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

[TheRealPalutena]

Hello guys. Long time no see. Just need some advice from anyone who could give it.

I've been playing in alot more tournaments recently with Default Palutena and have generally been able to place pretty well in my region for the most part. But thats not why I'm here >.<

How do I close out games with Default Palutena. That is a issue that I notice I'm having and a big reason why I lose alot of games. Lets assume that people know to DI Dthrow-Uair. They know about ledge-cancel shenanigans and I can't land Smash attacks or jab>smash combos...

The only thing I can do is damage them until dash attack eventually kills them (or somehow get a Uair)

So I'm looking for advice...Something consistent that I can do help this very specific problems. I tend to lose because of extremely high percent situations a lot simply because I can't close the game out.

Anything helps!

 

[Yoshi Kirishima]

As a read based character, we just don't have that many safe kill moves. Jab->dash attack or just dash attack are great though, able to kill at 115-135 with 100-150 rage. Jab->DA is a true combo, so that's the one hit confirm you have at that %. If you have really high rage, and you are able to jab them up close, opt for jab -> utilt as that will kill a little earlier even if it's not a true combo.

Aside from that, you have to get them close to the ledge and bair them for a 100-120% kill. This move is pretty safe thankfully. Or get them offstage and edgeguard.

Then you have bthrow and uthrow as the backup backup kill moves (130-150).

Ideally you want to get that dthrow upair kill somehow, and before your rage gets too high or it stops combo'ing. Use pummel mix ups to punish the opponent for not mashing hard enough. Sometimes they can't DI away. Or be sure that your dthrows are close to the ledge, in which case if they DI away from an upair you can kill them with a fair at 120-140 depending on stage.

Just stay patient and make a plan to get that final hit in on your opponent. It's about conditioning them in these final moments and trying to find a way to get them to open up. So if you have trouble thinking of things on the spot, create some flow charts beforehand and memorize them.

 

[sleepy_Nex]

In general you should pummel in higher percents. If they mash too hard they screw their DI eventually.

 

[MysteriousSilver]

Palutena's biggest problem in most matchups is landing that kill. We have to work at it and put ourselves on the line to get it more than most characters.

The three most successful methods I've found are:

1. Dthrow, bait an airdodge, Up smash. If I've been doing Dthrow -> Fair/Nair the whole match this one tends to come the easiest, as they'll usually try to airdodge out at higher percents. If your opponent dodges your fair in the combo, rejoice; they'll probably do it again. When you land another grab, simply Dthrow, empty shorthop, fast fall and Up Smash where they come down. This tends to work at least once on almost everyone, because they're not thinking about being in a potential death situation when you Dthrow them; or if they are, they likely want to avoid the uair. Mix it up with uair later to get more mileage out of it.

2. Pivot Fsmash. If you're going to do this, you'd better well have downloaded the other guy. But Fsmash's range makes this work really well when you're expecting a dash attack, or short hop aerial, or some similar advancing attack. This can also work on get ups, of course. Just... don't miss.

3. Offstage bair gimps/stage spikes. Oh, your recovery has a hitbox on it? How cute.

A dumb gimmick that works sometimes on characters with good "combo breaker" moves like Luigi's Nair is to jab 1 at maximum range -> fsmash. A lot of them will hit nair to try to escape the grab follow up if our timing is off or if it's getting to high to actually work, then you can smack them out of landing lag. This is super janky and shouldn't really be relied on, but it's sure funny when it works.

 

[TastyCarcass]

I think she has a better time killing than other characters, especially since she can build up % easier now.
Sometimes you just gotta go for a good neutral game until your opponent is at about 150%, at which point most of your moves are fast kill moves and you don't have to risk a really unsafe smash attack.
I know it's boring but it's something you may have to do if you're playing to win.

 

[MysteriousSilver]

Edit: I decided my pessimism isn't helping anybody lol

 

[Berserker.]

I had serious issues landing kills with Palutena today :|

 

[Cap'nChreest]

I had serious issues landing kills with Palutena today :|

thats the struggle. Sometimes you gotta throw something out....

thats the awful part.

 

[Berserker.]

thats the struggle. Sometimes you gotta throw something out....

thats the awful part.

Yeah. I'm basically just throwing out a smash attack hoping that it actually hits

I'm still sticking to this character though

 

[kmpyj]

Well, I finally got that guide video done. Took me a while, but it's done. I covered Palutena's default moveset only. If you been here long, you probably know about most of it, but I have a short little combo section at the end in case you are interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srHs0E6NZBw

Now I think I'm going to get some sleep.....

 

[sleepy_Nex]

shame on me....i diidn't knew dair has a Autocancel.

how do i do it?

 

[kmpyj]

shame on me....i diidn't knew dair has a Autocancel.

how do i do it?

You do it by landing during the attack's beginning or ending frames, which will reduce the end lag. If you have the rumble feature enabled on your controller, you will know if you performed it right if you don't feel a rumble from the hit. Plus you will act out of it quicker, so that will also make it noticeable as well.

