There really isn't much to it. All his kill moves are just bad one way or another, this issue isn't restricted to his smashes honestly.
Uair: Only links into the strong hit while rising, making it unable to punish air dodges or even pressure platforms reliably.
Bair: For such a precise, laggy, and dramatic move with a glorified tipper effect... It's laughably weak. ZSS, Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness... Pretty much every quick killing bair is stronger than it. Often with better hitboxes and less endlag.
Dair: Laughably weak spike and being multi-hit means it loses in strength to a lot of raw recoveries.
Utilt: No sideways range at all. Not terribly strong either but is the quickest kill move he has while grounded.
The least disappointing kill move he has is nair, which had to be buffed from having 3 years of landing lag. But it's a frame 6 move with no range on a character with poor mobility so it's overall okay at best.
Then there are his smashes, which in nintendo's defense have been buffed... Just not in any really meaningful ways.
The smashes are the biggest issue though because yea, he makes large parts of the stage unsafe but the area he occupies is often the safest. He can't reliably punish idiots just blindly approaching him from the air at all which is dumb considering his design.
Main issues of each smash:
Usmash: Doesn't anti-air like a usmash should. Doesn't have lingering hitboxes in the air and more likely to let people fall out if caught in the air.
Dsmash: Hitboxes are waaaay too small and the animation is waaaaay too long for this pathetically weak move with an awkward trajectory that disallows it from killing as soon as most others.
Fsmash: Random angles make it just not worth using. Also, the longer you charge it, the bigger the deadzone in front of DHD is. Exacerbating the idiotic approach issue.
Sorry, I was looking for more of a discussion of Duck Hunt's matchups and his outlook on the metagame environment. Mechanically speaking, I don't need you to tell me how the character's moves work. (And I don't mean that rudely! Hopefully it was a helpful summary of the character and their problems to many.)
Here are the overall hopes I have for the patch in regards to the game as a whole next week:
Normally I'd discourage lists like this here, as its a silly game that goes nowhere. But some of these are interesting and bold, so whatever. In the words of Pokemon master Herman Cain,
Fine: I'll play the game.
Sheik: Recovery
Her neutral and combos really aren't that ridiculous, it's just that they're mostly one-sided. There's no reward for getting past her amazing neutral because of her amazing escape options and recovery.
Bouncing fish should have more endlag after hit(specifically shield) to deter high recoveries more and vanish should go slightly less high. (Invincibility frames are fine. If she had less control over when she could use it offstage it'd be less of an issue)
This is an interesting perspective. I agree with the former and disagree with the latter, at least in the context of what should happen in a Smash 4 patch.
Even if I continue to agree with the braying masses that "it's the Needles, stupid", the idea that Sheik has serious fundamental strength in
disadvantage is sort of a unique (and true) angle. It's hardly news, but we spend all our time talking about neutral and advantage states.
ZSS: Similar to sheik, though less untouchable but more "touch right or die even though you were winning" Flip kick needs an invincibility and/or power nerf to mitigate how heavily the risk/reward of using that move after already being put into disadvantage stage is.
Uair + UPb also just doesn't allow a lot of bigger or heavier characters to even play the game. One of them needs a nerf or tweak. Uair is the bigger offender imo.
I appreciate the guts to say that ZSS deserves a nerf. This should not be a gutsy statement (at all), but it is. Unlike Diddy and Sheik, there will be a lot of kicking and screaming.
I'll play devil's devil's advocate though, and point out that Flip Kick and Boost Kick are
super sensitive dials. It would be
laughably easy to turn ZSS into a
utter trash bottom 5 character imo. (For comparison, it would meanwhile be extremely difficult to push Diddy or Sheik out of the top 15.)
Rosaluma: Luma's base knockback needs to be altered so it doesn't scale so ridiculously with rage. Jab possibly needs slight damage output nerf (functionally fine). Empty gpulls might need more endlag too. She's 95% functionally fine though.
Ding ding ding, all your answers are right!
Luigi: Cyclone kill % nerf. Makes rage a very unhealthy factor in a lot of MUs and the only consistent way for certain chars to win is gimp him every stock.
Like ZSS, it's sad that this is a gutsy, controversial position. I wish we could all just admit that Luigi Cyclone is pretty bullcrap and a simplistic interaction that oversimplifies the character.
I do think that Luigi might need some help if Cyclone got the level of nerf it deserves for Luigi to be a healthy character. He's not exactly tearing up the national scene as it is, and has a lot of known problem matchups.
Sonic: Safety nerf/Reward buff would be nice to promote more universally pleasing gameplay across the community and cast but overall pretty balanced.
