Homing Attack thoughts.

[Shiny Shovel]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

So, I feel like the Homing Attack has become pretty decent, but it's extremely situational. I often use it to punish rolls and smash attacks, and it seems great for getting some space. Problem is, I only seem to use it defensively. Because of the start up, I rarely use it as an offensive option.

Thoughts?

S.S.

 

[Sonic Orochi]

You can press a button during startup in order to sacrifice damage and knockback for speed.

 

[Shiny Shovel]

Yeah, I guess. Thanks for the tip.

S.S.

 

[Sonic Orochi]

BTW, the "lock on" system has changed: it appears to go to the exact place where the opponent was a little bit before the HA is released.

Thus, it's optimal to use it when the opponent's path matches the HA's trajectory. Kinda difficult to do but knowing the move's mechanics should help a bit.

 

[Shiny Shovel]

Ahh, so it could be useful for those that turn while dashing?

Of course, if it locks on to the location rather than the player, does this mean is could be a useful recovery at close range?
Thanks

S.S.

 

[SmashBro99]

BTW, the "lock on" system has changed: it appears to go to the exact place where the opponent was a little bit before the HA is released.

This is huge and something that every Sonic I've played on FG hasn't realized yet...they just spam it and I get to punish.

I haven't played much Sonic myself yet, not sure when is the best time to use this special now.

 

[Shiny Shovel]

Like I said, I prefer to use it to punish counter or charge smashes. One other use I forgot to mention is how great it is for stalling time.

Often when I'm up a stock, I like to evade, and the HA is awesome for that. Sonic can grab a ledge, drop, HA. The HA will bounce off the ledge if done quickly, leaving you the second jump to grab the ledge or open an arial attack.

S.S.

 

[Sonic Orochi]

Ahh, so it could be useful for those that turn while dashing?

Of course, if it locks on to the location rather than the player, does this mean is could be a useful recovery at close range?
Thanks

S.S.

I guess so, but I've never encountered someone who does that a lot in order to test it properly.

It can indeed be used as recovery, but you'll have to be extra careful because if the opponent dodges the HA/is out of its range, you'll be falling quite a bit under the stage..

BTW, a reversed HA can be used to switch places. It's really cool when you manage to do that

This is huge and something that every Sonic I've played on FG hasn't realized yet...they just spam it and I get to punish.

I haven't played much Sonic myself yet, not sure when is the best time to use this special now.

The best time would be when the opponent is commited to a certain path/action (charging an attack, teleports, etc). Be careful, though, because they can still get to hit you out of your HA. Using HA when DDD is charging a FSmash is practically asking to be smacked in the face.

Off stage usage is kinda random. It heavily depends on your opponent's reaction. Just be sure to have plenty of room to recover (use it high up and with your second jump available) and to be facing away from the stage (otherwise you'll just end up helping them recover). Oh, and always try to go for a charged one. It packs a hell of a punch.

 

[jordanm43444]

I have mixed feelings about this homing attack at all honestly, but hear me out

1) Its absolutely terrible for recovery (I actually think Sonics recovery is pretty terrible in this game but thats a story for another day)

2) Did they take out its ability to Quick Shot? Cant seem to do it anymore

3) The move is extremely helpful for fighting that ******* Tink since it can close distance exteremely well

4) The move is actually really safe if it his a shield since you can move out of range for a punidh after it hits

 

[Shiny Shovel]

Another thing. After playing a RosaLuma in 1v1 for glory, I noticed a HA quirk. It seems to lock on to the Luma? After testing against DHD, the HA also locks onto the TNT. Strange, and also annoying. This means that against certain members of the cast, the HA can be extremely unreliable.

Maybe with a little more tinkering, we can use this quirk to our advantage, but we'll see.

S.S.

 

[carneVal]

Personally, I've been enjoying HA as a mix up attack. You can actually do it out of dash, so if people predict a grab or dash attack and down dodge or shield you can get the timing for HA to hit them.

 

[Camalange]

HA is so much safer now and has better lock-on and for those reasons alone makes it a better move.

 

[A Gray Person]

Personally I use it to get myself in a position near my opponent so I can potentially grab them. I will say that it isn't all reliable since sometimes people catch on and begin using their utilt or usmash whenever I try.

I will say it does seem like you can connect hits with it which gives it much more use.

 

[SmashWolf]

Eh, I like it, just wish you could use it multiple times in the air. I enjoy the added attack power and the fact that B-reversing it gets you some interesting knockback.

 

[Tythaeus]

I hardly ever use the HA. I use it against counters, but that's about it.

 

[Camalange]

I will say that it isn't all reliable since sometimes people catch on and begin using their utilt or usmash whenever I try.

I will say it does seem like you can connect hits with it which gives it much more use.

Well, you shouldn't be using it to approach. It's stalls you in the air and is amazing for punishing people charging moves or just doing inputs from a distance.

It has significantly less cooldown, so it's a lot safer to use for those kind of tactics.

 

[Phoenix_Dark]

HA is super useful for dealing with certain things people try to abuse against Sonic to force him into a certain approach. Rapid jabs, flamethrowers, Peach's dair. It beats them all with ease. Which is great, since they destroyed bair as an option on stage in this game.