All of her aerials can do this, though with Nair and Uair, it auto cancels at the second to last hit, rather than the last hit. And since Fair's end lag is already small as is, it wouldn't make too much of a difference. But both Dair and Bair have a decent stun, making their follow ups more rewarding.

 

[Wintropy]

I must confess, my Palutena has suffered considerably in recent times. I've devoted most of my attention to Pit, to the extent that Palutena feels weirdly foreign to me. I'm gonna keep her on as my other main, but I don't know to what extent I can balance both characters. I can go from a nice win streak with Pit to a sudden whiff with Palutena. That discourages me.

It's unfortunate, because I'm pretty much the only Irish player I know that would enter a tourney with her (Ireland as a whole doesn't really believe in customs, so Palutena barely factors into our scene). I just wonder if it's best to stick with her out of a love for the character and an impetus to represent her in the local scene, or if it's just obstinate at this point.

 

[Cap'nChreest]

I must confess, my Palutena has suffered considerably in recent times. I've devoted most of my attention to Pit, to the extent that Palutena feels weirdly foreign to me. I'm gonna keep her on as my other main, but I don't know to what extent I can balance both characters. I can go from a nice win streak with Pit to a sudden whiff with Palutena. That discourages me.

It's unfortunate, because I'm pretty much the only Irish player I know that would enter a tourney with her (Ireland as a whole doesn't really believe in customs, so Palutena barely factors into our scene). I just wonder if it's best to stick with her out of a love for the character and an impetus to represent her in the local scene, or if it's just obstinate at this point.

Eh. Don't feel guilty playing who you like. The most important part of maining palutena is knowing when to send in Pit to help T:

 

[Wintropy]

Eh. Don't feel guilty playing who you like. The most important part of maining palutena is knowing when to send in Pit to help T:

Or vice-versa, as the case may be. ;3

Locals are gonna start up for the season next month. I'll try her then and see how it goes.

 

[Tailisu10]

I made a Kid Icarus themed tourney if any of you would like to join.
ID is 06270675611828

 

[TMNTSSB4]

Eh. Don't feel guilty playing who you like. The most important part of maining palutena is knowing when to send in Pit to help T:

Pit mains also needs Palutena to use the power of flight.

 

[Berserker.]

It's unfortunate, because I'm pretty much the only Irish player I know that would enter a tourney with her (Ireland as a whole doesn't really believe in customs, so Palutena barely factors into our scene). I just wonder if it's best to stick with her out of a love for the character and an impetus to represent her in the local scene, or if it's just obstinate at this point.

Patches are a thing so you'll never know if she'll get the buff she needs

Ultimately though, it's up to you on whether you still want to rep her or not. You can always use both Palutena and Pit

 

[BJN39]

Just your 'daily reminder' that I am still going to make a Palutena data thread.

Now that I have @Nammy12's fabulous GIFs, I am close to putting it out. :>

Also I need some Paletuna/Kid Icarus lore help for the title, which I still haven't decided on.

 

[MysteriousSilver]

Just your 'daily reminder' that I am still going to make a Palutena data thread.

Now that I have @Nammy12's fabulous GIFs, I am close to putting it out. :>

Also I need some Paletuna/Kid Icarus lore help for the title, which I still haven't decided on.

"Divinipedia" is the first thing that comes to mind

I don't mean the website, I mean like the one Pyrrhon talks about in the game

Play Uprising seriously it's so good

 

[RedCap-BlueSpikes]

Oddly enough I haven't had that much trouble landing kills lately. I seem to always catch my opponents with raged U-tilt, U-smash at the ledge, or B-air offstage. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Berserker.]

I keep missing my u-tilts ;;

I land all my kills with u-smash and f-smash. Really risky but at least both smash attacks have a hefty amount of kill power

 

[TheRealPalutena]

As a read based character, we just don't have that many safe kill moves. Jab->dash attack or just dash attack are great though, able to kill at 115-135 with 100-150 rage. Jab->DA is a true combo, so that's the one hit confirm you have at that %. If you have really high rage, and you are able to jab them up close, opt for jab -> utilt as that will kill a little earlier even if it's not a true combo.

Aside from that, you have to get them close to the ledge and bair them for a 100-120% kill. This move is pretty safe thankfully. Or get them offstage and edgeguard.

Then you have bthrow and uthrow as the backup backup kill moves (130-150).

Ideally you want to get that dthrow upair kill somehow, and before your rage gets too high or it stops combo'ing. Use pummel mix ups to punish the opponent for not mashing hard enough. Sometimes they can't DI away. Or be sure that your dthrows are close to the ledge, in which case if they DI away from an upair you can kill them with a fair at 120-140 depending on stage.

Just stay patient and make a plan to get that final hit in on your opponent. It's about conditioning them in these final moments and trying to find a way to get them to open up. So if you have trouble thinking of things on the spot, create some flow charts beforehand and memorize them.

