Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!
You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!
It appears that you are using ad block :'(
Hey, we get it. However this website is run by and for the community... and it needs ads in order to keep running.
Please disable your adblock on Smashboards, or go premium to hide all advertisements and this notice. Alternatively, this ad may have just failed to load. Woops!
I admit giving the foe a set speed in the fthrow was a bad idea. Changed it to vary based off character. Aside from that, I'm not really seeing the problems.
Other than being used over an edge and gimping anything that cant really recovery horizontally well at any %, or needing -seconds- of charge time to be effective?
He's talkign about the juggling focus with Rocks as finishers, but then suddenly other crap gets thrown in like a "stick to the ground" move, and possession.
Don't use this "on stuff like" nonsense. Zoop Triangle can fall downwards for a uthrow or a dthrow just fine. Leave them out of this, if you please.
Bthrow is still functional on characters that do not get the main effect, not doing "nothing", being a standard Brawl throw, and fthrow has been changed to be based off the foe's actual speed.
Making moves that are medic-esque in that they are only useful on certain characters are bad and you should feel bad, same with moves that do not make sense such as Sonic messing up cus he runs fast.
I still think using a projectile is the main way of getting out of the thing rather than using Up Special, and JOE! has always been very insistent on using Side Special to be able to turn around in mid-air if that's what you're worried about. As far as helpless, all of the ground and levitation trails around are overly easy ways for foes to save themselves from it without using the main stage. It's not like this move cancels instantly anyway, and if Uka Uka used this on a grounded foe fastfalling to the ground doesn't take long. If anything I find this move too weak.
2) Side Specials can all turn around yeah, but name one time I've actually said this. Besides, read up on B-reversals.
3) they Up B out of it, then are levitating while in helpless. Wtf dude, free hits much?
4) Related to the grab game, while I really like the idea of having to slap yourself onto the foe backwards to be used as a "mask", the part where you can break their shield is kinda ********. You can levitate them for a free hit, and you already have them grabbed.. for an un-shieldable attack. lolwut?
Uka Uka isn't invulnerable in the tornado, and said ftilt in particular is the main thing that actually makes him vulnerable inside of it. The physics of how the tornado works are under-elaborated, but the foe can very much hit Uka Uka as well with their own projectiles if the positioning's right, much less with a melee move if they're above/below him or god forbid right next to him.
While he's not invincible, the damn thing lasts for 9 falcon punches and is essentially unavoidable. Nice move there.
It's not like he has a set full of crap to actually abuse prone. He still has to guess correctly. If there's too little space to move on a levitation trail, they can just roll off the side, and I was especially generous if they entered prone from a rock to avoid lockdown. The only place they can really have no space to roll is on a tiny chunk of ground in the air, in which case it's largely a worse rock.
While he doesn't abuse prone, he may as well with how much he can limit a foe's options. Basically making it the same as a tech-chase just in the air.
Moves to get the spacing for the grab are pretty mandatory when even if the spacing is correct, they will still out-prioritize you with as little as a jab. Uka Uka will not fall into the Kyubey category, thanks.
While true, just wanna note since you mentioned priority: the 8% hitbox thing will be clashed with by moves that aren't transcendent and do 1-16%. Also, what the hell determines which move is most useful when you make your puppet use it?
What is this "some of"? Name the moves or get out.
The meteors add a large amount of pressure once you're already high in the air and can add to bullet hell while on the ground and you're playing with the laser vision. The rock wave is mostly useful for the Forward Z Smash tornados shooting them out in a spray for bullet hell, and can become a long-term part of the set-up with it getting re-launched over and over. The bullet hell isn't really elaborated much in the summary/writing style, but it's a large part of the playground aspects and shines in the boss mode.
Dat hostility. Anywho, what he means is that they don't do something that he can already do with the other random Z moves and stuff he has. (And you called my Super Smashes a silly way to sneak in inputs)
Why would you sit and do nothing with the foe grabbed? You have access to their jumps. Once they're done with, use a throw before you lose height. Uthrow is obviously the main one for actually getting them into the air, and as mentioned in the playstyle summary you can use all of your set-up as stepping stones for a mind controlled foe, which doubles as something to bounce off of for uthrow.
Uthrow sends them down though, don't it? Also, how the hell can he even get the set-ups when it takes him seconds (falcon punches) to set this all up? This dude is way too slow and fragile to be a competent moveset, and is filled with glaring errors that make it both OP and UP at the same time.
Other than being used over an edge and gimping anything that cant really recovery horizontally well at any %, or needing -seconds- of charge time to be effective?
Pick what you want to attack. If the charge time is too long, it doesn't matter if foes can't recover when it's charged. And this is largely a MYM Brawl set, where recoveries are about as good as Sonic's at worst.
He's talkign about the juggling focus with Rocks as finishers, but then suddenly other crap gets thrown in like a "stick to the ground" move, and possession.
This set is about as overly focused as you can get, and his comment was saying it was too focused while being unfocused.
What move are you even referring to that sticks people to the ground?
Making moves that are medic-esque in that they are only useful on certain characters are bad and you should feel bad, same with moves that do not make sense such as Sonic messing up cus he runs fast.
The bthrow just has a different function on characters it doesn't fully affect. As for Sonic, notice how terrible his traction is when he stops from a dash? He's disoriented from having just been mind controlled. It will take him a bit longer to slide to a stop - a whole half a platform at his regular speed, and a teensy bit form if he goes ever so slightly faster.
Obviously, they don't just land back in levitation field once they come out of it. They DI to the side. If they go into a levitation trail or land on something solid Uka Uka has out, they come out of helpless immediately.
4) Related to the grab game, while I really like the idea of having to slap yourself onto the foe backwards to be used as a "mask", the part where you can break their shield is kinda ********. You can levitate them for a free hit, and you already have them grabbed.. for an un-shieldable attack. lolwut?
In order to actually do all that much to people inside it, he needs crap inside the tornado to reflect his lasers off of to hit them from different angles. Otherwise he's largely on the same footing as the enemy. If you want to use it to stall, sure, be my guest, but it obviously doesn't last forever.
While he doesn't abuse prone, he may as well with how much he can limit a foe's options. Basically making it the same as a tech-chase just in the air.
Limiting the foe's movement and access to grounded attacks doesn't especially matter when they're in prone, now does it?
While true, just wanna note since you mentioned priority: the 8% hitbox thing will be clashed with by moves that aren't transcendent and do 1-16%. Also, what the hell determines which move is most useful when you make your puppet use it?
I don't know what 8% hitbox you're talking about. The grab doesn't do any damage. Even if it did, I specifically say that it is out-prioritized by anything - I didn't generically say it had "bad" priority.
The most useful move is obviously something pre-programmed in for each character. Again, it's just something for FFA.
Dat hostility. Anywho, what he means is that they don't do something that he can already do with the other random Z moves and stuff he has. (And you called my Super Smashes a silly way to sneak in inputs)
Your Super Smashes are indeed an infinitely sillier way to sneak in inputs to characters that already have full movesets just as a way to force flow between multiple team-members. The input mapping is actually one of the things I am most proud about in this moveset as a substitute for aerials rather than just generically making him float on the ground for a "grounded" state, which is just stupid on characters like this. I even came up with a way for the grab to not use the Z button in a very in-character way to make room for another button. There's no cutting corners.
The uthrow sends him down, then bounces him off of solid objects back up. At that point in the comment, I was talking about jumping up on solid objects anyway. Jesus.
Also, how the hell can he even get the set-ups when it takes him seconds (falcon punches) to set this all up?
If anything I think there would be more complaining about the fact that he can dash up to the top of the screen, then just set up crap there as he slowly falls down.
This dude is way too slow and fragile to be a competent moveset, and is filled with glaring errors that make it both OP and UP at the same time.
Haven't read Uka Uka, but the MYM Brawl comments are a poor arguement. "LOL IT'S MADE WITH BROKEN CHARACTERS IN MIND" does not excuse making yourself broken and saying it works. Just say that you don't care about the balance or that you don't feel it's too broken as to be that big of a deal or something. But even if you did make it for MYM Brawl, that's no excuse for brokenness.
Also, one can have the arguement go both ways easily: It's too hard to get out, leading to a frustrating playstyle, and too strong when it is out, leading to frustration for the foe, and an overall unfun playstyle that struggles in terms of balance. Is Uka Uka fitting to this term? I dunno yet, but it's not like the arguement is so contradictary that it cannot work.
Also, no, not all MYM Brawl sets have projectiles: Sayaka Miki comes to mind. I am sure there are others, but I'm leaving my house in like 5 minutes, so I can't check. Whether Sayaka even counts in your idea of MYM Brawl, for that matter, is up in the air. But I think I made my point pretty good there. Anyway, I'll be back to doing stuff like reading and setmaking when I return, and presumably Mac has dissected my arguement in whatever manner he will. Ciao~
Haven't read Uka Uka, but the MYM Brawl comments are a poor arguement. "LOL IT'S MADE WITH BROKEN CHARACTERS IN MIND" does not excuse making yourself broken and saying it works. Just say that you don't care about the balance or that you don't feel it's too broken as to be that big of a deal or something. But even if you did make it for MYM Brawl, that's no excuse for brokenness.
Also, one can have the arguement go both ways easily: It's too hard to get out, leading to a frustrating playstyle, and too strong when it is out, leading to frustration for the foe, and an overall unfun playstyle that struggles in terms of balance. Is Uka Uka fitting to this term? I dunno yet, but it's not like the arguement is so contradictary that it cannot work.
Also, no, not all MYM Brawl sets have projectiles: Sayaka Miki comes to mind. I am sure there are others, but I'm leaving my house in like 5 minutes, so I can't check. Whether Sayaka even counts in your idea of MYM Brawl, for that matter, is up in the air. But I think I made my point pretty good there. Anyway, I'll be back to doing stuff like reading and setmaking when I return, and presumably Mac has dissected my arguement in whatever manner he will. Ciao~
This all implies the set is broken, when it's a whole one move that is being discussed in this context. "MYM Brawl" does not include sets that are specifically made to be included directly into Brawl, alongside the regular cast, without hilariously contrasting. Sayaka stands out a bit from the Brawl cast, yes, but her mechanic requires her to constantly pressure the foe, meaning somebody remotely defensive locks her down completely and shuts her out from MYM Brawl almost immediately due to her mechanic caving in on her. Not that this all matters, as Sayaka can throw her swords anyway.
And if you have an Up Special that actually boosts you somewhere, or any other movement based attack like Ike's Side Special, you don't even need a projectile. I am quite amused at the walls of text the innocent little Side Z has spawned.
I admit I rushed that since I had to work (where I am now, so I can like txt the thread lol), but that last part amused me wl:
"This isn't for normal brawl"
"Ike can get out"
So... What is this mym brawl thing? And pressure is the paper to defensive's rock. Ask falco.
I can go into a more detailed review of uka later, but as for op vs up, I mean that some moves are either of the two, with no real middle ground. And you made 3 new inputs with your smash z moves as well, then accuse me of forcing stuff? (Hippo)
This all implies the set is broken, when it's a whole one move that is being discussed in this context. "MYM Brawl" does not include sets that are specifically made to be included directly into Brawl, alongside the regular cast, without hilariously contrasting. Sayaka stands out a bit from the Brawl cast, yes, but her mechanic requires her to constantly pressure the foe, meaning somebody remotely defensive locks her down completely and shuts her out from MYM Brawl almost immediately due to her mechanic caving in on her. Not that this all matters, as Sayaka can throw her swords anyway.
And if you have an Up Special that actually boosts you somewhere, or any other movement based attack like Ike's Side Special, you don't even need a projectile. I am quite amused at the walls of text the innocent little Side Z has spawned.
My point was mostly just that everyone's MYM Brawl is different(I imagine ours would be quite different, for example, since Sayaka would be an auto-in for example), so using it as a reason for balance issues is, IMO, a flawed arguement.
Whether or not they're for the same game, they still use the same mechanics. Even for people who have read other sets, they're not going to remember every move I'm going to reference. The Brawl sets are convenient universal examples.
The general sense that you need to be able to deal with projectile spam (Not just an innocent Falco laser - we're talking about chars with 5+ projectiles), traps, and characters who never approach without giving the finger to them while still being able to fight more traditional sets.
And pressure is the paper to defensive's rock. Ask falco.
The defenses in MYM Brawl make any of the "defenses" of Brawl characters cry. There are characters who can function without ever approaching the foe whatsoever, essentially. Obviously those are rare now and the exceptions are made to be able to fight other characters of that type competently.
And you made 3 new inputs with your smash z moves as well, then accuse me of forcing stuff? (Hippo)
My point was mostly just that everyone's MYM Brawl is different(I imagine ours would be quite different, for example, since Sayaka would be an auto-in for example), so using it as a reason for balance issues is, IMO, a flawed arguement.
If you had Sayaka in your game, you would have to cut off a lot of potential characters that could get in because of her. Characters like that are definitive of what would not be in MYM Brawl.
And I am not insulting Sayaka's moveset. It just works far better with traditional Brawl sets that anything else on a higher plane.
Tell me, what are the rules and gameplay fo MYM brawl?
Because, characters with multiple projectiles as is are all trumped by Falco's one lazer. That has infinite range,great fire rate, is transcendent, and in general is just a pain in the **** to deal with.
He can accomplish so much with just 1 lazer than many "projectile" characters cannot in MYM. On top of then having a close-quarters game. He's also a jerk
Anywho, gimme an example of a MYM defensive character, I'll destroy it (y)
Chiming in with JOE! here, I haven't fully read the set but Warlord you should honestly be embarassed by this argument.
This MYM Brawl you're talking about is a complete fallacy. Outside of you and Dave I haven't seen anyone build sets with this theoretical MYM brawl as their metagame of choice. And there's no clear definition to it... Except whatever seems to fit what your moveset needs the metagame to be like. No one who doesn't use projectiles apparently is part of this MYM brawl, despite the fact that there are plenty of MYM sets that don't follow this trope. In fact, MYM sets have less opportunity for innovation as a metagame if anything because they tend to be so complicated or unusual. Instead though, here you just assume they all fit the need you have and use that as a justification for the fact the moveset doesn't handle it. It's as fallacious an argument as it comes.
Besides, if you really want to insist on making movesets in a seperate metagame.... Then you can give up on anyone ever joining make your move again, because the entire community is now completely impenetrable to anyone who doesn't accept an arbitrary history of development in the contest. What are we even doing in SSB4 forum?
If you want to make movesets for your own fairyland where any balance, playstyle or appropriateness issues can be handwaved away by an ill-defined phrase that means whatever you want, go ahead. I'm here for smash bros though, so I'm sure you understand that your arguments, fallacious as they are, wouldn't mean one iota to me even if they were self-consistent because I don't give any more than a passing nod to MYM brawl.
So in conclusion, feel free to continue blabbering about MYM brawl while I continue to give zero rips about it. It is no justification or rationalization to me, and I will judge your movesets by the actually measurable standard of Brawl rather than the one convenient for you.
Heya DM (hug). I always find it weird when people alter the engine without stating what's different about it beforehand (like I do with my statements for P:M or SMash4 for my latest sets), or all together abandon Smash "protocol", at that point what are you making a set for in the Smash MYM?
Because, characters with multiple projectiles as is are all trumped by Falco's one lazer. That has infinite range,great fire rate, is transcendent, and in general is just a pain in the **** to deal with.
Uka Uka's laser there is already a blatantly better version of Falco's laser, considering it's just as long range, stronger, and can reflect off of surfaces to create awkward angles difficult to approach through.
He can accomplish so much with just 1 lazer than many "projectile" characters cannot in MYM. On top of then having a close-quarters game. He's also a jerk
Chiming in with JOE! here, I haven't fully read the set but Warlord you should honestly be embarassed by this argument.
This MYM Brawl you're talking about is a complete fallacy. Outside of you and Dave I haven't seen anyone build sets with this theoretical MYM brawl as their metagame of choice. And there's no clear definition to it... Except whatever seems to fit what your moveset needs the metagame to be like. No one who doesn't use projectiles apparently is part of this MYM brawl, despite the fact that there are plenty of MYM sets that don't follow this trope. In fact, MYM sets have less opportunity for innovation as a metagame if anything because they tend to be so complicated or unusual. Instead though, here you just assume they all fit the need you have and use that as a justification for the fact the moveset doesn't handle it. It's as fallacious an argument as it comes.
Besides, if you really want to insist on making movesets in a seperate metagame.... Then you can give up on anyone ever joining make your move again, because the entire community is now completely impenetrable to anyone who doesn't accept an arbitrary history of development in the contest. What are we even doing in SSB4 forum?
If you want to make movesets for your own fairyland where any balance, playstyle or appropriateness issues can be handwaved away by an ill-defined phrase that means whatever you want, go ahead. I'm here for smash bros though, so I'm sure you understand that your arguments, fallacious as they are, wouldn't mean one iota to me even if they were self-consistent because I don't give any more than a passing nod to MYM brawl.
So in conclusion, feel free to continue blabbering about MYM brawl while I continue to give zero rips about it. It is no justification or rationalization to me, and I will judge your movesets by the actually measurable standard of Brawl rather than the one convenient for you.
I am indeed some sort of monster who will never accept any set outside my own "engine", when I am simply defending my own moveset's vision. Clearly, I am going to scare everyone away with this regardless of being accepting of several In-Smash sets, such as the earlier-mentioned Sayaka. JOE! also doesn't made a set for an engine other than Brawl, instead making one for the hyper paced combo centric Project M which I am fairly tolerant of. Meanwhile, you throw this under the bus and generalize.
It's just trying to make a set that can exist in a game on its' own with similair standards, regardless of that game not being Smash Bros itself. I don't even think a set like Manfred Von Karma should be put into Smash itself with such a ridiculously limiting context, but sets like Hugo sets and Doc Scratch don't belong in any form of context. You've made some sets which would be quite awkward to envision in Brawl and would be more at home in another game, too, most prominently Harbinger and Videoman. The same applies for Joe over there with E.E.D. Soldier.
EED Was an experiment where every move did something sandbox related. You think that was intended for actual gameplay? Also, writing up a review for Uka Uka.
Edit @ Project M: If you think P:M is hyper combo centric, watch some matches. There are combos yeah, but it's 80% neutral play to try and get them with mixed offense/defense at play. It rewards both fairly well unlike 64 (offense) and Brawl (defense), which I find more interesting since it technically would allow for more viable archetypes.
Who's this handsome young man? He's Ryota Ijima, a friendly, laid-back high-school teacher who counsels students in order to help them achieve their dreams, something he's quite good at doing and enjoys. He gets along with everyone, and admits to packing in roughly 2 kilos of rice everyday, the stuff he loves just as much as helping others. And now, he's come to Brawl to help out his allies as a support character - his apparent youthfulness should help out quite a bit, giving him above average movement and average weight. After all, he wouldn't be a very good teacher if he couldn't get around quickly.
Standard
Ijima taps his hand forward, dealing no damage but flinching, also halting a character's momentum. Use this on an ally who's stunned or asleep to bring them back into the game.
Dash Attack
Realizing a student is in trouble, Ijima reaches out to push them behind him where he was before, facing in the other direction. This does not interrupt your ally's attack and can be used to rescue them from a grab or take an enemy blow for yourself. Such a brave, selfless man to put himself in the line of fire like that.
F-tilt
Ijima throws out a casual shove ahead of him that pushes the target forward a Platform's distance without interrupting their attack. I'd go as far as to say this can be used for "offensive purposes", but let's not think of things that'd lead to poor Ijima losing his job, shall we?
U-tilt
Ijima holds his hands in front of him as if trying to cup water in them before throwing them upwards, hurling his ally upwards as if they succeeded in a footstool jump. This can target allies in front of Ijima or those above him.
D-tilt
Ijima reaches out with both hands and grabs the target's feet, putting them into prone as a possible way to help them avoid projectiles. If Ijima continues to hold the foe's legs they can stay in prone for as long as they like, but otherwise are free to leave anytime.
F-Smash
Ijima holds his hands together and hammers them down, up to 5 times in succession before tiring himself out....but, that's violent! What on earth are you doing, Ijima-sensei!? True, each hit does indeed deal 10-15% and spikes foes downwards, but you're not trying to actively harm foes so much as rescue them from those cages that are all the rage. What if your beloved student was to be trapped inside that cage of evil? Then what?
