Q&A The Rosalina Q&A Thread

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

To add on to icraq's post she's the 5th lightest character in the game while having a massive hurtbox.

She's also not that great at landing since she only really has her double jump and air dodge, while other characters such as Sheik, Diddy, Meta Knight, Pikachu, etc can use their other recovery moves to get back down to the ground

Simply put, while Rosalina's recovery may be very large in length, it is flawed in that she's a slow faller, and Launch Star doesn't deal any damage at all. As such, Rosalina will often find herself having to stay above her opponent, and then fastfall if she expects to fully recover. Alternatively, Rosalina can just aim for a ledge to avoid any edge-guard attempts.

On a side note, Launch Star Attack can be used to damage opponents while recovering, but you are sacrificing travel distance, and Rosalina's aerial momentum takes a massive plummet when Launch Star Attack is finished. As such, it's much less effective for recovery than the standard Launch Star, which doesn't mess up Rosalina's aerial momentum.

 

[Kaffei]

Simply put, while Rosalina's recovery may be very large in length, it is flawed in that she's a slow faller, and Launch Star doesn't deal any damage at all. As such, Rosalina will often find herself having to stay above her opponent, and then fastfall if she expects to fully recover. Alternatively, Rosalina can just aim for a ledge to avoid any edge-guard attempts.

On a side note, Launch Star Attack can be used to damage opponents while recovering, but you are sacrificing travel distance, and Rosalina's aerial momentum takes a massive plummet when Launch Star Attack is finished. As such, it's much less effective for recovery than the standard Launch Star, which doesn't mess up Rosalina's aerial momentum.

I think just the regular Launch Star is fine, the distance on it is massive you can usually maneuver in ways to make your opponent think you'll take a certain angle but then go a completely different angle, even more so if you still have your double jump

 

[darkspatan117]

I'm having some trouble when I'm facing Roy he's very strong and seems to be able to get rid of Luma pretty easily. Is there any tips I have to know for that matchup ?

 

[Roy Renard]

Hi, so I'm a Duck Hunt and Olimar main, but I've recently decided to take a "top tier" secondary, just in case I'm having trouble with a very bad matchup, and out of all the options, I think Rosalina is the one that matches my style better, being a zoning-heavy character, and me also being familiar with characters that have assist-like features (Olimar's Pikmin and Duck Hunt's can and gunners). I've been her using a couple of times every time I can in order to "train" her, but since I'm still not that used with her overall options, I'd like to hear from longtime Rosa mains some tips and suggestions about her playstyle.
I understand that, as Rosalina, you want your opponent to be up in the air, as your juggling game is one of the best in the game (if not the best), so basically you need to rack up as much damage as you can with up-airs and up smashes, baiting airdodges and trapping landings, and stuff. However, I normally struggle when in neutral, as I'm used to have something to throw at my opponents and force approaches, but Rosalina doesn't really have a tool like Olimar's Pikmin or DH's projectiles... so I don't really know what my neutral game should be about or how to approach at all. Also, when facing rushdown characters, such as Sheik or Captain Falcon, I don't really know what's my best option for a "get out of here!"/panic move in order to recover some space (such as Duck Hunt's neutral B, which you can spam when getting comboed or in trouble and blast your way out). Are down tilt and jab the best panic moves Rosa has? Also, what are her best landing options to avoid getting juggled or landtrapped? Is it a good idea to try and land with d-air, seeing how it has such a great hitbox?
TL;DR: What should I do as Rosalina in neutral, what is the best way to land with her, what are her most reliable panic moves?

 

[MezzoMe]

Hi, so I'm a Duck Hunt and Olimar main, but I've recently decided to take a "top tier" secondary, just in case I'm having trouble with a very bad matchup, and out of all the options, I think Rosalina is the one that matches my style better, being a zoning-heavy character, and me also being familiar with characters that have assist-like features (Olimar's Pikmin and Duck Hunt's can and gunners). I've been her using a couple of times every time I can in order to "train" her, but since I'm still not that used with her overall options, I'd like to hear from longtime Rosa mains some tips and suggestions about her playstyle.
I understand that, as Rosalina, you want your opponent to be up in the air, as your juggling game is one of the best in the game (if not the best), so basically you need to rack up as much damage as you can with up-airs and up smashes, baiting airdodges and trapping landings, and stuff. However, I normally struggle when in neutral, as I'm used to have something to throw at my opponents and force approaches, but Rosalina doesn't really have a tool like Olimar's Pikmin or DH's projectiles... so I don't really know what my neutral game should be about or how to approach at all. Also, when facing rushdown characters, such as Sheik or Captain Falcon, I don't really know what's my best option for a "get out of here!"/panic move in order to recover some space (such as Duck Hunt's neutral B, which you can spam when getting comboed or in trouble and blast your way out). Are down tilt and jab the best panic moves Rosa has? Also, what are her best landing options to avoid getting juggled or landtrapped? Is it a good idea to try and land with d-air, seeing how it has such a great hitbox?
TL;DR: What should I do as Rosalina in neutral, what is the best way to land with her, what are her most reliable panic moves?

