Thunder Of Zeus
*Rumble Rumble*
The HOT Guide
The Hero of Time Guide to Competitive Play
The Hero of Time Guide to Competitive Play
***NOTE: If you would like to jump to a particular section in the guide, hold Ctrl and press F. A box will open with a space to type; in that space, type asterisk (*) along with the label of the section (for example: for a section labeled 11c, you would type *11c
Table of Contents-
1. An Introduction to Link
2. Link’s Ground Game
2a. Link’s Ground Attacks
2aa. Link’s Ground Attack Damage Guide
2ab. Link’s Ground Attack Frame Data
2ac. Link’s Ground Attack Hitbox Guide
2b. Link’s Ground Game overview
3. Link’s Aerial Game
3a. Link’s Aerial Attacks
3aa. Link’s Aerial Attack Damage Guide
3ab. Link’s Aerial Attack Frame Data
3ac. Link’s Aerial Attack Hitbox Guide
3b. Link’s Aerial Game Overview
4. Link’s Projectile Game
4a. Link’s Projectiles
4aa. Link’s Projectile Damage Guide
4ab. Link’s Projectile Frame Data
4ac. Link’s Projectile Hitbox Guide
4b. Link’s Projectile Game Overview
5. Strategies, Advanced Techniques and Tactics
5a. Playstyles
5aa. Focus on Opponent
5aaa. Defensively Aggressive
5aab. Aggressively Defensive
5ab. Focus on Self
5aba. Aggressive
5abb. Defensive
5b. Advanced Techniques
5c. Tactics
5ca. Shield Pressure
5cb. Zoning
5cc. Spacing
5cd. Recovering
6. Useful “Links”
6a. Videos
6b. Threads
7. Credits and Special Thanks
8. Version History
*1: An Introduction to Link-
Link is the protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series. He was created for the original The Legend of Zeldagame in 1986 by Shigeru Miyamoto. He has been the central character of all canonical The Legend of Zelda games. He was introduced as a young sword-wielding boy, but since The Adventure of Link, his identity, appearance, and role have changed from game to game. As already confirmed by Miyamoto, there are many different incarnations of Link. Link is called the Hero of Time, but many fans used to number them according to their own timeline theories (i.e. Ocarina of Time Link is called Link I by fans who think Ocarina of Time is the first in the timeline).
*2: Link’s Ground Game-
*2a: Link’s Ground Attacks-
Jab 1
This is Link’s first part of his jab. It comes out on frame 7, does 4% damage while fresh, and has good range for a jab. The jab doesn’t have much knockback and will keep the opponent in front of you. Because of the properties of this move it can be used for a jab lock.
Jab 2
This is the second part of Link’s jab. This move has slightly shorter range than Link’s first jab but still has range to space. It comes out on frame 15 after jab 1 and does 3% damage. Because of how this move is similar to jab 1 in the sense it doesn’t have much knockback if any you can crouch into another jab starting at jab 1. This is called jab canceling, you can also use this to cancel jab 3 to go into other moves.
Jab 3
This is the last part of Link’s jab. It has the most range, most knockback, and most damage of the rest of Link’s jabs. It does 5% damage and comes out on frame 25. Sometimes a Link will opt this for a jab cancel but to continuously do that can make you predictable. Ending with this jab may actually be a safer option in most situations.
F-tilt
This is Link’s F-tilt; notice in the pic above is covers a good deal over his body and in front of him. It won’t hit until frame 15, but the move itself has a good deal of range and does 13%. This move has nice knockback on the attack enough to make it a kill move. The main problem with the move is it is a tad sluggish, but it does have it’s perks.
D-tilt
Link’s D-tilt the lesser used move; his D-tilt extends on a low angle to hit opponents at a low angle. This move comes out on frame 13 and does 12%. This move has the ability to spike people at the ledge depending on where Link is positioned near the ledge and against some characters. Most Link’s don’t use this move all that often due to its lag on start-up and finishing frames and the D-tilt spike is a bit difficult to consistently land.
U-tilt
The U-tilt, it extends quite a bit above Link. It comes out on frame 8 and does 9%. The move has a good arc in which it will go all around Link. It can juggle some characters at a lower percentage and has some kill potential at higher %. A lot of Link’s like this move due to its ability to create some combos and the vertical range it gains, making approaches from above Link harder to perform.
F-smash 1
F-smash 2
Link’s two hitter. Fsmash’s first hit comes out on frame 15 and does 14%, while the second one comes out on frame 34 and does 17%. Connecting the two hits together will do a whopping 31%! That’s quite a bit and the move has good knockback, this move is defiantly a kill move, despite the slowness. A fun thing you can do with Fsmash is stall the second hit of it to throw the timing of an opponent off. Another good trick is to not even do the second hit to confuse opponents. Some mind games here.