U-Smash
Ijima pushes both hands above him, letting an ally above him stand on his shoulders while he grips their legs, able to walk around and jump. Unfortunately he's no Iron Man, and as such will be tired out after 2-10 seconds depending on how heavy his ally was before comically collapsing into prone. If either character takes knockback they'll fall over and crash to the floor, both entering prone but being saved from what could have been a fatal shot.
D-Smash
Ijima takes out some rice. Yummy! Press A and the good man will scoff that rice down within 0.5 seconds, healing himself a handy 10% per bite - charge the move and he'll have an extra 3 with him! If you use this move again with rice in-hand (or another item) Ijima will hold it out, and other characters can take it off him. Good thing Ijima brought food with him, because those Brawlers forgot to bring lunch!
N-air
Ijima holds his hands out in front of him. This stops your ally's momentum and can save them if they're sent flying towards you. It can also be used to gimp the space animals' recover, but really, you're not trying to hurt them so you'll never get them in that position in the first place.
F-air
Ijima reaches out in a grab manner, swinging any character he makes contact with in the opposite direction without interrupting their action as both characters receive brief Super Amour frames. This is a useful alternative to the N-air or to help an ally who wants to use their F-air and B-air in the opposite direction.
B-air
Ijima reaches out to grab a ledge behind him. He'll hang off it, rescuing any ally who makes contact with him by tossing them onto the stage. The rescued ally experiences brief invincibility frames when they reach the stage.
U-air
Ijima reaches out above him eagerly. This usually has the same effect as the U-tilt, but if your ally is tumbling, helpless or taking knockback Ijima will put them beneath him with all their jumps refreshed.
D-air
Ijima grabs downwards and gives his ally an opportunity to footstool jump off him or use their recovery.
Side Special
Ijima reaches out to gently tap someone on the shoulder. If he gets someone, he'll automatically move around with them without the need to do so manually, changing his pace to match that of any character slower than himself. Using this in front of a character has Ijima take the lead while using it from behind has Ijima follow them around. This can be hilariously annoying to foes if you use it behind them because Ijima won't stop trailing until you re-use this move or he's hit, and they'll usually only be able to do so with their B-air and D-Smash.
Up Special
Ijima jumps upwards on an angle with all his strength, travelling 2.5 SBBs while dragging allies along for the ride without interrupting their attack. Afterwards, he enters helpless.
Down Special
Ijima gives a stern look ahead of him. This is a counter that activates when an ally next to him is about to be attacked or grabbed, in which case Ijima will rush ahead to turn the attacker around and take the blow himself. Talk about putting yourself on the line of fire.
Grab
Ijima decides to start counselling! He starts talking, causing characters within a 3 SBB radius of him to receive a buff while they're near him and for 5X however long they were exposed afterwards. Pressing Z by itself has Ijima counsel the character on their ability to damage rack, which is increased by 1.5X its usual amount. Forward Z buffs the character's ability to inflict knockback, backwards Z increases their immunity to damage and knockback, upwards Z increases their attacking/movement speed and downwards Z gives all the above buffs at double their effectiveness to the next attack the character uses. Ijima can counsel in the air and move around while doing so, but will stop doing so if he's attacked. CPUs that receive counselling temporarily have their AIs increased by 3 Lvs but obviously can't go past Lv9.
[COLLAPSE="Oh, what's this? You want to know how I really function? Guess I have no choice then..."]
"Welcome to the Ocean of Trees. You seem like fun, so I'll start by SLAUGHTERING YOU!"
....What the!? Who's that scary girl? Seriously, Ijima-sensei's help would be really useful right about now...
Oh, but I am here....
Why hello there. I'm the good old Ijima-sensei you've always known....NOT!!
Spending time with you, I came to know of your beloved hopes and dreams, that of which you put all your energies into in the midst of this "Brawl" thing. And you know what? They absolutely SICKENED ME. Yeah, I WAS genuinely trying to help you back there, but only so I could trample over everything you worked for. Honestly, there's no better feel in the world than turning a piece of human garbage into even more unidentifiable pieces of garbage. Makes my job damm easy too, and the delight of being the only one who knows what's going on while everyone else is completely clueless with their pathetic science is ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS!!
Tell me, have any of you heard of a Dream Demon?...no? Ah, yes, I forgot I was dealing with a Western audience here, so I doubt any of you have ever seen Yumekui Merry. Okay, so it's pretty similar to that American slasher film that came out in the early 80s (God I can't believe I actually know about that crap), only instead of some ***gy burnt guy who runs around in dreams like a cheap Christmas ornament, we have these beings who exist in the Dream World in abundance that tend to become curious about us humans. Some Dream Demons will take over a host by force while others do it with the human's co-operation...me? I'm the one willingly hosting that Dream Demon Mistleteinn you see there, and man is she as vicious as I'm sounding right now; that girl was born from the accumulated negative emotions that us pathetic humans leave behind in our sleep in order to wake up to a new day, and she enjoys nothing less than killing her own kind to "fill her belly". I have nothing against it, really, so much so devised the utmost brilliant scheme with her to satisfy both our needs: you see, Mistelteinn has the interesting ability to force other Dream Demons onto human hosts, whereupon they feed on their hopes and dreams, whether they want to or not. And you wanna know what happens to the host when that Dream Demon dies? Their dreams go KABOOM! Those pieces of trash become little more than empty husks with no motivation in life, and what better hope to crush than that which drives aspiring high school students? Honestly though, I have no need for a worthless piece of garbage that can't pick itself up when I have Mistleteinn by my side, so if any of you chumps fell in love with me during the time we spent together then you're OUTTA LUCK!! To be betrayed by someone you trusted so much, the look on your face! Man, it's for that reason that I LOVE being a schoolteacher!!
What's that, you want to know where you are? Now THAT'S rich! You're in a daydream, or should I say Mistleteinn's realm, a world of her creation that's a paradise for the both of us. All I had to do was press B to send one of you lucky losers there, making an upwards motion to send in the first player, a sideways motion to send in the second and downwards to send in the third; I could even send multiple victims at once or just tap B to send in every last one of you! Best of all, there's absolutely no way for you to stop me from doing this, even if I'm under a status effect, being grabbed, taking hitstun, or sent flying!
I hope that image of Mistleteinn confronting you in the water is burned into your memory, because that's where you're transported to: Mistleteinn starts off on the left-hand side of the stage while you appear on the opposite side of her, and without any items you were holding or fancy-pants traps that took you years to set-up in the real world. Don't worry, there's a fair distance between the two of you (say, Battlefield) and plenty of room for you to run away from Mistleteinn HERE and HERE if you're THAT pathetic; I haven't fully explored the place myself, but judging from my experiences I'd say the entire area is roughly, say, 1.25X the width of Bridge of Eldin. For those who really couldn't comprehend that beautiful image, draw a vertical line down through both and that's what you're fighting on, one of those boring-as-hell walk-off stages with no gimmicks to them....except for a wall that stretches all the way to the top of the screen to protect your whiny-self from being KO'ed off the right-hand side of the stage.
While all this is happening, those other guys I didn't bring along are still fighting it out in the real world, as can be seen through a transparent image in the background. That's not to say they can't come along to die either, because for some disturbing balancing reason where I was in the real world is replaced with one of those fancy-smancy portals that'll break open upon at least, and they'll appear in the water, say, if they're stupid enough to try and help their friends out - it'll be more difficult if Mistleteinn's done damage to you too, because the portal gains HP equal to the combined damage of the foes stuck inside! If you're really THAT desperate to get out of Mistleteinn's daydream, try surviving for a good 20 seconds and then -maybe- you'll find yourself back on the other side along with me, but if any of your cutesy allies had the nerve to break through and help out you'll have to wait for them! And of course, our relationship won't be so cool now that you know the real me, but you won't be able to kill me anyway since I won't respawn for 5 seconds and can choose not to for up to 10 seconds. I'll give you this kindness though: if you manage to survive in the Ocean of Trees at least once, you get to keep all your set-ups and what not from the real world when you're sent back in again! Not that they'll help you or anything....
Now, we're going to assume you're already trying to survive against Mistleteinn, in which case I hope you brought along TEAM OF 3 PEOPLE as to not get yourself screwed over so easily. In any case, here's a compilation of music you can listen to in your last moments of terror against Mistelteinn, as well as to satisfy myself. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to stand in the background and watch the show, maybe add a little flavor by taunting you now and then.
Mistelteinn escapes grabs twice as quickly and her moves never stale. She also takes a little less hitstun and shield-stun (though not a lot), and status effects/KO mechanics are 0.75X as effective on her. Not much for a boss character, but...
~~~~*Specials*~~~~
(((Neutral Special --- Falling Stars)))
"Don't die on us yet...we're gonna have some FUN!"
Mistleteinn ominously points ahead, causing a rocky stalactite, as seen above, to fall on every foe in her realm. Foes who fail to dodge due to either not rolling/dodging in time or not moving fast enough are skewered for a lethal 32% with knockback on a very high angle that KOs at 45%. If B is held out another stalactite will fall every 0.6 seconds until there are 4 for every foe, but from there she cannot make any more until foes re-enter her realm. Stalactites act as solids varying from 0.75-2.2 SBBs tall that can be stood on, and have 30HP which can only be diminished through attacks that deal at least 10% or KO before 200%.
If this move is used after creating stalactites or when B is held, Mistelteinn will stop for a moment and look towards the foe curiously. If attacked during this time, Mistelteinn will dissipate into petals before coming down from the top of the screen on a stalactite at the foe's location. This happens quickly enough that foes can end up letting their guard-down if they don't have good reflexes, and if multiple hitboxes coming from different foes were heading towards Mistelteinn during the counter it can cause them to panic over who the stalactite is going to fall over. Mistelteinn is immediately able to attack and move while falling on her stalactite, able to intercept foes ready for her.
(((Side Special --- Unbeatable)))
"Look at you! I let you land one punch on me and you get all happy about it!"
Mistleteinn casually holds out a finger, showing just how immensely powerful she is by blocking an incoming attack with it (from any direction) and keeping the attacker at-bay. It's quite fun to watch too, yet the pause that occurs during the foe's hitlag is for Mistleteinn to decide what to do with them while they're struggling. If the control stick is flicked in the direction of the attack, the foe/projectile will be turned around mid-attack of which can potentially hit allies (even if Friendly Fire is off), though they can be also be sent behind, above, below and diagonally adjacent to Mistelteinn in order to attack their allies from different angles - Mistelteinn always slides foes far enough so the rest of their attack doesn't hit her. In the case of projectiles, Mistelteinn will continuously block more of its kind while blocking the original, sending them out in a spray-formation when reflected. If Mistelteinn doesn't feel like pushing foes around, she can always wait for the foe's hitbox(es) to expire to punish their ending lag or use them as a shield against another foe.
Pressing A while blocking the foe's attack has Mistelteinn hold her hand out and repel them with a semi-circular force-field, dealing them 2.2X the damage and knockback of the attack. Foes won't want to trigger this counter with their powerful attacks, that's for sure, and the barrier is capable of hitting their allies along with giving Mistelteinn brief invincibility frames. If a trap or similar object is repelled this way it'll instantly be destroyed, and projectiles are made to sit in place for a moment before being propelled at an incredible speed that makes them travel across the screen and deal 4.5X their usual damage.
Finally, pressing B while blocking the foe's attack has Mistelteinn dissipate into petals, temporarily disappearing from the game. Pressing B after 0.2 seconds or waiting for one second to pass has Mistelteinn appear ahead of the foe from the opposite direction their countered attack originally came from (if there's no space to appear she'll appear in front of them by default) and perform a flurry of kicks that hit all around her and deal 22% with knockback away from her that KOs at 90%, giving Mistelteinn invincibility frames while being able to attack multiple foes. Unlike the Neutral Special counter, this variation is obvious in which foe it'll hit due to Mistelteinn holding her finger against the attacking foe's attack, and can be used to approach or scare foes into rolling back due to the kicks outlasting dodges and dealing strong shield damage.
(((Up Special --- Absolution)))
"We make the rules here!"
Mistleteinn points to the sky as visible cracks stain the ground beneath her, spreading out at the same rate as Pit's Arrows while the input is held or affecting every piece of ground if the input is smashed. That ground is then torn to pieces which disperse themselves halfway to the top of the screen, roughly 0.5-2 SBBs apart from each other and at least large enough to let characters stand on them, sometimes being as wide as a platform and being grababble ledges. The ground is much weaker in this state, being destroyed by most attacks and dealing 3.5% to any character knocked through it - foes just have to be careful not to be destroy too much ground lest they fall to their deaths, while Mistleteinn doesn't have to worry given she'll just re-appear at the top of the screen and regains her midair jump. If this move is used over destroyed ground, Mistleteinn will attract debris around her to create a path in your chosen direction, where by default or holding up on the control stick spreads the debris on both sides of her as a linear platform, and a downwards input vertically aligns the debris in such a way that it'd be easy to destroy with a move like Bowser Bomb....hmmm, doesn't have Mistelteinn have a Special like that too? Debris further away is attracted at a slower rate than that nearby, and Mistelteinn's attraction only spreads out as far as 1/5th of the screen so this isn't completely broken. Not to mention she's running on a time limit.
If there are stalactites embedded among the destroyed ground, they'll individually occupy some debris, sticking out from the bottom as damaging hitboxes that deal 20% with spiking knockback that KOs at 80% to all except Mistleteinn. If floating debris is destroyed before stalactite embedding it is, that stalactite will fall as a damaging hitbox against foes.
Mistleteinn's domain returns to normal when foes come back for another trip, and as a visual Ijima can be seen standing on a piece of debris when the ground is destroyed. Mistleteinn cares for Ijima, after all.
(((Down Special --- Torturous Tendrils)))
"Squirm..."
Mistleteinn's tendrils wriggle around her spherically, expanding at twice the rate of a Smart Bomb blast and potentially growing 3X as large. The tendrils can be dispelled with an attack, an ideal outcome for foes given the first one they come across will be tethered as the tendrils tie themselves to their waist. Unlike other tether effects, the tendrils don't have a set length that binds the two characters together nor do they drag foes around with Mistelteinn when she takes knockback, but whenever the victim reaches the apex of any knockback they receive or would go off-screen (AKA be KO'ed) Mistelteinn will instead pull them back in at the same rate they were sent flying so they're in front of her. Despite how absolutely broken this sounds given Mistelteinn can move around the stage and attack, foes do not take hitstun on their way back and as such can attempt to break the tendrils' 60HP in order to free themselves as well as attack Mistelteinn before she can attack them again, providing they don't accidentally trigger one of her two counters (note that Mistelteinn's own attacks do not damage the tether). That's not even the worst part about the tethering either, as Mistelteinn tied the opponent in such a specific manner that the scythe-ends of each of the two tendrils are sticking out from each side of them - if foes make contact with these parts of Mistelteinn's tendrils they'll take 12% that KOs at 200%, and even worse if they're hit by the victim while they're sent flying as they take the same damage and knockback of the attack that initially sent them flying. Needless to say, Mistelteinn enjoys having one victim unable to die when she can use them as a wrecking ball against their allies as well as to destroy debris en masse. If Mistelteinn wants to stop playing around with her tethered foe simply re-input the move and they'll lose all "momentum" they had from being reeled in.
If the control stick is directed when the tendrils are swirling around Mistleteinn, they'll point in the chosen direction for a brief moment before shooting out and being controllable like Pit's arrows as an easier way to ensnare foes and from a range too. When fired this way, the tendrils will go around obstructions in their way. As a final note, Mistelteinn's tendrils deal non-flinching hits with double the power of a typical jab against enemy structures/minions or foes that can't be grabbed.
~~~~*Standards*~~~~
(((Standard --- Toying Around))) "What to do, what to do!?"
Mistleteinn throws out an effortless slap that competes for weakest jab range in the game along with the likes of Kirby's, dealing 5% with flinching and just enough of a frame-advantage for Mistleteinn to combo into her Down Special without foes interrupting. The slap also has deceptively hilarious priority that allows it to break through all attacks that deal less than 20%, though most attacks will out-range it anyway.
That said, there's a lot more to this attack if the combo is continued. The next hit has Mistleteinn "lightly" smack the foe's jaw to launch them into the air for 3% and knockback that KOs at 140%, and when continued her slaps will target lower parts of the foe's body which knock them at progressively lower angles with less knockback until the 10th knocks them at a very low angle a short distance away from Mistelteinn. If you weren't counting, all those slaps together did 35% to the foe and push shielding foes back a small distance so they can't punish Mistelteinn. The slaps come out lightning fast, and only because of hitlag does the whole combo take a second to complete of which gives the other foes little time to interrupt. Given her perfect traction Mistelteinn can use this move out of a dash to get in the foe's face if she's daring, and really slapping your foe silly is a fun way to humiliate them. The low-knockback from the final hit is also nice for Mistelteinn given it keeps foes close to her where she can chase them if they're too scared from all the damage they've taken.
(((Dash Attack --- Nightmare Trickster))) "Hehe, let's see you dodge this!"
Mistleteinn instantly dissipates into a bunch of petals and reappers a Platform ahead, dashing in the opposite direction (even though the control stick is still held in the other direction, oddly enough). Mistleteinn experiences no lag when teleporting and goes through all obstructions/traps which don't count to her traveled distance, able to warp back and forth up to 3 times in a row to mess with foes - with clever use of the move, Mistleteinn can go off the stage (when she's destroyed the ground) to begin assaulting enemies from the air or even get behind them to set-up an unexpected Side Special counter. If the player holds A instead of tapping it, Mistleteinn will bring her hand back right after warping before exerting a lethal palm thrust to the foe's chest. A palm thrust from the first warp comes out at a decent pace and deals 17% with very high base horizontal knockback that KOs at 120%, one from the second warp comes out more slowly but pushes Mistleteinn forward a little and deals 28% that KOs at 80%, and one from the final warp is very laggy but pushes Mistleteinn forward a Platform's distance while dealing 39% that KOs at 40% whence one can literally see the energy coming from her attack. If foes aren't careful when running away from Mistleteinn she can teleport in front of them, hit them with the first palm thrust and very likely send them off the screen for an early KO...a foolish foe like that wouldn't be any fun for Mistleteinn. A good way to take advantage of the teleportation is to warp towards a foe trying to hide behind a stalactite and beating on them when they're knocked into it, as Mistleteinn has a lot of uses for a foe with a high damage percentage instead of always outright KO'ing them.
(((F-tilt --- Skill-Split-Kick))) "Isn't there a certain thrill to only attacking with your limbs?"
You can't get any more simple or efficient than a roundhouse kick to the gut, which is what Mistleteinn does here. It doesn't come out as quickly as the dreaded slap-combo, but has more range and can be angled, dealing 21% with good base horizontal knockback in the angled direction that KOs at 79% and a lot of shield push that can easily send foes tumbling off debris. I don't need to stress how convenient it is for Mistelteinn to have some choice in where she knocks foes away with this simple attack given she takes advantage of it more than most characters.
(((U-tilt --- Executioner's Wake))) "Right here?"
Mistleteinn kicks at a disturbingly high angle before bringing her foot down for a violent axe-kick, like a more dynamic version of Captain Falcon's U-tilt for familiar reference. Both of Mistleteinn's actions form hitboxes for this deceptive two-part attack, with the upwards kick dealing 18% that KOs at 145% while the second hit inflicts a mighty 25% with downwards knockback that can theoretically KO from the ground at 30%, but puts grounded foes into prone and makes a small crater in the ground from the attack's sheer force, even if the foe shielded the attack - the crater's effects on the game aren't that noticeable until Mistleteinn beats the foe on the same spot 4 times in a row in which case the ground beneath is completely destroyed and the foe is knocked through for an instant KO. Mistleteinn can use this attack as an anti-air and to repeatedly torture foes until they roll away from her given she can punish their get-up attacks with her counters, and it gets no better for foes on a broken-up stage where getting kicked down means an early grave, KO'ing at 60% even from the highest point of the debris.
(((D-tilt --- Otherworldly Burial))) "And here you thought attacking me was hard enough!"
Mistleteinn sends a third tendril into the ground that pops out in front of her, the scythe-end having typical range for a D-tilt (not as much as you'd think) of which deals 18% with high upwards knockback that KOs at 122%, a deceptively fast and powerful launcher that keeps foes wary from Mistelteinn's otherwise "laggy" crouch and weeds out low-lying enemies. The tendril also has the interesting effect of popping out from the top of any walls/obstructions like stalactites that Mistelteinn happens to be standing in front of, and if she's standing in front of a wall that towers past the screen like the one in her realm it'll appear behind her instead.