Her neutral game relies on spacing and zoning, as such, her primary way of pressuring the opponent is to be in the right spot for him to respect all of her options.
To avoid getting juggled you can do a retreating Dair, but you'll lose space if you wiff.
The best panic move is to not getting panicked, that's never a good idea, remember that you can dodge high pressure by crouching.
For more about neutral, check 1:00:13

 

[Got4n]

I was wondering, how do you do a recovery but vertically straight? I can pull it off but only randomly, and sometimes I fail my recovery because of that lol

 

[memolol22]

Hello, quick question whats the best way to deal with characters who use projectiles for spacing, im having trouble against mario, luigi, megaman, zero suit samus etc, expecially when they come to me from the air, if i try to gravitational pull their projectile i get punished, if i shield i usually get grabbed, any tips to deal with these kind of players?

 

[Kaffei]

Hello, quick question whats the best way to deal with characters who use projectiles for spacing, im having trouble against mario, luigi, megaman, zero suit samus etc, expecially when they come to me from the air, if i try to gravitational pull their projectile i get punished, if i shield i usually get grabbed, any tips to deal with these kind of players?

Just keep using shield

Anticipate when they're trying to go for a grab and spot dodge or something

You can also power shield > dash away to see what they do and then adapt accordingly

btw dtilt blocks megaman's metal blade

 

[Roy Renard]

Her neutral game relies on spacing and zoning, as such, her primary way of pressuring the opponent is to be in the right spot for him to respect all of her options.
To avoid getting juggled you can do a retreating Dair, but you'll lose space if you wiff.
The best panic move is to not getting panicked, that's never a good idea, remember that you can dodge high pressure by crouching.
For more about neutral, check 1:00:13

Alright, thank you! But I still have some questions... what is the best move to use as a "stay away from me" option? And what should I use as my main spacing tool? For example, Olimar has f-smash as his main keepaway tool, effectively zoning out opponents with it. But Rosalina's options in that regard are not that clear to me yet... maybe jab? Although that's not as fast, in my experience. Also, I tend to abuse Rosa + Luma's jab as a ledge trap or as a way to keep people away from me, but it sometimes is not that effective, as my opponent sometimes just gets through it with a dash attack or by rolling, even though Rosa's rapid jab should catch them after a roll... so jab has some blind spots at times, I guess? What kind of enemy approaches should I not challenge with Rosa + Luma's jab? Or should I use d-tilt as my main spacing tool?
Also, what's the strategy when Luma gets KO'd? Should I just try to escape in order to wait for it to respawn or just try to play normally?
Anyways, thank you for your answer!

 

[Kaffei]

Alright, thank you! But I still have some questions... what is the best move to use as a "stay away from me" option? And what should I use as my main spacing tool? For example, Olimar has f-smash as his main keepaway tool, effectively zoning out opponents with it. But Rosalina's options in that regard are not that clear to me yet... maybe jab? Although that's not as fast, in my experience. Also, I tend to abuse Rosa + Luma's jab as a ledge trap or as a way to keep people away from me, but it sometimes is not that effective, as my opponent sometimes just gets through it with a dash attack or by rolling, even though Rosa's rapid jab should catch them after a roll... so jab has some blind spots at times, I guess? What kind of enemy approaches should I not challenge with Rosa + Luma's jab? Or should I use d-tilt as my main spacing tool?
Also, what's the strategy when Luma gets KO'd? Should I just try to escape in order to wait for it to respawn or just try to play normally?
Anyways, thank you for your answer!

From the ground, Rosalina's d-tilt is insanely good as a keepaway. It clanks or beats out a bunch of moves due to its disjointed hitbox and is Rosalina's fastest ground move (frame 5).

For the air, f-air is really good at stuffing a lot of aerial approaches because the hitbox lasts a long time and it is massively disjointed. Unfortunately, it has a lot of end lag and landing lag so it's not that amazing.

