D
Deleted member
Guest
No, the terms are confusing even for people accustomed to making movesets for the games, so the joke's on you.
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Make Your Move 8: -TOP 50 POSTED-
- Thread starter MarthTrinity
- Start date
JOE!
Smash Hero
KB=Knock Back
CG = Chain Grab
both those are used very commonly throughout the SITE
everything else Ive mentioned is also all over general brawl /character boards...
CG = Chain Grab
both those are used very commonly throughout the SITE
everything else Ive mentioned is also all over general brawl /character boards...
D
Deleted member
Guest
It's obvious to myself and most others, but it's still hardly widely-used vocabulary and using more than one per paragraph is pretty assuming of whoever is reading. The fact of the matter is, Junahu felt the need to write a massive article due to the amount of abbreviations you used.
JOE!
Smash Hero
I blame it on my background in MMO forum-surfing, and the coma
D
Deleted member
Guest
I can hardly blame you for bad writing while in a coma; that's impressive. Like how Kat made Jason while high.
JOE!
Smash Hero
for clarification: I have head damage i am recovering from after a car-crash 2 weeks ago.
Monkey D Awesome says Im in a coma XD
Monkey D Awesome says Im in a coma XD
Hyper_Ridley
Smash Champion
Phew, after all that arguing, I'm ready for an HR set!
For the record, this could be the last solo set I make for a very long time in MYM, if not my final one. Joints are still fine though.
Having said that, enjoy!
AXEL GEAR
Axel Gear is a male antagonist (and his armor kinda makes him a heavyweight) from the cult-classic retro series “Rocket Knight Adventures”. He is a possum and his profession is (or was) a rocket knight, which are essentially knights who get to use jetpacks which also provide energy attacks to their swords. So basically he’s the most badass knight ever (h).
Of course, being a villain, he’s naturally a rogue rocket knight, and like all fantasy stories he gets to be known the Black Knight. In an action that is historically accurate to real black knights, Axel works as a mercenary, and in the first RKA games he helps the Pig Empire take invade the kingdom of possums known as Zephyrus. This when Sparkster, the hero of the series and also a rocket knight, fights back and defeats the pigs and Axel. Axel then shows up several more times over the course of the series, with his most recent appearance in the (just recently released!) modern revival of the series, simply known as “Rocket Knight”.
Axel prevalence throughout the series and his status as an actually competent rival have made him the most iconic villain of the series. Sadly, he’s never been the final boss of the games, normally the semi-final boss, much like a certain Space Pirate Dragon…in Brawl, Axel utilizes moves from his various battles in the RKA series, and uses his most recent appearance/design from the new game.
Music for your listening pleasure:
Rocket Knight Adventures: Boss Theme
Sparkster: Final Boss
Rocket Knight Adventures: Stage 1
Rocket Knight Adventures: Stage 5
Rocket Knight Adventures: Stage 6
Sparkster: Stage 2
Super Street Fighter 2: Guile's Stage
Ground Movement: Below average. Axel confidently advances towards his opponent while wielding his sword with one hand. What’s with all these swordsman in Smash Bros one-handing their sword? His dash is double his walking speed, so it’s actually pretty nice.
Traction: Great
Jump: Above average
Midair Jump: Below average, but if you hold the jump button after Axel’s performed his second jump or is in free-fall, his jetpack kicks in and halves his fall speed. You can start and stop this as much as you want, but it takes 1 unit of fuel to initiate it. Fuel?
Aerial Control: Despite his profession demanding a lot of high-flying, Axel’s natural agility is only a bit above average.
Fall Speed: Average
Size: Around Mario’s size. Since he’s thin to begin with, his armor actually doesn’t make him that much of a bigger target than our favorite Italian Plumber, and his jetpack has no hurtbox.
Weight: Decently heavy, around Link’s or so.
Special Feature: Jet Fuel
Atop Axel’s HUD is a yellow segmented bar composed of 6 units. It starts out full and depletes when Axel uses some of his attacks. He replenishes 1 bar of fuel every second, which doesn’t seem so bad but Axel REALLY likes to use it up.
Pretty bare-bones description for what appears to be a basic resource mechanic, but that’s because it is. Of course, without this mechanic, it wouldn’t be much of a set for a Rocket Knight now, would it?
Neutral Special: Lightning Barrier
See this move in action!
Axel points his sword to the skyand yells “I have the power!”. This causes a lightning bolt to fire out of his sword that goes off the top of the screen, dealing 10% and a paralyze effect to anyone it touches. A moment after this bolt is fired, 2 bolts of lightning crash down from the heavens on both sides of the main platform of the stage, which is generally the largest solid platform with edges. On a stage like Norfair, the entire formation of platforms is considered the “main” one. This move has below average startup lag, takes .5 seconds to finish, and then has low end lag. Axel has super armor for 1 hit during this move.
Now, the bolts on the sides of the stage don’t disappear; they wall-in the stage for a good half-minute! Should something touch the lightning, they are zapped for 6% and bounce off at a 30 degree upwards angle, retaining their momentum they had from any knockback that sent them into the wall in the first place. And the lightning is right against the edges of the stage, so no planking to avoid it! If the opponent is outside of the lighting and makes contact with it they will shot through the lighting back inside the cage, to prevent Axel from casually poking you off the stage and using this move for an instant-gimp. If Axel uses this move again the lightning gets super-charged (glowing brighter to indicate this), and they deal 15% damage for the next 10 seconds. Axel can be hurt by this move. It costs 3 fuel units to use this move. As a final note, on moving stages the barrier only lasts for 3 seconds, so everyone doesn't just die from being pushed off-screen.
Side/Up Special: Dark Orbs
Yes, Axel’s side and up specials are the same. However, he still has 4 specials as smash inputs will give him different moves. And, the input being “side” or “up” does affect the move, so there is incentive to learning both of them.
For this move, Axel lifts his sword as a purple energy sphere the size of Mario’s head forms at the end. He then fires the sphere straight ahead and it slowly travels until it hits something, dealing 11% and flinching knockback. Moderate startup lag with low end lag. This is for a sideways input.
With an upwards input, the sphere has a darker tone and homes in on the nearest opponent with excellent tracking ability, disappearing after 6 seconds or it hits something (which can be the target, a bystander, or Axel himself!). On contact, it then bursts into an explosion of energy that is half the size of Bowser and lasts for .4 seconds, dealing 10% and knockback that KOs at 165%. Note that the sphere will never change targets unless the current target is KO’d, so the victim of the attack has some control over where the sphere goes. Crafty adversaries may get platforms and other enemies in between himself and the sphere, but in any case while they’re running it’s up to you to go after them. This version of the move has the startup lag of Ike’s FSmash, but still low end lag. Also, both versions of the move consume 2 fuel units.
Side/Up Special Smash: Burst Dash
Ah, the trademark attack of a Rocket Knight! After a moment of startup lag, Axel just…ROCKETS with his sword held straight ahead while spinning in a similar manner to MK’s Drill Rush special, in the input direction as fast as Captain Falcon’s dash speed and as far as 1/3 of battlefield, before stopping with no end lag. This can be angled 45 degrees on the diagonals, and in the air you can even aim downwards.
Axel has super armor during the dash, and his sword deals 11% but no knockback or hitstun. If Axel hits a stage surface at an angle he bounces off and continues on his way while retaining momentum, and he can even bounce off his Lightning Barrier in this way without taking damage. While he does not enter free-fall if the move ends in the air, he is not allowed to use it again until he touches the ground (Don’t ask why, it’s a rule in the most recent Rocket Knight game at the least) and Axel cannot grab ledges until the move is finished. If you go straight down from the air it auto-cancels the moment you hit the ground.
This costs 2 fuel units to use and overall is a killer approach. You can end the move just within attacking range or go through your opponent and bounce into the air to continue your offense from the sky. By the way, this the special Axel uses during a dash, rather than Dark Orbs.
Down Special: Toxic Dash
Axel revs up his jetpack for moderate startup lag before boosting straight ahead while spinning around, having super armor against attacks that deal 10% or less during the dash. However, his sword isn’t drawn; instead, his pack is releasing purple clouds of smog the size of Axel, perfectly spaced in a chain of sorts. He flies forwards at the speed of Fox’s dash for the same time as Falcon Punch’s startup lag, and he can loosely turn during the move, allowing him to make a good-sized path of poisonous clouds for the enemy to evade. The smoke lasts for 7 seconds after the move ends.
Touching a smoke cloud makes that cloud disappear and deals 4% but no knockback or hit-stun. If you roll into them they will dissipate without you taking damage, but there’s a decent chance of you running into another one, and Axel is completely immune to his own clouds, allowing him to chase you through them unhindered. Axel does not grab ledges during this move but it has low end lag and Axel does not enter free-fall afterwards. It also costs 4 fuel units to perform; while Axel can recover fuel quickly enough, this means he can’t really abuse this since he’ll want to use that fuel to attack you while the smoke constricts your movements.
Jab: Triple Slash
Axel does a good old left-right slash with his sword. The first (left) swing deals 3%, the second hit deals 4%. For the final hit, Axel swings his sword up, dealing 4% and vertical knockback that KOs at 210%. Simple and efficient.
Forwards Tilt: Burst Shot
Axel stabs forwards with his sword, dealing 9% and KOing at 190%. Low startup lag, moderate end lag. At the same time, a small burst of energy is fired from the sword that travels forwards as far as ¼ of battlefield, dealing 3% and flinching knockback, but decent pushback on shields. It takes 1 fuel unit to fire the shot.
The shot’s purpose is essentially to prevent people from rushing in and attacking Axel during the end lag. If you take advantage of Axel’s melee range the shot will even keep you safe on shield.
Down Tilt: Whirlwind Blade
Axel rises from his crouch (which is more like a kneel) while spinning 360 degrees with his sword outstretched. He performs one full spin that deals 11% and knockback that KOs at 170%, but the base knockback is as far as 1/4 of battlefield and it is on a generously upwards angle. Why does that matter? Because the move has moderate end lag, but you can cancel the end lag into another spin at the cost of 1unit of fuel, and each of these spins pushes Axel forwards 2 character lengths. If it weren’t for that knockback at the start you’d be looking at 70% from one use of this move! The move even has below average startup lag (with no startup lag on a continuation spin), so it’s not exactly difficult to hit with either.
Now, this move is actually a pretty good approaching tool since against a shield it pushes them just outside of the reach of Axel’s sword so they can’t easily punish him but Axel is still in a position to continue pressure. It can also take you across the stage mighty quickly if you just mash the A button but this would consume your fuel. Of course, if you push a shielding opponent all the way across the stage towards one of your lightning walls, that’s always a good thing…
Up Tilt: Lifting Strike
A fierce and focused uppercut with his free hand that deals 12% with knockback on a 35 degree upwards angle that KOs at 140% horizontally. This is quick with low startup lag and below average end lag, but it has the distinct disadvantage among Axel’s moves of not using his sword, meaning much less range and no disjointed hitbox. Still, this is a good move if you can get within range to use it, as Axel hits high enough above his head for it to serve as an anti-air and his hand starts right above his waistline so he can catch someone who’s about to try jumping away from him. And of course, it’s ton of fun to punch people into an electric fence.
Dash Attack: Armor Smash
Axel does a Ganon-style shoulder barge, traveling forwards 1 character length and dealing 11% and horizontal knockback that KOs at 180% (and pushes back shielding opponents slightly). Moderate startup lag and low end lag. If you press the Attack Button again during the startup lag Axel ignites his thrusters, quadrupling the distance he travels but changing no other properties (this doesn’t cancel the startup lag btw, the jetpack kicks in when the startup lag is finished). It costs 2 fuel units to use this, and Axel will continue moving through opponents.
Now, if you press the Attack Button during Axel’s pivot animation (turning around during a dash), you actually get a different attack! Axel turns his pivot into a full-blown spinning roundhouse kick that has below average startup lag and low end lag, dealing 11% and vertical knockback that KOs at 190% (pushback on shields). Note that the move hits in the direction Axel was facing when he started his dash, but it ends with Axel facing the opposite direction of when he began. Basically he does a full 360 spin starting with his pivot animation then another 180 to end the move.
Combined, Axel’s 2 dash attack variations give him an interesting ground approach option. Because of the low end lag on either variant, he can follow up either move with continued pressure if he spaces them correctly. He can follow-up with either his Fair or Bair depending on which direction he faces when his dash attack is completed.
Forwards Smash: Burst Smash
Axel does the tried-and-true “overhead slash” you see in so many sword-based FSmashes, using both hands for extra strength. It deals 15% and KOs at 115%. Above average startup lag, below average end lag. The hitbox only covers the area in front of Axel, but it’s pretty much a full semi-circle.
To charge the move, you need fuel. You can use up to 3 units (1 for each 1/3 charge) and for every unit you use when you release, Axel shoots forwards ¼ of Battlefield REALLY fast. Like, Wolf FSmash fast. Of course, your opponent can get out of the way while you charge up, but that’s why you have Dark Orbs block their escape…
The fuel is only used if you actually attack with it, so don’t worry that much about being interrupted. Also, if you don’t have enough fuel to get to the next level of charge, Axel automatically releases the charge when you use up what you have so you don’t waste time. This is a vicious punisher, but its favorable end lag actually makes it viable as an approach/chasing tool.
Down Smash: Doomsday Burst
Here’s a pretty scary move from Axel’s latest boss fight. After channeling large amounts of energy through his sword for the startup lag of Ike’s FSmash, Axel releases a massive purple beam of death that travels through walls and across the entire stage, holding onto his sword with both hands to keep it steady. It’s slightly thicker than his sword. Axel starts out aiming straight ahead but slowly raises the angle his sword over .6 seconds, ending with the beam aimed 60 degrees upwards before it fizzles out with below average end lag.
Touching the transcendent priority beam delivers 18% and knockback that KOs at 85%, and it ignores super-armor and deals a ton of damage to shields. Of course, opponents are free to take advantage of platforms and jumping to traverse over the beam and get to Axel, and the beam is thin enough that a precise air-dodge can clear it as it rises (though Peach who randomly has 10 missing frames of invincibility from her air-dodge might not have that option, but then again she has her float to make plan A perfectly viable anyways). Of course, when you have Dark Orbs and poisonous clouds protecting you and going after your opponent, it makes things a bit more difficult for your adversary.
To unleash such a powerful blow, Axel has to use up all 6 units of fuel at once (only using them up if the beam is actually fired). Fortunately, this move has an alternate function when fuel isn’t at max, which is also where charging comes. After the same amount of startup lag as firing the beam, Axel’s sword and jetpack begin to glow red as he charges up. For every ½ second of charging Axel regains 1 unit of fuel, and he can end this at any time with below average end lag. While this halves the time it takes to regain more units of fuel after the first one, the first one actually takes longer than a second to be acquired this way (Ike’s FSmash has just over a ½ second in startup lag). Also, Axel’s fuel gauge stops refueling normally while you are in this animation. While this can be a very useful tool if you find yourself with a large span of time to yourself, most of the time you’ll want to be chasing after you opponent and let yourself refuel normally.
Up Smash: Flare Uppercut
Axel stabs his sword along the ground, dealing 5% and tripping (if he hits a tripped opponent it deals some slight knockback away from Axel to prevent an infinite). This has below average startup and end lag, though opponents can simply avoid it by remaining in the air. Wow, kinda unimpressive for a smash, and it doesn’t feel very much like an UP smash…
Thankfully, this isn’t some gimmicky “twist” on inputs, as upon a second press of the Attack Button Axel swings his sword up while quickly boosting upwards as high as Falco’s first jump. This time he deals 8% and mostly horizontal knockback that KOs at 135%, ending in the air with below average end lag. This part costs 2 fuel units.
But wait! Where’s the charging? Well, like in the FSmash, you can use up to 3 units of fuel when charging the move. Each unit you use up will turn a segment of the fuel meter to red. If Axel completes this move uninterrupted, those red segments are transferred to a new fuel meter above the main one, that also maxes out at 6. However, this meter serves a very specific use; Axel can spend them for additional midair jumps! You can cash-in on these bonus jumps whenever you want (though you will lose them if you are KO’d), and if you may use the “slow-fall” feature for every mid-air jump as long as you hold the jump button during it (slow-falling uses up fuel from the main gauge). These fuel units are one-time use, and your main fuel meter will still recover fuel as normal after you transfer fuel to the secondary meter.
Neutral Aerial: Burst Vortex
Axel spins around for .5 seconds in a near identical animation to Meta Knight’s Nair (yes, THAT Nair). This deals 12% with horizontal knockback that KOs at 145%, and just like in-game, you can move Axel in any direction while performing the move at half his normal aerial sped (he stops falling while this move is going on) AND it reflects projectiles! Oh, and it has below average startup lag and moderate end lag that doesn’t really matter since he can just move out of the way when the move is about to end and combined with his sword’s reach makes it difficult to punish with more than a swat.
Unfortunately, it requires FOUR units of fuel to access some of those features. Otherwise, Axel spins around once and cannot move while performing it (not even standard air control), and any reflected projectiles deal half damage and knockback. Strangely, the damage/knockback/lag times of the move remain unaffected despite the lack of fuel…Perhaps Axel is strong enough to muster that single spin of his own accord?
Forwards Aerial: Crescent Slash
Another of Axel’s simpler attacks, he slashes his sword downwards, starting a bit in front of his head and stopping just past the “perfectly horizontal” mark. This makes it a good air-to-air move and it’s also viable as an air-to-ground move when short-hopped. 12%, KOs at 150%, Low startup lag, moderate end lag.
So, just a directly inferior version of Burst Vortex? Keep in mind that this move incurs no fuel cost, unlike Burst Vortex which eats it up. While the hitbox on this move is worse it starts up a little faster, deals the same damage with almost as much knockback, and you still retain air-control with his move so you can retreat/space yourself during the end lag. Finally, this move has below average landing lag, so this move is safer from a short-hop than Nair when fuel is running low.
Back Aerial: Lethal Draw
Axel quickly and precisely strikes with his sword behind himself, aiming at a 50 degree downwards angle. This deals 12% with knockback that KOs at 165%. Low startup lag, moderate end lag, low landing lag. This is a great air-to-ground pressure tool, especially when short-hopped. Don’t expect it to be incredibly reliable in aerial combat though.
Up Aerial: Burst Flash
Axel performs 3 quick semi-circle sword swings above himself. They each deal 4%, and the last one deals vertical knockback that KOs at 210%. Low startup lag with moderate end lag. It’s a good juggler or aerial attack, though it has no use against grounded opponents.
Now, during the end lag of the attack, if you press the Attack Button, Axel uses his jetpack to propel him through a quick forwards flip-kick, similar in appearance to ROB’s Nair. There are 2 hitboxes to this move; Axel’s feet/legs, and the fire from his pack. His feet deal 12% with horizontal knockback that KOs at 140%, and the fire, which covers half the distance of his legs, deals 15% with vertical knockback that KOs at 125%. This attack covers the entire area around Axel, starting with directly beneath him. It has low startup lag, moderate end lag, and low landing lag. It costs 2 fuel units. Like most flipping aerial attacks, this is a very useful move, and Axel’s is unique in that it covers his back first then his front.
Down Aerial: Downward Thrust
Axel stabs downwards with his sword, dealing 11% and mostly horizontal knockback that KOs at 170%. This is stupid fast; it has no startup lag and below average end lag. However, the hitbox has nearly no horizontal range as Axel holds the sword in such a way that the sharp edges are facing the screen.
If you’d like, you can use a smash input for Axel to very quickly propel himself towards the ground head-first with his sword outstretched, facing the screen. This gives the move more startup lag, from none to low (ololololol) and the end/landing lag increases to moderate. The damage of the move is increased to 14% and knockback now KOs at 150%. The hitbox of the move is unchanged besides Axel moving down. It costs 2 fuel units to do this variant of the move.
Grab: Axel reaches out to grab his opponent with his free hand. Its range is low but it’s really fast, so it’s scary if you’re ever close enough to land it.
Pummel: Fuel Tank Injection
Axel’s jetpack starts to rev up as 1 unit of fuel is consumed per use of this pummel. One use takes .3 seconds. When Axel performs a throw, he will travel 1/5 of battlefield for each unit of fuel injected in the direction of the throw input, not stopping at edges and entering his air-game if the throw takes him off-stage. It the opponent escapes your grab the fuel goes back to ready-mode and you instantly recover all the fuel you put into this move. Finally, fuel will not start to recover during a grab until after the throw is completed.
Forward Throw: Wall Strike
Axel grabs his opponent’s face and slams them into the ground, dealing 10% and leaving them on their back. If he is next to a wall, he will smash them against the wall and deal 12% before tossing them backwards for set horizontal knockback of 1/4 of battlefield. If he runs them into the Lightning Barricade he lets go and stops as they take the damage from the electrical wall while chuckling.
Back Throw: Get Back Here!
Axel simply turns around and tosses his enemy at an upwards angle, dealing 10% and KOing at 180%. With the pummel activated, Axel has super-armor as he carries his enemy back and he does not turn around until it is time for the actual throw. This is useful as Axel can tank through any traps in the way without letting go of his victim, and if he tosses them into one of his own projectiles/traps he will probably make up the damage he took.
Up Throw: Rising Smash
Axel tosses his opponent up slightly before roundhouse kicking them away at an upwards angle, dealing 9% and knockback that KOs at 175%. A simple throw, but this can pretty vicious with proper positioning and set-up. Just imagine, using the pummel first to fly up a ways, then kicking your opponent even higher at the peak of the rise, sending them into the Lightning Barricade which deals even more vertical knockback…yeah, this is suddenly pretty darn scary on stages without high ceilings. Can we unban Hyrule Temple? (smirk2)
Down Throw: Burst Saw
Axel throws his enemy to the ground and proceeds to perform a spin attack similar in appearance to his Nair. He deals a single spin of 3% with an additional spin for every unit of fuel he used for his pummel. If Axel is on a drop-through platform, he will first go through the platform with his opponent and perform the spin once he has hit solid ground, getting 1 less spin for each fuel unit he needed to carry his opponent down. Axel does NOT stop until he has hit solid ground in any case, so you can Possumcide with this.
