Guide Pac Attack - Advanced Techniques and Strategy Guide

[ptrk83]

The forward throw to key... didnt know that before... excellent!

 

[dr_six]

Why does the key not break the hydrant while z-dropping sometimes? I made a video of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG93hlzs1dY&feature=youtu.be

 

[Nu~]

Why does the key not break the hydrant while z-dropping sometimes? I made a video of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG93hlzs1dY&feature=youtu.be

It's the same with all z dropped items. It didn't have enough momentum because it didn't fall for long enough. So it just landed

 

[Nu~]

Forward throw can be used in combination with a key at kill percent and is fairly easy to land. Back throw can be followed up with side b at lower percents as a tech chase. Not so sure about up throw though to be honest.

Up throw kills veeerrry early on high platforms, like the middle platform in battlefield. It's also just a great throw in general for launching the opponent into the air (little mac, shulk, dedede...a lot of characters with a slow or poor air game hate this)

 

[dr_six]

It's the same with all z dropped items. It didn't have enough momentum because it didn't fall for long enough. So it just landed

This sometimes happens to me even when I jump over it and then z-drop it. Distance is irrelevant, I believe it has to do with the key standing upright.

 

[Nu~]

I think we really need to formulate ways to adapt to pac-man's grab. If we can find great ways to utilize it, we can become extremely fearsome.

I see our grab being perfect for punishing sidesteps, air dodges close to the ground, and especially rolls

 

[bekindrewind]

Anybody have good and/or reliable techniques with using the trampoline on the ground as an obstacle? I think it could be useful.

I'd also love to hear our approaches we use. One of the biggest things I need to work on is effectively getting close combat with PAC-MAN.

 

[Nu~]

Anybody have good and/or reliable techniques with using the trampoline on the ground as an obstacle? I think it could be useful.

I'd also love to hear our approaches we use. One of the biggest things I need to work on is effectively getting close combat with PAC-MAN.

The trampoline is extremely good out of shield when you're under pressure. It comes out extremely fast and breaks you out of trouble. It's also good to use when your opponent is shielding because it ignores them by nature.
One of my favorite uses for it is to set a hydrant and then put a trampoline in front of it. It prevents the opponent from destroying the hydrant and sets up a lot of stage control. If they try to jump over it, punish them. If they wait it out, either take the time to charge to the fruit you want, or launch the hydrant.

As for approaches, well spaced SH fairs are a good option in general. However, most of your approaches are opened up by throwing fruits or hydrants that force the opponent to react and then punishing accordingly.

 

[Revibe]

I skimmed through some of the posts today. Ok, so if I say something that was already stated, well... I wanted to share some info and was in a hurry XD.

Grab- The trampoline can actually shoot you out of your opponents grab, so make sure to tip-toe around it if they are grab heavy. A hydrant can push you or your opponent into a grab, as long as you keep track of the timing. (If you are pushed while you have the opponent in your grab, just beware that you can still go off the stage, but the grab will release. I bet someone could turn that into a combo if wanted.)

Fruit- I don't know how many of you use Cherry or Strawberry, but I love them. Cherry is good for short->mid range spamming, as once it hits foe, it despawns within a couple frames. Strawberry is excellent for staying at the middle of the field and throwing the fruit at the opponent who is ledge heavy. I love how it can just soft bounce and hug that curb.
OH YEAH! Also If you pick your fruits back up, especially the bell, and you don't want to z drop them. I recommend throwing them straight up. I usually get comical results when an opponent would rather take the trampoline than the bell!

Hydrant- O.k. So Dacus was kinda dropped from the game, but Pac-man gets around this. I really like charging up a smash attack, then getting pushed at running speed toward my opponent, and the momentum adds to the hit for a smash well played!

 

[CCCM89]

This is something that needs to be said, despite what we may like to hear...
Pac-Man lacks killing power. It's that simple. his smash attacks all come out fairly slowly, so for fast kills, you need your stronger fruits or just beat them until they're at 130-160%. Don't get me wrong, pac-man is great in other ways. he can wrack up damage like crazy, he can switch from camping to rushdown to combos and back at the drop of a hat, and he can recover from anything up to, and sometimes including, killing launches, but the man simply lacks the ability to kill.

