Ultimate ROB is miles better than Smash 4 ROB

[Jee412]

https://ibb.co/ScY5LW5

I have been playing exclusively ROB since the launch of Ultimate and I gotta say, as a Veteran player of ROB in Smash 4 thinking he was Tier A, in this game he is even better.

I sit at a solid 1 038 000 GSP right now and it doesn't look like comming down. (it went up since the photo)

I wonder if I should at some point start a Youtube channel or a Twitch dedicated to ROB, because I think that I have some knowledge to share on our favorite little Robot.

Any thoughts ?

 

[Gotmilk0112]

Yeah, the only downgrade is that you can't set up ledge traps with gyro anymore, but pretty much everything else is buffed.

 

[Jee412]

There a trap you can setup that's pretty ez. Let's say you've send your opoonent off stage at the right. Just face toward the stage (left) when someone off stage, z drop it on the stage where he would get up normally or attacking, then he is gonna get send towards the left and you can crank up a meaty Up-Smash, it's a true combo. Might me a bit predictable but in the heat of the battle a lot of people fall for it.

 

[Gotmilk0112]

There a trap you can setup that's pretty ez. Let's say you've send your opoonent off stage at the right. Just face toward the stage (left) when someone off stage, z drop it on the stage where he would get up normally or attacking, then he is gonna get send towards the left and you can crank up a meaty Up-Smash, it's a true combo. Might me a bit predictable but in the heat of the battle a lot of people fall for it.

....I know how to do it. I did it all of Smash 4. It doesn't seem to be possible in Ultimate now, the gyro knockback is too much.

 

[Jee412]

Well today I think I landed it 3-4 times without any problems, no need to take it personally, I explain it for newcomers of SmashBoard. The knockback is greater yes, but you just have to guess where they gonna land (if they dont tech it). I can guarantee it works.

 

[Diem]

Yeah, he definitely feels a lot better. Less leg for his aerials, a Side-B that's not more dangerous for you than it is for your opponent, and a burying down-throw, all while still maintaining pretty much all of his strengths from Smash 4.

I may not play him as much as I did in the previous two games, but I'll never leave my boy behind.

 

[iDareian]

If you make the R.O.B. centric content, I'll definitely sub. Can't get enough of the metal boi

 

[EGsmash]

I picked up ROB as a pocket character in SSB4 and he quickly turned into a main but... You really think he's better in this game?

I know he's got less endlag for his moves, but that doesn't really count since everyone else does too. He had one of the quickest rolls in 4 which has been drastically nerfed, and the ability to grab out of shield is also reduced, making all of his grabs less viable in general. He seems a bit taller too, meaning that throwing his gyro will sail over the heads of smaller characters like Fox where it didn't before. And the bury on his dthrow? It's so unreliable and far less useful than in 4. Given the maybe hundred hours or so I spent maining ROB in the last game, he feels positively weak in this one.

And RIP gyro to footstool dair combo.

 

[Crome]

....I know how to do it. I did it all of Smash 4. It doesn't seem to be possible in Ultimate now, the gyro knockback is too much.

I do it consistently in this game. Nothing's change, at least not to the point where it doesn't work anymore.

I picked up ROB as a pocket character in SSB4 and he quickly turned into a main but... You really think he's better in this game?

I know he's got less endlag for his moves, but that doesn't really count since everyone else does too. He had one of the quickest rolls in 4 which has been drastically nerfed, and the ability to grab out of shield is also reduced, making all of his grabs less viable in general. He seems a bit taller too, meaning that throwing his gyro will sail over the heads of smaller characters like Fox where it didn't before. And the bury on his dthrow? It's so unreliable and far less useful than in 4. Given the maybe hundred hours or so I spent maining ROB in the last game, he feels positively weak in this one.

And RIP gyro to footstool dair combo.

ROB is much more than projectiles, I promise. This game is much more combo centered, and R.O.B definitely has combos to keep up. You have to learn to box opponents out.

 

[NGW]

I've never relied on projectiles with R.O.B.

