---------------------- (72 character width file) -----------------------
PentaroX's SB Fox Multiplayer FAQ ( 7/13/2001 )
Version 2.01 (Finalized as of 10/31/2005)
contact> pent %at% semilunar dot org
see bottom for copyright/duplication info
Written in memory of that Korean guy who died from playing videogames =P
Also written in honor of Smash Brothers, one of the greatest timewasters
ever created. I don't know how many hours I spent playing this game in
undergrad, but I'm sure it numbers in the thousands. Thousands. Kudos
to Intelligent Systems for making such a great game.
The newest revision of this file can always be found on GameFAQs.
It's been years since I touched SSB or this file, and six years since
I decided to write a Fox FAQ.
In 2004, I decided to drop by GameFAQs to see what was up with SSB,
SSB:M, and the community. To my surprise, the Reflector had long since
become a staple of Fox gameplay. Wow. Mission accomplished?
My contact information has since changed, and I no longer care about
protecting copyright on a dated text FAQ of an old game, so I thought I
should finally get around to the so-called "final" version of this FAQ.
I lost my pentaro.net domain a long time ago, so I apologize to anyone
who has attempted to contact me in the last couple of years.
This file was, at one time in my life, a passion. I can't think of any
other game that made my life worth living for ...
Just kidding. But SSB still brings back memories for me--of spending
countless hours in a crowded room, playing with friends and generally
making a ruckus.
The days of my youth.
To you, the reader: enjoy.
Happy trails.
--pentarou
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.01) TABLE OF CONTENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To skip straight to these sections, search for the keywords listed
on the right. For example, searching for "fox32_notice" will take
you straight to the copyright notice at the end.
1) Basic Move List - Well, um, it's thorough. Definitely fox10_moves
not your typical move list ;P
1.5)The Fox Spike - Deserves its own section, of course. fox15_spike
2) Multiplayer Strategies - fox20_multi
a) General Strategy fox21_strat
b) Dueling (1v1) fox22_duel
c) Time FFA / Battle Royal (3+ players) fox23_time
d) Stock FFA / Battle Royal (3+ players) fox24_stock
e) Team Games (2v2) fox25_team
f) Other Team Games (1v3, 1v2) fox25_other
g) Edge Guarding Guide fox26_edge
3) Quick Credits List fox30_creds
3.1)Feedback fox31_email
3.1516) Copyright, duplication information fox32_notice
I think this should be a fairly comprehensive (although specific) FAQ
on StarFox. No, I don't provide history, or cute wittle pictures, or
trivia facts, but I do have the important stuff. :)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.05) Introduction: Why write a SB-Fox FAQ? fox00_intro
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- If only because Fox is so unpopular. Frankly, I would attempt to pull
a Kao Megura ;) and do an entire SB FAQ, but it's been done...over and
over again. So, no need to do a complete FAQ, but I happen to be known
as "The Annoyance that is Fox" by my friends. Yes, I eat, sleep, dream,
and think Fox. Admittedly, I really don't, but pay no attention to that.
> It seems that I should change "is" to "was" -- a lot of people seem
to have started playing Fox. Hey, that's always good ^_^
> Note: Chris MacDonald, "Kao Megura", passed away in 2004.
Rest in peace, Chris: you were an inspiration to many.
- Having looked over the Fox FAQs on GameFAQs - I found only one, done
by Dr. Seuss. It's good, but it doesn't cover multiplayer very well -
rather, it doesn't cover multiplayer, period. :) Thus, I see no need
to cover singleplayer, but I will do multiplayer. I've filled this
FAQ with information which I hope is all original and useful. At least
mostly original.
- I've been playing SB ever since the game came out. Unfortunately,
that also means I've come fairly close to mastering them all. =P
For the sake of doing so, I'm going to list the characters that I use.
This list has changed a bit over the years, and my friends have mastered
a large variety of characters. In fact, all of them, even. Well,
except for Pikachu; nobody's really gotten him down. I guess nobody
cares much for the little guy.
Mastered | Good | Fair
---------+------------+------------
Fox | Link | Jigglypuff (strong affinity for Down+B ;_;)
| Ness | Falcon (haven't mastered the air)
| Kirby | Samus (Don't play her often)
| Pikachu | Donkey Kong (too slow for my tastes)
| Mario | Luigi (again, too slow for my playing style)
| Yoshi |
I used to have "Good," "Fair," and "Mediocre," but I think my have Fox
almost mastered to the point at which I'm completely bored with him. =P
Also, I would like to point out that all of these characters are well-
balanced out and even quite formidable...if you master them. I know
one person who has absolutely MASTERED Falcon. You should watch him
play...it's amazing ;) Well, or not. I also know some others who have
mastered Kirby, Link, DK, Luigi, Yoshi, Mario, and Samus, and I know
people who are close to that point for all the other characters.
Where I play, the games are often quite even. So, please, none of this
"So-and-so r0x0rz!!!! So-and-so suX0rz!!@%#$#!!!!" stuff, mm-kay? I see
a lot of people have taken to Fox as their favorite character these
days, but you should really try to diversify and master other
characters--in the least, it will help out your Fox game to understand
how to play the other characters. Also, if you do play Fox, you're
going to be spoiled after awhile as you become used to his speed/jump/
roll style. Don't become spoiled. ;P
- SSB 2, aka SSB Melee, ... well, as you may have noticed I didn't have
access to the game or to a GC, so I didn't write a FAQ for it.
- In the meanwhile, I'm playing around with Pikachu's soft-hits and
drill buffer-combos. Fun, yes. Annoying, yes. ^_^ But I don't know
many good Pikachu players where I play, and so I'm trying to master
the little bugger myself. Um, that assumes I have the time to do so;
see above ;P
10/15/2004: Added foreword. Minor corrections. I thought I ought to
preserve my "youthful" writing style, so I didn't do anything
major (removing smileys circa 2001, etc).
Any future updates, should they ever be necessary, will simply
be changes to my contact information.
I know SSBM's been out for a couple years, but unfortunately I
don't have the time, equipment, or skilled opponents anymore.
DemonYoshi (Quasipun) tells me the FAQ needs more wavedashing.
...I guess I'm entirely out of the loop :P
07/13: I never did upload the June version; rather, I never finished it
to begin with. ;) Well, this should be it for awhile. You may
have noticed a slight change of email address--things should be
okay now. Go ahead and email me, but my responses are bound to
be *very* slow--I'm busy. A'right, then, until next time...
To recap: Everything has been re-written. Things have been
re-organized, more or less. The Strategies section
... well, I could reorganize that, but I'm not sure
just how I would go about it.
Soft moves have been added to the move list. Of
particular note: The Tailsweep. If you've been
reading prior versions of this FAQ, then at least
read the notes on the tailsweep.
06/07: I've been reading through Scott Ong's Final Fantasy 8 FAQ, and
decided that his "search keyword" idea was really neato-eleeto.
So, I've put them in here.
05/16: Changed my email address. Also, I've completely re-written the
FAQ. It needed cleaning, and my style has changed a bit since
I first played the game. This is a NEAR FINAL revision, not
inclusive of any revisions or grammatical fixes. Which means
that if you see anything minutely wrong, lemme know and I'll fix
it, but otherwise I doubt I'll add anything more.
I've also wiped out the old 'what's new' updates. They were kinda
getting all ... long, and stuff.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Basic Move List fox10_moves
------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Roll (Z+direction)
21. Jump (C)
22. Roll Recovery (Z+Fwd/Back - special)
23. Edge Recovery Attack (A - edge)
This FAQ now does cover most, if not all moves that Fox uses. Most
players tend to stick to smash-power moves, the three B-button moves,
rolls, jumps, and throws. If you want exact damage percentages, I
suggest you read Dr. Seuss' or anyone else's FAQ.
It used to be that I only carried the power moves and the specials in
the FAQ, but at some point, when you begin to master a character, you
will begin to find specialized uses for the soft attacks. Especially
the soft Down+A...it rocks.
Delay Time: Delay before you do the move.
Recovery Time: Delay after you do the move.
Duration: Amount of time where you can hit someone during a move.
(1 Quick - 5 Avg. - 10 Terrible)
Fox is a lightweight character, so you'll need to be careful in your
consideration of these three...You need to be able to move out after
you complete your attack. And quickly...Fox can't take that much
damage; after all, he is a lightweight.
Also note that high Duration moves often see a loss in Priority after
the beginning of the attack. (Try the ground Up+A.)
Range: Area that Fox can cover with his attack.
