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YaraNooki

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 22, 2019
Messages
11
Thunder: Used for stuffing approaches and forcing approaches. Combos into dash attack at short to mid range. Good against opponents who don’t know how Robin works and just run in. If you can’t afford to wait for Elthunder, throw this out.

Elthunder: Your bread and butter. If you don’t know what kind of charge you need, charge up to this because it’s useful in every match up. Offstage sniping is its obvious use, but it’s also an essential part of your melee game plan. Specifically, Robin often doesn’t have the speed to keep up with opponents who dash, drift, or roll away from her, but Elthunder almost always does. Opponent tries to back roll out of Arcfire? Elthunder. Opponent ate a dash attack/nair and missed their tech? Elthunder covers regular get-up, get-up attack and roll away. Opponent air dodges through your aerial and DI’s away from you? Elthunder to the face (or back). Elthunder is Charge Shot’s little sister and can be used in a similar fashion, or you can just throw it out there because why not.

It’s worth noting that Elthunder is the preferred charge level against opponent’s with reflectors, as Arcthunder and Thoron are often too slow and/or too commital.

Arcthunder: Used for prepping a shield for shield poke (such as with Arcfire), poking through a damaged shield, and setting up a follow-up grab. Best in situations where you are cornering/ledge trapping your opponent (consequently reducing the distance between you and minimizing their available maneuvering space) and for when YOU are being cornered/ledge trapped. Somewhat good defensively against rushdown characters as it forces them into shield and can buy you a few seconds while they wait for their shield to recover.

Thoron: Laggy and committal, but has incredible range and kill power. You can cheese people out with back throw + Thoron and forward throw + Thoron at low percents for free kills (not true combos, ofc, but will kill them if they’re sleeping). Can hit-confirm into it with Arcfire. Thoron beats out or passes through all other projectiles, which helps you secure kills against other zoners. Most importantly, it also outlasts air dodges; if your opponent has no double jump and they’re at medium % offstage, they’re dead and just don’t know it yet.

It’s safe only at mid-long range. If you’re fighting an equal or superior rushdown opponent and don’t think that you’ll have that kind of space, use Elthunder or Arcthunder instead. Holding Thoron effectively removes your other charge abilities until you fire it, which can be a death sentence in aggressive match ups. The only time that Thoron should be charged in these situations is when you’re fighting an extremely small rushdown opponent :ultpichu::ultpikachu: who simply can’t be hit by the other three charges. If this is your only option, you’re in my prayers.

I hope this helps.
 
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KatKit

Smash Lord
Joined
May 7, 2014
Messages
1,628
Location
The Sass Realm
I don't think the mind games of Thoron have been stressed enough. I charge and hold on to it to make opponents more cautious when their damage is high, then bait their shielding with Nosferatu or a grab. I rarely intentionally use it to kill, but it's a good punishing tool that can also be used as a follow-up to F-air, F-throw, and Arcfire.

Though more often than not, my go-to charges are probably Thunder and Arcthunder.
 
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Nah

Smash Champion
Joined
May 31, 2015
Messages
2,162
So does Arcthunder combo into stuff? I've heard people say that it does, that it doesn't, and everything in-between.

I can't get anything off an Arcthunder myself, but I want to make sure what the answer is in case it's just me
 

Nah

Smash Champion
Joined
May 31, 2015
Messages
2,162
Oooooh I see. I was trying to combo off it like in Smash 4, didn't realize that you have to do things from a bit further away now. Thanks!
 

Zareidriel

zuh-RAY-dree-ole
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
1,145
NNID
Zareidriei
I would like to add, I think Thoron is the best of the four in this game, even including the charge time. Thunder and Elthunder are both pretty great for consistent pressure and damage, and are effectively the same move, barring Elthunder's snipe kills off stage and the other numerical differences. Arcthunder does a hefty 26% when you land it; it might have more potential for combos at certain cast ranges (RAR'd S-bair maybe?) but it is indeed difficult to land against much of the cast. Thoron does a very reliable 18%ish (actually not sure in this game) damage that is much easier to land than Arcthunder, in addition to its insane kill power growth at higher percents and off-stage. I've found it tactically beneficial to focus on Thoron charge in many matchups.

Also I'd like to disagree with this:
It’s worth noting that Elthunder is the preferred charge level against opponent’s with reflectors, as Arcthunder and Thoron are often too slow and/or too commital.
only because reflected Elthunders are super dangerous and will kill you early. Against reflectors I'll usually go with Arcthunder since a reflected one is less likely to kill you, or Thoron to try to catch rolls, getups, ledge and air dodges. A reflected Thoron will kill you as hard as Elthunder so be careful with that one too.
 
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Zareidriel

zuh-RAY-dree-ole
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
1,145
NNID
Zareidriei
Mhm, I bet it's a bit different if you don't use Thoron very often - but unfortunately my desire to use Thoron is usually not met by my ability to charge it, except for late in the enemy's stock. I'd say I still use a pretty good mix of all four, leaning toward the easier to charge ones.

And you're right about limiting the opponent's movement, especially at kill percent, they'll often be forced to play more defensively lest you trap them with all them active killin' frames. I'm still not that great at landing Thoron (especially mid-air) but with practice, I'm seeing there are tons of openings that are pretty hard/impossible for enemies to avoid, and early kills to be gotten.
 
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Monkey4274

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
6
What I do is use Thunder into dash attack. Sometimes, I use Elthunder to get those snipes. Not only that, I use Arcthunder to forward smash for a shield break sometimes, but it doesn’t always work when I want it to. Finally, I like to use Thoron when my opponent is on his last stock for a very hype ending. Got to make sure not to mess up, though!
 
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