I think that's a prescription we can all agree with for Sonic, but we're gonna hafta have a more specific plan before we elect you.
Ness: Mobility nerf on airdodge would be nice. Bypasses a lot of characters crucial area to kill and rage bthrow exacerbates the issue.
Eyebrow raise. Maybe I'm biased, but I'm seeing Ness just outside the realm of "needs nerfs", and a "mobility nerf of air dodge" is ambiguous, bizarre, and never-gonna-happen. I'd sooner nerf Pikachu or Fox--and I don't want to do either.
Ganon/Falcon: Less endlag on succesful upbs. Enough to retain frame advantage regardless of techs. Ideally, both of these moves should set-up for 50/50s for fairs/dairs.
This would give them a more worthwhile command grab while making their still very weak recoveries actually scary to challenge.
Sure; ship it.
Yoshi: Stronger bair with slightly larger/more consistent hitbox.
He needs a consistent air dodge punish. Ideally enable aconsistent egg lay kill set-up.
As a Yoshi-optimist, I'm skeptical.
But, if I was going to buff Yoshi, this is actually what I'd do. So...
Greninja: Better angling of shadow sneak hitbox to punish air dodges more consistently. Might need a power nerf to compensate though.
I'm having trouble visualizing it, and am going to file this under "never-gonna-happen".
Power and endlag buffs to Shadow Sneak aren't a terrible place to sneak the frog a bit more unique power, though.
Megaman: Slower crash bomber. Frame trap landings, covers his recovery better, and overall a more notable tool. (Akin to danger wrap)
I'm game. But what I REALLY want is one frame better AC window on dair: This would allow FH AC dair, which is BEAUTIFUL and just super fun.
Peach: Turnips semi-spike slightly offstage. Set up tech chases on-stage more reliably.
I see zero need to start giving Peach major buffs when we are nerfing the top tiers comprehensively. This terrifies me.
Jigglypuff: Pound very slightly less endlag on hit. Only safe when perfectly spaced on shield. However, less knockback and better angling for frame traps into rest or true combos into bair.
The frame data on Pound is so bad that you can just lower the endlag in general and get the same effect.
But please-oh-please, can we fix Rollout? (No bounce on shield, IASA on hit-bounce)
Pits: Alter arrows/throws for more consistent arrow follow-ups/kills per pit.
Sounds like a novelty/luxury change that we'd need more specifics on, like Sonic.
Shulk: Speed up airslash startup. Should be a more viable OoS and follow up/air dodge punish.
This is an interesting approach to addressing Shulk. Not sure what I think of it. Hm.
Lucas: Uair needs a stronger/larger hitbox. Character functions overall fine and has great potency at low-mid percents and very high percents but at regular kill percents just struggles to accomplish anything due to his very iffy set-ups.
I'm skeptical--if I were to make a list of moves with too-small hitboxes, I'd never think to put Lucas uair on that list. Yeah, it would make his favorite combos work better, but that feels like the most forced solution to that--why not just tune d-throw instead? Way easier and more natural.
If I wanted to make Lucas OP overnight, I'd just make nair SH AC. Done, ship it, ez.
But, what really needs to be done to Lucas, is to fix dair. It's a mess right now, and if it worked properly in Smash 4's engine would be a really cool move. Apart from a variety of hitbox tune ups, it needs to AC one frame sooner so it can be naturally FH FF AC'd.
Also, Lucas PKT/PKT2 is a sad joke and any improvement would be welcome.
DHD: Smashes need overall quicker animations with larger hitboxes.
I'm totally on-board. Key here is that I agree that for DH's design I'd sooner improve speed than power, in spite of his kill problems.
Bair should also be made stronger. Too high on the precision and endlag scale to be on the weaker end of the strength scale.
Now you've lost me. I'm totally okay with surgical bair, especially as long as it SH ACs.
Meanwhile uair needs slight fixing, and
Gunman need to have 7% HP!!! This would be a game-changer against Sheik, Mario, Luigi, Pikachu, and more...
Dedede: Gordos should disappear on weak hit. (2-6%) Only stronger hits should reflect.
I see what you're doing, but it's awkward design. Inconsistent behavior on an arbitrary, non-intuitive threshold is a lazy solution that isn't up to the standards of the game--even if it might solve many of DDD's problems.
A higher threshold is not a comprehensive solution, but an okay starting point. I'd make his fair SH AC; bair already does, so why not?
Roy: Aerial Blazer knockback increased. (Kills around 140 no rage 120% with from smashville platform)
You know what, sure. I can buy this.
Falco: On-stage falco phaze should start consistently setting up tech chases around 70% and ground bouncing for 50/50s into bair around kill percent.
