Samus Questions & Answers

[phanna]

I'll update this first post to serve as a FAQ, and if you have any other questions about Samus, please feel free to ask here and myself or someone else will do our best to help you out!

Q: How do I play as Zero-Suit Samus (aka ZSS, Zamus)?

A: Besides Samus' Final Smash which will switch her in her suit of armor to zero-suit (and vice-versa), you can start a match as ZSS by holding down a shield button between the character select screen and the stage selection menu. This can also be done for controllers in the slot of a CPU opponent to have them start as ZSS.

Additionally, you can also shed your armor at any time by hitting up-down-up on the d-pad (very quickly). If you have a FS charged, you can do this transformation and still have it to use as ZSS. The only way to transform from ZSS back to Samus is through her Final Smash. See this Dojo update for more.

Q: Where do I talk about Zero-Suit Samus?

A: For conversation specific to ZSS, that should be separated from Samus conversations, use the Zero-Suit Samus character specific forum

Q: Is the Super Wavedash in Brawl?

A: No

Q: Is the Grapple Extender in Brawl?

A: No

Q: Is missile cancelling in Brawl?

A: Yes

Other useful threads:

• Samus Video Thread

 

[Red Exodus]

Are Samus' bombs as good for combo breaking and set ups as before?

 

[Pi]

Does her roll still suck?
When we drop bombs on people, and they explode, do we get pushed up still? (I heard otherwise I think...)
Can we still do rising grapple? Is it as big as in melee?


not really a character specific question, but, powershielding projectiles no longer sends them back? Is this true?

 

[Sm00th_Crim1nal]

While I was playing pressing down and immediatly doing c-stick didn't create the effect i wanted -- a smash. Instead I'd do a tilt or nothing. Have you been able to cancel running into an immediate smash?

 

[Rohins]

Are Samus' bombs as good for combo breaking and set ups as before?

Not really. There are a certain amount of frames the bomb will hang in the air before exploding on contact. You can still do some setups, but definitely not the same way in Melee.

Does her roll still suck?
When we drop bombs on people, and they explode, do we get pushed up still? (I heard otherwise I think...)
Can we still do rising grapple?


not really a character specific question, but, powershielding projectiles no longer sends them back? Is this true?

Yes you still pop up but you can't attack or air dodge during morph ball animation. You get good control of your aerial movement but that's about it. No rising grapple and powershielding does not reflect projectiles.

While I was playing pressing down and immediatly doing c-stick didn't create the effect i wanted -- a smash. Instead I'd do a tilt or nothing. Have you been able to cancel running into an immediate smash?

You can't crouch cancel runs. There are two alternatives: You can run, stop, then attack. You can do this quicker than in Melee because you can act during your skidding animtion. The other alternative is shield canceling your run and acting after you drop your shield. This too is quicker than it was in Melee.

edit: Her roll is pretty much the same as Melee's.

 

[W.Jr]

how effective is the neutral kick and is samus still beast

 

[Paradigm]

Her neutral kick is significantly weakened. It still seems useful for breaking combos - it comes out quickly enough - but don't expect to get a KO with it even at the 200+% range. It has very little lag; combine with the poor knockback it could combo into things such as a dtilt at lower damages.

Samus is different, but she seems to remain a beast nonetheless. Her grapple (in the air) is rediculusly awesome.

 

[Rohins]

Nair isn't good for killing directly, still can set up gimps. You can walk off sex kick fox in upB and sex kick again and still be able to recover no problem. I haven't played enough people to really know where I think Samus stands relative to other characters.

 

[Gravekeeper]

Thanks for making this thread- there's a couple more questions and answers in this thread if you wanna add them to this one. I've got a few questions:

1. Does her U-tilt still pop you if you're grounded, kick you if you're airborne?
2. Have any of her other moves changed the direction in which they send you?
3. Is she still a heavy character? (in the sense that she can take a good amount of punishment before being KO'd)
4. Can her Super Missiles still be destroyed with Smash attacks or dash attacks?
5. How homing...ny are the homing missiles? Same as Melee, more/less maneuverable?
6. Can certain attacks destroy a Charge Shot blast? (I read that Sheik's needles don't do that anymore, thankfully)
7. Does being caped while using the Screw Attack still give you an upward boost?

 

[Rohins]

Thanks for making this thread- there's a couple more questions and answers in this thread if you wanna add them to this one. I've got a few questions:

1. Does her U-tilt still pop you if you're grounded, kick you if you're airborne?
2. Have any of her other moves changed the direction in which they send you?
3. Is she still a heavy character? (in the sense that she can take a good amount of punishment before being KO'd)
4. Can her Super Missiles still be destroyed with Smash attacks or dash attacks?
5. How homing...ny are the homing missiles? Same as Melee, more/less maneuverable?
6. Can certain attacks destroy a Charge Shot blast? (I read that Sheik's needles don't do that anymore, thankfully)
7. Does being caped while using the Screw Attack still give you an upward boost?

