Okay, here's a brief overview of what Palutena can do:
- Incredibly fast dash speed
- Jab can halt almost any approach
- Is invincible during dash attack / b-air
- Smashes are very powerful, high KO potential
- U-air has among the highest aerial priority out of any character's aerials
- D-air spikes if it connects
- Can space with neutral-b
- Can reflect projectiles with side-b
Usual combos are:
- Jab -> d-throw
- D-throw -> u-air
- D-throw - f-air
- Jab -> dash
- Jab -> u-smash
- U-tilt -> n-air
Now what you have to remember is that Palutena is fast on her feet, but immensely slow to attack. All of her smashes have high commitment, and if she whiffs them, she's wide open for punishment. Her tilts are also slow and easily intercepted, with the possible exception of her d-tilt, which is must quicker and has little endlag. Palutena wants to keep you guessing and keep you at arm's length until she's committed and prepared to fight you. But she'll always try to fight you on her own terms, so your job is to outsmart her and, of course, don't let her read you.
Palutena needs to read to be effective. She'll stay back and study your moves until she's confident that she can think ahead of you, and because her smashes are so powerful yet slow, she'll save them for punishment. If you play sloppily or predictably, she will exploit that and she will hit you down hard. She can use her neutral-b to pressure or poke from afar and get you to approach her, at which point she has a variety of options: jab is the most common one, as it halts your approach and sets up for her to grab you.
Palutena's grab is another huge point to consider when facing her. She has low grab range, but her throws, while not too powerful themselves, can lead into some pretty dangerous combos. She can d-throw -> f-air repeatedly to drag you across the stage, or d-throw -> u-air, which can kill at mid-high percentages. If you're off-stage, be wary, as she can spike you with her d-air if you're slow to recover - she has a window of opportunity when Junior is prepping his up-b, so be careful of that. If you feel she's getting cocky and trying impatiently for a d-air spike, you can use the explosion caused by your up-b to catch her off-guard and make a hasty retreat.
Your projectiles will be dangerous to use here, since she can reflect them at her leisure. Your cannonballs in particular are dangerous to use, as she'll see them coming and will bounce them right back at you, and she can gimp off-stage with her barrier as well. Approach cautiously, as her jab is arguably her greatest weapon, and beware punishment for whiffing your smashes.
Long story short: always keep on your toes and don't be afraid to punish Palutena if she whiffs her smashes. She wants to pressure you to goad you into attacking, then read your moves and punish you. She can be easily exploited if you keep an eye on her, though, and perform your own read-punishes. She may seem strong and adaptable at first glance - and that's because she is - but so are you, and you have just as many tools in your moveset to adapt and beat her.
If you want to practice, add me and we'll have a few games. I'd love to help you improve and figure out some tips and tricks for Junior while I'm at it! :3
