I thought I was gonna main or at least secondary Palutena a short while ago, but with the mystery around the inclusion of custom moves in tournaments, I'm very weary.
I REALLY don't like Palutena's stock B moves, but I don't know enough about her to say if that's justified or not. Can someone tell me generally what's valuable about Palutena and what appears to be the best playstyle at the moment?
And what's this about reflect being unblockable? Doesn't it just reflect projectiles? Are the projectiles unblockable?
Reflect has a weird property that causes your opponent to move in slow motion. I haven't been able to test whether or not these claims about it being "unblockable" are true because I don't get my Wii U back for a week and a half, but I'm am definitely very interested in messing around with some ideas now.
To answer your question about what is appealing about Palutena, as far as what her "pros" are:
-She has very good ground speed movement since her dash is very quick.
-She has a dash attack that will KO between 100-130% depending on rage, and the move itself is fast and easy to land, which is always good (easier to land than, say, Dedede's dash attack).
-She has very reliable d-throw -> aerial combos. D-throw -> uair is actually a great finisher if you grab around 100% depending on the character and their DI on the throw. At low percents, d-throw -> nair is pretty much a guaranteed 15% combo with potential follow-ups after.
-She has a high priority bair that can KO, and her fair has amazing range.
-Her upsmash KOs and has a huge hitbox in front of her and above her, giving her unique ways of catching aerial opponents.
-Her jab is above average, good range and can lead into a grab.
-She has a reliable spike (dair).
-She has a way to reflect projectiles.
-She has a counter.
-Harder to combo than the average character, due to her light weight.
-Great at punishing rolls because of her dash speed.
Altogether, these various parts of her character design make a very unique character, who has a little bit of everything. She is basically the "Mario" of this game, given how balanced and versatile she is. But her hitboxes are very different than Mario's, so that's something to note.
Her cons:
-Mediocre recovery - somewhat easy to edgeguard.
-Slow tilts with lots of recovery time and mediocre range.
-Her smash attacks have a lot of lag time afterward.
-Floaty, so she dies from vertical KOs easily.
-Requires a lot of precision to play (especially the placement of her aerials - they must be spaced pristinely), due to not having many hitboxes that stay out for long. You have to time your attacks well. Therefore, she has a higher learning curve/is more skill-intensive.
-Lacks stage presence. Her projectile is useable, but will not really force your opponent to approach, because it's easy to avoid. Since she lacks easy ways of approaching, her matches tend to be drawn out. I have gone to time countless times in "For Glory".
If you want any pointers on her, I'd be happy to chat.
Stay strong and bright in the name of the light!
