ZSS Tips?

[zozo]

I'm new at competitive smash, and new to ZSS, and I was wondering if you vets had any tips for me. Things like, what should I be doing in the neutral game with her? How can we approach safely? Are short hop nairs good? Or should I be doing short hop fairs? Which tilts are better in the neutral? What's the best way to make sure all the hits of her up B connect in a combo? Any other tips or advice would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

[RyutheWolf64]

I'm not a veteran myself but two useful tips I could suggest are.
A combo, grab, down throw, jump, up air, double jump and up air again, after that when your opponent's falling you should be able to land some more hits.
Try and keep to the air, it's why that combo is good imo. Her side B pushes enemies back so if you feel cornered use that, if you see the opportunity to stun with her gun use it, you can lead into that combo I said earlier, get pot shot damage with an A combo or forward smash.
Hope this was helpful to you!

 

[ChooChoo]

I'm not a veteran myself but two useful tips I could suggest are.
A combo, grab, down throw, jump, up air, double jump and up air again, after that when your opponent's falling you should be able to land some more hits.
Try and keep to the air, it's why that combo is good imo. Her side B pushes enemies back so if you feel cornered use that, if you see the opportunity to stun with her gun use it, you can lead into that combo I said earlier, get pot shot damage with an A combo or forward smash.
Hope this was helpful to you!

Said combo also works with Fair, although it works best on heavyweights.
We have 3 actual kill moves: UpB, Fsmash and DownB's kick. From the middleweights onward, Down throw - jump - UpB usually kills at 100/120 (EDIT: I just tried it against a Pikachu at 60% and it kills from the sides of the stage! Now I killed a Bowser with 85% before the throw from the middle of FD! I think I was being way too conservative with this combo) depending on the opponent. But be careful, after racking up too much damage the opponent goes way too high in the air after the throw to hit UpB reliably, although it could also be vectoring.
Apart from these, we have DownB, which is a more flashy and ineffective move. If you land it on a grounded opponent you'll bury him (which I usually follow with an Up Smash or a tilt), but if you manage to hit your opponent in the air he will usually fall to his death at rather low percentages (under 100!). This is VERY hard to land on most people. I used to abuse it at first and got rekt every time, it's when you keep it as a surprise that it works best.
DownB is a great tool, but I had to work on Training mode before I could reliably direct it (I'm on a 2DS, though).
Also, I believe Up tilt is a hidden gem. F tilt is no worse.
Since I use Fsmash early to rack up damage, I found the Neutral B - A - A - A combo really useful to refresh it.
When short hopping I mostly use forward A, but that's just me.
If you have any more questions, just ask! I'm by no means a pro (I'd say I'm actually way below what seems to be the average level here) but I'd gladly contribute!

 

[zozo]

Thanks guys, I'll be sure to implement all this stuff into my gameplay, and if I have any more questions I'll be sure to ask.

 

[pichuthedk]

Down b is not ineffective it has 3 properties that you can mix up seemingly effortlessly when you use it.
until your fully comfortable with it ,you should not use the kick from down b off stage because its very risky.

 

[Fight4Noobs]

I am so looking forward to the Wii-U release and I love these tips. Thank you all! Zero Suit Samus for the win.

 

[Cr0wbaR]

Don't forget, if you get your opponent to about ~140% D-throw to U-air is an easy KO. Up smash can also kill light characters at decently high percents. And although I feel B-Air has been nerfed, it can still kill too. Remember, Up-B can be vectored out of so it's not the most reliable. ZSS still lacks kill moves, but she has more than she did in Brawl.

 

[Cyko Melody]

Master the pivot side tilts

 

[Jackson]

So, I'm picking up ZSS. What is the most basic stuff I need to know?

 

[M1nion]

So, I'm picking up ZSS. What is the most basic stuff I need to know?

Try not to use the DownB's kick over the edge or you'll go sailing in to nothing. Instead use it to send people to their doom (Note: If you use DownB and do not put in any inputs you can get three different results depending on what the person does. 1. Plant them in the ground. 2. While in the air you can launch them straight down getting an easy KO. 3.Bounce right off and land on the ground. I've seen that one you land on the ground that there is VERY little lag if any at all. I find doing a Ftilt with this is very effective.)

 

[elheber]

Try to knock enemies into the air and keep them there as long as humanly possible. Mix your approach with short hop attacks (fAir, bAir, Plasma Whip, Paralizer), jab/tilt attacks upon landing, and attacks from a dash (pivot tilts are crazy good). Use jump/SH Plasma Whip to give you breathing room if you're being pressured. As much as dThrow is valuable, be careful not to throw out your grab all willy-nilly as it's still quite punishable... only try to lasso them if you're fairly certain it will connect.

