• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

Roy for Dummies

Goobgoyle

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
52
NNID
RWolffe
3DS FC
3394-3566-2944
Hey all, first official post here.

Anyway, I'm really liking Roy and I would love to pick him up as a main. That being said, I am new to the Smash community so the only information I really have to go on is videos on YouTube, which could be overwhelming to say the least. I have a pretty good grasp on the fact that Roy needs to stay grounded, but what fundamentals are essential to learning Roy and playing him effectively?
 

TFerg

Smash Apprentice
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
151
Location
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
My best advice is to learn the basic fundamentals of Smash first, and learn the advanced techniques (wavedashing, L cancelling, wavelanding, shffled airs etc), because basically all of them are important with Roy. Also, good DI and proper shielding are especially crucial to playing someone like Roy, because his combo weight is kinda perfect and his recovery is only so-so compared to the rest of the cast.

Dtilt>fair>grab
Dtilt>fair>dtilt>fair
Are some examples of basic combos.

Also, practice your Shffled up airs until you get comfortable with using it as a juggle tool, it's really strong on most, especially into a bair finish.

-Ftilt is a good spacing tool
-Fthrow techchases are good
-Dthrow into bair actually works sometimes
-Neutral B is good for edgeguarding some offstage if you get the timing down
-Side B is strong, learn how to use it as a tool but don't overuse (I overuse it lol)

This is just some basic stuff, once you get a good grasp I recommend you watch some vids of Sethlon. It will teach you a good bit. The tricky part about Roy in this game is that there are no gimmicks, you kinda just fight people and have to be really good at movement and general knowledge on matchups. Roy is a hard character imo but also kinda forces you to #gitgud
 
Last edited:

Goobgoyle

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
52
NNID
RWolffe
3DS FC
3394-3566-2944
I was able to see a lot of that in Sethlon's videos, but thanks for the tips :) Roy seemed like a kind of character that is fairly straightforward, which isn't entirely surprising. I can't seem to get the timing on his side B tho lol looks ridiculously hype when you pull it off, tho
 

Azureflames

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
156
Location
Rockford, Illinois
Switch FC
SW-0132-7109-3630
So apologizing ahead a time for the long post, I started typing out a quick small version but it kept getting longer and longer of a post. I felt like each move deserves a longer explanation

With Roy you'll need to learn how to utilize movement, string combos, establish a grab game, and understand how to utilize DI for best recoveries.Roy can play really aggressively but requires a necessity to play smart at the same time. He has decent tools vs. most the entire cast. From my experience he performs worst against people that are good at high speed pressuring, those with projectiles, or people that can utilize crouch cancelling effectively. Some notable bad MU's from my experience include DK, Marth, Link, Mario, Pit, and sheik are a handful that come to mind.

L-cancels are extremely important, as they usually are with most any character in the game. Like you said Roy is typically a character that likes to stay grounded but has strong aerials to combo with. With that said, don't force wreckless Fair SHFFLs or anything like that. I used to do that alot and got punished all the time for it.


Detailed explanations

[aerials]
Fair- one of roy's bread and butter moves; use it to wall out opponents and control space. Some alternative ways to use it are standard SHFFL falling Fair, SHFFL Rising Fair while in place or moving back (this is more of a spaced, safer Fair), and full hop Fair to mix up the angle or create opportunities for Double Fairs/Double Aerial mix ups to platforms.

Dair- Typically used as a tech chase starter after Dtilt pop up combos. Sends them down with the sweet spot. The sweet spot is just about where Roy's armpit is. Only safe time you could attempt a meteor kill is against certain people's recoveries or tether characters. You can time it so that you can ledgehop Dair and pull the meteor off for a kill, but it can be hard to time right. If you input the Dair on a rising Short hop, the hitboxes can be really useful as well while trying to catch people's rolls. Be sure to practice the timing of a rising Dair SHFFL, i had a weird timing feeling out the timings for it.

