Palutena Tips/Tricks

[IsGamer]

Hello Smashboards community, could you guys help me with some tips and tricks on my main? I got some of these down and I can execute them well, but I feel like I lack the knowledge on some of her moves, what I really know about her are the dthrow combos, her warp-cancel, her bair stage-spike and her fair being the single most best move ever. I have mained her for a long time but ever since I switched to WiiU, I have been struggling even more than before and I would really like for all the Palutena mains around the site to help a fellow main here as well.

I readed the Palutena guide here, it helped me a lot, but I think I could get some help from you guys, I would appreciate the help a lot, I welcome any kind of thing that helps me improve. Custom moves included (they're my favorite thing for her).

For now, cheers, and hope to see y'all around.

 

[Za~Kun]

Custom or non custom?

Palu really is all about the dthrow. Abuse it. Use jab 1 into grab a lot too. You gain so much out of mixing up between grab and jab into grab. Pivot them to further mix it up. If they are spot dodging a lot, just hold them down in jab.

Space heavily with short hopped fast fall fairs (can be faded), stupid fast with little lag. Mix up with dtilts if they are spot dodging.

Securing ko's is the hardest part of palu and will involve some conditioning. If you're playing her right, they will fear the dthrow follow ups, rightly so since your uair can secure kills, and will start using airdodges immediately after the dthrow. Easily punishable by just dashing into upsmash. Bair is also a kill option, especially off stage.

This is her general playstyle, the rest of her kit is highly situational (reads) and MU dependent. Fsmash can gimp recoveries, Dsmash can punish rolls, dash attack for clanking projectiles or that desperate punish, dair if they have meh recoveries, i'd avoid ftilt and utilt as a whole, only baddies will get hit by that.

 

[IsGamer]

Everything you mentioned seems to be something I already knew, but it's fine, I knew her dthrow combos and that her uair can kill if done correctly, my problem however resides in reading the DI, I still need practice in that because I tend to do the wrong aerial to counter the DI respectively. I also know how to SH-fair.

I also have problems killing, I know almost all of her killing methods but I can't seem to condition people enough to make them fall on them, THIS is one of my main problems, I have a lot of trouble with this and I would really love ways to condition people, if that's not much to ask.

I knew her kit is highly situational but my main problem is not knowing the matchups enough to use the respective moves, this is another issue I have as well, but I guess that playing on wii u long enough should be fine.

 

[Za~Kun]

Dthrow DI can only be done in a path going towards (almost on top) or away from you, or somewhere in between. Anything that's not away from you can be matched with nair or uair. Anything away should be fair.

If you jump towards throw immediately after dthrow, reaction time can generally guide to the proper aerial.

Jump on FG and try out the upsmash thing I talked about. Utilize dthrow all game. At some point they will airdodge immediately when you jump after them. When you reach that point (they should be at 100%+), simply dash slightly and upsmash for the kill.

This forces a 50/50 on them. Either they airdodge and eat a upsmash, or they eat a uair. In the worst case, they eat a fair and rack up enough dmg for a kill throw.

Non-custom palutena is a war of attrition. You gotta play defensive, never approach, punish everything with fairs or grabs. Auto-reticle if they are being cute.

 

[IsGamer]

If you saw my earlier post, I know what her dthrow can lead to, my problem was reading the DI, so I do an usmash at some point if they airdodge, but the problem is that I could move too far or don't move a lot for it to hit my opponent. I don't like practicing on FG either, too much cancer given from there.

I use autoreticle every now and then to keep a ranged poke on opponents or allows me to set up for a grab (if the opponent didn't expect it to hit), I like it sometimes but there are certain characters who can punish it better than others, so it's highly situational.

I appreciate the last tip, I think I should be less aggresive with the default moveset because doing too many mistakes will lead me to very bad punishments, and what I really want is to improve as her, I think I should take in count the ways to punish your opponents and play strategically while being defensive.

On a side note, is it weird I feel she's like a Ganon mixed with a Sheik of some sort? While she got fast aerials, she also got very strong smash attacks and kill moves that require you to read your oppoonent, maybe it's just me however.

