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Miracle Of Light - Palutena in SSB4 (Featuring Cereza from Bayonetta-series)

Death Arcana

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Good Luck ^.^

I'm set on first at my next tournament to! Let me know if you can take on X...I need help with Sonic MU :(
thanks man
i won the weekly!
bad news X and his brother Staz (the diddy i lost to) did not show up :/
so it was a really shallow win
and i almost lost to some people
gawd im so bad
 

Admiral Pit

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thanks man
i won the weekly!
bad news X and his brother Staz (the diddy i lost to) did not show up :/
so it was a really shallow win
and i almost lost to some people
gawd im so bad
I'm okay with that. I rather not have to deal with cheap old Diddy personally, so enjoy your 1st place! Besides, it's already difficult making Palutena effective, so I'd be satisfied. I suppose my biased opinion doesn't matter though, especially with offline elitist attitudes all over the place.
But anyways, just relax and enjoy 1st place! It makes Palutena look great!
 

Death Arcana

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I'm okay with that. I rather not have to deal with cheap old Diddy personally, so enjoy your 1st place! Besides, it's already difficult making Palutena effective, so I'd be satisfied. I suppose my biased opinion doesn't matter though, especially with offline elitist attitudes all over the place.
But anyways, just relax and enjoy 1st place! It makes Palutena look great!
thanks man :)
it was just kind of an off day with Palutena
i had use Robin for a couple matches
ugh i really need a wii u setup, this 3ds is only good for some practice
 

Admiral Pit

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thanks man :)
it was just kind of an off day with Palutena
i had use Robin for a couple matches
ugh i really need a wii u setup, this 3ds is only good for some practice
It's okay. It beats using top tiers in my book. Winning with Pally and a bit of Robin is pretty good, both underrated characters.

I know that feeling. My 3ds is already messed up, and it doesn't give me as much practice as I wanted. Then the Wii U is good, but I kinda miss Prism Tower.
 

Saki-

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Took a shallow victory this past weekend as well. Though I think it'll be great for my mindset for 2015. Knowing that I can gatekeep a certain level of players means I didn't waste those years trying Melee and Brawl with constant bad results.
 

Admiral Pit

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Seems I missed some Palu action. I suppose my sleep habit is troublesome, and there's next time.
 

Admiral Pit

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want to play on 3ds?
Unfortunately my circle pad doesn't work so well when I try to move it down, meaning I may not do D-smash or the Down-Special when I want to, and I'm not fond of playing at night much. We'll find a time eventually.
 

Zediwonder

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I'd love to try it out but I don't have a Wii U to myself, I'll test it out next time I get the chance though. If it's as big as Cpt Falcon's it'll be great. Can't do it on 3ds which sucks.
 

C3CC

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I need help, guys D:

I really love Palutena as a character and I enjoy her playstyle, but I have difficulty winning some matches. I am no competitive player, because I don't like the competitive scene. I see Smash as more of a party game. I usually have a lot of friends come over to my house and play on hazard stages, with items and stuff. In those types of battles, I win with Palutena pretty often. But when it does happen to get kind of serious, I can't win. The other day I played against a friend who used Captain Falcon and he pretty much had me like a ragdoll in the air. I couldn't even move or touch the freaking floor. My friend always tells me "Dude, go for Rosalina, you're much better with her" (which is true) but I WANT to learn how to play well as Palutena.

So, can you give me some tips on what to do and what not to do when playing as Palutena? I already know her grab game sucks horribly so I often avoid that. I use her default moveset because I think her custom moves just plain suck.

Any help will be appreciated :D
 

Eisal

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So, can you give me some tips on what to do and what not to do when playing as Palutena? I already know her grab game sucks horribly so I often avoid that. I use her default moveset because I think her custom moves just plain suck.
I'm pretty new myself, but first of all, Palutena's grabs are the bread and butter for her to start a small combo, you really need to start grabbing with her.

Grab > Down throw > and either jump and do neutral air or forward air, this is how you start to get damage in on them.

