot change to other options. Galaga racks up damage better, and the Bell kills at lower percentages.
* Strawberry : Very similar to cherry, but much less spammable. Not only is Strawberry a slower attack (the 2nd fruit), it also stays out the longest, preventing you from using other fruit or charging up. Strawberry stays out the longest out of every fruit, I'd argue this is the least useful fruit. Use this like a "longer range Cherry". Its quick, eats up opponent's projectiles and annoys the hell out of them.
* Orange : Perfect horizontal motion, great horizontal control. This is Pac-Man's first long-range option, and should be the go-to fruit for "zoning" at full-screen and gimping an opponent's recovery. Despite being the 3rd fruit, Orange still comes out very quick. Short-hop B will throw out an orange before you land.
* Apple: This is thrown "down" at negative 45 degrees. When knocked high, use Apple to cover your descent. Otherwise, if thrown close to the ground, the Apple behaves very much like Cherry and Strawberry. Shorter-characters can duck under Apple as it bounces however, so you should prefer Orange or Pear on flat surfaces. Use a jump+Apple if your opponent is spamming Aura Spheres / Boomerangs / PK Fires. The gimping potential of Apple is poor, because it is thrown low and knocks the opponent high. Use Orange or Pear for gimps instead.
You will often use Apples "blind". Memorize the sound of Apple, its the 4th fruit when fresh. Its useful to throw this while very high to mess with your opponent, and make your descent slightly safer.
* Pear: Similar to the Orange, except it is very slow. Pear is probably the slowest projectile in the game, and is in fact slower than Pacman's run. As such, this is one of the best "approach" fruit. This is your first potential kill option, killing Mario at ~140% on Final Destination. It also has ~13% damage when fresh, so you can use the Pear to knock back the Hydrant.
Throw the Pear and run behind it. A moderate distances, you will reach the opponent at the same time as the Pear, restricting the options your opponent can do. With proper prediction / punishment, most characters have difficulty dealing with this very simple approach option. It is also great for attacking opponents as they recover. IMO, this is the best all-around fruit for Pac-Man.
* Galaga: High damage option. When properly spaced, this will strike the opponent twice for 11% damage each. Use at low percentages and throw at the sweet spot for extra damage. This "fruit" can be caught if you dash.
* Bell: Excellent, but highly technical Kill Option. This will take some practice, so go into training mode. The Bell has a 45 degree arc upwards, and comes down. While the spacing of the Bell is very tricky, this is one of Pac-Man's best killing options. So it is essential for you to master the Bell if you want to reliably kill opponents. The more damage the opponent has, the longer they will be stunned. Near 100% enough stun exists for smash-attack followups.
Furthermore, the Bell is useful for *striking* zoners, such as Ness, Lucario, or Link (who will PK Fire / Aura Sphere / Boomerang your other fruit options). The Bell itself rarely kills, but due to the incredible amount of stun, it is often possible to get a fairly powerful running up-smash to KO opponents who get struck by the Bell.
Use like a Melee attack near 100% to guarantee a forward smash. Use on airborne opponents to guarantee a bair. The bell can be "picked up" much like Galaga by a running attack (allowing you to use it a 2nd time), but you can also leave the bell on the ground as a potential roll punish. The Bell is relatively meaty and limits your opponent's rolls. The reward is _huge_ when you hit the opponent with it.
* Key: Killing Projectile. This is a straightforward throw. I argue however that the Key is one of the less useful projectiles. While holding the key, you cannot change to other options. Galaga racks up damage better, and the Bell kills at lower percentages.
I argue you should NEVER hold the key for an extended period of time. Defensively, you should have Apple if you ever wish to recover high. At low percentages, Galaga is the best for racking up damage. At ~100% or so, your kill options are Bell -> Running Up-Smash or Bell-> Forward smash. Key isn't a killing option till much later.
