Zelda's weaknesses?

[KosukeKGA]

I wish to know Zelda's weaknesses so that if I see any guys trying to exploit them, I can quickly tell right away which ones to countermeasure their actions.

(I play Zelda.)

 

[Zelda_Sheik]

http://super-smash-bros.wikia.com/wiki/Princess_Zelda_(SSBB)#Cons:

Cons:

* Fairly large target, but still fairly light
* Moves slowly
* Directional aerials are nearly worthless if they miss the sweet-spots, which can be hard to hit with
* Din's Fire Juggling can be fairly easily airdodged or punished with Ness or Lucas's Psi Magnet or Game & Watch's Bucket
* Transformation is very slow
* Ground game is a little slow
* Some of her multi-hit attacks can be DI'ed out of easily

 

[rampant_apart]

I wish to know Zelda's weaknesses so that if I see any guys trying to exploit them, I can quickly tell right away which ones to countermeasure their actions.

(I play Zelda.)

Err...right.

Aaanyway, also, I tend to notice that Zelda doesn't have a lot of defense below her. Sure, the d-air spike is wonderful sight to behold, but it's very difficult to land sometimes. Her real killing power seems to be more focused above her, with her up smash, up tilt and up air. Just a thought.

 

[PrettyGoodYear]

Yeah, Zelda has a lousy defense from below... when I get sent up I Farore's Wind myself so I can be below the opponent. She really is helpless from below.

 

[Nyagamun]

forgot poor recovery...upB still only goes in 8 directions, and aircontroll is VERY hard to be precise with , so if you're somewhere under the ledge, chances are you won't hit it and either barely miss it, or hit the bottom of the stage

course, if you're above or to the side of the stage, it's still fairly good

 

[popsofctown]

I third that motion. A major issue with Zelda is figuring out how to get back on the stage from above. Her down air is flashy but not actually practical on an opponent who is standing on the ground and is not in some state of vulnerability.
The best cure is Faore's wind. You can threaten to attack with it or escape with it, and punish anyone who guesses wrong about what you are doing with it.
Sweet spot a ledge every chance you get.
Her projectile can be punished at closer ranges, because if you stun her before she initiates the detonation, it goes dumb, flies it's maximum distance, and explodes.

 

[Luthien]

forgot poor recovery...upB still only goes in 8 directions, and aircontroll is VERY hard to be precise with , so if you're somewhere under the ledge, chances are you won't hit it and either barely miss it, or hit the bottom of the stage

course, if you're above or to the side of the stage, it's still fairly good

No, that's not true. FW does indeed go 16 different directions. There's (Clock-wise from 12:00):

1)North (hold 'up' or just let go of the controller; this is the move's natural direction.)
2)North-Northeast
3)Northeast
4)East-Northeast
5)East (hold 'right')
6)East-Southeast
7)South-east
8)South-Southeast
9)South (hold 'down)
10)South-Southwest
11)Southwest
12)West-Southwest
13)West (hold 'left')
14) West-Northwest
15) Northwest
16) North-Northwest

Edit: For you visual people:

Note: East-northeast is missing, because it wouldn't fit.

Does that make sense? Anyway, with all these options, you can space almost anywhere and sweetspot the ledge. For example, if you're hit off the east end of FD, you can either:

1) Wait till you're level with the stage and teleport West
2) Wait a little longer and get a little closer to the stage and teleport West-northwest
3) Wait longer, till you're 45 degrees with the ledge and teleport Northwest
4) Wait even longer and get even closer and teleport North-northwest
5) Wait really long, get just below the ledge and teleport North

That's five general choices for recovery! I didn't even include teleporting whilst above the stage. With so many options, it's actually really easy to recover with Zelda if you practice a little. The fact that you attack out of FW now is great too.

It's good to know how many ways to can go so you can surprise the enemy with a FW attack when they think they can't be hit due to your positioning (for now, not many people would expect Zelda to be able to teleport south-southeast for a FW hit, right? At this point in time, many people think Zelda can only teleport southeast, east, or south, so they'd wait for you to get 45 degrees diagonal to them before they take any serious action. The only problem is, Zelda can teleport 20 degrees diagonally too).

Wow, all that confused me, and I'm the one who typed it...

EDIT: I'm gonna agree with everyone else and say that Zelda's weakness is getting above the enemy. Getting directly below Zelda is probably the best option if you want to beat her. If you ever get her in a grab, up throw, imo.

 

[Eten]

Wow. That was an incredible helpful post on using farore's wind, which is the one thing I've been having the most difficulty with in learning for Zelda. It's as if you were almost a sudden manifestation of wisdom... Oh, I'm being weird, it must be way too late.

 

[bobknob]

i think zelda's biggest weakness is definitely that she can be punished if she misses the sweetspot on her lightning kicks

you don't need to use her downair for getting back on stage, just airdodge. her dodge is still rlly good.

 

[rampant_apart]

I wish to know Zelda's weaknesses so that if I see any guys trying to exploit them, I can quickly tell right away which ones to countermeasure their actions.

(I play Zelda.)

Oh yeah, also, when you use Ike, you can work around a Zelda player harassing you from afar with Din's fire if you use the counter I think. I know it's easier from Mr. Game and Watch and the psychic schoolboys, but your approach can still work as well.

 

[KosukeKGA]

I don't play Ike.

 

[Nyagamun]

No, that's not true. FW does indeed go 16 different directions. There's (Clock-wise from 12:00):
.

hmmm, I stand corrected. It just seemed there was only 8 directions because there's such a small difference between north north west and north west that I didn't think there WAS a difference. I just tried west-northwest and it's easy to tell that it's visually different from the other two...hooray for learning.