 

[Za~Kun]

DI reading should not be hard. If they DI towards you, they eat your strongest aerials. If they DI away, they eat your weakest.

This doesn't leave much options for them. If they don't know the palu match up, they will likely DI improperly and eat a nair. Once they realize, they will likely DI away while trying to jump or airdodge. This is fair or upsmash bait.

Get over the FG hate. You're playing a bottom tier character. Get used to have the decked stacked against you and learn to deal with it. Practice against varied human opponents, one way or another. FG is an easy way to kink out some habits. I personally win 70% of my palu games in FG. You won't learn anything against CPU.


You're right on her playstyle. A mix of dorf and shiek. Fast defense is her game. I highly recommend FG. Even if you lose a lot. Will help your reads and punishes. I mentioned her read options, Dsmash is an easy one, and a pivot Fsmash against a back roll. Or simply dash jab into grab for punishes. It's one of her fastest options.

 

[IsGamer]

I never lose on FG as Palu, but you know, tag scrubs, little macs everywhere and generally poor gameplay. I also NEVER practice againist CPUs, I actually practice with online buddies, but they're kinda better than me with some characters so I still struggle with her.

Also, I should mention this even if it's kinda irrelevant, but I played almost 4 months on 3DS and like... about a week on wii u, so I do have to learn more even if I already played the game since some months ago.

 

[RavensArk]

Hello Smashboards community, could you guys help me with some tips and tricks on my main? I got some of these down and I can execute them well, but I feel like I lack the knowledge on some of her moves, what I really know about her are the dthrow combos, her warp-cancel, her bair stage-spike and her fair being the single most best move ever. I have mained her for a long time but ever since I switched to WiiU, I have been struggling even more than before and I would really like for all the Palutena mains around the site to help a fellow main here as well.

I readed the Palutena guide here, it helped me a lot, but I think I could get some help from you guys, I would appreciate the help a lot, I welcome any kind of thing that helps me improve. Custom moves included (they're my favorite thing for her).

For now, cheers, and hope to see y'all around.

Tips? Abuse d-throw as its her bread and butter but always try to mix it up because opponents WILL catch on. All her tilts are basically punishing moves. U/D-tilt catches Rolls and spot dodges. F-tilt is a mix up. Autoreticle baits. Reflect obviously, reflects and ignores shields. Warp is probably her best Up-B because of ledge canceling and its an all around good recovery. All smashes are highly situational, only use them if you KNOW theyre going to spotdodge, roll, airdodge etc.

Fair is good for pressure. Uair is your kill move. Nair is your mix up. Bair is your primary aerial since it DOES NOT trade. Dair is pretty much for spikes only, I see no other use. Maybe an on stage mix up?

Customs
Explosive flames- Cant really give you any GOOD advice on this one since I prefer Autoreticle. All I can say is spacing is key, use sparingly because of lag.
Heavenly Light- A doubles only move. There basically NO use whatsoever in singles.
Super Speed- A good approach option with almost no risks. Though never use it against a projectile based character.
Angelic Missile- A good kill move and a pretty good recovery option
Jump glide- Mostly a utility move. Good approach option
Rocket Jump- Basically the power version, Kills and spikes.
Light weight- Her best custom for obvious reasons and because of the tech found to stay in the light weight state indefinitely it makes it much more of a threat. Though I use it mostly for edge guarding/Spikes
Celestial Fireworks- Has invincibility and is a kill move mid air. Nothing much going for it besides invincibility.

I prefer Autoreticle,SuperSpeed,Warp,LightWeight. But every ones different, go nuts with any of her customs.

 

[IsGamer]

Um... thanks for the help, I didn't knew about some of her customs, I only use Explosive Flame, SS, Lightweight, Jump Glide and soemtimes the fireworks.

 

[RavensArk]

Your welcome. I try to help as much as I can in our small community.

 

[IsGamer]

Your welcome. I try to help as much as I can in our small community.