D-smash 1
D-smash 2
Arguably Link’s best killer. The move itself is fast coming out on frame 9 in front of him and frame 20 behind him. The hit in front of him does 16% and the one behind does 16%. It covers the ground around Link, punishes rolls into him, and can kill quite well.
U-smash 1
U-smash 2
U-smash 3
One of Links faster moves on the ground and one people can recognize quite well. The move has three hits, the first doing 4% coming out on frame 10, the second doing 3% coming out on frame 26, and the last doing 10% coming out on frame 41. The first two hits don’t have much in the way of knockback, but the last hit has a more knockback. This is a good damage dealer if you get your opponent in the air.
Dash attack
Link’s little run and hit move. This move actually it’s that bad on start up, frame 8, and doing 12% added to that. Unfortunately the move itself comes with some lag to that quick start, so the move shouldn’t be used a whole lot since most people can punish the ending lag if you wiff it too close.
Up+B
The move some wish stayed like its melee counterpart, some don’t. Well either way its Brawl counterpart while losing the ability to spike people gained the ability to charge, which can do 19% when fully charged, while uncharged it can do 9%. The move will hit on frame 11 in front of Link while it will hit on Frame 13 behind him. This move can kill, but due to the fact other moves are more reliable and the lag afterwards can be punished.
Grab
Link uses his Hook shot to grab people. It comes out on frame 12, if you did it while running it comes out on frame 14. While being a tether grab gives it range to grab people, if you whiff it there will be a lot of lag for people to punish you.
F-throw
Link’s Fthrow involved him kicking his opponent in front of him and does 7%. Most Link’s avoid this throw as there are other throws that Link’s just outright prefer.
B-throw
Link kicks the opponent behind him with a straight kick behind him. Some Link’s like this move for the distance it sends. It reset the spacing between you and your opponent if they get too close. This move does 7%.
D-throw
The most used throw Link player’s use. Because of how it sends the opponent into the air it’s easy to follow up with another move like Bair, Utilt, and Usmash. Like all of Link’s throws it does 7%.
U-throw
This is similar to Link’s Bthrow in that is resets the distance between the players. The key difference is it places the opponent in the air for some combo potential and set-ups for some aerials or projectiles. This move does 7%.
*2aa: Link’s Ground Attack Damage Guide-
*2ab: Link’s Ground Attack Frame Data-
Jab 1
hits on frame 7
Jab 2
hits on frame 15
Jab 3
hits on frame 25
F-tilt
Hits on frame 15
D-tilt
Hits on frame 13
U-tilt
Hits on frame 8
F-smash 1
Hits on frame 15
F-Smash 2
Hits on frame 34
D-smash 1
Hits on frame 9
D-smash 2
Hits on frame 20
U-Smash 1
Hits on frame 10
U-smash 2
Hits on frame 26
U-smash 3
Hits on frame 41
Dash Attack
Hits on frame 8
Up+B: grounded(facing the foe)
Hits on frame 11
Up+B: grounded(facing away from the foe)
Hits on frame 13
Grab
Hits on frame 12
Dash grab
Hits on frame 14
Get up attack
15 back
25 front
Ledge Attack(Under 100%)
26
56
Ledge Attack(Over 100%)
40
60
Crouch
A full crouch takes 8 frames
Uncrouch
Press shield to uncrouch in 1 frame
Spot dodge
Invincibility Starts at 2
Ends at 20
22
Tech
28
Jump
Leaves Ground at frame 8
Front Roll Dodge
Invincibility Starts at 4
Ends at 19
37
Back Roll Dodge
Invincibility Starts at 4
Ends at 19
37
Tech Roll
40
Ledge Roll (Under 100%)
Invincibility starts at 7
ends at 27
50
Ledge Roll(Over 100%)
Invincibilty Starts at 7
80
*2ac: Link’s Ground Attack Hitbox Guide-
*2b: Link’s Ground Game Overview-
Link’s ground game is one of his main overall assets. It should be stated that his projectile game, that I suggest you look into as well, is an important part of his ground game, in that it helps make an opening and applies pressure.
