Q&A The 'Mains' Advice Thread

[Spikezillian]

Can I ask help from everyone here regarding a third character to play? I like my main and secondary but I really feel like picking up another character right now and I have a lot of writing to do if you're cool with that.

 

[the_muffin]

Can I ask help from everyone here regarding a third character to play? I like my main and secondary but I really feel like picking up another character right now and I have a lot of writing to do if you're cool with that.

Going by your 3DS/Wii U mains in your user block thing, you already play a lightweight in and a middleweight in , might as well go all the way and play to round it out.

Or you could give us some details about what your play style is and what kind of character you're looking for.

 

[AJb1205]

I am starting to go into smash 4 competitive play. The characters I find the most fun to play with are and looks very interesting and I am going to buy him when he comes out. I'm not really sure what my play style is. I just don't like being very slow and I either want characters that can do a good amount of damage in a couple of hits or a character that gets a lot of hits and not hard to KO, because I have issues KOing people. I don't like characters with completely garbage recoveries like Little mac and ganondorf. And what ever character you suggest for me what should I have as my secondary?

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Best fits from the ones you listed are
Play if you're good at Street Fighter already.

 

[AJb1205]

Best fits from the ones you listed are
Play if you're good at Street Fighter already.

I've never played a street fighter game. And what secondaries should I have for those characters for their weaknesses?

 

[NewFoundAbility]

Hey guys, So I am having trouble picking a main. I like R.O.B a whole lot, but I am better with Duck Hunt and Rose and Luma. I am a melee player, so characters like falcon and sheik SHOUL be natural fits for me but they aren't, I just don't like the way they feel. So should I pick the character that is most fun or the character I do best with is my question? R.O.B = Fun, I can win often in For Glory. Duck Hunt/Rose = Not that fun, I can win most of the time in For Glory.

EDIT: Also, I forgot about Diddy, I have heard that he is one of the easiest characters to be good at, and Sm4sh is really more of a side thing for me. If I am devoting most of my time to melee still, is Diddy a good option. I have almost no experience with him.

I know I'm a bit late, but since you come from Melee, why not give Roy a go? A lot of Melee players love Roy's feel.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Well, Ness and Lucas are a pair, Roy and Corrin are rather similar, and Cloud is in a style all his own. So a combination of these characters should suffice, just be careful because only Lucas or Corrin will recover well.

 

[Spikezillian]

Going by your 3DS/Wii U mains in your user block thing, you already play a lightweight in and a middleweight in , might as well go all the way and play to round it out.

Or you could give us some details about what your play style is and what kind of character you're looking for.

To be quite honest I did want a heavy weight at one point, but the only one I felt completely satisfied with was , but he wasnt really giving me great results. He used to be my secondary so hes not out of the question yet as a choice, but I still have a few other characters I really like the feeling of using.


Out of all the characters that I play, I never have more fun with any other character than , win or lose. He's an absolute joke, I know, but damn throwing those clay pigeons and cans, it's such a troll thing to do but it feels so good. I'd like to learn some of the interesting tricks in the game using this character, because I know they have some untouched potential, so out of anybody, this character makes allows me to have fun.


He's my old main, and I still enjoy playing him today. Back then, I didn't always get a whole lot of outstanding results with him, mostly because I refrained from practicing PK Thunder shenanigans. Other than that, I still did pretty well. I know hes a powerful character, and I'm a fan of projectiles or long range attacks (as you can see with ), so I feel like this character does have a good feel in my hands compared to most characters.


He's fast, technical, and has nice throws. Thunderjolt feels so nice as a bait move, and he has a good running speed and he has enough combo and mind games to make me feel like he fits the bill.


My favourite sword-fighter. I like the early up b kill even though its not as easy as it seems to be, the aerials are great, his tilts and jab are awesome, and his neutral b feels crazy satisfying for getting that whopping 20+% out of it. Not much else to say. It's mostly the sword-fighter thing that makes me think hes a good candidate.

Other characters would be and

Oh, and when she comes out.

 

[Spikezillian]

I've never played a street fighter game. And what secondaries should I have for those characters for their weaknesses?

Well, if you decide to go with the route, you could try a character that can fight up close and personal. I would say would be a nice choice to give a shot, the only flaw being he is somewhat easy to KO if you can't keep up to your opponent. Keep in mind, you'll be doing lots of damage in a short time with , because he tends to jump around and run circles around the opponent. Plus, his recovery is pretty solid, and he has some offensive edge-guarding techniques that can't do nearly as much.