If Mistelteinn plants her tendril into a wall, stalactite or debris she's standing atop of, the tendril will rip apart the structure in question from the inside the moment Mistelteinn moves off it. This effect doesn't seem fascinating at first, but it can be used to set-off a stalactite from the destroyed debris while attending to other matters (Dash Attack is an interesting to set it off) and if foes knock Mistelteinn off the debris they'll find that it's no longer there when they try to land on it.
~~~~*Smashes*~~~~
(((F-Smash --- Rose Skewer)))
"Ooooh, I didn't know we could use weapons..."
Petals gather in Mistleteinn's hand, creating a purplish javelin for her to use. With no charge, Mistleteinn keeps the javelin in her hand as a throwing item that travels in a straight line at a bewildering pace. Upon hitting someone, the javelin impales them for 33% and high hitstun, dealing an extra 2% every second until they button-mash to dislodge it as it dissolves into the petals from which it was made. The trouble doesn't end there either when the javelin deals 12% that KOs at 200% to anyone touching the tips save for Mistleteinn, and delivers the same damage and knockback to allies touching the victim while they're sent flying - to makes things worse, Mistleteinn can impale victims from a vertical angle AND tether them with the Down Special to make them a damaging hitbox to their allies from every angle to isolate them. The javelin can be impaled on the ground, in a wall or debris as a trap that fades once its 25HP is depleted or when Mistleteinn wants to generate another to use this attack again, and if foes are knocked into it they're impaled and pinned to the surface until they can destroy it with their attacks.
If this attack is charged or used again with javelin in hand, Mistleteinn will lunge forward up to 4 SBBs distance with Super Amour and impale foes in the heart, sending them flying on an incredibly low angle for up to 56% that can KO as early as 10%....be thankful the lunge is at all telegraphed, and half the time foes will be saved by the wall on the right-hand side of the stage instead of actually dying. That said, foes still have to worry about the javelin stuck in their body after the impact of which pins them to any wall they hit, and it's possible for Mistelteinn to impale multiple foes due to the javelin being so long.
If foes leave Mistelteinn's realm with the javelin still in them, they'll continue to take passive damage from it but it won't physically appear on their body. That's because in the Yumekui Merry universe, injuries are passed down onto the real world from the dream world but don't appear on the victim's body. When the victim returns to Mistelteinn's realm, the javelin will still be stuck in their body.
(((U-Smash --- Vice Kicker))) "You still don't know your place?"
Mistelteinn hunches down before giving off her mightiest dual-footed kick above her from a handstand. This does have a bit of lag pre-charge but almost none upon release, putting every other U-Smash in the game to shame by dealing up to 48% that can score vertical KOs as early as 15%. For the record, as the attack is done from a handstand it has very good vertical range but only hits above Mistelteinn and only ever hits one target at a time. It's not the kind of move Mistelteinn can bust out quickly though, so players tend to charge it all the way to get full mileage out of the insane power.
The power of this attack isn't the only monstrous thing about it though. If the attack is smashed again during the attacking frame or end lag, Mistelteinn will launch herself into the air with 1/4-1.2X the effort of her ridiculous first jump, holding a hand in the direction she's moving and grabbing anyone in her way. If Mistelteinn doesn't grab anyone during her jump she'll transition into her aerial game and can cancel her grabbing attempt into one anyway, but otherwise she'll hold the victim out in the direction she's moving with one hand before the two reach ground and slam into it, the victim taking damage and knockback 3/4s as effective as that from her insanely powerful kick. Foes cannot escape once in Mistelteinn's clutches, though to be fair the slam goes through if they hit debris and instead of being KO'ed from being dragged into an abyss they're spiked from the top of the screen for the usual damage and knockback. Mistelteinn can hold up to two foes at once in each hand in which case they'll go flying together once slammed into the ground, and in such a way that'll if either or both had one of Mistelteinn's damaging hitboxes on them in the form of a tendril tether or javelin impalement the other will end up taking extra damage and horizontal knockback that's impossible to survive from the left-hand side of the stage. Finally, Mistelteinn can slam one or both foes into one on the ground in which case they take the same damage and knockback, being knocked up before the grabbed foe(s); this can prove interesting if the first foe to be knocked up had been tethered with tendrils, as they'll end up coming back down and slamming into the grabbed foes again for double pain that serves as a OHKO spike on an area of the stage abundant with debris.
(((D-Smash --- Twin Carnage))) "An extra person always makes it fun!"
Mistleteinn faces the screen, bending down and sticking her tendrils out before spinning along the ground with them for one second. The tendrils extend as far as the range of a typical D-Smash to a Platform on each side of Mistelteinn, trapping and spinning foes around while dealing rapid hits that can accumulate as much as 40% before ejecting them on the opposite side of Mistelteinn with a bit of hitstun and pushback. Much like other Brawl attacks of similar nature such as Pikachu or R.O.B's D-Smashes, this move excels at catching foes trying to roll around Mistelteinn (usually taking a massive chunk off their shield uncharged if not outright always breaking it from a full charge), though to make up for the massive range and damage it can't KO by itself. At the very least, foes who run into the scythe-tips during the spin are cut for a light 12% that KOs at 200%. Because this attack hits the ground it's used on, Mistelteinn can effectively use it to "cheat" her way out of the rest of the attack by using it atop debris, actually being able to scare enemies with its range given it'll still spin them around despite not dealing much damage at all. While not easy, if the control stick is tilted upwards Mistelteinn can angle her tendrils up to 45 degrees upwards and even do so while spinning in order to re-position foes more easily or if she doesn't want to destroy debris below her. Furthermore, if the tendrils come into contact with debris, walls or stalactites during charge they'll be impaled and spun around as typical powerful hitboxes (about 25% that KOs at 75%) before being re-positioned like a regular victim.
~~~~*Aerials*~~~~
(((N-air --- Nightmarish Chaos))) "Ehehehe, even I don't know what'll happen next!"
Mistleteinn's tendrils whip around her closely in a frenzy for as long as A is held, covering a surprisingly small area around her that a good deal of other aerials would out-range. That's not to say this attack is bad however, dealing 9% with incredibly sharp base knockback in a random direction that KOs at 80%. The random knockback can be annoying given the outcome is far from certain, but in the context of multiple targets foes will have no idea whether their ally will crash into them or if they'll fly into debris - combine this with the Down Special tether and F-Smash javelin and you have a chaotic nightmare waiting to happen. That said, this aerial can be somewhat hard to hit with given it's non-existent range, but it has absolutely no lag on either end and combined with being able to be held out makes it perfect with Mistelteinn's ridiculous speed for when she gets right up in an opponent's face. This move can also be used to conveniently destroy debris as Mistelteinn falls, and the fact that the move barely makes the cut of being able to deal 10% means it won't damage stalactites, which can be safely launched into foes below.
(((F-air --- Corrupt Symphony))) "How about this?"
Mistleteinn rears her leg back before performing a vicious windmill kick with both legs that hits in front of her 4 times, similar to Fox's F-air. The first kick deals 20% that KOs at 100%, the second deals 24% that KOs at 90%, third 28% that KOs at 75% and finally the fourth deals 34% that KOs at 50% as each becomes more frenzied than the last. This attack has a fair amount of start-up lag, but once it starts foes should never try to fight against it: although the kicks don't completely cover the front of Mistelteinn, she has Super Amour and Anti-Grab Amour from the front anyway, and her fall speed is cut while her horizontal momentum is increased. Mistelteinn also suffers very little in the way of landing lag in the middle of the kicks and almost no end lag, being able to clear out a persistent enemy in front of her before using the space they were occupying to start up another attack, such as debris. The exact knockback enemies take is detrimental to Mistelteinn's momentum, with upwards momentum like that from jumping causing enemies to be knocked on a slight downwards angle and downwards momentum from falling causing them to be knocked upwards instead.
(((B-air --- Volatile Sway))) "I thought you'd know better!"
A third tendril snaps out from Mistleteinn's back, shooting itself out 8 SBBs across the stage before quickly reeling itself back in. The tendril does have some lag before being fired out and is awkward to hit with due to how fast Mistelteinn falls, but her momentum is stopped for the brief time it fires out/comes back in and if anyone is actually hit head-on they'll be impaled for 26% and very high upwards knockback that KOs at 70%. Better yet, the tendril will continue to fire out even if Mistelteinn lands, and can deliver a ton of damage to shielding foes given it hits twice from both extending and retracting - the first hit pushes foes out a SBB's distance before the second reels them in for that same distance. It's fun to clear out a line of foes with the hitbox as well as snag tethered foes to the front of Mistelteinn as they fly up in a inverted V-shape to hit foes trying to attack Mistelteinn from the front.
If the tendril makes contact with the side of an obstruction/debris, it'll stick onto them for 0.5 seconds of which Mistelteinn can use to mess around with using the control stick while she stays suspended in mid-air. If and while the control stick is moved towards the obstruction, it'll be dragged towards her at Sonic's dashing speed (providing we're not talking about the one at the right-hand end of the stage) until it's positioned right behind her at the very most, foes suffering the risk of being stabbed by the tendril the moment Mistelteinn removes it from the obstruction. If and while the control stick is moved towards the obstruct, Mistelteinn will instead pull herself in towards it at lightning speed (note that she is unable to defend herself directly during this time for the most part). If and while the control stick is moved up or down, the obstruction will instead be moved in that direction of which can bury stalactites for later use when Mistelteinn destroys the stage or uproot them to recycle their powerful hitbox. Using walls for tethering is a way in which Mistelteinn can actually travel horizontally in the air despite already being very fast, which helps in the context of chasing down individual foes or those trying to huddle up against a wall. For that reason, this move generally sees a lot of use during pre-landing and makes a nice combination with the Dash Attack where Mistelteinn can teleport into the air while facing the other direction.
(((U-air --- Flightening Approach))) "So we're going that way, huh?"
Mistleteinn turns upside-down and throws out a quick, precise kick above her, very similar to Fox's but without the need to sweet-spot. Mistelteinn's kick deals 24% with downwards knockback that KOs at 75%, having very obvious implications in the context of scattered debris. This move has a surprising amount of hitlag to it, and if A is tapped again upon successfully hitting a foe Mistelteinn will kick herself off of as if having performed a footstool jump, being able to pursue foes higher up in the air or mow through debris using the provided momentum in conjunction with the N-air, even knock a foe down so she can move to the sides along with them to further wreck enemies and debris - if she's really feeling evil she can even drag a foe into a stalactite hanging from the bottom of some debris so they take continuous damage until it's destroyed. Mistelteinn can even propel herself off debris or stalactites she destroys.
(((D-air --- Blooming Thunderfall))) "Die!"
Mistleteinn performs a stall-then-fall drop kick as she falls at a low angle, initially dealing 20% with knockback on a very high angle that KOs at 110% but gaining momentum within one second that doubles the attack's speed and power. Mistelteinn is able to cancel out of the kick anytime she likes with a brief flip that deals 7% and surprisingly weak GTFO knockback in the direction foes came from, able to continually loop across the vertical blast zones to destroy debris she comes along and force foes to retreat. To make matters worse, whenever Mistelteinn lands on solid ground from her kick she destroys 1.5-3 SBBs worth of it, giving foes a good 0.75 seconds to get off it before it's lost. This gives foes incentive to back away from Mistelteinn as she herds them to the corner of the screen, though it's not nearly as broken as it would be on other sets given the stage resets itself between trips and how Mistelteinn doesn't have time to waste mindlessly destroying her own stage. If Mistelteinn destroys too much of the left-hand side of her stage foes will respawn closer to the middle when they enter her realm.
~~~~*Grab*~~~~ "No escape!"
Mistleteinn reaches out with both hands to lift the foe off the ground, holding them by their collar for 2X grab difficulty. If the control stick is held at the same time as grabbing (AKA cannot be done out of a dash or shield), Mistleteinn will send her tendrils out to grab the foe in a similar manner to her Down Special - should Mistleteinn already have a foe tethered with that move, she'll instead reel them in towards her and they must destroy the tendrils or attack her before she gets a free grab on them. Foes cannot escape from Mistelteinn's realm when she's holding someone, but will be released instantly once the throw ends or when they escape.
If B is pressed while holding a foe, Mistleteinn will tether her tendrils onto them via the Down Special effect, taking them off another foe who has them on if necessary. This is a nice and easy way to place the effect on foes before destroying them with Mistelteinn's throws.
(((Pummel --- Suffering))) "Suffer!"
Mistleteinn crushes the foe's neck for 4% per hit, dealing quite a bit of damage.
(((F-throw --- Wall-Crusher))) "Ahahaha!"
Mistleteinn grips the foe by the neck with two extra tendrils from her back before pushing them forward at the rate of her ridiculous dash until they escape the grab, the foe having Super Amour as Mistleteinn uses their body as a shield against enemy attacks (there's just enough of a warning to let outsiders know Mistleteinn's using this attack). Said victim can also be used as a battering ram, as Mistleteinn will effortlessly smash them through all breakable walls while they take damage equal to said obstruction's HP - one can only imagine how hellish this would be with stalactites lying around the stage or similar makeshift walls created by foes. If the victim is smashed against another foe, the latter suffers 22% with knockback that KOs at 90% (increased by 1.7X if the victim has a javelin in them), and to make matters worse Mistelteinn can continue moving her tendrils forward even when the victim escapes the grab, being able to grab another unsuspecting foe.
If Mistleteinn smashes her foe against an indestructible wall such as the one at the very right-hand end of her realm, they'll instead take 15% as they're brutally slammed into it in a laggy yet epic motion....which leaves foes vulnerable to a close-up attack from Mistleteinn such as another grab. This is indeed an incredibly broken infinite chaingrab, only balanced out by the fact that Mistleteinn actually has to put some effort into driving foes towards the wall on her stage (she actually has to get to the wall herself even if she uses this throw to send them there), how said foes don't stay in her realm forever as well as how the more time she wastes getting them to said wall the less damage she'll be able to inflict on them. Pinning foes to the actual wall is also laggy, taking a good 1.3 seconds to complete of which outsiders can interrupt.
(((B-throw --- Smasher))) "Bored."
Without warning, Mistleteinn has teleported behind her victim and kicked them in the gut all in the blink of an eye, dealing 24% with absolutely huge horizontal base knockback that sends victims sliding across the ground. Even at 0%, foes are sent sliding back 5 SBBs of which is an instant kill if Mistleteinn managed to grab them very early on upon their arrival at her realm, and at around 200% she deals enough knockback to send foes all the way towards the left-hand blast zone all the way from the very end of the right-hand side. Against multiple foes, this one is deadly if just for the fact that it comes out so unpredictably fast that those without their guard-up will share the very same fatal knockback the victim suffered from the attack if they were tethered with the Down Special or impaled with a F-Smash javelin. With a precise input Mistelteinn can very slightly angle where she kicks the foe to prevent their knockback trajectory from being too predictable.
(((U-throw --- Surreal Stomacher))) "Hehehe..."
Mistleteinn dissolves into petals, freeing the foe....what could she be planning? Her foe will find out when you press B or let 4 seconds pass, whereupon she suddenly appears above them and swallows them whole! Foes take 3% a second inside Mistleteinn until they escape (normal grab difficulty so they won't be inside for long) and suffer any damage she would take in her place, being able to act more recklessly against a slew of foes as a last resort. Mistelteinn can eat as many foes as she likes, and if outside would be sent back to the real world while they're still stuck inside they'll be left behind and re-appear as usual upon the next trip - if every foe is inside Mistelteinn only the first one to escape is sent back to the real world. Due to being invulnerable upon disappearing, Mistelteinn can use this move to escape from foes trying to attack her while she's holding a victim, and if she doesn't want to eat her held victim pressing A will have her re-appear where she was before.
(((D-throw --- Dream Demon))) "Now THIS I'm looking forward to!"
Mistleteinn tears a hole in the foe's torso using her tendrils before generating a purplish wisp in one hand and forcing it inside, the stress of such causing them to collapse into prone as they take 20%. The entire process is indeed as lengthy as it sounds (about 1.5 seconds), so Mistelteinn will need some space in order to pull it off in a 3v1 situation....
At first, nothing appears to befall the victim after their dramatic fate, but upon reaching 160% they suddenly collapse in place, defying gravity as a malicious spirit-like creature appears from the opening in their torso with an equally malicious cackle...it's a Dream Demon! In a 1v1 the victim instantly loses a stock upon having their body taken over by the Dream Demon (not that it's majorly broken given Mistelteinn can KO them well before the required percentage), but otherwise their body will just float there, completely vulnerable to attack while continuing to defy gravity until their allies end up back in the real world. From here, Mistelteinn will show her reasoning for only forcing an evil Dream Demon onto her foe: you see, the Dream Demon in question is grateful enough to Mistelteinn for finding them a human host that they're willing to use said host's body to fight alongside Ijima in the real world as a Lv5 AI when he re-appears, effectively turning the victim in question as a servant to Mistelteinn and Ijima. The kicker? Ijima's "useless" moveset can be used to support the Dream Demon to turn the match into a 2v2, giving it a very ironic use.
The controlled foe keeps their high damage from before, though allies will likely want to hold off killing them for an easy way out when there's a way to save them. All they have to do is force Ijima to send them back to Mistelteinn's realm, and they'll find their ally stuck in a large, greenish bird-cage hanging from the top of the screen on the opposite side of the stage in the background, unconscious and unable to do anything. Next to the cage is the Dream Demon that was taking control of them, an inhuman-looking creature with a physique and moveset inverse to the victim's and 200HP if KO'ed traditionally beforehand(A strong heavyweight like Bowser would be a small demon with fast, disjointed attacks, Voreinclex would give off a very small, weak demon similar-sized to Keroro and someone like Yutaka with no good stats would give off a large, frighteningly fast and powerful demon). The Dream Demon goes off to assist Mistelteinn by attacking her enemies aggressively without bothering to shield or dodge, freeing its host upon its death. What's hilarious is that Mistelteinn can attack and kill the Dream Demon herself, having very good reason to when upon it being killed its host loses their heart, disappearing from her realm for an instant stock loss - nothing more thrilling than putting the dastardly Ijima's master plan into motion. The Dream Demon will go after Mistelteinn upon being attacked by her, though she obviously doesn't mind this given its attacks can easily trigger her counter and she can use them as a weapon against the other foes by knocking it into them, among being able to send a stalactite down on its position. Misteltienn can even eat the Dream Demon using her U-throw in which case it'll escape after 5 seconds if foes don't kill it and subsequently their own ally from trying to attack Mistelteinn.
Mistelteinn cannot insert another Dream Demon onto a different foe until the host of the one she inserted beforehand is killed, and cannot insert one into a foe who's already been a host. It's best to savor the new-found despair and hopelessness of one victim at a time, after all.
~~~~*Final Smash*~~~~
(((The Bud of Despair)))
"How can you be this powerful!? No matter, I'll wipe away all hope that drives you with this!" "That is the bud of despair. The despair within is not created by Mistleteinn, but rather is that of the victim's..."
After announcing her intentions, Mistleteinn dissolves into petals and re-appears in the background, sitting on a massive bed of thorns. She then points at each foe, causing gigantic flowers to rise next to her and each go after one foe, attempting to trap them inside their massive girth. One must roll to avoid this mighty attack, and if they fail they'll be consumed in the Bud of Despair, taking 50% a second from experiencing pain solely up to the viewers' imaginations. Another player has to free the victim by dealing 100% to the flower, and if they can't destroy it before the victim's damage reaches 999% they'll be KO'ed as the flower breaks up and the foe's form seems to have dissolved into black particles or whatever would be suitable for their character - during such, Ijima's maniacal laughter echoes across the stage. If all 3 foes are caught by the buds, they'll retract next to Mistleteinn as she lets out an evil laughter, instantly winning the match as her foes meet a gloomy end...
[COLLAPSE="Oh, so you want to know what happens if -Ryota Ijima- somehow get the Smash Ball?"]