 

[Camalange]

REALLY BAD THING ABOUT HOMING ATTACK

It locks onto projectiles and ****

why

 

[Phoenix_Dark]

REALLY BAD THING ABOUT HOMING ATTACK

It locks onto projectiles and ****

why

Yeah, it's pretty much useless when fighting Olimar :/

 

[ShbeblyTheGreat]

Eh, I'd have to say it's pretty mediocre. In Brawl, it was pretty useless. Way too much build up for an attack that would awkwardly curve 'over' the opponent. Project M has the superior Homing Attack, hands down. But in this game, it just feels like they tried to buff it, but still held it back a bit.

It's pretty cool that it's a killing move now. But I hate the fact that it'll lock onto the opponent's position as soon as Sonic rises. If they move, oh well. You're already locked on to the ground.

Using it for recovery is an AWFUL idea!!! You'll either curve right over where you wanted to go, try to do it backwards but end shooting yourself into the void, hit the side of the stage once just to bounce back and fall, and sometimes be too far away to the point of it just flubbing and shooting downward.

I find the custom moves rather bland. The Surprise Attack is God damn useless. Hope you like jumping a couple feet off the ground to do 4% damage. The Bounce Bracelet move is.... ok, I guess? I mean, it's cool, but I never found a use for it other than to bop someone on the head.

But overall, I'm just mixed about his homing attack.

 

[Augi Jr.]

Situational, definitely.

For an offensive application, it really seems to help with spammy characters like Toon Link; since it rises in the air, it helps dodge, and while the opponent is dealing with their projectile cooldown (or starting up another projectile) you dash forward and bop'em on the head. So closing distance with it is nice, but it doesnt work all the time which leads to point two....

... and that's that overall I would classify it as a Mind Game maneuver, the delay can throw people off, especially if you stop just before you get to them and use it; they block, counter, dodge etc, and then wham a second later. But as anything with mind game elements, use it too much and you're opponent gets used to it and then you get boned. So save it for when you can use it to its full advantage.

So personally, I would NEVER use it when you're far away from you're opponent; it's too easy to read, you'll just get punished unless you've got your opponent pressured like mad and you know they can't react in time.

In addition, it has a fair bit of knock-back at high percents so sometimes you can get a lucky kill from it, or at least knock them off the stage for some reliable edge-guarding.

 

[Golden Sun]

At the beginning of a match, the first thing I do is run up to them, mostly the center of the stage, and when the enemy shoots a project weapon or shields and he thinks im going to run and press a on him so he can attack back, I jump twice then do the homing attack so I get the first attack, this sometimes doesn't work since they shield longer than usual, not to mention the homing attack is a powerful 12 hit attack, perfect to start off, it can also be used for a "counter"-like move, when people are on the ground and try to hit you from above for when you fall, when you get close to them, do the homing attack, you'll hit then once they do a attack, the homing attack is also useful for counter smash attacks, once you run up to them or from in the air, when they do the smash, a lot of people forget homing attack since they seen sonics they barely use it.

 

[ROOOOY!]

I use spinshot far more than HA to punish projectile spammers, especially Tink. Most do that cute arrow => downward boom thing. Where you just VSDJ2 (lame name tbf) over the arrow, then upon landing spinshot which will take you to him avoiding the boomerang. I only ever use HA as a momentum staller for the most part.

 

[kataridragon]

HA isnt to shabby. Its good for the projectile users. Samus and link in particular. I feel its good for the stall air stall as many people have said. It can make needle happy shieks a little more cautious. I really need to check its range. It can be used for recovery but I would only try it if your 100% sure its gonna work, very risky. I do like that you can get out of range on shield. it helps. I like it better overall.

 

[Jasku]

I think HA is good sometimes, and way better than in Brawl, but sometimes it's a pain in the ass. Rarely, I loose complete control of Sonic while doing a HA next to a ledge and die. It has happened to me quite a few times.

 

[Golden Sun]

I think HA is good sometimes, and way better than in Brawl, but sometimes it's a pain in the ***. Rarely, I loose complete control of Sonic while doing a HA next to a ledge and die. It has happened to me quite a few times.

Same to me, I only home attack when I jump up and someone thinks im going to fall down without doing anything so he goes under me and charges his smash UP attack, and then he does it and misses and I hit him, a free 12% attack

 

[Camalange]

Where you just VSDJ2 (lame name tbf)

I couldn't think of a much better name, as this new move is literally a vertical spin dash jump because it can't be done out of a spin charge... Our old terminology is flawed, but we'll never update it. Calling it something like vertical spin dash charge jump seems more confusing imo.

 

[ROOOOY!]

VSDCJ? Nahh.
It's like there's a VSCJ and a VSDJ now and they're both wholly different.
Describing Sonic is like being slapped in the face with alphabetty spaghetti.

 

[Jasku]

Same to me, I only home attack when I jump up and someone thinks im going to fall down without doing anything so he goes under me and charges his smash UP attack, and then he does it and misses and I hit him, a free 12% attack

Dude, that's exactly what I do!! Hahaha.