That said, I've found a nice little combo that can kill around 80%, assuming the last hit connects. it's simple, just dash attack the opponent off the edge of the stage and hop into a side B aimed up. A fully extended power pellet hit will launch them pretty far, and at that position on the screen, you're close enough to the ceiling and wall boundaries that as long as that hit connects, they will die. the trick, though, is reading the opponent while sending out the pellet. try to aim for them a little, but typically go straight up. Usually they'll jump when recovering, and that tends to get them right in line with the pellet. if they don't, then you have to aim properly, and possibly let out the pellet early in order to hit them before they can air dodge. I'm not sure if a partially charged pellet will kill like this, but if you can hit with a full charge, it'll kill at mid to high percentages, and can usually set up a nice few recovery gimps from it.

I've managed to get it to work fairly reliably, but again, the issue is reading your opponent and understanding their weight-class. heavyweights might need more damage before this'll kill them. Also jigglypuff. ****ing jigglypuff can survive this hit.

 

[Rashid]

I don't know if it's ever been mentioned before...
@Tmacc linked this stream (http://www.twitch.tv/hylian88/c/5627617) on the Charizard forum, and since I'm bored at work, I decided to watch the whole thing.

At around 48:20, you can see Pac-Man being "launched" to the side after the horizontal side B gets blocked. That doesn't look normal to me.. Anyone know how to replicate this? We could make side B safer on shield!

 

[fabz97]

New to the forum, im having trouble z-dropping how is exactly is it done on the wii u cus im obvs not understanding

 

[BSP]

New to the forum, im having trouble z-dropping how is exactly is it done on the wii u cus im obvs not understanding

In the air with an item in your hand, press whatever your grab button is while the control stick is in the neutral position. Your item should drop.

 

[AGES]

This is something that needs to be said, despite what we may like to hear...
Pac-Man lacks killing power. It's that simple. his smash attacks all come out fairly slowly, so for fast kills, you need your stronger fruits or just beat them until they're at 130-160%. Don't get me wrong, pac-man is great in other ways. he can wrack up damage like crazy, he can switch from camping to rushdown to combos and back at the drop of a hat, and he can recover from anything up to, and sometimes including, killing launches, but the man simply lacks the ability to kill.

That said, I've found a nice little combo that can kill around 80%, assuming the last hit connects. it's simple, just dash attack the opponent off the edge of the stage and hop into a side B aimed up. A fully extended power pellet hit will launch them pretty far, and at that position on the screen, you're close enough to the ceiling and wall boundaries that as long as that hit connects, they will die. the trick, though, is reading the opponent while sending out the pellet. try to aim for them a little, but typically go straight up. Usually they'll jump when recovering, and that tends to get them right in line with the pellet. if they don't, then you have to aim properly, and possibly let out the pellet early in order to hit them before they can air dodge. I'm not sure if a partially charged pellet will kill like this, but if you can hit with a full charge, it'll kill at mid to high percentages, and can usually set up a nice few recovery gimps from it.

I've managed to get it to work fairly reliably, but again, the issue is reading your opponent and understanding their weight-class. heavyweights might need more damage before this'll kill them. Also jigglypuff. ****ing jigglypuff can survive this hit.

I've also been messing around with going deep for edgeguarding after getting them offstage with bair or something, thanks to the high speed of fair and nair, and pac's godlike recovery with his side b and up b. Reading with side b sounds potent as well though, gonna have to try that

I don't know if it's ever been mentioned before...
@Tmacc linked this stream (http://www.twitch.tv/hylian88/c/5627617) on the Charizard forum, and since I'm bored at work, I decided to watch the whole thing.

At around 48:20, you can see Pac-Man being "launched" to the side after the horizontal side B gets blocked. That doesn't look normal to me.. Anyone know how to replicate this? We could make side B safer on shield!

Might have something to do with the specific upward angle he tilts the dots at the end, idk. Definitely has its uses if it can be controlled however.

 

[Revibe]

I don't know if it's ever been mentioned before...
@Tmacc linked this stream (http://www.twitch.tv/hylian88/c/5627617) on the Charizard forum, and since I'm bored at work, I decided to watch the whole thing.

At around 48:20, you can see Pac-Man being "launched" to the side after the horizontal side B gets blocked. That doesn't look normal to me.. Anyone know how to replicate this? We could make side B safer on shield!