You'll be completely screwed, that's what! The camera will zoom in on me as I smirk evilly before everyone is sent to the Ocean of Trees where Mistelteinn reisdes...what's that, you say WE'VE ALREADY DONE THIS IN THE MAIN SET? Ohohoho, we may not be on the same wavelength here, so I'll just tell you: This is my Final Smash for when I'm played as a solo character. Yeah, you can pick me like any other character for 1v1, and while I can't really fight or anything I'm still a helluva lot more useful than some wimpy schoolgirls who can't or won't even try to fight back. When I bring everyone to the Ocean of Trees they have to deal with Mistelteinn fighting alongside me with the skill of a Lv10 AI.
Oh, and did I mention I get a BRAND NEW MOVESET when fighting alongside Mistelteinn? It'll be full of pain, pain which I can gladly get away with since we're not in the crappy real world anymore. Who needs that worthless living space anyway?
My moveset is obviously different from that of my perfect facade. If A is pressed I'll kick at that poor sap on the floor without putting any effort into it. This obviously doesn't do jack against anyone who's not a talking alien frog or mascot cat, but if my victim has their face on the level of my foot due to having taken a smackdown or struggling to grab hold of a ledge I'll beat at them for, say, 3% per hit until they actually bother to fight back. I can dish out a lot of damage against those worms too, so it'd be reeeeeal nice if they just stayed down there for me to finish off.
Pressing A from a runner has me leap a small distance while using my feet to completely crush their lungs, making them suffer 18% and sending them flying back a nice distance....I'd say they'll die once they're at 60%, and won't even survive at all if they were holding onto a ledge. Some brutal stuff this is; it's not easy for me to pull off, but man is it rewarding! Who ever thought that long-distance jumping crap they hold during athletics festival could actually be used for something PRACTICAL?
Lessee....Upon pressing A when holding the control stick forward, I'll give off a nice little kick, better than my petty attempt beforehand, strong enough to roll a victim onto whatever side they weren't lying on along with dealing 8%. I ain't gonna be winning any contests for most repetitive combos with this attack, but if someone actually had the balls to try and hit me while they were getting up I'll block it with the sole of my shoe before booting them away for 10%. Who even uses such petty tactics to resist their oppressors nowadays? Oh, that's right, I FORCED YOU TO!
Think I can't do anything to you wimps if A and an upwards motion are inputted? Think again! I'll casually raise a hand above myself, and if there's a fool above me who's crouching, lying on their butt, tumbling or eating dirt, say they're on a platform situated above me, I'll grab them by the neck, strangle a bit of life out of them for 5% before throwing them down to my level in front of me where they'll lie prone. Who's to say I can't ever pull this off? I heard anything can happen in this game.
Ah, down and A. From my hunched position, I'll reach out and grab your head, or turn you around if I got your legs, before smashing it into the ground 3 times, dealing you a total of 15% before you're bounced into the air. Awww, what's the matter, did'ya spill a few drops of baby blood back there? Well too bad, NOBODY'S HERE TO CLEAN IT UP!
And here's where I get reeeeeeeal nasty! With a forward smashed A motion, I'll raise my foot into the air real far before smashing it down with all the force I can muster. The result? Hmmm, 18-25% and either a dead man who spent his last moments hopelessly grabbing onto a ledge or a flying corpse that'll become nothing upon sustaining 80% at worst. Maybe I could have jumped into you instead, but this is nice and quick too; maybe someone'll be generous enough to deliver me a fresh body to kick around while I'm charging up.
Upwards smashed A motion is a real beauty. I'll stick my foot beneath the victim's body before throwing it up into the air, where I follow up by kicking them hard enough to deliver some spine-breaking damage of 22-31% that holds them in place, sending them tumbling to the ground! It's always fun to break their spine again, but I don't want to have to be responsible for looking after some disabled loser in my class so I'll just get to killing them instead.
For a downwards smashed A motion, I'll actually pin you to the floor and crush your stomach for 2% every second until you escape with, say, twice-to-thrice as much effort as getting away from one of your brethren. If I could I'd keep you down there forever, but man does this Brawl thing make things unfun. By the way I can do everything I can on the ground in the air just as painfully to any fool with their head under my foot, even if they're not lying prone, because really, you fools are all just stupid like that without your different notions.
And FINALLY, when Z is inputted I reach out to grab a victim by their next with both hands, greatly enjoying myself at the expense of their oxygen-deprivation and 2%.
I'll release the victim with a forward input, but before they can catch their breath I'll just kick them in the gut! This deals, say, 25% over 5 ruthless kicks on my behalf, and sure it takes about 3 seconds to complete, but it's so much fun! Even more fun is how the victim falls to the floor prone, where I can follow up for even more pain.
A backwards input has me throw the victim behind me before I crush their leg with my foot for 10%, again keeping them in prone. It's not as fun as kicking them, but it's a lot quicker for reacting when some other worm is trying to get to me and if there was no ground for my poor victim they'll just go off the stage.
The upwards input is a lot of fun this one, as I hold the victim in place for an entire 5 seconds as a meat shield to protect myself from the front. It also keeps them in place for Mistelteinn to attack, but otherwise it's a waste of time given we only have 20 seconds of which to pound on them.
Downwards input is where I force the victim onto their knees and...no, I don't **** them, why the hell would I do that when I have Mistelteinn? Those schoolgirls' bodies are worthless to me anyway. Anyway, this just deals 5% and puts the victim in prone in front of me, guaranteeing the success of any of my prone-abusing moves. Hey, most of the crap those normal Brawlers do in their throws is just the same old same old, so it's obviously no different here.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand that's all from me, really. Just had to fit my prone-abusing nature into this whole thing somewhere.[/COLLAPSE]
(((3v1 Playstyle)))
Since you seem to enjoy listening to my lectures, I'll give you a special tutoring session right here on how Mistelteinn will go about bringing an end to you and your friends, if it wasn't obvious enough from all those attacks you just sat through. Aren't I nice? And yes, this'll be on the upcoming exams, though it's not like you'll live long enough to take those.
First off, Mistelteinn is an absolute powerhouse who makes your attacks look like bad grades. She doesn't need the ridiculous durability or insane set-ups you're used to seeing on other bosses when it means she can get in your face and kill you in a couple of hits, and even if she sends you flying very far she has the speed to catch up to you. Doesn't that make you scared? Well don't worry, you only have to survive for 20 seconds before you're sent back to the real world and I won't bother you for 5 seconds of which you can use to set-up and take those on your next trip to defend yourself. Not to mention your beloved friends will come to save you anyway, so you'd better hold off being damaged by Mistelteinn for your own good given it increases the HP of the portal on the outside, remember? For the final kicker, you all start off near a blast zone situated on the left-hand side of the stage which Mistelteinn can easily throw you into using her Dash Attack or B-throw if you so much have the gall to fight back. On the contrary, neither player can kill each other because of the wall on the right-hand side of the stage, so by all means run towards it if you don't want to die early. Yes, Mistelteinn will still be trying to kill you all the while given she's on a time limit and as such hates stalling more than anything.
Oh, what's that, you say there's actual merit in Mistelteinn driving her first victim against her wall? Very good, I see someone's been keeping up with their studies! Indeed, the other two foes will always spawn on the left-hand side of the stage where Mistelteinn and her first victim started off, so if the latter end up on the opposite side of the stage their allies will have a more difficult time reaching them given how long it takes to get there in the first place. Those allies' first instinct will likely be to fire their projectiles at Mistelteinn of which move faster than they do, but it'd be foolish of them to forget that she has two counters!
Now, don't go thinking that Mistelteinn struggles against multiple foes just because I went out of my way mentioning the above strategy. It's quite the opposite, in fact: she loves it! Sure, not all her moves cover every part of her body as much as I'd like and she doesn't have extravagant range on every attack, but last I heard counters were quite easy to pull off when you had a whole bunch of hitboxes coming your way - have you ever tried just using one of Brawl people's counters in the middle of a chaotic situation such as FFA or SSE and laughing about how it'll always work? It also pays to know that Mistelteinn likes to take advantage of the 3v1 situation by using her powerful moves to knock one foe into another. This is where her Down Special tether and F-Smash javelin come into play with said moves in order to inflict even more dmaage, as well as why she generally wants to chase one foe to the opposite side of her stage. Rope somebody up, smack them real far and they'll just come back to Mistelteinn for her to hit again! I daresay this works pretty well when Mistelteinn has broken up the stage with her Up Special, as even if she doesn't hit another foe with her wrecking ball it's easy enough for her to destroy the ground around them so they quickly fall to their deaths. Maybe Mistelteinn won't have enough time to do that, but remember the timer extends when more foes enter her realm and if she's dedicated enough it's a lot easier than you'd think. But eh, I'm already getting carried away here. Also, if foes are about to escape from Misltelteinn's realm due to they being spineless cowards for not letting her finish them off, she can easily finish up by inserting a Dream Demon into her original victim to give me free minion to boss around. I'm sure I don't need to explain that part any further, now do I? This mechanic prevents the selected stage from becoming completely irrelevant in our battle, and my little servant can interrupt the other two foes and prevent them from creating set-ups that'd otherwise hinder Mistelteinn, and if we really work well together we can actually win the match without Mistelteinn's help. It's easier than you'd think too when I get to choose which foe to take into Mistelteinn's realm. Fun fact: If I don't take foes into Mistelteinn's realm straight away and instead let them set-up unexpectedly, I can take the most beneficial one in for a trip where they don't get to keep their set-ups, and when they come back as my servant I get to use all those set-ups to my advantage! A brilliant plan if I say so myself.
For all the attention I've given to Mistelteinn bullying one weakling, there's honestly nothing stopping her from actually bringing 2 or all 3 of the foes she's up against into her realm instead of just bullying one. After all, it makes dropping stalactites a lot more fun with more people, and any debris flying around is going to get destroyed a lot more quickly with so many hitboxes flying around and Mistelteinn chasing enemies around the stage. It also validates stuff like Mistelteinn's U-throw that can be used to take one foe hostage, and overall we're taking out the enemies at lot quicker. The only thing we have to watch out for is how since we're taking all the foes in at the same time, there's a good chance that one or two of them will escape and be able to bring their set-ups into our realm. To be honest though stuff like walls and minions don't faze Mistelteinn given how ridiculously powerful she is and how she can break up the stage, though really it'd be a huge pain for us if one of the guys on the enemy team is an annoying healer or buffer. Now you know why I was so insistent on taking in one foe instead of all of them. Multiple foes also have the opportunity to support each other with their attacks. It really depends on what kind of enemies we're fighting though, as Mistelteinn has many ways she can start and end a fight despite not being all that set-up orientated.
So what should you be taking out of all this? We have absolute control over match-ups and Mistelteinn is a damaging goddess who can kill faster than anyone or use said prowess to torture fighters, actually taking advantage of our 3v1 predicament. Our greatest thrill comes from shattering the fools who oppose us with our immense power, bringing them into a world where none of their rules matter and ours are supreme - maybe it's not fun for them, but it's fun for us.
(((Capture The Flag)))
You thought we were done at 3v1? I can indeed participate in this game mode called Capture The Flag, and you should be able to tell from what you know about us that nobody else will play as similarly. I basically start off in the real world as usual, keeping my facade to counsel my teammates during the first 30 seconds we're all given to set-up....
Of course, the real fun begins when I get to go out and meet enemies face-to-face, or when they come to our base. Given there are 10 freaking enemies to deal with instead of 3 in this game mode, every enemy in the same camera zone as I'm in will be sent to Mistelteinn's realm as so as B is pressed - needless to say I'm sure those fools will be running from me the moment they enter the camera zone I'm in, which I'd find quite hilarious. A score of 100 for comedic value. With this role I'll be basically clearing out rooms full of enemies in a heartbeat and making them drop any flag they were holding, allowing my allies to pass through without hindrance as they're not sent to Mistelteinn's realm along with the enemies - a nice "spy-check" for those clowns who would dress up as my teammates. Dealing with more than 3 opponents -can- prove risky to Mistelteinn, though she usually loves that kind of situation and if they're incompetent enough she can kill them all without breaking a sweat. My teammates can enter Mistelteinn's realm anytime they like by going through the portal left behind like a SSE door, while foes have to break it down. Oh, and it also pays to note that players in Mistelteinn's realm will have no idea of what's going on in the real world and vice versa, providing both parties some opportunities for deception. One everyone is out of Mistelteinn's realm, I'll respawn at the main base after 5 seconds given it'd be no fun if we could keep dragging foes trying to capture our flag over and over and giving them no choice but to kill Mistelteinn if they wanted to pass through. On the other hand, if Mistelteinn manages to kill every foe in her realm I'll respawn at the main base immediately, able to deal with any fools trying to steal out flag after having gone on the offensive. Also, teammates in Mistelteinn's realm leave when the foes do, re-appearing where they were before with respawn invincibility.
Overall, I can be play offensively or defensively in a CTF match, though it's usually best to play offensively given it means being able to drag more foes into Mistelteinn's realm, and when we do arrive at the enemy base it's likely there'll be a lot of foes there who'll be defenseless without their traps and stuff after having been taken in. Playing this way also means that we get to take advantage of the kill bonus by respawning back at the base in order to deal with any intruders, playing defensively from an offensive game. Of course, you're going to have to make sure I have a teammate with me while on the offensive given I'm not a fighter nor the fastest thing around.
~~~~*Extras*~~~~
Ijima Animations
Idle
Ijima stands there with a friendly smile, sometimes waving to the screen!
Walking
Ijima struts along with his hands in pocket, minding his own business.
Running
Ijima hurries along, removing his hands from his pockets.
Dashing
Ijima goes into a sprint, breaking a sweat. All that time teaching must be wearing him out!
1st Jump
Ijima hunches down before, well, leaping into the air. He's casual enough to suppress the need to flail his arms about.
2nd Jump
Ijima appears to kick the air beneath him to get a boost, as he's obviously in no position to be acrobatic.
Sidestep
Ijima appears to stumble into the background by accident, displaying a moment of comic relief.
Air Dodge
Ijima throws his body into the background without looking too serious.
Roll
Ijima walks to his position, having quite the slow roll. Not that it matters.
Asleep
Ijima's probably not one to fall asleep in the middle of work, but should it occur to him he'll get down and bury his head between his knees.
Stunned
Ijima hunches, holding his head in pain with one hand while the other is slumped next to him. He almost looks frustrated.
Villainous Idle
Ijima's appearance is more "shady", with his glasses obscuring his eyes and hands in pocket. Sometimes he'll break out into a totally evil and kinda frightening glare.
Villainous Walk
Ijima has a wry smile on his face and is hunched forward a little more, but otherwise remains unchanged.
Villainous Run
Ijima keeps his hands in his pockets, hunching down even more and picking up the pace.
Villainous Dash
Ijima's villainy keeps him from being tired, donning a vicious grin while chasing down foes like a deranged criminal.
Villainous Jump
Ijima's jumps are more feral and less casual as he puts on an evil look.
Villainous Sidestep/Air Dodge
Ijima steps into the background deliberately, the upper half of his face obscured where only a creepy smile can be seen.
Villainous Roll
Very much the same only with a different face expression, obviously.
Villainous Sleep
....He's in a daydream, so no he's not going to sleep in a dream. That'd be stupid.
Villainous Stun
Ijima is visibly angered, holding his head with both hands and just about ready to blow a gasket.
Mistleteinn Animations
Idle
Mistleteinn has a childish smile on her face, bobbing in place like an impatient child. If left in place for too long she'll begin to yawn.
Walking
Mistelteinn bends forward and strolls forward casually, holding her hands behind her back with her head looking behind her curiously.
Running
Mistleteinn has her hands outstretched to her sides, taking exaggerated strides across the ground as if trying not to lose her balance.
Dashing
Getting serious, Mistleteinn lunges forward wildly with a devilish smile on her face. Now she means business.
1st Jump
Mistleteinn playfully flips off the ground and again when she's in the air.
2nd Jump
Mistleteinn flips 5 times in a row to show foes just how easily she can get around. Her erratic movement can make getting hit by an attack from her all of a sudden disorientating.
Sidestep
Mistleteinn effortlessly steps into the background, having a visibly curious look on her face towards the screen.
Air Dodge
Mistleteinn disperses into petals which quickly come together again to reform her. As an Easter Egg, if this is used in the middle of a jump Mistleteinn will continue from where she left off despite it no longer having any effect on her momentum.
Roll
Mistleteinn rapidly spins towards her new location, like a crazy ballerina.
Asleep
Mistleteinn can't go to sleep in her own realm given she's a Dream Demon of all things. One can only imagine what she does instead.
Stunned
Mistleteinn clutches her stomach in pain, actually having a little difficulty standing. Is she faking it?
Ijima Up-taunt
Still keeping his facade, Ijima tells the others "I'll gladly support your dream.". If foes have visited the Ocean of Trees, he'll instead put on an evil face while saying "You can't oppose us forever!"
Ijima Side-taunt
In his facade, Ijima will hold out a hand and say "Shall we?". His real self will hunch down like a beast and hold his hands out in an embracing pose, saying "What's the matter?"
Ijima Down-taunt
In his facade, Ijima holds up his glasses and gives a friendly smile. His real self will laugh maniacally.
Extra Ijima Lines
There are some things Ijima wouldn't want to say to you, so I'll say them for him here. If Mistelteinn suffers from a drastic status effect or is sent flying, he'll yell "Mistelteinn!" in genuine worry. If Mistelteinn injures a foe greatly, Ijima will scoff, and if she manages to KO one his maniacal laughter will echo once the victim has let out their KO cry. Ijima essentially -IS- the crowd in Mistelteinn's realm, going as far as to fill in the crowd cheer for her by letting out an audible, long-winded maniacal laugh. Ijima also take's the announcer's place in announcing everything that happens in a mocking tone. Who wouldn't want to hear him count down or yell out "SUDDEN DEATH! GO!"?
Mistleteinn Up-taunt
Mistleteinn spreads her arms out, spinning on one foot playfully while saying "So cool!", fascinated by what little her foes can do.
Mistleteinn Side-taunt
Mistleteinn giggles maniacally, barely able to contain herself as she holds her sides.
Mistleteinn Down-taunt
Mistleteinn gets down and hugs her knees, swaying back and forth while saying "Now that you're here I expect to be entertained."
Win 1
If Ijima somehow won without going all evil, he'll look around while eating rice, saying "That'll be on the exam."
Win 2
Mistleteinn and Ijima are in the Ocean of Trees whereby none of the foes can be seen, each subsequent victory pose taking place this way. Ijima says "This world is for the both of us." while embracing Mistelteinn, having some kind of twisted relationship with her as he effortlessly tears at the clothes covering her breasts. Mistelteinn doesn't seem to mind, however.
Win 3
Mistleteinn pats her stomach in disappointment while saying "Awww, I'm still not full yet."
Win 4
Mistleteinn is sitting on a rock from afar, menacingly staring at the screen. Ijima is close-up, looking like a total badass with his hands in his pockets while saying "Nobody can stop us."
Loss
Mistleteinn's remains disperse across the screen as petals while Ijima just stands there like a zombie, having lost his twisted heart and dreams....apparently his dream was to be able to continue eating rice every day like he was doing beforehand.
First of all, while there are certainly aspects of VideoMan that are awkward in brawl, the core concept still functions and in fact works better in generic smash where moves more clearly flow together and opponents are not so hyper offensive or defensive that he either can't pull off edits or is free to manage it as best he wants since some opponents would not approach him at all. Those misfitting elements would also be the first I would edit out if I were to female him.
Sorry to interrupt you with this by the way Kat, bug this is kinda key to me to address.
And as Joe points out, this isn't an experiment like EED Soldier or a moveset set in Project:M, an actually existing metagame, this is a consistent excuse for movesets whose design form is inconsistent in brawl.
It also really doesn't help that the vast majority of movesets in this format are yours. Hyper defense hasn't been explored as a major theme of MYM since MYM6. Offense is just as prevalent.
Thomas Thomson was once a Knight of the Silver Hand. However, he was cursed, and died an insane man. But every Hallow's End, his battered soul returns: The Headless Horseman, driven to purify the dead around him, until his poor soul is put to rest once more.
Prepare yourselves, the bells have tolled! Shelter your weak, your young and your old!
It would seem that this year, Hallow's End has arrived right on time...
(((Overview)))
The Headless Horseman is quite tall, due in large part to constantly being sat atop his steed: In total, he is slightly wider than Bowser and somewhat taller than Ganondorf, giving him a huge hitbox. Unfortunately for him, the state of his "body" does not lend well too weight, although he still stands just below the weight of Link, making him a somewhat heavier middleweight. Fortunately, his great range, ground speed and excellent jumping ability makes up for this deficiency. For the most part, at least.
