How Smash 4 Can Improve Competitively (balance patches confirmed)

[DavemanCozy]

Or maybe the Wii U version (Assuming that patch 1.0.4 is included with it) gives more knockback to these attacks you mention. Maybe the blast zones in the 3DS version will be reduced (Which I doubt). Anyway, if your theory is correct, it's good to know that the Wii U version of Smash 4 will be a little bit faster than 3DS.

The blast zones are definitely closer. I noticed this because the magnification glass did not last as long when the characters went off-screen: in the 3DS, you can really see that they are far because characters can travel pretty far offstage with the magnification glass active. However, in Wii U, I noticed this is not the case: attempting to travel offstage too much results in getting KO'd.

I certainly hope the 3DS blast zones get closer to stages. Either way, the blast zones being so far are what make KO'ing characters like Greninja and Zelda so difficult: even if you hit them with a strong move at ~100%, the blast zones being far can let them survive longer. As a result, with their recoveries being really safe, offering them a lot of options and even capable of punishing you for attempts to edge-guard them, it makes KO'ing these otherwise mid-light weight characters more difficult. I hope you're right, and that the new update brings the blast zones closer.

No, since the conserving air dodge is inherently a disaster of game design since it's just free invincibility frames. It ruins the skill you build up since all the opponent does is press R to win.

No it's not. Air-dodges are not like Brawl's, they are relatively unsafe to use in this game now: most of them have ~20 frames of landing lag, that's 1/3rd of a second that you have to punish your opponent (more than any L-cancelled Melee move). You can't just "press R to win," landing with an air dodge is possibly one of the worst things you could do when coming back down. They are hardly "free" invincibility frames.

 

[Mr.C]

They would have to revamp the entire combat system because it's absolutely trash. Brawl HD, no thanks.

 

[TimeSmash]

What a helpful and insightful interjection

 

[MudkipUniverse]

Increased crawl speed. The ability to cancel dash into walk. Regain double jump on connecting with an aerial. Rolls retain all invincibility, except one class of move always connects with them (grab, or nair, dash attack, dtilt, not sure which is best, nerfs defense and rewards reading rolls).
Dash cancels crouch (perhaps with a slide).

If I actually saw things in the game that struct me as defensive problems I'd probably have more ideas beyond that.

Regain double jump on aerial connect? Heck no. I don't think they need to make edgeguarding that much easier/harder.

 

[Kiyosuki]

My only issue so far that I can name at least is I think rolling was made maybe a little too safe, especially noticable with certain characters. At least on the 3DS version I've experienced multiple instances of doing a full sweeping D-Smash like say...Shulk's D-Smash, and having certain characters with really fast rolls roll right into it, then roll AGAIN immediately after and not be hit. That's a pretty questionable amount of i-frames.

It's not a huge issue though I admit because I don't think it's breaking the game or anything, and you can still choreograph roll spamming of course...but I think it is noticably safer than it was in past Smash games, so maybe it's worth even some slight mention.