I see what your saying. His, side-b ends, but he carries some extra momentum. That, I can't tell. I don't even have all the moves unlocked.

 

[mmik]

Does anyone actually jump off the stage to catch their own key like that? It seems like a lot of work and super risky, really not worth it unless I just don't understand something.

 

[dr_six]

I catch the key almost every game.

 

[mmik]

What do you do with it then that you can't just throw it? That's too much work just to zdrop

 

[Paper Maribro]

It apparently gives Pac an OoS option to replace his grab that is arguably better than a grab anyway. Seeing as the key is the most damaging of all fruits, its logical it is his best OoS option. Of course, Melon isnt too much worse, but key does 3% extra and is more dangerous when thrown as a finisher when compared to the melon.

 

[mmik]

Are there any good videos of it being done in a real match?

 

[dr_six]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkSO1tfrgn0&feature=youtu.be

I uploaded a video of me using it in a couple matches. The ROB was beating me pretty bad in that match; the key was the only reason I was able to come back.

 

[mmik]

Cool video. Will watch more later when I can. So you DO do a lot of zdrop stuff and really hang onto it, I see. In training mode I couldn't get the hydrant to launch once with a keydrop. Is it from training mode or was it the patch? I tried several different heights and only got the key to damage the hydrant once.

 

[Revibe]

This is something that needs to be said, despite what we may like to hear...
Pac-Man lacks killing power. It's that simple. his smash attacks all come out fairly slowly,

I just remembered. His smashes are a little slower, but you still have all the time to use them. What I mean is, you can set up with Fruit or Hydrant.
Fruit, or especially Cherrys or Strawberries, since they are easy to pick up. Just before landing, Z-Drop then Set up smash. If no hit, grab fruit and try again!
Hydrant is using the Range of the Spurts to let your smash travel with some charge!

 

[Paper Maribro]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkSO1tfrgn0&feature=youtu.be

I uploaded a video of me using it in a couple matches. The ROB was beating me pretty bad in that match; the key was the only reason I was able to come back.

Wait…

Are you trying to say that it was the KEY to victory?

 

[CCCM89]

What do you do with it then that you can't just throw it? That's too much work just to zdrop

z-drop key into hydrant, hydant is hit instantly and flies towards them with the chance of hitting them with key, dropping hydrant, and launched hydrant all one after another.

 

[mmik]

But zdropping isn't damaging the hydrant at all. It's very inconsistent. I don't think it's just height, unless you need to time it a certain way since the update.

 

[dr_six]

It is indeed glitchy, mmik. You'll see in my video that it happens to me once. You have to z-drop it at the right spot(s). It's hard to get the timing down when you're dealing with lag, however you can get it right with practice.

 

[Rashid]

But zdropping isn't damaging the hydrant at all. It's very inconsistent. I don't think it's just height, unless you need to time it a certain way since the update.

You can drop the key first then drop the hydrant. This launches it almost every time. If you do it the other way around... it's inconsistent, and we still haven't figured out why.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

The whole Z-Drop to kill Hydrant thing also works for Freaky Melon.

EDIT: And semi-comboes into Melon throw when the opponent jumps at 100%

 

[fabz97]

Dont know if anyones noticed/said this but pac's grab can counter a lot of peoples dash attacks, ive just played like over 10 matches against 5 different characters (including ganon, sonic and capt. Falcon) and i was able to grab their dash attacks

Just a small thing i realised

 

[Paper Maribro]

I have no idea if you guys knew about it or not, but I was messing around this morning and discovered something

His back air appears to make his whole body a hitbox, much like Kirbys Bair.

 

[mmik]

I learned something important when playing as pac-man yesterday. When zdropping, using your hydrant, or just about anything really, rather than planning an outcome and attempting to make that happen, just do your thing and attempt to react to whatever happens.

I was able to be much more flexible with just throwing my stuff out and improvising, rather than trying to anticipate what's going to happen next. Hydrant doesn't launch from a zdrop? Not the end of the world, just see where the opponent is and see if you can pick your fruit back up again. If not, don't sweat it, plan a retreat or an alternate attack method. I don't know what do you guys think?

 

[WeirdChillFever]

I learned something important when playing as pac-man yesterday. When zdropping, using your hydrant, or just about anything really, rather than planning an outcome and attempting to make that happen, just do your thing and attempt to react to whatever happens.