* Pac-Man has very few "safe killing" options. His down-smash is slow, and doesn't charge very much when punishing a roll. It seems to only kill reliably at relatively weak, getting a side-screen KO off Mario reliably only at 120% at the edge of Final Destination... maybe 150% or so from the middle. His up-smash has very poor range on the ground, it can KO opponents who fall on you, but few opponents are that dumb. Pac-Man's Forward Smash however is slow, but pretty decent overall.
Against defensive opponents, I find myself attacking till the opponent is ~170%, and killing them with a bair or a Pear.
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Gimp Kills
Pac-Man excels at gimp kills. I've gimped Little-Mac, Mario, Link, Gannondorf (be careful of his side-b), and even aggressive Robs, Jigglypuffs and Yoshi with Pac-Man's f-air combos. It isn't quite as good as Melee Jigglypuff's "wall of death" strategy, but you can use Pac-Man's f-air to push the opponent out and down.
When opponents are recovering mid or low, strike them with "f-air f-air (2nd jump) nair". Recover using Side-B and up-B as you need, and if done correctly many opponents will not be able to recover. For characters with huge recovery like Rob or Yoshi, you have to punish them when they're being overly aggressive on their return. (Rob using his up-B to attack you, instead of safely getting onto the ledge. Ditto with aggressive Yoshi's and his 2nd jump). Still, its important to remember to gimp these overly-aggressive opponents, and punish them for using their last jumps irresponsibly.
Gimp enemies who recover high with fair-fair (land on ground) jump fair fair (2nd jump) nair.
Ideal gimping % is around 60% or so. By 120%, you'll have to change your combos but its still possible to gimp with fair.
Some gimp sequences:
~60% to ~100%: fair-fair (2nd jump) nair.
You need to be traveling the same vertical velocity as the opponent. Also, be sure to aim "lower" at higher percentages. ~100%+ fair-fair links needs to be aimed at Mario's feet.
Try to sweet-spot with the "nair". It does a decent amount of knockback, and you can get side-KOs from the Nair.
~60% to ~100%: fair-fair (2nd jump) footstool "spike" jump
Pac-Man does not have a real spike, but if you catch the opponent recovering low, the "footstool" crappy spike is just enough to solidify a kill. The footstool "spike" can be spammed, as there are no penalties for spamming that "X" button to jump. It is fairly easy to follow-up after fair-fair.
The fair-fair combo is to force the opponent to fall for a slightly longer time.
~120%: fair (2nd jump) nair
At higher percentages, the opponent gets knocked back too much, and "fair-fair" turns into simply "fair". Keep an eye out on your opponent's percentage, and do the right "combo" if you want to gimp.
The ideal gimp-setups are Orange and sweet-spot Down-Smash, as these hit the opponent low and far. But fish for gimps with Back Throw, Forward Tilt, BAir, Nair. I've gimped Gannondorf at like 60% off of a back throw near the edge, so this is a very useful skill to have.
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Pear Mindgames
I'm of the opinion that the Pear is the best fruit option, so I feel like it is necessary to discuss the Pear mindgame. The Pear is a very slow moving projectile, and is extremely useful for Pac-Man's approach. It is an okay-killing attack (KOs opponents on FD at 140%), and deals a respectable 12% damage, forcing your opponent to truly respect the pear.
The Pear in isolation is surprisingly difficult to deal with. It is so slow, that it is basically impossible to side-step or backwards roll. Your opponent will be often forced to shield, jump, or roll forward to avoid the pear, all of which can be punished by Pac-Man. A well-spaced conservative Fair is a safe followup to any Pear, but you can attempt to get lucky with a smash to try and catch a jump or roll. Savvy opponents may attempt to catch or reflect the pear however, which honestly seems like the best way to deal with this marvelous fruit.
As an approach option, Pac-Man is reasonably safe when running behind a pear. The Pear cancels out Luma, Aura Spheres, Boomerangs... and even absorbs all 5 of Shiek's needles. Even the might of Megaman's lemons and side-B fail to stop this juggernaut. (All three lemons absorbed... even weak Megaman smash attacks get eaten up by the Pear) The pear is not a complete miracle fruit however, as Ness's PK Fire makes running close to the Pear a dangerous option. For most of Pac-Man's matchups however, running behind the Pear is a solid approach strategy, especially if you get a running up-smash to punish your opponent's inevitable jump or roll-forward.
