Guide Pac Attack - Advanced Techniques and Strategy Guide

[mmik]

Anyone have any go-to combos out of dash attack? I sometimes just go for an upb and get mixed results.

 

[Pacack]

Anyone have any go-to combos out of dash attack? I sometimes just go for an upb and get mixed results.

Try nair into something (maybe fair if it works). Comes out stupidly quick and stays out for awhile.

 

[mmik]

I wonder if dash into nair has a predictable trajectory. Might depend on how your dash hits them.

 

[Pacack]

I wonder if dash into nair has a predictable trajectory. Might depend on how your dash hits them.

That's why I said something. The knockback depends on where you hit them, so the follow up might not be easy.

If nair doesn't work, maybe try going through them and following up with a bair.

 

[Nu~]

I just experimented with the side B, and found that you can turn the side B over and around the ledge and grab it. This is excellent for edgeguarding as it makes it impossible for the opponent to grab it and if the final hit connects, it makes a powerful ledge spike.

You can do a lot of other...weird things as well lol. If you hit under the ledge with the trail on an omega stage with flat, vertical sides, the trail will come back up, therefore making it harder for the opponent to wall jump, plank, or recover close.

You can also dart back up diagonally

 

[mmik]

Around from where exactly?

 

[Nu~]

Around from where exactly?

From on the stage

 

[Nu~]

I'll post a vid
Dang! Double post!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sArOgY5P4W8
Here's what I mean. I also played around a little bit to see what I can do lol.

 

[dragontamer]

I'll post a vid
Dang! Double post!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sArOgY5P4W8
Here's what I mean. I also played around a little bit to see what I can do lol.

I'm gonna start using that as a potential "planker" punish. I'll let you know of my results when I am comfortable with the technique.

If there's a way to time the super-armor just right, it might end up being a great ledge-guarding technique.

-------------

BTW: the priority of the "pellet" is absolutely massive. It cancels out a fully charged Lucario aura sphere. I've been using the "pellet" of side-B (which gets cancelled when the pellet gets damaged with the opponent's projectile) as a way of safely getting back on stage.

Using side-b to evade the "projectile checkmate" while you're landing is a good last-ditch effort to stay alive. Best part is, side-b is auto-cancelled as the pellet is damaged.

Pac Man has a lot of interesting tech options against opponents. I wonder if side-B will reflect Dedede's Gordo...

 

[Lord Cruxis]

Quick question everyone: What's your method for punishing planking?

After the 1st "ledge grab", any additional ledge grab doesn't have invincibility frames. (changed from previous games) I tested a few attacks out and I can't seem to find a decent option from Pacman to punish a planker (on the 2nd+ ledge grab). I guess Bell would be the appropriate option, but the ideal one would be a smash-attack of some kind.

Down Smash doesn't seem to hit low enough, nor does Forward Smash. :-( Is a down-aimed f-tilt the best we got?

Apple, bell, an awkwardly thrown melon thrown 3/4 of the stage away in anticipation of a 2nd ledge grab, Hydrant, down tlit, A wall hugging side B(if you do it right, you side b near the ledge going down but if you hold back up it'll make the pellet go up so you don't send your self spiraling to your death with the opponent and you do a neat up down motion for the pellet.), I've seen the key hit someone hold on to the ledge, I've seen down smash hit as well :X.

 

[Lum_Beri]

I wonder if side-B will reflect Dedede's Gordo...

It does. The Gordo disappears and the pellet drops to the ground. If you're far enough away, you can easily grab the pellet before Dedede can reach you.

EDIT: Well, I suppose it doesn't truly reflect the Gordo, but it does negate it.

 

[mmik]

I'll post a vid
Dang! Double post!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sArOgY5P4W8
Here's what I mean. I also played around a little bit to see what I can do lol.

I've seen people run off the stage and do this.

What is planking

 

[Lum_Beri]

Planking is abusing the invincibility granted by grabbing the edge.

 

[Firedemon0]

I tested using the side b loop as an edge guard tool with disastrous results . If the pellet gets sneezed on or they get up attack. You go lauching towards the bottom. No buneo. I'll keep using apple and hydrant.

 

[Nu~]

I tested using the side b loop as an edge guard tool with disastrous results . If the pellet gets sneezed on or they get up attack. You go lauching towards the bottom. No buneo. I'll keep using apple and hydrant.