Don't be afraid to chase off-stage. Even a simple Flip Jump can net you an easy KO by spiking them. Back aerials have great reach and priority which makes it a great gimping tool. Down Smash can ledge guard quite well and leave'em open to a fast falling bAir stagespike. The Plasma Whip or Paralizer (+Flip Jump) are also good gimping options which can also pressure their ledge-game.

 

[Claire Redfield]

Great tips! My favorites are ZSS, Zelda, Mega Man, Greninja and a couple others. Zero Suit Samus is my favorite, mixing speed, agility and incredible jumping ability. I really want to take my play up to the next level, though, so it seems I'll need to do some studying here!

I just really hope this board is a lot better than, say, the GameFAQs one!

 

[Jackson]

Thanks guys, good stuff. And @ elheber , you're right about throwing out grab. It's lucrative, so I use it a lot, but I get punished a lot for it. I need to make myself use it only as a conversion off paralyzer and stuff.

I'm really liking this character, because I feel that playing aggro with her is viable. Honestly, I think I've been overthinking punishing and stuff so it feels great just to go in and pressure.

 

[David Viran]

Honestly I like to dash grab every so often. I don't really whiff a grab that often either.

 

[Claire Redfield]

I always dash right past them when I try that. Darn speed!

 

[David Viran]

I do it real early so I get them at range and don't dash past them.

 

[Claire Redfield]

I'll try that. I've read some tips and combo ideas in these threads that I'm going to practice a bit, so hopefully the grabs will work.

 

[David Viran]

I've had this idea with down Smash at lower percents if you could get 2 of them in a row by perfect pivoting past the opponent while they are stunned and turn around and down Smash again but I can't do the turn around after the perfect pivot.

 

[Claire Redfield]

What's a perfect pivot?

 

[David Viran]

When you basically cancel a foxtrot with a turn around which can also be cancelled by anything. Meaning you can do anything out of the momentum of a foxtrot. If you don't know what foxtroting is it is when you flick the stick forward real fast to start up a dash and let go of the stick right away.

 

[Jackson]

Perfect pivoting is REALLY hard imo. I can only really do it while going left. (im right handed)

 

[Claire Redfield]

Thanks! I'll have to practice that one, too.

 

[David Viran]

I can perfect pivot but getting the turn around after gets me everytime.

 

[Jackson]

I can perfect pivot but getting the turn around after gets me everytime.

You said it, man.

 

[pichuthedk]

Hmmm Maybe Downsmash -> fox trotted pivot downsmash might be the random sequence I need to incorporate -_-0.

 

[Claire Redfield]

So is it best to not use the kick when you do a Flip Jump, at least offstage? I always assumed you had to in order to spike the opponent, but if you don't, that'd make it even better.

 

[David Viran]

So is it best to not use the kick when you do a Flip Jump, at least offstage? I always assumed you had to in order to spike the opponent, but if you don't, that'd make it even better.

If you flip jump off stage then only do the kick if you know you will hit your opponent. The foot stool that you do if you input nothing can put them In a spot where they cannot recover for some characters. Even if it doesn't it still puts them in a bad position.

 

[Claire Redfield]

Okay. I noticed that the kick does definitely take some time to recover, and I'm still pretty bad at using her tether recovery, so it's something I'm practicing. Thanks.

 

[4eversmashing]

A tip for hitting the full up b is make sure you start it when you are at level height or you are a little higher than them but not too high that you miss. If you start it from below them it is very likely the last hit won't connect.

 

[Chacrecon]

One thing I'll say about ZSS is none of her specials are bad/pointless, especially make use of side-B and down-B. Down smash is extremely useful as it locks the opponent shortly, which can easily be followed by a side smash/ Up throw to Fair, same with neutral B. Up B is a reliable finisher as long you time it right, as is side smash. The rest you'll find out by yourself.

 

[pichuthedk]

One thing I'll say about ZSS is none of her specials are bad/pointless, especially make use of side-B and down-B. Down smash is extremely useful as it locks the opponent shortly, which can easily be followed by a side smash/ Up throw to Fair, same with neutral B. Up B is a reliable finisher as long you time it right, as is side smash. The rest you'll find out by yourself.

A lot of zss mains kinda hate side b sure use it for spacing but majority of the time I like to stage spike with it (using the first hit to knock someone diagonally down from the ledge).

Up throw kind of leaves you in the animation longer then down throw so i tend to down throw -> fair / up air.

 

[Yumewomiteru]

If used normally ZSS's Zair is just a better version of her side-b. But side-B can be wavebounced and can be used in the ground. I love to run away/past the opponent to the length of the side-b and wave bounce side-B back at them. The hitboxes at the tip and the base of the whip can cover many options, especially rolls towards you. And if you condition them to shield it you can mix it up with a pivot grab.

 

[David Viran]

The biggest problem with side b is its not the safest thing on sheild. Actually some characters can sheild it and punish you while your still in end lag.

 

[DeLux]

The worst part about side special is that it covers rolling and loses to shield.