I've been playing smash for years and my stomach still drops when I'm off-stage fighting . . .

[Frenzy]

I play as Link, Ike, Robin and Palutena.

I'll say Robin is the only one I feel totally comfortable with fighting off-stage as his recovery is so good.

Everyone else, especially Ike, makes me nervous.

Is this weird for someone who as been smashing as long as me? I feel like I pretend to act fearless around edges, but the chance of losing a stock never justifies fancy, offstage maneuvering for me. I see pros fall all the time . ..

 

[shadowrohas]

It's just a matter of getting used to how far out each character can go safely, and what you can get away with offstage before you reach the point of no return. After you're used to how far you can go offstage you can practice using aerials and seeing how many of which kind you can do offstage before you can't come back.

A part of offstage play also comes from just trying it and seeing what works and what doesn't against what characters. If you're playing friendlies, I don't see any reason not to experiment and try new things. Making mistakes is a part of learning, so I'd say just get out there and try out some of the things you're scared to do offstage. You'll get used to it over time!