What characters have an easier learning curve?

[masterexploder9]

I'm new to Project M and I've never really been into competitive smash before. I am, however, really into fighting games. I would consider myself decent at Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, which I know is a totally different game but I guess it still helps to have some sort of experience.

About how easy is it to get to a competitive level in Smash Bros than other fighters like Marvel? I know it took me almost a year to get me to where I am right now in Marvel. Also, who are some easy characters that a beginner like me would not have a hard time main-ing? I really enjoy Pikachu and a few others, but not sure who I should put my time towards.

 

[AceSox]

I personally find falco to be a easy to play hard to master type of character. Has a few easy tech things you can start with and keep moving on up at your own pace. You can switch to Fox and do pretty well too after getting good. I'm not a competitive player or anything though so hopeful you'll get some better input.

 

[andalsoandy]

Probably . He's the all-around character.

I'm sure some of the professionals can give you a better answer though.

 

[Tryst]

I would say that it all depends on your playstyle. For example, Some people prefer Large, Heavy, Strong characters, while some people prefer swift, Light characters. For example, I really like Sonic and Roy, because their playstyle fits my preferences so well. Also, Playing online if you have a pretty great internet connection (unless you have some competitive players around, unlike me) is probably you best bet on practice because of the few minor flaws in the otherwise awesome CPUs.
It would also depend on how long you have been playing smash before going competitive for your first question. For instance, I played smash my whole life (non competitively) and have made some very difficult bad things that I have gotten used to. (ex: Rolling) But yeah, Who your main is really depends on your preferred type of playstyle. The metagame is still quite small so almost every character still needs to be explored better so cycle through some characters and see who you think fits you best. Hope this helps! :D

 

[Tryst]

I would say that it all depends on your playstyle. For example, Some people prefer Large, Heavy, Strong characters, while some people prefer swift, Light characters. For example, I really like Sonic and Roy, because their playstyle fits my preferences so well. Also, Playing online if you have a pretty great internet connection (unless you have some competitive players around, unlike me) is probably you best bet on practice because of the few minor flaws in the otherwise awesome CPUs.
It would also depend on how long you have been playing smash before going competitive for your first question. For instance, I played smash my whole life (non competitively) and have made some very difficult bad things that I have gotten used to. (ex: Rolling) But yeah, Who your main is really depends on your preferred type of playstyle. The metagame is still quite small so almost every character still needs to be explored better so cycle through some characters and see who you think fits you best. Hope this helps! :D

[EDIT: Crap! Double post! D:]

 

[Xcite]

Mario all the things my friend.Simple and straightforward. Pit also would be a good place to start. Solid character with solid moves

 

[ShadowGanon]

I would say Mario and Ike. Both of them are pretty straight forward.

 

[masterexploder9]

Is Pikachu a solid choice? The only reason I ask is because I had a lot of success with Pika back in Smash 64 and Meele

 

[ShadowGanon]

Is Pikachu a solid choice? The only reason I ask is because I had a lot of success with Pika back in Smash 64 and Meele

He is pretty good in PM. I think. I personally don't know much about him, which is surprising considering how many people I have in my secondaries.

 

[La_Popo]

Mario is a pretty good all around character, he has nice combos out of grab, some aerial combos and even a projectile. Plus he's pretty good in PM.

 

[Tryst]

Pikachu is probably a good choice. :3 You can read up on him here: http://projectmgame.com/en/characters/pikachu He seems like a pretty solid (and Unexplored! :D I am super hype for people with newer mains! :D) choice. c:

 

[Pika_thunder]

Is Pikachu a solid choice? The only reason I ask is because I had a lot of success with Pika back in Smash 64 and Meele

I would not choose pikachu, he has huge flaws that newer players really struggle with, and talking with pika mains he got effectively nerfed from melee. I, personally would choose one of Melee's top 7. They will not get changed (except maybe shiek). I made the mistake of choosing Zelda and aperently she is getting nerfed hard core because of whiny complainers goes to show you when Melee's top seven win it's okay they're balanced but if anyone else ever wins morons flip sh*t, and get their way!

But ranting aside he's the seven I think youshould choose from: fox, shiek, falco, marth, jiggs, falcon, and peach.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

I would not choose pikachu, he has huge flaws that newer players really struggle with, and talking with pika mains he got effectively nerfed from melee. I, personally would choose one of Melee's top 7. They will not get changed (except maybe shiek). I made the mistake of choosing Zelda and aperently she is getting nerfed hard core because of whiny complainers goes to show you when Melee's top seven win it's okay they're balanced but if anyone else ever wins morons flip sh*t, and get their way!

