Q&A You Found the Hint Glasses! - Q&A and FAQ

[Natmax]

Hey guys, two quick questions, one link specific and the other not (so no need to answer just wondering if anyone knows off the top of their head). The first is that in a game I recently played with my friend Link vs Fox on Smashville, I, at 54%, killed him at 87% with an uptilt (both had one stock left). I'm trying to figure out how uptilt killed this early, does anyone know (I have the replay if anyone cares enough)? I hit him after he rolled into side smash.

Second, I've begun to notice that sometimes when I jump near someone's head and don't footstool, I'll sometimes execute a very high jump. I've noticed people doing this to me also. Anyone know what's up with that?

 

[FSK]

Hey guys, two quick questions, one link specific and the other not (so no need to answer just wondering if anyone knows off the top of their head). The first is that in a game I recently played with my friend Link vs Fox on Smashville, I, at 54%, killed him at 87% with an uptilt (both had one stock left). I'm trying to figure out how uptilt killed this early, does anyone know (I have the replay if anyone cares enough)? I hit him after he rolled into side smash.

Second, I've begun to notice that sometimes when I jump near someone's head and don't footstool, I'll sometimes execute a very high jump. I've noticed people doing this to me also. Anyone know what's up with that?

If he charged a smash attack or was doing a smash attack* he will receive additional knockback. If you couple that with bad DI, I suppose it can happen that you get a really early KO.

If an opponent is in shield or is doing an attack and you footstool them. They will not do the footstool animation and you will do the full jump footstool.

*More unsure if you receive additional knocback while being hit during a smash attack animation. But you do receive additional knockback if you are charging a smash attack.

 

[Guido65]

As link what is the easiest way to deal with ?

 

[Lange]

Anyone describe to refer me to some info on the throw combos Link has from his down throw and up throw since the patch buffs? Trying to learn those thanks.

 

[Fox Is Openly Deceptive]

Anyone describe to refer me to some info on the throw combos Link has from his down throw and up throw since the patch buffs? Trying to learn those thanks.

Try looking around a bit first. The Link boards are well organised and the important threads are all stickied. The OP of the meta thread and the AT thread likely has most of the information you're after as someone trying to learn Link. (fyi, U-throw doesn't combo)

 

[kxiong92]

Does anyone know how many frames of landnng lag does Link's aerial Upb has? It was not in the frame data thread.

 

[Fox Is Openly Deceptive]

Does anyone know how many frames of landnng lag does Link's aerial Upb has? It was not in the frame data thread.

30 frames.

 

[Direspect only!]

As link do you build momentum like say falcon or is it best to punish and back off so that you don't over extend yourself... Ive been playing him as a transition to maining pac man. I feel like has the potential to keep the train going though. The reason for tgis is because while his melee to projectile transition is clunky at best he seems to have the ability to safely and effectively punish with disjoints and projectiles. Any link mains have thoughts????

 

[Rizen]

As link do you build momentum like say falcon or is it best to punish and back off so that you don't over extend yourself... Ive been playing him as a transition to maining pac man. I feel like has the potential to keep the train going though. The reason for tgis is because while his melee to projectile transition is clunky at best he seems to have the ability to safely and effectively punish with disjoints and projectiles. Any link mains have thoughts????

Link isn't a rush down character. He needs to zone the opponent, create openings, exploit the opponent's disadvantage then repeat. As long as Link is in a position of advantage (like having the opponent in the air above him or offstage) Link should be proactive in getting the most damage. His projectiles aren't just for chip damage.
With that said, he needs to zone and create openings to safely go on the offensive. Link has to reset his own disadvantaged state and restore spacing or he will get juggled hard. He's too slow to be outright aggressive.
It's all about making good calls while maintaining spacing. Link does well with momentum but horribly if it's against him. Get the most out of Link's advantage but don't YOLO. Be tactically aggressive.

 

[Direspect only!]

So what should I follow with after a read????? Melee for covering roll backs and projectiles for covering in front of????

 

[Rinku リンク]

So what should I follow with after a read????? Melee for covering roll backs and projectiles for covering in front of????

That's dependent on the match up and also your play style. If you like being aggressive spacing with your melee attacks is the way to go. If you're more defensive/adaptive you can zone and space them with projectiles. Also keep into account on how your opponent reacts to certain situations so you can continue to land reads and punish them.