First off, jab is a nice quick spacing tool to keep opponents off you. It’s one of Link’s faster moves used to keep the opponent away. The last hit of jab, while having some lag, is still good for getting that last bit of space out there. While jab isn’t the only spacing tool you should use, its Link’s best way to keep opponents at bay. Spacing is key to using Link’s disjointed attacks; you need to know the distance between you and your opponents to ensure you can be as safe as possible. Here is an example of how spacing is very useful to Link: as some of you may know Snake has some pretty unusual hit boxes that cover a huge range. His U-Tilt covers a lot of range around him, but if you space Link’s F-tilt and jab correctly, you can hit him from outside of his U-Tilt range.
A good thing to do with your jabs is to Jab Cancel, for those who don’t know what that is refer to Link’s AT section. Jab Cancelling will let Link do another ground attack, such as Dsmash , Fsmash, Utilt, Ftilt, etc. This is great for mix-ups, sometimes an opponent may drop their shield too early thinking you’re going to do a Jab 3 yet you did Fsmash which takes longer to get out. Other times if your opponent is trying to shield everything you do you can jab cancel into a grab to grab them out of their attempt of shielding. This is a great tool for Link; he can use this to mix up his attacks to make it more of a guessing game with what Link will do. Mixing it up is quite important to ensure you are much safer with your moves. Regardless of what character you are fighting, if an opponent can see a pattern in how you perform, they can figure out a counter measure to what you’re doing and punish you.
Mixing up is quite important to keep your opponent in a guessing game. Sometimes what is normally the best option isn’t always what you should do. In most situations, when Link is going for a kill, D-Smash is the most liked option, this isn’t however, what Link’s should always do in this situation. When you make it apparent what your best killing option is and how you use it, players will do what they can to avoid those situations. This is where mix ups are most important. Link, as we know, is slow with the start up and ending of moves; this is one of his weaknesses in exchange for his damage output. Mixing things up makes it so you're much less punishable.
*3: Link’s Aerial Game-
*3a: Link’s Aerial Attacks-
N-air
F-air
B-air
D-air
U-air
Z-air
Up+B air
*3aa: Link’s Aerial Attack Damage Guide-
*3ab: Link’s Aerial Attack Frame Data-
N-air
Hits on frame 7
F-air 1
Hits on frame 14
F-air 2
Hits on frame 26
B-air 1
Hits on frame 6
B-air 2
Hits on frame 18
D-air
Hits on frame 14
D-air 2
Hits on frame 44
U-air
Hits on frame 11
Zair 1
Hits on frame 11
Zair 2
Hits on frame 28
Up+B: air 1
Hits on frame 8
Up+B: air 2
Hits on frame 16
Up+B: air 3
Hits on frame 22
Up+B: air 4
Hits on frame 31
Up+B: air 5
Hits on frame 47
Air Dodge
Invincibility starts at 4
Ends at 29
49
2nd jump
Can be done on frame 8
*3ac: Link’s Aerial Attack Hitbox Guide-
*3b: Link’s Aerial Game Overview-
*4: Link’s Projectile Game-
*4a: Link’s Projectiles-
Bomb
Boomerang
Bow
*4aa: Link’s Projectile Damage Guide-
*4ab: Link’s Projectile Frame Data-
Bomb
Hits on frame 8
Boomerang
Hits on frame 27
Bow
Hits on frame 18
*4ac: Link’s Projectile Hitbox Guide-
*4b: Link’s Projectile Game Overview-
*5: Strategies, Advanced Techniques and Tactics-
*5a: Playstyles-
*5aa: Focus on Opponent-
*5aaa: Defensively Aggressive-
“Bait and Switch” Links base their strategy in the heart of yomi: outthinking the opponent; they will do whatever they think the opponent doesn’t think they will do, even if under normal circumstances the particular strategy they are employing would never work. BaS Links revert to extreme mindgames and over-the-top ATs in one scenario, and do an oversimplified aggressive or defense strategy in the next. This elaborate mindset is simply there to “bait” an opponent and make them think the Link will do something he will not. The Link will then “switch” him for his mistake. The “Bait and Switch” Link makes the foe think he has something going for him, then will completely turn that idea on his head.
These Links focus on keeping pressure on the opponent at all times during the match, and often revert into mindless strategies, such as spamming or using Z-air to aggravate an opponent while the BaS analyzes them and decides on his next course of action.
They hate being outthought. An opponent who manages to predict and bait their strategy will find himself subject to almost aggravatingly repetitive F-Smashes, Up+Bs, and other one-hit spacing moves while the “Bait and Switch” Link tries to move into a position where he can begin setting up his layers of mindgames again.
*5aab: Aggressively Defensive-
Plays defensively to force opponent to mess up, then puts in an aggressive attack, then plays defensively again.