(1 Low - 5 Avg. - 10 Exceptional)
It's good to have extra range in some cases, such as the Down+A, but
remember that this also means that you're a bigger target. Have you
ever noticed that Fox is easily thrown out of his Powerkick (F+A)?
Damage: Relative - %-wise, from low to high
(Mediocre, Low, Average, High, Excellent)
Why it's important: You may have the greatest move in the world, but
hey, if it does 1% with no hit stun, it's not going to be worth much
to you...
Stun: Relative to Damage and Priority
(Low, Normal, Exceptional)
Most moves are listed with "Normal" stun. "Exceptional" stun denotes
a move which does low damage, or has low priority but still gets a lot
of hit stun. Hit stun is a key ingredient of SSB play.
Distance: Distance against most enemies - low to high
Two classifications:
Distance - Low, Average, Good, High, Exceptional
Variability - Low, Normal, High
Percent damage can be misleading on its own--you need to know how far
a move sends opponents, in addition to hit stun and damage. These
are the three main points to consider when you're using different
strategies.
If you play for awhile, you will probably notice that distance and
damage are proportional to speed and hit-stun. Notice how Jigglypuff
can send you flying FAST and stuns you for quite awhile, but Fox's
Down+A air drill sends you downwards very slowly with very little
stun.
Variability affects how much additional distance an attack gets when
your opponent has a high % damage.
Direction: Direction enemies go flying in.
Forward, Up, Arc Up, Arc Down, [angle of attack]
Horizontal moves are better than diagonal-up moves, because they
destroy an opponent's comeback far more efficiently, and keeps them
generally lower, making it much easier to edge-guard as they come
back.
The reflector is the only move in the game which consistently throws
enemies downwards (Arc Down) along with Exceptional hit stun. This
is really important (to be discussed later).
Very few regular attacks send people flying 90 degrees upward; the
closest is usually around 85 degrees or so (Up+A ground). The major
exceptions to this are the FireFox and the Up+A air juggle.
90 45
| / Eheheh...just in case you've forgotten your angles ;)
|/
@--- 0
Priority: Priority against other moves. Laser priority is against
those with "air immunity" (Yoshi/DK during comeback).
Priority ensures that if you are attacking at the same time as
somebody else, you get the hit and they don't. Yes, spikes
included...anti-spike maneuvers are vital to winning in multiplayer
games.
The other obvious use for Priority is when stealing jumps. Your
opponents aren't stupid; if they can counter your jump-stealing move,
spike, or whatever, rest assured they'll do just that. This is why
Ness' spike is so hard to counter.
Quick note: A Spike is any attack (usually Down or Forward+A) which
sends the enemy flying downwards, used off the edge.
Sometimes this is considered cheap, but among experienced
players, it is actually quite commonplace. Simply put,
if it hurts and you think it's cheap, instead of
complaining, try to find a way around it.
I believe I can lay claim to spreading the term around the
'net *grins* although it was one of my friends who actually
coined the term (DK, Fwd+A vs Kirby, which led to the
comment "Hey, it looks like a volleyball...")*
*(10/15/2005: I've long since lost touch with that friend,
but I hear he's playing Magic professionally these days.
Whoa.)
DK, Yoshi, Samus, and Ness have good spikes with fairly
high priority. Kirby gets the award for spike flexibility;
his/its Down+A is easy to pull off, and the Up+B and R
spikes have their uses. For more stuff on this, check
section 1.5 (Fox Spike) for details. Or, you might want to
read through X1375's Cheap Moves FAQ.
Moves which can spike: (* asterisks denote _useful_ moves ;P)
** Mario's D+B can be mastered as a spike, but I haven't seen anyone do
so just yet. My hunch is that it can be pretty useful in a 'duel'
(1v1) setting, but most Mario players simply prefer to use the D+B/
Up+A headbutt combo.
Link, Pikachu: None
Item: Bumper (D+A*, F+A*)
X1372 (Robert Pollack) has a Cheap Moves FAQ now available at
GameFaqs.com...so you probably want to go check it out. If you're
confused, note that he calls spikes "Super Send Downs." Either way...
spikes are an integral part of SSB play.
I think other FAQs are beginning to speak about spikes and stuff, but I
haven't been reading too many of them lately, admittedly. I spend more
time on Panel de Pon. ^_^
Anyhow, two last entries:
Overall: Overall recommendation on my part. 1 = Worst, 10 = Best.
Strategy: A recommendation on the usage of the move.
1 = Pure Defensive, 10 = Pure Offensive, 5 = Combination
(note that 1 is not "worst", and 10 is not "best"!)
Fox is second only to Falcon in terms of running speed, but his
jump and roll are arguably the best in the game. Fox has an
excellent combination of offensive and defensive moves, which make
him a worthy opponent when played by a skilled player. Fox is
definitely not a beginner's character--he has few obvious killing
moves, unlike characters such as Mario (breakdance/bighead), Ness
(throw/spike), and Kirby(powerkick/spike)--but MASTER WIELDING IT AND
YOU CAN HAVE THIS. Er...I meant to say that if you master Fox, you
may find that he is unexpectedly overpowered in many ways.
-----[ Section A. Hard Attacks ]---------------------------------------
These, of course, are the most important moves if you're trying to kill.
Some work as edge-guard moves, others as defensive moves, and yet others
work well as both offensive and defensive attacks. If you intend to
master Fox, you're going to need to learn to use all of them, but my
long-time favorites in this section are the Clearout Down+A and the
various throws.
This is NOT a standard-fare powerkick or even a standard powerhit. It
is recommended that you use this move sparingly if you are not used to
playing Fox just yet, as it is a good offensive move but has terrible
priority and a long, long duration. The duration can be used to your
advantage, since it goes hand in hand with the range of the move...but
more often than not, you'll find that you're being hit out of it
because of the low priority.
Note that most characters can throw you out of the powerkick; DK and
Ness can do so with ease.
The Upwards Powerhit is Fox's single most powerful move. It does a lot
of damage, kills at decent percentages, and all that jazz. Fox's Up+A
is second in power only to Mario's.
The drawback, however, is that the duration of the Upwards Powerhit is
quite long. Look closely and you'll notice that Fox can hit people
behind him; if those people are at high enough damage, it will stun them
just long enough so you can recover and run away or attack. However,
the range is kind of mediocre if you try to hit people behind you, so
chances are you'll get hit as a result.
Bottom line: Don't miss when you use the Up+A, or you're screwed.
An excellent move. Recovery time isn't so good, but once again, if you
connect you won't have to worry about it. Fox likely has the best two-
way split clearout (it hits both directions at once, similar to Kirby's
spin, and unlike Mario's forward-back breakdance / Ness' back-forward
yo-yo). In fact, I would prefer to use this over the Up+A at high
health, as it has a much higher probability of killing due to the
amazing horizontal distance it gets.
4. FireFox (Up+B - Anywhere)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 10 (Very Long) | Damage: Average
Recovery: 5 (Average) | Stun: Normal
Duration: 8 (Long) | Distance: Average
Range: 7 (Very Good) | Dist.Var: High
Overall: 3 (Usable) | Direction: Straight Up
Strategy: 1 (Recovery) | Priority: Excellent
-----------------------------'
I wouldn't recommend using this move as anything other than a recovery
move for two reasons: the delay and the direction. It's simply not
useful unless you're trying to get back on the playing field.
The FireFox has extremely good priority versus spikes, but you need to
get the timing down--the initial blast has priority, but anything after
that isn't going to be worth terribly much to you. If you can't hit
with the initial blast, it's better if you try to evade instead. Don't
firefox if you don't have to.
Should you HAVE to FireFox your way back, almost always FireFox forwards
unless you have a need to go in another direction. You may wish to aim
the FireFox straight upwards, though, if your opponents have figured you
out. ;P
Remember to dash before you throw to get a little extra range. My
personal playing style uses a lot of dash throws, and only a few select
powerhits, juggles, and other moves as necessary. Style, however, is up
to you. If you prefer juggling, that's fine...but in any case, the
throw is a powerful, *quick* move that builds up damage pretty quickly.
Does it kill? Not easily... that's what edge-guarding is for.
6. Alternate Throw (Z+A or Z+R - Ground)
Strategy: 1 (Defensive) [all other info is the same]
When you're blocking, simply press A to throw. This is the best way to
get out of a tight situation--although of course generally, it is better
to evade than to block.