Yeah...not the best edgeguard lol. However, I did find that in my video, the part when I ran off the ledge and curved it behind me towards the ledge, works really well as an edgeguard. It catches them, and blasts them away

 

[CCCM89]

I have to disagree with this choice. While it can hit, it leaves you open much more since you need to get closer, which is what they want you to do.

exactly, which means after one, maybe two hits, they will try to ledge attack, and will almost always set themselves up for a grab. even if they roll, you can just turn and grab. all you have to do is hold down shield right after the attack.

that, and the fact that it moves you forward, if the first hit misses, they won't think the second will hit, even though you are now more then close enough to hit them off the ledge.

 

[Firedemon0]

exactly, which means after one, maybe two hits, they will try to ledge attack, and will almost always set themselves up for a grab. even if they roll, you can just turn and grab. all you have to do is hold down shield right after the attack.

that, and the fact that it moves you forward, if the first hit misses, they won't think the second will hit, even though you are now more then close enough to hit them off the ledge.

If the person is using the ledge to stall, down tilt leaves you open and can be avoided. It does hit when they are on the ledge, but I doubt they will stick around long enough for you to get that hit in. Apple and Hydrant are both safer options. A safer option is to bait the get up attack with a dash shield.

 

[mmik]

A u-turn side b that goes back onto the stage might bait a get up and punish it, but I think it might be to show to work most of the time. Actually they'd probably just do a getup attack when they see you drawing the line... So...

 

[Nu~]

A u-turn side b that goes back onto the stage might bait a get up and punish it, but I think it might be to show to work most of the time. Actually they'd probably just do a getup attack when they see you drawing the line... So...

I actually meant when the opponent is off stage with you near the horizontal blast line...

 

[mmik]

no i was just saying my own thing, sorry. that was just some thoughts of my own i had

 

[Nu~]

I just found something...really weird lol. If you catch the fruit, and walk against the flow of your hydrant water, when you release the fruit, it will fly off in the same direction that the water was pushing you. The
fruit travels even faster than the key when you do this LOL. This is great for a sneaky snipe on the opponent, and can even reach far enough to kill people who are near the blast line

 

[CCCM89]

Anyone have any go-to combos out of dash attack? I sometimes just go for an upb and get mixed results.

you know how pac-man's side b is really punishable if you miss? well, dash attack immediately into a held side B and angle it to where your opponent will fly. since you're both in the air, they have to first land to be able to punish if you miss, which gives you enough time to recover. additionally, I've ended up doing this after dashing enemies towards the ledge. it's a good follow-up for killing and launching them away, plus once you're off the platform, you have a much easier time recovering and maneuvering then your opponent will.

 

[CCCM89]

If the person is using the ledge to stall, down tilt leaves you open and can be avoided. It does hit when they are on the ledge, but I doubt they will stick around long enough for you to get that hit in. Apple and Hydrant are both safer options. A safer option is to bait the get up attack with a dash shield.

then go in a third of the stage and strawberry the **** out of them.

 

[CCCM89]

a few things I've been trying lately:

first, I've begun using power pellet as a finisher. it started by using a dash attack to launch the opponent up a bit, then follow up with a power pellet, which if they're off the stage(and they usually are) they can be killed by the fully charged pellet at around 65%+ damage. since then, I've been mixing in other aerials and now I can pull out some surprise pellets after a solid Fair on a highly damaged opponent.

More with the pellet, I've also started using it to punish. usually, I can short hop, and sometimes full jump into a pellet into the ground. the knockdown limits the enemie's options for punishing if it misses, and should they do a smash attack or long, slow attack while I'm in the air, a partially charged pellet can really mess them up.

I've gotten used to the bonus fruit now, so I've been using a mix of cherry, strawberry, orange, and apple for edge guarding. cherry when I'm near the edge(and so is the opponent) to hitstun them and set up for a Nair.
The strawberry is great at range, I stand around 1/3rd of the way into the center and throw it, it usually bounces at the edge, then falls off in an arc close to the ledge, plus if I move a little closer, it doesn't bounce and instead can really screw up the recovery of anyone trying to recover low. it's even managed to gimp a villager or two.
orange flies straight and has horizontal knockback, which, of course, has already been explained, at least in the basic thread when talking about "orange gimping". and of course, I throw out apples when the enemies are at high damage and/or have already gotten back up. or just about have. a well timed short hop into apple can really take people by surprise.

finally, I've started approaching with the cherry. toss it out and they'll usually shield it, unless they're farther away, then they're afraid to touch the still bouncing cherry, I run up and short hop a Fair,(sometimes Bair if opponent tries to dodge behind) then depending on my momentum and placing, I can either throw it again for a hit/set-u; for a grab, or throw it straight down to do some surprising knockback on anyone right next to me. it's a similar principle to using the galaxian, only it's easier to grab and comes out a lot faster, not to say I won't still throw in a few galaxians from time to time.

all of these have really upped my mix-u p game, and helped me realize just how many options pac-man has to kill, and with the gimping I can now do with fruit, it's a lot easier to kill at lower percentages. I learned a lot of these while fighting a peach. I just sort of...copied a few techniques from that peach player. it amazes me how much variety that little yellow puck can throw out.

edit: also, just started z-dropping. as in just a few minutes ago of this edit you know you're getting good with pac-man when you manage to grab and z-drop the orange reliably.