Where the Defensive Aggressive style was based on learning the opponent’s playstyle and exploiting its overall weaknesses, the Aggressive Defensive style focuses more on exploiting the smaller momentary chinks and lapses of the opponent. They constantly keep pressure on the opponent, keeping just out of range, until the opponent makes a mistake. The AggroDef Link, having kept close to the opponent through this time, then moves forward to punish his mistake.
*5ab: Focus on Self-
*5aba: Aggressive-
The focus of the Aggressive Link is to intimidate the opponent and throw them off balance so that the Aggressive player can run right over them. An Aggressive player may even appear meek or intimidated so that an opponent will enter the game with an “altered mindset” and be unprepared for the aggressiveness they will be subject to.
A huge part of the aggressive playstyle is to keep the opponent one or two steps behind the Aggressive Link. The particular strategy this particular style can employ could be complicated or simple, systematic or mindless, so long as the opponent can’t keep up.
Aggressive Links will only spam projectiles so that they can get close to the opponent or to regain their composure from a bad rush.
*5abb: Defensive-
Defensive players would rather spam projectiles and avoid direct contact with the enemy, operating under the philosophy that the best place to be is where there is no chance of being hit. Defensive players use their bombs to set up screens if an opponent is making it through their spam game, and also use the boomerang’s gale effect to knock the opponent off of balance for a split second while the Defensive player retreats. An approaching opponent always has to be careful, because of the variety of tricky options the Defensive player will employ to stagger the opponent and run away. The Link will thoroughly abuse Z-air and jabs if their opponent is too close for comfort, and the opponent often will find Defensive Links to drive them insane and call them “scrubby” or “cheap.” These Links always look to control the high ground of a playing field, since that favors their projectiles incredibly well.
Defensive players will wait until extremely high percentages to go for the kill. They would rather wait for the opponent to come to them, and use a well-placed U-Smash, D-Smash, and an occasional Up+B to finish off the opponent. They will only move in for the kill when they see a perfectly clear chance for doing so. They often resort to long-range DACs to kill the opponent and throw them off balance. Because Defensive Links use the “long range” version of DACs and bombslides so often, they may struggle to pull of short range DACs and completely overshoot their opponent in situations where a short or middle range DAC was needed.
*5b: Advanced Techniques-
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=7755251&highlight=advanced#post7755251
*5c: Tactics-
*5ca: Shield Pressure-
*5cb: Zoning-
*5cc: Spacing-
*5cd: Recovering-
To be frank, Link’s recovery is horrible. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. It has little horizontal or vertical distance. His Z-Air has an extremely short range. His only aid is found in bombs. Keep a bomb in hand, especially at higher percentages, when you suspect your opponent is going in for the kill; held bombs can explode giving both a vertical and horizontal boost (with DI), as well as supply Link with a second Up+B.
Link needs to DI either UP or INTO the stage to prepare for a zair whiplash recovery. If a Link DIs sideways or down and fails to whiplash, Link is in an unwinnable position. UpB lacks the range, horizontally and vertically, to make it past the ledge; the opponent can easily edgehog to prevent that recovery. Z-Air becomes useless in such a position. Using the boomerang to prevent the edgehog gives up Link’s chance to recover, and the boomerang rarely hits the opponent anyways.
So from this position Link simply can’t recover. A competent opponent has no excuse for letting Link back onto the stage.
*6: Useful “Links”-
*6a: Videos-
Linkaggedon- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ids3nhCgzRg
Enter the Triforce- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhAag4nbOKA
The Art of Link- http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=V0u3sUOShcI
Things you should know about Directional Influence- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hQIy...eature=related
*6b: Threads-
Link Question and Answer Thread- http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=220108
Link Match-up Thread- http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=238287
Link's Advanced Techniques- http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=7755251&highlight=advanced#post7755251
*7: Credits and special thanks-
Anonano:
Link Boards Moderator, tactical specialist
Xyro:
Move snapshots, move damage guide, move frame data
Ndayday:
Move damage guide
Blubba_Pinecone:
Aerial specialist
Kirin Blaze:
Projectile specialist, match-up thread
Red Ryu:
Ground specialist, match-up discussion thread
*8: Version History-
v0.2: 'The Skin' : 9-24-09
v0.4: 'I'm Just Getting Started' : 9-25-09
v0.5: 'Whoa! We're half way there!' : 10-8-09
v0.6: 'Whoa! Livin' on a prayer!' : 10-12-09
v0.62 'Take my hand!' : 10-13-09
v0.69 'We'll make it, I swear!" : -10-13-09
[This guide brought to you by the Link Back Room]