-----[ Section B. Soft Attacks ]---------------------------------------
These are much more specialized attacks for special situations. An
experienced player can use all of these for his own benefit--most of the
time, this involves using counterhits for setting up combos. Master
using at least the Down+B--it's useful. Really damn useful.
7. Kick Flurry (Tap A Repeatedly)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 3 (Short) | Damage: Mediocre
Recovery: 3 (Short) | Stun: Low
Duration: X (Variable) | Distance: Low
Range: 4 (Average) | Dist.Var: Low
Overall: 3 (Poor) | Direction: Variable*
Strategy: 2 (Defensive) | Priority: Poor
-----------------------------'
* three kicks -> three directions, but the distance is
so low that it doesn't matter.
Purely a defensive move. You could try for an "infinite combo" by
keeping someone against a wall...but why bother? It does about 1% per
hit, anyhow. Probably not worth your time. And besides, Fox's kick-
flurry is probably the worst of all the tap-a-repeatedly moves (with
Kirby and Link having the best ones), which means that it is fairly
easy to avoid being hit by Fox's kick flurry.
Much like the Kick Flurry, the standard A move is extremely quick, and
extremely weak. Unlike the Kick Flurry, it's a decent startup for
comboing with Fox, but typical of all soft moves, it gets poor damage
and stun. The reason this is marked as defensive is because chances are
you will be using these as counter-hits(as they are a LOT quicker than
your opponent's powerhits). [Evade, counter-hit, then combo. Try using
this move and then immediately using a tailsweep.]
Dash attacks are virtually useless against 0-20% characters, as they
barely send them flying away. You know what that means: crappy hit
stun. The dash attack is good for a couple of things, though... it
can be used as an edge-guard, it is WONDERFUL for setting up Fox Spike
combinations (due to the small distance, and the arc-up direction), and
it is possible to end some combos with dash attacks(try dashing after a
powerhit).
Some people like to dash-dash-dash as a 'combo'. I'd recommend against
it...the damage isn't worth the trouble, it's generally hard to pull
off, and certainly your opponent can find ways around it. In some
situations, however, it is possible to hit your opponent in the middle
of hit stun; this is applicable whether powerhitting or using the
Reflector.
Like all soft moves, don't overuse the dash; there is very little room
for error. If you miss and your opponent blocks/evades, count on being
hit or thrown.
10. Non-Smash Powerkick (Fwd,A. May be aimed diagonal up, down)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 4 (Short) | Damage: Average
Recovery: 3 (Short) | Stun: Normal
Duration: 4 (Short) | Distance: Below Average
Range: 6 (Good) | Dist.Var: Normal
Overall: 5 (Average) | Direction: Varies*
Strategy: 3 (Defense) | Priority: Average
-----------------------------'
* Direction depends on where you're aiming the kick. Usually it's Arc
Up, I think.
A quick powerhit; it has its uses but I find myself rarely using it. If
you need to hit someone, and quickly, this will do the trick. Most
likely, if you're edge-guarding while someone is about to charge towards
you, use this move to hit the person coming back, so you can recover
immediately and then powerhit the person behind you.
Also, it's a bit slower than the Tail Sweep(right below--the soft-down),
and you'll mostly be using powerhits to kill, as it is.
11. Tail Sweep (Down, A)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 2 (Excellent) | Damage: Average
Recovery: 2 (Very Short) | Stun: Good
Duration: 4 (Average) | Distance: Average
Range: 8 (Great) | Dist.Var: Normal
Overall: 10 (Excellent) | Direction: Straight Up
Strategy: 2 (Defense) | Priority: Average
-----------------------------'
This move ... kicks ass. It ranks way up there with the Reflector
Shield as a defensive move--it's so ridiculously fast you can parry a
good number of moves, or at least stun people, getting them ready for a
combo / juggle attack. If you observe, you'll also notice that you get
a good amount of range forwards--in fact, you get more than you would
with a power Down+A hit.
I use this move a hell of a lot more than the Fwd,A soft hit. At about
0-10%, it's also good as a stun-ground powerhit combo attack. Use a
soft-down tail sweep, and then powerhit (F+A usually, you may be able
to hit using Up+A). After that, however, they fly too far up; use a
juggle or air attack. If you have a bat/saber/rod, you should be able
to do this up to, say, 20%. The Tail Sweep is lethal at high, high
damage, but it rarely kills--it just stuns your enemies for a hell of a
long time, since it sends them straight up.
A little bit of testing seems to show that 0% is the best damage if you
intend to combo ON THE GROUND with the tail-hit, otherwise you're going
to have to jump in the air and attack. Between 10%-30%, you probably
want to juggle; above that you may not even be able to hit them :P The
only problem with the soft-down is ... well ... that it hits up and not
forward, so if you're going to edge-guard, be sure not to use the move.
[It may work as an edge-guard at low % damage (again, sweep > air hit).]
If you're not too sure what I'm talking about, check Pikachu and Yoshi's
soft-down moves; those are especially good for edge-guarding as they are
both quick and surprisingly powerful. It should probably go without
saying that you don't always have to powerhit when you're edge-guarding;
it's more important simply to try to hit them before they recover their
jumps.
.. >> Free kills at 0% if you have a baseball bat! Tailsweep and then
powerhit. I have finally had a chance to try this, and it works
quite, quite well. Only at 0%, though. If you've got a bat,
stick to tailsweep>air combos.
12. Soft Up-Kick (Up,A)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 4 (Short) | Damage: Average
Recovery: 4 (Short) | Stun: Good
Duration: 5 (Average) | Distance: Below Average
Range: 1 (Specific) | Dist.Var: Normal
Overall: 5 (Average) | Direction: Straight Up
Strategy: 4 (Defense) | Priority: Average
-----------------------------'
Much like the roundhouse tailkick but with a much more specific range -
directly above Fox. I don't use this move, but there are people who do
so quite effectively. It's good for comboing, often into an Up+A. Not
quite as good as Kirby's soft up+a, but still quick and effective.
A suggestion, although I haven't tried this myself, would be to start
with an enemy at 0%, then using soft-down, and then soft-up until the
opponent is able to recover in air; at that point begin to juggle,
finish off with a Down+B in air to stun, then jump up and either use the
Fwd or Back+A air kicks to hit them off the edge. I don't know how easy
it will be to pull off (likely not easy at all), but if you can get it
working, you should be able to score kills against enemies with 0%. And
if not, at least it's 80 or so % damage.
Some experimentation on my part seems to show that the soft-up really
doesn't have enough range to hit anything useful. Stick with the tail
sweep.
13. Laser (B)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 3-5 (Short)* | Damage: Low (5%)
Recovery: 4 (Short) | Stun: Good
Duration: 5 (Average) | Distance: Zero
Range: 10 (Exceptional) | Dist.Var: Low
Overall: 8 (Good) | Direction: Zero
Strategy: 7 (Offense) | Priority: Low
-----------------------------'
* The laser fires much faster in the air, due to the fact that Fox does
not put away his laser gun during the recovery time. This is both a
good and a bad thing, though--try not to fire too much when coming
back, as you will NOT be able to FireFox if you are still recovering
from the laser, and instead will shoot another laser.
Hands-down, the best quick-and-annoying, straight-shooting projectile.
It's fast, and if you jump, often you can hit twice (10%) with the
laser. After you powerhit or throw, immediately jump slightly *forward*
and hammer on the B button, firing about three lasers--usually you will
hit with at least one. If you're playing team games with the sole
intention of winning, overuse this move. I'm weird, so I prefer to go
suicidal and reflector-shield my opponents as much as possible(although
this does, of course, get me killed much more often). That is to say, I
don't really play to win these days.
Yes, Samus does have a charge shot that kills and all, but it's slow,
and definitely not as annoying as the Fox laser.
Also, it seems that some people have trouble hitting people with the
Laser. You're going to have to learn the default height of Fox's jump,
and how to jump and fire sideways--that should be more than enough for
you to hit people. If you still have trouble, then go weave baskets. :)
14. Reflector Shield (Down+B)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 3 (Excellent) | Damage: Poor (3-5%)
Recovery: 5 (Average) | Stun: Exceptional
Duration: X (Variable) | Distance: Low
Range: 6 (Average) | Dist.Var: High*
Overall: 10 (Excellent) | Direction: Arc Down/40
Strategy: 5 (All-Purpose) | Priority: High
-----------------------------'
* In case you haven't realized what Dist. Var is, try using the
Reflector Shield on a 150% setting(instant death in most cases).
Compare this to most other moves on 150%...200% is a different story,
as a lot of moves kill on 200, but the Fox Reflector is special in
that it is possibly the only easy-kill move on 150%.