On a side note, it's such a pain to do north northwest and the like

 

[Drake3]

I think most people got confused because the GC controller only has 8 indents. The other 8 Farore options are, for me, very difficult to consistently pull off because of this.

 

[Luthien]

I think most people got confused because the GC controller only has 8 indents. The other 8 Farore options are, for me, very difficult to consistently pull off because of this.

WHY DID YOU NOT PLAY ME TWO NIGHTS AGO?! I WANT OUR MATCH!!

[/indignation]

Anyway, I now have a FW guide in the Hylian Hellfire forum. Here's a link to all who care:

http://z9.invisionfree.com/Hylian_Hellfire/index.php?showtopic=12

 

[rampant_apart]

I don't play Ike.

*looks at your icon and the smash character appearing under your name*

Err...okay, if you say so...

 

[Proverbs]

When caught with someone below you trying to aerial ftl, airdodging works well. Sure you can't directionally do it anymore, but you can DI the direction, can still attack afterwards, can airdodge your whole way down, and it auto-fastfalls. If you DI it well enough you can play some nice mindgames with your opponent to land without trouble and can always airdodge fastfall right into a shield with Brawl's almost or completely negligible lagtime. Also, if you save your second jump, you can DI your airdodge upward or up-left/right, et cetera, or even use it to airdodge DI just left or right, although it's a little tough and not as precise it was in Melee, of course. And, as everyone's already said, her down-air is a spike and is in no way protection from jugglers. You can try it if you feel really confident or really stupid, but Farore's Wind or airdodging is a better game to play to get your feet back on the ground.

Note: Zelda's only my secondary character, as you may have noticed from the Marth picture <.<;; so I'm not that well versed in my playstyle of her just yet.

 

[chickenwing2k2]

Well, i think i could make some points here...

While on the Ground:

I think zelda plays keep away very well problem is...that's what i needed to do like most of the time i played her. Now keep in mind i did play her for only hours. I still don't own a wii so it's REALLY hard for me to get some games in.

Down A: the trip is AWESOME. I spammed the **** outta that. Has priority. Enough priority to cause clash. On hit causes trip which leaves you @ an advantage. and on smaller charcaters it will knock up. in which can provide a decent juggle. STACK DAMAGE!!!!

Throws: Her throw game is better innovated. Although her back throw is the most abusable throw out there. her other throws do leave her options.

Air Game: i also noticed that ur opponet blocking the "sweet spot" leaves you at a HUGE disadvantage. boo hoo....all you scrubs need to realize that Risks desevered to be punished if blocked. Just like Tekken and soul calibur, high risk = High reward if connected or high risk = high punishment if blocked. now back on topic...they do provide some priority on certain angles if nailed.

Farore's Wind: better but worse. Does provide some kind of defense which is better, but it's slower. *sigh* oh well...take what we can get right? i mean come on.

Din's fire: Abusable...hands down. will discuss more later.

Naryu's Love: Better. I would use it more often now. I like the fact that it spaces better now. Causes better mind games.

oh well...that's my 2 cents for my 2 hours of Brawl's Zelda...

 

[Lucrece]

Does anybody have tips on how to counter Pit's >B? Once I get caught up in it, it's such a pain to escape, and he can spam it on me.

To contribute to the topic: Avoid being launched into the air at all costs. Any toon with aerial capabilities will make your life miserable.

 

[Luthien]

Pit's Side-b? Just DI out of it (I think you can DI behind it) and punish with an F-smash which outranges it or Din's Fire (for obvious reasons). If you CAN DI behind it (not too sure), upsmash the sucker.

 

[Lucrece]

Pit's Side-b? Just DI out of it (I think you can DI behind it) and punish with an F-smash which outranges it or Din's Fire (for obvious reasons). If you CAN DI behind it (not too sure), upsmash the sucker.

I'll try that, thanks.

BTW: Nice Sheik videos. Of all the videos I saw there, your Sheik seemed the most solid. That's saying a lot when I feel that Sheik feels a lot weaker in Brawl ;p.

 

[Tmnt1837]

We need to figure out the best method of getting safe when hit above. Zelda lacks a useful downair and down b to attack the opponent below making her a sitting duck when she coming back on stages. Yeah air dodging is great, but after a while the opponent will catch on a feint causing you to be ****ed.

 

[Luthien]

We need to figure out the best method of getting safe when hit above. Zelda lacks a useful downair and down b to attack the opponent below making her a sitting duck when she coming back on stages. Yeah air dodging is great, but after a while the opponent will catch on a feint causing you to be ****ed.

I've come to the conclusion that your best option is combining the forces of the Dair, airdodge, and FW (ordered from least useful to most). FW can't be seen, so you can make an escape using all of it's directions, or you can launch counter attacks. Just mindgame your opponent, and you should be good to go.

 

[Ztarfish]

I honestly think Dair is incredibly useless as a protection when you're falling above. Most Uair's can outrange it and it has an incredibly small and narrow hitbox as well as it has to be sweetspotted to be remotely effective. Dair I think should exclusively be used when you're feeling risky/cocky and want to spike KO. I think air dodge and FW should be used in conjunction as a defense from above.

 

[CCC07]

I honestly think Dair is incredibly useless as a protection when you're falling above. Most Uair's can outrange it and it has an incredibly small and narrow hitbox as well as it has to be sweetspotted to be remotely effective. Dair I think should exclusively be used when you're feeling risky/cocky and want to spike KO. I think air dodge and FW should be used in conjunction as a defense from above.

agreed dir air is pretty useless. most smart players will a avoid it and back air of forward air.
then again most up airs out range it any ways.