Otherwise, out of all the characters you already listed, is always a good time, although that could be bias on my part.

 

[the_muffin]

To be quite honest I did want a heavy weight at one point, but the only one I felt completely satisfied with was , but he wasnt really giving me great results. He used to be my secondary so hes not out of the question yet as a choice, but I still have a few other characters I really like the feeling of using.


Out of all the characters that I play, I never have more fun with any other character than , win or lose. He's an absolute joke, I know, but damn throwing those clay pigeons and cans, it's such a troll thing to do but it feels so good. I'd like to learn some of the interesting tricks in the game using this character, because I know they have some untouched potential, so out of anybody, this character makes allows me to have fun.


He's my old main, and I still enjoy playing him today. Back then, I didn't always get a whole lot of outstanding results with him, mostly because I refrained from practicing PK Thunder shenanigans. Other than that, I still did pretty well. I know hes a powerful character, and I'm a fan of projectiles or long range attacks (as you can see with ), so I feel like this character does have a good feel in my hands compared to most characters.


He's fast, technical, and has nice throws. Thunderjolt feels so nice as a bait move, and he has a good running speed and he has enough combo and mind games to make me feel like he fits the bill.


My favourite sword-fighter. I like the early up b kill even though its not as easy as it seems to be, the aerials are great, his tilts and jab are awesome, and his neutral b feels crazy satisfying for getting that whopping 20+% out of it. Not much else to say. It's mostly the sword-fighter thing that makes me think hes a good candidate.

Other characters would be and

Oh, and when she comes out.

I can't really speak to any of the characters that you gave descriptions for, but is shaping up to be a very good character and is a strong choice. He's also a lot of fun to play IMO.

 

[C0rvus]

So, more general question; all of the characters I have tended to enjoy seem to have pretty mediocre or bad normals (their a button moves, tilts, smashes, aerials). For context, I've played quite a bit lately. They either have poor range or frame data. Who has the best normals? I want a backup character who has good moves. The candidates I can think of would be . A good mix of range and frame data. I'm kind of sick of getting outbuttoned all the time.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

? Bad normals? You're kidding. I play him exclusively for his normals. The difficulty of his normals are that every attack has a sweetspot on it. Why not take him into training mode and test them out?

 

[C0rvus]

I agree that saying they are bad is pushing it, but when I play Lucas I never find his normals to be that good. They get the job done but they really never beat other characters' moves. They are pretty baseline.

 

[Spikezillian]

I agree that saying they are bad is pushing it, but when I play Lucas I never find his normals to be that good. They get the job done but they really never beat other characters' moves. They are pretty baseline.

With practice, you'll think the opposite. I've fought some where I can't do anything with any character. He is an extremely deadly character with the right amount of practice. With the right amount of spacing, positioning, and timing on your moves, knowing your moveset and your mix-ups in and out, you probably wont even get touched.

All 4 characters you listed as backup characters would work with , too. I personally recommend or .

 

[C0rvus]

Perhaps I'll reconsider Lucas. I'm still not set on a main, so there's a lot to think about in general. If I do end up playing Wario in particular, I think a sword wielder or generally spacing oriented character would be my backup of choice. Wario scratches that itch for tricks and mindgames, but his attacks are leaving me feeling hard pressed to press advantage or punish well out of shield. Thanks for the input, folks.

 

[Lavani]

If you like Wario, I'd take a look at Cloud. Limit Break forces approaches similarly to Waft, and you get the sword normals you've been looking for.

 

[Y2Kay]

I've been at this for a while, and the main characters I play are:



I've put them in order of how often I play them. I'm just wondering....is this too many? I mean I like having fun, but I would want to win. I have goals of progressinf my play, and I feel this overwhelming pressure to: "stick to 1-2 characters if you want to be good" and then when you look at top level players they're doing just that.

So I'm wondering if this view of "maining more than 3 chars. is noobish" coming from a conceited view, or is it true?

 

[C0rvus]

Nope, it's not noobish. Every player has their own goals and values. You can play as many characters as you enjoy/can handle. If you want to win, it is strictly easier to play fewer characters. When you play one or two characters you can really go in depth, learn their matchups and frame data, etc. Not only that, since you can learn this stuff for many characters. The issue is keeping all that info fresh enough in your mind that it's useful, you know? Also comfort and tech skill is easier with fewer characters.