The Reflector Shield is, in essence, Fox's secret overpowered weapon.
Learn to use it, as it will definitely score you a couple extra kills
at a low percent health. More on this in a later section.
Hit stun is nummy.
-----[ Section C. Air Attacks ]---------------------------------------
Some of the most important attacks a Fox player has...All air moves
have a long recovery time, but are decently powerful and quick.
15. Tricky Kick (Tap A)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 2 (Short) | Damage: Average
Recovery: 8 (Long) | Stun: Good
Duration: 0 (*) | Distance: Zero
Range: 4 (Average) | Dist.Var: High
Overall: 7 (Good) | Direction: Arc Up/?
Strategy: 6 (All-Purpose) | Priority: Average
-----------------------------'
* For the Tricky Kick, Recovery and Duration are one and the same,
although you do get more priority right when you press the A button.
Quick, easy, and often painful. It has its uses, but I tend to go with
either one of the other air kicks (fwd/back) and the reflector shield
instead. Do note that some characters have very strong tricky kicks--
try Falcon, or DK, for instance. The potency of the tricky kick is
definitely not something to be underestimated.
16. Drill Kick (Down+A)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 2 (Short) | Damage: Low (2-3%/hit, I think)
Recovery: 10 (Terrible) | Stun: Poor
Duration: 6 (Average) | Distance: VERY Low
Range: 5 (Average) | Dist.Var: High
Overall: 3 (Okay) | Direction: Straight Down
Strategy: 10 (Offense) | Priority: Very Low
-----------------------------'
DO NOT use this move off the edge unless you're really that good. It
can be used as a buffer into a Reflector Shield or some other move, but
use it sparingly. You need to time the move properly in order to buffer
it; otherwise when you land on the ground you'll have a long recovery
time. Definitely not for defensive use.
It is possible to spike with this move by using a powerhit/throw off the
edge, and then immediately jumping forward and using the Down+A. Make
sure you land on the edge, of course ;) you should be right above the
edge when you pull off the Down+A, sending the enemy down a little bit,
and then veer back onto the ledge quickly. This works a lot better as
Samus, Ness, Yoshi, Falcon...DK...Mario, Luigi... oh heck, just about
everyone other than Fox, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible as
Fox.
If you really want to get all your hits in with this move, jump from
below and drill. This isn't very useful, since you're Fox, but in the
least you can buffer into another move, like the Up+A. Although the
stun is listed as poor, if you're going to buffer/chain into a
powerhit, the stun is actually quite excellent.
Finally, the Drill Kick is like all other Down+A moves: press Z as soon
as you land, and you'll stop, virtually eliminating the recovery time.
17. Two-hit Juggle (Up+A)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 3 (Short) | Damage: High (~9% x 2hit)
Recovery: 5 (Average) | Stun: Very Good
Duration: 7 (Long) | Distance: Excellent
Range: 7 (Good) | Dist.Var: Low
Overall: 9 (Excellent) | Direction: Straight Up
Strategy: 10 (Offense) | Priority: Good
-----------------------------'
Many people consider this move to be Fox's greatest move. I think it's
boring, so I don't use it. Call it a whim. ;)
Actually, if you're playing to win, by all means overuse this move. It
sends people up high, does two hits (it's the only move that does
two power-hits upward), nets a lot of damage, and most importantly,
stuns people for a long time. It's versatile; it can be used both on
its own, and in combos (try the tailsweep).
18. Forward Kick (Fwd+A)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 2 (Short) | Damage: Average
Recovery: 5 (Average) | Stun: Fair
Duration: 5 (Average) | Distance: Low
Range: 7 (Good) | Dist.Var: High
Overall: 8 (Good) | Direction: Arc Up/30
Strategy: 8 (Offense) | Priority: Low
-----------------------------'
Part of a balanced breakfast. Also good for edge-guarding.
Basic combo: Tailsweep, jump, air-forward kick, jump, laser-laser.
Decent damage, decent stun, and you get to edge-guard.
19. Back Kick (Back+A)
-----------------------------.
Delay: 2 (Short) | Damage: Average
Recovery: 5 (Average) | Stun: Fair
Duration: 5 (Average) | Distance: Low
Range: 7 (Good) | Dist.Var: High
Overall: 8 (Good) | Direction: Arc Up/30
Strategy: 8 (Offense) | Priority: Low
-----------------------------'
Also part of a balanced breakfast. Essentially the same as the forward
kick, but maybe with a little less range. I prefer to use this move,
but basically it's just a question of which direction I'm facing when I
jump ;P
Again, this move is good for edge-guarding. Face away from the edge, so
you can attack anyone coming toward you, and when the person off the
edge gets close enough, jump up and kick him back away from the edge.
-----[ Section D. Miscellany ]-----------------------------------------
Miscellaneous stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.
Fox has, hands down, the best roll in the game. Overuse this all you
want. One good strategy as a beginner is to roll straight into the
enemy and then immediately attack; this is not going to work so well
against experienced players though. In the end, rolling is purely an
evasive maneuver. The nice thing about the roll is that when you
finish the roll, you auto-magically face your opponents so you can
begin attacking. However, it is a little bit slower than running(due
to the slight recovery time), so watch yourself.
21. Jump (C)
Again. Fox has, hands down, the best jump in the game ^_^ And he's got
a good dash, to boot. Learn to use his jump; actually it's not very
hard to learn because of its speed and flexibility. In any case, you
should try to remember how far Fox jumps, how quickly he jumps, and how
quickly he falls. That way, you'll know how to time your hits when you
try to pull off air attacks or combos.
22. Roll Recovery (Z+Left or Right[special] after falling)
Hold Z and a direction as soon as you land, and you can roll out. This
is incredibly useful in a lot of situations. Make sure, though, that if
you're next to an edge, roll *away* from the edge, as if you roll toward
the edge, you'll hit the edge but continue rolling for the duration of
a standard roll (leaving you vulnerable).
It is also possible to do a Recovery attack when you land, but this is
a bit less useful. To do a recovery attack, press the A button right
when you land -- this takes timing, though. Personally, I'd stick to
the roll-recover.
23. Edge Recovery Attack (A when hanging onto edge, at low %)
Most edge-recovery attacks have very high priority, for whatever reason.
Fox's is no exception, and it gets a LOT of range. If you're hanging
onto the edge, begin tapping A rapidly until you do your attack, and Fox
will do a kick that looks somewhat like his powerkick, but is a whole
lot weaker. It's good for stunning enemies that are standing close to
the edge, and it does get a good bit of range, so you can even hit
enemies further back. If you're good, you can also steal jumps with it,
although this requires that the circumstances are favorable (that is,
you'll need to be lucky).
If your percent damage is at, say, 80% and up, don't bother with the
recovery attack (as always, unless you know you can hit!), as it is a
lot slower and gets very little range. Instead, you have two good
options: roll back onto the edge(Z+direction) or jump off, jump up,
and use a quick air attack (fwd/back+A is good; the reflector probably
won't get you enough range to hit).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
************************************************************************
1.5) The Fox Spike: Its importance, its invincibility, fox15_spike
and most of all, its general
coolness factor...
************************************************************************
A Brief History of Spikes
-------------------------
The term "spike" was coined when a friend of mine (a certain P.
Cheon...wait, that's too obvious...then Paul C. will do) was playing DK
and managed to pull off a Fwd+A/air/off the edge, knocking a Kirby
senselessly down into the abyss. Kirbies do look somewhat like
volleyballs, don't they?
There are approximately *FIVE* kinds of spikes. The first, and
standard, kind involves using a Down+A/air/off-edge(heretofore referred
to as "Down+A/spike") move to knock someone into the abyss. This is an
instant kill, at most forms of health (say, 20% and up). Everyone has
one of these 'cept Pikachu and Link, and they vary in priority and speed
from Fox (worst) to Samus (2nd) and Ness (best), in order. However, a
good player can spike you with ANY character, so keep on guard for the
characters with higher-priority spikes.
The second form of Spike involves using a Fwd+A/spike move.
These are rare: only Yoshi and DK have them. However, Fwd+A/spikes are
considerably more dangerous, as it is harder to hit Fwd+A/spike users
(and ESPECIALLY Yoshi) with a comeback move. Link and Falcon have a
little bit of luck here, as they have some range to the side when using
Up+B/air. Still, you'll find that a good Yoshi player in particular can
and will spike you senseless when you're in midair hit stun.
