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Welcome to the Maze! A Beginners Pac-Man Guide - (In-depth Apple + Melon Guide Added)

ptrk83

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I am going to upload a video of hydrant dashing.. Not so much an "advance technique" but definitely something Pac-Man can control and can use to his advantage if done right.

Also I uploaded what I could with the percents. I will work on the guide and tweak it some more in the next couple of days. If something is missing or is inaccurate please let me know! Also if you have any input that you want in the guide, let me know and I will put it in.
 
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Player-3

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Sh fair > uair is good cuz uair hives a boost so you get the full arc of the uair, can kick people after crossing up
 

Player-3

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alright, i just got home so i can type now instead of using my phone inc massive info dump

notable things i found while playing my friends *** 3ds for a few days playing wifi, ran into people like zero/chillin/azen


-pac man is good, struggles with sword characters with counter (because its so good in this game and his grab is so bad)

-worst grab in the game rip

-fair is really odd, not sure if i like it or not because it has very small hitstun so you get punished for hitting people with it while they're low %, but mid-high its very good for linking into kill moves (fair > nair, fair > key, fair > bell)

-back air is very solid, but nothing special, kills at good %s if you get the sweetspot near/off the ledge (~100-130)

-nair is amazing. fair>nair works great at mid %s

-dair is pretty good but has alot of lag when you land, great tool for edgeguarding does alot of % and knocks away with little ending lag in the air

-uair is amazing, my favorite aerial, when pacman kicks up it propels him upwards a bit which allows for good micro spacing, and fair>uair in a short hop is good crossup because the uair kick will arc all the way around and kick their shield in the back, and its so late that it catches people out of their oos often

-smash moves are all absurdly strong, dsmash is imo his worst smash because of very significant starting lag, but may be stronger than fsmash(not sure on this i didnt use it much) usmash is similar to marth/lucina usmash where theres hitboxes on the side that suck them up into the strong hit

-utilt is mediocre because the hitbox doesnt hit low, but if you can land one it links into itself/uairs easily

-ftilt is standard long range poke kick, but super fast and low end lag. very very good move

-dtilt is kinda weird, its good but i don't know enoguh about its properties to say if its better than ftilt

-dash attack is AMAAAAZING, it crosses up shields by itself, does like 12%, combos into uairs/nairs depending on %s and catches rolls very easily

-jab is good. funny stuff you can do with jab is if you have a hydrant behind you you can jab combo them, hydrant water pushes you towards and then you can get a smash/ftilt/jab follow up kinda cool stuff.

-key is absurd and probably the best move in his kit, throws almost instantly moves super fast and kills

-melon also kills, and moves very slowly so it allows for some mixups like melon throw > sh instant toss it to change direction to catch jumps or rolls

-cherrys are pretty useless except for the fact double tapping uncharged roulette will drop it out instantly so it can help you land

-bell is very very good, but key is almost always better in singles (but in doubles bell can be pretty crazy since it stuns by passing throguh and doesnt dissapear on one target hit)

-galaga ship is hillarious and i think it has alot of potential but i didnt get to test it as much as i wanted

-other fruits are pretty mediocre and dont do anything special

-hydrant is INSANE, it does everything you want, it throws a hitbox down to help you land, blocks land and pushes people near it away, but they can also hit it and turn ti into a flying hitbox to hit you, but you can do the same (combos ive found involving it are like drop a hydrant, walk away, when they get close enough throw a key at it and it knocks the hydrant up, hits them into the hydrant kills pretty early does alot of %, if they shield the hydrant bounces and does alot of shield damage) its a good gimping tool too, but i pretty much always had one on the stage to help zone so i could switch my fruits

-up b is very mediocre, tons of distance on 3rd bounce but better to not have to use it since side b is better for recovering low.