Yea I have been doing Jab dash attack as a finisher. I know that works very well for the most part. Patience is a thing I know I have to work on. I had the opportunity to pull a pretty big upset (for our region) against a player named Scatt (VERY GOOD Megaman player. He got second @ some major I forget the name) and I lost because of impatience and doing really deep attacks in desperation in trying to finish a game. Same happened in a similar situation when I played Fatality a while ago I was just looking for basically anything that can help. I was losing confidence in Palu for a while after some disappointing losses but I'm getting better and gaining my confidence back. There simply isn't another character on this game for me. Always will stay with her ^.^

 

[Cap'nChreest]

Yea I have been doing Jab dash attack as a finisher. I know that works very well for the most part. Patience is a thing I know I have to work on. I had the opportunity to pull a pretty big upset (for our region) against a player named Scatt (VERY GOOD Megaman player. He got second @ some major I forget the name) and I lost because of impatience and doing really deep attacks in desperation in trying to finish a game. Same happened in a similar situation when I played Fatality a while ago I was just looking for basically anything that can help. I was losing confidence in Palu for a while after some disappointing losses but I'm getting better and gaining my confidence back. There simply isn't another character on this game for me. Always will stay with her ^.^

lol Scatt and Fatality. you must know Lord Mix then?

 

[MysteriousSilver]

Used rage utilt to kill for the first time tonight after reading about people using it on this thread

Thanks. That is all.

 

[TheRealPalutena]

lol Scatt and Fatality. you must know Lord Mix then?

Not personally. I've played him though.

 

[Berserker.]

U-smash and f-smash reads. That's pretty much all I needed. Palutena is p.good

Thanks gais

 

[MysteriousSilver]

Anyone have any advice for getting back to the ground against characters with airdodge frame traps?

 

[Wintropy]

Honestly, I just aim for the ledge if I'm even remotely wary of getting back to the stage.

Kinda unfortunate that Palutena has no viable landing options in default.

 

[meleebrawler]

Honestly, I just aim for the ledge if I'm even remotely wary of getting back to the stage.

Kinda unfortunate that Palutena has no viable landing options in default.

Really? Because I'd think teleport is one of the best landing options she has, only faltering against very fast characters. Super Speed works but puts you close to the edge, and I don't consider Lightweight a landing option more than a 'make everything better' button.

Customs don't change how bad her aerials are at landing. Lightweight just masks the issue behind sheer mobility.

 

[Wintropy]

Really? Because I'd think teleport is one of the best landing options she has, only faltering against very fast characters. Super Speed works but puts you close to the edge, and I don't consider Lightweight a landing option more than a 'make everything better' button.

Customs don't change how bad her aerials are at landing. Lightweight just masks the issue behind sheer mobility.

Warp is good, that's true.

But it's kinda predictable.

 

[Project_B]

Warp is really the only option worth using without a read, but the priority on bAir basically will allow you a free hit to challenge any aerial, but the hitbox is high and directly behind Palutena, so it can't be used often. Stages with platforms definitely help landing due to warp mixups and platform cancels (without risk of SDing), but be careful because platforms also can get you comboed more easily by much of the cast.

 

[kmpyj]

Warp is good, that's true.

But it's kinda predictable.

I don't really think it's the move itself that is predictable, but rather the way some Pallys use it that makes it look predictable.

For instance, my brother is one of the very few people who can read my warp cancels instantly, making it meaningless for the most part. But that is only because we play a lot, and I was using it in a way that you could predict it. So, I starting changing how I used to approached with it by jumping and warp canceling, and things of that nature.

Same came be said for recovery. If you recover in a similar way every time, your opponent is bound to find a way to exploit your pattern.

But other than that, I agree.

 

[RedCap-BlueSpikes]

I wish this board wasn't so dead all the time...

 

[MysteriousSilver]

I wish this board wasn't so dead all the time...

Unfortunately there's just not a lot to talk about outside of helping each other with questions, and since you have to be stubborn to main Palu in a non-customs environment not a lot of people are playing her.

Maybe we should start doing the matchup thread again with an assignment sort of deal, like "Hey, Palus, everybody spend the next month fighting as many _____s as you can then come back and we'll discuss the matchup" or something

 

[Berserker.]

I'm cool with talking about any of her moves (notably dash attack, b-air and jab). Also, the only match-ups I know really well are Yoshi, Luigi, Robin, and Pit/DP. Idk about everyone else

 

[sleepy_Nex]

Well the dash-attack would be good if not for the years of endlag.

How do you guys implent swagwalking into your play?

 

[Berserker.]

I'd only use dash attack if I know my opponent is going to throw out or commit to an attack. For what it does, it's good imo. Most dash attacks in Smash 4 have notable end lag anyway (and are usually unsafe on shield)

 

[sleepy_Nex]

I think it's just me who is overusing it.

 

[MysteriousSilver]

Well the dash-attack would be good if not for the years of endlag.

How do you guys implent swagwalking into your play?

It does what dash attacks do, and it's also a good for I SEE YOU HIT A BUTTON THERE SIR, YOU KNOW WHAT MOVE BEATS IT?

It's not great though

I rarely walk with Palu because her tilts are bad. I imagine there's some use in swagwalking and extended dash dancing to make your direction ambiguous when they're landing.