easy way to shield drop

[curi]

i was trying to figure out how you shield drop and everything i found from searching was confusing for me. so i tested it to try to understand what they were saying. i think i figured it out, but i also found a different method that i think is easier than other people seem to be doing.

what i was able to understand from other people's posts is 2 ways to shield drop:

1) press down at the right speed. all the way to the bottom notch is fine. if you go too fast you spot dodge. if you go too slow you shield DI. if you go at just the right speed, in between, you shield drop.

2) first shield DI to right or left. then move dstick down fast to certain place on controller, somewhere around the diagonal down notch. this avoids shield DI by moving the stick fast, it avoids roll by moving slowly left/right for the first movement and mostly down for the second. and it avoids spot dodge by not going to the bottom area with the stick.

the first method is hard to get the exact right timing. the second method involves 2 different dstick movements (one slow to avoid roll), also making it hard (at least for me).

ok so here's my method i think is better. probably someone knows about this already but maybe other people don't.

easy shield drop method:

press control stick straight down, fast, but only a very short distance.

this only has one stick motion straight down, and you don't have to worry about going an an exact speed, just do it fast.

if you spot dodge you pressed down too far. if you shield DI, you either moved the stick slow or pretty much didn't move it.

basically you're just quicking tapping the stick down a tiny distance and you can't spot dodge unless you move it further down. and you do it quick so you get the shield drop not shield DI.

i think this method is easier b/c you don't have to carefully control the speed you move the dstick, you just have to move it from neutral to the right place.

i tested with peach and marth. i assume it's the same for all characters, but i don't know that for sure.

after practicing it a bit i found it MUCH easier than the other 2 methods i said above. plus it's faster to do it b/c it uses less stick motion and no slowed down stick movements to avoid roll or spot dodge. hope this helps people.

 

[SAUS]

The 1) way of doing it is not how I was taught. I was told that if you move it downward on an angle for a tiny bit, and then move it down towards the middle, you will shield drop. It is the same as the method you've discovered, but apparently moving it diagonally downward at first increases the area of the shield drop (by reducing the area for a spot dodge).

Shield dropping is not my area of expertise, so I could be wrong on this. If I am, please correct me.

EDIT:
Also for 2), you can do the sideways stick input while you are in shield stun from an attack.

 

[curi]

hi SAUS, what you say makes sense and clarifies what other people were talking about. but you are talking about 2 stick motions. i do it with only one motion and never move the dstick to the middle. just quickly move it down a little once and that's it.

 

[Kadano]

Yeah, shield dropping quickly (1 frame) is definitely possible. The pink line is the area you need to hit:

How do you keep yourself from going too far down with your thumb and prompting a spot dodge, though?

 

[curi]

cool diagram. it doesn't feel like that tiny of an area to me though, and i would have thought the target location for the stick was closer to the center than that.

diagram makes it look really hard to hit the pink line. but i can do it ok, and i have bad tech skill for stuff i've practiced way more. and ppl say shield dropping is one of the harder things to do, so i was surprised how doable it seemed to me.

to better answer your question i just did another 15min of shield drops to try to explain more.

one thing i should start with is you have to get used to the exact controller. i've tried different controllers and it feels a little different when the stick isn't perfect (if you have a USB adapter you can look at the stick in dolphin in the input configuration, i have one that's right in the center but another is a bit above center. and try holding the control stick in the notches and you can see how accurate they are). and you should expect to suck at it for the first 5min at least, it takes some getting used to. but then you can just kinda get a feel for the motion and just repeat the same thing, and with practice (and staying calm in games) i feel like it could be consistent.

i didn't try the other shield drop methods a ton yet, but from initial practice and trying to do them i found they seemed as hard as ppl said shield dropping is. but this one seemed way easier to me.

it's a really small motion. i wouldn't try it with your index finger or something for practice, i think just bend your thumb a little is the best way. don't move your thumb, just bend it.

i just got 12 in a row, and to be honest i'm not even that great with dstick tilting (e.g. i often double jump when i want to upair with A), so i don't think it's that hard.

one specific thing i noticed is it's actually easier if you do diagonal a bit, not straight down. and actually if you go at the right angle, you can move the dstick the entire distance to the edge and it still works. it's interesting, there is an area just below the bottom left notch which shield drops if you move the stick there, and on BOTH SIDES, higher and lower, you spot dodge, but this area shield drops. you can't move the stick at full speed though if you hit the edge, you can go pretty fast but if you slam it hard diagonally to the edge it doesn't work then.

so if you are doing it at that correct down-left angle, even if you push the stick too far you shield drop anyway (if pushing quickly but not like smashing the stick speed). so you can move it the right distance *or* get the right angle+speed, either one, and it works. so if you are trying for both these things, you can mess up either one and it's ok, just don't mess up both at once. (down-left is better than down-right b/c then you're bending your thumb inwards, it's easier that way. at least for me trying to push the control stick an exact amount is harder but just bending my thumb i can do the same way consistently)