Shulk Tutorial: Help Wanted

[WiiDude83]

So, I'll be starting a series of tutorials for people to get started with new characters and learn what exactly you're supposed to do with them. One of the first will be Shulk. Is there any tips or moves people should be using with Shulk?
If you give me tips I didn't knew and are useful, I'll credit you at the end of the video
Thanks!

 

[Jade_Rock55]

Use Nair to combo as it autocancles on landing.Monado art cancel by activating an art as you are about to land from an airieal.I like using speed and buster as comboers,shield for defence and jump for recovery.His fien smash hits twice on both sides making it impossible to roll through.Hope this is useful!

 

[Berserker.]

- N-air is amazing. Both used as an offensive and defensive tool because of its low landing lag and long range. Optimize the use of this move by spacing it since the tip deals the most damage
- Buster is a wild card art but that doesn't mean it's bad. The damage you can do with this art is immense however, you have to play safely with this because you also take more damage (Buster increases damage output by 40% in default, increases damage received by 20%, reduced knockback)
- Jump is really versatile. Of course, this art is great for recovering because it boosts the recovery distance of air slash. Because of how easy it is to recover with it, you can also edgeguard and gimp with this art safely. Additionally, this art allows you to cover an insane amount of space with the air mobility and range on your aerials. Lastly, this art helps in getting around projectiles (Increased jump height, lowered weight, increased damage received 22%)
- Speed is Shulk's aggressive art. Because of its buff in air mobility and ground speed in general, this is very helpful against projectile users (Like jump). This art makes you a bit slippery which makes pivoting tilts and grabs a good idea with this. Yet again because of the mobility buff, it's easy to follow up attacks/grabs with speed. With speed, you more options for rushing down: Grabbing, SHFF N-air, Pivoting tilts, and you can even feint your approaches by running backwards for mind games (Increased ground speed, increased air speed, decreased jump height, decreased damage dealt 28%)
- Shield increases his survivability so use it for stock tanking (Increased weight, Increased shield health, decreased damage received 33%, decreased damage dealt 30%, decreased ground and air speed, decreased jump height)
- Smash is his KO art which is capable of KO'ing at 80%+. However, this can be risky if you're also at a higher percentages. Take note that you're easier to launch with this activated. This art forces you to play aggressively which is alright if your percentage isn't even that high. If it is high (Like 100%+) then play safely or just try to land the KO safely with Normal stance (Increased launching ability, Decreased damage dealt 50%, Decreased weight)

I'm just ripping notes from this thread. Just noting basic stuff

 

[MarioFireRed]

Shulk's a rather unique character, if only because each of his Monado Arts make him the best at something at the cost of worsening himself in other areas. If played Vanilla, without any of the Arts, Shulk is a Master of None character who's mediocre in anything he does and is pretty clunky. To play him effectively and efficiently, mastery of the Monado Arts is required.

Neutral B - Monado Arts:

- Jump is your go-to art for air mobility as well as recovery. With it Shulk is able to perform a double jump from being launched that puts even Yoshi's to shame, and that isn't even including the insane increase in vertical height from Air Slash's recovery. He can cover a LOT of distance by SH'ing everywhere to chase down opponents or to get out of sticky situations. His defense is lowered in this stance so don't keep this out too long against heavy hitters such as Bowser. Due to your air mobility, this is a fantastic art for gimping opponents who are off the edge to make sure they can't recover.

- Speed is self-explanatory. With it your ground speed and attacks have an increase of speed to completely throw off opponents who get too used to Shulk's slower playstyle. This is Shulk's best art for aggressiveness as the only negative traits in the art applies to just him, meaning that the opponent has nothing to use against you when you take this on. However your jump height and damage dealt are reduced, though not to the extent of Shield, so be careful if you have this on when recovering low.

- Shield increases your defense and weight even moreso than Bowser, but comes with an extreme speed and damage decrease (-30% I believe). Use this for stock tanking or walling out against the opponent. Your shield health also increases in this art so have fun with that. This is likely to be your least used art due to how situational it can be.