1. Yes - note the stun when they're popped up isn't enough to like setup for combo.
2. Front part of downsmash pops you up rather than hit behind you. Kind hits forward a little too.
3. Yes.
4. Yes.
5. Pretty much the same, I didn't notice a difference.
6. Yes, I tested this with Samus' fsmash. I was able to hit and destroy it.
7. Haven't tried. I'll edit this when I test it. I heard it doesn't accelerate vertical movement, just reverses horizontal but I can check it out.

 

[Paradigm]

1. Do any of Samus' moves hit below the stage so that they can be used to hit an opponent who is sweet spotting a recovery while Samus is still on the stage? (utilt, down-angled ftilt or fsmash, etc)

2. Does dropping a bomb just over the edge seem feasible to interupt a recovery? If so, does it stun the opponent sufficiently to follow up on it (such as with one of the moves from the previous question, or maybe running off with a dair or nair)?

 

[Rohins]

1. Do any of Samus' moves hit below the stage so that they can be used to hit an opponent who is sweet spotting a recovery while Samus is still on the stage? (utilt, down-angled ftilt or fsmash, etc)

2. Does dropping a bomb just over the edge seem feasible to interupt a recovery? If so, does it stun the opponent sufficiently to follow up on it (such as with one of the moves from the previous question, or maybe running off with a dair or nair)?

1. Down angled fsmash (you have to be close), dtilt, and utilt. Doesn't work vs auto sweet spot. I haven't tried down angled ftilt.

2. I haven't messed with this so I can't really speak for it. In theory, it seems it would take too long for it to register as a hit but then again you could time it. From what I've seen bombs have pretty poor stun time.

 

[Dew Rag]

1) i believe, if you utilt really close so ur foot is out, it might hit an opponent, i'll have to test it, I somehow pulled it off once.... so it might be that they didn't sweet spot or something (which is hard to do)

2) it seems feasible, but it doesn't stop them to up b again and also, they get invincibility frames it seems in their up b when they're close to the stage so they auto sweet spot so laying a bomb might not work, i'll test it out, but someone can probably find out faster than me, don't have brawl atm

 

[W.Jr]

thx, also between samus and zero suit samus, which would you say is the better one. Cause samus is good and from watching videos Zss is good too.

 

[Pi]

I think it's probably too early to make that distinction...they are different characters, not clones really in any way.


Can samus' down throw lead into any combo's? Do they go higher than in melee or lower?

 

[Rohins]

Downthrow doesn't really lead into combos. It bounces them higher, but I don't know if that's not due to everyone being more floaty. You can downthrow to air grapple, but it's probably better to just wait to see what their reaction is and punish.

 

[Dew Rag]

thx, also between samus and zero suit samus, which would you say is the better one. Cause samus is good and from watching videos Zss is good too.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again, I think Samus is better, cuz I've tried using both, and it's difficult cuz to be good with zss, you need to use mostly tilts, whereas samus u can use all her attacks

also samus can gimp better in the air in my opinion and zss gets gimped really easily when recovery compared to samus who rarely gets gimped

I can say more about why samus is better than zss, but I think you get the point

Samus has better kill moves while zss doesn't, speed isnt always the best thing if ur attacks can't kill

 

[ODIN787]

Thanks for making this thread it really cleared all my questions about samus ,the only thing im just confused is why make an option to switch from Samus to Zamus with the d-pad if you can change back like zelda and sheik can,and if you want to use only Zamus just before the fight hold the shield button? it really makes no sense ,sure one can change back with a final smash but it would have been more useful to be able to change at free will for those who don't like to play with final smashes .

 

[Dew Rag]

obviously they didn't learn the first time when they put two characters in one, zelda/shiek

didn't stop them from making samus/zamus
squirtle,ivysaur,charzard

OMG SO KOOOOL, fan factor.... and the cool factor

 

[Phazon_Dude]

I would like to ask, do you think it is necessary/recommended to know how to play ZSS to be a good/better Samus player?

 

[Dew Rag]

no, lol

unless u plan on using her cuz samus is failing, which i don't see how she could fail any worse than zss, plus zss's projectiles can easily be turned around

 

[Pi]

In order, what moves come out fastest to slowest?

Charged beam (as fast as possible/in the air)
Homing missle
Power missle


Also, which have the most delay? In air and on ground?

 

[Jasona]

someone said that samus could FF her air dodge. since i don't remember where i read it and i'd like to reconfirm it:

can samus FF her air dodge?
if so
is it ANY faster than her normal FF?
can samus still zair (aerial grapple) from her air dodge?
if you zair from a FF'd air dodge, does the zair keep the momentum?