After those 10 seconds are up, Axel crosses his arms and energy gathers around his entire body, and then .7 seconds later he releases a purple screen-filling wave of energy that deals the damage/knockback of Tabuu’s off-waves…a spot-dodge can avoid it, but this wave also destroys any and all drop-through platforms on the stage as well as any normally breakable objects, and it also short-circuits his Lightning Barricade. Axel pants for a few moments before lifting his visor and laughing. He then takes off and flies off stage. We’re not finished yet!
For a few seconds you hear metal footsteps, and then Axel appears on the left side of the screen in a large mech as seen in this video! Now do you see why Axel is the greatest knight ever? While Link’s timing presses of A to get that lazy Epona to do anything, Axel just casually walks up him and gives him a Warlordian Stomp. (h)
So, Axel’s mech in Brawl is comparable in size to Giant Tabuu, and similarly he is situated on the side of the screen. With a press of the Attack Button, the robot delivers a punch like the one it uses in the video, and you can aim it with the control stick. It has above average startup lag but deals plenty of shield damage and a clean hit delivers 30% with Falcon Punch knockback. It also low end lag and insane range. The Special Move button has Axel lean forwards and fire one of his homing Dark Orbs that work just like in the regular moveset. If you press both buttons Axel unleashes his DSmash beam, aimed towards the ground at first but quickly sweeping upwards. He recovers fuel 5 times as fast in the mech so he can spam this stuff much easier. You get to use the mech for 10 seconds, and then Axel jumps out and slowly descends to the ground with his arms crossed as his robot walks away and the stage reforms. Axel is invincible until he touches the ground and .3 seconds afterwards so you don’t just have a FSmash hitbox out the instant he lands.
Axel Gear’s a very aggressive fighter, always looking for a chance to slice up some victims. Of course, you may not think that at first, considering all those projectiles and traps he has. He has a screen-clearing move which requires him to be far away so he can get past the startup lag for pete’s sake! However, these projectiles are far too slow for camping; rather, Axel uses them to augment his approach.
Your first step is to set-up a Lightning Barrier. While this isn’t as simple as Dingodile’s crystals, Axel can summon his key structure without too much trouble since he can use the momentum of his jumps and such to allow him to keep away long enough to complete the move. Once you have your electric cage-match all set-up, spend a few seconds to get your fuel all ready, and the fun begins!
Alright, now it’s time to start going on the attack. As sated, Axel can use Dark Orbs and Toxic Dash to control the stage and make his approaches safer and more controlled. The straight-shot Dark Orb deals more damage and can’t harm you, but they move very slowly and in a linear path; their slowness can be a benefit in a same way as Mario’s fireballs, by allowing you to follow behind them in order to counter the enemy’s attempts to dodge the projectile. The homing Dark Orb deals slightly less damage and can potentially be used against you by a crafty adversary, but at the same time its excellent tracking abilities means your opponent inherently becomes more predictable as they try to get away from the attack. Toxic Dash covers a large area and lingers for a while, and you can safely move through it while your opponent has to get around it; at the same time, each individual cloud is weak, and it costs 2/3 of a full fuel gauge, so you won’t have a lot of fuel to play around with afterwards for a few moments. Which one you use is partially preference and as the match goes on you might find one that counteracts your opponent’s behavior better than others.
After enacting the stage control device of your choosing, now Axel himself to get into melee range! The bread and butter approach is with a Burst Dash. It’s got all the makings of a tool to close the distance: super-armor, covers a good distance, fast, NO end lag whatsoever…yeah, your opponent should be thankful it doesn’t even flinch them. The fact that you angle it and even ricochet off of surfaces gives you a myriad of combinations to approach with, all from a single move! Oh, but this isn’t Axel’s only approaching tool. DTilt, Dash Attack, charged FSmashes, and short-hopped Fairs and Bairs all make very worthy options in different situations. In particular, a pivot Dash Attack is interesting since your opponent might have a knee-jerk reaction to the pivot animation, and unlike other pivots you can do your Dash Attack in addition to a Bair, forcing your opponent to be more considerate of both yours and his options.
Now you’ve closed the gap, you need to keep up this assault. How you go about this will depend on yours and the enemy’s positions and how well you can read their actions, and Axel can utilize a large portion of his moveset in various ways for this, so it’s impossible to cover every single option you have. To start, you can now essentially ignore the Special Move button for the most part; Axel’s specials served their role in getting you this far, now it’s up to your swordsmanship to complete the job. As for examples of what you CAN do:
Alright, KO time! Axel’s got a bit of a dilemma here. No, he’s not a failure at KOs and needs to gimp after all that damage he’s just racked up. It’s just that his KO potential is heavily horizontal, and thanks to his Lightning Barrier it’s impossible for him to do that! Essentially, as long as the electricity crackles, you should focus exclusively on just piling on heaps of damage. Once the lightning passes and the edges of the stage are open, a large portion of your moveset can viably send someone flying out of the ring assuming you were dilligent in your offense. Use a homing Dark Orb to ensure they don’t make it back. While a DSmash is tempting, it won’t hit below the stage and your opponent can air-dodge it, so have a follow-up plan to your opponent’s reaction if you intend to blow all your fuel in one attack.
While Axel’s more than a formidable opponent based on all the stuff I layed out for you, he does have his weaknesses. For starters, there’s that fuel gauge that keeps him from abusing super-powered moves constantly. While he still has tons of viable options without it, he’s absolutely deadly if he’s able to manage it correctly. Second, a lot of his pressure game depends on him spacing himself properly to take advantage of the fantastic range of his sword. If he uses something like Fair right in his opponent’s face they’ll be able to punish your end lag. Axel alleviates this somewhat with his Utilt and Grab.
Finally, Axel doesn’t really like it when he’s the one being pressured. He can’t camp, thanks to his slow projectiles that also require fuel to even be used. A really aggressive opponent may eventually bypass Axel’s range where he’ll need to once again rely on Utilt and his Grab to relieve himself. Axel’s out-of-shield options aren’t the greatest thanks to his up-b being a slow projectile, though his fast (with poor range) grab gives him something at the least. Axel’s recovery is surprisingly difficult, because neither of his “recovery specials” allow him to grab the edge mid-move, both cost fuel, and in Burst Dash’s case, he can just bounce right off the stage and back towards the blast zone! You can get around this to an extent with bonus midair-jumps via a charged USmash.
So that’s Axel, folks. A character with a good selection of projectiles and traps, and yet rather than run away with them, he uses to them to help approach! His various approaching moves result in a variety of different situations that he can use to start a fierce assault on his victim. He’s got the ability to be relentless no matter how the opponent tries to escape, all the while cornering them against a harmful wall. Axel’s got so many different viable options for each phase of his offense that his sheer unpredictability makes opponents pressure themselves. And best of all, he provides all the fun of aggressive offense without succumbing to combos. Possums may play dead, but after Axel’s finished with you, you won’t just be pretending!
Vs Sloth: Slight Disadvantage
It will take a serious effort to defeat the ultimate tank. Sloth loves to chain himself so that he’s -just- out of reach of the Lightning Barrier, where he can still easily smack Axel into it. Sloth’s chains give him insane disjointed range, and his punching attacks are still far-reaching in their own right. To top it all off, the moment Axel wiffs a move, Sloth can use his dreaded Titan Rush to pinball Axel around.
Axel’s strategy doesn’t change in this matchup, if anything it becomes even more important to pressure Sloth with a nonstop barrage of attacks. Axel still has great disjointed range himself, and he can easily take advantage of Sloth’s poor speed to keep up the attack. Toxic Dash can be helpful as Sloth won’t even bother trying to dodge the poison and soak up all the damage, provided he ever wants to budge in the first place. Dark Orbs and Burst Dash are probably your main approaching tools in this fight; Sloth may have defensive range that rivals Dalshim, but homing attacks and super-armor will negate that somewhat. Of course, Axel’s still at a loss at having an answer to those **** chains…
Axel puts up an admirable fight, but Sloth still pulls out an overall advantage, thanks to his EXTREME range, priority, and survivability. Axel can still win this since Sloth can’t lock-out Axel’s core strategy, but Sloth can still pursue his own gameplay without issue either. Sloth got on the top overpowered sets list for a reason!
Vs Joe Calzaghe: Even
Relentless offense vs an impregnable defense. Joe’s got more precise spacing ability, while Axel tears through Joe’s priority and has more range too. Joe can dodge a blow while counter-attacking, but Axel can get over Joe and take advantage of his vulnerable back and top.
Axel gets to toy around with a lot of his moves in this fight. Both variations of Dark Orbs can work for straining Joe’s defensive prowess, in particular because they can force him into the air where Axel’s far superior air game gets to brutalize Joe. From a ground approach, Axel can use a dash -> Usmash strategy to force Joe to block low, but then mix it up with a short-hopped aerial to make Joe block high. When you consider Burst Dash, Axel can use his ability to attack from any angle to really screw with Joe’s prized spacing. After a successful approach, this continues into an attack of well-placed slashes that even Joe may find himself overwhelmed by.
The Italian Dragon’s prepared to face the Black Knight, however. He doesn’t really mind getting backed up near a Lightning Barrier as it just makes it harder for Axel to try getting behind him, allowing Joe to focus on his powerful frontal defense. Joe’s counter-punches provide him a means to evade even Axel’s range, provided Axel doesn’t just Dair through Joe’s entire body. Even against the most aggressive Axel, Joe can get some breathing room through his clear-out and sweep-in abilities. Using Axel’s grab to stop these moves is risky considering it puts him in range for Joe’s own grab. Joe’s Dthrow is nasty as he can force Axel to use up fuel. Finally, Joe’s defensive ability means Axel may find his Lightning Barrier running out and he’s not quite ready to go for a finishing move. If Joe isn’t up to 100% or so by the time the stage is re-opened, consider toughing out another barrier for the round.
This is quite the matchup we have. Both sides can and must make full use of their gameplan to succeed, with battles often coming down to who can read their opponent more closely. Axel Gear vs Joe Calzaghe, only on pay-per-view!
Vs Arthas: Moderate Advantage
Fuck the Lich King, wrath of the Rocket Knight baby! Right off the bat, you may want to consider forgoing the usual set-up and go straight for Arthas in order to prevent him from summoning his acolytes. The long casting time for the summon ensures that if Axel keeps up his offense, Arthas has no chance to build the army he needs. Of course, Arthas isn’t helpless without them. Until his mana runs out, he’s got good defensive moves such as his tilts, dash attack, USmash, DSmash, and Bair. Arthas power means that once he hits Axel, he may have enough time to attempt a summon. Arthas runs on resources like Axel, but is more dependant on them and recovers them much slower.
If Arthas does summon an acolyte, things become more difficult for Axel. If Axel tries to go after the acolyte, Arthas is capable of applying some offense to protect his minion. After an acolyte is summoned it’s only a matter of time before Arthas has some buildings set up and more units join the fight, and we know how much Axel hates being pressured. If any units are summoned, IGNORE THEM unless they are right next to you, and continue to pressure Arthas as much as possible. You cannot afford for a fight with Arthas to drag on.
While the threat of Arthas’ summons is very real, the sole number of the lag in summoning them allows Axel to stand a good chance of preventing it from ever happening. Arthas options in blocking Axel keep this from being one-sided, but it’s certainly not one of Arthas’ best matchups.
Vs Zant: Even
Zant’s perfectly content to let you set up a Lightning Barrier, seeing as it allows him to start to spread some twilight on the stage (see why this moveset is so bad now? He spreads TWILIGHT around the stage! (horror)).
Zant’s got a bunch of tricky projectiles and defensive moves to stop approaches, but you’re the approaching king, you’ve got ways around it all. Zant tries to teleport with dash attack or his wormholes? Homing Dark Orbs don’t care where you go. Ftilt? Soar over it. Projectile camping? Hello Nair! Of course, that isn’t to say Zant’s defense isn’t great; his Ftilt is a grab and his Dtilt nullifies Axel’s projectiles. Zant’s projectile moves are varied and can cover all sorts of the various angles Axel will approach from. And while defending himself Zant will be creating more and more twilight.
Now, eventually Zant will have a lot of his horrible novel on the field, and he gets to start playing the same game as Axel. While in theory this sounds very scary for Axel, it’s not lethal because Zant can’t pressure Axel nearly as well thanks to his reliance on twilight. Axel can stay in the normal realm while setting-up a projectile to out-approach Zant. What’s scary is if Axel botches his pressure game inside a patch of twilight; now he’ll be hard-pressed to avoid the raving lunatic that isthe guy who wrote the moveset for Zant.
This is a mighty fun match-up as the two competitors have to constantly readjust their strategies throughout the fight. Did you notice how the most balanced matchups Axel has are the ones where he gets to use the full extent of his playstyle and the opponent can do the same? (h)
Side Taunt: Axel holds his stomach and laughs in oh-so-classic villain fashion.
Up Taunt: Axel clenches a fist and shakes it angrily at the player with an angry “grrrrrrr!” For the record, both of the first 2 taunts are animations from Rocket Knight, so I hold no responsibility for their potential cheesiness.
Down Taunt: Axel points his sword towards the closest opponent and makes a “come here” gesture with his free hand, all the while a devious smile on his face. IT’S A TRAP!
Victory Animation 1: Axel stands facing the camera in a similar pose to the pic at the top of the moveset. If you leave it on the results screen long enough, you can hear him mutter “Great, this is the same pose as Ganon had in Melee.” If you had any balance complaints for this moveset, just remember that he’ll be Z tier in the next game.
Victory Animation 2: Axel stands behind the fallen body of the loser in last place, with one foot on it in a typical victory pose. In front of him are some peasants from Zephyrus cheering for him. Axel himself has a confident smirk on his face as he gestures more applause from the crowd.
Victory Animation 3: Princess Sherry of Zephyrus leaps into Axel’s arms and they embrace. Sherry then lovingly says “My hero!”…wait wait wait, what the heck is up with the last 2 animations?
Well, you see, in the new Rocket Knight game, you discover early on that in the time frame between the last game and this one, Sparkster himself disappeared after a dispute with the king. Not only was Axel able to take Sparkster’s place as the protector of the kingdom, but he even managed to start dating the princess. Yes, the kingdom of Zephyrus just made one of their most powerful enemies into the replacement for their sworn protector as well as allow him to become the heir to the throne. I’m surprised there haven’t been more attacks on them…then again, according to the first game Axel’s been harboring a crush on Sherry, so when he kidnapped her way back then I guess he was able to give Sherry a good time so she would want him later…(hello)
Otacon: I knew it would come down to this…
Snake: What are you talking about?
Otacon: That’s Sparkster, a Konami character that was dropped so they could promote the Metal Gear franchise!
Snake: But tha-
Otacon: Watch out for his rocketpack! Sparkster is a formidable opponent at any range!
Snake: But
Otacon: What Snake?!
Snake: That’s not Sparkster. That’s Axel Gear, his nemesis.
Otacon: …Damn Shadow the Hedgehog instilling doppelganger stupidity on everyone…
Assist Trophy: Sparkster
Yes, the hero of the series gets to join the Brawl too! When Sparkster appears, he will jump and run around the stage with good mobility as his rocketpack starts to ignite. It takes 3 seconds to charge then Sparkster unleashes his own Burst Dash, which goes stupid-fast and deals 12% with knockback that KOs at 140%. He can also deliver a quick sword swipe on the ground or in the air to anyone who gets in his way, dealing 10% with knockback that KOs at 160%.
Sparkster actually takes damage and knockback like a regular character, but he has permanent anti-grab armor. He WILL try to recover with his Burst Dash, and if he lives he will act more aggressive towards the guy who knocked him off the stage. Sparkster remains on the field for 20 seconds.
-Version 1.1: Added inwards knockback for Lightning Barrier when opponent is outside it. Fixes an overpowered gimping exploit pointed out by N88.
-(June 17th 2010) Version1.2: Greatly reduced duration of Lightning Barrier to 30 seconds (previously 1 minute) and added clause that it only lasts for 3 seconds on moving stages. This gives more flexibility to both Axel's and his opponent's KO opportunites, and prevents the move from breaking moving stages.
For the record, this could be the last solo set I make for a very long time in MYM, if not my final one. Joints are still fine though.
Having said that, enjoy!
AXEL GEAR
Axel Gear is a male antagonist (and his armor kinda makes him a heavyweight) from the cult-classic retro series “Rocket Knight Adventures”. He is a possum and his profession is (or was) a rocket knight, which are essentially knights who get to use jetpacks which also provide energy attacks to their swords. So basically he’s the most badass knight ever (h).
Of course, being a villain, he’s naturally a rogue rocket knight, and like all fantasy stories he gets to be known the Black Knight. In an action that is historically accurate to real black knights, Axel works as a mercenary, and in the first RKA games he helps the Pig Empire take invade the kingdom of possums known as Zephyrus. This when Sparkster, the hero of the series and also a rocket knight, fights back and defeats the pigs and Axel. Axel then shows up several more times over the course of the series, with his most recent appearance in the (just recently released!) modern revival of the series, simply known as “Rocket Knight”.
Axel prevalence throughout the series and his status as an actually competent rival have made him the most iconic villain of the series. Sadly, he’s never been the final boss of the games, normally the semi-final boss, much like a certain Space Pirate Dragon…in Brawl, Axel utilizes moves from his various battles in the RKA series, and uses his most recent appearance/design from the new game.
Music for your listening pleasure:
Rocket Knight Adventures: Boss Theme
Sparkster: Final Boss
Rocket Knight Adventures: Stage 1
Rocket Knight Adventures: Stage 5
Rocket Knight Adventures: Stage 6
Sparkster: Stage 2
Super Street Fighter 2: Guile's Stage
STATS
Ground Movement: Below average. Axel confidently advances towards his opponent while wielding his sword with one hand. What’s with all these swordsman in Smash Bros one-handing their sword? His dash is double his walking speed, so it’s actually pretty nice.
Traction: Great
Jump: Above average
Midair Jump: Below average, but if you hold the jump button after Axel’s performed his second jump or is in free-fall, his jetpack kicks in and halves his fall speed. You can start and stop this as much as you want, but it takes 1 unit of fuel to initiate it. Fuel?
Aerial Control: Despite his profession demanding a lot of high-flying, Axel’s natural agility is only a bit above average.
Fall Speed: Average
Size: Around Mario’s size. Since he’s thin to begin with, his armor actually doesn’t make him that much of a bigger target than our favorite Italian Plumber, and his jetpack has no hurtbox.
Weight: Decently heavy, around Link’s or so.
Special Feature: Jet Fuel
Atop Axel’s HUD is a yellow segmented bar composed of 6 units. It starts out full and depletes when Axel uses some of his attacks. He replenishes 1 bar of fuel every second, which doesn’t seem so bad but Axel REALLY likes to use it up.
Pretty bare-bones description for what appears to be a basic resource mechanic, but that’s because it is. Of course, without this mechanic, it wouldn’t be much of a set for a Rocket Knight now, would it?
SPECIALS
Neutral Special: Lightning Barrier
See this move in action!
Axel points his sword to the sky
Now, the bolts on the sides of the stage don’t disappear; they wall-in the stage for a good half-minute! Should something touch the lightning, they are zapped for 6% and bounce off at a 30 degree upwards angle, retaining their momentum they had from any knockback that sent them into the wall in the first place. And the lightning is right against the edges of the stage, so no planking to avoid it! If the opponent is outside of the lighting and makes contact with it they will shot through the lighting back inside the cage, to prevent Axel from casually poking you off the stage and using this move for an instant-gimp. If Axel uses this move again the lightning gets super-charged (glowing brighter to indicate this), and they deal 15% damage for the next 10 seconds. Axel can be hurt by this move. It costs 3 fuel units to use this move. As a final note, on moving stages the barrier only lasts for 3 seconds, so everyone doesn't just die from being pushed off-screen.
Side/Up Special: Dark Orbs
Yes, Axel’s side and up specials are the same. However, he still has 4 specials as smash inputs will give him different moves. And, the input being “side” or “up” does affect the move, so there is incentive to learning both of them.
For this move, Axel lifts his sword as a purple energy sphere the size of Mario’s head forms at the end. He then fires the sphere straight ahead and it slowly travels until it hits something, dealing 11% and flinching knockback. Moderate startup lag with low end lag. This is for a sideways input.
With an upwards input, the sphere has a darker tone and homes in on the nearest opponent with excellent tracking ability, disappearing after 6 seconds or it hits something (which can be the target, a bystander, or Axel himself!). On contact, it then bursts into an explosion of energy that is half the size of Bowser and lasts for .4 seconds, dealing 10% and knockback that KOs at 165%. Note that the sphere will never change targets unless the current target is KO’d, so the victim of the attack has some control over where the sphere goes. Crafty adversaries may get platforms and other enemies in between himself and the sphere, but in any case while they’re running it’s up to you to go after them. This version of the move has the startup lag of Ike’s FSmash, but still low end lag. Also, both versions of the move consume 2 fuel units.
Side/Up Special Smash: Burst Dash
Ah, the trademark attack of a Rocket Knight! After a moment of startup lag, Axel just…ROCKETS with his sword held straight ahead while spinning in a similar manner to MK’s Drill Rush special, in the input direction as fast as Captain Falcon’s dash speed and as far as 1/3 of battlefield, before stopping with no end lag. This can be angled 45 degrees on the diagonals, and in the air you can even aim downwards.
Axel has super armor during the dash, and his sword deals 11% but no knockback or hitstun. If Axel hits a stage surface at an angle he bounces off and continues on his way while retaining momentum, and he can even bounce off his Lightning Barrier in this way without taking damage. While he does not enter free-fall if the move ends in the air, he is not allowed to use it again until he touches the ground (Don’t ask why, it’s a rule in the most recent Rocket Knight game at the least) and Axel cannot grab ledges until the move is finished. If you go straight down from the air it auto-cancels the moment you hit the ground.
This costs 2 fuel units to use and overall is a killer approach. You can end the move just within attacking range or go through your opponent and bounce into the air to continue your offense from the sky. By the way, this the special Axel uses during a dash, rather than Dark Orbs.