The third, and most difficult, form of spiking involves using a
special move to knock people down. This can be done with:
Kirby's Final Cutter - The downward slash hits downward.
Kirby's forward throw - Stand at the edge, facing inward. Use a
forward throw. You commit suicide, but you
still get the kill.
Falcon's forward throw - From the edge... I think?
Mario/Luigi's tornado - Hard!! - Hit them with your feet
Fox's reflector shield - simply Down+B.
This kind of spike is generally HARD to pull off, and therefore
unexpected. With the exception of Fox's reflector shield...which is
fairly easy to do.
A fourth "spike" can be seen in Peach's Castle: use an Up+A to
knock someone under the pinball bouncer thingy (the guides on the two
sides of the pinball dealie); if they are at high enough damage
they will be sent flying downwards. How does that work? They bounce
off, and since Up+A moves get much more distance than Fwd+A moves (as it
takes more distance to send someone up and off the edge), and by the
time they recover and can jump, they are too far down to come back. You
can also pull this off with forward throws, powerhits, et cetera--it's
generally harder that way, but it's also easier to kill in that way,
because they fly down-forwards.
The fifth spike is done using a bumper. Most items when thrown
knock enemies forwards/up, with the exception of the fan (up-only, great
juggle item!), the fireflower (forward; stun), and the bumper (depends on
how you hit). Simply jump above an enemy, and use Down+A. You'll throw
the bumper and knock the person below you to Kingdom Come. The
disadvantage, of course, is that you have to bother with using ONLY B
attacks, and you may as well use the forward throw... but it's easier for
enemies to evade the forward throw by simply jumping / using Up+B.
Also, don't bother spiking with the fireflower unless you feel
like it--in my experience, it doesn't have enough priority. Well, try it
if you like...if I'm wrong, email me ;)
[yes, I am wrong: the flower does send them up a bit, especially at
higher % damage. Ah, well. It's still a good edge-guard thrown item.]
The Fox Spike(tm)
-----------------
Those of you who have played Fox before, or have been carefully
reading through my FAQ, know that Fox has no good Down+A or Fwd+A spike.
He does, however, still have a spike little known to the majority of SSB
players: the reflector shield. Hmm, maybe that line is a little
outdated as the word has been spreading around, I think ^_^ ... Anyway,
Fox Spiking (as I call it) is extremely hard to pull off if you have not
actually practiced using the spike, but once you master it, it is hard
to counter due to its high priority and speed.
After playing for awhile with the Fox Spike, your friends will
probably begin to adapt to your playing style and avoid the spike.
Well, that's not the end of the story, all it means is that you need to
specialize a little bit. What you really need to know is who to spike,
and when to spike. With that knowledge, you can wipe out most
characters at a measly 0-40% if you have the opportunity to do so
(assuming that your opponents are good, you probably will only be able
to do this 1-3 times per 5-minute / 5-stock game or so...if you're
good).
Of course, you can use the reflector shield simply to stun
people; that's always good in combos and team games. But that's another
section entirely ^__^ ... well, I suppose I can cover it here anyhow.
Since the Spike is the only standard move that consistently sends people
downward and forwards at the same time, *and* can be used on the ground,
you will have opportunities to send people into traps, or off the edge
to combo into another spike. More on that later.
Mastering the Fox Spike
-----------------------
I don't recommend that you Spike if you're a beginning player;
if you're still learning to play, in fact, I would suggest that you
practice using Luigi's Up+B fire punch. It has about the same range
(actually, it has a little more range above), and is actually quicker
than the reflector shield. Also, it has about the same strategy--most
of the time you'll be trying to hit people from below.
What about reflecting?
----------------------
Let's face it...most good players know better than to throw
green shells at you left and right. So in those cases, you'll have to
attack directly instead (if they're holding items, they can't attack
unless they throw or use B moves, right?), and use the reflector a lot
in the process so that if they drop the item, you'll reflect it and hit
them automatically.
But yes, you can and should still use the reflector shield as
much as possible - watch for items, predict when the opponent will
throw, and in which direction, and also for the special attacks in each
level (Pokemon/Saffron City, Arwings/Great Fox, etc). I used to have a
list of items you can reflect; I'm cutting that down to these important
items:
> Pokeballs - as an evasive maneuver. Shield the ball, and it will
drop right in front of you. If the opponent is off the
edge when he throws the ball, make sure you're next to
the edge, and the ball will fall conveniently off. :)
Mind you, the pokemon that drops out of the ball DOES NOT
belong to you! If that were the case, SSB would be
completely unbalanced, and Fox would be so incredibly
powerful, it wouldn't even be funny.
> Pokemon - Don't even bother. It's not worth your time. If it's your
Pokemon, though, try to shield other people into the
monster; if they hit it directly (charizard/meowth/etc)
they'll be in some serious trouble.
> Eggs / capsules / boxes - Another parry maneuver. Very useful...
unless the egg / capsule explodes ;) ... well, that usually doesn't
happen, of course, and if you parry properly, you can pick up the
item that drops before someone can get close enough to attack you.
You'll probably find a lot of people throwing items like the above
at you, because they figure it can't hurt them. They're wrong.
> Shells. You can reflect a shell three times before it begins doing
crazy (upwards of 100%/hit) damage. Try a red shell, as a booby
trap. Set it, shield three times, and then try to send people into
it. They won't die, but one hit from anything else and they most
definitely will. Once in awhile, they'll get stuck "in" the red
shell, which will do multiple hits (causing ~300+% damage.)
> Correction: Red shells reflected three times do 60% damage
per hit. That's still not too shabby, though. It's
possible to get the damage-per-hit higher, but I
haven't worked on figuring that out yet.
Do note that red shells and bumpers reflected three times have a
much shorter half-life than regular 1x-damage shells and bumpers.
This isn't always true for green shells, though. So, really, the
usefulness of a red shell is quite limited. :( Also, there's a
risk of yourself falling into your own trap, so make your decisions
carefully. You might want to try setting traps like these near the
edge, and then staying somewhere safe nearby.
> More on green shells: Two reflections and a green shell should kill
at about 30% health; three and it kills at 0-10%. Obviously, nobody
will be throwing green shells at you if you're not in hit stun.
* By the way, to send people into traps you've set, you can shield them
in from above, or hit/throw them from below. For this reason, set
traps at the bottom, so opponents can't hit/throw you into the traps
you set yourself! ... Well, at least, not as easily. Experienced
opponents will dash-attack or soft-attack and try to hit you just
far enough. In the case of mines, you're a little better off, though,
because you can try to recover-roll (See Section 1D-Misc. Moves)
> Mines: Yes, mines. Unlike Pokeballs, mines become your property.
Great for setting traps, among other things.
> Arwing blasts. The Pokemon in Saffron City don't really matter, as
you can't hit anyone consistently enough; however, the Arwing blasts
do a ton of damage when multiplied 1.5x by your shield. Try to catch
people unawares; you'll be guaranteed a kill that way.
> Bombs and Bob-ombs. Please note that with only a few small
exceptions, you can ONLY reflect bombs which are thrown sideways.
This includes Bob-ombs, which do massive damage when reflected. But
nonetheless, most Link players love their boomerang and bombs, and
you ought to love them too.
> Bumpers...this is like gambling, though. Be careful when you
reflect a bumper, because you'll have to remember to keep the shield
up as long as the bumper is still bouncing back and forth. Also,
remember that when you touch the ground, the shield disappears and
you have to Down+B again! ... Um, anyhow, if you're lucky, you'll
be able to send people off in various directions and stuff. Use
this against the people who like to throw items when they come back.
> Finally, and most importantly: People! Shielding people is often
more useful than the "spike" aspect of the Fox Spike. Always
remember that the Fox Spike gets a lot of hit stun, speed, and
priority. If you can't use Down+A/ground to clearout, and you can't
run, then use the Down+B. The Fox Spike has a lot of other uses--it
makes a great juggle finisher, among other things. Send people into
the air, jump up, send them back down with your Spike (and maybe into
your teammates' hands), and continue comboing by sending them off the
edge. Really though, the spike does very little damage, so it's
somewhat like using a jab in Capcom fighters.
> Let me repeat again:
The reflector is much like using a jab: don't expect it to save your
puny behind. It's very fun to use, but it's not *that* amazing.
> Probably the most effective method of shielding on the ground is in a
setup so that you can dash and throw right after you hit them. In
the air, you're setting them up so you can hit them again with an air
attack of your choice. Heh...I don't use this much anymore, usually
I finish air combos with a shield, then either pull off a dash-shield
combo, or else a throw.