Nair- A great move for controlling wide spaces. I like to use it as a combo finisher as it has lots of knockback on the second hits. It can be full hop fast-falled to surprise people on the second hit as well. I wouldn't suggest spamming this as it CAN be somewhat punishable. I avoid using this on shield as well

Bair- I only consider this a finisher and it's one of Roy's strongest kill moves if you hit the sweetspot (again, practically in his armpit. It's easier to hit if you're dashing into them)

Uair- Great move for juggling and pressuring people on platforms. It covers a good amount of space and can be used to juggle for a few hits. I like to chain a SHFFL Uair with Utilt to keep combos going longer. You can also vary the Uair hitbox depending on how fast you SHFFL. It has a hitbox that you wouldn't think would hit people but does in the front if you land really close, this if L-cancelled can be followed up. Also you can cross-up people with Uair and interrupt or combo start with Side-B.

[Smash attacks]
Fsmash- As you and every roy player knows, closer to the hilt is the strongest part. You can get some monster knockback on this and is probably is best kill move if successfully hit. Wavedash >Fsmash can be incredibly useful

Dsmash- I Don't use it a whole lot personally since i tend to get punished from the endlag. It has a great startup ( i think it's a 4-frame startup?) You can use the invincibility frames off ledgehopping to waveland onto the stage for a quick Dsmash if you do it fast enough. You'll see someone like Sethlon use this all the time

Usmash- Can be DACUS'ed. Can be useful, i personally almost never use it intentionally. Sorry i cant elaborate much on this

Dash attack- A good tech chasing move if you can catch the read. Also useful if you knock someone just off the edge and can catch them, it'll pop them up for a perfect aerial chase.

Jab- Jab i find really useful for grounded interruption. I like to throw it out when i want to get pressure out when they're in shield and need quick moves to try and catch them out. (dtilt>dtilt>jab>dtilt>Ftilt>etc)

[tilts]
Dtilt- The other bread and butter for Roy. This move is amazing and leads into most every one of his other moves/combos. Get familiar with knowing the timing of dashing and crouch cancel>dtilt and know the soonest time to do it. Dtilt has an ending lag that can seem long but can be cancelled out of by tapping forward to dash (knowing this you can Dtilt and quickly input the dash followed by immediately shielding, Fsmashing, or Ftilting)

Ftilt- Amazing for keeping space as well as prolonging combos and techchases. A simple Dtilt>Fair>Ftilt works wonders. Ftilt has an extremely long range and can be really useful against characters that rely on spacing like Marth.

Utilt- I like using Utilt as a 'keep the combo going' kind of a move, especially when they're above me on platforms. It's most useful to me in combos where you get off an Uair or two while they're on a platform and follow it up with a Utilt

[specials]
B- 'flare blade' you can use it to chase off stage for aerial 'pseudo smash attacks'. It has lots of knockback and comes out decently fast. You can throw mix ups in the air and change direction. Charging it up at the edge works well against certain recoveries that aren't as easy to sweet spot.

DownB- typically never used all too much. high risk high reward. Easiest use is for edgeguarding recoveries with hitboxes (fox and falco come to mind). Just know that the window is incredibly small but if successful the knockback is huge and the damage to counter does 1.5x the damage it was dealth with.

sideB- or DED(double-edged dance) There are obviously four hits to this move and the speed can be varies depending on the inputs. (holding forward b for all four would be typed out as X>>>, 'x' being the first strike since the first strike is always the same slash). You could do more digging and experimenting on the timings and variations. I personally can't give you too in depth of an explaination to the depth of this move cause i'm not a pro lol. However, useful SomeDED inputs are- 1. x^^, 2.x^^>, 3. x^>>, 4.x^>>.Know that the first hit never changes, the second up hit has a better hitbox, the third hit can be either a tech-chase(^), another comboslash (>), or a shield pressuring multihit (v). For the fourth hit you can either launch them up, knock them away, or have a powerful multihit burn.

UpB- self explanatory, just know that instead of going in the upper left/right diagonal you can input up>B>hold left/right to get the maximum horizontal distance.
 