U-smash is also good at stuffing aerial approaches because Rosalina's head gains invincibility while the hitbox is active, but it has less range than fair and almost just as laggy



As for when you lose Luma yeah I think the best strat is to run away and play gay

 

[MezzoMe]

Alright, thank you! But I still have some questions... what is the best move to use as a "stay away from me" option? And what should I use as my main spacing tool? For example, Olimar has f-smash as his main keepaway tool, effectively zoning out opponents with it. But Rosalina's options in that regard are not that clear to me yet... maybe jab? Although that's not as fast, in my experience. Also, I tend to abuse Rosa + Luma's jab as a ledge trap or as a way to keep people away from me, but it sometimes is not that effective, as my opponent sometimes just gets through it with a dash attack or by rolling, even though Rosa's rapid jab should catch them after a roll... so jab has some blind spots at times, I guess? What kind of enemy approaches should I not challenge with Rosa + Luma's jab? Or should I use d-tilt as my main spacing tool?
Also, what's the strategy when Luma gets KO'd? Should I just try to escape in order to wait for it to respawn or just try to play normally?
Anyways, thank you for your answer!

As a keep-off, it's DSmash.
Your main spacing tools are DTilt, FTilt(needs perfect spacing), Nair (RAR version included)and Side-B, sometimes RAR Bair.
Jab has significantly less range compared but is unpunishable so you may mix-up by using it when you feel like it while moving around, in particular against Meta Knight, against him you just have to mash Jab1 and he can either:

1. Dash Attack, throw out Luma and get hit by Rosalina's Jab
2. Use Dimensional cape and other unsafe moves(such as Neutral B)

Jab is not a straight way to ledge trap but a way to pressuring edge options, so after positioning him you need to act reactively or pre-empitively based on your opponent's actions.
Also remember that if your opponent is onstage and near the edge you can pivot yourself and mash DSmash to pressure him, you need to give your back because Luma's DSmash has more range behind, in fact he always hits along with Rosalina.
Against rolls just DSmash on reaction.
And never sleep on DSmash's disjoint.
If you read an opponent going straight at you just DSmash
If you read an aerial approach straight at you UTilt/air.
If you precisely read when the aerial approach will come, USmash(if he is in range).
Dabuz covered the SoRo stuff in the video.

 

[Kaffei]

How do I deal with DDD Gordos when he lobs them so they bounce in place creating a wall

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

How do I deal with DDD Gordos when he lobs them so they bounce in place creating a wall

You can either use Gravitational Pull to nullify the Gordos, or attack them. If you do the latter, they can hurt Dedede right back.

 

[Kaffei]

You can either use Gravitational Pull to nullify the Gordos, or attack them. If you do the latter, they can hurt Dedede right back.

down B is not reliable when he places them at a certain distance

To hit them back your move has to deal at least 2%. Starbits is decent for this since it also covers any dash approach and knocks away the gordo at the same time but idk what to do if I don't have Luma

 

[MezzoMe]

The very first hitbox of Uair sends Godros at 45° downward.
In general just close distance between you and him, he has close to no options if he's in range, anything he has is fast enough to compete, advancing Nair is the best to reach that spot because all of Dedede's aerials and attacks that have diagonal range are too slow.

 

[SapphSabre777]

I found out how popular the Social thread over here was, so sending my request there was a bit of a boneheaded move on my part.

Could you describe the MU between Rosalina & Luma vs. Kirby? If you can, please give us your input on this thread in regards to the match-up with Kirby, since we don't have a lot of input from our side on the MU, as well as to get both sides of the MU. Thank you very much and my apologies for posting this again, albeit under different words.

 

[Jpluma]

I have to second the question about Roy. Also with most sword characters, especially link and shulk. I try to shield and they kill Luma everytime. Link seems to be 50 50 with blocking my uair with his awesome dair.

 

[MezzoMe]

That happens because you are trying to hit him with Luma's Uair wich is untrascendent, Rosalina's one is trascendent.

 

[vegeta18]

how do you set up the rapid jab that dabuz and fallin have been using as an edge guard lately. I think dabuz used it against larry lurr and fallin used it on his last match against nakat at ceo. Luma is sent out and bouncing up and down, while its lower luma does a rapid jab just under the stage while rosalina is right near the edge doing her jab?

 

[MezzoMe]

Just Neutral B>wait until Luma starts facing back and comes to the ledge>rapid jab.

 

[Nd_KakaKhakis]

With Luma Shot.
Shoot Luma, Walk Forward, Wait for Luma to turn, Multijab

With Luma Warp.
Start from slightly farther away (say right beneath a battlefield platform). Dash forward and stop, Wait for Luma to turn and Multijab

Make sure you are in a good position with Rosa and make sure you time the multijab perfectly for Luma.