Down Special: Toxic Dash
Axel revs up his jetpack for moderate startup lag before boosting straight ahead while spinning around, having super armor against attacks that deal 10% or less during the dash. However, his sword isn’t drawn; instead, his pack is releasing purple clouds of smog the size of Axel, perfectly spaced in a chain of sorts. He flies forwards at the speed of Fox’s dash for the same time as Falcon Punch’s startup lag, and he can loosely turn during the move, allowing him to make a good-sized path of poisonous clouds for the enemy to evade. The smoke lasts for 7 seconds after the move ends.
Touching a smoke cloud makes that cloud disappear and deals 4% but no knockback or hit-stun. If you roll into them they will dissipate without you taking damage, but there’s a decent chance of you running into another one, and Axel is completely immune to his own clouds, allowing him to chase you through them unhindered. Axel does not grab ledges during this move but it has low end lag and Axel does not enter free-fall afterwards. It also costs 4 fuel units to perform; while Axel can recover fuel quickly enough, this means he can’t really abuse this since he’ll want to use that fuel to attack you while the smoke constricts your movements.
STANDARDS
Jab: Triple Slash
Axel does a good old left-right slash with his sword. The first (left) swing deals 3%, the second hit deals 4%. For the final hit, Axel swings his sword up, dealing 4% and vertical knockback that KOs at 210%. Simple and efficient.
Forwards Tilt: Burst Shot
Axel stabs forwards with his sword, dealing 9% and KOing at 190%. Low startup lag, moderate end lag. At the same time, a small burst of energy is fired from the sword that travels forwards as far as ¼ of battlefield, dealing 3% and flinching knockback, but decent pushback on shields. It takes 1 fuel unit to fire the shot.
The shot’s purpose is essentially to prevent people from rushing in and attacking Axel during the end lag. If you take advantage of Axel’s melee range the shot will even keep you safe on shield.
Down Tilt: Whirlwind Blade
Axel rises from his crouch (which is more like a kneel) while spinning 360 degrees with his sword outstretched. He performs one full spin that deals 11% and knockback that KOs at 170%, but the base knockback is as far as 1/4 of battlefield and it is on a generously upwards angle. Why does that matter? Because the move has moderate end lag, but you can cancel the end lag into another spin at the cost of 1unit of fuel, and each of these spins pushes Axel forwards 2 character lengths. If it weren’t for that knockback at the start you’d be looking at 70% from one use of this move! The move even has below average startup lag (with no startup lag on a continuation spin), so it’s not exactly difficult to hit with either.
Now, this move is actually a pretty good approaching tool since against a shield it pushes them just outside of the reach of Axel’s sword so they can’t easily punish him but Axel is still in a position to continue pressure. It can also take you across the stage mighty quickly if you just mash the A button but this would consume your fuel. Of course, if you push a shielding opponent all the way across the stage towards one of your lightning walls, that’s always a good thing…
Up Tilt: Lifting Strike
A fierce and focused uppercut with his free hand that deals 12% with knockback on a 35 degree upwards angle that KOs at 140% horizontally. This is quick with low startup lag and below average end lag, but it has the distinct disadvantage among Axel’s moves of not using his sword, meaning much less range and no disjointed hitbox. Still, this is a good move if you can get within range to use it, as Axel hits high enough above his head for it to serve as an anti-air and his hand starts right above his waistline so he can catch someone who’s about to try jumping away from him. And of course, it’s ton of fun to punch people into an electric fence.
I take no responsibility if you actually do that and something bad happens
Dash Attack: Armor Smash
Axel does a Ganon-style shoulder barge, traveling forwards 1 character length and dealing 11% and horizontal knockback that KOs at 180% (and pushes back shielding opponents slightly). Moderate startup lag and low end lag. If you press the Attack Button again during the startup lag Axel ignites his thrusters, quadrupling the distance he travels but changing no other properties (this doesn’t cancel the startup lag btw, the jetpack kicks in when the startup lag is finished). It costs 2 fuel units to use this, and Axel will continue moving through opponents.
Now, if you press the Attack Button during Axel’s pivot animation (turning around during a dash), you actually get a different attack! Axel turns his pivot into a full-blown spinning roundhouse kick that has below average startup lag and low end lag, dealing 11% and vertical knockback that KOs at 190% (pushback on shields). Note that the move hits in the direction Axel was facing when he started his dash, but it ends with Axel facing the opposite direction of when he began. Basically he does a full 360 spin starting with his pivot animation then another 180 to end the move.
Combined, Axel’s 2 dash attack variations give him an interesting ground approach option. Because of the low end lag on either variant, he can follow up either move with continued pressure if he spaces them correctly. He can follow-up with either his Fair or Bair depending on which direction he faces when his dash attack is completed.
SMASHES
Forwards Smash: Burst Smash
Axel does the tried-and-true “overhead slash” you see in so many sword-based FSmashes, using both hands for extra strength. It deals 15% and KOs at 115%. Above average startup lag, below average end lag. The hitbox only covers the area in front of Axel, but it’s pretty much a full semi-circle.
To charge the move, you need fuel. You can use up to 3 units (1 for each 1/3 charge) and for every unit you use when you release, Axel shoots forwards ¼ of Battlefield REALLY fast. Like, Wolf FSmash fast. Of course, your opponent can get out of the way while you charge up, but that’s why you have Dark Orbs block their escape…
The fuel is only used if you actually attack with it, so don’t worry that much about being interrupted. Also, if you don’t have enough fuel to get to the next level of charge, Axel automatically releases the charge when you use up what you have so you don’t waste time. This is a vicious punisher, but its favorable end lag actually makes it viable as an approach/chasing tool.
Down Smash: Doomsday Burst
Here’s a pretty scary move from Axel’s latest boss fight. After channeling large amounts of energy through his sword for the startup lag of Ike’s FSmash, Axel releases a massive purple beam of death that travels through walls and across the entire stage, holding onto his sword with both hands to keep it steady. It’s slightly thicker than his sword. Axel starts out aiming straight ahead but slowly raises the angle his sword over .6 seconds, ending with the beam aimed 60 degrees upwards before it fizzles out with below average end lag.
Touching the transcendent priority beam delivers 18% and knockback that KOs at 85%, and it ignores super-armor and deals a ton of damage to shields. Of course, opponents are free to take advantage of platforms and jumping to traverse over the beam and get to Axel, and the beam is thin enough that a precise air-dodge can clear it as it rises (though Peach who randomly has 10 missing frames of invincibility from her air-dodge might not have that option, but then again she has her float to make plan A perfectly viable anyways). Of course, when you have Dark Orbs and poisonous clouds protecting you and going after your opponent, it makes things a bit more difficult for your adversary.
To unleash such a powerful blow, Axel has to use up all 6 units of fuel at once (only using them up if the beam is actually fired). Fortunately, this move has an alternate function when fuel isn’t at max, which is also where charging comes. After the same amount of startup lag as firing the beam, Axel’s sword and jetpack begin to glow red as he charges up. For every ½ second of charging Axel regains 1 unit of fuel, and he can end this at any time with below average end lag. While this halves the time it takes to regain more units of fuel after the first one, the first one actually takes longer than a second to be acquired this way (Ike’s FSmash has just over a ½ second in startup lag). Also, Axel’s fuel gauge stops refueling normally while you are in this animation. While this can be a very useful tool if you find yourself with a large span of time to yourself, most of the time you’ll want to be chasing after you opponent and let yourself refuel normally.
Up Smash: Flare Uppercut
Axel stabs his sword along the ground, dealing 5% and tripping (if he hits a tripped opponent it deals some slight knockback away from Axel to prevent an infinite). This has below average startup and end lag, though opponents can simply avoid it by remaining in the air. Wow, kinda unimpressive for a smash, and it doesn’t feel very much like an UP smash…
Thankfully, this isn’t some gimmicky “twist” on inputs, as upon a second press of the Attack Button Axel swings his sword up while quickly boosting upwards as high as Falco’s first jump. This time he deals 8% and mostly horizontal knockback that KOs at 135%, ending in the air with below average end lag. This part costs 2 fuel units.
But wait! Where’s the charging? Well, like in the FSmash, you can use up to 3 units of fuel when charging the move. Each unit you use up will turn a segment of the fuel meter to red. If Axel completes this move uninterrupted, those red segments are transferred to a new fuel meter above the main one, that also maxes out at 6. However, this meter serves a very specific use; Axel can spend them for additional midair jumps! You can cash-in on these bonus jumps whenever you want (though you will lose them if you are KO’d), and if you may use the “slow-fall” feature for every mid-air jump as long as you hold the jump button during it (slow-falling uses up fuel from the main gauge). These fuel units are one-time use, and your main fuel meter will still recover fuel as normal after you transfer fuel to the secondary meter.
AERIALS
Neutral Aerial: Burst Vortex
Axel spins around for .5 seconds in a near identical animation to Meta Knight’s Nair (yes, THAT Nair). This deals 12% with horizontal knockback that KOs at 145%, and just like in-game, you can move Axel in any direction while performing the move at half his normal aerial sped (he stops falling while this move is going on) AND it reflects projectiles! Oh, and it has below average startup lag and moderate end lag that doesn’t really matter since he can just move out of the way when the move is about to end and combined with his sword’s reach makes it difficult to punish with more than a swat.
Unfortunately, it requires FOUR units of fuel to access some of those features. Otherwise, Axel spins around once and cannot move while performing it (not even standard air control), and any reflected projectiles deal half damage and knockback. Strangely, the damage/knockback/lag times of the move remain unaffected despite the lack of fuel…Perhaps Axel is strong enough to muster that single spin of his own accord?
Forwards Aerial: Crescent Slash
Another of Axel’s simpler attacks, he slashes his sword downwards, starting a bit in front of his head and stopping just past the “perfectly horizontal” mark. This makes it a good air-to-air move and it’s also viable as an air-to-ground move when short-hopped. 12%, KOs at 150%, Low startup lag, moderate end lag.
So, just a directly inferior version of Burst Vortex? Keep in mind that this move incurs no fuel cost, unlike Burst Vortex which eats it up. While the hitbox on this move is worse it starts up a little faster, deals the same damage with almost as much knockback, and you still retain air-control with his move so you can retreat/space yourself during the end lag. Finally, this move has below average landing lag, so this move is safer from a short-hop than Nair when fuel is running low.
Back Aerial: Lethal Draw
Axel quickly and precisely strikes with his sword behind himself, aiming at a 50 degree downwards angle. This deals 12% with knockback that KOs at 165%. Low startup lag, moderate end lag, low landing lag. This is a great air-to-ground pressure tool, especially when short-hopped. Don’t expect it to be incredibly reliable in aerial combat though.
Up Aerial: Burst Flash
Axel performs 3 quick semi-circle sword swings above himself. They each deal 4%, and the last one deals vertical knockback that KOs at 210%. Low startup lag with moderate end lag. It’s a good juggler or aerial attack, though it has no use against grounded opponents.
Now, during the end lag of the attack, if you press the Attack Button, Axel uses his jetpack to propel him through a quick forwards flip-kick, similar in appearance to ROB’s Nair. There are 2 hitboxes to this move; Axel’s feet/legs, and the fire from his pack. His feet deal 12% with horizontal knockback that KOs at 140%, and the fire, which covers half the distance of his legs, deals 15% with vertical knockback that KOs at 125%. This attack covers the entire area around Axel, starting with directly beneath him. It has low startup lag, moderate end lag, and low landing lag. It costs 2 fuel units. Like most flipping aerial attacks, this is a very useful move, and Axel’s is unique in that it covers his back first then his front.
Down Aerial: Downward Thrust
Axel stabs downwards with his sword, dealing 11% and mostly horizontal knockback that KOs at 170%. This is stupid fast; it has no startup lag and below average end lag. However, the hitbox has nearly no horizontal range as Axel holds the sword in such a way that the sharp edges are facing the screen.
If you’d like, you can use a smash input for Axel to very quickly propel himself towards the ground head-first with his sword outstretched, facing the screen. This gives the move more startup lag, from none to low (ololololol) and the end/landing lag increases to moderate. The damage of the move is increased to 14% and knockback now KOs at 150%. The hitbox of the move is unchanged besides Axel moving down. It costs 2 fuel units to do this variant of the move.
THROWS
Grab: Axel reaches out to grab his opponent with his free hand. Its range is low but it’s really fast, so it’s scary if you’re ever close enough to land it.
Pummel: Fuel Tank Injection
Axel’s jetpack starts to rev up as 1 unit of fuel is consumed per use of this pummel. One use takes .3 seconds. When Axel performs a throw, he will travel 1/5 of battlefield for each unit of fuel injected in the direction of the throw input, not stopping at edges and entering his air-game if the throw takes him off-stage. It the opponent escapes your grab the fuel goes back to ready-mode and you instantly recover all the fuel you put into this move. Finally, fuel will not start to recover during a grab until after the throw is completed.
Forward Throw: Wall Strike
Axel grabs his opponent’s face and slams them into the ground, dealing 10% and leaving them on their back. If he is next to a wall, he will smash them against the wall and deal 12% before tossing them backwards for set horizontal knockback of 1/4 of battlefield. If he runs them into the Lightning Barricade he lets go and stops as they take the damage from the electrical wall while chuckling.
Back Throw: Get Back Here!
Axel simply turns around and tosses his enemy at an upwards angle, dealing 10% and KOing at 180%. With the pummel activated, Axel has super-armor as he carries his enemy back and he does not turn around until it is time for the actual throw. This is useful as Axel can tank through any traps in the way without letting go of his victim, and if he tosses them into one of his own projectiles/traps he will probably make up the damage he took.
Up Throw: Rising Smash
Axel tosses his opponent up slightly before roundhouse kicking them away at an upwards angle, dealing 9% and knockback that KOs at 175%. A simple throw, but this can pretty vicious with proper positioning and set-up. Just imagine, using the pummel first to fly up a ways, then kicking your opponent even higher at the peak of the rise, sending them into the Lightning Barricade which deals even more vertical knockback…yeah, this is suddenly pretty darn scary on stages without high ceilings. Can we unban Hyrule Temple? (smirk2)
Down Throw: Burst Saw
Axel throws his enemy to the ground and proceeds to perform a spin attack similar in appearance to his Nair. He deals a single spin of 3% with an additional spin for every unit of fuel he used for his pummel. If Axel is on a drop-through platform, he will first go through the platform with his opponent and perform the spin once he has hit solid ground, getting 1 less spin for each fuel unit he needed to carry his opponent down. Axel does NOT stop until he has hit solid ground in any case, so you can Possumcide with this.
FINAL SMASH - MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE
Axel lowers his visor and intense flames start to emit from his jetpack. For the next 10 seconds, Axel has unlimited fuel…whee, generic mechanic enhancer for a mechanic that isn’t particularly interesting in the first place.After those 10 seconds are up, Axel crosses his arms and energy gathers around his entire body, and then .7 seconds later he releases a purple screen-filling wave of energy that deals the damage/knockback of Tabuu’s off-waves…a spot-dodge can avoid it, but this wave also destroys any and all drop-through platforms on the stage as well as any normally breakable objects, and it also short-circuits his Lightning Barricade. Axel pants for a few moments before lifting his visor and laughing. He then takes off and flies off stage. We’re not finished yet!
For a few seconds you hear metal footsteps, and then Axel appears on the left side of the screen in a large mech as seen in this video! Now do you see why Axel is the greatest knight ever? While Link’s timing presses of A to get that lazy Epona to do anything, Axel just casually walks up him and gives him a Warlordian Stomp. (h)
So, Axel’s mech in Brawl is comparable in size to Giant Tabuu, and similarly he is situated on the side of the screen. With a press of the Attack Button, the robot delivers a punch like the one it uses in the video, and you can aim it with the control stick. It has above average startup lag but deals plenty of shield damage and a clean hit delivers 30% with Falcon Punch knockback. It also low end lag and insane range. The Special Move button has Axel lean forwards and fire one of his homing Dark Orbs that work just like in the regular moveset. If you press both buttons Axel unleashes his DSmash beam, aimed towards the ground at first but quickly sweeping upwards. He recovers fuel 5 times as fast in the mech so he can spam this stuff much easier. You get to use the mech for 10 seconds, and then Axel jumps out and slowly descends to the ground with his arms crossed as his robot walks away and the stage reforms. Axel is invincible until he touches the ground and .3 seconds afterwards so you don’t just have a FSmash hitbox out the instant he lands.
PLAYSTYLE
Axel Gear’s a very aggressive fighter, always looking for a chance to slice up some victims. Of course, you may not think that at first, considering all those projectiles and traps he has. He has a screen-clearing move which requires him to be far away so he can get past the startup lag for pete’s sake! However, these projectiles are far too slow for camping; rather, Axel uses them to augment his approach.
Your first step is to set-up a Lightning Barrier. While this isn’t as simple as Dingodile’s crystals, Axel can summon his key structure without too much trouble since he can use the momentum of his jumps and such to allow him to keep away long enough to complete the move. Once you have your electric cage-match all set-up, spend a few seconds to get your fuel all ready, and the fun begins!
Alright, now it’s time to start going on the attack. As sated, Axel can use Dark Orbs and Toxic Dash to control the stage and make his approaches safer and more controlled. The straight-shot Dark Orb deals more damage and can’t harm you, but they move very slowly and in a linear path; their slowness can be a benefit in a same way as Mario’s fireballs, by allowing you to follow behind them in order to counter the enemy’s attempts to dodge the projectile. The homing Dark Orb deals slightly less damage and can potentially be used against you by a crafty adversary, but at the same time its excellent tracking abilities means your opponent inherently becomes more predictable as they try to get away from the attack. Toxic Dash covers a large area and lingers for a while, and you can safely move through it while your opponent has to get around it; at the same time, each individual cloud is weak, and it costs 2/3 of a full fuel gauge, so you won’t have a lot of fuel to play around with afterwards for a few moments. Which one you use is partially preference and as the match goes on you might find one that counteracts your opponent’s behavior better than others.
After enacting the stage control device of your choosing, now Axel himself to get into melee range! The bread and butter approach is with a Burst Dash. It’s got all the makings of a tool to close the distance: super-armor, covers a good distance, fast, NO end lag whatsoever…yeah, your opponent should be thankful it doesn’t even flinch them. The fact that you angle it and even ricochet off of surfaces gives you a myriad of combinations to approach with, all from a single move! Oh, but this isn’t Axel’s only approaching tool. DTilt, Dash Attack, charged FSmashes, and short-hopped Fairs and Bairs all make very worthy options in different situations. In particular, a pivot Dash Attack is interesting since your opponent might have a knee-jerk reaction to the pivot animation, and unlike other pivots you can do your Dash Attack in addition to a Bair, forcing your opponent to be more considerate of both yours and his options.
Now you’ve closed the gap, you need to keep up this assault. How you go about this will depend on yours and the enemy’s positions and how well you can read their actions, and Axel can utilize a large portion of his moveset in various ways for this, so it’s impossible to cover every single option you have. To start, you can now essentially ignore the Special Move button for the most part; Axel’s specials served their role in getting you this far, now it’s up to your swordsmanship to complete the job. As for examples of what you CAN do:
The killer here is that your opponent truly has nowhere to run, thanks to the Lightning Barrier. If they keep backing away from you, they’ll quickly run themselves into taking damage from electric wall and back themselves in a nice corner for you. When they make a run for it away from the lightning, you’re in a prime position to halt them immediately, and even if they do get away you can always rest for a moment as you prepare another projectile for your next approach.Axel's pressure game said:
Alright, KO time! Axel’s got a bit of a dilemma here. No, he’s not a failure at KOs and needs to gimp after all that damage he’s just racked up. It’s just that his KO potential is heavily horizontal, and thanks to his Lightning Barrier it’s impossible for him to do that! Essentially, as long as the electricity crackles, you should focus exclusively on just piling on heaps of damage. Once the lightning passes and the edges of the stage are open, a large portion of your moveset can viably send someone flying out of the ring assuming you were dilligent in your offense. Use a homing Dark Orb to ensure they don’t make it back. While a DSmash is tempting, it won’t hit below the stage and your opponent can air-dodge it, so have a follow-up plan to your opponent’s reaction if you intend to blow all your fuel in one attack.
While Axel’s more than a formidable opponent based on all the stuff I layed out for you, he does have his weaknesses. For starters, there’s that fuel gauge that keeps him from abusing super-powered moves constantly. While he still has tons of viable options without it, he’s absolutely deadly if he’s able to manage it correctly. Second, a lot of his pressure game depends on him spacing himself properly to take advantage of the fantastic range of his sword. If he uses something like Fair right in his opponent’s face they’ll be able to punish your end lag. Axel alleviates this somewhat with his Utilt and Grab.
Finally, Axel doesn’t really like it when he’s the one being pressured. He can’t camp, thanks to his slow projectiles that also require fuel to even be used. A really aggressive opponent may eventually bypass Axel’s range where he’ll need to once again rely on Utilt and his Grab to relieve himself. Axel’s out-of-shield options aren’t the greatest thanks to his up-b being a slow projectile, though his fast (with poor range) grab gives him something at the least. Axel’s recovery is surprisingly difficult, because neither of his “recovery specials” allow him to grab the edge mid-move, both cost fuel, and in Burst Dash’s case, he can just bounce right off the stage and back towards the blast zone! You can get around this to an extent with bonus midair-jumps via a charged USmash.
So that’s Axel, folks. A character with a good selection of projectiles and traps, and yet rather than run away with them, he uses to them to help approach! His various approaching moves result in a variety of different situations that he can use to start a fierce assault on his victim. He’s got the ability to be relentless no matter how the opponent tries to escape, all the while cornering them against a harmful wall. Axel’s got so many different viable options for each phase of his offense that his sheer unpredictability makes opponents pressure themselves. And best of all, he provides all the fun of aggressive offense without succumbing to combos. Possums may play dead, but after Axel’s finished with you, you won’t just be pretending!
MATCHUPS
Vs Sloth: Slight Disadvantage
It will take a serious effort to defeat the ultimate tank. Sloth loves to chain himself so that he’s -just- out of reach of the Lightning Barrier, where he can still easily smack Axel into it. Sloth’s chains give him insane disjointed range, and his punching attacks are still far-reaching in their own right. To top it all off, the moment Axel wiffs a move, Sloth can use his dreaded Titan Rush to pinball Axel around.