Gale Yamanaka

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
4
Location
Panama City, Florida
Movement is incredibly important on this character if you want to play him effectively. The one common thing you see among any seasoned Roy (and Marth, actually) players are that they ALL have very solid movement. Dash dances, wavedashes and wavelands are incredibly useful tools for out spacing and out zoning your opponents with Roy. Another important thing is having solid reads and reaction time. It's absolutely crucial to be able to land re-grabs off of tech chases as this allows you a lot of nice follow up opportunities (up throw>uair, F-throw>tech chase re-grab/fair, etc). Being able to read effectively is pretty much the difference between a decent combo and being able to 0 to death somebody, as it allows you extend your combos a TON more. For example, Roy has a several good options for comboing into his grabs at lower %'s, but he also has a lot of good ways he can follow up his various throws. Being able to get even ONE good read can extend your combo by 3 or 4 hits easily and allow you to force your opponent into an edgeguard situation, which can potentially be a stock. One thing to keep in mind with Roy is that his OoS options are very limited, and this is precisely why having good movement is imperative, as it allows you to stay out of your opponents range and avoid having your shield pressured.
 

Crin

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
18
Location
College Station
What everyone else said is pretty solid advice.

As Roy, movement, mind games, and combos come up huge in your favor if you can do it all properly. Something I've learned to do with Roy vs projectile spammers is to approach with wavedash Jabs. Once you get close, try doing Dtilt, SHFFL Fair, and then I like to improvise from here.

I can spam some spaced, SHFFL'd Fairs, Uairs and get away with it while tech chasing. If I need massive knockback, you can throw in a Nair at higher percents. If they don't die from the Nair, tech chase and do a Bair. Fsmash and neutral B work for KO moves too if you can charge them up, maybe not so much Fsmash, but Neutral B tends to need to charge up for KOs.

As for edgeguarding, just do what a Marth player normally does. Dtilt, or Fsmash if they are coming from a higher point.
 

Goobgoyle

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
52
NNID
RWolffe
3DS FC
3394-3566-2944
Wow guys, those tips are great. I definitely need to learn the timing on his Side-B, tho. It has been proving rather difficult to nail consistently. Anyway, it's great that you mention how to get past zoners. I have a friend that uses Mario and he's constantly throwing out fireballs to cover his approach. What I tried doing was keeping just outside of Fireball range to force him to approach, but by that time I have my back to the edge and primed for the kill. How do you guys deal with that? I'm assuming jabbing through them
 

Azureflames

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
156
Location
Rockford, Illinois
Switch FC
SW-0132-7109-3630
It really depends for the mario matchup. I'm using half experience and half theorycrafting here but for dealing with pills, you have options of Fair swatting the pills, jabbing the pills, or just trying to full hop Fair to jump over the pill wall. In every case it really depends on the read your getting from the mario. The options mario has if he's approaching are to either grab you(similar to falco's laser grab approaches), Nair if you go to the air, or Uair if you're coming from above. In a sense it's almost like a rockpaperscissors guessing game. For this there's no one true approach for roy really besides trying to read which approach option that mario's gonna choose and pick one that works best. I think the best overall option is to Fair, rising SH fadeaway Fair or rising full hop Fair to get over him. maybe if you can space an Uair well enough for the hitbox you could use that since the endlag is so little. I don't like using jab for mario just because he can punish it too easily if he's using multiple pills, which he should be (If you're jabbing in place you're a sitting duck). It's a tough matchup though, i have a really hard time against my friend's mario every time i play him
 

Gale Yamanaka

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
4
Location
Panama City, Florida
Like above said, fair swatting is a pretty useful way to stop that kind of approach. When I play I tend to just try and move around the projectiles and if I can't do that try and (perfect) shield the projectiles. They travel in a pretty predictable arc, so you should be able to sort of weave in between them (if that makes any sense) while you try and work your way in and get a combo started.
 

Crin

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
18
Location
College Station
If you watched Evo 2014, and saw Hungrybox vs Armada's 2nd set. The way Armada was spamming projectiles and trying to keep Hbox from approaching him was imo, annoying, and anti-fun to watch. Lol. The real fun of that match was watching Hbox dodge all the projectiles, get in and completely destroy Armada by comboing him to his death, or high percents. What you watched was excellent spacing, and dodging from Hbox. I know this is the Project M forums and it was in Melee, but the same concept applies.