In the air, while not floaty, The Headless Horseman has much more control and less fall speed than you would expect: Leaving the ground will not save you from his chase. His mighty steed will even leap off walls in his relentless pursuit to crush you. Don't expect him and his steed to do any floating or anything, however.
The main attraction, however, is what you've all been waiting for: The Headless Horseman's ability to remove his head! When he does this, which you'll see below, it becomes a throwable item, similiar in many aspects to the pieces of Zero Suit Samus' armor. A normal toss does a mere 6% damage and a tilt toss, 9%. A smash toss does 12% damage, though the knockback merely KOs Mario at 150%. There are benefits to chasing the foe to their graves with merely your head and benefits to crushing their bodies under horse and sword, which we will go over later.
The Horseman can never be damaged by his own head: Tossing it at him merely causes it to glide effortlessly into his ethereal grasp once more. Throwing it off the stage, however, presents a much different story: Do not be careless with your precious head and stray far from it or your foe, or you may soon find yourself without it.
(((Moveset)))
Specials
Neutral Special --- Conflagration
Harken, cur! Tis you I spurn! Now feel... the buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurn!
The Headless Horseman lets out a maniacal laugh as he extends his hand forward and crushes it into a fist, his head bursting alight from it's mere simmer with green hellfire. This quick action deals a burning 6% damage to the foe, along with weak fixed knockback, about half a Battlefield platform. It remains enflamed with the sickly flames for two seconds, scorching all who touch it save for the Horseman himself. With the quick start and stop on this move, it's use is obvious.
But this move does not merely function as a flame, as the Horseman has no qualms with using it while his head is gone: Indeed, this is his primary defense against those foolish enough to dare take his head. Nor does he mind simply using it to make his head, fresh and laid down upon the ground, into an active trap. He may even unleash it's dark powers before striking down the foe's frail bodies with it, giving it added damage(6%) and sending them flying into Hell's abyss even more easily(Adding +10% knockback to head attacks). Make liberal use of the flames and bathe the foe in your righteous fury whenever possible.
Side Special --- Soldiers Arise!
Soldiers arise, stand and fight! Bring victory at last to this fallen knight!
The Headless Horseman waves his hand in front of him, energies of pitch black darkness and lush green flames swirling in front of him, causing a...pumpkin to appear? This process takes a moderate amount of time and results in nothing of damage, merely am ominous evilly grinning pumpkin slightly alight in gentle green flames appearing in front of the Horseman, but it has very little end lag. You may have only one pumpkin on the field at a time.
The pumpkins will pulsate over the course of ten seconds, however, almost as if unnaturally growing. If the foe does not either pick it up, as it functions as a throwing item with half the power of The Horseman's head and can damage him, and throw it off the edge, or deal to it 30% damage, the pumpkin will grow into a new creature. A minion, to be precise, with skeleton-like vines for a body which crack and which shamble forth, a crude sword-like vine weapon at it's ready, it's neverchanging devilish expression bringing terror to those it faces. These somewhat slow creatures have a grand 50 HP and the Standards, Smashes and Aerials of either Marth, Ike or Link, chosen at random. Their wicked vines always remain the same length, however. They will mindlessly aggro the foes, striking them with whatever move they fancy, with the exception of when the foe has the Horseman's head, whereupon they will attempt to get between the foe and the nearest ledge, to prevent them from throwing their dark master's top into the abyss below.
Although powerful and potentially limitless, one must remember these plant knights take an entire ten seconds to actually exist, and that they must be carefully attended to, lest the foe merely smash them or banish them back from whence they came with a strong toss. There is a time and a place for everything and this move is one of those things.
Up Special --- The Road to Hell
The Headless Horseman gestures with his hand in a commanding manner, flames from beyond trailing down his arms during the moderate charge time, before giving it a final wave forward, a trail of ethereal and wisp-like ghost fire trailing in front of him. It deals 4% damage and fixed knockback that is by default up that makes sure it is easily escapable...except to The Headless Horseman and his stallion, who can cross it and use it like any other piece of stage. All in all, it extends roughly a Battlefield platform and a half out, crackling as if fueled by some unknown source. The Horseman can only create this once without touching solid ground again and it lasts for ten seconds. You may also tilt the control stick while the Horseman summons this hell path, conducting the symphony of it's creation so that it comes out anywhere from entirely vertical to entirely horizontal.
Note that this path will stop ANY part of the Horseman. If his head is thrown against it vertically it will stop it: Horizontally, it will catch it if it would land. Creating this near the edge is an excellent deal to protect your head...at the price that it's damaging properties might make it harder to KO the foe on that side.
Down Special --- The Myriad Ways
Here's my body, fit and pure!
This attack does several things depending on where the head is. If it rests firmly upon his smoldering neck, then he will pop it right off with a gut-wrenching, flaming crackle, holding it thusly at his side and ready to be used. If he is holding it, he instead places it back upon his head, it floating naturally back into position amongst the light flames as his hands return to their idle position. Neither of these actions takes much time, allowing The Headless Horseman to swiftly and effectively switch between his game with his itemized head and his non-item game. Simply a vital move.
While the head is away from you, however, is when this move gets interesting, The Headless Horseman raising his hand high as shadowy energy gathers into it, as if grasping the darkness itself. This has a very long startup, slightly longer than a Falcon Punch, but provides a useful advantage, as when the starting lag is complete, The Horseman's head begins flying back to him, cackling like mad! It goes straightforward and is stopped if it hits anything solid, but it makes a useful last resort if you can use it in time. Note that your own created walls will also prevent it's return.
Basic Attacks Each of you shall pay the final sum! Cry for mercy; the reckoning has come!
Neutral A --- A Treat...
The Headless Horseman tilts his head ever so slightly as he extends his arm forward, palm open as if asking for something. This entire starting lag action takes a moment as the Horseman tilts his head in a sudden, jerky motion, his head effortlessly popping off and rolling down his arm, leaving a trail of green flames until it comes to a rest inside of the palm of his hand. This does a mere 4% damage and doesn't even do more than a flinch despite it's long starting lag...
If you have no head, the Horseman will instead angrily wave his fist, angry at being unable to use his head. He may even let out a bit of annoyed audio. This quick action makes an amusing taunt if you killed a foe with the head, but deals no damage or anything. In short, you have no jab without your head. But who cares, with such a bad jab...
Tap A --- ...or a Trick?
That is not quite all there is to the Horseman's jab. You see, by tapping A while the head lay upon his palm, The Horseman will channel his feelings of anger and righteous indignation into it, igniting it's flames into a damaging hitbox for as long as you keep tapping A. This attack deals 3% each hit, though it'll stale quickly, and knockback that pulls the foe in, making it very difficult to properly escape with DI. This is one of the Horseman's best damage rackers, alongside his head projectile...too bad you can't use both at the same time, huh? Very low lag on either end, though the normal Neutral A is essentially it's starting lag.
Dash Attack --- Play of Flame
The Headless Horseman brings his blade tip-first into the ground, screeching loudly as he rushes forward at his dash speed, sparks igniting green hellfire as his steed charges on, it's eyes burning with determination quite literally. A trail of flames is left behind even as the sword rushes forward, about as tall as Mario, dealing a dandy 7% damage that knocks the foe straight into the air, albeit not too high. These flames burn for a solid two seconds before simmering and dissipating to the winds, letting you turn the stage into a veritable hellscape. Running them through with your sword deals a much more solid 9% damage and forward knockback: Releasing A, a swift and decisive slash which deals 12% damage and knockback that KOs at 150%. Can make it difficult to throw the head off when combined with your Up Special. Long ending lag.
---~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--- The sky is dark. The fire burns. You strive in vain, as Fate's wheel turns.
Forward Tilt --- Cleave
The Headless Horseman flicks his arm forward, delivering a savage and quick slice with his ignited sword. This quick ranged action deals a good 10% damage and pretty good knockback, without even much end lag. Unfortunately, The Horseman has a little trouble hitting shorter characters with this due to his steed and size, so you'll need to angle it down for that, and you might still have trouble with those already cut down to size, like a crouching Kirby. Still, this is your hellfire and toast melee and pressure move, with good damage and low lag.
Up Tilt --- Harvest Moon
The Horseman does an upwards slash, trails of flame left behind to flicker and be snuffed out quickly as slashes. This quick, 9% dealing move launches the foe into the air a good deal, making it ideal with your Up Smash or to send the foe upwards if you want to keep your head nearby by throwing it up to hit. It also covers the entire area above Horseman, making for ideal protection above him. A strike from the heaven's above is easily preventable for this unholy knight.
Down Tilt --- Something Below
This is yet another attack which requires The Headless Horseman's precious head be perched solidly atop of him. Using it without the head results in the same animation as the headless Jab. With his ethereal head on him, however, he pops it off in a similiar manner to his Down Special, but swiftly rolls it down upon the ground, it turning into a quick hitbox that travels a Battlefield platform before stopping, dealing 8% knockback and popping foes lightly up if it hits them. Obviously, it causes you to lose your head, and is less versatile than the Down Special...but it also allows you to pop it off with a hitbox, position it with much more accuraccy than a throw, not worry about it being grabbed and tossed off mid-attack and hit foes like crouching Kirby. In addition, it deals the most damage of your tilts when combined with your Neutral Special. Do not underestimate it.
Smashes I shall you myself...to the lifeless dark.
Forward Smash --- Whirlwind
The Headless Horseman slashes wildly in front of himself in a darkened rage, flames bursting to life and dying as quick as can be with each slash, making it look like a maelstrom of malice-fueled flame. These vicious strikes deal hideous damage, 7%-9% for each of the three slashes depending on charge, each hit making it harder and harder to escape the whirlwind of sword strikes. The knockback is far less impressive, however, as while it is a decent killing move, more would be expected from a Forward Smash. Still, dealing out 21%-28% is considerable, especially given it's lack of huge lag on either end. Release your inner rage and it shall guide you.
Up Smash --- Off With His Head!
The Headless Horseman gives his body an unnatural, almost forced thrust upwards, his head popping upwards with a more sickening, bone-like crack, dealing damage equal to as if it had been smashed thrown up...and causing the head to turn into an item as it detatches from you, letting you follow up excellently by either striking the foe or grabbing it in mid-air. It's also a VERY quick smash, meaning you can deal the strike quite quickly, though it only hits those from above. A staple move for the Horseman and a grand reason to force the foe into the air.
While without his precious head, the Horseman merely provides a generic, EXTREMELY laggy upwards slash. While this deals more damage, 16%-19% with good KO power, it's lag is easily likened to Ike and D3's F-Smashes, perhaps even slightly worse. It's a pretty terrible move, to use this without a head...
Down Smash --- Hellhorse
The Headless Horseman grips his steed tight, as flames make their way across the both of his arms...whereupon both he and his mount ignite in a burst of green flame! This takes a bit quicker than it sounds, though it's still not a quick smash, and provides his best KO move: It kills at 110% and deals 20%-23% damage. Unfortunately, it's startup to ignition is merely average, and the mount and rider alike chasing away the pesky flame gives it an above average ending lag, which combined with it's poor range can make it hard to strike with. Still, a well-timed burst of flame can be the decisive finisher to a Horseman who keeps himself ready.
The Headless Horseman reaches his arm out, attempting to grasp any foe in front of him. He has good range and speed and grabs slightly down from his horse, letting him grab shorter characters. If the character's height and overall size makes it applicable, he will lift the foe by their neck or body to meet his eyes, which ignite moreso than usual with malice.
Pummel --- Purifying Flame
Now, your blackened soul I'll cure!
A trail of flame seeps down the arm and through the hand that The Headless Horseman has grabbed the foe with, bubbling in a truly mystifying way, setting the foe on fire upon contact. They take 1% non-flinching damage each second for the next 6 seconds, making this a very powerful pummel: It's also the slowest pummel in the game, as the flame must traverse it's way down the Horseman's arm first. You'll want to use this when the opponent is at midrange damage, so that you might burn away the last of their flesh and finally rend their soul asunder. You can repeat this pummel as long as they are in your grasp and no matter how much the foe struggles the mere flames' damage will not cause them to break free. Why would the flame prevent it's masters work, after all?
Forward Throw --- Out of Hell
The Headless Horseman throws the foe forcefully forward whilest commanding his stallion forward, it dashing forward as the foe lands upon the ground in prone, having been dealt a mere 4% damage. Foes, just like Mr. Game & Watch's down throw, can tech this landing, though they still take the damage, while the Horseman will go into a dash when the foe is thrown. The followups are obvious: Dash Attack to strike them if they roll or using the time to take off or recover your head, for example. The hardest to counter is a get-up attack, which usually requires a shield of it followed by a grab. The timing is impossible to chaingrab with.
Down Throw --- Dark Crush
The Headless Horseman throws the foe down to the ground right below him, dealing 4% damage to the foe, as his horse rears high, proceeding to crush the foe beneath it's flaming hooves for 7% damage and good upwards knockback. There's not much to say with this throw, in all honesty. Crushing the foe beneath your steed's heels is pretty fun to do, at least.
Back Throw --- The Reaper's Harvest
The Headless Horseman tosses the foe behind him as his steed turns around, dealing 4% damage to the foe and having them land in prone like the Forward Throw. Unlike the Forward Throw, the Horseman does not dash after the foe. Instead, if his head is still on his shoulders, he throws it harshly at the foe for damage and knockback equal to a smash toss. While it will always hit a foe who fails to tech it, it will always miss one who techs, though it's effect of placing your head somewhere cannot be underestimated. The damage potential, when combined with your Neutral Special, is unreal for a throw.
Up Throw --- Flame Ascension
The Headless Horseman sets his entire body and horse aflame in a whirling inferno, dealing rapid hits of 4% damage to the foe, until either 5 hits have been delivered, whereupon they are released with strong upwards knockback, or until they DI out of it, in which case they are free to go. Just like your Jab, however, this blazing inferno sucks the opponent's body and soul towards it, making it tricky to DI out of. The ability to deal 20% damage to a foe from a grab, especially combined with the Pummel, is strong...but it gets easier and easier to DI out as damage increases. The fires of hell prefer their meat fresh, you could say.
Aerials A cleansing fire! Time is short, I'll soon retire!
Neutral Aerial --- Flame Wrath
The Headless Horseman juts his twisted hand forward, his palm open as if to say stop, before he swirls and twists it in a manner impossible for any mortal being, A ring of flame appears around the Horseman as he completes this movement, which doesn't take too long, smoldering somewhat weakly so as to deal 6% damage and fixed knockback, pushing away those close to the Horseman at any angle, making it an effective move to get those pesky beasts of burden off your back. Using it with your head on your shoulders, though, will cause it to spin around with the flame as it rolls down your arm, dealing 14% damage and fantastic knockback to all who touch it, turning this move from solid help to deathly blows, the head returning to your shoulder during the end lag as the flame enters your body once more. Quick to start, a bit laggy to end and one of the best reasons to keep your head on.
Down Aerial --- Horse Reign
The Headless Horseman's horse stomps down and drops in a stall-than-fall with virtually none of the stall, spiking the foe down with it for 12% damage and some swift knockback. Nothing special. What is fun, however, is that you can tap a direction during the ending lag and the Horseman's steed will dash that way, cutting down on lag, allowing you to pursue those spiked by your stomp and keeping yourself active. You could also throw your head down, use this, then go into a dash + dash attack to pick the head back up. Simple.
Forward Aerial --- Aerial Cleaving
The Headless Horseman rears his sword back before delivering a crushing blow to his front, dealing a swift 13% foe and knockback that KOs at 130% to the foe, although with a laggy start. The ending lag isn't too much, though. This move has little to it, to be honest, but serves a niche use all the same.
Up Aerial --- Technique of the Deceased
The Headless Horseman stands up, held onto his horse by forces unknown, swiftly and silently slashing the air above him, rending the flicker of a spark and flame for but a mere moment. This slash deals a solid 10% damage, but gives good knockback that goes up, making it a decent killer if the foe is up high and an excellent juggler or room breathing option. It's slightly quick on both ends of lag, which helps greatly with this use. It also has excellent range, due to the Horseman standing and the length of the blade. Excellent.
Back Aerial --- Slash of the Ether
The Headless Horseman slashes behind him, his head actually turning around without his body to see if it is on his shoulders. Eerily enough, he doesn't bother to slash around his horse, the sword merely phasing through the beast as if was a bad nightmare. This slash is much more real to the foe, unfortunately for them. 11% damage, good knockback and a swift move with a cool animation. You try making aerials with a horse under you.
The Horseman cackles, a deep, rough sound that chills hearts and stops blood; the Smash Ball is his! Upon activation, the screen grows dark, the Horseman taking to the sky with infinite flight. The Headless Horseman is totally invincible during this 12 second Final smash, so just run away, foolish mortal. During this time, you may press B to have the Horseman releases a torrent of flame towards the ground, at an angle down and in front of him. This stream itself does 12% damage and high upwards knockback, but also leaves about a 3/4th Battlefield wide flame trap, which lasts 10 seconds and deals constant 1% non-flinching damage to anyone inside of it. He can fire this stream of flame off 10 times before it will end his Final Smash. Hitting A will cause him to ignite flames around himself, dealing a keen 15% damage and great knockback to anyone in a fairly wide radius around him. He can do this infinitely without ending his Final Smash.
After 12 seconds or 10 flare bursts, the Headless Horseman lands in the middle of the stage, cackling just as he did when he got it. He is immune to his own fire traps. Water can put them out, though, if enough is put onto it.
(((Playstyle)))
Fire consumes! You've tried and failed. Let there be no doubt, justice prevailed!
The Headless Horseman revolves around his head. Crazy, I know. But the head is vital to many of your moves: Your damage dealing Jab, for example, or your powerful NAir. It is also what will allow you to best hit aerial foes for more than a poke, using your amazing Up Smash, and the followups it presents: NAir over a head to grab it, grabbing it and threatening to foe it at the foe at any time or even following a foe DIing away from a potential head hit or hitting a fie trying to sneakily grab it. Without your head, almost all of your consistant damage racking is gone, and you become vulnearable to projectiles easily.
So how do you keep the head safe? The most obvious way to do it is your Neutral Special, but that assumes you always have time to enflame it before they throw, not to mention they might have been throwing it before the move comes out and then you're screwed. Up Special can help, but most characters can still jump over it to throw it or just wait it out. So you want to pressure the foe. A lot. The most obvious way to do this is your quicker moves, like Forward Tilt, Up Tilt, using your grab for spacing, such as Forward Throw, but one of the most excellent ways to do this is your minions. They need active protection too, but you can have many of them, they last a pretty long time and they keep pressure on the foe while you support with your head and rush in. You can also passively protect them with your Dash Attack, to help begin the cycle.
But inevitably, they will die, as Horseman is not equipped to be a minion character. Without minions, you want to focus on your damage rackers and striking effectively. Jab the foe when you can to build damage and throw the head at the foe if they get defensive or if you want to rack better than the Jab and otherwise: It's ability to bounce off the foe and be regrabbed makes it a much better racker, but also much less safe, and you cannot be predictable with it, otherwise you lose your head and your damage racking with it.
Horseman has trouble finishing people off, as some of his best KO moves, D-Smash and F-Air, are laggy and/or lack range. Hitting with them will be challenging, so setting it up by throwing your head at foes and proper minion/Dash Attack placement is vital. Another option is to simply KO later with other options, since The Headless Horseman is a pro damage racker. It is a matter of risk and reward, put simply.
Remember to frequently ignite your head, as it will constantly add damage and knockback to the foe, and can easily turn the head into a trap while it is on the ground. If you enjoy using it as a trap, try using Down Tilt and Up Smash both as attacks and safe ways to set it up right where you want it. Your Dash Attack will be your friend in this regard, and you'll have to look to other ways for damage racking, such as the risky Down Throw, the Pummel and using Forward Throw with proper head/Dash Attack placement.
The Horseman may have some weaknesses, a big hitbox leaves him vulnearable to combos and projectiles and small characters can be quite spry around his high slashes and matching his quick strikes, but proper play to his strength brings out a vibrant brilliance no mere mortal can match.
Your body lies beaten, battered and broken. Let my curse be your own, fate has spoken...