Axel’s strategy doesn’t change in this matchup, if anything it becomes even more important to pressure Sloth with a nonstop barrage of attacks. Axel still has great disjointed range himself, and he can easily take advantage of Sloth’s poor speed to keep up the attack. Toxic Dash can be helpful as Sloth won’t even bother trying to dodge the poison and soak up all the damage, provided he ever wants to budge in the first place. Dark Orbs and Burst Dash are probably your main approaching tools in this fight; Sloth may have defensive range that rivals Dalshim, but homing attacks and super-armor will negate that somewhat. Of course, Axel’s still at a loss at having an answer to those **** chains…
Axel puts up an admirable fight, but Sloth still pulls out an overall advantage, thanks to his EXTREME range, priority, and survivability. Axel can still win this since Sloth can’t lock-out Axel’s core strategy, but Sloth can still pursue his own gameplay without issue either. Sloth got on the top overpowered sets list for a reason!
Vs Joe Calzaghe: Even
Relentless offense vs an impregnable defense. Joe’s got more precise spacing ability, while Axel tears through Joe’s priority and has more range too. Joe can dodge a blow while counter-attacking, but Axel can get over Joe and take advantage of his vulnerable back and top.
Axel gets to toy around with a lot of his moves in this fight. Both variations of Dark Orbs can work for straining Joe’s defensive prowess, in particular because they can force him into the air where Axel’s far superior air game gets to brutalize Joe. From a ground approach, Axel can use a dash -> Usmash strategy to force Joe to block low, but then mix it up with a short-hopped aerial to make Joe block high. When you consider Burst Dash, Axel can use his ability to attack from any angle to really screw with Joe’s prized spacing. After a successful approach, this continues into an attack of well-placed slashes that even Joe may find himself overwhelmed by.
The Italian Dragon’s prepared to face the Black Knight, however. He doesn’t really mind getting backed up near a Lightning Barrier as it just makes it harder for Axel to try getting behind him, allowing Joe to focus on his powerful frontal defense. Joe’s counter-punches provide him a means to evade even Axel’s range, provided Axel doesn’t just Dair through Joe’s entire body. Even against the most aggressive Axel, Joe can get some breathing room through his clear-out and sweep-in abilities. Using Axel’s grab to stop these moves is risky considering it puts him in range for Joe’s own grab. Joe’s Dthrow is nasty as he can force Axel to use up fuel. Finally, Joe’s defensive ability means Axel may find his Lightning Barrier running out and he’s not quite ready to go for a finishing move. If Joe isn’t up to 100% or so by the time the stage is re-opened, consider toughing out another barrier for the round.
This is quite the matchup we have. Both sides can and must make full use of their gameplan to succeed, with battles often coming down to who can read their opponent more closely. Axel Gear vs Joe Calzaghe, only on pay-per-view!
Vs Arthas: Moderate Advantage
Fuck the Lich King, wrath of the Rocket Knight baby! Right off the bat, you may want to consider forgoing the usual set-up and go straight for Arthas in order to prevent him from summoning his acolytes. The long casting time for the summon ensures that if Axel keeps up his offense, Arthas has no chance to build the army he needs. Of course, Arthas isn’t helpless without them. Until his mana runs out, he’s got good defensive moves such as his tilts, dash attack, USmash, DSmash, and Bair. Arthas power means that once he hits Axel, he may have enough time to attempt a summon. Arthas runs on resources like Axel, but is more dependant on them and recovers them much slower.
If Arthas does summon an acolyte, things become more difficult for Axel. If Axel tries to go after the acolyte, Arthas is capable of applying some offense to protect his minion. After an acolyte is summoned it’s only a matter of time before Arthas has some buildings set up and more units join the fight, and we know how much Axel hates being pressured. If any units are summoned, IGNORE THEM unless they are right next to you, and continue to pressure Arthas as much as possible. You cannot afford for a fight with Arthas to drag on.
While the threat of Arthas’ summons is very real, the sole number of the lag in summoning them allows Axel to stand a good chance of preventing it from ever happening. Arthas options in blocking Axel keep this from being one-sided, but it’s certainly not one of Arthas’ best matchups.
Vs Zant: Even
Zant’s perfectly content to let you set up a Lightning Barrier, seeing as it allows him to start to spread some twilight on the stage (see why this moveset is so bad now? He spreads TWILIGHT around the stage! (horror)).
Zant’s got a bunch of tricky projectiles and defensive moves to stop approaches, but you’re the approaching king, you’ve got ways around it all. Zant tries to teleport with dash attack or his wormholes? Homing Dark Orbs don’t care where you go. Ftilt? Soar over it. Projectile camping? Hello Nair! Of course, that isn’t to say Zant’s defense isn’t great; his Ftilt is a grab and his Dtilt nullifies Axel’s projectiles. Zant’s projectile moves are varied and can cover all sorts of the various angles Axel will approach from. And while defending himself Zant will be creating more and more twilight.
Now, eventually Zant will have a lot of his horrible novel on the field, and he gets to start playing the same game as Axel. While in theory this sounds very scary for Axel, it’s not lethal because Zant can’t pressure Axel nearly as well thanks to his reliance on twilight. Axel can stay in the normal realm while setting-up a projectile to out-approach Zant. What’s scary is if Axel botches his pressure game inside a patch of twilight; now he’ll be hard-pressed to avoid the raving lunatic that is
This is a mighty fun match-up as the two competitors have to constantly readjust their strategies throughout the fight. Did you notice how the most balanced matchups Axel has are the ones where he gets to use the full extent of his playstyle and the opponent can do the same? (h)
EXTRAS
Side Taunt: Axel holds his stomach and laughs in oh-so-classic villain fashion.
Up Taunt: Axel clenches a fist and shakes it angrily at the player with an angry “grrrrrrr!” For the record, both of the first 2 taunts are animations from Rocket Knight, so I hold no responsibility for their potential cheesiness.
Down Taunt: Axel points his sword towards the closest opponent and makes a “come here” gesture with his free hand, all the while a devious smile on his face. IT’S A TRAP!
Victory Animation 1: Axel stands facing the camera in a similar pose to the pic at the top of the moveset. If you leave it on the results screen long enough, you can hear him mutter “Great, this is the same pose as Ganon had in Melee.” If you had any balance complaints for this moveset, just remember that he’ll be Z tier in the next game.
Victory Animation 2: Axel stands behind the fallen body of the loser in last place, with one foot on it in a typical victory pose. In front of him are some peasants from Zephyrus cheering for him. Axel himself has a confident smirk on his face as he gestures more applause from the crowd.
Victory Animation 3: Princess Sherry of Zephyrus leaps into Axel’s arms and they embrace. Sherry then lovingly says “My hero!”…wait wait wait, what the heck is up with the last 2 animations?
Well, you see, in the new Rocket Knight game, you discover early on that in the time frame between the last game and this one, Sparkster himself disappeared after a dispute with the king. Not only was Axel able to take Sparkster’s place as the protector of the kingdom, but he even managed to start dating the princess. Yes, the kingdom of Zephyrus just made one of their most powerful enemies into the replacement for their sworn protector as well as allow him to become the heir to the throne. I’m surprised there haven’t been more attacks on them…then again, according to the first game Axel’s been harboring a crush on Sherry, so when he kidnapped her way back then I guess he was able to give Sherry a good time so she would want him later…(hello)
- incoming codec: press select -
Otacon: I knew it would come down to this…
Snake: What are you talking about?
Otacon: That’s Sparkster, a Konami character that was dropped so they could promote the Metal Gear franchise!
Snake: But tha-
Otacon: Watch out for his rocketpack! Sparkster is a formidable opponent at any range!
Snake: But
Otacon: What Snake?!
Snake: That’s not Sparkster. That’s Axel Gear, his nemesis.
Otacon: …Damn Shadow the Hedgehog instilling doppelganger stupidity on everyone…
- end transmission -
Assist Trophy: Sparkster
Yes, the hero of the series gets to join the Brawl too! When Sparkster appears, he will jump and run around the stage with good mobility as his rocketpack starts to ignite. It takes 3 seconds to charge then Sparkster unleashes his own Burst Dash, which goes stupid-fast and deals 12% with knockback that KOs at 140%. He can also deliver a quick sword swipe on the ground or in the air to anyone who gets in his way, dealing 10% with knockback that KOs at 160%.
Sparkster actually takes damage and knockback like a regular character, but he has permanent anti-grab armor. He WILL try to recover with his Burst Dash, and if he lives he will act more aggressive towards the guy who knocked him off the stage. Sparkster remains on the field for 20 seconds.
-Version 1.1: Added inwards knockback for Lightning Barrier when opponent is outside it. Fixes an overpowered gimping exploit pointed out by N88.
-(June 17th 2010) Version1.2: Greatly reduced duration of Lightning Barrier to 30 seconds (previously 1 minute) and added clause that it only lasts for 3 seconds on moving stages. This gives more flexibility to both Axel's and his opponent's KO opportunites, and prevents the move from breaking moving stages.
32º Centigrade
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2009
- Messages
- 14
I can't say for sure if Axel Gear is true to his character (I've never played Rocket Knight), but being the aggressive pressure character that he is, he fits the description of a heavyweight male antagonist. The Specials are my favorite part of the set; I love Lightning Barrier, probably because I was thinking of an identical concept. The concept behind the Up/Side Specials was interesting, but I'm not sure how well it would fit into Smash. Brawl doesn't distinguish well between tapping and tilting, or at least mine doesn't.
Some of the other moves seem either really simple (which can be good and bad) or filled with random extras. The Up-Smash charge feature seemed completely out of left field. The idea is nice, but it seems too special to be a standard input. I'd complain about the Down-Smash, but using up all of your fuel to do this attack seems like a fair trade off. Plus, I can't really see Axel doing this attack when the opponent is at a high percentage, when it would actually kill, because he'd be too busy just wailing on them. So, yeah, Down-Smash is fine.
The fuel mechanic itself is, while derivative by this point, nicely done. Usage of fuel is clearly defined, and it's easy to understand as a whole. The concept of a heavyweight pressure character is nothing new, but what it all really boils down to is how well it is executed, and in the case of Axel Gear, I think it's executed pretty well. I'm sad that this is the last set from you in a while, but at least you left us with a good one.
Some of the other moves seem either really simple (which can be good and bad) or filled with random extras. The Up-Smash charge feature seemed completely out of left field. The idea is nice, but it seems too special to be a standard input. I'd complain about the Down-Smash, but using up all of your fuel to do this attack seems like a fair trade off. Plus, I can't really see Axel doing this attack when the opponent is at a high percentage, when it would actually kill, because he'd be too busy just wailing on them. So, yeah, Down-Smash is fine.
The fuel mechanic itself is, while derivative by this point, nicely done. Usage of fuel is clearly defined, and it's easy to understand as a whole. The concept of a heavyweight pressure character is nothing new, but what it all really boils down to is how well it is executed, and in the case of Axel Gear, I think it's executed pretty well. I'm sad that this is the last set from you in a while, but at least you left us with a good one.
KingK.Rool
Smash Lord
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2005
- Messages
- 1,810
You know, my writing style has only ever been criticized once (Ocon said Abra was pretentious >=O); I can't honestly say I know how it feels, but I can certainly understand the frustration when someone dismisses all of the concepts strictly because of presentation. I mean, if you're here to make the concepts, you're here to make the concepts, right? If it's hard to read, the rest of us just have to grin and bear it, and preferably not keep harping on about it, nor let it spoil what there is to appreciate.
On a related note, as much as I like the ratings you're doing now, Dad, this is precisely the problem that comes of it. An opinion is difficult to argue, but a rating can be appealed to, and people will certainly fight to the death to scrub a star or two.
On a related note, as much as I like the ratings you're doing now, Dad, this is precisely the problem that comes of it. An opinion is difficult to argue, but a rating can be appealed to, and people will certainly fight to the death to scrub a star or two.
Haven't you heard, Joe? Here in MYM, we hate the game we're designing for!
So, about Axel. I think that the reason I sometimes have trouble digesting your sets, HR, is because they're so concerned about making the characters fun to play in Brawl that they sometimes forget to be fun to imagine in Brawl, if you know what I mean. They tend to take movesetting clichés and flip them upside down, but in the process, they occasionally miss some of the flow and obvious move interactions that people so love when reading their movesets. And they're always reductive of their playstyles in the last playstyle paragraph which I hate >=(
Basically, you're a designer, not necessarily a showman. I'm going over this because this is possibly your last solo set (although you tend to shine through really strongly in your joint sets), and I like to have a bit of context. Also, it's the reason I'd give for your underrated status in the last few contests; other than MYM 5, which you sort of dominated, you've been generally placed much lower than you deserve.
There's also the fact that I really, really like this moveset. It's everything about your MYMing condensed into a sheerly fascinating package, a shining example of practicality and creativity working together rather than against one another. There's a bit less flow than we're used to nowadays, but that's usually a byproduct of your storylike structure. One never quite knows where it's all going until you wrap it up in the playstyle section; this is a really bloody effective presentation that recently worked wonders in both Macho Man and Zinger, and always tends to be popular.
The fact is that you made a moveset for a technology-powered swordsman that feels just like it, and uses the fuel mechanic as a natural, integrated feature rather than as a fancy gimmick. That alone sets it apart from its kind of moveset, and makes it a wonderful swan song for an absolutely unique MYMer.
I don't think this moveset is going to be too popular - 3/5 from Daddy with a "you've done better", a positive but ambivalent comment from Junahu, "it's no Macho Man" from Warlord - but for what it's worth, I figure it's your best solo set since... oh... Bass & Treble, I suppose. And we all know how much I love that one, so that's saying something.
Basically, you're a designer, not necessarily a showman. I'm going over this because this is possibly your last solo set (although you tend to shine through really strongly in your joint sets), and I like to have a bit of context. Also, it's the reason I'd give for your underrated status in the last few contests; other than MYM 5, which you sort of dominated, you've been generally placed much lower than you deserve.
There's also the fact that I really, really like this moveset. It's everything about your MYMing condensed into a sheerly fascinating package, a shining example of practicality and creativity working together rather than against one another. There's a bit less flow than we're used to nowadays, but that's usually a byproduct of your storylike structure. One never quite knows where it's all going until you wrap it up in the playstyle section; this is a really bloody effective presentation that recently worked wonders in both Macho Man and Zinger, and always tends to be popular.
The fact is that you made a moveset for a technology-powered swordsman that feels just like it, and uses the fuel mechanic as a natural, integrated feature rather than as a fancy gimmick. That alone sets it apart from its kind of moveset, and makes it a wonderful swan song for an absolutely unique MYMer.
I don't think this moveset is going to be too popular - 3/5 from Daddy with a "you've done better", a positive but ambivalent comment from Junahu, "it's no Macho Man" from Warlord - but for what it's worth, I figure it's your best solo set since... oh... Bass & Treble, I suppose. And we all know how much I love that one, so that's saying something.
flyinfilipino
Smash Master
@Axel Gear: Well, here's a game series I've never heard of before (it actually looks pretty cool, too). Naturally, I'm introduced to an antagonist first.
Axel seems like a pretty cool character. (It seems like we get characters named Axel pretty often, doesn't it?) I can't really say much about the fuel mechanic, but it appears to keep his crazy moves in check. Speaking of crazy, while Lightning Barrier is certainly a cool move, I don't like how they are (seemingly) unable to be gotten rid of within the time limit. It kind of focuses the game on Axel and takes away an aspect of the fight from the opponent, in my opinion. Though I understand that as far as this moveset is concerned, that's the point. I feel like Burst Dash could have just been relegated to Up Special and Dark Orbs could have just been the Side Special and it would make a little more sense, but that's just me. Overall, the Specials are really cool, though.
Axel's standards are nice, and his Dash Attack is pretty unique, as far as I know. His Smashes are crazy but there's that fuel to balance it out. The extra jump thing in the Up Smash baffles me, however. Aerials seem adequate, as do the throws (the pummel mechanic is interesting too). That's one elaborate Final Smash :O.
Overall, Axel's well-done and polished (as usual from you), combining a cool character with some cool moves. I'm sure your emphasis on his playstyle will go across well, too.
Axel seems like a pretty cool character. (It seems like we get characters named Axel pretty often, doesn't it?) I can't really say much about the fuel mechanic, but it appears to keep his crazy moves in check. Speaking of crazy, while Lightning Barrier is certainly a cool move, I don't like how they are (seemingly) unable to be gotten rid of within the time limit. It kind of focuses the game on Axel and takes away an aspect of the fight from the opponent, in my opinion. Though I understand that as far as this moveset is concerned, that's the point. I feel like Burst Dash could have just been relegated to Up Special and Dark Orbs could have just been the Side Special and it would make a little more sense, but that's just me. Overall, the Specials are really cool, though.
Axel's standards are nice, and his Dash Attack is pretty unique, as far as I know. His Smashes are crazy but there's that fuel to balance it out. The extra jump thing in the Up Smash baffles me, however. Aerials seem adequate, as do the throws (the pummel mechanic is interesting too). That's one elaborate Final Smash :O.
Overall, Axel's well-done and polished (as usual from you), combining a cool character with some cool moves. I'm sure your emphasis on his playstyle will go across well, too.
I was gonna say the same thing.Haven't you heard, Joe? Here in MYM, we hate the game we're designing for!
Monkey D. AWESOME
Smash Apprentice
Not cool, man. Not. Cool.
Junahu
Smash Ace
Axel Gear:
¬_¬ Because I'm ambivalent, I'm going to praise and criticise this moveset. First, criticism;
The Neutral Special I don't like. It feels like the kind of MasterWarlord rule changing that overpowers the other players by outright demanding the match flows in a specific way. You may as well have had a steel cage drop down, or change the entire stage to a box with electric walls, for all it achieves. Sure, it fits Axel's playstyle well enough (ish), but at the definite cost of everyone else's. This is a special, safe to use at almost any time whatsover, that genuinely locks out all Gimping and Horizontal KOs (on most stages) for a full minute. It's a defensive manouver cleverly masked as an offensive one, and it's potentially more jarring and spiteful than even Morton's Doom Pillars.
But that's genuinely my only problem with Axel. Everything else is blisteringly well polished, exciting without being overly complicated, and genuinely interesting to read. Cleverly inverting our own play style cliches, without outright spiting them, is something only you seem to be capable of, so I guess we won't be having another moveset like this for a long while.
I also have to mention that this was by far your most approachable, readable moveset yet
¬_¬ Because I'm ambivalent, I'm going to praise and criticise this moveset. First, criticism;
The Neutral Special I don't like. It feels like the kind of MasterWarlord rule changing that overpowers the other players by outright demanding the match flows in a specific way. You may as well have had a steel cage drop down, or change the entire stage to a box with electric walls, for all it achieves. Sure, it fits Axel's playstyle well enough (ish), but at the definite cost of everyone else's. This is a special, safe to use at almost any time whatsover, that genuinely locks out all Gimping and Horizontal KOs (on most stages) for a full minute. It's a defensive manouver cleverly masked as an offensive one, and it's potentially more jarring and spiteful than even Morton's Doom Pillars.
But that's genuinely my only problem with Axel. Everything else is blisteringly well polished, exciting without being overly complicated, and genuinely interesting to read. Cleverly inverting our own play style cliches, without outright spiting them, is something only you seem to be capable of, so I guess we won't be having another moveset like this for a long while.
I also have to mention that this was by far your most approachable, readable moveset yet
Oh, I didn't specifically mean your ranking comments in particular. I meant our current culture of critique that must seem incredibly intimidating to a newcomer. Even if it isn't their moveset, seeing another MYMer get chewed out for making a moveset that is actually quite good (to the newcomer), must really discourage them from making their own. We need to either post our negative commentry elsewhere, or really try focusing on the positives.
//And now moar generic rant;
It's important to realise that a moveset that veteran MYMers like, may not be one that newcomers like. And vice-versa with movesets that veterans hate.
Newcomers could probably care less if a moveset is underpowered, or has wierd ambiguous moves, or is made by Plorf. Most newcomers want to read something cool and entertaining, that they can understand without a PhD in MYMology. Given a choice between Komodo Moe/Joe and Jason, a lot of newcomers would probably prefer to read Jason.
KingK.Rool
Smash Lord
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2005
- Messages
- 1,810
Oooh, let me play Warlord for a moment! So he doesn't have to
*assumes Nixon impression*
Was I close? (A)
For the record, I agree with you. The problem about unreadable and hard-to-read sets, as people so often forget in our little MYM bubble, is that they make it almost impossible for any newcomers to get interested in what we're doing here. An inviting set works wonders for the average SWFer.
MasterWarlord
Smash Champion
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2008
- Messages
- 2,911
Morton's Doom Pillars are jarring and spiteful? They can't act as gimping walls as clearly stated in the set. They only last a bit and they can just hit themselves on the wall to regain recovery moves. . .And if he wants to exploit that (small) extra damage, he's wasting the most crucial part of his game for a good while. I hardly say my sets are forcing things to go a specific way when you make such blatant sets bent on countering/spiting everything. . .
...
This is a contest. If we want to dumb down both our movesets and commentaries, then MYM is dead. It's not MYM, simply a random moveset making topic like BiTF or IGN. If you want that, you can go there.
Rool was really spot on putting words into my mouth, I haven't much else to say. It seems you're not looking for a moveset making contest, in which case I can gladly show you the door. Please direct me to how short movesets with no good movesets within them or "cool" or "entertaining". That argument works for Cat Clancer, not Jason or Solar Man.
AXEL GEAR
6 Minute Audio Comment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvV9MnWNqy0
Hyper_Ridley
Smash Champion
I'll admit that USmash is a bit random in why it's on that input, though the reason for it is because I wanted all his smashes to work with his fuel and since jumps have you go UP, I thought, why not do something with using his jetpack for jumps? xD
Thanks for the comments. Lightning Barrier was the very first move I thought of for the set, and I had to keep it mind the entire time designing the rest of him, so it's always nice to see someone liked it.