 

[Rohins]

Yes to all three, but it is pretty difficult to get the grapple to come out in general when you short hop, fast fall, then grapple. I'm sure it can be done with practice though.

 

[Psydon]

I just read in the comments of one of HugS' Brawl videos that Samus' nair retains its Melee knockback only when sweetspotted, and apparently only at the very second it comes out.

Is this true?

 

[Hunter Ing]

ok this is kind of a noob question but I dont care..

Is samus' dark costume the phazon suit or the dark suit this has been bugging me forever and does anyone have a good pic of it.

 

[Phazon_Dude]

Its the dark suit.. yes! phazon suit has black and orange, while the dark suit has more brown and gray.


See how metroid prime 2 dark suit samus resembles the dark colored samus:

 

[Hunter Ing]

Its the dark suit.. yes! phazon suit has black and orange, while the dark suit has more brown and gray.


See how metroid prime 2 dark suit samus resembles the dark colored samus:

thats kind of a bummer, they had dark colors for almost every character and they didnt include phazon suit for samus :/ I guess dark suit will be just as cool as long as its not the same crappy brown color they had in the last two games. I guess Varia,Fusion,Gravity and dark suit color schemes are enough.

 

[Jasona]

can you FF at the end of the air dodge?
SH, air dodge such that it would end as close to the downward side of the SH as possible, FF at the end of the air dodge and have as much time as possible to shuffle a move outside of the dodge. IF normally shuffling a missile is too easy, this way could speed it up (lol)

 

[Rohins]

can you FF at the end of the air dodge?
SH, air dodge such that it would end as close to the downward side of the SH as possible, FF at the end of the air dodge and have as much time as possible to shuffle a move outside of the dodge. IF normally shuffling a missile is too easy, this way could speed it up (lol)

I'm sorry I don't know what made me say her ff is faster while air dodging. I'm pretty sure it's the same speed as her normal ff. Same with Lin. I think I just confused myself because Link's ff is just really fast to begin with.

I haven't messed with shuffling a missile not sure it's possible since her short hop is pretty short.

 

[Jasona]

I'm sorry I don't know what made me say her ff is faster while air dodging. I'm pretty sure it's the same speed as her normal ff. Same with Lin. I think I just confused myself because Link's ff is just really fast to begin with.

its my fault for not having the game (lol). still, FFing the dodge is something that seems unusual to me since it wasn't in melee. its not all bad news

 

[numinous]

i'd say zss isn't exactly necessary to play a good samus. she does has advantages. her fair has good reach and stun, but she seems to be interrupted far too often on her non-whip attacks.

i'll have to try out the speed test on the beam/missiles tonight.

ok, been playing around and found an answer to a question on the previous page. the order from fastest to slowest: missile, charge beam, super missile. although charge beam and super missile are not very far apart. the basic missile is very noticeably faster.

 

[THE RED SPARROW]

More Questions

What has disappointed me so far is the apparent weakness of both her Power Missiles and Charge Shot. Which are amongst her few reliable KO moves.

I've seen opponents survive the fully-charged Charge Shot even at 145% which is absolutely ridiculous to me.

So I ask- What is the average KO range her fully-charged Charge Shot and Power Missile.


Other less important questions:

-Is her Screw Attack still a good interrupting attack when pressured?

-Can it be done out of a shield and does it have any high invulnerability?

-Does the Bomb exploding interrupt you when you're attacking or using the Grapple either on the ground or in the air?

-Can the Ground Grapple grab your opponent from the air?

-Can she shield cancel the 1st and 2nd hit of her jab combo?

-Is her Dash Attack useful for combos?

-Any extra effects of her Up and Down Smash and how is the prioroty/combo-ability?


Sorry for the many questions, but as you can see I'm a BIG fan of Samus and have mained as her since day one of Melee.


Thanks In Advance.

 

[Rohins]

I've seen opponents survive the fully-charged Charge Shot even at 145% which is absolutely ridiculous to me.

So I ask- What is the average KO range her fully-charged Charge Shot and Power Missile.


Other less important questions:

-Is her Screw Attack still a good interrupting attack when pressured?

-Can it be done out of a shield and does it have any high invulnerability?

-Does the Bomb exploding interrupt you when you're attacking or using the Grapple either on the ground or in the air?

-Can the Ground Grapple grab your opponent from the air?

-Can she shield cancel the 1st and 2nd hit of her jab combo?

-Is her Dash Attack useful for combos?

-Any extra effects of her Up and Down Smash and how is the prioroty/combo-ability?

Smash missile is not reliable for straight up killing, won't kill on the level unless absurdly high. In training mode you can kill mario with a fully charged blast at 127%. Problem is it can be DIed. It is much better for hitting people that are already off the level. On that note, semi charged blasts are very good for killing off the level as well (they have a good amount of "immediate" knock back, enough to get the KO if they are pretty far off the stage)

- Screw attack is still good but not as good as in Melee. As HugS has mentioned, moves can now clank with this move rather than upB just overriding. I have personally clanked my upB with Ike's first jab. Then he proceded to do his jab combo.