 

[mmik]

I started experimenting with zdropping too. I'm finding it really useful with the bell. actually. I never liked using it because of the flight path. zdropping seems good for edgeguarding, but other than that, I don't find it much more useful than just throwing fruit. maybe if I combine it with the hydrant, though.

 

[Nu~]

I started experimenting with zdropping too. I'm finding it really useful with the bell. actually. I never liked using it because of the flight path. zdropping seems good for edgeguarding, but other than that, I don't find it much more useful than just throwing fruit. maybe if I combine it with the hydrant, though.

Hydrant + melon z drop = awesome edgeguard

 

[mmik]

I've really been trying to read how people respond to the hydrant. Even if it's just sitting there on the field it seems to really affect how people play. Sometimes it's like a moth to flame, and your opponent can't help but dash and attack it as soon as it comes out. Makes it easy to punish them with a bair if you jump over their head.

Anyway, I'm not sure how to add zdropped hydrant fruit to my game and keep it fluid. I'm trying to focus on doing things that are easy to segway into, vs forcing gimmicky moves. So stopping in the middle of a match to charge a melon, drop a hydrant, then attempt to hit them off the stage doesn't SOUND practical. I guess what you'd do is drop a hydrant while they're returning to the stage and you already have a melon packed.

kind of a pointless ramble I guess... But something I noticed is a lot of opponents recover from up high. It kind of makes a lot of these tactics useless. I usually just end up uairing or something slightly pointless.

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

Not really an "advanced technique/strategy", but I don't really know where else to mention it. Does anyone else find themselves sometimes (often depending on the matchup) just launching their hydrants almost randomly? I'm not even trying to hit my opponent most of the time. If the hydrant does hit, then that's great, but the way I do it, it's so predictable that the opponent will usually see it coming and dodge. I just like having the hydrant being launched as often as possible because that thing simply being active on the field is such a major way to keep pressure on the opponent. I find it limits my opponent's approach options so much just to have a hydrant constantly flying at them. Every time I can close enough distance to get a hydrant bouncing, I usually take the opportunity. If you pair it with a fruit whose trajectory compliments its own, the hydrant usually stops opponents right in their tracks. They often have no breathing room with which to maneuver around your hazards, so they'll either shield (opening up a punishment opportunity), or try and dodge (usually getting hit by something in the process). In the rare cases in which they'll jump over the hydrant, you can smack them in the face with Fair or a short-hopped fruit (orange and Galaxian probably being the choice options here).

 

[Lord Cruxis]

Things were said.

Now I agree with you pacman can lay down a heavy barrage of things at the opponent as I was able to capture in video here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDe4sZh5eIM

Fortunately I was fighting my opponent all day so he saw this coming but killer if any of those things hit haha.

 

[CCCM89]

I've really been trying to read how people respond to the hydrant. Even if it's just sitting there on the field it seems to really affect how people play. Sometimes it's like a moth to flame, and your opponent can't help but dash and attack it as soon as it comes out. Makes it easy to punish them with a bair if you jump over their head.

Anyway, I'm not sure how to add zdropped hydrant fruit to my game and keep it fluid. I'm trying to focus on doing things that are easy to segway into, vs forcing gimmicky moves. So stopping in the middle of a match to charge a melon, drop a hydrant, then attempt to hit them off the stage doesn't SOUND practical. I guess what you'd do is drop a hydrant while they're returning to the stage and you already have a melon packed.

kind of a pointless ramble I guess... But something I noticed is a lot of opponents recover from up high. It kind of makes a lot of these tactics useless. I usually just end up uairing or something slightly pointless.

to add z-dropping, you must first utilize lots of fruit in your mix-ups. for instance, try approaching with a quick cherry toss. usually, you can run up and short hop a Fair to pick it up and maybe hit the opponent. after that, float behind them, z-drop, Bair, grab the cherry and throw it normally into a finnisher of your choice.