Why Fox Spike?
--------------
> For the element of surprise. Catch people off-guard. Even if they
think they have their super ultra powerful move (minus Ness and Samus,
who actually DO have priority moves), if your timing is good, you can
counter all of these moves.
> It has priority, and is quick. High priority, high speed - if you and
an opponent try to attack at the same time, chances are you'll hit
first, with enough time to run away or combo.
> Lots of hit stun. See below (How to Spike) and you'll understand :)
How to Fox Spike
----------------
Align yourself properly. Press Down+B. Voila. You get enough time to
run away if you managed to hit.
To Spike with the Fox Shield, do it at the edge and in the air (again,
"you can take it anywhere"). If you hit people when they have just
finished their second jump and have not yet used their recovery move,
they will go into hit stun, and by the time they (1) realize they have
no second jump or (2) use their Up+B move, they will have fallen down
too far to grab the edge. If they manage to get close enough to the
edge, spike them again. Try to only use your first jump, though, if
you use your second jump you become a sitting duck. Also note that
this works a lot better (obviously) at higher damage, because the hit
stun lasts longer, sending them further down.
If you find that you are spiking with ease now, move on to the next
level ;) and jump off the edge to pull off the spike (but only when it
is safe!). Or, you can spike them while right at the edge, then jump
off to repeat spiking until they are far down enough...then jump back
and firefox back to safety. (Which, BTW, is the only way to spike
some characters, ie Kirby, Mario, Pikachu).
Then, you're probably going to want to know how to pull off a spike
consistently, or in a combo. The following "combos" aren't really
combos, but whatever...mostly these are just ways to get people in
range so you can hit them with a Reflector.
Immediate Combo 0.5:
1) Tailsweep (10-30% is good).
2) Jump and Reflector.
(Actually I don't suggest that you use this combo; if you're using the
tailsweep you should chain into something more damaging, like a juggle)
Immediate Combo 1:
1) Throw off edge (not powerhit; you get faster recovery with a throw)
2) Immediately jump off (only one jump, mind you)
3) Shield. This should eliminate the opponent's first jump if they
have the misfortune of timing their jump just as you shield.
4) If you like, fall down a bit and shield again. If you want to
sacrifice your own life, continue repeating this step.
5) Use your second and third jumps to recover. Try not to use your
third jump if you don't have to, though, because some characters can
still hit you if they haven't used their first jump. And if it
happens to be Falcon, then all your work is for nothing, plus you'll
be thrown onto the wall and bounce back, which is much like being
spiked yourself.
6) If you skipped step four and jumped straight back onto the platform,
edge-guard at will. Use a soft-forward, even, if you're lazy.
The Fox Spike combo above is probably the easiest way to go into edge-
guarding mode. It seems obviously simple, and it works very well. If
you're more conservative in using the Spike, this is DEFINITELY one of
those times where you simply shouldn't hold back when using the Shield.
In Saffron City, you can throw people on the wall at the bottom left
corner, and then jump up and spike. After awhile, your friends will
probably not allow you to play on Saffron City. ;)
Immediate Combo 2:
1) Check opponent's health. If it's around 40 or higher, Fox Spike
them while you're on the edge.
2) Don't even jump off--FALL off. Spike, and repeat as necessary.
3) Come back, but see part 5 of the previous combo--be careful. In
fact, against Falcon, you probably want to make sure he's at 60 or
higher before you try this.
Immediate Combo 3:
1) Check opponent's health. Generally, 15-60% will be good. Higher is
not so good, unless it's DK.
2) Dash attack. Make sure, of course, you can hit before you dash,
since you have to wait for the dash to recover (slide) before you can
move again. This is, by the way, why you're checking the health
before you attack: you need to make sure that you can send the
opponent exactly up and forward a little bit. Between 15-60%, you
should be able to spike them with ease.
3) Jump forward (again, only one jump!) and spike.
4) Again, you can drop down and continue spiking, or else jump back on.
I'd recommend jumping back on.
5) Edge-guard at will, or come back if you picked the latter option.
Why am I calling these combos? Well, because you can pull off the moves
in conjunction without any real penalty, and besides, there are no real
combos past four or five moves in SSB, because of the game mechanics (%
damage makes things REAL difficult to combo/chain consistently).
No, none of those 30-hit combos like in SFEX2+AlphaOmegaTurbo... although
those big-hit combos ARE kinda fun to pull off, I'll warrant ^_^
I never actually thought of including descriptions of air combos, because
I figure this is something you should ad-lib. However, I'll list one
here as an example:
Example Air Combo (% Damage is approximate)
(0%) Dash Attack > Tail Sweep. (enemy is now in the air, if not,
try a soft- or power- up+A)
(15%) Air Up+A Juggle [x2] (x3 if you really can)
(40%) Reflector Shield
(44%) Dash-Throw > Jump forward, Laser x2
(60%) Edge-guard to your heart's content.
This is fairly hard to pull off, again, because of the inconsistency
between character weights, % damages, et cetera--this is why ad-libbing
is a good idea. For example, after the Reflector Shield, you may not
be able to catch with the throw, in which case you might want to try a
dash attack to catch them if they get up.
And don't forget...creativity is a big plus. Yes, develop your'n
imaginations, young ones...or something to that end.
Who to Fox Spike
----------------
It is possible to spike _ANYONE_. However, you ought to focus your
spiking efforts on:
Unless they know how to play well, they're probably mostly dead.
Send them off the edge, Fox Spike, and goodbye! Um, watch out for
the high priority comeback attacks, though; move back and let them
pull off the moves before you attack them again. DK, in particular,
is harder to spike, because you have to wait until nearly the *end*
of the Spinning Kong in order to hit him, and if you do try to spike
him earlier, you will be sent backwards, and he is guaranteed a
recovery.
> Even more vertically-challenged characters [Jigglypuff, Ness, Kirby]
These three characters fly especially far when you hit them with the
Fox Spike at low health. That doesn't necessarily make them easier
to spike, though.
Jigglypuff: Hard to spike because of her high air AND ground
priority, but if you do connect, she is completely and
utterly done for.
Ness: Very easy to spike because of his speed. Send him off
using any of the standard Immediate Combos; although
because he flies so far from your hits, #2 is probably
the best choice. Upon spiking, he will PK Thunder, and
frankly, he CAN make it back if he aims it correctly.
... So, either stand above him and reflect the PK
Thunder away, or else simply attack him with the
Reflector Shield and watch him fall down. He won't be
able to recover the second time...at least, usually not.
* Don't hit him with the PK Thunder, he'll be able to
fire another one off. It might be better to let him
hit you with it.
Kirby: Actually easier to spike than Jigglypuff. Most smart
Kirbies won't bother using an Up+B to attack (you can
reflect the beam), and instead they will Up+B and cling
onto the ledge. Hit them with the spike as they come
down from the Final Cutter; be careful not to be hit
though (note: the Final Cutter only hits with the blue
'blade' portion...not Kirby's body). You'll have to
jump down and spike one more time to complete the
spike, because otherwise they can still Up+B their way
back to the ledge.
It is quite possible to use Immediate Combo 2 to spike
Kirby, but this is a lot of trouble and you will, in
most likelihood, have to suicide (continuous spike) if
you want Kirby to die. In other words, your best bet
is to him him out of the Final Cutter.
> And as for the remaining characters, which are much harder to spike:
Yoshi: You can steal his jump if he's at HIGH high damage, like,
say, 100% or so (it has to be at the end of his jump, so in
theory this can be done at lower damage, but you won't find
many chances to do so). Stealing jumps may be cheap, but
if you didn't steal his jump, you'd still have edge-guarded
him...and he would have been dead anyhow, at that % damage.
Luigi: Easier to spike than Mario. Immediate Combo 2 works
wonders, but it's also basically the only way to spike him.
Unlike Kirby, you don't have to wait for him to use Up+B,
but it is still preferable as his Up+B is faster than your
spike, so pulling off Immediate Combo 2 is easier if he uses
the recovery move.
Mario: See above. Harder to spike than Luigi, because his Up+B is
generally better.
Pikachu: You can hit him out of the teleport ("agility") if you're
lucky, or if you practice ;P but for the most part, you
won't be able to spike Pikachu. I'd just stun him with the
shield in order to dash-throw.
I'd say that Pikachu is _definitely_ the hardest to spike.
Where?