Opponents who are knocked off stage can have their recovery made significantly harder by a slow-moving pear. Opponents who air-dodge the pear can be punished with a fair-fair -doublejump- fair-fair gimp combo. Opponents who "recover low" are similarly punished with the fair gimp combo... or at least have to deal with Pac-Man's falling Hydrant.
As an approach option, zoning option, and as an anti-recovery tool... the Pear is honestly Pac-Man's best projectile. Use it, and use it wisely.
Note: do not *constantly* use the Pear approach. Mix it up with orange, cherry, strawberry, apple, galaga, bell and key. Pear might be the bread-and-butter approach for Pac-Man, but there are plenty of other projectiles he can use.
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Hydrant "Mindgames"
The Hydrant is currently overrated in the neutral game. Its good... but Pac-Man seems to have better options in general. Still, its important to learn how to use the Hydrant to approach and annoy the opponent, but fruit options seems significantly safer and more reliable.
There is an exception however... the Rosalina matchup seems to favor the Hydrant approach over fruit. Fruit are absorbed by Luma, while the Hydrant blasts through Luma and hits Rosalina as well. Furthermore, Luma gets gimped on occasion by the bouncing hydrant.
IMO, its useful to lay down when opponents are recovering, but the majority of Pac-Man's "hydrant mindgames" are projected. Hydrant sliding into a Smash Attack only works because opponent's fail to understand Hydrant mechanics... not because you're out-playing the opponent. If you do wish to master Hydrant sliding, be sure to master the "Shield-Sidestep" to cancel out the water pulses.
The primary time I use the Hydrant is as an anti-recovery tool. I prefer the Pear for when the opponent is recovering mid, but if they recover low... just drop the Hydrant on top of their face. This includes punishing mirror-match Pacmans who use the annoying "up the wall" side-b recovery.
Sometimes, I find that it is safer to set up the Hydrant + Pear and let the opponent recover. Then you can Hydrant -> Bair -> Pear -> approach... if the opponent lets you of course. In these situations, keep the Bair fresh and practice hitting the sweet-spot. Keep track of your Bairs... only when the Bair is fresh + sweet-spotted will Hydrant actually be knocked back in a single blow.
Learn the properties of the following Hydrant strikes:
* Hydrant -> Bair -- If Bair is fresh, this is the quickest way to send the Hydrant flying to the opponent.
* Hydrant -> Bair -> forward tilt -- You will make mistakes in the field. If the Bair isn't fresh, use the forward tilt to send the hydrant flying.
* Hydrant -> Side-b semi-circle -- When Bair is not fresh, this is the quickest way to sent the Hydrant flying. This is only safe on the middle of the stage. On the edges of stages, Pac-Man may instead bounce along the edge and fall helpless off stage. This is a *hugely* punishable move, so only do this rarely.
Note: The "projectile" hydrant launches need to be timed in between the water jets. Water jets will alter the path of the projectiles.
* Hydrant -> Pear -- This "eats up" the Pair. Useful in the mirror match vs Pac-man, but honestly I don't see this setup very often. The Pear gets "eaten up" by the Hydrant, but the Hydrant then flies out in front of you.
* Hydrant -> Galaga sweet spot -- Requires both strikes of Galaga. Hydrant moves _very_ slowly.
* Hydrant -> Key -- The Key does NOT get eaten up, and now your opponent has two powerful projectiles bouncing towards him erratically.
* Hydrant -> Orange -- 8% damage is not enough to launch the Hydrant. If your opponent has dealt 5% or more dmg to the Hydrant, use the Orange to send it flying. The other three projectile options (Pear, Galaga, and Key) are more useful.
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Bell Kills
Although the Bell doesn't have much knock-back or KO potential by itself, the incredible amount of stun makes the Bell the first reliable kill option for Pac-Man... but only if you master the following "Bell Punishes".