10 contests after the first Halloween set and it falls on Halloween? Without Rool around? How can I resist remaking one of the most iconic of iconic MYM sets, of bringing a concept long since gone back into the modern world, and seeing what I would do with it? To take an awesome song and image and mold an atmosphere to my will? I merely wish I had longer to work on it...
Your name is ROSE LALONDE. You have a variety of INTERESTS. You have a passion for RATHER OBSCURE LITERATURE. You enjoy creative writing and are SOMEWHAT SECRETIVE ABOUT IT. You have a fondness for the BESTIALLY STRANGE AND FICTITIOUS, and sometimes dabble in PSYCHOANALYSIS. You also like to KNIT, and your room is a BIT OF A MESS.
What will you do?
> Rose: Begin moveset.
After escaping the gaze of your tyrranical MOTHER, you make your way towards the MAUSOLEUM which is the regrettable final resting place of your favorite cat, JASPERS. Why your mother insisted on taking him to a taxidemist, dressed in a suit, and shoving him into a coffin made for infants, you'll never know. He should have decomposed years ago like a normal cat. You dismiss this train of thought quickly, knowing that any amount of serious effort put towards it will only result in your own frustration. Out here, you can focus on your SELF-INDULGENT FANFICTION.
==>
You imagine yourself as a POWERFUL WIZARD, channeling the dark energy of the GRIMOIRE against anyone who dares to stand against you. Armed with the WANDS OF OLGOGOTH, the cursed thorns of the HORRORTERRORS, that number of people is very low. As a SEER OF LIGHT, the voices of the ancients speak to you, aiding you in battle with their cryptic mutterings. In combat you have proven yourself to be an aggressive, dangerous opponent, utilizing your PRECOGNIZANCE to take advantage of the flow of battle, using dark energy and surprisingly sturdy wands in conjunction with your natural talent in fabrication, out-thinking and out-maneuvering your opponents to assimilate them into the darkness.
> Author: Abandon ship, let Rose take over
Rose Lalonde - Moveset Analysis and Basic Strategy
Version 1.0, October 13, 2012
By tentacleTherapist
===================== TABLE OF CONTENTS =====================
0. A Warning for the Unassimilated................... [0000]
1. Character Overview................................ [A000]
2. Moveset Analysis.................................. [M000]
2.0 How NOT to Get Yourself Killed................... [M001]
2.1. Bread and Butter Attacking...................... [M100]
2.1.1 Toast and Jam Techniques....................... [M110]
Intermission 1: The Voices Within.................... [I100]
2.2 A Crash Course in Knitting....................... [M200]
2.2.1 Reexamination of Staples....................... [M210]
2.3. Utilizing the Air............................... [M300]
2.3.1 A New Vantage Point............................ [M310]
3. Channeling the Grimoire........................... [P000]
4. Appendix 1 -- Potentially Useful Links............ [Z000]
4.1 Appendix 2 -- Definitely Useless Links .......... [Z100]
?. Rose: Egress...................................... [ZZZZ]
=====================================
[0000] A Warning for the Unassimilated
=====================================
If you are reading this guide, I can only hope you are at least passingly familiar with the "game" of SBURB, the beta of which my friends and I had the questionable fortune of participating in some years ago. What started as a relatively simple interface, comparable to The Sims with far more end-user customization, quickly developed into something none of us had any preparation for. I attempted to write a guide to document my own experience in the world of SBURB, in the hopes of instructing any who may choose to follow in our footsteps, which rapidly was proven to be an exercise in futility due to the sheer unpredictability and instability of any number of variables within the game. My original guide, for what it is worth, can be found in Appendix 1, along with a compilation of other links which may help you be an effective Seer. This guide was written with the intention of assisting those who had the fortune of sharing my particular Aspect and Role, and as such is unlikely to be useful for, say, a Bard of Mind. If you are in the wrong place, I suggest perusing other boards to suit your unique class.
=====================================
[A000] Character Overview
=====================================
Fortunately, this should be the last of the redundancy in this already verbose guide. You will have a greater understanding of your own physical capabilities than I ever would care to, but due to the nature of SBURB certain traits have been observed to predictably occur and reoccur amongst classes throughout multiple game sessions. We do, after all, need a template for this mental exercise, and I hope you'll forgive me for using myself.
-- Basic Statistical Overview (on scale of 1 to 10) –
// Stature - SBURB's atrocious marketing strategy has tended to attract players of a younger age than perhaps may be appropriate for the game's content. Fortunately, this did not prove to be an issue - if I was able to handle the responsibilities of creating and caring for a universe while 13 years old, surely there is some scrappy youngster out there who is also up for it. A difference of a foot or two is unlikely to be an issue.
// Durability - Regrettably, the short average life span of SBURBans can often be attributed to the generally low constitution of children. It's a dangerous multiverse out there.
// Mobility - Though all of the God Tiers gain flight eventually, as a Seer you are highly likely to be blessed with superb agility. While the average Seer pales in comparison to the Rogue, you will regardless be thankful for what you have, and put it to its full use.
// Prowess - Seer is not typically considered to be a combat class due to the incredibly useful role it plays in support. However, depending on your associated aspect, you may very well find yourself capable of striking a precise blow at an opportune moment.
What is to follow is a basic list of techniques I found useful. Considering how difficult it can be to gauge the survivability of any given opponent, I have included a theoretical prediction of how much damage each is capable of delivering, expressed as a percentage. A percentage of what? That may require experimentation on your end. Regardless, this is where things fall into the specific. You may simply be incapable of utilizing some of these techniques, ranging from your strife specibus to your... personal feelings on what should be considered "ethical." These are suggestions. You are in a fight for your life. Take what you will, and if choose to ignore or disregard some element, it may be worth your while to reexamine it at a later date. Also included in these descriptions is a general idea of a move's power, where appropriate, expressed as a "killing percentage." If you are capable of mentally tracking how much damage an enemy has accumulated, your finishing options will begin to open exponentially.
Of particular note is that this guide becomes increasingly narrow in scope. This was of course mentioned in the introduction, but from past experience the bulk of readers tend to skim those at best. While most players will be able to glean some practical application of basic defensive techniques regardless of specibus and role/aspect, and the more fundamental melee strikes will be applicable to anyone in possession of a pointed weapon, the more specialized (and thus, more difficult) skills will tend towards the far right of the bell curve. Ultimately, I expect to be talking to myself. Consider yourself briefed.
=====================================
[M001] How (not) to Get Yourself Killed
=====================================
From here on, time is of the essence. Regrettably, it is unlikely you will have any actual experience in a life-or-death combat situation prior to being cast into the Medium. The game alleviates this matter to some extent with the mixed blessing of imps (see Appendix 1). These creatures, of origins unknown, are attracted to locations at which SBURB was installed, perhaps using technologies similar to those used to call upon the cruxtruder and other assorted devices. Their low tolerance for physical trauma coupled with their primitive, predictable attack patterns make them ideal training dummies suited for gaining fighting experience and harvesting grist. I recommend mastering the following defensive techniques against them before prototyping your kernelsprite.
Imps are eager to fight, but possess just enough mental capacity to know just how weak they are. Their attacks can be baited, generally speaking, with a slight amount of patience. Lower your guard, look for the direction and speed of the incoming attack, then intercept it. Locking your weapons together in an X shape, catch their bite, slash, or other melee strike at the point of intersection. If timed perfectly, this will entirely disorient the imp. To a lesser extent, this technique can be used on more experienced foes – though they’ll simply suffer a slight amount of shock from the impact. While maintaining this guard stance, you may notice a faint emanation of colored energy stemming from your body – this is normal, and will not have any effect on your vision after you become acclimatized to it. The color reflects your "team" – be it Derse, Prospitian, or otherwise.
It would be foolhardy to assume all attacks can simply be guarded against, particularly when your Incipisphere is invaded by ogres. Drawing from SBURB's customizable nature, their primary weapon of choice (apart from gigantic hamfists) will resemble your own in some fashion, likely a superior version. If you are using a pair of pointed objects, as is assumed throughout this guide, expect to see primarily gigantic lances, capable of making short work of your all-too-human body should you be the slightest bit careless. Anticipate their attack as you would for any imp (if anything, ogres tend to be less subtle about their intentions,) then make a diving roll to a safe location. Bow your head, align your tools such that they are parallel to the ground and perpendicular to yourself, and make sure to maintain enough momentum such that you will carry yourself to a standing position. With foresight, you'll find that dodging straight into the attack becomes a viable strategy. Whichever the case, mastering these basic defensive maneuvers – the shield and the roll – is critical to your own survival. Successfully avoiding attacks enables you to better understand your opponent’s particular method of fighting, and thus how best to counter it. A proper stance, one foot roughly half a meter in front of the other, needles held 50⁰ from the horizontal, angled toward each other ever so slightly, knees slightly bent, will minimize the time it takes to perform these motions.
When you are satisfied that you are unlikely to become mortally wounded on your very first true encounter, jump to the next section where we will start the offensive.
=====================================
[M100] Bread and Butter Attacking
=====================================
A fool would look at the weapons they are holding, two instruments, dull at the edge but brutally sharpened at the point, and think "oh, i know! pointy end goes into the other guy!" This is a crude exaggeration of the truth. Needles and similar weapons are designed for very precise, exact work, and while variations upon the needle have been alchemetized for tearing at the opponent's flesh and creating deep wounds which will haunt a recurring foe across multiple battles, they will always be outclassed by true weapons of war. That is, after all, why this guide started with a section on defense. Regardless, basic attacks.
------------
A >] Needle Poke
// Your first technique is the most basic it is possible to perform with a needle – a firm poke forward with the leading side, aiming for the opponent's torso. This doubles as offense and defense, as in addition to delivering 7% of damage output, it creates an opportunity for you to take a step or two backwards if it is blocked. Very handy, and quick to recover from on a botched attempt.
A] Knit
// This technique in particular is best performed from your neutral stance, as it requires a fair amount of follow-through. Grasp your rear-most weapon firmly, as if you were clinging to your beloved's hand as they dangled over an abyss. Now, holding it perpendicular to your wrist, point facing inwards, swing it in an arc around your body until it pierces through whatever is standing in front of you. You may find it helpful to twist the needle on impact to give it additional penetrative force. (I do not recommend maintaining the above metaphor while performing this strike, unless you and your loved one have unresolved issues.) As a somewhat more technical motion than the above, this doesn't have quite the same damage output, a mere 5%. It covers a shorter area in front of you as well, and doesn't push foes away with as much force.
A ==>] Youth Slide
// Though at this point in your training there is quite frankly little point for you to be rushing at the enemy like a madman, having a practical mix-up strategy will be critical later down the line. At the least, should you fail there will be little consequence if you are still fighting shale imps and the like. Now, the key to an effective slide is to maintain your momentum as you would for a roll. Minimizing surface area in contact with the ground by sliding on the side of a single leg is one option. Make sure to extend one foot some distance in front of the other and collide with the ankles of the opponent with enough force to cause them to fall to the ground. This may deal up to 6% even if the tripping attempt fails.
Z] Restraining Grasp
// Are you near the foe? Have you an opening to make a strike on a vital area? If you find yourself in a position where you are simply too close to deliver any sort of meaningful force with your attacks, it may be worth your while to attempt a grapple. With both hands occupied, your reach is accordingly limited. Either transfer both of your weapons to one hand, or clench them in the fold between pointer finger and thumb before attempting, then swiftly lock your target’s limbs in your own. However you position the foe and yourself, you should have at least one vulnerable point at which to strike by whatever means available. Do so. You will find that needles are most effective in this situation; their lack of sharpened edges minimizes likelihood for unintended collateral damage. By hovering one point a short distance away from the enemy’s neck while maintaining a headlock, you may find them more willing to co-operate. 2-3% is the expected damage output for rapidly perforating the enemy’s skin in this position.
=====================================
[M110] Toast and Jam Techniques
=====================================
While the attacks in this section could technically be performed by anyone capable of reading this sentence, it has been specifically saved for later due to the increased risk undertaken in both the techniques themselves and the battle situations which would call for them in the first place. It is assumed that you have mastered the above before reading ahead, here as it is further on in the guide.
------------
Air >] Brutal Gore
// As the first truly powerful motion mentioned to this point, I am including this technique somewhat early so as to hold the attention of those a bit more bloodthirsty. At its core, this is a dual-handed aerial downward swing, utilizing both horizontal and vertical momentum for maximum impact. Feel for when the needles cease their journey through your combatant's meaty body, and make haste to extract them at this very instant. By gaining a foothold on their body, you may use this additional repulsive force to aid in retrieving your instruments of combat. As it sounds, this is a fairly devastating blow, totaling in 8% damage from the forced intrusion of metal upon flesh, and 6% from the retrieval of the same. Airborne opponents will be sent hurtling towards the ground with great force.
A ^] Octo-Parry
// Beneath the cuddly veneer of saccharine plushiness the powers that be would prefer you to associate with cephalopods and their ilk, most immediately visible in children’s programming, there lies the undeniable reality that their very existence is inextricably entangled with the zoologically dubious horrors which have driven so many into gibbering madness. That said, they make excellent role models. Now. This technique is somewhat deceptive, a “decoy octopus,” if you will. Assume your guard stance, as you would normally, but hold your weapons parallel to each other. Raise them over your head, arms on a diagonal, tips pointed forward. Good. You now look utterly ridiculous.
While this is not quite as effective of a defense as your standard guard stance, you will find that it enables you to launch a quick counterstrike for 8% on the underling who dared challenge you, so long as their attack meets your needles. This is highly useful against enemies jumping in at you, and has its use against overconfident foes who enjoy slashing overhead.
Air ^] Vital Pinch
// Whether it’s a rambunctious imp scuttling about on your rafters or a swooping banshee hovering out of reach, you need to be able to counteract opponents who have achieved the upper ground. Grasp your needles firmly, and hold them horizontally to yourself such that they are pointing upwards. Then, with great force, scissor them over your head such that they are slightly above the parallel in relation to the ground. By angling them slightly, you avoid the very real potential for self-mutilation. Regardless, this is an attack which necessitates a fair amount of self-awareness, and is highly damaging when it connects. It can deal 12% and kill at 90%, but a wary foe will be able to see it coming.
Air v] Youth Tumble
// As untrained as you are, the air is not yet a place you should like to be. Through a reapplication of your rolling motion, you will be able to find yourself safely on solid ground. Curl into a ball, arms folded over your head, weapons pointed behind yourself, and somersault downwards. You will of course need to account for your momentum such that you land upright upon landing. Owing to how difficult it can be to shield while in midair, this can be a last-resort way of avoiding damage – unless an attack is particularly devastating, in which case you should not even consider this maneuver, this will mitigate incoming damage by a factor of two, and eliminate an attack’s usual pushing force. It also turns your body into an omnidirectional projectile of sorts, delivering 4% and minimal knockback to foes caught unawares.
Air A] Severance
// Admittedly, sometimes the greatest defense is a good offense. In situations where the above would not be of assistance and there is no time to avoid an incoming attack, the best thing to do may simply be to launch an all-out assault. With a series of slashing motions, launch as many attacks as you are physically capable of over the course of ¾ of a second. If any hit (a question of your own skill) then drag the needle diagonally through their skin, tearing to the best of your ability. This covers a wide area around yourself, but may leave you vulnerable upon landing.
=====================================
[I100] The Voices Within
=====================================
If you have followed my suggestions up to this point, in both this guide and the general SBURBan "walkthrough," you should now be safely within the Medium, or perhaps through your first gate. You can expect monsters to grow in size and strength as you proceed, but their comparatively geometric growth in power will be matched and surpassed by your own exponential explosion of potential. The Seer has repeatedly been argued to be a passive class, and I would personally be inclined to agree. However, despite being labeled as "passive," Seers as a class are also capable of utilizing their manifold abilities most effectively in combat. You will be gifted, in one method or another, with visions, as would any seer in classical literature. Such visions are not quite of the future, nor precisely the present, but of a branching path. For myself, this path was represented by an amorphous condensation of light, which gave a general demonstration of what it expected me to do a second or two before it wanted me to do so. Perhaps a golden glow, hugging the ground, illuminating a path through which it would be particularly beneficial to roll. A collection of shining particles traipsing through the air, culminating in a sudden flash of light - clear indication of a finishing blow. Each skill you acquire will have its own manifestation, but neither of us have the time for them all, particularly when this guide is meant to serve as a template, not an end-all reference. It is fair to say that following this advice is hard-wired to result in a beneficial outcome, so long as you don't follow it blindly.
Luxkin, as a name is needed for this ill-defined conglomerate of prescient pseudo-beings to eliminate redundancy, are a welcome but unreliable support mechanism. Engaging in combat over an extended of time may increase their appearance to as often as once every ten seconds. Refraining from direct confrontation, but nonetheless lingering in an active battlefield may allow you to catch a glimpse of Luxkin once every 20 seconds or so. Grey areas between aggression and passiveness may vary wildly between the two. Regardless of how you handle the battle's flow, it should be evident that a firm understanding of the psychology of dueling is necessary on top of this otherworldly assistance.
Now then, as to their affect. Through careful observation, I have determined that quick reflexes are the key to taking full advantage of Luxkin. Following their trail (which will never be longer than twenty feet) will cause the light to be absorbed into your weapons, which increases their raw power by about 1.4x for a single attack if you complete the full motion, in both damage output and stopping force. Should you choose to vary the suggested course of action, perhaps playing it safe by spotdodging, this buff is instead transferred (at half potency) to your counter of choice.
If a defensive maneuver is demonstrated instead of an offensive one, you will find it to be far more effective. A shield, manifested by a distinctive aura emanating in a sphere around yourself, will be particularly sturdy, causing your opponent to reel from the force of impact regardless of timing. Via dodging, in place or through a tumbling action, you will find that your opponent's attacks are childishly predictable for a short time (often a fraction of a second, which is usually enough) after completing the motion, granting you an effective form of temporary invincibility.
Insight may also be granted in one other combat-related fashion, beyond general party co-ordination, but seeing as we have not touched upon it yet it shall have to wait.
=====================================
[M200] A Crash Course in Knitting
=====================================
B] Thread
// Until now, these attacks could be performed by any specibus meeting the qualification of "two pointed objects." No longer! For those of you not in possession of a pair of needles, this is the end of the line. Now go pick up a different guide as I suggested ages ago, you've wasted time you will never get back. I hope it will not cost you your life. As to those who remain, do not expect to be able to perform the moves to follow with your mother’s knitting needles – you’ll need to perform a fair amount of alchemy first, until you fabricate a suitable pair capable of channeling some sort of energy. While holding a set of needlewands, as would be a more accurate term, you must… how should I say this? Concentrate on the link between the implements and self. Feel for the faint pulse of energy stemming from them, undulating in a constant pattern, and match it with your heartbeat. This will cause it to glow with an energy specific to the needle, ranging from the purest of whites to the deepest of purples. While working towards mastering the technique, do not be surprised if it takes multiple hours at first. You will eventually be capable of trimming it down to a fraction of a second.
After you have succeeded in creating this link, it will not require any further mental effort to maintain. The needles will brim with energy so long as they are in your grasp. However, by continuing to concentrate, you’ll find that the glow begins to manifest itself physically in the form of workable thread. It grows as long as you will it to do so, trailing behind yourself as you move. Ceasing to concentrate, of course, stops this growth. While I cannot determine of what this thread is formed, it does obey the laws of gravity as should be expected for a gossamer-like strand of material, meaning it falls very slowly. It seems fairly useless on its own; you will find that foes are unable to pass through it but can simply push it away. It is also surprisingly durable for knitting material, capable of taking 10% of abuse before fraying at the point it was bludgeoned, a 10-foot radius stemming from the fray vanishing as it returns to whatever plane it came from.
B v] Stitch
// It should be obvious that this vast length of thread will not be of particular use in its current state. Impressive and self-gratifying as it may be to trail a colored steam of energy behind oneself, it serves no purpose in battle – perhaps, even a liability as foes grab it to hold you in place. By a simple reapplication of the core concepts behind knitting, we may add structure and begin turning the tide in our favor. The method of doing so is somewhat abstract… imagine, if you will, that the universe is suspended in a flask of gelatin. Not particularly good gelatin either: poorly mixed, flavorless, and uncolored. What you are to do is feel around for "clumps" of this gelatin – patches of thing air which push back slightly when you pass a charged needle through them. At these places, you may create an anchor point for your thread. This takes very little time. In fact, the very act of charging the needles is more than enough preparation. Fasten the thread in place or simply pass it through, the end result is the same: an immobile point in space, supporting the thread. It’s slightly more resistant to abuse by a factor of .5x, and can halt the destruction of a long portion altogether.