------
> Spiking itself should be done near the edge. But, reflecting should
be done:
> Anywhere when mines or bumpers are nearby. Throw mines discreetly,
then cautiously lead your enemies to them...try to aim your spike so
that they land in the vicinity of the mine. This works INCREDIBLY well,
and may very well be your
> Saffron City - the level which has "FOX" imprinted all over it. The
skyscrapers mean death for just about anyone else(even Kirby, Pikachu,
and other Fox players!) if you Fox Spike correctly. Against those
people with little vertical recovery, you are almost guaranteed to win.
Include DK this time, as he dies a lot on this level.
> Planet Zebes, Hyrule Castle. Standard edges, but they have "traps"
(the acid / the whirlwinds). Try to Fox Spike them not off the edge,
but rather into the traps. If you want to do a regular Fox Spike, lead
them onto the left edge in Hyrule Castle, which is more convenient(you
can be trapped pretty easily on the right end).
On Zebes, if you throw people into the acid, and they're flying below
the main platform, try to line yourself up with where they come up when
they fly up. Use a Down+A, and you're guaranteed either a kill or a
crapload of additional damage if you hit. You could use Down+B, too,
if you're mean and stuff. Don't be mean, mmkay?
> Great Fox. Standard edge, good enough to spike. Left edge is
preferable--because it's convenient when the Arwing comes. Roll out of
the way and let the Arwing hit people to the left, then jump into the
shots and shield to hit people to the right. Eventually, players will
simply scatter (and run!) whenver they see the Arwing coming...but it
has such good range that you can still catch experienced players off
guard (or busy, rather). Careful on the Great Fox, though! Since the
Arwing flies very close to the ground, make sure you know when you'll
fall on the ground: when you touch the ground, good-bye Down+B--and
you'll have to do it again, if you're not already dead.
> Kirby's Dreamland, Yoshi's Stage: Nice, nice, SMALL level = lots of
opportunities for kills. The minus side is the tree, of course, and the
platforms above the edge. The tree can be fatal...don't use
Down+A/ground if you're on the edge, because if you manage to fall off
the edge because of the tree before you use Down+A, you'll end up losing
a life (presto, whammo, BAM! -- see, I can do an Emeril, too).
On Kirby's level, there's that annoying upper ledge that people can
catch onto, conversely, there are clouds on Yoshi's stage. Well, oh
well. If people fly onto the clouds on Yoshi's level, simply shoot them
a bit to up the damage counter. In a game with skilled players, damage
is very important, so an extra 5%/hit is always good.
> Peach's Castle: Even smaller than Kirby's Dreamland! Spike on the
lower level. On the top level, either dash-throw, or else spike them
downwards so that you can spike them again >:) And it's DEFINITELY
easier to spike on this level than on Kirby's / Yoshi's levels.
> Don't spike on the DK stage, unless you know you have a good chance to
kill. That barrel...ugh...I hate the DK stage. Even Jigglypuff stands
a good chance against your spikes...but luckily, Link/et al still have
trouble getting back up. Try timing a Down+A when people shoot out of
the barrels, and you can get essentially an instant kill; if they learn
and begin to use the edges, jump out and whack them with a Fwd/Back+A
(air) when they come out. I think Back+A gets more damage, but I'm not
sure, really. If you're really going for insults, try using Down+B when
people come out ;)
> The OG-Mario stage is actually alright, since you can kill the
platforms in the center. Lurk around the center and try to spike. If
you're good at throwing, though, you should do that instead, since the
two ends are good for anyone with a decent throw.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Multiplayer Strategies fox20_multi
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____________________
A) General Strategy \
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|
What you need to know, what you need to master, and that kind |
of miscellaneous junk. |
fox21_strat |
_______________________________________________________________________|
Before we even begin with multiplayer games, there are a few things you
absolutely need to master if you are a beginning player.
1. Fox's speed. Make sure you're used to rolling, jumping, and
running before you bother with multiplayer. I'd suggest playing
through singleplayer to do this, as it's not good for that much
else, really.
2. Hitting the target. Laughing, are you? Well, it's obviously
important, though, isn't it? ;) You might try singleplayer, again,
and if you're trying to learn to Fox shield, use Training Mode, and
see how far your opponent flies and where you have to fall in order
to pull off the three Immediate Combos, at various percentages.
Samus is a good choice for training mode, since she's heavyweight,
but also be sure to try the other end of the spectrum (Jigglypuff).
3. Up attacks, and juggling. I don't juggle much, because I'm lazy,
but it's your best method of building up damage, since Fox doesn't
do that much to begin with. Learn to time the Up+A, though. The
best way to do this is in singleplayer, but you can do this by
playing multiplayer a lot, too. Just don't expect to win, because
people will take advantage of your recovery time / duration.
4. Dash-throwing. Really, really, really important--I don't think I
can stress it enough. The throw is quick, useful, and it gives you
a free projectile, even. Dashing before you throw nets you a little
more range on the move.
5. Attacking from above. Know when to, and when not to. You may wish
to learn to veer in a direction and then side-air kick when you
attack from above. Actually, Fox is probably better off attacking
from below, but if you like drill kicks and buffering from a drill
into another move (that is to say, if you've been playing a lot of
Jigglypuff and Luigi), you'll have to get used to Fox's drill.
6. The art of "item-whoring." I didn't coin that term, either... well,
in any case, learn to listen for the item-drop and star-drop sounds
and begin to run off looking for them. Always, by the way, throw
items directly on the ground (jump up first in case it explodes) so
you can take whatever's inside. Well, you could throw the items
at your opponents, but I'd rather have what's inside personally.
7. Using items.
Stick items (saber, rod, bat, fan):
Learn the four basic hit patterns:
> Tap hit: Gets good all-around range above and forward, and
is amazingly quick with good recovery time.
> Soft hit: Only gets you range forward, but it's very fast
and generally powerful. Also, just like when you
have no stick weapon, you can aim the hit a
little bit up, and, more importantly, _down_.
> Powerhit: Less above-range than the tap hit, but more
forward range, and of course it's...powerful.
Delay is kind of long, so make sure to stun
before you powerhit. Also gets a little bit of
backswing, which may come in handy with the bat
and saber. Bad recovery time.
> Dash: Hits forward, and a little little bit up. Range
is tremendously increased. On the downside, the
recovery is also increased considerably.
The lightsaber is a godly weapon. No, really. Stick mostly
to tap and soft hits, and try to keep it as long as humanly
possible. Powerhit if you have the opportunity to do so, and
dash if people run away from you. If you're afraid you will
drop it, then throw it off the edge as an edge-guard.
With the star rod, stay away and stick to soft hits, sending
out short-range stars. Use tap and powerhits as applicable.
Throw the rod when you're done: it's EXACTLY like a Fox
shield, but so much more powerful! At high health, almost
everyone will die from a direct hit with the thrown star rod.
The bat isn't so useful, and besides it doesn't do that much
damage, but you can at least use the tap and soft hits in
melee, and in team, you have a *lot* of chances to get
instant kills. Problem with the bat is that most people will
start trying to kill you so that either they can have the bat
or, rather, that you drop the bat. It makes a great thrown
weapon, too...Actually, you can get some free kills by using
tailsweeps at 0% (no higher!) and then immediately using your
powerhit...it's not as good as Link's soft-up/boomerang, but
it still works with good consistency...at 0%, that is.
Fans are definitely good. Tap-tap-tap, or powerhit. The
damage sucks, though. It's pretty good as a thrown weapon, as
it works like a juggle. You might try using a fan tap hit,
then Up+A, then jump and use an air Up+A, and *then* throw the
fan straight up. Well, it might not even hit... I've only
gotten ... maybe three kills by throwing the fan in free-for-
all games. Over two or three years. ;P I mean, in regular
100% damage, no-handicap FFA games.
Pokeballs: Eh, I don't need to explain this. Good thrown weapons,
but better to throw them on the ground strategically
sometimes.
Bombs: Also self-explanatory. Throw them downward if need be,
and _especially_ against other Fox players.
Bumpers: Good near the edge, or anywhere: throw and immediately
reflector shield. Try to spike with the bumper, too.
Flowers: I'm impatient, personally, but flowers are still good.
Excellent stun damage when thrown.
Hammers: If you've got a hammer, don't jump unless you have to.
... Enough said, I think. Watch for falling Ness, Link,
and Kirby players, and jump to avoid the range-throws of
Link/Samus/Yoshi. Likewise, if someone else has a
hammer, try to get beneath them, and then air combo, or
else simply shield them (shielding is quicker and often
more effective).