But ranting aside he's the seven I think youshould choose from: fox, shiek, falco, marth, jiggs, falcon, and peach.

Literally none of this is true in the slightest.

 

[Generically Epic]

I'd recommend the following: for a noob
Peach- super easy recovery, great air attacks, good throw
Ganon- Powerful, focuses on fundamentals and punishing
Mario-good all around, learn to react to your opponent
Wolf- feels natural, great spacing abilities.

 

[Blade-Fox]

Definitely Mario for basics. Shop around for someone you find fun or fits your playstyle as well which I think you've found with Pikachu. If you want to play Pikachu, play him.

 

[Jiggle4Life]

if you want to jump right in with combos then shiek is pretty good or marth maybe,

 

[The_NZA]

If you like pikachu, play pikachu.

 

[Infil]

Examples of characters with fairly straight-forward, easy to practice options are Mario, Sheik, and Marth. All of these characters are well above average in PM, and they will teach you the basics of Smash (wavedashing and SHFFLing, primarily) without overwhelming you with crazy situational nonsense like a Fox or Falco would. All the stuff you learn playing any of these characters will be easily transferrable to whoever you end up using long-term. If you like swords, pick Marth. If you like being a ninja and frustrating your opponents, pick Sheik. If you like being someone with a little of everything, pick Mario.

 

[MikeHaggarTHAKJB]

lucario for sure

 

[NWRL]

Ike is easy to pick up at a casual level, but to play him at a tournament level you have to be able to QD cancel into every possible option (aerials, reverse aerials, grabs, pivot grabs, usmash), you have to SHFFL every aerial, everytime, and you need to know how to wavedash and waveland to keep you moving. He's got a lot of character specific techs that don't translate too well into others.

My votes are Marth, Mario, Sheik, and... Pit probably.

 

[zman804]

I'm genuinely surprised only one other person has said Shiek. Shiek is the most well rounded and simple character in the game. She'll teach you spacing, how to read DI, and she has simple tools for punishing an approaching.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

Mario is the most well rounded and simple character in the game.

Fixed.

Like, Sheik is cool. But people say "Everyone in P:M has a pocket Mario" for a reason. I for one can assure you that Sheik's playstyle makes no sense to me. I can barely even combo with her and she lacks a certain amount of kill power that I require from my mains. (Like seriously, look who I main.)

 

[Rizner]

If you like pikachu, play pikachu.

Do this. Realistically, if there's a character that has you coming back to play learn that character. You'll learn what's needed from them and for them. There might be more skills out there to learn later on, but you'll get what you need down pretty quickly if you already have your main picked out and start training with em.

 

[Kink-Link5]

This thread lends itself to foster negative posts and **** flinging, just as a heads up.

Who is easy to use depends on both what you mean by easy and what you mean by use. Falcon is easy to cheese with beyond an early technical gap if you have an easy time figuring out tech patterns, while Fox can go nair crazy and easily handle a lot of low-mid level players. On the other hand you have characters like Jigglypuff that require little technical execution and only require mental acuity -- high mental acuity, mind -- to do well.

No character is "easy" to use at a high level, as each requires the ability to adapt and outplay your opponent on a personal level.

 

[Empyrean]

On the other hand you have characters like Jigglypuff that require little technical execution and only require mental acuity -- high mental acuity, mind -- to do well.

I thought Jiggs only required bair and upthrow+rest...Seriously though, it's really freaking hard to master Jiggs, I always feel so helpless.

Like many have said, Mario is pretty easy to pick up, and it's possible to figure out combos by yourself. I also agree on Sheik. But I believe it's better if you take a character you want to play or you find fun than one you feel forced to pick up.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

Yeah. Opinions will always vary on how easy it is to pick up a character, because one man's Ike is another man's why can't I SHDL and waveshine goddamn it. Just play whoever feels most natural.

 

[JediLink]

I'll also recommend Marth, Shiek and Mario. Those characters are all about the fundamentals, and and you've got to know the fundamentals first before you dive into the crazy waveshining territories.

