The ol' Fair's not as good as it used to be.

[heypancho]

PKT2 is the reason Ness has style. Watch .Yoshi Ness vids and you'll see how to get PKT2 kills.. best PKT EVAR

As for Fair, I agree that it lacks in damage and I always forget to DI so I get shield grabbed. Thars a lesson right thurr though. Don't spam fair like before and change up yo game. I still do, but I found that, though it may feel like I'm winning with fairs I still end up not racking up damage as fast. Variety=more damage + less predictable. Fair is still good though because how the f are you going to get hit with a sparkle that big in front of you. It's really both defensive and offensive.. so really, use it like before ~_~ I don't care. Also, it can annoy ledgehoppers. I kept SH fairs near the edge and the tip always knocked them off again.

Also Ness' nair.. I always surprise myself when I hit with this, because I believe it's actually two hits so it's out there for awhile. I use this more often because it's quick too.

 

[Conda]

Well, most of yoshi's opponents sucked...

 

[Earthbound360]

Yeah I find I get the most hits with PKT2 when they are in the air above me. PK Thunder Shockblast FTW!!!

Oh and back to the subject of the fair, when you mean RARing it to hit rolling opponents do you mean running in the direction they roll and then RARing it as you pass them?

O_________<N
Okay, look at the above model. O is the opponent and N is Ness. > and < are directions of movement. Ness runs to the opponent.

O>____N__o
o is where the opponenet will be after a roll. Ness runs to the opponent, he rolls bhind Ness.

______N>__O
Opponent is now behind Ness, but Ness has RARed and is now facing them.

_________NO
Ness is right in range of an fair now.

The reason this works better with the fair is because it has duration. The bair does kinda, but its more effective with the fair. The duration helps because it can hit them as soon as the invincibility frames of the roll end.

And I dunno whats wrong with everyone. I really think the fair is still a godly fair. Better than Lucas. It leads into tilts and in the air, it combos very well. It has good range and even if it is a bit lacking in damage, it sets up for something that does.

 

[Brahma]

Fair is what allows Ness to approach so many different people with worse or similar range/priority. It's what makes fighting Metaknight possible and so forth.
Sure, Ness's fair may not be the automatic 11% that Lucas's is, but it has way more utility, vertical range, and chainability in the air. Heck, it's what saves Ness's recovery in most cases and what makes it easy to return to the stage with hardly anything to worry about.

Also, while the 3% hits may suck if you skim them with the fair, at least you hit them and can easily follow up with another attack.

This is pretty much my feeling on Fair as well. It's a great all around move.

It has great priority that cuts through other attacks. You can SH forward with it the DI back to avoid punishment. I use it as more of a setup move than a damage dealer. The pushback is just enough to put them in a bad position which Ness can capitalize on.

 

[__Crazy__]

Ah... Thanks for clearing that up Earthbound.

 

[NESSBOUNDER]

My major gripe with Fair is still that it's so easy to punish now.

I mean, if you use it as soon as you jump, there's a high chance that the first two hits will connect, then your opponent will DI backwards and out of its range, being in a perfect position to whack you just as the move finishes...

I drew a pretty accurate ink sketch on MSN to Aevin which summed up my impression of this move, but unfortunately, his IM doesn't do ink, so I had to scrap it. I'mma redraw it and post it here and that should clear some stuff up.

 

[thesage]

If you use it towards the end of your jump you can hit with something like a u-smash afterwards.