That said, it's really up to personal preference. I doubt anyone will look down on you for playing 4 characters, and if they do that's silly as hell. If you can fit all 4 into your goals and enjoy playing them all, and you still win; more power to you. Obviously more characters can more or less make you very hard or impossible to counterpick.

That's just about all I have to say about playing many characters. You know me, I've got more than a couple characters under my belt, so I do have some experience with this issue. I try to keep to it 2-3 active characters though. That's just my comfort zone.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Just look at it this way: Nairo plays about 7 or 8 different characters, and uses all of them in tournament.

 

[Gearitz]

Hey everyone I would like you guys to vote on who I play here on my strawpoll

http://strawpoll.me/6613829

Thank you very much in advance for voting I will announce the winner here

 

[im just peachy]

Hey everyone I would like you guys to vote on who I play here on my strawpoll

http://strawpoll.me/6613829

Thank you very much in advance for voting I will announce the winner here

i think you should pick based off your favorite character(s)...
you shouldn't pick a main based off of what people tell you!

 

[C0rvus]

Uhhh... That's one way to pick your main, I guess. Half or more of the people in this thread cannot decide on their own lmao.
Are you not satisfied with Diddy and Ganon? Seems like a fine pair. What's changed?

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

So you're saying Diddy and Ganon won't cut it. Well after all, they are pretty difficult characters. If you want someone like Snake, then use or , no questions asked. But a strawpoll with THAT many characters isn't going to get you anywhere. Start narrowing down by testing them in Training. Those you like less, take off the list.

 

[Gearitz]

I just like so many characters lol

 

[bubbyq12]

I recently posted on this thread for advice, but in the past three weeks, I have realized that the characters I thought I liked (Shulk and Palutena) are kind of bad in my hands, and I can't win with them. I've been using them for a long time, and I think it's time for me to give them up. I used to like Villager, but now I think his optimal playstyle is completely boring. I also thought that I liked a defensive playstyle, but I don't think that that is true anymore. I need a character who has a good projectile game, is fun to use, is fast but not obnoxiously fast (like Sheik, ZSS, or Sonic), can switch between offensive and defensive playing, has a combo throw, and is a challenge (because I like a good challenge). Any character suggestions? I realize that all of these attributes might not be found in one character, but anyone that can fit this would be nice. Thank you!

 

[Y2Kay]

Has everything you want except the whole obnoxiously fast tho. The guy feels like a Ferrari

 

[C0rvus]

Hmmm...
I think Wii Fit Trainer might be worth a try. She's fast, but not too fast. Centered around projectiles. Challenging to space her moves and sometimes to get kills. Doesn't really have a proper combo throw.
The same could be said about Toon Link actually.
Greninja is a bit faster and he has a better combo throw in exchange for only one projectile. He's also pretty tough because of lacks options out of shield and his moves tend to really only get use for specific instances. Very solid character in my opinion.
Diddy Kong sounds like he may have everything you want. Combo throws, pretty fast but not ZSS level. Banana and Popgun let him play either way when he wants. Another solid high tier character, which is nice.
Other dudes worth taking a look at include: Pikachu, Pit/Dark Pit, Lucas, and maaaaaaybe Pac Man.

 

[Deleted member]

Just look at it this way: Nairo plays about 7 or 8 different characters, and uses all of them in tournament.

Not particularly. He only focuses on Zero Suit Samus and the Pits as his real serious characters. He hasn't used Zelda or Robin in forever, and only uses Doc in pools and as a PIkachu counterpick.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Not slow but not extreme, projectile power, fun style, combo throw, offense and defense, challenge?
come to mind quickly.

 

[MarioMeteor]

I recently posted on this thread for advice, but in the past three weeks, I have realized that the characters I thought I liked (Shulk and Palutena) are kind of bad in my hands, and I can't win with them. I've been using them for a long time, and I think it's time for me to give them up. I used to like Villager, but now I think his optimal playstyle is completely boring. I also thought that I liked a defensive playstyle, but I don't think that that is true anymore. I need a character who has a good projectile game, is fun to use, is fast but not obnoxiously fast (like Sheik, ZSS, or Sonic), can switch between offensive and defensive playing, has a combo throw, and is a challenge (because I like a good challenge). Any character suggestions? I realize that all of these attributes might not be found in one character, but anyone that can fit this would be nice. Thank you!