- Buster is your damage dealing art. You do roughly 40% more damage to opponents in this art, however the hitstun/knockback of your attacks is reduced and you take 20% more damage from others. This is best used to rack up damage in short burst combos and grabs to up your opponent's % points. Shulk's Vision special is affected by this art, meaning you can return at least 60% extra damage back to the opponent due to Buster's properties. Speed and jump height are unaffected.

- Finally Smash is your KO'ing art. It increases your launch ability, both yours and the opponents, by quite a bit while reducing damage dealt (Still higher than Speed and Shield's decreases). Like Speed, Smash allows you to play more aggressively in order to fish for those sweet kills. Similarly it can also gimp opponents by launching them much farther, however Smash gimps aren't as safe as Jump gimps so be wary of that.

Pressing B a certain number of times will always give you one of the arts after it lingers on Shulk for about a second:
1 B = Jump (Green)
2 B = Speed (Blue)
3 B = Shield (Yellow)
4 B = Buster (Purple)
5 B = Smash (Red)

You can also cancel the Monado Art you're currently using by pressing B 3 times to cancel it, followed by more presses of the aforementioned cycle if you want to switch.

Now onto his other (normal) specials:

Side B - Back Slash:

Shulk's trailer shows this attack's effectiveness right away: Hitting the opponent's back will deal more damage. Aside from it's obvious use you can use it when recovering high to punish those who don't expect you to pull this move out when they come below you ready to pressure. That's kind of it actually as this move is rather situational otherwise. Also DO NOT use this move to recover anywhere but high and beside the stage, Shulk will not grab the ledge and will fall to his death.


Up B - Air Slash:

Fairly simple. Press it once for a vertical slash that covers most of the recovery height, press it again for a horizontal slash in front of you that gives you a bit of jump left (around Yoshi's second-third Egg Throw midair).


Down B - Vision:

This is Shulk's Counter. What's unique about it is, if you're grounded, you can hold forward when the opponent attacks to perform a faster counterattack that instead launches them behind Shulk instead of in front of him. Otherwise it's pretty standard (save for its unsafe use when in the air).


Some people probably covered this and other Shulk tech already (Like SHFF Nair approaches due to the move's non-existent landing lag), but may as well leave my input.

 

[Nammy12]

Forward Counter along with smash art is REALLY powerful.

 

[EmceeEspio]

Don't know if this has been said, but I find F-smash to be a good, albeit tricky, edge guarding ability. Just activate angles downward before they ledge grab and BOOM!

Or, if you're really feeling up to it, knock them around a bit. Activate Speed art, back throw them, run behind them, and BACK SLASH!

EDIT: Here's some more. F-tilt does an extra 2% if it connects at the tip of the hitbox (the beam)

AA jab kick combos well into down tilt.

With Jump art enabled you can travel beneath standard Final Destination and recover safely. Works even better on Omega forms of stages like Mute City and Spirit Train. If possible show this while demonstrating Jump art.

That's all I got for now. Good luck!

 

[WiiDude83]

So now that the game is out, im gonna need more help on this. so if anyone wants to chime in, have at it!

 

[Jade_Rock55]

I will when I get home and play in an hour or two.

 

[EmceeEspio]

I don't care what some others may say, intercepting a foe in midair and using Air Slash as a finisher is effective, when landed.

Ok, here's one I love to do, but it's tricky. Holding A will make a character spam their opening hit of their jab combo. Ending this process, especially with an ever-so-slightly delayed final A push, usually results in the next hit coming out. Spam the A-Holding maneuver while repeatedly releasing the button to have Shulk move across the stage in a PPK (punch punch kick) fashion, almost making him like a gliding hitbox from one end of the stage to the other. Hilarious and somewhat effective approach option, and if you can figure it out, an unforgettable part of your arsenal. Will upload video when I get the chance.

 

[MarioFireRed]

I'll probably dabble on some of the customs I've used on Shulk.