-side b is great recovery move, can angle it up to slingshot up, doesnt put you in free fall, also after pacman eats the pellet i believe he is invincible (?) for a short amount of time, or just has a property where he bypasses projectiles im not sure, but once hes in the waka waka mode he passes throguh projectiles from my experience. because of this it can also be used to follow up on moves like fthrow>side b if you think they're going to throw out a projectiles to cover themselves

-fthrow seems to have set knockback

-dthrow is similar to metaknights dthrow but slightly worse, but imo at higher %s is very good since it has a decent amount of stun so you can follow up or bait/punish pretty effectively

-bthrow is my favorite throw lots of damage high knockback to set up for pacmans good edgeguarding game or just to get room to cycle for a key

-uthrow has high knockback and can be useful if you have a key, since key beats almost every landing tool in the game since airdodge into ground will lag and it goes through aerials only thing that beats it is like... counters and catching the key (very hard to do but it happens sometimes and really sucks lol)
 
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ptrk83

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Great analysis!!! Yes I love hydrant too! My favorite of his moves. So much protection and shenanigans. Didn't know about the fair upair. I think the power pellet gives super armor which explains passing through things.


I am working with his custom moves at the moment. I won't switch out water hydrant. Too good. I just want to replace trampoline.
 

Player-3

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yeah i didnt have time to try out custom moves but if you can get rid of the trampoline that would be amazing since it does nothing but hurt him, i messed around with on stage up b's but running back into the trampoline puts you in the up b animation into freefall while the opponent running into it just gets boosted. really useless.

also it crushed my dreams of being able to throw hydrant onto the tramponline and have it bounce. this doesn't work and made me very sad

super armor would explain it wish i had more time to test but im out of town for a week now :(
 
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ptrk83

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I got all of his custom moves now. There is a trampoline custom that let's you up b really high, do damage and is great for follow up combos. Only can use it once though. . I am def using this one.

And Pac will be here when u get back :)
 
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ptrk83

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Extremely safe recovery strategy for Pac-Man on stages with walled sides. Wall Climbing with power pellet gives you way more verticle recovery than the crappy trampoline as well as the crazy side b ground priority . FD counters officially matter.

 
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Pacack

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Extremely safe recovery strategy for Pac-Man on stages with walled sides. Wall Climbing with power pellet gives you way more verticle recovery than the crappy trampoline as well as the crazy side b ground priority . FD counters officially matter.

I love you.
 

Nu~

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Extremely safe recovery strategy for Pac-Man on stages with walled sides. Wall Climbing with power pellet gives you way more verticle recovery than the crappy trampoline as well as the crazy side b ground priority . FD counters officially matter.

That is beautiful XD. Hopefully custom moves are legal in tourneys so we get the good trampoline.
 
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ptrk83

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Did more tests. This by far his safest recover option.
 

True Blue Warrior

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alright, i just got home so i can type now instead of using my phone inc massive info dump

notable things i found while playing my friends *** 3ds for a few days playing wifi, ran into people like zero/chillin/azen


-pac man is good, struggles with sword characters with counter (because its so good in this game and his grab is so bad)

-worst grab in the game rip

-fair is really odd, not sure if i like it or not because it has very small hitstun so you get punished for hitting people with it while they're low %, but mid-high its very good for linking into kill moves (fair > nair, fair > key, fair > bell)

-back air is very solid, but nothing special, kills at good %s if you get the sweetspot near/off the ledge (~100-130)

-nair is amazing. fair>nair works great at mid %s

-dair is pretty good but has alot of lag when you land, great tool for edgeguarding does alot of % and knocks away with little ending lag in the air

-uair is amazing, my favorite aerial, when pacman kicks up it propels him upwards a bit which allows for good micro spacing, and fair>uair in a short hop is good crossup because the uair kick will arc all the way around and kick their shield in the back, and its so late that it catches people out of their oos often

-smash moves are all absurdly strong, dsmash is imo his worst smash because of very significant starting lag, but may be stronger than fsmash(not sure on this i didnt use it much) usmash is similar to marth/lucina usmash where theres hitboxes on the side that suck them up into the strong hit

-utilt is mediocre because the hitbox doesnt hit low, but if you can land one it links into itself/uairs easily

-ftilt is standard long range poke kick, but super fast and low end lag. very very good move

-dtilt is kinda weird, its good but i don't know enoguh about its properties to say if its better than ftilt

-dash attack is AMAAAAZING, it crosses up shields by itself, does like 12%, combos into uairs/nairs depending on %s and catches rolls very easily

-jab is good. funny stuff you can do with jab is if you have a hydrant behind you you can jab combo them, hydrant water pushes you towards and then you can get a smash/ftilt/jab follow up kinda cool stuff.