I don't know what to say except thanks a ton dude (hug).So, about Axel. I think that the reason I sometimes have trouble digesting your sets, HR, is because they're so concerned about making the characters fun to play in Brawl that they sometimes forget to be fun to imagine in Brawl, if you know what I mean. They tend to take movesetting clichés and flip them upside down, but in the process, they occasionally miss some of the flow and obvious move interactions that people so love when reading their movesets. And they're always reductive of their playstyles in the last playstyle paragraph which I hate >=(
Basically, you're a designer, not necessarily a showman. I'm going over this because this is possibly your last solo set (although you tend to shine through really strongly in your joint sets), and I like to have a bit of context. Also, it's the reason I'd give for your underrated status in the last few contests; other than MYM 5, which you sort of dominated, you've been generally placed much lower than you deserve.
There's also the fact that I really, really like this moveset. It's everything about your MYMing condensed into a sheerly fascinating package, a shining example of practicality and creativity working together rather than against one another. There's a bit less flow than we're used to nowadays, but that's usually a byproduct of your storylike structure. One never quite knows where it's all going until you wrap it up in the playstyle section; this is a really bloody effective presentation that recently worked wonders in both Macho Man and Zinger, and always tends to be popular.
The fact is that you made a moveset for a technology-powered swordsman that feels just like it, and uses the fuel mechanic as a natural, integrated feature rather than as a fancy gimmick. That alone sets it apart from its kind of moveset, and makes it a wonderful swan song for an absolutely unique MYMer.
I don't think this moveset is going to be too popular - 3/5 from Daddy with a "you've done better", a positive but ambivalent comment from Junahu, "it's no Macho Man" from Warlord - but for what it's worth, I figure it's your best solo set since... oh... Bass & Treble, I suppose. And we all know how much I love that one, so that's saying something.
Personally, I'm quite fond of this moveset myself. I had to fight myself at some points, such as Bair originally having an extra mechanic to it, but in the end I'm glad that in those instances I was able to stick to my gut and leave the move as-is.
What we need is a set for Axel from Guilty Gear! (You don't know many images of that I had to wade through to find an actual pic of my character)@Axel Gear: Well, here's a game series I've never heard of before (it actually looks pretty cool, too). Naturally, I'm introduced to an antagonist first.
Axel seems like a pretty cool character. (It seems like we get characters named Axel pretty often, doesn't it?) I can't really say much about the fuel mechanic, but it appears to keep his crazy moves in check. Speaking of crazy, while Lightning Barrier is certainly a cool move, I don't like how they are (seemingly) unable to be gotten rid of within the time limit. It kind of focuses the game on Axel and takes away an aspect of the fight from the opponent, in my opinion. Though I understand that as far as this moveset is concerned, that's the point. I feel like Burst Dash could have just been relegated to Up Special and Dark Orbs could have just been the Side Special and it would make a little more sense, but that's just me. Overall, the Specials are really cool, though.
Axel's standards are nice, and his Dash Attack is pretty unique, as far as I know. His Smashes are crazy but there's that fuel to balance it out. The extra jump thing in the Up Smash baffles me, however. Aerials seem adequate, as do the throws (the pummel mechanic is interesting too). That's one elaborate Final Smash :O.
Overall, Axel's well-done and polished (as usual from you), combining a cool character with some cool moves. I'm sure your emphasis on his playstyle will go across well, too.
At first I had considered what you said about the special inputs, but I really wanted the player to be able to choose on a whim which direction they would use a Rocket Dash, and at the same time they'd have to commit to it. Though he probably could work somehow with normal inputs, yeah.
Glad to see some love for the pummel mechanic. I was surprised how such a simple concept could create 4 uniquely functioning throws.
I wouldn't expect everyone to like Neutral Special, heheh. Though I think the move is surprisingly more balanced than you might think at first glance. Axel himself relies on horizontal KOs so he ends up locking out his own KO methods with the move. Since he can be hurt by it, this gives offensive characters more ways to use Axel's own attack against him, and Axel doesn't really like being put on the defensive as we know. Characters with strong defensive games can viably resist Axel long enough to not be in KO range when the lightning wears off. The only characters who are truly shut-down by it are those who completley rely on early KOs/gimps, and they've got more issues if they can't find SOMETHING productive to use the minute for.
BUT, I'm just ranting. The fact that you enjoyed everything else about the set means a lot to me. I even got a compliment on my orgy-nations.
Thanks for the comments. :3*watches Warlord's audio comment*
D
Deleted member
Guest
We’ve come to the end of an era with Axel Gear – Hyper_Ridley’s supposedly last solo moveset, which is a real shame, but hearing that he’s still up for the joints is good. This also has to be one of my favourite solo movesets of his.
First of all, I’ll say what I did to you in the chatroom: it’s downright impressive how well you keep to his character while keeping the moveset full of fresh ideas and with an aggressive playstyle that is very much viable in Smash. Your meticulous descriptions of every move are both enjoyable and expertly-devised, with much thought put into them – both technically and just in terms of your organisation or writing style. It really helps in imagining Axel Gear and your empathising method that allows for such smooth reading, as well as expression of ideas, is certainly a trait for future MYMers to learn.
Onto the actual moveset; I’m torn on the neutral special, to be honest. I’m somewhat in the Junahu camp of it being very interventionist and it locking out some of Axel’s own playstyle was smart, but I’m not sure if it adds much to the set. You have an awesome interaction that’s very in-character with the side and up special smash, but that’s the only time in the actual moveset; side from that, I can’t see any other interactions with the wall that couldn’t be accomplished by tacking the mechanic onto any other moveset. It’s clever and it’s in-character, but it’s a tad unnecessary.
That is to say, Axel Gear has far more going for him than just that neutral special. His combination of dashing or mid-air jumps along with that pummel and of course the refuelling mechanic makes it one of the most genuinely versatile airborne movesets, without being cheap or advantageous. The simplicity in accomplishing this is much deserving of praise – you don’t go to the old trunk of non-Smash junk, you are constantly thinking on your feet and coming up with these refreshing ideas that are also viable. It’s a stark reminder that we don’t need game-breaking mechanics to make a flowing character or very good moveset.
Meanwhile, the fuelling mechanic itself is also well carried out. I won’t get too ahead of myself – it’s a pretty standard ammo mechanic, but you do put an interesting twist on it by making it such a heavy part of the moveset. Plorf, this is how you do a resources mechanic. What it actually accomplishes is a leash on some of Axel’s more outlandish projectiles or after-effects and this is well-needed. There are several other areas the playstyle goes too which are interlinked mechanics and sets of moves, but I honestly don’t see how the lightning barrier really fits into most of it.
So, it’s an amazing little moveset packaged with a couple of great mechanic [one bad one], a flowing, but also capable playstyle that is legitimately multipurpose without becoming a SSE boss and executed brilliantly by the author. This certainly is your swan song – while I do have some reservations about a couple of things, it’s certainly the best moveset in the contest so far and yeah, definitely my favourite solo of yours; may there me many joints.
First of all, I’ll say what I did to you in the chatroom: it’s downright impressive how well you keep to his character while keeping the moveset full of fresh ideas and with an aggressive playstyle that is very much viable in Smash. Your meticulous descriptions of every move are both enjoyable and expertly-devised, with much thought put into them – both technically and just in terms of your organisation or writing style. It really helps in imagining Axel Gear and your empathising method that allows for such smooth reading, as well as expression of ideas, is certainly a trait for future MYMers to learn.
Onto the actual moveset; I’m torn on the neutral special, to be honest. I’m somewhat in the Junahu camp of it being very interventionist and it locking out some of Axel’s own playstyle was smart, but I’m not sure if it adds much to the set. You have an awesome interaction that’s very in-character with the side and up special smash, but that’s the only time in the actual moveset; side from that, I can’t see any other interactions with the wall that couldn’t be accomplished by tacking the mechanic onto any other moveset. It’s clever and it’s in-character, but it’s a tad unnecessary.
That is to say, Axel Gear has far more going for him than just that neutral special. His combination of dashing or mid-air jumps along with that pummel and of course the refuelling mechanic makes it one of the most genuinely versatile airborne movesets, without being cheap or advantageous. The simplicity in accomplishing this is much deserving of praise – you don’t go to the old trunk of non-Smash junk, you are constantly thinking on your feet and coming up with these refreshing ideas that are also viable. It’s a stark reminder that we don’t need game-breaking mechanics to make a flowing character or very good moveset.
Meanwhile, the fuelling mechanic itself is also well carried out. I won’t get too ahead of myself – it’s a pretty standard ammo mechanic, but you do put an interesting twist on it by making it such a heavy part of the moveset. Plorf, this is how you do a resources mechanic. What it actually accomplishes is a leash on some of Axel’s more outlandish projectiles or after-effects and this is well-needed. There are several other areas the playstyle goes too which are interlinked mechanics and sets of moves, but I honestly don’t see how the lightning barrier really fits into most of it.
So, it’s an amazing little moveset packaged with a couple of great mechanic [one bad one], a flowing, but also capable playstyle that is legitimately multipurpose without becoming a SSE boss and executed brilliantly by the author. This certainly is your swan song – while I do have some reservations about a couple of things, it’s certainly the best moveset in the contest so far and yeah, definitely my favourite solo of yours; may there me many joints.
D
Deleted member
Guest
Well, that isn't always a negative - the thread is in need of more activity and discussing movesets is always good, which is what the ratings brought about for a page there. That's better than complete deadness.
How am I not cool? I smoke the dooby-doo, yo. You need to come out back the rib shack.
I don't think our critique is the problem, it's our failure to ever follow through - if anything, I'd say the impressive level in which we now play and criticise is probably appealing to newcomers more-so than the old ways, we simply do not reach out to the community like we used to - for example, like how we'd have running conversations in the thread. They weren't always perfectly OT, but they were good for getting people interested from SWF.
Plorf
Smash Apprentice
Alright, this is rather arbitrary and I'll edit in a real comment later but-- I did post Solar Man, he's on page 10 I think, so I would appreciate more than the solitary comment it's gotten so far. Thanks!
n88
Smash Lord
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,544
Ask and ye shall receive. Unless it sounds hard, in which case ye prolly shan't receive much.
Solar Man isn't a horrible set, it's just a little lacking in detail. Almost right off the bat, you say that with an uncharged sun, you're going to have weaker attacks. But how much weaker? The Up Special seems to suggest that this is the sort of thing that players would have to figure out for themselves, but that seems like a cop-out. Mind you, I'm not asking for an extra paragraph on each attack, detailing the exact differences in the move. Just a few sentences in the intro section would be nice, something along the lines of "When Solar Man's sun is at 50% its normal size, his attacks do 1/2 the normal amount of damage, and range is also halved. At 25% normal size bladiddyblahblah" You do give a range of damage percentages for most attacks, but not the rate of decay, and the fluctuation of range is rarely mentioned. There are one or two other cases of under-detailing in the set, but those are pretty trivial. Charge is the main offender.
Anyhow, moving past the detail problem (Because that's not all there is to the set), we've got some Specials. They all seem pretty straightforward. I don't have much to say except that the NSpecial is kinda confusing. You may not want to throw the "If it doesn't split. . ." sentence in before you actually explain when it wouldn't split. I feel that'd be better placed at the end of the move.
The Standards seem to have a theme going here (lol at first sentence of Up Tilt), as they all contribute nicely to the long-range fighter you say you're going for.
The USmash and FSmash are in need of some damage percentages, methinks. Also, FSmash doesn't seem like it really fits with Solar Man's playstyle, but the USmash and DSmash (Which I'm somehwat fond of) do.
Not much to say about the Aerials, really, except to address something that you've been doing throughout the set. Stop letting me know when you're making stuff up and when you're not. The set would read read a lot better without those bits, IMO.
Pummel seems. . . incredibly random. Sounds more like Shade Man than Solar Man. Throws are pretty simple projectile moves, but seem scary powerful in places.
Solar Man seems to me like he's got something resembling a playstyle, but the Playstyle section doesn't really describe it. You do seem to work his throws into there an awful lot, though, which I find odd for a long-range character.
Okay, finishing up, I'm gonna say two things: 1) I complained about a lot of stuff throughout this comment. 2) I still enjoyed the set. This is -almost- a set that I would really love, and it might have been if it had spent just a little more time in development. You said yourself that you were being lazy and didn't flesh it out much. You should have. (D)
I was going to comment Axel, and may actually do so later. For now, assume any comment here would slather it with praise.
flyinfilipino
Smash Master
Sorry, Plorf, I started reading it when it was first posted and then I got sidetracked and...yeah. Anyway, here goes!
@
Let me start by making a little comment on your writing style; it's rather conversational...like: "You know this attack? Yeah, you better watch out for it. Or else." It's quite...Plorf-ish (
), but not a bad thing at all. Anywho, Solar Man has another energy/fuel/charging mechanic, but I'm going to echo other people's comments in that your description of the mechanic is quite vague. There's probably a better way to quantify the energy consumption than just giving vague damage ranges and saying a move takes away a "big chunk" of energy. It kind of made the whole moveset kind of vague, which is one of the bigger issues.
Someone else said that Solar Man doesn't really feel like "Solar Man"; I don't know exactly what materials you had to work with here, but many of Solar Man's attacks feel kind of like generalized "fire robot" attacks. I know there's a Heat Man and Magma Man, and I don't know the difference between any of them, but some of Solar Man's attacks sounded like they could have been applied to any of those. How could this have been avoided? Maybe some more moves involving th ebig sun on his head; that may or may not have been too much to ask, but it would have made the moveset feel less generic, IMO.
As far as attacks go, the Specials are pretty standard, if not predictable. Solar Blaze is kind of awkwardly described; I couldn't really picture it that well. The Standards are pretty standard, but as I said earlier, some (Neutral and Dash Attack) feel pretty generic, not in the sense of the nature of the attack, but because they don't seem unique to Solar Man. The rest are fine, though. Which reminds me, you should've mentioned his crouch while you were describing the sun mechanic in the first place.
Some of the Smashes and Aerials feel generic as well; you even mention that Forward Aerial is Magma Man's weapon, I think. Magma doesn't have much to do with the sun, does it? My favorite move of the whole set, I think, is the Up Aerial "Corona" because it uses Solar Man's sun and an actual solar phenomenon! However, I think the actual term you were looking for here is "prominence".
I kind of have the same old criticisms for the throws, though some are fine. The Final Smash is fitting, though I imagine having a giant sun to avoid is already a big enough problem for the opponent without it going supernova. Solar Man's not a bad set, but it does suffer from some lack of detail in moves and mechanics and a few other issues. Otherwise, it's really interesting, not hard to read, and overall, pretty cool. Nice job, Plorf.
MasterWarlord
Smash Champion
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2008
- Messages
- 2,911
SOLAR MAN
I agree entirely with Smady. . .On the set’s writing. It’s your most awkward set ever to go through, as you’re just –so- indirect with everything, and you carry over your tendency to be most indirect with the most important parts of the set from Onix and Sandshrew, only amplified. It really weighs the set down more then even the Spartan, IMO.
HOWEVER. Moveset making contest, and the actual moveset contained within the writing is fine. It’s nothing spectacular, mind you, but it’s certainly not bad. It legitimately flows into a camper (When I use the term flow, I don’t mean the writing, Smady) with all the projectiles, and he’s got a few semi-interesting things added to the camping in that he wants time to himself for the mechanic/making bair traps, though my favorite is the homing projectile throw. Surprisingly, the playstyle summary is also one of the better written parts of the set (Though still could do with you going on less about individual moves). This one’s essentially smack dab in the middle of your sets, really, as while the playstyle very much so exists it's pretty overdone.
No audio comment due to MONO SOUND.
I agree entirely with Smady. . .On the set’s writing. It’s your most awkward set ever to go through, as you’re just –so- indirect with everything, and you carry over your tendency to be most indirect with the most important parts of the set from Onix and Sandshrew, only amplified. It really weighs the set down more then even the Spartan, IMO.
HOWEVER. Moveset making contest, and the actual moveset contained within the writing is fine. It’s nothing spectacular, mind you, but it’s certainly not bad. It legitimately flows into a camper (When I use the term flow, I don’t mean the writing, Smady) with all the projectiles, and he’s got a few semi-interesting things added to the camping in that he wants time to himself for the mechanic/making bair traps, though my favorite is the homing projectile throw. Surprisingly, the playstyle summary is also one of the better written parts of the set (Though still could do with you going on less about individual moves). This one’s essentially smack dab in the middle of your sets, really, as while the playstyle very much so exists it's pretty overdone.
No audio comment due to MONO SOUND.
D
Deleted member
Guest
You know, I actually don't think it's the writing that brings the moveset down at all - Joe made a big deal out of it with my Spartan comment and rating, but it was simply a big problem in lieu of everything else not being particularly inspiring [though not bad] and so pulling it all far down. With Solar Man, even if described with details on the charges with every move, it would still be a bad moveset - every move is a randomised fire-type move that reeks of magic syndrome, the set-up is about as basic as any given MYM5 moveset and the playstyle is basically a jumble.
The infinite monkey theorem is how I feel Plorf made Solar Man - just throw out fire move after another and pretend it's a playstyle. Though I don't mean to be insulting to Plorf - it's still not the worst in the contest and far better than some MYM7 movesets.
n88
Smash Lord
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,544
Okay, so as you may have noticed there's no Playstyle section, and he's ridiculously underpowered. Bob-Omb was originally intended to be one of a set of characters who would have been able to work together to combat their suckiness (And have a single playstyle section), but I lost steam and enthusiasm for the idea, and the only one who got finished was Bob-Omb. This was actually made quite some time ago, somewhere between MYM7 and MYM8, so it's actually older than Dark Samus. Also, this continues my streak of making sets for characters who wear no pants. (CHEW)
JOE!
Smash Hero
BOB-OMB
I really liked this set.
It is such a simple concept, 30 seconds till you die, and take everyone with you, but the way you pulled it off is just great. Moves like side special and ftilt allowing you to do everything essentially on the fly, and spread terror in say, an FFA, are just gold. The multiple moves that lengthen, shorten, disguise or just hide his fuse are also great in just tricking people into thinking it's safe to pwn the bob-omb, only to be blown to hell themselves.
Overall its a great mind-game set, that is both Op and UP at the same time, its only a shame you didnt post the other two this was designed to be with
I really liked this set.
It is such a simple concept, 30 seconds till you die, and take everyone with you, but the way you pulled it off is just great. Moves like side special and ftilt allowing you to do everything essentially on the fly, and spread terror in say, an FFA, are just gold. The multiple moves that lengthen, shorten, disguise or just hide his fuse are also great in just tricking people into thinking it's safe to pwn the bob-omb, only to be blown to hell themselves.
Overall its a great mind-game set, that is both Op and UP at the same time, its only a shame you didnt post the other two this was designed to be with
D
Deleted member
Guest
After some muddy ground with Dark Samus, I felt Bob-Omb was far stronger with lots of positive feedback to be given. It’s definitely in that area of, “simplistic playstyle moveset” like many a Pokémon moveset or similarly with relative newcomers pumping out some gems: it’s a great effort.
You have a large amount of just pure genius moves compared to the more out-of-place ones. This includes pretty much all the specials, the forward tilt and the down smash, with the throws also playing a really unique part in his playstyle. It’s a great fit for Bob-Omb and really nearly perfect for that ‘bomb’ archetype that has rarely been used – manipulate the fuse, trick your opponent into detonating you. However, with you playing the bomb rather than playing with the bomb as with Strangelove, you’re also constantly at risk and thus you’re always pressured to KO.
Where I direct most of my criticism is in the fact that he’s hit with the three crosses of newcomer movesetting: underpowered, under-thought and under-detailed. Bob-Omb has no way to KO and will always KO himself first, as it’s a one-off explosion that kills him instantly. There are also a couple of moves which aren’t explained well enough and in one case, with the down air, suggest he kills himself upon use. It’s quite obvious that BO is probably garbage tier from that, which a massive shame given the amount of potential you gave it.
There are some minor grievances: the colour of the set is barely readable on revolution, but I won’t scold you for that; lacking a playstyle section is always bad, but here you do a good job of preparing us for one and I’d really recommend quickly popping one out because it would work here. Surprisingly after Dark Samus, the writing here is deliciously simple and enjoyable.
This is unusually short for me, but there isn’t as much to talk about – even if in the form of a “remix” down the line, I would strongly recommend republishing this moveset with all of the niggles fixed, which could make it a truly strong contender. As is, it’s still got some decent concepts, but is highly flawed and lacks polish to the nth degree - it has gigantic potential to be something truly wonderful.
You have a large amount of just pure genius moves compared to the more out-of-place ones. This includes pretty much all the specials, the forward tilt and the down smash, with the throws also playing a really unique part in his playstyle. It’s a great fit for Bob-Omb and really nearly perfect for that ‘bomb’ archetype that has rarely been used – manipulate the fuse, trick your opponent into detonating you. However, with you playing the bomb rather than playing with the bomb as with Strangelove, you’re also constantly at risk and thus you’re always pressured to KO.
Where I direct most of my criticism is in the fact that he’s hit with the three crosses of newcomer movesetting: underpowered, under-thought and under-detailed. Bob-Omb has no way to KO and will always KO himself first, as it’s a one-off explosion that kills him instantly. There are also a couple of moves which aren’t explained well enough and in one case, with the down air, suggest he kills himself upon use. It’s quite obvious that BO is probably garbage tier from that, which a massive shame given the amount of potential you gave it.
There are some minor grievances: the colour of the set is barely readable on revolution, but I won’t scold you for that; lacking a playstyle section is always bad, but here you do a good job of preparing us for one and I’d really recommend quickly popping one out because it would work here. Surprisingly after Dark Samus, the writing here is deliciously simple and enjoyable.
This is unusually short for me, but there isn’t as much to talk about – even if in the form of a “remix” down the line, I would strongly recommend republishing this moveset with all of the niggles fixed, which could make it a truly strong contender. As is, it’s still got some decent concepts, but is highly flawed and lacks polish to the nth degree - it has gigantic potential to be something truly wonderful.