 

[LanceStern]

I use hydrant to punish planking, or nair.

For the bread and butter combos I've found dash attack to have almost guaranteed followups.

Dash attack -> full hop fair -> possible nair
Dash attack -> full hop nair
Dash attack -> full hop uair

DA to fair works on almost everyone at low percents, and usually follows into nair nicely. Do people do this?

 

[LanceStern]

At some point in the video in that others section I saw the player charging fruit in the air and then immediately side B'ing without seeming to airdodge to keep the fruit he had charged. I tested it and found what he did- if you are charging fruit in midair you can press the shield/airdodge button and immediately do any of your four specials without having to go through with the airdodge. Using this you can charge fruit in midair without being obligated to airdodge. You can just down B out of fruit charge to make it pretty safe to charge fruit in midair (generally). I think you should add this to the part of the Bonus Fruit section that I quoted.

This is golden actually. I need to test this

 

[CCCM89]

found something stupid and mostly useless, but it amuses the hell out of me.

First, grab a fruit. it doesn't matter which one, just get it in your hands.
next, spam B. since you already have a fruit out, it just gives a puff of air and ends the move, but like pac-man's Nair, Fair, dash, and up smash, this has little to no end frames, which means you can make pac-man do a really akward looking dance. Also, since his standard B makes him very floaty and effectively lowers his gravity while he's charging, I think this could be used for added horrizontal recovery if done right.

but mostly, I just think it looks funny and it pisses people off in glory when I taunt them with a spammed empty fruit.

 

[LanceStern]

I'm not sure if people know this, please let me know if you do.

You can continue your fruit roulette by holding B. I always thought once I stopped on a fruit I was stuck with the one until I launched it. But if you hold B after cancelling the roulette, it will continue the roulette at where you last stopped. It helps if you're trying to get to the late fruits but don't have a lot of space and time.

 

[Nu~]

You're too slow
Lol, yeah we already knew. But thanx anyway!

 

[dragontamer]

BTW: Strawberry's priority is significantly higher than Cherry, and not much worse than any of the later fruit.

Strawberry seems to cancel out fully charged Lucario Aura Spheres, run through Sheik's needles, and provide cover vs Megaman Smash Attacks.

Using fruit defensively means charging up to Strawberry at least. Melon definitely has more priority, but I find that Strawberry's priority is "good enough" for defensive purposes. There's rarely a reason to throw out something higher than Strawberry in defensive situations.

In fact, Lucario's micro-spheres can be canceled out by strawberry on the ground. Positioning a "downed strawberry" has been my means of controlling space recently. It doesn't do any damage, but it provides cover against a surprising amount of projectiles. (Link Boomerang, Aura Sphere, Sheik's Needles even at the right height...)

Cherry doesn't have this property. So I have finally found a huge use for Strawberry.

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

Strawberry has been one of my most used fruits almost since Day 1. Glad someone else has finally discovered its fruity goodness.

 

[Lord Cruxis]

I will say melon is the only fruit that beats bowser, charizard(any flame thrower user) fire breath thing. Like if you throw and they do it. All you see is there flame get smaller and smaller as the melon closes in on them. No other fruit does that. Where as key just goes through it and hits them.

 

[Firedemon0]

I wouldn't exactly call it the most advanced of tech's but I wanted to give it a cute name. Waka dancing.

Because of Dash attack's fast follow up, you are able to chain dash attacks back to back, constantly Waka wakaing back and forth, or across the stage. When you achieve a perfect balance you can actually keep some forward momentum and do a sliding pivot f-tilt. It is not the most safe however. I will say that it does lead to some interesting mind games if you have some distance. You are able to very quickly punish most attacks out of dash attack, or dodge aerial strikes with another dash attack. You can roll at the end of a dash attack as well. You can jump into air dodge with some momentum, or a nair. I will try to figure out a camera setup so I can demonstrate this. This does allow us even more tools in our mind games.

I also want to add, that we are able to use any attack out of dash attack, at the end of Dash attack we seem to be in a neutral state.

Edit: We can dash cancel Grab out of these. I have recorded a replay with a Level 1 CPU and will be uploading a video tonight showing just the tip of what we can do out of dash attack.

 

[Firedemon0]

Okay, it is not the greatest video but it shows the basics. I would record a voice over but I have a very poor recording environment. Like I stated previously, you can seriously do any action after a dash attack ends. Some attacks will carry over dash moment. So In theory Pac-man could finish this similar to a DACUS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmMH5bTlKlI