Hydrant Dashing

[ptrk83]

Basically you throw down a hydrant and have fun playing in the water. All sorts of moves can be done out of it, and it can really mess up your opponent.

 

[Pacack]

Basically you throw down a hydrant and have fun playing in the water. All sorts of moves can be done out of it, and it can really mess up your opponent.

Not sure how useful it is, but it's certainly something I'll be trying out when I get the game.

 

[ptrk83]

To be able to jab attack while moving is very useful.

 

[Pacack]

To be able to jab attack while moving is very useful.

It's highly situational, though, and it requires massive planning for questionable payout.

Add to that how the hydrant shoots water in a predictable way, and I'm not sure how competitively viable it is.

 

[ptrk83]

^ agreed about te predictability.

 

[Nu~]

Basically you throw down a hydrant and have fun playing in the water. All sorts of moves can be done out of it, and it can really mess up your opponent.

Seems really good when it happens, but it is a bit predictable...if you don't switch it up. I really don't think it takes much planning though (or im just missing the details) . All you have to do is set the hydrant when the opponent is away from you, and do an attack. The technique can even be utilized for edgeguarding. You can use it to keep your distance while charging a smash attack, and then push into them as soon as the opponent gets near the ledge. Or, you can use it to help your approach (pseudo DACUS anyone?) AND juggling for when the opponent is far away...I personally see many possibilities.

 

[Pacack]

Seems really good when it happens, but it is a bit predictable...if you don't switch it up. I really don't think it takes much planning though (or im just missing the details) . All you have to do is set the hydrant when the opponent is away from you, and do an attack. The technique can even be utilized for edgeguarding. You can use it to keep your distance while charging a smash attack, and then push into them as soon as the opponent gets near the ledge. Or, you can use it to help your approach (pseudo DACUS anyone?) AND juggling for when the opponent is far away...I personally see many possibilities.

I say it takes a lot of planning because you'd need to read your opponent's moves insanely ahead of time.

 

[Nu~]

I say it takes a lot of planning because you'd need to read your opponent's moves insanely ahead of time.

True...unless you do it when they have few options (like while recovering, or falling)

 

[Pacack]

True...unless you do it when they have few options (like while recovering, or falling)

But putting the hydrant down in the first place could potentially be a huge warning sign that you're doing something.

The viability of this might depend on how many options putting down a hydrant gives you in the first place. If it doesn't do much for you, then it might be too predictable. If it has plenty of them, it could be a good mixup.

 

[ptrk83]

But putting the hydrant down in the first place could potentially be a huge warning sign that you're doing something.

The viability of this might depend on how many options putting down a hydrant gives you in the first place. If it doesn't do much for you, then it might be too predictable. If it has plenty of them, it could be a good mixup.

When the opponent is off stage and their options are limited, it won't matter how predictable it is when you guess how they are gonna come back on the stage. Nothing they can do.

 

[Pacack]

When the opponent is off stage and their options are limited, it won't matter how predictable it is when you guess how they are gonna come back on the stage. Nothing they can do.

Okay, then; what options are there with the hydrant dash that could be useful against recovering opponents?

 

[ptrk83]

Scare them from coming in the stage from above. If they delay , dodge the first water blast and ride the second one off into an aerial. You can mind game them into which water blast you are gonna ride.

 

[Pacack]

Scare them from coming in the stage from above. If they delay , dodge the first water blast and ride the second one off into an aerial. You can mind game them into which water blast you are gonna ride.

Potentially really good then if they don't just ledge stall.

 

[Nu~]

Potentially really good then if they don't just ledge stall.

If they ledge stall, we down smash (or come down and bair when they release )

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

The hydrant seems like it's best used for overall stage control and annoyance, much like Villager's tree. Just plop one down every now and then, and reap the benefits when it ends up becoming relevant in the match.

 

[Pacack]

Question; does the flamethrowing hydrant hurt Pac-Man? Because, if not, it might be a very useful aggressive tool.

