Shield options in Melee. Too weak?

[Thy Knight]

Is it just me, or does the shield seem a bit underpowered?

HAH! I just used that title to lure you into clicking on this thread! No but really, do you guys think the shield is a viable option in Melee? I searched the forums for some sort of discussion regarding the matter; but no such thread existed in the Melee forums. (To my knowledge.)

I'm the kind of guy who uses low tiers. With that being the case, I find my self hiding within my red-bubble an awful lot. When I play as Bowser, for example. I'm always shielding against Peach's and Falco's constant onslaught of attacks; even against characters with projectiles like Link. I have no choice but to stand my ground!

The thing is, I feel as if there is too much shield-stun to efficiently punish their barrage of attacks. Dropping my shield feels very laggy to me and I find myself spot-dodging out of shield when I really wanted to input a counter-attack. I AM aware of the infamous Up-B Out Of Shield with Bowser, but not every character can execute this with such beneficial results.

I've only recently heard of the tactic "wave-dashing out of shield"; and I must admit it can be quite a useful defensive maneuver. The reason I made this thread is not to trash on shields, but rather to get tips from the pros on how to deal with shield-pressure and proper ways of playing defensively.

Please feel free to give any suggestions towards shield options! That's the whole reason I made this thread.

 

[EPsilon933]

It depends on the character. Captain Falcon, for example, has pretty much no option except rolling and then there are Fox and Falco who can shine out of shield, which can lead to some nice combo opportunities if they player can pull them off

 

[Thy Knight]

It depends on the character. Captain Falcon, for example, has pretty much no option except rolling and then there are Fox and Falco who can shine out of shield, which can lead to some nice combo opportunities if they player can pull them off

Oh! Okay, so the character also plays a large role in how effective your shield-game is. Who do you think has the best shield options in Melee, EPsilon933?

Other than , he's just too OP.

 

[kingPiano]

For having great Up-b OoS -

1. Bowser
2. DK
3. Samus
4. Dr. Mario if you Up B cancel
5. Link
6. Marth
7. Even though it's not common and slow, Ganon and Falcons Up-B OoS is unblockable and has a lot of range

Fox (Falco to a lesser extent) and Pikachu have very fast and powerful Up smashes OoS.

Fox and Falco have shines OoS.

Marth, Roy, and Kirby have great OoS grab games

Of course any one that has a fast powerful Nair has a good OoS game.

So DK, Bowser, Fox (and Falco), Pikachu, and Link have the ability to reliably KO OoS. In my opinion that makes them the most dangerous to pressure unless you know you have the frame advantage.


.

 

[EPsilon933]

Oh! Okay, so the character also plays a large role in how effective your shield-game is. Who do you think has the best shield options in Melee, EPsilon933?
Other than , he's just too OP.

Fox, Falco, and Peach in that order, probably. Idk where to rank Bowser('s up b oos)

 

[Thy Knight]

Interesting replies, guys. Since we're on the topic; what is a "Shield-Drop" and how do you execute it? Just like Up-B OOS isn't as simple as pressing up-B while shielding, I'm pretty sure "Shield-Dropping" isn't as simple as it sounds.

 

[Massive]

Your Bowser experience might be altering your understanding of shield mechanics slightly.

Bowser's only fast/effective options OoS are Fortress and Shield drop. Basically everything else he can do is rated the worst in the game

I think shielding is exactly good enough. Even slight decreases in shieldstun would make things like shield-grabbing nearly unbeatable options in many situations and encourage campier play.

Edit: Shield dropping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsl03HJ_LTU

 

[Thy Knight]

Your Bowser experience might be altering your understanding of shield mechanics slightly.

Bowser's only fast/effective options OoS are Fortress and Shield drop. Basically everything else he can do is rated the worst in the game

I think shielding is exactly good enough. Even slight decreases in shieldstun would make things like shield-grabbing nearly unbeatable options in many situations and encourage campier play.

