Luma's Randomness

[Kabutops]

Am I the only one here who is concerned with what seems to be randomness of Luma when he's separated from Rosalina? Such as how he usually follows you around the stage but every now & then he will remain where he's at & completely ignore your movements (aside from attacks). Such an aspect I feel is seriously detrimental to Rosalina & Luma's meta game when they are separated. Is there any way to remedy this situation? I've been losing sleep over it.

 

[Indigo Jeans]

There are certain animations Luma does when untethered that "turn off" tracking I think. For example, the one where Luma sort of sneaks left then right.

There are more specifics that I dont remember at the moment so I'm gonna go ahead and summon @ DanGR !

 

[Parcheesy]

I know it's a silly thing to say, but Luma is usually consistent when untethered. He'll remain that set distance away, and after a certain amount of time ( it might be a set amount before it becomes random ), he'll wander left or right. Aside from that, being able to react to Luma's randomness better than your opponent gives its own set of advantages. Granted, the character would probably better off without any Luma randomness, but it's not something we can't work around.

 

[AlMoStLeGeNdArY]

You've been losing sleep over this?

 

[DanGR]

I don't know many specifics about this because I think sending Luma out for extended periods of time isn't a good idea. These desyncs don't happen to me.

However one thing that wasn't mentioned yet is that Luma tends to wander in the direction of opponents.
Also, she'll try to maintain a certain distance in front of you, so turning around is a good way to get Luma to come back if you don't want to use neutral-b to sync the two back together.

 

[ChikoLad]

Actually, Luma can be indirectly controlled when untethered:

-He will jump a moment after you jump or double jump.
-He will move in the same direction as you if you walk, a moment after you. He won't stop immediately when you stop though, he will usually try to get in front of you. To stop him from going that far, jump or attack.
-Whenever you use your shield and put it down, he will move a bit forward when you put it down. Putting up your shield can serve as a "brake". Good way of getting him to move around without doing so yourself.
-Jabs and Dash Attacks are good for finer spacing.

 

[Rience]

Luma's movements aren't actually random. They're simpler then you think!
Once you send Luma out after a neutral-B, he'll stay in that position for a couple seconds. But after that, he'll start moving to a set distance in front of Rosalina. You can manipulate it's slightly by using tilts, jabs, and dash attacks.
Give it a shot in Training!

 

[Smasher89]

The thing im most curious about is the inconsistency between the 3ds version luma and the wii u version luma.
Like how its easier to hit people with lumas aerials when flying towards a recovering rosalina in the 3ds compared to wii u version(seems either luma starts flying towards rosalina earlier in the 3ds, or you have better control over luma on the 3ds).

And how luma acts around ledges in the separated stance.