I'm bringing this match up because that's what you're going to have to do as Roy vs projectile spammers. There's no two ways about it. Your spacing has to be on point vs these guys. They're waiting on you to take a hit so they can approach. It's rather predictable and avoidable if you can space well enough. Go for the approach yourself and dodge everything they throw. As soon as you get in, get to work. Grab them by the neck and don't drop until you get a stock.
 

Altanic

Smash Apprentice
Joined
May 28, 2014
Messages
156
Location
Lancaster, SC
Vs. projectile spammy characters like Mario you really need to either be in their face the whole time so that they can't spam you, or try to space yourself to avoid them and destroy the projectiles to approach. Roy has good space but he definitely can have a hard time closing in on people who have projectiles. Just try to throw out hitboxes like fair and nair and force them to approach you and get close and punish.
 

Goobgoyle

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
52
NNID
RWolffe
3DS FC
3394-3566-2944
What about against Ike? My girlfriend mains him and she is CONSTANTLY pressuring with his sideB. I don't have an issue with it as Link, but I can't seem to get any momentum going as Roy. Granted, I'm still bad so I am probably just approaching the MU wrong lol
 

Crin

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
18
Location
College Station
What about against Ike? My girlfriend mains him and she is CONSTANTLY pressuring with his sideB. I don't have an issue with it as Link, but I can't seem to get any momentum going as Roy. Granted, I'm still bad so I am probably just approaching the MU wrong lol
Ike's weakness is that his attacks are very slow. They might not have much start up frames, but if you can get a read on a dash attack, tilt, or a Smash move, you can spot dodge and go for a grab since Ike's moves have a lot of ending lag. She's probably playing Ike very well if you keep feeling very pressured by her use of Side B.

In Brawl (yes, I know what you're thinking... This was back when the hype was still alive for Brawl.) a friend of mine and I played Ike/Marth match up a TON. The way he was able to punish me, the Ike player, was waiting for my approach and punishing me for missing an attack. So I had to be smart about it.

Try waiting for the side B to come out, and pick a way to punish the ending lag. Most Ike players know their hitstun very well and are able to tech chase (or chase in general with Side B) and follow up. So don't get hit. That's your best option.
 

Azureflames

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
156
Location
Rockford, Illinois
Switch FC
SW-0132-7109-3630
When she uses side-B is she Jumpcancelling into an aerial, is she grabbing you out of side-b, or is it side-B attack? if its into an aerial you could just shield/roll. If its grabbing, you could probably read it and Nair before he gets to you. Side-B has a huge endlag and you could just shield grab it. I feel like with this MU you could try baiting out his approaches, forcing him to approach with side-b or get punished for any other slower approach. You just have to try and get the reads on what she's trying to do or approach you with.
 

Brim

Smash Ace
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
819
NNID
Bitterbub
Easiest way of putting how to play Roy is: get your basics down. I've been playing Roy for quite some time, but no matter how firm of a mastery you have, one slip can end Roy. He's just combo meat. There's also the fact in-addition to his fast falling that he has a long time mid-air after being hit that he can respond (not sure what this is called), which doesn't help.
-
Honestly, though to see how you should run Roy, try watching a player called "Sethlon". He appears on streams quite a bit, and he's one hell of a player.
-
About the Ike MU, it really just takes getting used to the fact he's got weird timing you need to get used to. I can't tell you how much I was killed because of his unusual smash timing.
 
Last edited:

R4ZE

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
721
Location
Florida
Roy's stationary grab is very good as well. It's range is a little bit more than most people expect, and its quick... Usually dodging/shielding attacks and grabbing from shield is a very reliable thing with him.
 
Last edited:

Crin

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
18
Location
College Station
Roy's grab is similar to Marth's, is it not? Quick with little lag. His grab is strong.

Anyways. I've been finding some small combos here and there and trying to extend my combos with Roy. I've taken a liking to approaching with Nairs, Fairs, and trying to get Dtilts to combo into Fairs, or Nairs. Pulling a backwards Bair after tech chasing a Fair can really throw your opponent's DI off.
 
Top Bottom