Luma when shot or warped off stage will do the following.
Realize its offstage. Turn towards the stage and then start jumping up and towards it.
If you time it too late Luma will be jump out of position. Too early and Luma will be facing the wrong way.

-Khakis

 

[Eternal Blue Syaoran]

What's the best way to deal with Yoshi? I haven't fought many and had a hard time landing a kill on one yesterday. My normal way of dealing with characters just didn't cut it. Any tips on good ways to meet yoshi and when to go in for the kill?

 

[Nd_KakaKhakis]

Yoshi has lots of multi-hitting moves that can separate you and Luma and has the frame data on his jab and nair to put out hitboxes when you don't think he'll have enough time to. So avoid (not block) when yoshi is approaching you from the air in an advantageous position.

I would say your best bet would be to get Yoshi above you as much as possible. You can accomplish this by always going for jab 1,2,3 with luma rather than multijab (a bad idea anyway as yoshi can armor jump out of your multijab and punish) and then pressuring with up airs. Yoshi has no real answers except for a YOLO down-b which you should try your best to bait out and punish.


Look for commitments on the ground and punish with dash attack and don't let Eggs bother you. Absorb them when far enough away but don't fall in love with your absorber and don't let egg pressure make you get all jumpy, Landing is always tough with Rosa and Yoshi can catch you with a smash on landing, when he has no right hitting you with a smash attack in neutral. Its typically just as hard if not way harder for Yoshi to kill you in neutral as it is for you to kill Yoshi.

 

[Douglas-Vortex]

I don't know if this is the proper way to ask this...

But what are some tips for our lovely character?

I'm a massive Dabuzz fan, but learning this character is hard for me, as I'm always losing Luma, and eventually the match.

 

[Nadeko Sengoku]

I don't know if this is the proper way to ask this...

But what are some tips for our lovely character?

I'm a massive Dabuzz fan, but learning this character is hard for me, as I'm always losing Luma, and eventually the match.

Check out dabuz's guide and watch him on twitch, he gives tips and plays his viewers very often

 

[JonoLFC]

So, I'm a Falcon main who used Rosa for a fair bit in 3DS days and is now going back to her for a secondary, as Falcon has some bad match-ups with top tier characters. Whenever I use her I aways tend to play a Falcon rush down tactic and it feels stupid. Basically, what's the best way to change between two very different characters/play styles, sometimes in the same set? Hoping for someone who mains Falcon and Rosa for an answer if there is anyone.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

So, I'm a Falcon main who used Rosa for a fair bit in 3DS days and is now going back to her for a secondary, as Falcon has some bad match-ups with top tier characters. Whenever I use her I aways tend to play a Falcon rush down tactic and it feels stupid. Basically, what's the best way to change between two very different characters/play styles, sometimes in the same set? Hoping for someone who mains Falcon and Rosa for an answer if there is anyone.

Rosalina isn't exactly a pure rushdown character; she's more on the defensive side. The key to using Rosalina properly is to try to utilize her Luma partner to the fullest extent. Thanks to the Luma, Rosalina doesn't always have to charge into battle recklessly, as the Luma can do just that for her.

Keep note, however, that depending on the match-up, Rosalina might be better off keeping the Luma by her side at all times. Also, if the Luma gets KO'd, you'll have to switch to a more defensive game until a new Luma spawns; Rosalina isn't entirely helpless without the Luma, but its absence is a burden to her approach tactics.

 

[Nd_KakaKhakis]

Hey All. I was playing against a falco today and I had 130% of rage while he had 41% of damage. I desynched and hit him with a sweet spot luma up-tilt. Dead on Battlefield off the top.
Are there any good setups for landing a solo Luma sweet-spot uptilt? The first thiing that comes to mind are grab release setups but those sound hella difficult and I am pretty curious if anyone has any clever ways they land this crazy hitbox.

 

[Smasher89]

Hey All. I was playing against a falco today and I had 130% of rage while he had 41% of damage. I desynched and hit him with a sweet spot luma up-tilt. Dead on Battlefield off the top.
Are there any good setups for landing a solo Luma sweet-spot uptilt? The first thiing that comes to mind are grab release setups but those sound hella difficult and I am pretty curious if anyone has any clever ways they land this crazy hitbox.

You can allways send luma away, then jump and land with a move (so luma is occupied) and recall, and luma will get back towards you, uptilt during that time and youll have alot of ground covered with it.

 

[Gadiel_VaStar]

Any idea on an aggro Rosa style? How would this look like? And how would the gameplay be?