A >>] Eldritch Seam
// You may be pleased to learn that your knitting abilities may be used offensively as well as defensively. After establishing synchronicity with your wands, shift your focus to increasing the rate of the pulse, instead of matching it. Doing so properly will cause its glow to increase in intensity – brights become brighter, darks appear to stifle the ambient light around them. Ultimately, after a second of intense concentration, you may release a jagged beam of energy, spanning the entire battlefield – half this distance if your concentration is interrupted partway through. It moves rapidly, and may penetrate multiple foes as it travels, dealing 16% to each and beginning to place them out of commission at 130%.
Of course, as this is ultimately magically-imbued thread, this may also be used as a long-range grapple on either a particularly niggling foe, the ground, or a suspended string of your own creation. To manage this, you must quickly regain unison with the pulse after firing it, in the same method used for its creation. This action must be demarcated before the moment of impact, a successful hit causing the beam to stick, pull taut, and deal damage as it would normally. Although it is highly likely to be destroyed rather quickly, it is quite possible to take advantage of your momentary leash on the foe. Hitting an immobile object causes an anchor point to form, as does threading this upon itself. It is possible to quickly establish form in dangling strings in this manner.
Air <] Expeditious Retreat
// Personal mobility should always be a priority, and having an active thread gives you a highly flexible option as a backup. Mentally command your thread to retract, and it will do so at a stunning pace, absorbing itself back into your wands. Dealing with pesky foes who have grabbed onto your thread is one use of this, enabling you to meet them with a powerful needle shoved behind yourself for 11% on impact, a mistimed encounter flailing at 4%. If the enemy is particularly massive, or your thread has been anchored, you will instead find yourself on the move – potentially equally useful. Finally, pesky slack can be safely eliminated in this manner. Cancel your order prematurely by attacking – you’ll get the message across.
=====================================
[M210] Reexamination of Staples
=====================================
A] Rethread
// Now that you have fabric to work with, this attack gains a new purpose. Target your thread with a single swipe, and you’ll be able to start anew at any given point. Unfortunately, the elasticity factor of eldritch energy has thus far proven to be very low – no chance of launching basilisks out of a catapult yet.
Air A] Severance
// The title of this move gains new meaning under the context of the thread’s existence – your flailing becomes quite useful at destroying it on contact in a precise strike. This is an effective way to create useful slack.
A >] Son Filé
// To borrow the latin "sustained tone," we will be using the concept of son filé to provide our thread with some much-needed defense. Approach a taut section of string, considering its length and rigidity for the purpose at hand. Do not grasp it - this will reduce the effectiveness of what is to follow. Place a single needle on the string, near the base, to gain the greatest area of effect. Finally, pull back on the needle while sliding it across the thread's length. This will create a soft tone, pitch dependent upon the length of the segment. Any connected segments will join the chorus as well with their unique tones, so long as they too are pulled tight. You can expect it to last for five seconds, though repeated strikes will add one half the previous to this span (7.5 seconds, 8.725, 9.3, etc.) While the string vibrates, it automatically reflects any projectile which encounters it, even your own. Be cautious around it, as its rapid pulsation can result in minor damage on contact, 2-3%.
------------
Now then, back to that mentioned tertiary manifestation of precognition. It is possible that your thread will begin to glow, particularly if you have spent a good deal of time manipulating it. When it does so, seek out this location and grasp it - a continuation from this point will be notably more stable, and maintain the golden glow. No singular amount of force will break it.
=====================================
[M300] Utilizing the Air
=====================================
B^ ] phc00000
// Just as it was necessary to alchemetize a proper weapon to begin the previous section, the following techniques will prove impossible without a great wealth of personal growth on one’s echeladder – specifically, the development of an ability to fly at will. It is meaningless to explain "how" one learns to fly. If you don’t know how, you can’t, as simple as that. Flight is only temporary, but highly reliable. Do not plan to fly more than eight seconds without rest, you aren’t a hero of Breath. While flying, you may continue to fight precisely as if you were on the ground, though you can choose to fall again at any point.
[my case appears to be an unusual one, but is worth noting regardless. while flying, i can't help but shake the feeling that something is... off. a small pain building in my chest, spreading to the extremities - only 1-2 damage per second, which heals at the same pace as i refrain from flight... if anyone else experiences this, try to gauge when to stay earthbound and when flight it worth the increased risk.]
B >] Particle Rush
// The technique to follow requires an appreciation of the literal and connotative interpretations of your aspect. You must turn your focus inwards, glowing with an internal light as would one of the auxiliatrices. Following this, dash forwards or backwards roughly 15 feet, allowing your inner glow to bend you around whatever is in the way, as would a wave of light. What this boils down to is a supernaturally powered dodge that can carry you through the air.
It can be beneficial to use this while holding out your thread - while bending around an enemy, they will become entangled in the string left behind! This will guarantee that they spin head over heels unless they had the foresight to dodge out of the way (or duck underneath,) foiling even a guard. Highly useful on both air and ground, this is a viable alternative to launching a more traditional offensive.
Throw <] Enforced Retreat
// The utility of entanglement is not limited to crude disorientation. In an environment over which you have even slightly more control, such as a maintained grapple, it becomes quite possible to hold the opponent subject to the whims of your past, to phrase it poetically. Shift around them as you would in the above, firmly establishing a pair of loops pulled tightly around their waist. Now, turn to face your quarry, and crack both ends of the thread like a whip – watch as they are carried away by the endless expanse. It will be somewhat more difficult for them to escape this firm hold, but they may nonetheless be able to struggle out before they are carried a crippling distance away. Fortunately, they suffer 3% worth of abuse per second of travel, with an additional 4% at each junction in the weave. As they move along the path, they gather speed, so naturally they will be thrown out most forcefully if they are unable to break out.
Throw v] Dersite Drop
// Getting the enemy out of your hair can be a preventative measure rather than an active one. By looping a length of thread around your would-be-assailant’s ankles, then shoving them over, you can put them out of commission for some time, particularly if this is used while airborne. Break out the wooden sticks and don an appropriately festive hat, as this is the perfect backdrop for a multiethnic party.
Throw ^] Hangman's Ascent
// You should be quite adept at knitting complex knots and patterns by now. How about something more practical? While holding a foe hostage, loop both needles around their neck, and pull taut. The loop will seal upon itself, creating a closed system around their trachea. Next, leap into the air, using them as a launchboard, and brace for recoil – the goal here is to accelerate quickly enough to drag them into the air by the noose around their neck.
=====================================
[M310] A New Vantage Point
=====================================
Air ^] Zipline
// It would truly be a shame if you did not take advantage of the vast expanse of thread hovering in the air. When considering moves we have already mastered, one stands out as particularly useful. Instead of serving as an attack, pinching these needles over your head turns your weaving into a zipline of sorts, quickly carrying you where you need to go so long as you maintain your grip. This is not an attack in and of itself, naturally, but does enable to you catch up to foes being carried away by the line. Of course, you can also take advantage of the increased momentum to hurl yourself at great speed towards a ground-bound enemy, readying an attack as you do so.
A v] Dark Pulse
// From a bird’s-eye view, it becomes very tempting to rain down destruction on your enemies, which is quite possible. For maximum coverage, fire a single slow-moving burst of concentrated energy at a downwards angle, roughly powerful enough to deal 8% on contact. These will travel on their own pace until they come into contact with either the ground or an enemy, bursting in a small explosion, and may reflect off of vibrating strings.
A ^^] Eldritch Storm
// Attempt, for the sake of practicality, to master this technique fairly quickly, as you will find it highly useful in what is to come. Clasp both needles close to your chest, holding them tightly so that their inner pulse becomes unified. Concentrate intently, building up energy in each – you’ll need roughly 1.5x as much as for your previous beam attack, due to the redistribution of focus. When you find them suitably charged, swiftly raise them over your head, again in an X – they flash in a burst of power, dealing up to 21% of eldritch damage. Then, their power still not expended, aim both in opposing directions with either hand – up, down, straight out, some combination of the two, and release. The residual energy arcs out, very similarly to the beam from earlier with identical utility but reduced power. Due to the reduction in offensive potential, this is best used as utility or defense.
=====================================
[P000] Channeling the Grimoire
=====================================
After careful reflection, I am redacting the final portion of this guide in its entirety. It was foolhardy enough for me to consult the Horrorterrors on my own volition, how miserable would I be offering it as a genuine suggestion to others? No, your training is over. Develop your own “ultimate” techniques; you are no longer in need of a tutor.
------------ Air >] Deep's Beckon
// We will be borrowing from an early skill for our first interaction with the otherworldly. By now, you may have found it useful to continually maintain synchronicity – taking advantage of the increased power mitigated only by the slight decrease in speed. Your target this time will not be your foe or your thread, but the very ground beneath you. When thorn and field collide, the land is poisoned, brimming with the residual aura of the eldritch. This of course does nothing whatsoever, but can be interesting to watch.
Grab] Therapy
// Proximity is no longer a prerequisite to restraining the enemy – arguably, it never was. By maintaining a deep state of concentration, channeling through your wands as normal, it is quite possible to either create a levitating length of thread from your own position or assume control over an extant segment. Either way, this tendril of energy can be used to grasp at foes from a distance, moving at roughly your normal speed. Of course, none of the aforementioned “throws” work from a distance, with the exception of Enforced Retreat (perhaps inappropriately named now, as it draws foes inward) but it is still possible to squeeze them from a distance for minor damage. Although this is a more fragile approach, as your thread is still liable to attack, but its speed and general utility makes it worth the effort now and again. See to it that you maintain an awareness of your surroundings, as it takes some time to recover after use.
Throw >] Banishment
// Ah. Here we are. These are dangerous waters we now tread, and perhaps a good enough place to end. Regardless, if it is your choice to continue, do so with caution.
When engaging in parley with the Noble Circle of Horrorterrors, it will serve you greatly to not draw undue attention to yourself. The two techniques above simply leech an imperceptible amount of their energy for personal use; what is to follow is a direct intrusion into their realm. With a helpless enemy, open a temporary rift to the Furthest Ring, (a detailed process can be discovered in Appendix A,) and hoist them through it. Simple enough, in theory: introduce a foreign contaminant to the environment, and it will be rejected, the lowest of the Circle banefully thrashing their flagella in order to tear the foe apart. All of this is thankfully out of view, though a new tear quickly opens to expel the infection, hurling it away to kill at 85%. It’s difficult to estimate, but I would wager this deals 14-17% in total.
Remember when I said to be careful with this? The Noble Circle is not foolish. They will quickly catch on that someone is intentionally disturbing their incessant glubbing. And they will deliver the same thorncoddling to you that you wished upon your enemies if you call upon them frequently. This has the double-edged effect of increased damage with subsequent uses as well as an increased effort on their part to pull you into the furthest ring. Be careful.
A vv] Call of Fluthlu
// It is time for our realm to embrace the true glory of His wriggling tentacles. By the Nine Outer Gods of the Furthest Ring, those to whom we owe the blessing which we so unappreciatively call “life,” and to those lesser but nonetheless awe-inspiring consorts of suc- I had you going there for a second, didn’t I? No, but we are truly in dangerous waters now. Inviting horrorterrors beyond the Furthest Ring is a highly delicate process, which can go incredibly wrong very easily. Such as trying to call them while on the ground – you WILL be attacked. You must have a direct line of contact to the ground for this to have any notable effect at all, best achieved with a well-looped thread connected to the ground some distance away. After the ritual is complete (again, it is best not to include such within the body of this text) the ground crumbles in a wide radius from where the thread connects, calling into being indescribable writhing limbs which flail about all over. It has not been possible to measure this move’s power, but it is surely immense.
Of particular note is that your thread will continue to carry the energy even if it has nowhere to go, releasing it as soon as it has an outlet.
FINAL] Despair
// No. There is never going to be any situation which justifies use of this. You can hover, you can swing back to safety, you may even knit yourself a home in midair. There will be no situation where it is worth calling for your own soul to be extracted for the selfish purpose of your physical body’s survival. The grasping arm’s bone-chilling grasp becomes all you are aware of, draining you of an absurd amount of life force as penance. If you are fortunate enough to find your body before your soul loses permanency over the course of the next several seconds, you can still regain control over it. There is, however, little hope of this. Until then, enjoy the burst of strength and intangibility that accompanies the moments which separate existence from oblivion.
Gonna go and pretty much do as I did with Stromboli, and say my bit about each section as I go, and see how the moveset plays out. Shall we?
STATS
"Levitating characters everybody's so fond of..." how many are there?
Anywho, Uka seems to be a Jigglypuff in tiki-clothing based on his stats, but swaps multiple jumps for the ability to dash up to 5 times in any direction before having to land (how does he land if he's always floating?), and the comment about restoring jumps... er, attacking only restores Up Specials dude. On top of this, the Z inputs are kinda weird when he has a noted "ground state" in that he needs to be a Mario height above to refresh his jumps. Couldn't that just have his ground moves and then when off that area he has aerials?
Other than that, it's cool how he can walk backwards (leading to the grab and such later) and how he can crouch to go right to the floor, but retain full movement, a nice touch.
Actually, does he even have jumps? If not, there's a button right there you could have used.
SPECIALS
Ok, what are you smoking, and can you please share?
Lemme sum up what he can do in his specials:
Uka can rip Kirby Sized rocks from the floor and/or bottom blast zone if offstage (not hard for him to be there) and then use it as a shield he can move about to cover himself. He can then lob it a distance of Battlefield for KB that kills starting at 125%, or spin it in place to become an offensive shield, and then be tossed again for even more power and distance. He can also drop it for a falling spike hitbox, fun.
Make a line like yoshi touch and go that bans people from the ground in most instances, and allows him more room to build up power for the rocks mentioned earlier, or just lets them float there and become slid obstacles that you have to damage Uka to get rid of, and then they can just fall from the sky on you if Uka put them high.
Uka does this, which aside from being an infinitely long Charizard Flamethrower, ricochet off anything solid and/or can be controlled independently. When doing the latter they will burn the ground and essentially create a "cut along the dotted line" effect for his Rock-Pull special, letting him yank out slices of stage to use. He can slant the "wafers" to make slopes, which is cool, but then again he also has infinite death lazers doing the same move here.
Creates a tornado that prettly much takes up the entire middle of Battlefield that uses all the debris yanked up by his other specials to deal damage and hitstun that is comparable (not as much tho) as ZSS's Dsmash, and it lasts for about 9 falcon punches. You can even combo foes with rocks flying out of the top of it depending on what you toss in there. He can even make it a lazer tornado by rouncing his eyebeams on the spinning rocks.
So, he can make rocks litter the stage and shoot death beams of doom from anywhere and have them infinitley bounce off of the rocks while foes have to traverse past them, as well as create bigger slices of rock and cutting away at the stage to make more material to launch at you while hiding behind a giant trap that spins all these rocks at you for more giant hitboxes with an up-time of about 5 a minute and really cant be reasonably avoided with all said debris and lazers.
Nice.
GRAB-GAME
I do love the way he has to grab, feels very natural for a mask-character to grab by you know, going over their face. The pummel is weird tho, but can be fixed by saying the foe just hits themselves comically or such, and what dictates which is their most useful move?
As for the throws, they all share the same issues medic faced to a degree in that it asks too much of the victim where it may not make sense, as well as having awkward mechanics based on aesthetics which are always a no-no.
Z SMASHES
Ok, so while that tornado of death is going on and you're running uncontrollably, Uka has the ability to point at an area and make it go boom. Kills at 95%, and even splits the friggen ground in half, destroying more of the stage and giving Uka more rocks to feed the *****nado. Speaking of, he can also make multiple mini tornadoes that feed on other windboxes (like the one taking up most of the screen-space) and can suck up enemies and more rocks, just like daddy. Oh, and to top it off he can make the ground or rocks into hitboxes for 20-30ish % in one go during all this.
The more you layer it the more ridiculous it gets...
A SMASHES
His normal smashes start off right away with a smash that can charge up to 6.5 seconds, which is odd seeing as the max time is 2 for everyone else *shrug*. Anywho, said move makes him dodge in a circle while creating Alakazam+Feraligatr's whirlpool but with DoT and making foes stunned while Uka can pick them off at his convenience by flinging them wherever he wants. Oh, it also acts like a pseudo-tornado in that it grabs all his usual crap too. Kinda redundant with the Up B in use aside from the side effect, but eh.
The other two make meteors rain down diagonally from the top of the screen and bore through ceilings to pass by Uka, and a commandable bullet-seed with an upward wind effect, but the rocks then fall back down as well and can be used as fodder for the Uka-storm.
At this point, I'm fairly convinced WL got the idea for Uka from a blender and sliced fruit. The blender is Up B, and everything else but lazers are fruit, lazer is the knife.
Z STANDARDS
Holy smart-bomb-radius-tractor-beam-to-directional-launch, Batman! Not only can this hit through all your crap, it even uses all your crap (again, blender) to use against foes (again).
Then we got the FZ, which creates a cage about... 3x as large as Uka in front of himself that he can trap anyone with, and hold out forever? And if they do escape, they then have to face the mighty blender from the air? No thanks.
The next one looks ok... did you just imply the Neutral Z field lingers on-stage, stacking with other traps?!
Down Z makes foes become prone-mid air, and likely gimps them if done off an edge too. The mid-air prone is incredibly awkward to imagine, and essentially sets up a tech chase against the Tornado.. so yeah. Oh, it actually forces prone on the ground too? He has so many choices to lock the foe down it's silly.
A STANDARDS
These are all relatively tame, but even then still circle back to the Blender, with Ftilt letting you move around in it better while "gimping" foes. More interestingly, Utilt makes him horizontal, making it possible to actually land your grab on the prone foes you can so easily make....
I actually like that bit quite a lot as it adds an excellent twist, but at this point I fear it may be too little too late.
SUMMARY
Ok, to sum up my experience of Uka: the darn thing's broke. His gameplay revolves around his ridiculous mass of special moves (Sorry, most if not all of these are friggen specials, he has no real normal attacks here) which feel like different experiments put together and tied by the "blender" concept with the giant Tornado of doom he can have up near constantly. The thing that irks me here is how relatively useless the 'Nado is unless you feed it at which point it becomes redonkulous, I mean that thing with a rock in it will probably guarantee you the set-up time you need to just steamroll that stock to oblivion. Add on eye beams of death and the various giant, powerful hitboxes he has, he's broken even with his crappy "survival". That shouldn't even be an issue since you won't really be hitting him any time soon.
I dunno man, the set just leeks with excess power that I don't think even numbers-wise toning down would fix. While at the same time, the dude gets stomped on by anything that can approach him before he makes a tornado. In the end, all of this just leads to an ultimately shallow playstyle (the grabs are cool, but don't offer as much as the tornado worshiping IMO to be worth going for) where Uka Players will all boil down to the best ways to blow up foes when they're getting pummeled by tornado debris and eye beams.
It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and feels as if the medium was mostly glazed over to try out a bunch of stuff that ultimately didn't amount to much more than a playable hurricane that's generically OP with a bazillion hitboxes and KO ability from said hitboxes.
Sorry to interrupt the moveset flow, had to get this out of my system.
This MYM Brawl you're talking about is a complete fallacy. Outside of you and Dave I haven't seen anyone build sets with this theoretical MYM brawl as their metagame of choice.
Now, now - where did I ever say I use MYM Brawl as my metagame? If there's some sort of post where it was said, I appologize for it: but I'm less inclined to believe the memory of the person who claims that I am both the fifth leader and that I made Coachman.
Rose comment is delayed due to... readability issues. It's a great writing style for the character, don't get me wrong, but I have no idea what's going on.
Headless Horseman
The base for this set is... okay, providing the Horseman a few ways to recover his head should things go awry, as it allows him to better utilize some of the attacks in his moveset. In this day and age, it's not nearly strong enough to carry the set by itself, although I'll give you credit for removing crap from the original set like the breakdancing. The minions and flame trail could've been reasonably interesting if they were at all capitalized on, but of course the minions are delegated to "catch your thrown head" and an occasional distraction, which is really pretty disappointing. The character's motto in this particular version is "Soldiers Arise", I'd think you'd do a little more with them than what you did. I recognize you're trying to keep true to the original set a bit, but you even acknowledge this isn't the classic Headless Horseman, rather the version with these particular minions.