 

[ptrk83]

Yes it does.

 

[Pacack]

Yes it does.

Darn.

 

[VegaPunk]

Too predictable.. C'mon.

 

[Nu~]

Too predictable.. C'mon.

Did you completely disregard what we said about when we can utilize it best?

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Came in the Pac boards for saying that riding the water blast while shielding could be a nice approach tool but I see you already covered the Hydrant Combos.

 

[CCCM89]

what your video shows is hydrant smashing, not the hydrant dash. hydrant dash sends you across the stage at double sonic speed. it takes less then a second to go from one edge to the other.

 

[Tane]

But putting the hydrant down in the first place could potentially be a huge warning sign that you're doing something.

The viability of this might depend on how many options putting down a hydrant gives you in the first place. If it doesn't do much for you, then it might be too predictable. If it has plenty of them, it could be a good mixup.

From my experience thus far, the hydrant has a TON of potential for options. A way that's worked for me to make it less predictable for gimmicky/water setups is to drop hydrants randomly when you're in the air throughout the match, then your opponent is likely to be worrying about it as an aerial attack, more so than as a goofy setup. This plays on people not knowing the matchup/Pac's moveset, but has proven to be effective for me early on in the metagame.

I think it's gonna be useful for movement, but setting one up early can also reset ****ty situations (i.e. an overly aggressive character who invades our spacing, like little mac) if not turn them advantageous. One example is pushing both chars off the edge

__[H]_->_(A)_(P)_
Say this is a stage, H is the hydrant, A is the opponent and P is Pacman. If A is putting a **** ton of pressure on Pac close range, the hydrant will push you both offstage. Against a little mac, this becomes advantageous because often you can pull off a nair immediately after getting off the stage thus knocking LM farther away from the stage. Boom. This has worked for me because of the delay between setting up a hydrant and when the water actually comes out.

The hydrant seems like it's best used for overall stage control and annoyance, much like Villager's tree. Just plop one down every now and then, and reap the benefits when it ends up becoming relevant in the match.

Exactly this, everybody needs to read this.

 

[LittlePac]

Exactly this, everybody needs to read this.

Yea. If you throw down a hydrant with the specific intent of hydrant dashing a smash into them or something, you're really doing it wrong.

The hydrant is such an amazing tool that I feel hasn't even begun to see its full potential yet. I feel like hydrant dashing is gimmicky and not something to be relied on. When I first played him, I thought the hydrant was worthless - even though I really love all his aerials (even his crappy dair) his jab combo and his dash, his Ftilt and hell, even his uptilt.

But the hydrant is what got me to stay. That thing is so fun and useful. I have one out probably 50-75% of the game - even if it's sitting in the corner of the stage doing nothing, the opponent is aware of it and it does weird things to people. Bad players feel the need to focus on it and get rid of it or try to smash it towards you, and you can whackem with fruit or just block and get a free grab out of it.

throw it down, stand on top of it. if they approach, you have a bazillion options - jump at them as a feint, fast fall and use the hydrant dash to get rapidly pushed towards them - that's a good mixup. Sometimes I just stand on top of it and throw fruit and watch them flail as they try to approach.

but yea anyway my main point is that this thing has so many uses yet to be discovered it'd be silly to focus on applications of this one gimmicky little technique.

 

[dirtytacos89]

Maybe the fire hydrant should get it's own character discussion forum lmao. Really though, I agree with not knowing all the possible uses you can get out of the thing, the game hasn't really been out THAT long.

 

[Tane]

Maybe the fire hydrant should get it's own character discussion forum lmao. Really though, I agree with not knowing all the possible uses you can get out of the thing, the game hasn't really been out THAT long.

Honestly I think that's 100% valid. The hydrant deserves its own sticky thread at the very least.

 

[MG_Music]

You cna use the water pressure to help with smash attacks
charge a smash while u are pushed by the water with good timeing this can be an effective tactic