This is the first place I'd start on Falco. *nods*
Dr. Mario: Tornado should give significantly more horizontal movement.
Ehhhh. Doc is weird, I'm not sure buy this. I'd sooner be boring-but-unique and continue doubling down on his power and weird angles.
Ryu has set a new bar for dragon punches, and took away a little bit of the Doc's special sauce. I think it's very justified to sprinkle a little extra damage/power onto Doc's up-b, which is a notion anyone wise should be scared by.
ALL BAD GRAB CHARACTERS SHOULD HAVE AT WORST 50/50 KILL CONFIRMS OFF GRAB
NO EXCEPTIONS
I am not on board this train. This feels like a lazy cop-out; sorry Pac-Man.
Non-teched ground bounces at certain percents that turn into another failed tech should be considered a jab reset.
Ground bounces should have a set amount of "stun" to allow for better follow-ups.
Unconvinced on these two, might need a better explanation.
As far as I'm concerned, all mechanical changes are secondary to "no grounded spike techs" and "reset hitstun on floor bounce".
And, let's be honest: footstool-fall landings should probably be tech-able.
Revert ledge mechanics to you can only buffer ledge roll to avoid being trumped again.
I like this. It's weird, but it's the best solution to the current limitations of the ledge system.
Other changes I'd like to see:
Toon Link could use a little more reward, just a very modest tune up. He seems well-rounded as far as I can see, so for all I care you could slap a few more % almost anywhere and it'd be an okay proposal. *shrug*
I'd tweak Bowser Jr.'s rapid jab and slightly lower endlag on his unrewarding grab. I might see if (default) Mechakoopa hitboxes could be improved. I'd consider removing SDI ratios on Mechakoopa initial hit, as well as up-b. If I was really feeling cheeky, I'd add Deep Breathing style defensive interrupts to Clown Cannon, just because I could. (It'd still be a terrible move.)
Speaking of, I'd add defensive interrupts to Zelda's Phantom Charge, as I list in every patch notes wishlist. (It would become such a cool, useful move!) It's also want to fix special fall Din's Fire, if possible. I'd consider lowering the landing lag and/or increasing shield damage on fair/bair, so that Zelda can threaten the opponent and force reactions in more scenarios. I suspect these upgrades would boost Zelda's gameplan way more than people might suspect.
Just slap a little extra damage on Lucina smashes, to reinforce her limited reason for existing. It's okay if Marth is better. Whatever.
Invincibility during Wizkick. Done, easy, ship it. We know it's the best answer for Ganon from BBrawl. Also fix fair AC, because why not. Ganon otherwise seems fine, minus a trash default up-b.
I'd want to slap some modest love onto Ike, G&W, Kirby, and Shulk, but I dunno where off the top of my head.
Little Mac should be able to counter windboxes, and directionalize his counter attack. Jolt Haymaker and Grounding Blow should be safe on hit. Uair needs to SH AC to address his platform issue. In a perfect world, his FH would be one pixel higher, so he can transverse common stages properly. But at the end of the day, what LM really needs is a better-designed king-of-the-hill timeout resolution than the homebrew damage-based crap we use now. (For lack of a better alternative)
Link fair should FH AC. Beyond that tiny change, there's a lot of beneficial stuff you
could do to him. Adding a percent to bombs might be a fun start, but I don't know much about Link.
I don't even know what I'd do to Samus.
Mewtwo SH AC nair would be dangerous and silly but maybe worth testing. I'd probably test giving Mewtwo ONE frame faster IASA out of grounded and aerial Confusion. One or two frames faster Disable might be a fun way to weasel a bit more lethality into our favorite glass cannon. An extra % on the tail attacks is probably appropriate. It would actually be pretty hard to make Mewtwo overpowered in his current framework, so you could actually go nuts with all of his numbers barring Confusion timings.
I think Bowser is pretty bad, but he's pretty workable and a lot of his numbers are around this shield damage tipping-point. If you slap even a tiny bit more damage around his kit, he starts getting really scary really fast. Nair and dair are easy places for improvement, though.
Palutena needs modest nerfs and fixes to Lightweight, and a litany of buffs to various things. Super Speed needs to be default, but that's none of my business.
Miis I don't know well enough, but Helicopter Kick has got to get nerfed. Yes, Brawler sucks without it, but first-things-first. I'd focus my Gunner love on damage/KO boost to smashes and charge shot.
Anyway, there's the opinions you never asked for. Please let this inform and feed back into more tangible character discussion, rather than open up rabbit-holes of hypothetical and endless personal wishlists.