Enough complaining about that, the actual set is extremely bland, being a fairly basic Brawl set with a few token moves that are buffed with the head or rendered unusable without it, or additional ways to throw the Pumpkin in case you didn't have enough. It feels like a mediocre LL set in that it's trying to create this "transition" playstyle, but said transition doesn't really affect the way the set plays that much. When the set's not focused on this, there is absolutely nothing to talk about in regards to the rest of the set, the other attacks are just generic moves to get across the "feel" of the Horseman that don't feel designed with the context of anything you provide in the set in mind. You could've at least used the flame trail from the dash attack, if you didn't want to touch the minions. It's a tribute to Rool's Headless Horseman, I understand that and I respect that, but if it were Rool remaking the set I'm sure he would've prefered to have actually given the Horseman something remotely interesting to do with his head.
Ryota
This is your big Halloween set, my god is it disappointing man. This character has only one actual measure of attack and it could never possibly KO, given the knockback is spiking. And of course, in the writing style all you propose using it for is bashing open cages, as this character is clearly meant for 2v2 right? Well I'll tell you something Kat. This set is pretty damn useless in 2v2 compared to a good number of other characters, considering while buffing allies is nice, being able to fight is another important part of any good 2v2 team. If we're going for how interesting the set is, it feels like most every input is just another generic way to keep your ally from taking knockback, often at the expense of Ryota, with a generic as hell buff thrown in on the grab. Because clearly we don't have specials for that. I guess all this crap is supposed to be justified by being a nice teacher, but in an earlier set you had bloody Yutaka go and beat the crap out of her opponents like every other normal being in Brawl. Also he's missing a bloody Neutral Special. How could you forget a bloody NEUTRAL SPECIAL?
[COLLAPSE=""]Mistleteinn
Okay, enough messing around, let's get to the actual set. This is your 2nd 3v1 boss and the signs of your evolution since Fibrizo is clear, with the atmosphere far surpassing the already great one in that set, as well as a far more sophisticated and balanced execution of it's concepts. Seriously dude, that presentation is amazing. This is without a doubt the least tacky of your sets, everything makes sense.
On the actual meat of the set... it's a bit different than what I've come to expect from you. This probably the Fly set where getting the foe into her dimension feels the least relevant to the actual set, given that all it requires is a simple tap of a button. That said, at least you provide a choice of how many foes you want in there, and then give Mistletienn the task of keeping the others out by racking damage on her current victim. It's a somewhat bizarre system and I can't help but wonder if it's really entirely necessary, but it does balance this character who is ridiculous even by 3v1 standards were she given more time. That and she kind of has ridiculous stage destruction capabilities, which help warrant said alternate dimension.
Said capabilities are... decently utilized, but I find the execution to be a bit lacking. She's got the stalactites which fall when the platforms are destroyed, and some decent ways to abuse them in allowing her the ability to further pursue foes or creating a tentacle in them that she can use to shatter them. It's a bit bland though, a lot of the set just feels like cheap ways to kill the foe utilizing the smashed up stage, it's a bit redundant and just makes her feel generically powerful. Where the set is more interesting is when it starts utilizing the foe's knockback against each other via the Down Special, allowing you to bash the foe around as a bludgeon in a fair few interesting ways. The Jab's highly controllable knockback becomes a lot more interesting here, at any rate. The Javalin's also pretty great for this purpose, and on top of that can be used as a way of trapping foes in place on your ever collapsing stage, giving her additional reason to manipulate her debris. Still... I found this set a bit confusing at points, such as the DSmash being used to manipulate the position of debris when attacks usually destroy it. And if Ryota's KOed, I presume they share the same stock count and they get a stock loss from that, correct?
I was very mixed on the moveset until I actually reached the Down Throw, however, which makes a lot of her game more interesting. It gives her an in character reason to actually want to preserve the foe's life a bit, to give her an ally both in the Dream World and the real world(or someone you can just use as a giant meat shield, whichever works for you). Hell, this makes Ryota's otherwise useless moveset actually relevant, it's especially good for the purposes of babysitting a CPU. The knockback control/manipulation you provide is certainly helpful in this context given she may not actually just be going for the KO and attempting something worse. Given you reap the benefits of this upon getting the foe to 160%, that also makes the Dark Falz style Up Throw a bit more useful. The set does piece together nicely the more one thinks about it, but it still is a bit lacking in flow in some areas and I was sort of hoping you'd do a little bit more with the destructable stage. None-the-less, it's a good set for what it is.[/COLLAPSE]
Good call! Sadly, MYM is kinda down on itself these days. Stuck in a rut and all that. Feels a bit like everyone's looking for something different and nobody quite knows what. The community is probably in need of some excitement to stir things up, and some fresh blood couldn't hurt. I highly recommend going at commenting and movesetting with reckless abandon; MYM when at rest tends to stay at rest if nothing comes along to get people going.
I don't quite agree with Joe that this moveset is horribly broken, but I didn't particularly enjoy it either. I felt Uka Uka was a tad blad/boring, as I feel more of his interaction came with the stage than the foe, and that his playstyle seemed to either be a bit too much at times or very generic. I also thought the tornado lasting 10 seconds was a bit silly and I disliked how the grab seemed a bit too abusable, although the throws amused me VERY much.
The set had it's good points, though. The way the terraforming is handled isn't really like a lot of terraforming sets and thus gives it a refreshing air to it. The way that he handles juggling the foe to their doom is likewise interesting, if not explored in the best of ways. To me, this set feels more like an experiment, getting out a bunch of ideas to try them out, which might then be refocused in a later set of yours. Still, it is at least enjoyable, although I can't say I was particularly fond of it. And so it goes.
Emissary to the Furthest Ring
A quick compliment to the start of the set. It gets across the stylistic beginnings of many a Homestuck kids introduction, while providing varying images of the character and overall looking cool.
In fact, to me, the presentation is one of the most amazing things, weaving together a tale similiar to Rose's journey through the very text, going from the humble beginnings of, say, a jab, to the abilities of the Seer of Light and through unto her Grimdarkification, molding itself from a simple poke of a needle to the very ripping out of your own soul for survival. All of this is explained in an appropriately Rose sounding second person narration meant to be from the Seer herself, which I feel is done in a pretty spot on manner, creating a rich and strong narrative that makes it a blast for me to read. I imagine others will disagree, the style doesn't do much for those who have not read Homestuck I wager, but for me it is phantasmagorical.
The playstyle is a soothing and flowing thread of small but gradual ideas presented to slowly enrapture the reader. Rose works as a sort of interesting mid-range character with her wands giving her small but disjointed attacks, but soon blooms into something more, introducing things such as her abilities as the Seer of Light, a limited precognativeness that shows flashes that give you a bonus to both aggressive and defensive actions when acting in accordance with it's flashes of chances, referred to here as "Luxkin", before going further into complexity by introducing the ability to create threads with your Needlewands, which you can use of many a purpose, from a simple destructable wall to a complex energy strike, until the end where you may do things such as summon the ability of the eldritch and so on. The thread's weaknesses are interesting in context, such as the foe using it to hold you in place while it is attached, and the set feels neither under nor overpowered and very fun to imagine actually playing, which is a boon in my book.
Because of all of this, I deem this quite the success sir Agidius. Although the plain text version may change this in some way, it is for now by far a favorite this set.
Lizard the Wizard
Lizard is a set I've been meaning to comment for a while, but never quite got around to. Let us rectify that, yes?
There is a LOT of fun stuff in Lizard. Which is very fitting: I mean, it's this super magical wizard turned into a lizard, that screams for a set about fun. Lizard has almost no weight, but makes up for that with a variety of magic abilities that make him seem legitimately playable, such as his ability to Counterspell the foe with an innovative Counter Down Special, his cool move copying and a Khamsin-esque ability to create a variety of Golems to fight for or alongside him, although the flow is done much better here than with Khamsin. Indeed, I feel the versatility is quite well done here: No one option feels like it particularly outweighs the other and there are sufficient tricks for each and every Golem combination. I particularly like how the psuedo-invisbility is handled, with the Forward Tilt providing mind games which are not too strong and the Down Tilt providing sufficient defense to a foe who is just using their Smash Attacks to get through and the like.
I do feel he is a bit too light however, he should probably be around a .5 or something, and I felt like the NAir was somewhat out of place, or at least the tornado part was. But the positives of a rich and inventive, flowing, almost childishly fun moveset outweigh the negatives of some balance issues and a single move complain, earning this a high place on the totem pole of MYM13 sets.
As per usual, the rankings have been updated, but I also added in some old sets I had not read that I did not feel required further commentary to the rankings. Please enjoy.
Mistleteinn
Okay, enough messing around, let's get to the actual set. This is your 2nd 3v1 boss and the signs of your evolution since Fibrizo is clear, with the atmosphere far surpassing the already great one in that set, as well as a far more sophisticated and balanced execution of it's concepts. Seriously dude, that presentation is amazing. This is without a doubt the least tacky of your sets, everything makes sense.
On the actual meat of the set... it's a bit different than what I've come to expect from you. This probably the Fly set where getting the foe into her dimension feels the least relevant to the actual set, given that all it requires is a simple tap of a button. That said, at least you provide a choice of how many foes you want in there, and then give Mistletienn the task of keeping the others out by racking damage on her current victim. It's a somewhat bizarre system and I can't help but wonder if it's really entirely necessary, but it does balance this character who is ridiculous even by 3v1 standards were she given more time. That and she kind of has ridiculous stage destruction capabilities, which help warrant said alternate dimension.
Said capabilities are... decently utilized, but I find the execution to be a bit lacking. She's got the stalactites which fall when the platforms are destroyed, and some decent ways to abuse them in allowing her the ability to further pursue foes or creating a tentacle in them that she can use to shatter them. It's a bit bland though, a lot of the set just feels like cheap ways to kill the foe utilizing the smashed up stage, it's a bit redundant and just makes her feel generically powerful. Where the set is more interesting is when it starts utilizing the foe's knockback against each other via the Down Special, allowing you to bash the foe around as a bludgeon in a fair few interesting ways. The Jab's highly controllable knockback becomes a lot more interesting here, at any rate. The Javalin's also pretty great for this purpose, and on top of that can be used as a way of trapping foes in place on your ever collapsing stage, giving her additional reason to manipulate her debris. Still... I found this set a bit confusing at points, such as the DSmash being used to manipulate the position of debris when attacks usually destroy it. And if Ryota's KOed, I presume they share the same stock count and they get a stock loss from that, correct?
I was very mixed on the moveset until I actually reached the Down Throw, however, which makes a lot of her game more interesting. It gives her an in character reason to actually want to preserve the foe's life a bit, to give her an ally both in the Dream World and the real world(or someone you can just use as a giant meat shield, whichever works for you). Hell, this makes Ryota's otherwise useless moveset actually relevant, it's especially good for the purposes of babysitting a CPU. The knockback control/manipulation you provide is certainly helpful in this context given she may not actually just be going for the KO and attempting something worse. Given you reap the benefits of this upon getting the foe to 160%, that also makes the Dark Falz style Up Throw a bit more useful. The set does piece together nicely the more one thinks about it, but it still is a bit lacking in flow in some areas and I was sort of hoping you'd do a little bit more with the destructable stage. None-the-less, it's a good set for what it is.
Was extremely nervous that you wouldn't like this, and I even held off looking at your post for a while, but I'm glad you like/accept it (even if parts of your comment imply that you like it more than you say). This set, here, is one where I -know- I got motivated and WANTED to complete it rather than it feeling forced like with some of my previous stuff - you know that feeling where you can't stop thinking about ideas for the set even if you think of other stuff because all your trains of thought lead back to working on the set? It's a feeling I don't remember when I last had, maybe with Luxord, Jeanne or Katmey. I think gathering snapshots while playing the DVD on my computer really helped motivate me to actually work on the set, but also because I freaking love these two characters as villains, moreso Ijima - liking the character is first step to wanting to make a set for them, after all. I actually had no fascinating concept or anything mapped out when attempting the set, but still managed to get some stuff fall into place naturally. I'd also say this set has the absolute best atmosphere of any I've ever made and is my first set I've ever made that has content which I actually like seeing in sets - good atmosphere and cinematic style, what have you.
When coming into this comment, I was pleasantly surprised that I wouldn't have to defend myself given how proud I am of it, because I do agree on your complaints. For what they're worth however, I didn't mention, or at least didn't feel I had any other way of conveying that Mistelteinn does most her fighting close-up instead of using projectile spam or manipulating the contents of her world like you'd expect - if I defied that part of her character for the sake of making some of the ideas more interesting, the set would end up much like your interpretation of Chakravartin, on a note you can relate to. Putting in lots of close-combat moves felt like the kind of thing that'd be cool (to visualize) given I don't put them on my sets often, and I've always wanted to see a 3v1 set that focuses on that kind of thing by taking advantage of other characters to use as wrecking balls against others - when making the set, I was aware that locking down one foe in a 3v1 and justifying the action as being fitting to the setting is not the right way to go about a 3v1. Onto the bland moves, I was aware that some of them were bland, but it was better than making them tacky for the sake of making them interesting (When imagining my own set, I'd rather a Brawl-esque move that can be used practically than some tacky effect) - sure, I was putting them on for the sake of the character, but I understand that having only/mostly simple, close-combat-based moves on a set is no excuse for blandness. That said, making those kinds of moves interesting is very, very hard (if at least for me), usually moreso when there's a bigger concept to focus on that's on a higher level.
I had my suspicions that this set wouldn't massively appeal to you, but I do massively appreciate what praise you give to some of the stuff I'm quite proud of in the set, mainly atmosphere and the D-throw. Also, while the two characters don't share the same damage percentage, they do share the same stock count given the Dream Demon is killed if the host is killed in the main series. I'll just leave that here for reference if anyone wants to know.
Yeah, it's a problem... maybe some new blood can breathe that positive attitude back into MYM tho?
ROSE:
You have a fantastic set here Agi, and even as somebody who knows little to nothing about Homestuck other than that it exists, I agree with Roy in that the story this set creates is superb. Starting from a little girl making a fanfiction (the set), and evolving from there with each section pertaining to the evolution of her character is just fantastic. Learning each move through her words and metaphors (imps for weak foes, gores for strong, etc) was a refreshing take and made the altered moves (something I'm a fan of, moves that are the "same" but differ based on material / stance) all the more fun to discover.
That said, it did get a little confusing at the end when she became dark. Was that supposed to actually be cut from the set? How does the new Fthrow work (with the Fair's portal)? Does Dsmash just summon multi-hitting tentacles for a while until the thread is cut? Does Up B let her fly as mentioned earlier in the set, but at the cost of %? I dunno, that part just seemed sort of cut off from the rest of the tight-knit set.
Speaking of knitting, the way the needles and thread are used here are great. The specials all work wonderfully, and the normal attacks interacting with them (especially the Ftilt making the taught thread reverberate) are something I greatly enjoyed, leading to a huge amount of versatility for a Rose player. She can go offense, defense or just mess around with Strings and entangling foes for a mixed approach, giving her some great depth at a higher level of play. On top of this, the Luxkin mechanic is a great addition if you choose to act upon it, letting you have a sort of spidey-sense every so often that can give you a boost depending on if you are able to use it properly, as well as giving the foe a heads up to what is to come. Creates a great mind-game aspect to her on top of her already technical string-work, a nice touch.
She'd truly be a pleasure to play practically (even more so if you gave a little more insight into the last section you crossed out), and a definite vote from me (y).
Edit: To note on the Dair (when not stringed), the damage reduction effect is really cool. I know it's kinda weird to single that out but I find it nice to see a damage-resistance based defensive maneuver instead of one that gives heavy/super armor. A cool touch.
HEADLESS HORSEMAN:
Horseman is an interesting character not due to his strengths, but due to his weakness: enemies below him both on the ground and in the air. Due to his unique position of being on a horse (and having two tickets to that thing you love, which when you look back, is a flaming skull), his standards and such act like most character's Short-hopped aerials, his his best move here probably being that Utilt. I mean good god, the thing would have stupid amounts of reach both horizontally and vertically, it's beautiful. That said, this again ties to his weakness of characters below him, which thankfully his UpSpec, Dash Attack, Dtilt, etc all help with. Horseman ironically benefits from having a -very- fun juggle game to defend himself from foes below (if he's under them, he cant be juggled!), with the fire wall being an amazing defense due to how it will knock foes upward no matter the position, leading to interesting depth I'll get into in a second. One fun thing I imagined was having a vertical fire trail set up, and rolling your head with Dtilt to a foe to pop them up, Combo into the Multi-hit Fsmash, then proceed to juggle as they get popped up for 4% with the menagerie of launchers he possesses. It almost functions like a traditional fighter's wall in that aspect.
The fire trail may be his best move over-all as well. A lingering hitbox that lightly pops up foes is a god-send for him as it gives him a great deal of breathing room when used properly, the downside being that he'll lack room when he has it in an awkward location (that and recovery). It also provides a tool to help grow your lone minion with, which unfortunately seems a little tagged on in my opinion. With the flame trail, one could easily wall off a side, and then using your impressive speed cover the other in case they plan on tossing your head. Then you could always whack them and Down B to call it back. Other than having a cool minion for the purpose of having a cool minion... what purpose do they really serve that Horseman can't do alone?
Speaking of odd moves, the Bair could have easily been a horse-kick instead of having him oddly slash through the horse . Also, his Jab, Nair and oddly enough his head when tossed don't seem all too useful at all when he has other moves (or just the fact that he can run you down with horse-speed) to use. Hell, actually throwing your head seems odd when you have ready-made moves to position it and then use Nspec to make it a trap right where you want it.
All in all, Horseman is a good read and leads to a scary opponent (perfect for this guy) to both face and play as, but at the same time manageable if you can douse his flames so to speak, even if some moves were questionable. Nice job Roy (appropriate that he was good with a sword and the ph1r3).
While the 31st of October has come and gone with a good number of movesets come by, the showing seems far more disappointing than those of previous contests, and for good reason: many of us were unable to contribute whether due to time restrictions or that unfortunate hurricane. Rather than allowing sets that would only work on Halloween to gather dust until next year, I propose an alternative - make the tenth of November Halloween Make-up Day. This gives a way for those of us who had no way to post sets during this time a chance to engage in frightful fun, as well as allowing those who were unable to get one out a week to make up for it. I know I shall be posting a set that day - I implore everyone interested to do so as well.
I know Smady, Warlord, and Junahu have been discussing a delayed date to post movements in Skype/Steam for a good long while. As a matter of fact, Junahu brought it up in chat on the bloody day of, and there were multiple witnesses.
If it was brought up in chat the day of, why was it not acted upon sooner? We don't want our Halloween sets posted on the first of December, Mr. Arrow.
I'll be going along with the date that's been thrown out there unless Jun/Warlord want to commodore, then.
Nobody posted it in the thread, which you admittedly did, just don't act like you were the one who thought this up. And there's no problem with the date, I just want it to be known exactly who is responsible.
Yes, surely I would have known this was brought up when I was unable to access the chat on the date you mentioned/had access to private Skype conversations. Brilliant logic, Mr. Arrow.
Only Mr. Arrow cares who gets credit for this idea, as if it were some big brilliant concept rather than one that most everyone thinks needs to be done.
Only Mr. Arrow cares who gets credit for this idea, as if it were some big brilliant concept rather than one that most everyone thinks needs to be done.
please move all random discussion to the social boards, thank you.
MYmini #5 Halloween: The Revenge
[Sun 4th Nov - Sat 10th Nov]
Halloween has already slipped through our clammy hands, yet there is still hope. Along with the special day set aside for posting spooky movesets (10th Nov), there's also this MYmini too. It's as open ended as a MYmini can be; create any kind of Halloween/Scary extra. Be it a helpful Assist trophy, a ghoulish Stage, a creepy Event, or even a Fiendish... Fiend, just give us anything at all related to things that go bump in the night.
. Also, his Jab, Nair and oddly enough his head when tossed don't seem all too useful at all when he has other moves (or just the fact that he can run you down with horse-speed) to use. Hell, actually throwing your head seems odd when you have ready-made moves to position it and then use Nspec to make it a trap right where you want it.