- I don't think bomb exploding interrupts grapple. You wouldn't really want it to anyway since it has no landing lag and you can't act out of your morph ball after exploding a bomb.

- I haven't tried grabbing people out of the air, maybe someone else can help here.

- You can shield cancel the first hit but it is faster to just do conventional jab cancel (pressing down or holding down back). Jab canceling isn't *as* useful since the shield has gotten a lot stronger. For example if I jab the front of someone's shield they can grab me from what seems like the whole jab distance so it loses some of it's shield pressure potential.

- Yes her dash attack is good for "combos". I find most characters at around 30ish % when they get hit by a dash attack I can hit them with my jab combo. Other options are available as well. Not sure who mentioned this but dash attack is fairly safe vs shields since it will take you to the other side protecting from a shield grab.

- Upsmash is nice to do through platforms an I like catching people in it in general since it will connect most hits if they don't DI right. If their shield is low you can run up and upsmash and it will shield poke. Down smash is really easy to use out of shield (ie shielding an attack, letting go, then dsmashing) and it pops them up. While they are up it's good to charge your blaster and get to a nice location on the level. Also if they shield and are really close to your dsmash it will hit twice.

 

[ADHD]

What are the exact steps to missle canceling?

 

[THE RED SPARROW]

- Screw attack is still good but not as good as in Melee. As HugS has mentioned, moves can now clank with this move rather than upB just overriding. I have personally clanked my upB with Ike's first jab. Then he proceded to do his jab combo.

I see. So does the move end when it clanks or does it continue to fly upward?

- I don't think bomb exploding interrupts grapple. You wouldn't really want it to anyway since it has no landing lag and you can't act out of your morph ball after exploding a bomb.

I meant standing normals and standing grapple. my bad.


A few more questions:

-Can you do the same taunt code with ZSS to get her armor back?

-If your tether recover/grapple gets edgeguarded can you still attempt a regular recovery or will you fall and die?

-Have you attempted Shield Dashing, and if so has it had any practical use for you in battle?

 

[Rohins]

What are the exact steps to missle canceling?

Shooting a missile while in the air and landing, cutting the post firing animation.

I see. So does the move end when it clanks or does it continue to fly upward?



I meant standing normals and standing grapple. my bad.


A few more questions:

-Can you do the same taunt code with ZSS to get her armor back?

-If your tether recover/grapple gets edgeguarded can you still attempt a regular recovery or will you fall and die?

-Have you attempted Shield Dashing, and if so has it had any practical use for you in battle?

When you clank you just stay on the ground.

As far as the taunt as ZSS I've had no luck turning back into Samus.

You can still recover if people hog your tether (unless you tethered at some point you wouldn't be able to make it back with an upB)

I made a small demo vid for shield dashing http://youtube.com/watch?v=upLXveFz_rY . To me it's just another spacing tool it doesn't really solve anything specific as a move in itself.

 

[numinous]

What has disappointed me so far is the apparent weakness of both her Power Missiles and Charge Shot. Which are amongst her few reliable KO moves.

I've seen opponents survive the fully-charged Charge Shot even at 145% which is absolutely ridiculous to me.

So I ask- What is the average KO range her fully-charged Charge Shot and Power Missile.


Other less important questions:

-Is her Screw Attack still a good interrupting attack when pressured?

-Can it be done out of a shield and does it have any high invulnerability?

-Does the Bomb exploding interrupt you when you're attacking or using the Grapple either on the ground or in the air?

-Can the Ground Grapple grab your opponent from the air?

-Can she shield cancel the 1st and 2nd hit of her jab combo?

-Is her Dash Attack useful for combos?

-Any extra effects of her Up and Down Smash and how is the prioroty/combo-ability?


Sorry for the many questions, but as you can see I'm a BIG fan of Samus and have mained as her since day one of Melee.


Thanks In Advance.

the average kill range on her charge shot depends on how often you use the shot and the character you're using it on. if you only use it for ko purposes, i've gotten plenty at the 100-150 area.

the screw attack, for the most part is unchanged. the last hit is still a good smash hit.

can't grab people out of the air, but the grapple in the air is pretty much free stun and dmg.

also, i've found that her fair is a lot more powerful. they added a strong smash hit at the end of it.

 

[THE RED SPARROW]

t
also, i've found that her fair is a lot more powerful. they added a strong smash hit at the end of it.

This strong smash at the end, KO-able? Can you squander the duration of the Fair so that you can time the strongest part of the attack to hit, or is it like a reward for getting all the flare bursts in?


That's for the replies guys!

 

[ADHD]

Will samus ever seem as fast or as good as she deserves to be? Or is she a slow, defensive character now.