Second, her custom moves are goddesslike, especially Super Speed and Light Weight, those can deal some nasty damage with combos and take your opponent by surprise, because you become faster than Sonic.

Third, I have got taught that Palutena is a very defensive character, which means that you shouldn't be too aggressive with her. Let the opponent make a move, and bait them, then punish them when you see an opening. Palutena games are usually drawn out because of this.

If he juggles you around in the air, don't be afraid to fall down towards the ledge and grab it, and safely get up from there.

Also, remember that Palutena's dash attack neglects every other attack. Falcon Kick? If you got time and spacing, dash attack him, he can't damage you.
 
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Death Arcana

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the perfect pivot has been known since melee, and i think it has a couple uses for palutena
what im trying to learn is fox trot perfect pivot into jab
i can see that being very useful for opponents who chase
 
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Cap'nChreest

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Perfect pivoting is kinda useless imo. there's hardly any distance with it. The only people that have a use for it are characters with a good amount of distance with it. Palutena doesn't really have that.
 

Admiral Pit

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I have no use for stupid melee techs, let alone I'm not gonna mess up my controller by doing that. Besides, I'm okay with doing the things I'm doing now. All I need is to learn some MUs (ban Diddy), and I'll be golden. I still need to find a 3rd main just for the sake of variety, but nothing comes to mind, and I don't think Robin's gonna make it.
 

Zediwonder

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I see the most utility for perfect pivots being with her jab and maybe for some silly cheap defensive mind games.

Palutena does have the extra length with light weight though so it may have a lot more uses, I'm practicing on my 3ds when I feel like it with poor results so far but once I get it down I'll be seeing everything and anything I can do with it.
 

Eisal

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Training a lot with this ''wavedash'' thing that people found out a long time ago but didn't talk about until now.

It's harder than I thought and I can't really find a good way to get it into a fight, but it's fun to do nonetheless~

I think I'm getting better and better with Palutena. I really enjoy playing with her, and it's even more fun when you start to win against people.
 

AlvisCPU

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Hey guys. Not been on this part of Smashboards before. Hi.

Palutena's a character that I really, really want to be good with but feel like I... can't. I play her quite a bit but her attacks feel too slow and easy to punish for either little damage or knockback. Reading a couple of the posts it sounds like even you guys aren't too optimistic about her level of gameplay, but teach me anyway! How do I suck less?

In terms of Customs, which ones do you personally like? I really don't like her defaults... I get the feeling I'll be stuck with them though. Auto-Reticle's okay, Reflect is something I use way more than I should to push people away but have never successfully edgeguarded with it, Warp's pretty good, and as a Shulk player and occasional Marth, the range on Counter just feels horrendous. Maybe I'm just not understanding the range right.

Does she have any combos I should know about? I manage to pull off down-throw -> forward air sometimes; doesn't look impressive but I guess it's something, haha. What sort of approach should I be taking to my fighting style when playing as her? (Do I go aggressive? Try to space them well? Bait out attacks to punish or something?)

Any and all tips are appreciated :) I've had a lot of fun with her, I'd just like to do better.

(Side-note, my favourite match in Smash 4 to date was actually with Palutena. 3-stock, Palutena vs. Kirby vs. Dark Pit [their main]. Kirby out, Palutena 1-stock and Dark Pit on 3-stock. Brought it down to Dark Pit on 1 stock and ~130%. Even though I lost, I felt amazing. "AlvisCPU has GameShark confirmed", "Dude, that Palutena was getting me scared towards the end", etc.)
 

Eisal

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Any and all tips are appreciated :) I've had a lot of fun with her, I'd just like to do better.
I'm pretty new to playing Smash more seriously myself. I started out with Ike and Ganondorf but wanted something new, so I tried Palutena after seeing Cosmo Wright (probably more known as a Legend of Zelda speedrunner with world records and whatnot) playing with her.

One thing I learned is that Palutena is better played defensively, baiting and waiting for your opponent to do a mistake. Since a lot of her attacks got a lot of delay, you need to time them right.

But since you are trying to bait your opponent, do a lot of short jumps with forward air, trying to kick them a little bit. Autoreticle can be good for baiting too, but beware of fast characters, they sprint forward the moment they see you cast it, and they have reached you before the shots are even fired.