-key is absurd and probably the best move in his kit, throws almost instantly moves super fast and kills

-melon also kills, and moves very slowly so it allows for some mixups like melon throw > sh instant toss it to change direction to catch jumps or rolls

-cherrys are pretty useless except for the fact double tapping uncharged roulette will drop it out instantly so it can help you land

-bell is very very good, but key is almost always better in singles (but in doubles bell can be pretty crazy since it stuns by passing throguh and doesnt dissapear on one target hit)

-galaga ship is hillarious and i think it has alot of potential but i didnt get to test it as much as i wanted

-other fruits are pretty mediocre and dont do anything special

-hydrant is INSANE, it does everything you want, it throws a hitbox down to help you land, blocks land and pushes people near it away, but they can also hit it and turn ti into a flying hitbox to hit you, but you can do the same (combos ive found involving it are like drop a hydrant, walk away, when they get close enough throw a key at it and it knocks the hydrant up, hits them into the hydrant kills pretty early does alot of %, if they shield the hydrant bounces and does alot of shield damage) its a good gimping tool too, but i pretty much always had one on the stage to help zone so i could switch my fruits

-up b is very mediocre, tons of distance on 3rd bounce but better to not have to use it since side b is better for recovering low.

-side b is great recovery move, can angle it up to slingshot up, doesnt put you in free fall, also after pacman eats the pellet i believe he is invincible (?) for a short amount of time, or just has a property where he bypasses projectiles im not sure, but once hes in the waka waka mode he passes throguh projectiles from my experience. because of this it can also be used to follow up on moves like fthrow>side b if you think they're going to throw out a projectiles to cover themselves

-fthrow seems to have set knockback

-dthrow is similar to metaknights dthrow but slightly worse, but imo at higher %s is very good since it has a decent amount of stun so you can follow up or bait/punish pretty effectively

-bthrow is my favorite throw lots of damage high knockback to set up for pacmans good edgeguarding game or just to get room to cycle for a key

-uthrow has high knockback and can be useful if you have a key, since key beats almost every landing tool in the game since airdodge into ground will lag and it goes through aerials only thing that beats it is like... counters and catching the key (very hard to do but it happens sometimes and really sucks lol)
Nice analysis.

Extremely safe recovery strategy for Pac-Man on stages with walled sides. Wall Climbing with power pellet gives you way more verticle recovery than the crappy trampoline as well as the crazy side b ground priority . FD counters officially matter.

That is a really good and interesting recovery.
 

ptrk83

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Gonna start reorganizing the guide.. finish adding percents.. and do general strategies for each move....

Also gonna try to put everything in a spoiler..

Added some of player-3's tips and advice as well.

Ok all custom specials are up as well. :) Enjoy!
 
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ptrk83

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Guys I will be at a NJ tournament with some big names today, Nairo, Nakat, keitaro, Max Ketchum etc. gonna try to go all Pac-Man.

Twitch.tv/clashtournaments
 

toadster101

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Extremely safe recovery strategy for Pac-Man on stages with walled sides. Wall Climbing with power pellet gives you way more verticle recovery than the crappy trampoline as well as the crazy side b ground priority . FD counters officially matter.

Not as broken as Villager's recovery, but I'll take it. Now I know which stages to spam. :troll:
 

ptrk83

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Hahah. I clutched to Yoshi and got punished for it. Sticking with PAc from now on. I got karma punished for switching.
 