Everything except for a a projectile can be found in Roy. If you really value the projectile, try Luigi.

 

[Deleted member]

Not slow but not extreme, projectile power, fun style, combo throw, offense and defense, challenge?
come to mind quickly.

Kirby doesn't even have a projectile besides the shockwave in Final Cutter, which is pretty predictable and easy to avoid. The rest seem fine though.

 

[BlueX]

could be a good choice since she relies on projectiles.

 

[Y2Kay]

could be a good choice since she relies on projectiles.

Nout true really. Charge Shot and MAYBE bomb are the only ones she uses, but does not zone with them the same way as maybe tho

 

[Deleted member]

How had nobody brought up ? Great zoning and defensive game, has a combo and kill throw, very good aerials (especially bair, only real flaw is its short hitbox duration), I feel like he fits what you're looking for.

 

[bubbyq12]

Has everything you want except the whole obnoxiously fast tho. The guy feels like a Ferrari

I've tried Greni

Has everything you want except the whole obnoxiously fast tho. The guy feels like a Ferrari

I don't really like Greninja as a character (the only pokemon I like is Brawl Jiggs and I don't like her in this game). Any other suggestions?

 

[bubbyq12]

[/QUOTE]
I've tried Greni

Hmmm...
I think Wii Fit Trainer might be worth a try. She's fast, but not too fast. Centered around projectiles. Challenging to space her moves and sometimes to get kills. Doesn't really have a proper combo throw.
The same could be said about Toon Link actually.
Greninja is a bit faster and he has a better combo throw in exchange for only one projectile. He's also pretty tough because of lacks options out of shield and his moves tend to really only get use for specific instances. Very solid character in my opinion.
Diddy Kong sounds like he may have everything you want. Combo throws, pretty fast but not ZSS level. Banana and Popgun let him play either way when he wants. Another solid high tier character, which is nice.
Other dudes worth taking a look at include: Pikachu, Pit/Dark Pit, Lucas, and maaaaaaybe Pac Man.

I like WFT, but I'm not a huge fan of going off stage, and it seems like WFT does this a lot. Do I have to do this in order to play her properly? Any characters like WFT who don't have to rely on an off stage game?

 

[C0rvus]

I've tried Greni

I like WFT, but I'm not a huge fan of going off stage, and it seems like WFT does this a lot. Do I have to do this in order to play her properly? Any characters like WFT who don't have to rely on an off stage game?[/QUOTE]
Probably Toon Link. His offstage game is mediocre at best. Keep in mind Wii Fit Trainer doesn't have to go offstage, but she is very strong there.

 

[AJb1205]

Well, if you decide to go with the route, you could try a character that can fight up close and personal. I would say would be a nice choice to give a shot, the only flaw being he is somewhat easy to KO if you can't keep up to your opponent. Keep in mind, you'll be doing lots of damage in a short time with , because he tends to jump around and run circles around the opponent. Plus, his recovery is pretty solid, and he has some offensive edge-guarding techniques that can't do nearly as much.

Otherwise, out of all the characters you already listed, is always a good time, although that could be bias on my part.

is a good edge guarder in my opinion, PK Flash is what I generally use most of the time, and it's hard to read. Also I don't like

 

[AJb1205]

What I want in a character

- I like being close
-Not very hard to use, I'm not very good soo
- Does decent damage and has KO potential
- Good recovery

My issues

-I have trouble getting the kill, I get the person to like 100%+ but I sometimes don't KO

 

[The Goldenbrawler]

I'm in a dilemma, as I'm trying to find my top 3 characters/mains. So far:
- Cut, considered since his release, but is the worst of my characters. Potential pocket or secondary.
- On the Chopping Block, as I only recently picked her back up, but still get iffy results. Better to give her a fair chance.
- Under Consideration
- Under Consideration
- Safe, my "low tier" main for this game.
- Safe, has been a consistent character I've played since Brawl and PM.

Pros:
She has had a LOT of success in the competitive scene and is guranteed top 10.
He's a character I've gotten many a compliment from playing.
He's underrated and mid tier without question.
Cons:
She's overused and I don't have much success with her (although that could be rust, as I haven't played her in months).
He's a mid-low tier who hasn't gotten many good results yet at any majors.
Mine has proven inconsistent, I can be great at times, then do absolutely horrible the next match.
What're you guys' thoughts and advice?

If I had to rate them via percentage, like a bar graph, it'd be:
10-20%
40-45%
40-45%