Palutena's grab and downthrow is what people consider her 'main' abilities. Grab > Downthrow > Uair, Nair or Fair all works, Bair works sometimes, and actually deal pretty good damage. Her jab is godesslike too and you can pretty much jab once and go in for a grab, and maybe sometimes even jab once > forward smash.

Her custom moves I haven't played with that much myself, but Super Speed and Lightweight are pretty much the most favoured ones, more than that I can't say because I haven't played with them myself.

But as said, Palutena's style is more defensive like, and matches can get pretty drawn out because of that. Some people hate it because they usually want a fast paced match.

Otherwise I have had a lot of fun with Palutena, and I'm still learning a lot from it.

Out of all characters, she's the #1 for me.
 

AlvisCPU

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First of all, thanks! Much appreciated.

I'm pretty new to playing Smash more seriously myself. I started out with Ike and Ganondorf but wanted something new, so I tried Palutena after seeing Cosmo Wright (probably more known as a Legend of Zelda speedrunner with world records and whatnot) playing with her.
Oh yeah, that guy.

But since you are trying to bait your opponent, do a lot of short jumps with forward air, trying to kick them a little bit. Autoreticle can be good for baiting too, but beware of fast characters, they sprint forward the moment they see you cast it, and they have reached you before the shots are even fired.

Palutena's grab and downthrow is what people consider her 'main' abilities. Grab > Downthrow > Uair, Nair or Fair all works, Bair works sometimes, and actually deal pretty good damage. Her jab is godesslike too and you can pretty much jab once and go in for a grab, and maybe sometimes even jab once > forward smash.
I've not actually checked the damage output on some of these, I may have just assumed that because fair has practically zero knockback, I wasn't doing much damage. (Also because it reminds me of sweetspotting with Zelda's fair, though Palutena's is more reliable.) Good to know that the other aerials work well, getting all the nair hits is satisfying.

Her custom moves I haven't played with that much myself, but Super Speed and Lightweight are pretty much the most favoured ones, more than that I can't say because I haven't played with them myself.

But as said, Palutena's style is more defensive like, and matches can get pretty drawn out because of that. Some people hate it because they usually want a fast paced match.
I've tried all her moves at least once and I've gotta say, I love Super Speed. I guess being a Shulk player, I'm kind of used to throwing myself around the screen really quickly and throwing out aerials and hoping something connects.
 

Ayoub

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So uh, hi everyone!

I wanted to introduce myself shortly. I'm a European ex-Pit main (in Brawl), who is trying to play Palutena at the moment. Even though she isn't that good of a character, I do enjoy playing her. There are many threads so far as I have been scrolling through this board, however, which thread would you advise me to read as a Palutena player who doesn't use customs (since I'm planning to use her in competitive play and we're not allowed to use any form of customs, so I won't bother myself practicing that).

Another question I'd like to ask; which character(s) do you guys main as a secondary, if any? The thing is, I really like to use Pit but I can't use him propely. I am too fossilized on his brawl gameplay and I can't seem to get rid of that. ;P

Thanks in advance!
 
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TheRealPalutena

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So uh, hi everyone!

I wanted to introduce myself shortly. I'm a European ex-Pit main (in Brawl), who is trying to play Palutena at the moment. Even though she isn't that good of a character, I do enjoy playinh with her. There are many threads so far as I have been scrolling through this board, however, which thread would you advise me to read as a Palutena player who doesn't use customs (since I'm planning to use her in competitive play and we're not allowed to use any form of customs, so I won't bother myself practicing that).

Another question I'd like to ask; which character(s) do you guys main as a secondary, if any? The thing is, I really like to use Pit but I can't use him propely. I am too fossilized on his brawl gameplay and I can't seem to get rid of that. :p

Thanks in advance!
I personally use ZSS as a secondary for the moment since I mained her in brawl. I don't enjoy playing her all that much though...I've been actively looking for another secondary for a while. Not many characters I can get comfortable with it seems :(
 

Djent

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Ninjalink on FreeSaltines right now showing off customs Palutena in Grand Finals of a NY tourney.
He lost 3-1, but he pulled off some sick stuff including a clutch game 1 win via a spike.
 