I was able to be much more flexible with just throwing my stuff out and improvising, rather than trying to anticipate what's going to happen next. Hydrant doesn't launch from a zdrop? Not the end of the world, just see where the opponent is and see if you can pick your fruit back up again. If not, don't sweat it, plan a retreat or an alternate attack method. I don't know what do you guys think?

Adding to this, don't plan where you'll launch the Hydrant either.
It makes opponents nervous anyway.

 

[mmik]

yea i think even if the hydrant launches the wrong direction it can put some pressure on them. haha

 

[Revibe]

I learned something important when playing as pac-man yesterday. When zdropping, using your hydrant, or just about anything really, rather than planning an outcome and attempting to make that happen, just do your thing and attempt to react to whatever happens.

I have pulled off so many combo's because I wasn't planning them. Improvising does work!
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Hey, Meteor Trampoline has a flaw. If you grab the edge while breaking a trampoline in red, then drop from the ledge, you can't Up B until you return back.

 

[CCCM89]

I've found a nice little combo that can kill around 80%, assuming the last hit connects. it's simple, just dash attack the opponent off the edge of the stage and hop into a side B aimed up. A fully extended power pellet hit will launch them pretty far, and at that position on the screen, you're close enough to the ceiling and wall boundaries that as long as that hit connects, they will die. the trick, though, is reading the opponent while sending out the pellet. try to aim for them a little, but typically go straight up. Usually they'll jump when recovering, and that tends to get them right in line with the pellet. if they don't, then you have to aim properly, and possibly let out the pellet early in order to hit them before they can air dodge. I'm not sure if a partially charged pellet will kill like this, but if you can hit with a full charge, it'll kill at mid to high percentages, and can usually set up a nice few recovery gimps from it.

I've managed to get it to work fairly reliably, but again, the issue is reading your opponent and understanding their weight-class. heavyweights might need more damage before this'll kill them. Also jigglypuff. ****ing jigglypuff can survive this hit.

Update on this. Up throw into standing Power Pellet aimed towards the falling opponent works very well. At the higher percentages, I.E. when they start going off the top of the screen a little, you can jump into the pellet to ensure you can reach them and can kill them.

 

[mmik]

How do you find people that can't avoid being hit by that?

 

[CCCM89]

by making sure to time it right and read where they're going. if you can, get them to waste their double jump and try to hit them with the very end of the pellet, since you linger in that spot longer then they can dodge.

 

[Revibe]

Hey Guys. I have really been picking up my game, let's see if I can share well what I learned. I want to say that Pac-man has slow ground game. Like his Smashes, which we all should know. I have been rereading some of the posts here, and I want to say that The Bread & Butter is helpful, and I want to add an angle.

Fair and Nair are very good at getting the advantage. I try to keep myself hoping around the opponent instead of smashing or tilting because of this. (I don't move a lot while in the air, just space myself in front of them for just enough reach.) If you can't ahead with your ground moves, why not try using these as a strategy?
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I think Side B is like a smash attack. It can be held out (charged) or can just be prompted. Sometimes while ledge guarding, I find myself having trouble aiming when I charge the side b from the stage, but chasing the opponent in the air following a short side b while in range has really helped me. (Note this is personal experience, and everyone is different, but this is just for users to decide on how to play themselves.

Ok, that being said, I know I am here (and some others) looking for new techniques, (because they are fun.) but I am up for discussing old strategies, refined approaches. (Even if people already mentioned it in a post, post a sweet skill again. Who knows, maybe cycling through the list will lead us to something we overlooked.)

 

[Revibe]

Anybody have good and/or reliable techniques with using the trampoline on the ground as an obstacle? I think it could be useful.

I'd also love to hear our approaches we use. One of the biggest things I need to work on is effectively getting close combat with PAC-MAN.

If the opponent punishes you for the end frames of Side B, you could Side B into a trampoline that is not in use.
Also opponents who like to jump on it, z-drop items over it. Still fiddling with hydrant + tramp.


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(edited in)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I can't believe I forgot something obvious. Up smash next to a grounded trampoline. If your opponent thinks they can rush to you, jump off the tramp and dair, well you can counter it by standing next to the tramp and having Up smash ready for them!