 

[Rizen]

So what should I follow with after a read????? Melee for covering roll backs and projectiles for covering in front of????

Link Twilightlink said, it's subjective and situational. Here are some options I use for example if they...
Roll back away: dash attack/arrow/bomb (all bombs are assuming you're already holding one)
Roll behind Link: Utilt/Dsmash spin attack/pivot Ftilt. Keep in mind some characters have long rolls that go beyond Dsmash range.
Air dodge: Usmash/Uair
Ground attack: pivot Ftilt/Fsmash/grab, Sh Fair
Ledge getup/drop/jump/attack: SH Nair/Dair drifting offstage.

There are %/position based follow ups like Bomb>Ftilt/jab/Utilt/grab at low %s, Dash attack or SH Fair/Zair at medium%s or if Link is far enough away, jump Uair/Fair/aerial spin attack at higher %s reading the opponent's DI.
Similarly Dthrow>Utilt at low %s, Usmash slightly higher %s if they have an air dodge habit, Uair or (riskier) aerial spin attack at higher %s reading DI.

The basic idea is use the right attack for the right spacing. Link is all about spacing. It depends on how far above and to the side the opponent is. Use common sense; if they're in the air in front of Link use Fair, that's where it hits. Above Link, too high to Utilt, use Uair. Etc.

If you're unsure and want to play it safe you can always chicken out and use projectiles. Bombs are an all purpose punish option if Link's already holding one.

 

[Direspect only!]

Can his melee punish everything his projectiles can????

 

[Natmax]

Hey guys, what do folks think about wavebouncing with link (especially with side b)? Now that I'm technically good enough to do it, I'm not really finding as much use for it as I thought I might

 

[Rinku リンク]

Can his melee punish everything his projectiles can????

Depends if you're within range or not. It also depends on how laggy the move is. Sometimes you can only punish with a quick rang or bomb.

Hey guys, what do folks think about wavebouncing with link (especially with side b)? Now that I'm technically good enough to do it, I'm not really finding as much use for it as I thought I might

In my opinion it's good for spacing and retreating. However, other than that I don't use it very often.

 

[Dumbfire]

Depends if you're within range or not. It also depends on how laggy the move is. Sometimes you can only punish with a quick rang or bomb.

The boomerang is ridicilously slow, good luck punishing anything with it -- it comes out frame 27 then has to reach the opponent, I have no idea what it could possibly punish from a distance.

 

[Direspect only!]

Rolls, jump ins is what I use it for, or I spike it off the ground to just move them with the wind box

 

[Rinku リンク]

The boomerang is ridicilously slow, good luck punishing anything with it -- it comes out frame 27 then has to reach the opponent, I have no idea what it could possibly punish from a distance.

- Air dodges
- Jumps
- Rolls

It can punish a lot of things if you space and time it right.

Dash attack is another option but that's more risky obviously.

 

[Sev3n]

The boomerang is ridicilously slow, good luck punishing anything with it -- it comes out frame 27 then has to reach the opponent, I have no idea what it could possibly punish from a distance.

I punish ground techs/missed techs with it. As soon as I see them hit the ground, put a rang on top of them and it usually covers most getup option (except maybe roll toward you, which you just cover with usmash or anything else). Once it hits, you can confirm into fair, bomb>uair/fair, JC usmash at mid %s, etc.

 

[Direspect only!]

Was wondering what are some mix ups you guys like to do other than the obvious uair/ up smash one. One I do a lot is punish a SH with a Nair and then either retreating zair or jc up smash. If they follow you back the zair hits, and if they try and downtech from like 50% or higher the up smash catches landing lag cause it's active for so long. Oh and If they go forward arrow gets the job done sometimes.

 

[Dumbfire]

I punish ground techs/missed techs with it. As soon as I see them hit the ground, put a rang on top of them and it usually covers most getup option

Well, people shouldn't miss many techs and when they do they can actually easily bypass the boomerang by just timing the get-up right, since all get-up options have enough invincibility frames to avoid the boomerang hitbox.

 

[Direspect only!]

Well, people shouldn't miss many techs and when they do they can actually easily bypass the boomerang by just timing the get-up right, since all get-up options have enough invincibility frames to avoid the boomerang hitbox.