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Yoshi Kirishima

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OMG ninjalink whipping out the palutena!

Is that his goto against shiek, or did he just feel confident enough to show her off? Only saw a bit of the tournament and saw him as megaman vs jtails' diddy.

Either way, SO COOL YESSS Show off those customs! Make customs legal!

He did pretty well but I think he was using his customs way too much... maybe he got excited? He should have just stuck with the "normal" stuff and used customs to help out, not rely on his customs IMO.
 
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InfinityCollision

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He did pretty well but I think he was using his customs way too much... maybe he got excited? He should have just stuck with the "normal" stuff and used customs to help out, not rely on his customs IMO.
That's like saying a character should just stick with their "normal" attacks and occasionally use grabs to help out, even if their grab game is very strong. Palutena's customs are important, even gamechanging. I haven't seen the set yet so I can't critique NL's usage, but Palutena should absolutely make frequent use of her custom specials.

Hey guys. Not been on this part of Smashboards before. Hi.

Palutena's a character that I really, really want to be good with but feel like I... can't. I play her quite a bit but her attacks feel too slow and easy to punish for either little damage or knockback. Reading a couple of the posts it sounds like even you guys aren't too optimistic about her level of gameplay, but teach me anyway! How do I suck less?
The most important thing to understand is that Palutena doesn't play like any other SSB4 character. You're still playing the same game, but you have to use her kit in a way that is unusual, even unintuitive. Nobody uses their jab1 quite like she does for example, and it's a central part of her kit. Do you have any specific things you're curious about?
 
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Djent

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Palutena almost feels like a Marvel character; she's got tracking projectiles or unblockables, airdashes, flight mode or teleports, and an install super. :laugh:
 

Yoshi Kirishima

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That's like saying a character should just stick with their "normal" attacks and occasionally use grabs to help out, even if their grab game is very strong. Palutena's customs are important, even gamechanging. I haven't seen the set yet so I can't critique NL's usage, but Palutena should absolutely make frequent use of her custom specials.


The most important thing to understand is that Palutena doesn't play like any other SSB4 character. You're still playing the same game, but you have to use her kit in a way that is unusual, even unintuitive. Nobody uses their jab1 quite like she does for example, and it's a central part of her kit. Do you have any specific things you're curious about?
What I mean is I feel his opponent caught on and he was getting punished over and over in the same ways, and the way he was punished a lot was by using his customs a looot. He wasn't doing normal spacing stuff with fairs, jabs, and grabs, but seemed to do a lot of unsafe things. I guess you could say he was trying to rush down (pressure and predict and punish), but it wasn't really working out, and it felt like he was tunnel visioned into making his customs work, instead of adapting.

Not sure if he was making execution mistakes or was just making bad decisions and being read too easily. For example sometimes when it was in a neutral position (both characters at each side of the stage) and Shiek was approaching, often he would try to fly to the other side of the stage only to get hit or go into free fall and get hit, instead of just playing it from there (it wouldn't make a difference if he gets to the other side of the stage, he'd be in the same position as he was originally). Not sure if he was trying to stall for time for his lightweight or to buy time to think.

Or another example where he missed several opportunities throughout the set to grab a kill with an uair. He would use lightweight and try to uair Shiek at the top of the stage after Shiek has been launched up. But he kept doing this at the same height and timing and each time Shiek easily read it and air dodged it, leaving Palutena above Shiek and no longer able to follow up. He could have mixed it up a little by waiting a little more to keep the Shiek guessing by changing the timing of when he would jump, when he would uair, etc., instead of immediately jumping and uairing right after turning lightweight on. After all if you follow the opponent's DI as she tries to land on ground, you have all that time to try to hit her again -- anytime before she hits the ground she's at a disadvantage. But NL kept committing to the instant jump uair.

Hey guys. Not been on this part of Smashboards before. Hi.