Hyper_Ridley
Smash Champion
Bob-omb is a pretty fun moveset. He feels like Bomber from MYM7 in that he's basically all suicide KOs, but he has some actual attacks to his name and he has ways to play around with his fuse for some legitimate mindgames. My only problem is that he's Below-Ganon tier since he always dies first when he uses his only KO "move", but as you said, this was a part of a multi-set originally so it's not your fault.
Thanks Warlord and Smady for your comments on Axel. Neutral Special is now officially a "love it or hate it" move, lol. Basically, I was going for a "corner trap" situation like you see in tradiontal fighting games, which is a very common pressure tactic. So I had a move Axel uses in-game that could simulate that. Moving along...
I do agree with everyone in that this is one of the best, if not THE best, solo set I've made. What makes this set especially dear to me is that this is one of the few times since making Lemmy Koopa back in MYM5 that I actually ENJOYED movesetting again. For a long time I'd dread opening up Microsoft Word and seeing "SPECIALS" written out on a blank page; with this guy I was looking fowards to brainstorming and editing moves (you have no idea how many revisions Burst Dash went through before I was happy with it). The set took a week to finish from the time it officially started, the time it took for Black Doom, Lemmy Koopa, and Mewthree.
As for joint sets, some (or most of you) know by now that I had started a Salamence moveset with JOE during the end of MYM7 that was put on hold while we worked on Spartan Warrior and Axel Gear. It's coming along nicely, so even though Axel is the grand finale of my solo MYMing career, it's not the last you'll see of me. :3
Thanks Warlord and Smady for your comments on Axel. Neutral Special is now officially a "love it or hate it" move, lol. Basically, I was going for a "corner trap" situation like you see in tradiontal fighting games, which is a very common pressure tactic. So I had a move Axel uses in-game that could simulate that. Moving along...
I do agree with everyone in that this is one of the best, if not THE best, solo set I've made. What makes this set especially dear to me is that this is one of the few times since making Lemmy Koopa back in MYM5 that I actually ENJOYED movesetting again. For a long time I'd dread opening up Microsoft Word and seeing "SPECIALS" written out on a blank page; with this guy I was looking fowards to brainstorming and editing moves (you have no idea how many revisions Burst Dash went through before I was happy with it). The set took a week to finish from the time it officially started, the time it took for Black Doom, Lemmy Koopa, and Mewthree.
As for joint sets, some (or most of you) know by now that I had started a Salamence moveset with JOE during the end of MYM7 that was put on hold while we worked on Spartan Warrior and Axel Gear. It's coming along nicely, so even though Axel is the grand finale of my solo MYMing career, it's not the last you'll see of me. :3
D
Deleted member
Guest
That's great to hear, HR. I kinda figured what with your chosen path of career, you'd be back for more anyway. MYM OP curse is officially dead.
Also looking forward to Salamance.
32º Centigrade
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2009
- Messages
- 14
After reading the Specials for Bob-omb, I was hooked. The mind game potential alone was astounding. However, he didn't live up to what I had expected. Most of the standards are good (love the Down-Smash), but some just seem like they would never be used. His aerial game is fine, but I wish you had made his Up-Special a tether of some sort rather than have his Fair as his recovery. Also, His Dair kind of defeats the purpose of the fuse, doesn't it? Grabbing is easily the scariest part of his game; the Down-Throw seems unneeded because you could simply just shorten your fuse, go in for the grab and get a kill.
Over-all, he lacks two important things: a damage builder and a KO move other than his suicides. I was baffled at first, but I understand now that he was supposed to be in a set with other garbage characters (believe me, I know what it feels like to just lose enthusiasm).
The writing style was deliciously simple, quick to read, and easy to understand. It does, unfortunately, lack a good definition of how and when to use the attacks, which could have just been put in the Playstyle section, if there had been one. I wish you had continued your idea, but I won't pressure you into doing something you wouldn't enjoy.
Over-all, he lacks two important things: a damage builder and a KO move other than his suicides. I was baffled at first, but I understand now that he was supposed to be in a set with other garbage characters (believe me, I know what it feels like to just lose enthusiasm).
The writing style was deliciously simple, quick to read, and easy to understand. It does, unfortunately, lack a good definition of how and when to use the attacks, which could have just been put in the Playstyle section, if there had been one. I wish you had continued your idea, but I won't pressure you into doing something you wouldn't enjoy.
Junahu
Smash Ace
If you keep this nonsense up, there won't BE a SWF MYM anymore. And I don't mean a few years down the road, I'm talking in the space of a few months. I do admire that you're the only leader that has a clear idea of what MYM is, but I'm afraid I can't see any upside to remaining so competitive in the face of dwindling competitors.
I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to warn everyone about this eventuality, but the reality is that MYM, as it is right now, is genuinely struggling. And, at the risk of sounding petty, it's because we're too competitive. I wouldn't have joined MYM if all the movesets at the time weren't so short and throwaway. And I doubt you would have stayed either if, when you were making King K Rool, everyone else was making Doppeloris and Axel Gears. People will not participate in a contest if there isn't a clear, achievable goal for them to try for, and having such an arbitrary benchmark as "make a playstyle that I will like" is not helping things
Funny story, MYM wasn't a contest when it started. It was a fun, communal, "hey, look at this idea for this character I love" thread. I'll admit that the light tinge of competitiveness you added in MYM3, was a large part of MYM4-6's success. But cranking it up any more achieves nothing, and costs us our friendly, communal atmosphere.
We're a contest, yes, but a friendly one. An exercise in pushing your abilities as far as you can take them, but one where you won't be extradited for a mistep, or blamed for trying something odd or contradictory. We like to improve, but we also like to try things we aren't used to (instead of just layering complex snake paths of playstyle onto bigger and bigger movesets)
Solar Man:
You've already been grilled on the bad points of this set, and I've expressed those criticisms in a rant a few pages back. So lets skip to the nice comment part.
There's definitely something to be said about a moveset that keeps the reader guessing what the next attack will be. They're all quite entertaining in their own sense, assuming the reader suspends their belief a little bit regarding what constitutes a "Solar" attack
And while everyone seems to peg him as a camper, his solar mechanic clearly stops him from being too cheap with it. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Cloud of Darkness, controlling the foe's approach, then forcing a subsequent retreat, not as some spiteful counter, but as a neccessity so he can find the time to breath.
But if I had to reduce his playstyle to one misquotable soundbite, I'd say he's a camper's version of Doppelori, albeit with a less intrusive motive behind the attract/repel dynamic.
Really, the only problems this set has playstyle-wise (it still has some genuine problems, character-wise)is that it has your name on it, and liking anything Plorf makes is apparantly a crime so heinous that some people will endlessly mock you for admitting so.
You've already been grilled on the bad points of this set, and I've expressed those criticisms in a rant a few pages back. So lets skip to the nice comment part.
There's definitely something to be said about a moveset that keeps the reader guessing what the next attack will be. They're all quite entertaining in their own sense, assuming the reader suspends their belief a little bit regarding what constitutes a "Solar" attack
And while everyone seems to peg him as a camper, his solar mechanic clearly stops him from being too cheap with it. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Cloud of Darkness, controlling the foe's approach, then forcing a subsequent retreat, not as some spiteful counter, but as a neccessity so he can find the time to breath.
But if I had to reduce his playstyle to one misquotable soundbite, I'd say he's a camper's version of Doppelori, albeit with a less intrusive motive behind the attract/repel dynamic.
Really, the only problems this set has playstyle-wise (it still has some genuine problems, character-wise)is that it has your name on it, and liking anything Plorf makes is apparantly a crime so heinous that some people will endlessly mock you for admitting so.
Bob-Omb:
A lack of a way to stop the Dash attack is troubling, especially with how often new players use dash attacks. Likewise with other uncancelable, dangerous attacks such as F-Smash and D-air. There's a shocking lack of damaging attacks on offer here (especially since 70% is the order of the day for KOing as Bob-omb), and a lot of which seem to exist simply to either serve the Specials, or serve in place of the Specials.
The presentation, while a step up from your previous set, is a little too dark to read properly, and feels compressed in places.
But all in all, this is a wonderfully fun little guy. And it's something that really seems a perfect fit for Free-For-All, where Bob-Omb can catch multiple players in his blast and win the game on points. You even gave him the option of BECOMING the item version of himself, which is downright applaudable. He's a dangerous mite to approach, not by having some anti-approach attack/projectile/trap, but simply by potentially exploding at any moment. Bob-Omb is really perfectly characterised here, as a pathetic yet tempermental pipsqueak. Being underpowered and always killing himself trying to kill others is exactly how this item should play as a full blown character.
A lack of a way to stop the Dash attack is troubling, especially with how often new players use dash attacks. Likewise with other uncancelable, dangerous attacks such as F-Smash and D-air. There's a shocking lack of damaging attacks on offer here (especially since 70% is the order of the day for KOing as Bob-omb), and a lot of which seem to exist simply to either serve the Specials, or serve in place of the Specials.
The presentation, while a step up from your previous set, is a little too dark to read properly, and feels compressed in places.
But all in all, this is a wonderfully fun little guy. And it's something that really seems a perfect fit for Free-For-All, where Bob-Omb can catch multiple players in his blast and win the game on points. You even gave him the option of BECOMING the item version of himself, which is downright applaudable. He's a dangerous mite to approach, not by having some anti-approach attack/projectile/trap, but simply by potentially exploding at any moment. Bob-Omb is really perfectly characterised here, as a pathetic yet tempermental pipsqueak. Being underpowered and always killing himself trying to kill others is exactly how this item should play as a full blown character.
D
Deleted member
Guest
This isn't my discussion, but I'll jump in to give my impressions, as I can definitely see what Junahu is talking about. Every time I ask the chatroom people why they don't comment or post movesets, it seems to always be because they feel it's either not worth their time or, mainly, they're afraid they will get grilled by MW or another veteran.
However, at the same time, I can't see what the point of this 'lowering quality' argument is - we can't possibly lower quality, perhaps standards, but being so aggressive about people's progression and hard work is a little depressing. This moveset community shouldn't have to abandon what it has built up over the years - I still feel like the main problem is this whole, "don't post it's spam" mantra which is completely false. If you want a more "communal" thread, frigging post in it. It's not spam unless you're posting one-liners or YouTube links; we aren't going to get locked for talking amongst ourselves.
And now for something completely different:
Spartan Warrior audio comment
Bob-Omb audio comment
darth meanie
Smash Journeyman
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2008
- Messages
- 452
Solar Man
Smash Daddy blasted you pretty good, and he is right on one account; you have a tendency to be very vague with some details, and Solar Man is one of the worst offenders. The exact way charge works for individual moves, range, and other ideas are too often left ambivalent. That said, Solar Man had the best writing style of your movesets so far, when it wasn't being ambiguous about details, it was approachable and friendly.
The charging mechanic is admittedly, pretty boring, but a basic charging mechanic does work for him, what with all the using projectiles to keep foes away, presumably giving you opportunities to maintain charge, while using powerful close range moves to knock foes away. It isn't the prettiest playstyle ever, but it works, and it's in character.
In the end the moveset didn't impress me, but it's not a bad moveset at all. I get a feeling from your movesets that you could really burst out an excellent moveset once you solve your persistent problems; Driflblim was an excellent moveset that with a little more clarity of idea and playstyle could've done much better at the Top 50.
I hope this moveset is a reminder that while Plorf may be the butt of jokes, he's not a bad movesetter. Good job Plorf.
Axel Gear
A projectile based character with a recharging ammo based mechanic? It feels kind of like you're trying to make lightning strike twice HR. Apparently Axel Gear's Lightning Barrier did though, and you rolled out an amazing moveset.
The Neutral Special is a beautiful twist to everything, and really makes his air game and ability to play off of angles much more interesting; I wish you had emphasized this a little more in the playstyle. The minute long duration is pretty intense though. Yes, I understand it helps by limiting his horizontal KO options, but a minute is too inflexible a time limit, and a greater degree of control over Lightning Barrrier could have helped make him more even.
I have to be angry at you for making a moveset that uses projectiles as an approach assistance; once again you've taken an idea I had planned for another set and made it a mainstay of your own. It works well though, and Axel has a wonderfully delicious approach game.
I'm a little concerned about his balance though, his aerials are all pretty fast, have good range, the natural ridiculous priority that comes with being an aerial, and several do around 12% damage. Combine that with moves like his delicious down tilt and other attacks of his, and he seems like he can get damage up pretty amazingly fast.
I feel like you could have played more off of his ability to use lightning barrier's knockback to keep up his game, there are only a few mentions of using it, and I can see all sorts of cool stuff there. It's there though, and I know you know it's there, so I can't complain.
The throws were all pretty fun with the use of rocket fuel to fly around for them though, and what ended up was a very fun set. I do have to resonate with Rool's complaint of your lack of showmanship though; many of your past sets I've found hard to get into at first, and only really liked after the playstyle really came together (part of the reason I took such an about-face on my position on Super Macho Man). I don't feel that complaint is as relevant with Axel Gear though; you're very enthusiastic throughout the set. I'd like to see this same excitement in your other sets.
You remain a consistent, excellent movesetter Hyper_Ridley, and I hope that we'll see more of your sets, solo and double, in the future.
Bob-Omb
I love the concept. Love it love it love it. It's Doppelori's time based pressure game mixed with Bomber's kamikaze style, and it's delicious. The problem is that, while he's heavy on the mindgames, he literally can do nothing else significant except explode, killing himself, and at best killing an opponent a little later. It results in a moveset that is horridly underpowered, and all the mindgames seem to be too confusing for even the player to necessarily keep up with.
It's a fun idea though, and it's the kind of thing I would love to see you reapproach later. You've clearly got the ideas and the potential, it's just a matter of you getting the experience to iron out these kind of early problems until you pop out a really amazing moveset.
Smash Daddy blasted you pretty good, and he is right on one account; you have a tendency to be very vague with some details, and Solar Man is one of the worst offenders. The exact way charge works for individual moves, range, and other ideas are too often left ambivalent. That said, Solar Man had the best writing style of your movesets so far, when it wasn't being ambiguous about details, it was approachable and friendly.
The charging mechanic is admittedly, pretty boring, but a basic charging mechanic does work for him, what with all the using projectiles to keep foes away, presumably giving you opportunities to maintain charge, while using powerful close range moves to knock foes away. It isn't the prettiest playstyle ever, but it works, and it's in character.
In the end the moveset didn't impress me, but it's not a bad moveset at all. I get a feeling from your movesets that you could really burst out an excellent moveset once you solve your persistent problems; Driflblim was an excellent moveset that with a little more clarity of idea and playstyle could've done much better at the Top 50.
I hope this moveset is a reminder that while Plorf may be the butt of jokes, he's not a bad movesetter. Good job Plorf.
Axel Gear
A projectile based character with a recharging ammo based mechanic? It feels kind of like you're trying to make lightning strike twice HR. Apparently Axel Gear's Lightning Barrier did though, and you rolled out an amazing moveset.
The Neutral Special is a beautiful twist to everything, and really makes his air game and ability to play off of angles much more interesting; I wish you had emphasized this a little more in the playstyle. The minute long duration is pretty intense though. Yes, I understand it helps by limiting his horizontal KO options, but a minute is too inflexible a time limit, and a greater degree of control over Lightning Barrrier could have helped make him more even.
I have to be angry at you for making a moveset that uses projectiles as an approach assistance; once again you've taken an idea I had planned for another set and made it a mainstay of your own. It works well though, and Axel has a wonderfully delicious approach game.
I'm a little concerned about his balance though, his aerials are all pretty fast, have good range, the natural ridiculous priority that comes with being an aerial, and several do around 12% damage. Combine that with moves like his delicious down tilt and other attacks of his, and he seems like he can get damage up pretty amazingly fast.
I feel like you could have played more off of his ability to use lightning barrier's knockback to keep up his game, there are only a few mentions of using it, and I can see all sorts of cool stuff there. It's there though, and I know you know it's there, so I can't complain.
The throws were all pretty fun with the use of rocket fuel to fly around for them though, and what ended up was a very fun set. I do have to resonate with Rool's complaint of your lack of showmanship though; many of your past sets I've found hard to get into at first, and only really liked after the playstyle really came together (part of the reason I took such an about-face on my position on Super Macho Man). I don't feel that complaint is as relevant with Axel Gear though; you're very enthusiastic throughout the set. I'd like to see this same excitement in your other sets.
You remain a consistent, excellent movesetter Hyper_Ridley, and I hope that we'll see more of your sets, solo and double, in the future.
Bob-Omb
I love the concept. Love it love it love it. It's Doppelori's time based pressure game mixed with Bomber's kamikaze style, and it's delicious. The problem is that, while he's heavy on the mindgames, he literally can do nothing else significant except explode, killing himself, and at best killing an opponent a little later. It results in a moveset that is horridly underpowered, and all the mindgames seem to be too confusing for even the player to necessarily keep up with.
It's a fun idea though, and it's the kind of thing I would love to see you reapproach later. You've clearly got the ideas and the potential, it's just a matter of you getting the experience to iron out these kind of early problems until you pop out a really amazing moveset.
JOE!
Smash Hero
1-nite pokeset!!!!
Forretress, the Bagworm Pokémon. Forretress is the evolved form of Pineco. Its entire body is covered in a steel hard shell.
SIZE: Forretress is as wide as
, but only half as tall. We is fairly weighty for the size as well, rivaling . Not unlike the iron-clad huntress, Forretress comes packing with alot of range using his spikes and little buddies to extend his reach far beyond what can be done using his shell and...tube thingies.
MOVEMENT: Fairly slow on the ground, Forretress either shuffles slowly to walk, or makes quick hops while dashing, both motions being about as fast as's. Going airborne, the bagworm pokemon is slightly better off, having a slightly laggy jump, as he clamps down, then extends hard like a spring, rivaling for the initial jump, he then does a similar motion to his first that gains him about 3/4 that height. Unfortunately he lacks decent Air DI to take advantage of this, also mirroring . Through clever use of some aerials and specials however, Forretress can alleviate some of this sluggishness, as well as give him a slightly above average recovery when combined with his second jump. however, he has a rather decent fall speed, having a heavy shell and all, rivaling characters such as .
POWER: Forretress is one of those weird characters that on average has a range of power from crap to suck, but then has those 1-2 moves that are just lolwtf insane. He mostly uses a rather peculiar method to rack damage, then tries to hit you with that epic move to finish you off.
NEUTRAL SPECIAL: SPIKES And no, this isn't the last time you'll be seeing Forretress' signature ability, but it is the most blatant use of it. By pressing B, Forretress will begin to shoot out small spikes from his turrets at a rate of 5 spikes a second, going clockwise from each canon as they shoot one at a time. Each spike is about the size of a small food item, and looks similar to a caltrop. As they come out they start to pile up onto each other right next to Forretress, and begin rolling off each other once about 3 have made a small stack. As for what the spikes actually do; any foe who comes into contact with a spike will receive about 2% damage every time they move on it. This may seem insignificant, but imagine when you have a floor full!
While holding down B, it is possible for Forretress to actually walk around, spreading his spikes around slowly. If that seems inefficient though, moves with wind effects, water or that sweep the floor can also push spikes around for you as well. There are no limits to how many spikes can be on a stage at once, as the only way to get rid of them is to send them flying off stage, but with the craziness of Smash they shouldn't be staying put for very long.
...and yes, Forretress is immune to his own spikes, cus I just know someone will ask that...
UP SPECIAL: RAPID SPIN Shouldda seen this coming when I mentioned how the spikes could be scattered
. Anyways, once you activate Rapid Spin, Forretress will start rotating in place at about 1.5x the speed of Bowser's Whirling Fortress, with similar movement (although this version can go a slightly longer distance on the ground). Pressing left/right will have him slide along the ground while spinning for the next second or so, shooting his spikes every which way, but mostly diagonally upwards in a small arc the way he is travelling.
If in the air, Rapid Spin then controls more like DK's Spinning Kong, giving Forretress some decent horizontal air speed, in exchange for crappy vertical. If he lands on the stage he will bounce slightly, like landing with Bowser's, and hitting the edge will cause him to clamp onto it with the two halves of his shell.
If he his an opponent while doing this they will be spun around once, then sent vertically upwards high enough to land reeling on a low BF platform. Not damaging them, but highly annoying if there are spikes as they must move to get up. During both ground and aerial versions of Rapid Spin, Forretress also sports about 15% worth of super-armor, making it useful to bypass some would-be attackers.
SIDE SPECIAL: PINECO
Yup.
Turning to face / away from camera, Forretress concentrates for a brief moment as a blue spike protrudes from one of his cannons. Shortly after, that spike is launched about the distance of Weegee's Fireball in a small arc, and is revealed to be the top of one of his pre-evolved brethren, Pineco!
Pineco act similar to mini versions of you, sharing some moves while doing unique stuff of their own, but mostly they're there to help their big buddy out. For more info, open the panel below.
Each Pineco has essentially half your stats. They move half as fast, have half the jumping power (in that they also have just 1 jump), etc, etc. However, they are much more fragile, only having a bit more size and durability than a Purple Pikmin.
Once launched they will do one of two things. First, if you peg a foe with one, they'll stick themselves to him/her like they would to a tree. This causes the foe to get the Pineco's stick sap on them, and move at 3/4th's their normal run/walk speed! (it should be noted here that you can only have 4 Pineco out at any given time. If there are already 4 out, Side Spec wont do anything for Forretress). If you manage to stick a foe with all 4 of your Pineco somehow, their movement will be reduced to 1/5th, which is terribly nasty considering this means more time spent wading through layers of spikes!
If you didn't hit a foe with Pineco at first, after landing and saying it's name happily, Pineco will begin to hop around slowly, looking for either a foe to hop onto, a platform to string shot onto, or even occasionally do a mini rapid-spin itself, spreading spikes for you.
A Pineco tethered to a platform is a very scary thing for opponents. First and foremost, hitting Pineco now acts like hitting a tether-ball: you hit him, he swings, then comes back at you for about the same damage and knockback you did to it! Thankfully he is a small target, and can be knocked off his perch (and defeatable again) by attacking the string, which has about 7% hp. Second thing to watch out for is that the strings are sticky! This means that if Forretress launches some spikes to the air, they can stick to the strings made by Pineco, creating an aerial field of spikes!