 

[Nadeko Sengoku]

Any idea on an aggro Rosa style? How would this look like? And how would the gameplay be?

What do you mean by aggro style? If you're looking to play Rosalina like you would Falcon, Sheik, or Luigi, you won't have the slightest chance of success. To play Rosalina and Luma you need to have 3 things primarily, above all things, which is Patience, really in depth character knowledge and Luma control. I'm not saying you can not be aggressive with Rosalina, because you can. Also if you look up some of the Top Rosalina and Luma mains in the country you won't have a problem finding a more aggressive style. Also contrary to popular belief, Dabuz's Rosalina has been really aggressive as of late so I highly recommend you check out his matches from CEO.

 

[Smasher89]

Any idea on an aggro Rosa style? How would this look like? And how would the gameplay be?

Check my uploaded for glory match (search for for glory, country Sweden) to get some inspiration for that, Rosa has some really interesting options when it comes to luma aggression.

 

[ElMoro995]

Is the fastfalled fair -> upsmash escapable?

 

[Parcheesy]

Is the fastfalled fair -> upsmash escapable?

I believe you can tech it ( but generally you can assume people won't ).

 

[Dr. Tuen]

Hey all,

Over at the ZSS boards, I've just been informed that her dsmash is treated as a projectile. This means that when it hits an opponent, she doesn't incur attacker hitstun, which makes her dsmash safe on shield too. My question to you is this: is Luma treated the same way? Like, if Luma hits and Rosalina does not, does Rosalina avoid attacker hitstun? I'm guessing if this were true, there may be combination benefits, or safety on shield benefits.

If it's known already, then apologies for the repeat info. But if not, I hope it helps!

 

[DisidisiD]

Hey all,

Over at the ZSS boards, I've just been informed that her dsmash is treated as a projectile. This means that when it hits an opponent, she doesn't incur attacker hitstun, which makes her dsmash safe on shield too. My question to you is this: is Luma treated the same way? Like, if Luma hits and Rosalina does not, does Rosalina avoid attacker hitstun? I'm guessing if this were true, there may be combination benefits, or safety on shield benefits.

If it's known already, then apologies for the repeat info. But if not, I hope it helps!

Soooo... we can GP her Dsmash and hit her with it. ooooooh

 

[Parcheesy]

Hey all,

Over at the ZSS boards, I've just been informed that her dsmash is treated as a projectile. This means that when it hits an opponent, she doesn't incur attacker hitstun, which makes her dsmash safe on shield too. My question to you is this: is Luma treated the same way? Like, if Luma hits and Rosalina does not, does Rosalina avoid attacker hitstun? I'm guessing if this were true, there may be combination benefits, or safety on shield benefits.

If it's known already, then apologies for the repeat info. But if not, I hope it helps!

Luma does technically have attacker hitstun, but it doesn't transfer to Rosalina. So hypothetically if Luma were to land a forward smash on shield, Rosalina might be able to forward smash again immediately, but Luma would still be stuck in the animation, desynching them slightly. Not sure if that example is true or not, but it explains how the mechanic works.

 

[Dr. Tuen]

Soooo... we can GP her Dsmash and hit her with it. ooooooh

Just tested it... it seems that you cannot neutralize her dsmash with your down b. Similarly, villager cannot pocket her dsmash. So... its only projectile property is the one where it doesn't transfer hitstun. Very odd.

Luma does technically have attacker hitstun, but it doesn't transfer to Rosalina. So hypothetically if Luma were to land a forward smash on shield, Rosalina might be able to forward smash again immediately, but Luma would still be stuck in the animation, desynching them slightly. Not sure if that example is true or not, but it explains how the mechanic works.

I was also thinking that if a Luma move (maybe fsmash, maybe something else) created advantage on shield, you could get a guaranteed grab combo out of it. Luma-only hit --> Rosalina grab

 

[DisidisiD]

Just tested it... it seems that you cannot neutralize her dsmash with your down b. Similarly, villager cannot pocket her dsmash. So... its only projectile property is the one where it doesn't transfer hitstun. Very odd.

that's disappointing

 

[Parcheesy]

I was also thinking that if a Luma move (maybe fsmash, maybe something else) created advantage on shield, you could get a guaranteed grab combo out of it. Luma-only hit --> Rosalina grab

Wouldn't shock me. Rosalina can already throw out lagless Luma aerials while landing, and a perfectly timed down or neutral air certainly gives you a good opportunity to either grab, or read their forced defensive option.

For someone considered a highly defensive character, she's definitely not lacking in solid offensive options.