Palutena's a character that I really, really want to be good with but feel like I... can't. I play her quite a bit but her attacks feel too slow and easy to punish for either little damage or knockback. Reading a couple of the posts it sounds like even you guys aren't too optimistic about her level of gameplay, but teach me anyway! How do I suck less?

In terms of Customs, which ones do you personally like? I really don't like her defaults... I get the feeling I'll be stuck with them though. Auto-Reticle's okay, Reflect is something I use way more than I should to push people away but have never successfully edgeguarded with it, Warp's pretty good, and as a Shulk player and occasional Marth, the range on Counter just feels horrendous. Maybe I'm just not understanding the range right.

Does she have any combos I should know about? I manage to pull off down-throw -> forward air sometimes; doesn't look impressive but I guess it's something, haha. What sort of approach should I be taking to my fighting style when playing as her? (Do I go aggressive? Try to space them well? Bait out attacks to punish or something?)

Any and all tips are appreciated :) I've had a lot of fun with her, I'd just like to do better.

(Side-note, my favourite match in Smash 4 to date was actually with Palutena. 3-stock, Palutena vs. Kirby vs. Dark Pit [their main]. Kirby out, Palutena 1-stock and Dark Pit on 3-stock. Brought it down to Dark Pit on 1 stock and ~130%. Even though I lost, I felt amazing. "AlvisCPU has GameShark confirmed", "Dude, that Palutena was getting me scared towards the end", etc.)
Palutena's an advanced character that, like InfinityCollision said, doesn't quite play like the others. A lot of her moves are slow or have low reward or have lots of end lag, but they are all useful in specific situations, giving her a lot of options to punish certain things. She has some quick and safe moves too though, jab, dash attack, and her aerials in general, especially fair and bair.

She has some flexibility in terms of what style you play her, but of course at some point to be most effective you would have to mix and adapt. She can be aggressive. When you can start reading your opponent, you could, for example, go for a hard punish and get an early kill at 60%. Or you can play very safe and make them approach you and try to wall them out, that is punish their approaches. You can try to be aggressive and get an early lead, or you could also stay on a sort of backfoot and play very defensively, taking it slow and learning your opponent so that in the final stock you can step up the aggression and finish it quick and clean with a hard punish and nullify any sort of lead the opponent may have had.
 
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InfinityCollision

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http://www.twitch.tv/freesaltines/b/601872924 at 1hr22m for those who missed it.
Not sure if he was making execution mistakes or was just making bad decisions and being read too easily.
After watching it, kind of both. The points you made elsewhere in your post regarding poor trapping, not playing her spacing game effectively, questionable JGs, etc are valid, and I see some instances of poor utilization, not utilizing options available (used a pretty limited subset of options out of SS for instance), and just not adapting at the rate that his opponent was. I think he has the right idea, but maybe hasn't fully developed his kit or isn't fully comfortable using her customs yet.
 
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Zediwonder

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I've been using Toon Link as a secondary to Palutena since I played TL in brawl and my skill level with him is just higher than with Palutena right now. Regrettably too used to TL, trying to pull bombs out with Palutena generally doesn't work.
 

AeroLink_the_SoulMaster

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Working on it!

This is a match-up where custom moves help out a lot, but tourney standard is default so... for now, you have to be really careful whenever Diddy has a banana peel in hand; also be ready to react to any side-b approaches (you stuff it with an aerial of your own). Up close, you have to respect Diddy's dtilt and fair. Do your best not to get grabbed; if you do get grabbed, you want to hold the direction towards Diddy so you can DI the dthrow away to where he can't upair you (taking a bair/fair is better than taking an upair). At higher pecents, if you DI correctly he can't follow up after his dthrow at all; jumping away is the safest option after Diddy dthrow. Also be careful whenever Diddy Kong grabs you near the ledge with his back to it; he can mix up your DI with a back throw that kills, so if you're at high percents, just DI up and jump away as soon as you can. For edgeguarding, be ready to cover Diddy's side special option; if you can force Diddy to recover low with his rocket barrels, you can clip him with your nair offstage.

That's all for now; hope it helps!
 
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