 

[burntfish44]

my intial response is just pick someone that you like - think is cool or whatever, and play them to get the feel

then look up videos of people that are good with said character to see which moves are stronger and to use more often and which moves aren't that good (rarely used) just to get an idea. Like i got my marth inspiration from Mr R

Then at that point gain a decent understanding of the game - know what SHFFLing/ wavedashing/ jump cancelling/ etc.

then either before after or during the technical stuff ^, look up some technical specific tricks your character can do and apply them ( before or after depending on difficulty, like short hop double laser on falco is easy but DACUS is hard, etc)

otherwise just practice - challenge yourself and try to accomplish something new every day you practice, like 'today ima learn how to wavedash' then the next day practice working it into your play a bit, and so on


As for characters to learn on, like i said my initial response is just play who you want to - learn pikachu in and out and wreck with him! Pikas a pretty well rounded character as far as i know - decent tools to handle most things
for speed>power:
I'd aggree falco is decent for easy to learn hard to master
for power>speed
Ike is definitely easy to learn - one that i would recommend. you can start off by just spamming smashes and special moves, but to get to a competetive point (certainly possible, 7th place PM at apex 2014 was an ike) you need to learn all of his technical tricks and such. Hes also deceptively fast if you know how to use him right, making up for the power>speed part

As for marth and shiek i wouldnt recommend them if youre new - but if you want to dive into getting good fast then theyre pretty good competetive characters as far as speed and control and some power too


But anyones viable in PM really - they regularly patch so yeah some chars are more valuable than others but dont worry about that - youll do fine with whoever you like as long as you get good at them

 

[deadjames]

Is Pikachu a solid choice? The only reason I ask is because I had a lot of success with Pika back in Smash 64 and Meele

Despite what many people would have you believe Pikachu is a very solid character, and if you like him you should stick with him. However, keep in mind that he is also a very technically demanding character when played at a competitive level and learning the game with him will be harder than if you were to choose some of the more fundamental characters that have been recommended like Mario, Sheik, or Marth. I'm a big fan of Pika myself and definitely think he could use more representation.

 

[Chesstiger2612]

Every character is solid in PM, never choose someone because of tier list, it might change with the next update. Play the character you like most :D
As for Pikachu, he is a solid character, you just need to capitalise on as many edgeguarding opportunities as possible and get up-smash->thunder etc. Pretty much melee with better bair and QAC that helps your game in many ways. I hope this helps

 

[Time/SpaceMage]

So how hard is Metaknight to pick up in P:M? He seems pretty straightforward.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

The trickiest thing about Meta Knight is his tiny short-hop window. For a person yet to perform his first SHFFL, Meta Knight isn't a great pick - or an amazing pick, if you want to get used to the more stringent timing right away. At the same time, he suffers from poor vertical recovery, no vertical killer to speak of besides Shuttle Loop and deceptively long, yet limited range with his sword (Though it's of course better than no range). The only thing really newbie-friendly about MK is his nair.

 

[deadjames]

Meta Knight's vertical recovery is amazing, I don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

Meta Knight's vertical recovery is amazing, I don't know what you're talking about.

Not if he's too low to Shuttle Loop. Meta Knight has a lot of trouble coming from distances below the stage comparabale to ... let's say how low Marth can go while still recovering with a sweetspotted Dolphin Slash. His jumps don't give him too much air, it's easy to get hit out of mach tornado and he's overall much more predictable without Shuttle Loop. Hell I've even edgehogged Side-B sweetspots with good timing and that's one of his only options if he's knocked too low after burning a jump or two.

 

[deadjames]

How can he be too low to shuttle loop? He has four jumps and he also nado and dimensional cape as vertical mixups, not to mention shuttle loop initiates a glide which can bring you back from pretty deep.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

His jumps don't offer him a lot of height, though. They mostly sustain his height on-stage, where he gets around with fullhops and platforms. I do admit that I forgot about the D-Cape mixup.

 

[deadjames]

I've recovered from the bottom of FD using jumps alone with MK, just saying.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

I've recovered from the bottom of FD using jumps alone with MK, just saying.

I probably suck at timing them then.

The MK boards seem to agree that his vertical recovery distance leads something to be desired, though.

 

[Chesstiger2612]

Well he still has his tornado if you can mash quick enough...

 

[deadjames]

I probably suck at timing them then.

The MK boards seem to agree that his vertical recovery distance leads something to be desired, though.

I'll have to ask the MK player in my area what he thinks, I'm not super well versed on the character, but Idk his recovery seems fine to me.

Well he still has his tornado if you can mash quick enough...

It's not like it's hard, you have to mash way harder with the Mario Bros, and ICs.