Pineco will be incredibly useful for you on most stages, as they make your spike fields that much more effective, as well as create fun toys for you to knock around via Rapid Spin, either while tethered or grounded!
DOWN SPECIAL: BIDE Yet another "staple" for Forretress, Bide has him clamp his shell down for about a second, flashing in a metallic sheen as he does. If he isn't hit while doing this by the end of the second, he will simply open his shell rapidly, expelling some air from his cannons and slightly move some nearby spikes. If damaged* during this move however, he will suddenly launch open, bouncing off the ground a bit and spin as huge jets of air shoot from his cannons! Similar to Peach's Toadstool, the air reaches out about a character length forward and behind him, and will launch foes away with 1.2x the knockback their move would have done to Forretress. Not only is this a great GTFO, and decent way to send spikes airborne, but it also launches foes back into a position where they need to tread over your spikes to get to you again.
*By "damaged", it means any form of damage. This means he wont de-activate when grabbed unless he is thrown or pummelled...
DOWN SMASH: PIN MISSILE Facing the camera, Forretress will make angry eyes as he charges this move, his canons apparently aiming at his foes slightly as he does. Upon release, he will launch 2 pins from each side of his body with incredible speed! These pins appear as much larger versions of Sheik's needles, and behave similarly to Link's arrows upon charge; going faster and further the longer you built them up. Being hit by the pins will inflict 6-12% damage, and either flinch or trip a foe depending on charge. If you snag a guy off stage they will take very minor knockback diagonally downwards. This move is great for it's range and relative spammability (same rate of fire as Toon Link's bow), as well as it's ability to rack damage on stubborn foes who wont venture into your spikes.
FORWARD SMASH: TOXIC Forretress begins pumping up and down like an accordion while charging this move, then upon release (with similar lag to using FLUDD or Water Gun) he shoots out a short-range spray of toxic sap from the two cannons on the side he's facing! This goo will have essentially the same hitbox as squirtle's uncharged watergun, but with more damage (7-14% on charge, lots of flinching).
But wait, what about the poison effect? well, when they have been badly poisoned by toxic, a peculiar thing happens: their shield turns purple! When their shield is in this state, it will decay 3x as fast until it shatters. Not only is this just nice in general, but it forces opponents to dodge and roll more, thus moving around more than they would normally just by shielding...and thus moving around in your spikes and getting damaged.
UP SMASH: SPRING BOARD Forretress clamps down shut as he charges this move, similar to Bide in animation. Upon release, he will shoot his top half up violently, becoming the height of Snake momentarily! What this does, as you may have guessed, is launch foes vertically if they are above/on top of Forretress, and make them stuck in a state similar to Sonic's spring, where they can use aerials, but are otherwise "reeling". Charge determines the height, ranging from Weegee's SHOYRUKEN, to slightly higher than Sonic's Spring. This is great to hyphen smash, catch a foe off-guard, and send them flying so you can spread more spikes!
DASH ATTACK: TAKE DOWN While hopping forward in his dash, Forretress will flip end-over-end toward the foe, hopefully bringing them down with him. This move has the same range and overall speed of Yoshi's dash attack, but makes the foe bounce off of his shell with a "clang" noise, and getting sent reeling diagonally downwards, landing on their butt, and hopefully sliding through a bunch of spikes in the process. Relatively little landing lag as it really doesn't matter if he is upside down of not. Great for meeting other attacks, as you gain super-armor during the flip!
DOWN TILT: BUG BITE Fairly simple, Forretress clamps his shell down, hard. Lacking range, as only touching him will make you get an owie, this actually does some good damage, about 14%! After being bit, the foe suffers extensive hitlag as they are caught in your shell, then they are flung horizontally with knockback that wont really kill. A nice close-range option given it's quick startup.
UP/SIDE TILT: STRING SHOT Well, aren't I creative? Both these tilt inputs basically do the same thing as Pineco's string shot, but as you figured in different directions.
Ftilt will have you shoot an angle-able string for about the distance of Link's hookshot, with similar lag. If you hit a surface, it will stick to it, giving you an anchor to the ground/platform/edge! Once you have that anchor, you are free to move about and turn around, but can only go so far (1.5x the length of the tether) before it will snap. While turned around, you can even do Ftilt again, sending out a separate line! From here, you can now travel back and forth between these lines freely at your dash speed, acting like an aerial spike-dispenser! Utilt has him turn on his side, and fire a line upwards, for similar effect and range. If it hits nothing, the line simply falls to the ground as he then goes back to neutral position. Combine these tilts to get some crazy positions on stages with platforms, or faster movement along the ground for laying out spikes! You can even hit the edge and when knocked off, have a semi-tether recovery for some insurance at high %'s.
If you hit a foe with either version, they will be reeled in slowly towards you at about your walk speed, in which time they can either try to break the line (10% hp), or shield/dodge/whatever. While being reeled in, Forretress is free to do whatever special he wants! A common strategy would be to Bide, hopefully punishing an attempt at an attack, or get some free pinecos on the foe, all while dragging them over your spikes! Snagging an aerial foe will simply meteor them to the ground, in which time you could quickly do Usmash...for some lulzy combos.
JAB: GYRO BALL Taking barely any time, Forretress spins his two shells in opposite directions over his body, creating a small silver ring around himself in the process! During this time, his body acts just like a bumper, meaning the harder you hit it, the harder it hits back!
While this is all well and good while stationary, it is even better when between two of your strings! Picture this: you are between BF's two lower platforms, and a foe hits you directly. Just before you are hit, you Jab to activate Gyro Ball, in doing so, you bounce back with the force you would have taken normally from the attack, hit the end of one anchor, then hit the foe back with lightning speed adding their force + your "bumper" KB for some impressive power! Ain't physics fun? This can also work vertically (assuming the classic between BF scenario) as you will act like a slingshot between the lines, shooting up, then crashing down at the opponent, knocking them against the ground (or in the air)!
Even better, with your Pineco buddies added to the chaos, one wrong hit from a foe can mean a lifetime's worth of Kb swinging around everywhere as you bump around each other! Or in a team match, you could have this as a great set-up for a surprise KO, as you team-mates attack can be sent via you down the line to a foe, and then added on to your bumper property! This is one of Forretress' three main KO moves, as it heavily abuses the opponent much like Bide, but in a much more brutal fashion.
NEUTRAL AIR: BROADSIDE Facing the screen, Forretress will launch 4 spikes simultaneously, 2 on each side. Unlike with Spikes, these launch out a bit more ferociously, traveling the same way as Mario's fireball (with the same spammability), but at the speed of link's arrow! Getting nailed by these spikes do 3% with flinching each, but then bounce off and become normal spikes once on the ground.
FORWARD/BACK AIR: TOXIC SPIKES Aww yeah, now we're talking! Forretress shoots these puppies out one at a time, with the same lag as Broadside, and you guessed it, forward or back based on input.
The key difference between these spikes and your normal ones are that they are bigger, and purple. Upon contact with these spikes, a foe will take the standard 2%, but then extra Damage over Time as they are poisoned. This DoT does about 6% over the course of 2 seconds, and is plenty stackable (but not from the same spike twice in a row). Be sure to spread some of these around your spike-field, and you'll put your foe in a world of hurt.
UP/DOWN AIR: SPIKE CANON Aren't I just the worst? This is the 3rd time I have combined a move into two imputs.....
.
Anywho, this move behaves very similarly to Ivysaur's Up/Down air in terms of lag, and the nice boost to upward and downward momentum. Each respective input will launch 2 spikes at high-speed, doing 4% each and very small amounts of knockback. This can be great for raining down spikes combined with your high jump and the momentum boosts, as well as sending spikes into strings from Pineco directly, or just to be a nuisance to a recovering opponent! Relativley simple, but it gets the job done while providing DI and damage.
PUMMEL : SPIKE SHOT First off, to grab the foe Forretress does a funny little hop, where he turns sideways in mid air only to clamp his shell down on them. This is a somewhat laggy grab, but at least it always gives him good range with it (comparable to Lucas). Once latched on, you'll notice that a cannon is pointing in the general area of the guy's face. Pressing A has you shoot a spike at their face for a horribly annoying 2% per pop, at a rate of 2 per second. As always, these spikes will plop to the floor after and add to your collection.
UP THROW: PAYBACK Forretress shows off a bit of his vengeful side here, as he bites the opponent with his shell, doing 5% damage + whatever damage was done to him on the last attack before he grabbed the foe! This can be pretty painful depending on the move, yet highly situational. After the bite the foe is sent upwards in pain as Forretress plops back down. this wont be killing by itself, but with the added damage of an attack it can come back to bite the foe in the butt (smirk)
FORWARD/BACK THROW: ROLLOUT Ok, this is the last time, I promise! However, it is simply too good an opportunity for Forretress to let it be just 1 throw.
What happens here is that Forretress shifts his weight either forward or backwards, and proceeds to roll around with the foe still attached, and presumably over a ton of spikes for some pretty mean damage. You will roll around for about a second before letting go, and go about the speed of Yoshi's roll, all the while the opponent being able to button mash out...but with the damage they should be taking it probably wont happen. Upon release the opponent is forced to get up, as Forretress suffers some end lag as he flops to neutral, leaving them both in an equal stance to each other, but of course with the foe having taken some significant damage.
DOWN THROW: EXPLOSION Here we are folks, *the* KO move mentioned in the stats: EXPLOSION!
While clamped on, Forretress will begin to flash red, as will any Pineco attached to the victim while you do this. Over the next 3 seconds, your foe will have to run around trying pry you off using their attacks, similar to how you get Pikmin/Pinecos off of you. However, you yourself take a tad longer than a Pikmin, in fact the average character will have to hit you about 3 times to send you packing. However, they then have to hit Pineco as well to stop them before the 3 seconds end!
If they don't hit you during this time, whether through just stupidity, hitstun from toxic spikes / raining spikes from spike cannon, or from having their shield broken from toxic, you will then explode for 50% DAMAGE (and take 30% yourself)! Any Pinecos that were there will also detonate, doing similar explosions to Snake's Grenades, adding about 8% per Pineco, and randomly sending the foe rocketing in different directions.
This move is just plain devastating. It does EPIC knockback (kills like at 70% guaranteed), along with potentially 72% with Pinecos. I mean ****. Thankfully, this gives you 3 seconds to wail on Forretress in order to stop the move, effectively punishing him for trying, and in order for it to work he needs to get you in such a right predicament that you get hitstunned every couple of moments as the timer clicks down...then BOOM.
Truly a scary, scary move, but one that requires so much effort behind it, especially considering that with all the Pinecos your foe wont be running around into the toxic spikes.
As you have read, Forretress is a bit of an odd-ball, he only has 1 way of really racking damage! That said, it's a **** good one. Being able to spread a ton of spikes all over the stage that do 2% each time you move over one is a HUGE advantage when you are sluggish like Forretress. But, while you are spreading these around you need to keep on your toes, as you have relatively little defenses outside of some annoying KB.
This is where your little buddy Pineco comes in! Pineco can slow your foes down with his sap, or by being a living tether-ball, or spike net, to deter approaches, making you relatively safer to set up your field of death! He can also counter-attack for you while tethered, doing the same KB and Damage back at a foe if they don't get out of the way in time after hitting them. You can do this as well with your string-shot roads and gyro ball, yet it is rather predictable and the foe can just cut your strings. This is where Bide can also come into play, having the opponent get through all your buddies and spikes to attack you, only to still get screwed over by your shell.
If you do manage to get on the bad end of an attack however, you are relatively safe thanks to your great second jump, rapid spin, and before all that, hopefully your tether to the edge with stringshot! This makes you a pain in the *** to kill, but at the same time you wont be doing much killing yourself. That is the real downside to Forretress: you will live forever and rack incredible damage, but his kill moves, although very powerful, are all situational at best. This is why you got to hunker down in your shell, and try your best to simply pester the foe beyond all sanity, making them try and smack you that one time, or run around into those toxic spikes, in order to land the epic finisher on them!
Thankfully for Forretress, his entire moveset is devoted to this! Making the floor "lava" essentially, while setting up slows with Pineco, making them roll around in spikes with Toxic, and in general just being a **** to the opponent is what Forretress does best! Play patiently and let the prey come to you, all weary and pissed off, and they'll be sure to make mistakes, which the patient Bagworm pokemon is glad to capitalize on.
I stayed up till 4 to make this in 1 nite, ill go back and fix anythign lulzy tomorro if you point it out
FORRETRESS
STATS
SIZE: Forretress is as wide as
, but only half as tall. We is fairly weighty for the size as well, rivaling . Not unlike the iron-clad huntress, Forretress comes packing with alot of range using his spikes and little buddies to extend his reach far beyond what can be done using his shell and...tube thingies.MOVEMENT: Fairly slow on the ground, Forretress either shuffles slowly to walk, or makes quick hops while dashing, both motions being about as fast as
's. Going airborne, the bagworm pokemon is slightly better off, having a slightly laggy jump, as he clamps down, then extends hard like a spring, rivaling for the initial jump, he then does a similar motion to his first that gains him about 3/4 that height. Unfortunately he lacks decent Air DI to take advantage of this, also mirroring . Through clever use of some aerials and specials however, Forretress can alleviate some of this sluggishness, as well as give him a slightly above average recovery when combined with his second jump. however, he has a rather decent fall speed, having a heavy shell and all, rivaling characters such as .POWER: Forretress is one of those weird characters that on average has a range of power from crap to suck, but then has those 1-2 moves that are just lolwtf insane. He mostly uses a rather peculiar method to rack damage, then tries to hit you with that epic move to finish you off.
SPECIALS
NEUTRAL SPECIAL: SPIKES And no, this isn't the last time you'll be seeing Forretress' signature ability, but it is the most blatant use of it. By pressing B, Forretress will begin to shoot out small spikes from his turrets at a rate of 5 spikes a second, going clockwise from each canon as they shoot one at a time. Each spike is about the size of a small food item, and looks similar to a caltrop. As they come out they start to pile up onto each other right next to Forretress, and begin rolling off each other once about 3 have made a small stack. As for what the spikes actually do; any foe who comes into contact with a spike will receive about 2% damage every time they move on it. This may seem insignificant, but imagine when you have a floor full!
While holding down B, it is possible for Forretress to actually walk around, spreading his spikes around slowly. If that seems inefficient though, moves with wind effects, water or that sweep the floor can also push spikes around for you as well. There are no limits to how many spikes can be on a stage at once, as the only way to get rid of them is to send them flying off stage, but with the craziness of Smash they shouldn't be staying put for very long.
...and yes, Forretress is immune to his own spikes, cus I just know someone will ask that...
UP SPECIAL: RAPID SPIN Shouldda seen this coming when I mentioned how the spikes could be scattered
If in the air, Rapid Spin then controls more like DK's Spinning Kong, giving Forretress some decent horizontal air speed, in exchange for crappy vertical. If he lands on the stage he will bounce slightly, like landing with Bowser's, and hitting the edge will cause him to clamp onto it with the two halves of his shell.
If he his an opponent while doing this they will be spun around once, then sent vertically upwards high enough to land reeling on a low BF platform. Not damaging them, but highly annoying if there are spikes as they must move to get up. During both ground and aerial versions of Rapid Spin, Forretress also sports about 15% worth of super-armor, making it useful to bypass some would-be attackers.
SIDE SPECIAL: PINECO
Turning to face / away from camera, Forretress concentrates for a brief moment as a blue spike protrudes from one of his cannons. Shortly after, that spike is launched about the distance of Weegee's Fireball in a small arc, and is revealed to be the top of one of his pre-evolved brethren, Pineco!
Pineco act similar to mini versions of you, sharing some moves while doing unique stuff of their own, but mostly they're there to help their big buddy out. For more info, open the panel below.
Each Pineco has essentially half your stats. They move half as fast, have half the jumping power (in that they also have just 1 jump), etc, etc. However, they are much more fragile, only having a bit more size and durability than a Purple Pikmin.
Once launched they will do one of two things. First, if you peg a foe with one, they'll stick themselves to him/her like they would to a tree. This causes the foe to get the Pineco's stick sap on them, and move at 3/4th's their normal run/walk speed! (it should be noted here that you can only have 4 Pineco out at any given time. If there are already 4 out, Side Spec wont do anything for Forretress). If you manage to stick a foe with all 4 of your Pineco somehow, their movement will be reduced to 1/5th, which is terribly nasty considering this means more time spent wading through layers of spikes!
If you didn't hit a foe with Pineco at first, after landing and saying it's name happily, Pineco will begin to hop around slowly, looking for either a foe to hop onto, a platform to string shot onto, or even occasionally do a mini rapid-spin itself, spreading spikes for you.
A Pineco tethered to a platform is a very scary thing for opponents. First and foremost, hitting Pineco now acts like hitting a tether-ball: you hit him, he swings, then comes back at you for about the same damage and knockback you did to it! Thankfully he is a small target, and can be knocked off his perch (and defeatable again) by attacking the string, which has about 7% hp. Second thing to watch out for is that the strings are sticky! This means that if Forretress launches some spikes to the air, they can stick to the strings made by Pineco, creating an aerial field of spikes!
Pineco will be incredibly useful for you on most stages, as they make your spike fields that much more effective, as well as create fun toys for you to knock around via Rapid Spin, either while tethered or grounded!
DOWN SPECIAL: BIDE Yet another "staple" for Forretress, Bide has him clamp his shell down for about a second, flashing in a metallic sheen as he does. If he isn't hit while doing this by the end of the second, he will simply open his shell rapidly, expelling some air from his cannons and slightly move some nearby spikes. If damaged* during this move however, he will suddenly launch open, bouncing off the ground a bit and spin as huge jets of air shoot from his cannons! Similar to Peach's Toadstool, the air reaches out about a character length forward and behind him, and will launch foes away with 1.2x the knockback their move would have done to Forretress. Not only is this a great GTFO, and decent way to send spikes airborne, but it also launches foes back into a position where they need to tread over your spikes to get to you again.
*By "damaged", it means any form of damage. This means he wont de-activate when grabbed unless he is thrown or pummelled...
SMASHES
DOWN SMASH: PIN MISSILE Facing the camera, Forretress will make angry eyes as he charges this move, his canons apparently aiming at his foes slightly as he does. Upon release, he will launch 2 pins from each side of his body with incredible speed! These pins appear as much larger versions of Sheik's needles, and behave similarly to Link's arrows upon charge; going faster and further the longer you built them up. Being hit by the pins will inflict 6-12% damage, and either flinch or trip a foe depending on charge. If you snag a guy off stage they will take very minor knockback diagonally downwards. This move is great for it's range and relative spammability (same rate of fire as Toon Link's bow), as well as it's ability to rack damage on stubborn foes who wont venture into your spikes.
FORWARD SMASH: TOXIC Forretress begins pumping up and down like an accordion while charging this move, then upon release (with similar lag to using FLUDD or Water Gun) he shoots out a short-range spray of toxic sap from the two cannons on the side he's facing! This goo will have essentially the same hitbox as squirtle's uncharged watergun, but with more damage (7-14% on charge, lots of flinching).
But wait, what about the poison effect? well, when they have been badly poisoned by toxic, a peculiar thing happens: their shield turns purple! When their shield is in this state, it will decay 3x as fast until it shatters. Not only is this just nice in general, but it forces opponents to dodge and roll more, thus moving around more than they would normally just by shielding...and thus moving around in your spikes and getting damaged.
UP SMASH: SPRING BOARD Forretress clamps down shut as he charges this move, similar to Bide in animation. Upon release, he will shoot his top half up violently, becoming the height of Snake momentarily! What this does, as you may have guessed, is launch foes vertically if they are above/on top of Forretress, and make them stuck in a state similar to Sonic's spring, where they can use aerials, but are otherwise "reeling". Charge determines the height, ranging from Weegee's SHOYRUKEN, to slightly higher than Sonic's Spring. This is great to hyphen smash, catch a foe off-guard, and send them flying so you can spread more spikes!
STANDARDS
DASH ATTACK: TAKE DOWN While hopping forward in his dash, Forretress will flip end-over-end toward the foe, hopefully bringing them down with him. This move has the same range and overall speed of Yoshi's dash attack, but makes the foe bounce off of his shell with a "clang" noise, and getting sent reeling diagonally downwards, landing on their butt, and hopefully sliding through a bunch of spikes in the process. Relatively little landing lag as it really doesn't matter if he is upside down of not. Great for meeting other attacks, as you gain super-armor during the flip!
DOWN TILT: BUG BITE Fairly simple, Forretress clamps his shell down, hard. Lacking range, as only touching him will make you get an owie, this actually does some good damage, about 14%! After being bit, the foe suffers extensive hitlag as they are caught in your shell, then they are flung horizontally with knockback that wont really kill. A nice close-range option given it's quick startup.
UP/SIDE TILT: STRING SHOT Well, aren't I creative? Both these tilt inputs basically do the same thing as Pineco's string shot, but as you figured in different directions.
Ftilt will have you shoot an angle-able string for about the distance of Link's hookshot, with similar lag. If you hit a surface, it will stick to it, giving you an anchor to the ground/platform/edge! Once you have that anchor, you are free to move about and turn around, but can only go so far (1.5x the length of the tether) before it will snap. While turned around, you can even do Ftilt again, sending out a separate line! From here, you can now travel back and forth between these lines freely at your dash speed, acting like an aerial spike-dispenser! Utilt has him turn on his side, and fire a line upwards, for similar effect and range. If it hits nothing, the line simply falls to the ground as he then goes back to neutral position. Combine these tilts to get some crazy positions on stages with platforms, or faster movement along the ground for laying out spikes! You can even hit the edge and when knocked off, have a semi-tether recovery for some insurance at high %'s.
If you hit a foe with either version, they will be reeled in slowly towards you at about your walk speed, in which time they can either try to break the line (10% hp), or shield/dodge/whatever. While being reeled in, Forretress is free to do whatever special he wants! A common strategy would be to Bide, hopefully punishing an attempt at an attack, or get some free pinecos on the foe, all while dragging them over your spikes! Snagging an aerial foe will simply meteor them to the ground, in which time you could quickly do Usmash...for some lulzy combos.