Exactly If someone threw a boomerang, there's no harm done in waiting it out

 

[BurstPanther]

Well, people shouldn't miss many techs and when they do they can actually easily bypass the boomerang by just timing the get-up right, since all get-up options have enough invincibility frames to avoid the boomerang hitbox.

Basically, so then it doesn't matter. You're not at a disadvantage after throwing it in this situation, it just resets back to neutral. No harm no foul.

 

[Rinku リンク]

Anyone have experience or tips for the Duck Hunt MU?

 

[DUKEL]

Basically, so then it doesn't matter. You're not at a disadvantage after throwing it in this situation, it just resets back to neutral. No harm no foul.

It's actually better to charge an arrow in that situation - that way you can cover all the getup options and hit them when the invincibility frames are over.

 

[Dumbfire]

Is it even possible to Neutral B with C-stick set to specials? It doesn't seem so, I used to Nair with C-stick but I can't get an arrow out with the b-stick.

 

[Fox Is Openly Deceptive]

Is it even possible to Neutral B with C-stick set to specials? It doesn't seem so, I used to Nair with C-stick but I can't get an arrow out with the b-stick.

Nair can't be done with the C-stick, only the A-stick (moved to a perfect diagonal), and as you suspected you can't do neutral specials with the B-stick. The B-stick is set to 'smash-special' if that makes any sense, i.e. you can't use it to do tilted boomerangs. If you could, I suspect that you'd be able to do neutral specials in a similar way to the A-stick doing neutral attacks.

 

[Dumbfire]

You could in Brawl, I don't understand why you can't anymore, wtf are they doing with that c-stick. I'm practicing underused techs like IZAC and Wavebounced arrows but I'm starting to understand why they're underused

 

[Meister Zeigler]

So is Link good yet?

 

[Iceweasel]

So is Link good yet?

I haven't had a chance to play since the patch, but it seems like he's been buffed but mostly proxy nerfed. Shieldstun changes are universal, and with that slow frame data Link obviously benefits greatly from them. However, this also means that fast characters can hammer him harder without having to worry as much about his grab.

 

[Rinku リンク]

So is Link good yet?

He's honestly middle tier in my honest opinion. The shield stun changes benefit him more than hurt him considering that shield was really effective against his spacing and projectile spam. Now that it's been nerfed it opens up more opportunities to make plays.

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Hey guys, I'm looking all over and can't find a comprehensive list of moves Link can block with his Hylian shield. Can somebody provide a link?

 

[Rizen]

Hey guys, I'm looking all over and can't find a comprehensive list of moves Link can block with his Hylian shield. Can somebody provide a link?

It blocks any move that reflectors can reflect. So projectiles and a handful of normal moves like Mega Man's lemons and Olimar's smashes.

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

It blocks any move that reflectors can reflect. So projectiles and a handful of normal moves like Mega Man's lemons and Olimar's smashes.

No damage thresholds, then. Got it.

 

[Fox Is Openly Deceptive]

Hey guys, I'm looking all over and can't find a comprehensive list of moves Link can block with his Hylian shield. Can somebody provide a link?

It's in the meta thread (OP) under 'Hylian Shield stuff'.

 

[kxiong92]

Is there a reason why JC usmash is possible but JC utilt is not possible?

 

[Fox Is Openly Deceptive]

Kind of a weird question... but if I was to guess, I'd say it might have something to do with tap-jump being on by default and so the feature of being able to cancel the jump-squat with U-smash (or Up-B) was originally intended as a way to avoid accidentally jumping and U-air-ing. I guess they didn't see this same mistake being made for U-tilt.

 

[MintyGuy700]

Best shield break punish? I did some labbing, and came out with: Drop bomb > regrab and hit with bair > throw bomb > fair, which does a solid 30%. Have you anything better?

 

[Rinku リンク]

Best shield break punish? I did some labbing, and came out with: Drop bomb > regrab and hit with bair > throw bomb > fair, which does a solid 30%. Have you anything better?

I've never pulled it off myself but doing a "Double" D-Smash with the Gale Boomerang does a ton of damage.

It's a Brawl video but it's still possible in Smash 4.

 

[Direspect only!]

Boomerang window carries them too edge, then spike