[Question] Problem with Link's tether recovery.

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

I always try to recover with my tether if possible, but sometimes when I press the grab button I do an aerial attack instead. I've lost plenty of stocks because of this. Sometimes Link brings out his hookshot, other times he's just flailing in the air. Does anybody know the reason why?

 

[LEGOfan12]

This has happened to me too. Maybe because the L-button can help activate moves without the A-button?

 

[Ryu_Ken]

I think I know exactly why. Sometimes, if you hit the circle pad and your grapple button at the same time, Link will do an aerial instead of the grapple. Same goes for ground attacks, but the timing is different. You can prevent this by just pressing r+a instead of l.

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

I think I know exactly why. Sometimes, if you hit the circle pad and your grapple button at the same time, Link will do an aerial instead of the grapple. Same goes for ground attacks, but the timing is different. You can prevent this by just pressing r+a instead of l.

I'll test that out once I get back on Smash later. Thanks!

 

[CostLow]

It is definitely dependent upon the circle pad. If you press any direction it will make you do a standard attack in that direction. So, just don't press any direction while trying to zair or grab.

Remarks complete.

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

It is definitely dependent upon the circle pad. If you press any direction it will make you do a standard attack in that direction. So, just don't press any direction while trying to zair or grab.

Remarks complete.

I suspected that, but even ended up doing a neutral air once.

 

[CostLow]

I suspected that, but even ended up doing a neutral air once.

Found an answer that makes sense to me...

*Just like in Brawl, pressing Z after being hit out of Zair will result in doing a normal air attack. To prevent this, input your next Zair as (L or R) + A. This tends to be more important while recovering, but if you want to do another Zair (probably with airdodge landing lag) this is how you'd do it.​

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

Found an answer that makes sense to me...

Alright, thanks!

 

[SphericalCrusher]

I think I know exactly why. Sometimes, if you hit the circle pad and your grapple button at the same time, Link will do an aerial instead of the grapple. Same goes for ground attacks, but the timing is different. You can prevent this by just pressing r+a instead of l.

This. This was my mistake that is.

 

[MagmarFire]

This is why I try to make it a habit to always airdodge before Zairing offstage, just to ensure I don't accidentally do an aerial. There's no real downside to it (besides a slight delay, but eh), and I bet you technically get a couple extra invincibility frames for your trouble, too.

 

[FSK]

Don't forget to zair before the airdodge ends or else you will do an aerial instead. This is different from brawl in where if you just held the shield button, pressing A at any time even after the airdodge would initiate a zair.

 

[Los4Muros]

If you move the circlepad in one direction, are holding a bomb or are still roliing from the fall, by using Zair, you'll get an attack or a dodge depending on what you did. All you have to do is jump (if still rolling), not be holding a bomb, and press Z. It's really simple. You can go for the L+A, but if you learn to do this properly, you'll find better results since it's much easier.

 

[ConsummateK]

Extremely basic question: when is tethering preferable to an up B? I generally just jump twice and use the special to get back to the stage (if I am that far away). You can't tether after said special though right? It seems weirdly specific in terms of when it would provide a benefit. It probably isn't, but that is how I understand it currently.

 

[Elessar]

The problem with always recovering the same way is that vs a decent player you'll be able to recover, with luck, maximum twice. Realistically, you won't recover because you'll get gimped every time. Changing how you recover, low, high, tether, etc, mixes up your game and turns you unpredictable, harder to read. This way you can actually make it to the ledge instead of getting gimped.

As to when it's preferable, that's entirely situational. Note, it's not that recovering with tether is situational, but WHEN to do so is. Also, no, you can't tether after an upB.

 

[Jade_Rock55]

If I have time I like to pull out a bomb and then timing it so when I ledge roll only they get hit.Tether drop right away and then up b.

 

[ConsummateK]

The problem with always recovering the same way is that vs a decent player you'll be able to recover, with luck, maximum twice. Realistically, you won't recover because you'll get gimped every time. Changing how you recover, low, high, tether, etc, mixes up your game and turns you unpredictable, harder to read. This way you can actually make it to the ledge instead of getting gimped.

As to when it's preferable, that's entirely situational. Note, it's not that recovering with tether is situational, but WHEN to do so is. Also, no, you can't tether after an upB.

That makes a lot of sense. I'm so far from competitive play that it hadn't occurred to me there would be value simply in being another option. Thanks.

 

[Sdhy]

A bit of a late reply, but I think it's just a rule: you can't spam the hookshot as a recovery.
I found that, at least in Melee, if you use it once to recover, you have to land on the stage to "restore" it in order to use it again for recovery. Until you do, you'll just do an aerial.

Note that (at least in Melee) merely grabbing the ledge does not "restore" tether recovery. You have to land on the stage with your feet
This is probably why you don't see people spamming tether off-stage.

Also: if you use it too close to the stage, it won't work (unless maybe if you sweetspot hit the very corner of the ledge?) (at least in Melee).

 

[Fox Is Openly Deceptive]

A bit of a late reply, but I think it's just a rule: you can't spam the hookshot as a recovery.
I found that, at least in Melee, if you use it once to recover, you have to land on the stage to "restore" it in order to use it again for recovery. Until you do, you'll just do an aerial.

Note that (at least in Melee) merely grabbing the ledge does not "restore" tether recovery. You have to land on the stage with your feet
This is probably why you don't see people spamming tether off-stage.

Also: if you use it too close to the stage, it won't work (unless maybe if you sweetspot hit the very corner of the ledge?) (at least in Melee).

Try not to revive long-dead discussions that are no longer relevant as this counts as spam. See the rules https://smashboards.com/help/terms
In this case the last reply was from 2014.
Please also note that this is the smash 4 section.

If anyone is wanting to know about tethers in smash 4 and why they sometimes don't work, see this thread. https://smashboards.com/threads/ledge-availability-and-why-tether-sometimes-doesnt-work.384628/