JAB: GYRO BALL Taking barely any time, Forretress spins his two shells in opposite directions over his body, creating a small silver ring around himself in the process! During this time, his body acts just like a bumper, meaning the harder you hit it, the harder it hits back!
While this is all well and good while stationary, it is even better when between two of your strings! Picture this: you are between BF's two lower platforms, and a foe hits you directly. Just before you are hit, you Jab to activate Gyro Ball, in doing so, you bounce back with the force you would have taken normally from the attack, hit the end of one anchor, then hit the foe back with lightning speed adding their force + your "bumper" KB for some impressive power! Ain't physics fun? This can also work vertically (assuming the classic between BF scenario) as you will act like a slingshot between the lines, shooting up, then crashing down at the opponent, knocking them against the ground (or in the air)!
Even better, with your Pineco buddies added to the chaos, one wrong hit from a foe can mean a lifetime's worth of Kb swinging around everywhere as you bump around each other! Or in a team match, you could have this as a great set-up for a surprise KO, as you team-mates attack can be sent via you down the line to a foe, and then added on to your bumper property! This is one of Forretress' three main KO moves, as it heavily abuses the opponent much like Bide, but in a much more brutal fashion.
AERIALS
NEUTRAL AIR: BROADSIDE Facing the screen, Forretress will launch 4 spikes simultaneously, 2 on each side. Unlike with Spikes, these launch out a bit more ferociously, traveling the same way as Mario's fireball (with the same spammability), but at the speed of link's arrow! Getting nailed by these spikes do 3% with flinching each, but then bounce off and become normal spikes once on the ground.
FORWARD/BACK AIR: TOXIC SPIKES Aww yeah, now we're talking! Forretress shoots these puppies out one at a time, with the same lag as Broadside, and you guessed it, forward or back based on input.
The key difference between these spikes and your normal ones are that they are bigger, and purple. Upon contact with these spikes, a foe will take the standard 2%, but then extra Damage over Time as they are poisoned. This DoT does about 6% over the course of 2 seconds, and is plenty stackable (but not from the same spike twice in a row). Be sure to spread some of these around your spike-field, and you'll put your foe in a world of hurt.
UP/DOWN AIR: SPIKE CANON Aren't I just the worst? This is the 3rd time I have combined a move into two imputs.....
Anywho, this move behaves very similarly to Ivysaur's Up/Down air in terms of lag, and the nice boost to upward and downward momentum. Each respective input will launch 2 spikes at high-speed, doing 4% each and very small amounts of knockback. This can be great for raining down spikes combined with your high jump and the momentum boosts, as well as sending spikes into strings from Pineco directly, or just to be a nuisance to a recovering opponent! Relativley simple, but it gets the job done while providing DI and damage.
GRABS
PUMMEL : SPIKE SHOT First off, to grab the foe Forretress does a funny little hop, where he turns sideways in mid air only to clamp his shell down on them. This is a somewhat laggy grab, but at least it always gives him good range with it (comparable to Lucas). Once latched on, you'll notice that a cannon is pointing in the general area of the guy's face. Pressing A has you shoot a spike at their face for a horribly annoying 2% per pop, at a rate of 2 per second. As always, these spikes will plop to the floor after and add to your collection.
UP THROW: PAYBACK Forretress shows off a bit of his vengeful side here, as he bites the opponent with his shell, doing 5% damage + whatever damage was done to him on the last attack before he grabbed the foe! This can be pretty painful depending on the move, yet highly situational. After the bite the foe is sent upwards in pain as Forretress plops back down. this wont be killing by itself, but with the added damage of an attack it can come back to bite the foe in the butt (smirk)
FORWARD/BACK THROW: ROLLOUT Ok, this is the last time, I promise! However, it is simply too good an opportunity for Forretress to let it be just 1 throw.
What happens here is that Forretress shifts his weight either forward or backwards, and proceeds to roll around with the foe still attached, and presumably over a ton of spikes for some pretty mean damage. You will roll around for about a second before letting go, and go about the speed of Yoshi's roll, all the while the opponent being able to button mash out...but with the damage they should be taking it probably wont happen. Upon release the opponent is forced to get up, as Forretress suffers some end lag as he flops to neutral, leaving them both in an equal stance to each other, but of course with the foe having taken some significant damage.
DOWN THROW: EXPLOSION Here we are folks, *the* KO move mentioned in the stats: EXPLOSION!
While clamped on, Forretress will begin to flash red, as will any Pineco attached to the victim while you do this. Over the next 3 seconds, your foe will have to run around trying pry you off using their attacks, similar to how you get Pikmin/Pinecos off of you. However, you yourself take a tad longer than a Pikmin, in fact the average character will have to hit you about 3 times to send you packing. However, they then have to hit Pineco as well to stop them before the 3 seconds end!
If they don't hit you during this time, whether through just stupidity, hitstun from toxic spikes / raining spikes from spike cannon, or from having their shield broken from toxic, you will then explode for 50% DAMAGE (and take 30% yourself)! Any Pinecos that were there will also detonate, doing similar explosions to Snake's Grenades, adding about 8% per Pineco, and randomly sending the foe rocketing in different directions.
This move is just plain devastating. It does EPIC knockback (kills like at 70% guaranteed), along with potentially 72% with Pinecos. I mean ****. Thankfully, this gives you 3 seconds to wail on Forretress in order to stop the move, effectively punishing him for trying, and in order for it to work he needs to get you in such a right predicament that you get hitstunned every couple of moments as the timer clicks down...then BOOM.
Truly a scary, scary move, but one that requires so much effort behind it, especially considering that with all the Pinecos your foe wont be running around into the toxic spikes.
FINAL SMASH
ZAP CANNON
Wait, what? You heard me right, Forretress naturally learns this move!
After activating, Forretress will face the camera as the screen zooms in on his now angry eyes. He will then commence to use rapid-spin in place...seeming to build up a charge as he does so, even using Magnet Rise to levitate in the air!
After he is airborne, you can now control Forretress in a free-flight mode, with similar controls to Pit's UpB. For the next 15 seconds you will be able to launch devastating Zap-Cannon blasts from your turrets using A for in front of you, and B for behind! These blasts are essentially Samus' charged shots, doing 20% and great KB when they hit, a sure way to cause havoc to those foolish enough to oppose your might!
After the 15 seconds are up, Forretress will "fizz-out" as he then plops back to earth and seems to sigh as he wore himself out.
After activating, Forretress will face the camera as the screen zooms in on his now angry eyes. He will then commence to use rapid-spin in place...seeming to build up a charge as he does so, even using Magnet Rise to levitate in the air!
After he is airborne, you can now control Forretress in a free-flight mode, with similar controls to Pit's UpB. For the next 15 seconds you will be able to launch devastating Zap-Cannon blasts from your turrets using A for in front of you, and B for behind! These blasts are essentially Samus' charged shots, doing 20% and great KB when they hit, a sure way to cause havoc to those foolish enough to oppose your might!
After the 15 seconds are up, Forretress will "fizz-out" as he then plops back to earth and seems to sigh as he wore himself out.
PLAYSTYLE
As you have read, Forretress is a bit of an odd-ball, he only has 1 way of really racking damage! That said, it's a **** good one. Being able to spread a ton of spikes all over the stage that do 2% each time you move over one is a HUGE advantage when you are sluggish like Forretress. But, while you are spreading these around you need to keep on your toes, as you have relatively little defenses outside of some annoying KB.
This is where your little buddy Pineco comes in! Pineco can slow your foes down with his sap, or by being a living tether-ball, or spike net, to deter approaches, making you relatively safer to set up your field of death! He can also counter-attack for you while tethered, doing the same KB and Damage back at a foe if they don't get out of the way in time after hitting them. You can do this as well with your string-shot roads and gyro ball, yet it is rather predictable and the foe can just cut your strings. This is where Bide can also come into play, having the opponent get through all your buddies and spikes to attack you, only to still get screwed over by your shell.
If you do manage to get on the bad end of an attack however, you are relatively safe thanks to your great second jump, rapid spin, and before all that, hopefully your tether to the edge with stringshot! This makes you a pain in the *** to kill, but at the same time you wont be doing much killing yourself. That is the real downside to Forretress: you will live forever and rack incredible damage, but his kill moves, although very powerful, are all situational at best. This is why you got to hunker down in your shell, and try your best to simply pester the foe beyond all sanity, making them try and smack you that one time, or run around into those toxic spikes, in order to land the epic finisher on them!
Thankfully for Forretress, his entire moveset is devoted to this! Making the floor "lava" essentially, while setting up slows with Pineco, making them roll around in spikes with Toxic, and in general just being a **** to the opponent is what Forretress does best! Play patiently and let the prey come to you, all weary and pissed off, and they'll be sure to make mistakes, which the patient Bagworm pokemon is glad to capitalize on.
I stayed up till 4 to make this in 1 nite, ill go back and fix anythign lulzy tomorro if you point it out
gcubedude
Smash Apprentice
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2009
- Messages
- 83
@Forretress: When I started reading this, I wondered how you could make a good moveset for a pokemon like this. However, you did a really good job. IMO, a good moveset is one where as I read it, I can picture what you're describing actually happen in game, and see it flow well. That happened on this moveset. I think it's really interesting that you made not one, but four moves have 2 inputs, where the difference is only direction. I also like how you made Pinecos similar to Dedede's Waddle Dees, yet they support you and the moveset very well.
I only have one question, and I may have simply missed it in the reading: Do spikes deal flinch? Cuz after reading the moveset, it seems like they do cause flinch.
I only have one question, and I may have simply missed it in the reading: Do spikes deal flinch? Cuz after reading the moveset, it seems like they do cause flinch.
JOE!
Smash Hero
they do not cause flinch unless launched at you directly, otherwise they just do damage
32º Centigrade
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2009
- Messages
- 14
Forretress has a good Playstyle going for him; setting up his traps obstacles for the foe to get past. I like the idea of having the foe wade through Spikes with Pinecoes(?) slowing him down. I feel, however, that the more Waddle-Dee-like aspect of the Pinecoes are unnecessary. They'd be better off as just a projectile rather than wandering minions/tether-ball traps. I like how you managed to work the Up-Special into his Playstyle rather than just being a recovery move.
Going from Specials to Smashes to Standards is pretty alienating. Not to mention the order of attacks don't flow the same as normal (starting with the Dash-Attack and ending with the Jab?). I'm not a fan of putting Special-quality projectiles into the Standards like theForward Down-Smash. It doesn't seem like he should need a projectile because he can just spread his Spikes around, right? Toxic seems out of character and at first, a poison effect seemed unneeded, but you managed to come up with a unique status effect that fit into his Playstyle well.
I didn't see the point to the String-Shot mechanic. The attack part of String-Shot (the F-Tilt, that is) is nice and blends well into his Playstyle, but the tether part seemed confusing, and leaves a lot of questions. What other attacks can he do while on the string? Is he limited to firing projectiles out of the two unused cannons only? What direction is he facing? The Jab left me bemused, too. First of all, I'm not entirely sure that's how a bumper works. Second, how exactly does this attack work? Is it specifically a counter like Bide? If you used it on a string line and got hit, wouldn't both of the strings just break? How can you use it in the air if it's a Jab?
Projectiles in the aerials of all places seem unneeded. The poison effect in Toxic Spikes was what I hoped you had avoided with his Forward-Smash; why would he need to inflict poison damage if he has littered the stage with Spikes? By this point, the left/right up/down inputs just seem like a cop-out. As for the Up/Down Aerials themselves, it almost eliminates the need for his Neutral-Special when he has so many other attacks that spread his Spikes around more efficiently. By now, he could probably just use his Fair/Bair alone to set up the Spikes because of their added status effect.
His Grab and Pummel are good; nice way to get someone gently floating above his Spikes down onto the ground. Payback just seems random. While I was mad at first with your choice to combine the Forward/Backward throw, I love the attack(s) because it beautifully fits in with his Playstyle. But Explosion . . . I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's bad enough that this can KO at 70% alone, a percent Forretress should have no problem quickly getting his foe up to, but more damage with Pincoes attached? On the other hand, it's easy to escape, does a lot self-inflicting damage, and is pretty much his only KO move. His Final Smash is way out of character.
Oops, I wrote too much. Wrapping it up, Forretress has a good Playstyle from the start, but he becomes almost overpowered with his arsenal of projectiles, traps, and unusual mechanics. His main drawback is his lack of a KO move, but his ability to rack up damage like a maniac is bound to make some of his moves get stronger as his opponents reach phenomenal percentage. Overall, good for a one-nighter.
Going from Specials to Smashes to Standards is pretty alienating. Not to mention the order of attacks don't flow the same as normal (starting with the Dash-Attack and ending with the Jab?). I'm not a fan of putting Special-quality projectiles into the Standards like the
I didn't see the point to the String-Shot mechanic. The attack part of String-Shot (the F-Tilt, that is) is nice and blends well into his Playstyle, but the tether part seemed confusing, and leaves a lot of questions. What other attacks can he do while on the string? Is he limited to firing projectiles out of the two unused cannons only? What direction is he facing? The Jab left me bemused, too. First of all, I'm not entirely sure that's how a bumper works. Second, how exactly does this attack work? Is it specifically a counter like Bide? If you used it on a string line and got hit, wouldn't both of the strings just break? How can you use it in the air if it's a Jab?
Projectiles in the aerials of all places seem unneeded. The poison effect in Toxic Spikes was what I hoped you had avoided with his Forward-Smash; why would he need to inflict poison damage if he has littered the stage with Spikes? By this point, the left/right up/down inputs just seem like a cop-out. As for the Up/Down Aerials themselves, it almost eliminates the need for his Neutral-Special when he has so many other attacks that spread his Spikes around more efficiently. By now, he could probably just use his Fair/Bair alone to set up the Spikes because of their added status effect.
His Grab and Pummel are good; nice way to get someone gently floating above his Spikes down onto the ground. Payback just seems random. While I was mad at first with your choice to combine the Forward/Backward throw, I love the attack(s) because it beautifully fits in with his Playstyle. But Explosion . . . I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's bad enough that this can KO at 70% alone, a percent Forretress should have no problem quickly getting his foe up to, but more damage with Pincoes attached? On the other hand, it's easy to escape, does a lot self-inflicting damage, and is pretty much his only KO move. His Final Smash is way out of character.
Oops, I wrote too much. Wrapping it up, Forretress has a good Playstyle from the start, but he becomes almost overpowered with his arsenal of projectiles, traps, and unusual mechanics. His main drawback is his lack of a KO move, but his ability to rack up damage like a maniac is bound to make some of his moves get stronger as his opponents reach phenomenal percentage. Overall, good for a one-nighter.
Hyper_Ridley
Smash Champion
First, n88, Bob-omb's bandwith blew up xD.
Second, Foretress is a pretty fun set. Eh spreads spikes and doesn't afraid of anything. Funny enough, though, I actually enjoyed the tether/gyro ball mechanics more than the spike shennanigans. Zip-line tethers are something I toyed around with back in MYM7 with Spadefox Remix, but you utilized better what with having moves that specifically work with it rather than having a single self-contained tether move.
I kinda agree with Centigrade in that the projectile aerials felt kinda redundant. Not so much for their inputs, which I felt was clever, but because it kinda takes away from the point of Rapid spin when he was so many ways to have the spikes spread out just from their actual launching trajectories in various moves. I would have preferred to see Spikes just as a special, with various spinning/spreading moves in the standards, and Toxic Spikes could perhaps have been a special interaction by hitting the Spikes with an FSmash. Heck, maybe you could have more string-shot uses by giving him aerials that work with it.
In any case , pretty good effort for a set you made while super-tired. (chew)
Lastly, thanks much to Meanie for your Axel Gear comment. More Lightning Barrier love is nice. I think the reason I came across as more enthusiastic in this set was because I really was much more into it than most of my MYM6 and 7 sets, and it's nice that a set I enjoyed making is also a great set itself.
Second, Foretress is a pretty fun set. Eh spreads spikes and doesn't afraid of anything. Funny enough, though, I actually enjoyed the tether/gyro ball mechanics more than the spike shennanigans. Zip-line tethers are something I toyed around with back in MYM7 with Spadefox Remix, but you utilized better what with having moves that specifically work with it rather than having a single self-contained tether move.
I kinda agree with Centigrade in that the projectile aerials felt kinda redundant. Not so much for their inputs, which I felt was clever, but because it kinda takes away from the point of Rapid spin when he was so many ways to have the spikes spread out just from their actual launching trajectories in various moves. I would have preferred to see Spikes just as a special, with various spinning/spreading moves in the standards, and Toxic Spikes could perhaps have been a special interaction by hitting the Spikes with an FSmash. Heck, maybe you could have more string-shot uses by giving him aerials that work with it.
In any case , pretty good effort for a set you made while super-tired. (chew)
Lastly, thanks much to Meanie for your Axel Gear comment. More Lightning Barrier love is nice. I think the reason I came across as more enthusiastic in this set was because I really was much more into it than most of my MYM6 and 7 sets, and it's nice that a set I enjoyed making is also a great set itself.
MasterWarlord
Smash Champion
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2008
- Messages
- 2,911
FORRETRESS/SPARTAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8uFGJHw7aE
It's a long video clocking in at over 10 minutes, but I'm covering 2 movesets. I thought it made more sense what with them both being made by the same guy, and there's really not that much to add on Spartan, really - Forretress is the first 7 minutes of the video.
I have read Bob-omb, but I'd rather wait for him to actually be up again to do an audio comment so I can more fully know what I'm talking about, have it up for reference and what-not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8uFGJHw7aE
It's a long video clocking in at over 10 minutes, but I'm covering 2 movesets. I thought it made more sense what with them both being made by the same guy, and there's really not that much to add on Spartan, really - Forretress is the first 7 minutes of the video.
I have read Bob-omb, but I'd rather wait for him to actually be up again to do an audio comment so I can more fully know what I'm talking about, have it up for reference and what-not.
Hyper_Ridley
Smash Champion
I just checked, and Bob-omb's back up Warlord. Comment away!
D
Deleted member
Guest
After finishing my few-hour project [which I'm sure will be both hated and ignored], I decided to go back and comment on Forretress, seeing as I’ve been meaning to read him since he was posted about two nights ago. I was pleasantly surprised, but forgive any slip-ups in the comment here - my mind is a little tired after I ***** it with my following moveset.
The way you use spikes is a pretty impressive concept – I do like the “floor of lava” concept, it working in Smash would be akin to how you just hope that something works when you make a LittleBigPlanet level: it could go a bit awry. You explain it well enough, but adapting a trap like that into the game would definitely prove a little difficult with items or any such crap. Ignoring those, it’s a fine mechanic.
Aside from that, I liked your use of string shot – very inventive, in that it allows you to spread those spikes all over the stage if you’re affluent enough. I also quite liked your use of bide and gyro ball; creative to a point, but still believable enough. I only wonder if a player would actually get their head around some of this to play Forretress competitively, as relying on spikes seems a lot easier, then just activating gyro ball. I will forgive the aforementioned “bumper” for being a bit cheap.
I will also forgive a fair few things in this moveset for the amount of time you spent on it, which makes it seem like a really well thought out set. The writing isn’t painful to read like Spartan Warrior – it’s actually fairly interesting and has quips when appropriate [though rarely] and is fairly easy to understand. Still, it shows a little that you did write it in a rush, as you do deal with very confusing concepts that I feel could be explained better, such as string shot.
In all, many of the concepts are fresh and dealt by a subtle hand, you don’t assume that we’ll agree that these are simple, but do go a ways to explain how it would work. I can believe they would, actually and it’s quite a refreshing tangent of thought in a trap character, which is rare. My only complain on the concepts is definitely that it feels a little messy and that’s both in-character as well as fairly unsmash.
So, for what it’s worth, I feel your time was well-spent in making this moveset and I felt it was a darn sight better than Spartan Warrior in being full of new ideas and simpler ones at that. What brings it down to a mediated level is the very simplicity of the execution of these ideas, whereby the playstyle is a bit grim: not terribly so, but Forretress doesn’t actually have all that many options bar the projectile spikes, which are also understandably overused. However, fun read, am enjoying your Make Your Move 8.
The way you use spikes is a pretty impressive concept – I do like the “floor of lava” concept, it working in Smash would be akin to how you just hope that something works when you make a LittleBigPlanet level: it could go a bit awry. You explain it well enough, but adapting a trap like that into the game would definitely prove a little difficult with items or any such crap. Ignoring those, it’s a fine mechanic.
Aside from that, I liked your use of string shot – very inventive, in that it allows you to spread those spikes all over the stage if you’re affluent enough. I also quite liked your use of bide and gyro ball; creative to a point, but still believable enough. I only wonder if a player would actually get their head around some of this to play Forretress competitively, as relying on spikes seems a lot easier, then just activating gyro ball. I will forgive the aforementioned “bumper” for being a bit cheap.
I will also forgive a fair few things in this moveset for the amount of time you spent on it, which makes it seem like a really well thought out set. The writing isn’t painful to read like Spartan Warrior – it’s actually fairly interesting and has quips when appropriate [though rarely] and is fairly easy to understand. Still, it shows a little that you did write it in a rush, as you do deal with very confusing concepts that I feel could be explained better, such as string shot.
In all, many of the concepts are fresh and dealt by a subtle hand, you don’t assume that we’ll agree that these are simple, but do go a ways to explain how it would work. I can believe they would, actually and it’s quite a refreshing tangent of thought in a trap character, which is rare. My only complain on the concepts is definitely that it feels a little messy and that’s both in-character as well as fairly unsmash.
So, for what it’s worth, I feel your time was well-spent in making this moveset and I felt it was a darn sight better than Spartan Warrior in being full of new ideas and simpler ones at that. What brings it down to a mediated level is the very simplicity of the execution of these ideas, whereby the playstyle is a bit grim: not terribly so, but Forretress doesn’t actually have all that many options bar the projectile spikes, which are also understandably overused. However, fun read, am enjoying your Make Your Move 8.