Edit: Shield dropping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsl03HJ_LTU

Cool! Thanks Massive. I've been seeing you around a lot, lately.

[EDIT] Okay, after watching the video it's fairly explanatory on how to shield-drop. However, it made me question another shield technique that I'm quite ignorant of. What in the world is the point of a "light-shield?" If it covers more space AND doesn't diminish from being out for too long; than why isn't everyone light-shielding instead of shielding normally?

Obviously I know there's some kind of catch, but I want to be sure of what the reasoning behind light-shielding is.

 

[kingPiano]

Cool! Thanks Massive. I've been seeing you around a lot, lately.

[EDIT] Okay, after watching the video it's fairly explanatory on how to shield-drop. However, it made me question another shield technique that I'm quite ignorant of. What in the world is the point of a "light-shield?" If it covers more space AND doesn't diminish from being out for too long; than why isn't everyone light-shielding instead of shielding normally?

Obviously I know there's some kind of catch, but I want to be sure of what the reasoning behind light-shielding is.

light shield covers much more area so it can be a necessity for characters with bad/small shields like Pikachu and DK. They can easily get shield poked using full shield. It has the disadvantage of suffering more shield stun and your character is pushed away much farther based on traction (although the latter is not always a bad thing). If you light shield you will almost never have the frame advantage on the attacker, meaning that you will suffer too much shield stun to be able to react fast enough to counter before they grab you or throw out another attack.

Light sheild does have a meta changing use though:

Many years ago a Kirby user discovered the "Marth Killer". You roll to ledge, light shield, shield DI toward Marth if needed, and when Marth tries to recover with his Up-B it will push you off the ledge, you automatically grab the ledge before Marth can and he dies. It was later discovered to work with any character and not just Kirby.

 

[Thy Knight]

light shield covers much more area so it can be a necessity for characters with bad/small shields like Pikachu and DK. They can easily get shield poked using full shield. It has the disadvantage of suffering more shield stun and your character is pushed away much farther based on traction (although the latter is not always a bad thing). If you light shield you will almost never have the frame advantage on the attacker, meaning that you will suffer too much shield stun to be able to react fast enough to counter before they grab you or throw out another attack.

Light sheild does have a meta changing use though:

Many years ago a Kirby user discovered the "Marth Killer". You roll to ledge, light shield, shield DI toward Marth if needed, and when Marth tries to recover with his Up-B it will push you off the ledge, you automatically grab the ledge before Marth can and he dies. It was later discovered to work with any character and not just Kirby.

Ah. Okay. Thanks as always, King!

 

[FriendGuy]

I've heard that melee's shield mechanics help make the game as fast pace as it is. Something along the lines of: the "weak" shield encourages good positioning/spacing because you don't put yourself in a situation where you have to shield. I like to think of it as a mindgame/mixup tool. Like, "hey look, they immediately go for the grab when i shield, i'll just shield then nair them." Then the other guy is like "hey look, he know's i'll grab, i'll fake him out and punish the whiffed nair" and they start going back and forth like that and then pressure becomes a thing a then a whole lot of other stuff happens that I don't know about because I live in montana and we're all bad but **** me if I don't love me some god damn melee!

Man. This game is awesome.

 

[AirFair]

Shielding is good, but only if you don't stay in shield all the time. Fox and Falco definitely have good OoS bc of shine and upsmash. Marth's reverse upB is pretty good too.

 

[EddyBearr]

Shields are very strong. Shield-grabbing, jumps out-of-shield, shield-dropping, shield DI, shield tilting, light-shielding, power-shielding, and up-moves out-of-shield makes shielding very strong.

 

[Dolla Pills]

The thing about shielding though is it does restrict your options, so you will want to space/evade where possible. That being said, don't give in and cower in your shield whenever someone pressures you: there is no perfect shield pressure.

This is not to say that shielding is bad either, it's obviously great.

 

[Spak]

Also, if you are getting pressured super hard and just want to get away from the opponent, you could try buffering a roll with the C-Stick and you will roll right when you get out of shieldstun.