Gene

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Guys I will be at a NJ tournament with some big names today, Nairo, Nakat, keitaro, Max Ketchum etc. gonna try to go all Pac-Man.

Twitch.tv/clashtournaments
It's awesome seeing Pac-Man's safe recovery option in action in a doubles match. And that recovery from the lower right half of mega man's stage was hype. I didn't think the trampoline would send you that high up. I haven't got the chance to test out his trampoline long enough.
 

ptrk83

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Okay Just got home. I had a lot of fun and am slowly learning character match ups. Even though I didn't win, I definitely loved playing as Pac-Man at this tourn. I seemed to have an easier time with the lighter characters than the heavier ones... and there was a Mega Man that was super campy (but in a fun way) that I definitely need to figure something out. I made a lot of silly decisions, like trying to go for key when the opponent can clearly attack me... or getting his by my own hydrant by the heavy characters who can knock it out in one hit...lol. It definitely was used against me a lot.

So much lab work is needed and can't wait to get to it!
 

8-peacock-8

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Did anyone see that Pac-Man can go beyond the boundaries of the stage in his final smash? Because i just saw a video where he did that.

Nice little reference to the original Pac-Man.

 

ptrk83

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Did not know that!

By the way. The custom move that makes the fruit do some crazy things I think will be amazing in custom tourns. Working in things now. Starting to like as well the exploding hydrant. Makes people respect it more give you semi free returns to the stage.
 
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Nu~

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Okay Just got home. I had a lot of fun and am slowly learning character match ups. Even though I didn't win, I definitely loved playing as Pac-Man at this tourn. I seemed to have an easier time with the lighter characters than the heavier ones... and there was a Mega Man that was super campy (but in a fun way) that I definitely need to figure something out. I made a lot of silly decisions, like trying to go for key when the opponent can clearly attack me... or getting his by my own hydrant by the heavy characters who can knock it out in one hit...lol. It definitely was used against me a lot.

So much lab work is needed and can't wait to get to it!
Nice man! Excellent playing. So who do you think are pac-man's positive and negative matchups and why?
 

ptrk83

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It is way too early to tell. I had a very easy time verse Little Mac Marth, Dark Pitt and Wario. Went evenish vs Dk and got destroyed by Mega Man and believe it or not Ganon. But I was making awful decisions vs Ganon.


Gonna update the guide this week and work on the bonus fruit section for normal and custom. there are so many unique things about each of them.
 
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Player-3

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tech discovered by @ Coney Coney on vgbc stream just now

after bouncing 3rd time on trampoline and leaving the red line if an opponent hits it they go into free fall maybe can gimp lower recoveries with it by leaving it there below ledge while they cmoing back on to stage?? it seems like it might put them in if they come from under and immediately drop them down
 

Bauske

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tech discovered by @ Coney Coney on vgbc stream just now

after bouncing 3rd time on trampoline and leaving the red line if an opponent hits it they go into free fall maybe can gimp lower recoveries with it by leaving it there below ledge while they cmoing back on to stage?? it seems like it might put them in if they come from under and immediately drop them down
I've been thinking about this too. Putting a trampoline just under the ledge, fast falling into it twice, and watching them fall. I don't have access to playing the full game yet, so I can't try it out myself.
 

Pacack

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tech discovered by @ Coney Coney on vgbc stream just now

after bouncing 3rd time on trampoline and leaving the red line if an opponent hits it they go into free fall maybe can gimp lower recoveries with it by leaving it there below ledge while they cmoing back on to stage?? it seems like it might put them in if they come from under and immediately drop them down
We actually knew about that since Pac's reveal. It's shown in his trailer.
 

ptrk83

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Yeah the problem with that tech is that the opponent can quickly realize what you are doing and gimp you easily by taking your second bounce. And if you got too low there is no recovering. I hate the trampoline lol.
 
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BridgesWithTurtles

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I know the standard trampoline probably isn't worth it, but just the ability to do something so trollish as gimp an enemy's recovery with it is too good for me to give up. I'm adamant on trying to make the default work.
 
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