Back Slash Charge: Even more situational than the default move, but grants you super armor to help Shulk power through annoying projectiles. I suggest having Smash or Speed art on when you use this so the extreme ending lag that comes afterwards is mitigated by your opponent launching away or having just enough mobility to avoid getting grabbed.

Mighty Air Slash: Pretty much default move except with less attack range for more power. I personally like it because it doesn't sacrifice your recovery's vertical height while granting some attack use.

Power Vision: It takes slightly longer for Shulk to attack the opponent with this custom but BOY does he bring the power. There's something utterly satisfying of using this custom on a very powerful attack with Buster (gargantuan damage) or Smash (twinkle in the sky) arts on.

 

[Ultrashroomz]

-Nair and Fair have really good range.

-All of Shulk's attacks in general have very good range, and if you hit opponents with counters like Marth or Little Mac with the very tip of your attack, you generally don't have to worry about them.

-DSmash is good for dealing with those who like to spam roll dodge.

-Jump is very good for edge guarding and for recovering as well.

-Speed is good for starting off a match and compliments with Nair and Fair's range, allowing you to dish out a lot of quick attacks, and give your opponent a lot of pressure.

-Shield IMO is the least useful art, not saying you should never use it, but it's not all that great. It's good for reducing knockback and damage, but it slows you down so much, that it almost makes it like you're playing sandbag from home run contest; sure you won't get affected by attacks that much, but shield makes it easier for opponents for you to wail on you. Also, if an opponent manages you launch you, and edgeguards you, good luck recovering.

-I only use Buster if I'm a stock ahead of the opponent. It's good for racking up damage, and can yield very good results, but the problem is that you also take a lot of damage too, so it's practically high risk high reward.

-Smash is good for finishing off opponents, and that's about it. If I'm at a relatively low percentage, I'll definitely use it, otherwise, I'll stick to vanilla Shulk and try to do a smash attack.

-Don't forget that Vanilla Shulk is a thing. While the arts are extremely useful, you don't have to use one at every possible moment. If you just ran out of your Speed art and no other art feels suitable in your current predicament, just don't use one, period.

-Tap B (default special button) three times to cancel an art (doesn't work with Decisive Monado Arts, obviously.)

That's all I've got. I honestly have no real input with Shulk's other specials (Back Slash, Air Slash, and Vision), and I haven't really used any of Shulk's custom moves. I hope I have provided at least one useful tip.

 

[Berserker.]

Buster isn't high-risk high-reward in my opinion. You only take 13% more damage while the damage you deal is 140% of vanilla Shulk's attacks. Your attacks become much safer so if you know how to space precisely, buster is actually a safe art if anything

 

[Penguin4478]

I would say master cancelling your Bair animation with landing. If you can do this your range is absolutely ridiculous and it's hard for your opponent to see it coming. If they shield it they're generally pushed away so it's harder to punish the landing lag you receive.

Use monado arts VERY situationally. You probably have to know your matchups well to decide on which one to use, but in general speed is good for keeping up with or punishing characters with long end-animation lag, shield is great when both you and your opponent are at KO percentages, and jump is absolutely amazing at edgeguarding.

Also master managing shulk's counter with his arts. A smash art counter can kill at ridiculously low %s based on who you're facing. Learning to use backslash to dodge Robin's fire and other low projectiles is absolutely essential because it's free damage if timed right, hitting opponents while they're in the recovery lag from the projectile.

 

[kunimitsu877]

So now that the game is out, im gonna need more help on this. so if anyone wants to chime in, have at it!

the biggest advice i can give you on shulk is understand how his monado arts work example green=jump
red=smash
that kind of thing but also be aware of your surroundings since you can accidentally KO yourself if you use his counter too far off the edge seriously thats happend to me like twice already aside from that you should be good to go

 

[Sane.]

So much hate on shield art. Learning to shield art cancel into jump art after a launch at high percents can help you live to 150%, which means a little more time to rack up some damage since Shulk can space quite well.

@OP - definitely express the importance of spacing and Shulk's follow ups. Though he has few true combos, he does have a ton of string options that are very safe if spaced well.