Yes, the gyro is a valuable tool, and I tend to make sure that I always have it at the ready if it isn't already on the field, but it definitely shouldn't be your focus, nor should the laser. His dthrow I've already given my opinion on elsewhere, it's better in some aspects and worse in others, whether or not giving up combo setup for a guaranteed KO at higher percents is a trade-off you like will depend on you, but I see it as a step sideways than a nerf or buff. Brawl R.O.B. is still the best he ever was as far as his air game is concerned, for R.O.B. lost a lot of that with them focusing on buffing him on the ground. Ultimate R.O.B. kinda strikes a balance between them, if you tend to favor one style over the other you may prefer one of his previous iterations. I do wish R.O.B. was as good in the air here as he was in Brawl, but I think the overall balance he has now leads to his betterment in general.

 

[EGsmash]

ROB is much more than projectiles, I promise. This game is much more combo centered, and R.O.B definitely has combos to keep up. You have to learn to box opponents out.

Oh I'm fully aware of ROB's combo game, having had to learn how to defeat Villagers without using Gyros. Some of his Smash 4 combos still work, but many more don't and there aren't really any new combos to replace the ones he lost.

- Footstools no longer combo into Dair spikes
- Ledge getups with Fair doesn't combo as well as it used to
- Uair only kills at much higher %
- Dthrow is truly punishable when mashed out of at low to mid %, and still unreliable at high %
- No more Beep-Boop
- Bthrow is weaker and doesn't kill until higher %,
- Uthrow is much harder to combo from, and impossible at mid%
- Using the dodge/shield button to pick up your Gyro from the air is riskier because if you whiff, you have more endlag
- ROB throws his gyro higher, which makes it sail over the heads of more characters than before.
+- SideB is a little faster and can work into combos a little better (especially offstage), BUT doesn't seem to do as much shield pressure. Smash 4 SideB could be used to wreck shields and get the final knockback hit with shield poke

Of the combos that do work in Ultimate, most of them you could already do in Smash 4.

= Dash -> Fair -> Dtilt still works
= Falling Nair -> anything was already very fast
= Dtilt still trips and can lead to grabs or other followups (ONLY if your opponent isn't jabbing out)
= Dropping Gyro still combos into a pickup aerial

I'm not saying I think ROB is bad, but what little combo game he had before is almost completely gone in this game. I know ROB was always a neutral spacing kind of guy and it's really not much different than in Smash 4, but it's a massive stretch to say that Ultimate ROB is "miles better". If anything, the overall systemic buffs to the rest of the cast overtake any advantages seen by ROB. Plus the new Dthrow is just... a really sad waste of hype and potential.

 

[DJ3DS]

E EGsmash I really think you're downplaying the changes to ROB here. I don't blame you for that, as I was initially very bullish about him too, but I have over time come to agree that he is noticeably better than his 4 counterpart. I'm happy to back that up for you.

+ N-Air has been massively buffed. It's had 4 frames axed off of its startup, which alongside the jumpsquat reduction makes it 6 frames faster (read: 1/10 of a second). This faster startup has been accompanied by a range increase, a better hitbox and less landing lag. It retains its old combo potential, and is now notably a very early kill confirm at ledge because it true combos into side B.
+ Neutral B sends opponents away now instead of straight up, making it a much better edge-guarding tool.
+ Side B is insanely strong now, edgeguarding tons of characters for free, catching landings, and being a devastating combo ender ROB did not have in 4.
+ Up B is noticeably better; it has slightly more fuel (you can cancel it 7 times instead of 6) and is both jump and airdodge cancellable
+ D-Tilt is really good now; it begins linking into itself at low percents as a true combo, and at higher percents (around 100) true combos into itself from a dash. You can use this to drag the opponent across the stage into an edgeguard situation, or if you have a gyro on the ground you drag them into it and confirm into a smash attack for a guaranteed KO.
+ Airdodge mechanics universally buff ROB perhaps more than any other character; his edgeguarding is now incredibly strong due to his quick, long-range projectiles and big disjointed aerials (D-Air, B-Air) whilst he doesn't depend on them to recover at all, and appreciates a mixup to his disadvantage which he never had in 4.
+ Increased speed makes him much more potent at tech-chases, namely off of B-Throw and F-Throw (low percents, heavies and fast fallers), Jab and F-Air (mid percents) and D-Tilt (high percents).

ROB requires a retooling of how you think about and play him, to be sure, but the buffs are there, and he is actually getting crazy results now compared to what he used to have.

 

[EGsmash]

E EGsmash I really think you're downplaying the changes to ROB here.

You're right, and thanks for the input on new ROB combos. I think I needed that.

 

[popemanz]

he so good I hear people unironically saying they hate him