1: Bell -> Running Up-smash is the most common. With a moderate charge, you can kill Mario as low as 87% at Final Destination. Be careful to not grab the Bell instead of up-smashing.
2: Bell -> Forward Smash. Use the Bell as if it were a slow melee attack. Basically, you are "hit-confirming" the Bell into a Forward Smash, since the Forward Smash is very punishable. Don't throw out smashes when you don't have to, it is safer to throw the Bell out instead, and hitconfirm.
Bell + Forward Smash is one of Pacman's best kill options. This can kill as low as 85% from the edge of Final Destination, and often sets up gimped recoveries.
3: Bell -> Bair. When enemies jump outside the range of your up-smash, but get hit by the Bell anyway, you need a punish nonetheless. Use a running-reverse jump Bair in these cases. You won't kill till you're opponent is above 150%, but its your best option when #1 and #2 are infeasible.
I'm repeating things from the "fruit section", but this is important. The Bell stays on the ground for a long time, and is an excellent tool to punish a defensive back-rolls. Killing an opponent at 100% who back-rolled into the Bell is going to be key for Pac-Man's metagame, I'm calling it now.
It should be noted that Bell Followups seem easier, quicker, and more flexible when you re-throw the Bell. ("Catch" the bell with a Dash attack after throwing it). You can throw the bell "forward" (the normal weird angle), straight up, or straight down from the air if you're holding it. (aka, if you're throwing it with "A button" instead of "B button")
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Matchups
IMO, Pac-Man seems to have poor matchups against Lucario, Rosalina, and Yoshi. A safe-playing Lucario is hard to KO, and I often find myself attacking Lucario till he's 170% to go for the bair KO. Aggressively use the Bell near 100%, and try to gimp Lucario before he gets to 150%+. Lucario's hitboxes become insane at high percentages, try not to let him get there.
Rosalina's Luma seems to absorb most of the fruit. Pac-man's fruit-based zoning options are very much dead against Rosalina, although running behind a bair'd Hydrant seems to provide a safe approach. Learn Pacman's alternative approach options, Hydrant seems to be a better tool in this matchup.
Yoshi has an extremely good air-game, and his egg throwing seems superior to Pac-man's zoning and approach options. You have to be slightly above Yoshi so that Pac-man's Fair's beat out Yoshi's nair and down-airs... but that position is ideal for egg-spam. A defensive Yoshi playing the Egg-spam game is very hard to approach. Orange is the best fruit for this matchup. Be sure to punish aggressive double-jumps recoveries by gimping Yoshi with a fair fair double-jump fair nair combos... and grab the ledge precisely. Good Yoshi's will cover every one of your recoveries with a fair meteor, so you cannot afford to miss the ledge.
Pac-man's (normally) terrible up-tilt seems to beat a lot of Yoshi's aerials however. The hitbox on the up-tilt is weird, so I'm going to need more experience before recommending it for sure.
It should be noted that Pac-Man's safest recovery is often the side-B up the wall trick. However, Link, Mega-Man and Rob can spike this recovery path very easily and safely (Bowser down-air can also do so unsafely)... and Pac-Man mirror matches will drop the Hydrant on you. Therefore, you must master the diagonal recovery with precise aim for these matchups. Side-B up the wall is easy and usually safe, but some characters can punish you. Missing the ledge means that Pac-Man bounces off the stage and falls to his doom.
Shiek has issues with Pac-man's fruits. ALL the needles get eaten up by something as simple as Cherry and Strawberry, and you can always use the hydrant if you need cover for a long charge fruit.
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Gimping Pac-Man
Pac-Man has absolutely insane recovery, but it is possible for him to be gimped. So be careful of this.
The gameplan to gimp Pac-man is to cancel his side-B by attacking the pellet with projectiles or powerful aerials. Then, when Pac-Man attempts to recover with up-b, steal the 3rd jump from his trampoline. I've faced precisely one opponent in my 100 matches of "For Glory" online who knew this secret and got a solid gimp against me.
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