And I really appreciate it, I got you both guys tips down and I think I just did better than before, it seems my main flaw was being a bit agressive when I should have been more defensive and strategical, now all I gotta get right are the matchups and the DI, also conditioning people as well.

 

[JosePollo]

Something about Super Speed that I don't see a lot of Palutena players do is jump canceling into up smash after connecting the running tackle. It's a guaranteed kill option once the opponent is in up smash's kill range. The trajectory they get sent when struck by the running tackle combined with Palutena's slide when you jump cancel the up smash makes it just a matter of either immediately releasing the smash attack or charging it just a smidge until they fly right above its rage. Just beware of jump canceling before hitting the opponent since that will cancel Super Speed's hit box and you'll just slide right past them. Also, if you're doing this keep in mind that Super Speed's running tackle increases in knockback the farther away you start it. If you start Super Speed from across the map (which is fairly unsafe, since the opponent has plenty of time to react to it) your opponent will fly a lot farther than if you use it at almost point blank (which is the best way, imo, since the move is so fast the opponent has to basically be predicting you to use it there and then in order to defend it), in which case you'd have to release the attack immediately for it to connect. If for whatever reason you manage to land a Super Speed across the map, then the extra charge on up smash will kill starting around 90% on most characters, so I guess it's a nice trade-off for being predictable.

 

[IsGamer]

Something about Super Speed that I don't see a lot of Palutena players do is jump canceling into up smash after connecting the running tackle. It's a guaranteed kill option once the opponent is in up smash's kill range. The trajectory they get sent when struck by the running tackle combined with Palutena's slide when you jump cancel the up smash makes it just a matter of either immediately releasing the smash attack or charging it just a smidge until they fly right above its rage. Just beware of jump canceling before hitting the opponent since that will cancel Super Speed's hit box and you'll just slide right past them. Also, if you're doing this keep in mind that Super Speed's running tackle increases in knockback the farther away you start it. If you start Super Speed from across the map (which is fairly unsafe, since the opponent has plenty of time to react to it) your opponent will fly a lot farther than if you use it at almost point blank (which is the best way, imo, since the move is so fast the opponent has to basically be predicting you to use it there and then in order to defend it), in which case you'd have to release the attack immediately for it to connect. If for whatever reason you manage to land a Super Speed across the map, then the extra charge on up smash will kill starting around 90% on most characters, so I guess it's a nice trade-off for being predictable.

Ah... well sorry but I already knew this XD, what you explained is something I exactly already knew, but thanks nevertheless.

 

[JosePollo]

Ah... well sorry but I already knew this XD, what you explained is something I exactly already knew, but thanks nevertheless.

Hmm... actually I went back and realized that since the base of up smash has the greatest amount of launching power it's still just better to hit opponents as soon as possible if you're looking to kill. At 100% on Final Destination, Lucina dies to the base of up smash, while Super Speeding form afar and up smashing actually allows her to survive because the tackle sends her to a weaker section of the up smash.

But anyway, Palutena's great.

 

[IsGamer]

Hmm... actually I went back and realized that since the base of up smash has the greatest amount of launching power it's still just better to hit opponents as soon as possible if you're looking to kill. At 100% on Final Destination, Lucina dies to the base of up smash, while Super Speeding form afar and up smashing actually allows her to survive because the tackle sends her to a weaker section of the up smash.

But anyway, Palutena's great.

I second this, she's so underestimated by players, I just show them how good she can be, with or without customs.

 

[TastyCarcass]

A kill option no one has mentioned so far is to spot dodge if you see a character approaching for a dash attack or grab. If you see them wiff, use a dsmash immediately on reappearing. You should have enough time to react and this will kill at late percents. Don't throw one out unless you know they've missed, since it's an incredibly unsafe move.

 

[Za~Kun]

A kill option no one has mentioned so far is to spot dodge if you see a character approaching for a dash attack or grab. If you see them wiff, use a dsmash immediately on reappearing. You should have enough time to react and this will kill at late percents. Don't throw one out unless you know they've missed, since it's an incredibly unsafe move.

I wouldn't really consider that a kill option, anyone can throw out a move out of a spot dodge