Boxes/Barrels: Laser from a distance. Do not attempt to pick these
up. If someone else picks one up, go ahead and run
toward them and attack; if they throw the box/barrel,
reflector-shield, and if not, then hit them (the box
/barrel will disappear).
Shells: Green ones are self-explanatory; red ones have already
been discussed in section 1.5 (the Fox Spike).
Mines: Take them, and drop them. Try to be discreet. If you
want to have some fun, drop off the edge, throw the mine
directly on the side of the edge, and then jump back up
(firefox so you don't hit the mine).
I think any other items out there that I forgot to mention are
more or less self-explanatory.
.. That's basically it. Now, on to ...
_____________________
B) Dueling (1v1) \
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|
Basics of the one-on-one "duel" match. Considerably different |
from free-for-all and team games, but still important. |
fox22_duel |
_______________________________________________________________________|
Duels put all of your Fox skills to the test, and especially against
experienced players. In a duel, you should really be counting damage
and lives, whether the game is time or stock. Most of what happens in
a duel seems pretty obvious to me, so I'm not really sure what to write
here.
.. Probably the best Fox strategy is to build up damage a little bit
through combos and juggling, and then rushing in and dash-throwing off
the edge at an opportune time (preferably after stun). Note that if
you fire a laser and your opponent blocks, you should definitely
consider that to be *stun* time, because it takes time to block a laser
shot... a LOT of time. Which means, it's time to dash-throw. I don't
know how much difference there is between forward and backthrowing, but
they're both quick, and kinda weak, so just throw in the direction of
the edge.
Then, all that's left to do is edge-guard. And that's not too hard;
simply attack them at an opportune time if you can (through whatever
means--Down+A, Fwd+A, Up+A, air attacks, reflector shield), and if they
get back, try to dash-throw off the edge or else soft-down and start an
air-attack chain. Fox is, overall, an excellent edge-guarder (he has
some good quick-kill moves), although he doesn't have a horizontal-
distance Soft-Down move. Which is too bad (try Yoshi/Pikachu/DK/Falcon,
they have some excellent soft-down edge guard moves--especially Yoshi)..
You will probably find that your own Fox is better against certain
characters and not so good against others. Here's my personal list.
Fox is good vs.:
> Jigglypuff. Not everyone is good against Jigglypuff, and Fox has
the speed to take Jigglypuff out easily, plus a lethal spike. Also,
Fox has a lethal Soft-Down. It won't kill Jigglypuff, it just means
that Jigglypuff will have some serious troubles attacking you head-on
with powerhits.
> Ness. Again, a lethal spike, plus Fox's speed, are more than enough
to overwhelm your average Ness player. Watch for his throw, though-
you should be able to out-throw Ness, but be careful. And don't use
the forward powerhit too much.
> Kirby. Fairly lethal Fox spike, speed, and plus Kirby has low damage
tolerance.
> Luigi. Watch for his Up+B--it's fast, which means you shouldn't use
the reflector shield too much, and also look out for his spike-and-
fire punch combo. Having said that, he's just too slow.
> Most Link players. Link has stunningly mad priority and some great
moves to boot (quick range-throw, soft up+A,
Fox is even vs.:
> Skilled Jigglypuff players. Jigglypuff has some great powerhits, and
pretty good air priority, so you won't be able to spike her repeatedly
if the Jigglypuff player is any good. You still, however, can throw
her left and right.
> Skilled Kirby players, who make use of every move that Kirby has, will
be able to keep you off the edge quite consistently, spiking you from
time to time.
> DK players. DK has a good edge-guard (Up+B), plus an excellent throw,
and besides that, excellent damage tolerance. You, on the other hand,
have speed, the Down+A and Down+B edge-guards (kill at 60-100%), and a
quick throw, evening out the battle.
> Pikachu players.
Fox is not so good vs.:
Well, he's not really bad against anyone; the characters are mostly
balanced after all. Some characters can prove to be real pains in the
behind, and these are:
> Samus players who only use four moves: Charge B, Up+B, Air Back+A,
Air Down+A. Some of these people have it down to an art. Yeouch.
Look out for a combo like this:
- 1. Samus charges B, and carries around the charge shot.
- 2. [optional] Samus spikes you on the ground (Down+A).
- 3. Samus uses Up+B.
- 4. During hit stun, Samus lands, jumps, and uses Back+A in air.
- 5. Samus will now edge-guard using a spike (Down+A-air) or the
charge shot (B). Chances are the former, since after all,
you _are_ playing Fox.
> Ness players who only use two moves. Guess which two those are.
- Combo 1: Spike, spike, jump, spike, spike, jump, spike, spike,
air hit (up+A, fwd+A, back+A). Hard to avoid once you
get caught in it, but you could try a roll-recovery.
- "Combo" 2: Throw, dashthrow, throw, dashthrow. Spike, throw, or
yo-yo to edge-guard. Avoidable, but you need to get
used to Ness' speed and throwing patterns in order to
be successful at avoiding them at all.
> Kirby players who love to spike. Obviously, this is hard to avoid,
and this renders your 'advantage' of higher damage tolerance to be
absolutely null and void. On the plus side, you can still Fox Spike
them, but that takes practice, and lots of it.
> Suicidal DK players. Well, these are more amusing than annoying ;P
> Master Pikachu players. Much like the Kirbies who love to spike, a
person who has mastered Pikachu is a formidable opponent. Watch
your health, and, um, well, try to stay on the level at all times,
because once you're off the edge, don't expect to get back. It's
worth a try, though. ;P Don't forget to use the tail sweep from time
to time if Pikachu charges at you.
- On the side, I have found that with a little practice, a Pikachu
player can buffer the air drill (Fwd+A) directly into an air- tail
swipe (Up+A), which has a similar effect to Falcon's "horizontality"
move (it's a little weaker, and generally sends people a bit up as
well). Um, well ... ouch.
_____________________
C) Time FFA (3+) \
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|
Free for all, or "battle royal" games. Bottom line: Watch |
your kill-to-loss ratio carefully. |
fox23_time |
_______________________________________________________________________|
Time FFA is probably the best option for newer players, because it gives
players a lot of time to experiment, but on the other hand, since Time
counts kills, a lot of kill-stealing is bound to occur, which isn't
particularly good for a Fox player (since Fox's moves really aren't all
insta-kill moves). Where I play, we have a preference for five-minute
time or five-stock games, since there are usually quite a few people
waiting.
If you can dominate the field, by all means do so. This is most easily
accomplished by dash-throwing everyone off the edge. Be forewarned that
this strategy allows those off the edge to spike and counterspike each
other to death, but on the plus side, your score doesn't go down and
theirs most likely won't go up, either. Try to attack with lasers after
you've thrown people off the edge...easier said than done, eh? ^_^
In reality, it is probably a better idea to try cornering one person,
and then beating that person down (if you can). After you've sent your
first victim off the edge far enough so that (s)he cannot recover, rush
to the other end where the other two players are. You have two options;
the first is to charge in and attack both players (if you're succesful,
good for you...two kills ;P), and the second is to allow one player to
hit the second off the edge, and then rush in during the recovery time
and dash-throw the first player out (if you can, throw him into the
second player!). Watch the person you killed, however, as he should be
in invincibility-respawn time at that moment, and will probably come
back seeking revenge, or at least a quick kill ;).
One of the most important strategies in Time is to steal kills. You
don't have to do all the damage, so it is often easier simply to run
away, and strike only when necessary, or when the opponents are at
lethal damage. This is easily accomplished because of Fox's speed, but
often you will find that people are giving you dirty looks if you do
this. ;) Run away in moderation.
In the rare event that the game is set at 150-200% damage, go berserk
with the reflector shield and throw, as they are both lethal (powerhits
are not as good of an idea--lower Dist.Var).
Watching the score in Time is not so hard. Count the number of kills
you have versus the number of deaths. If your kills are above your
deaths, chances are that you didn't get fourth place. ^_- You should,
however, still be very (?? -- guess I never finished writing this)
In all FFA games, you're going to want to remember to use your "escape"
moves so you can run away as needed: the Throw(+block/dash), the
Reflector, and the Tailsweep. These are so ridiculously important that
I probably should be writing more than four lines about them ^__^
Stock follows basically the same rules as Time, but running away is even
more advantageous here. Keep a safe distance from everyone, and wait
for a good moment to run in, strike, and edge-guard. Much like Time,
you should be counting lives, but this time, check everybody's lives.
In an even Stock FFA game, all players will lose lives at about the same
rate, so try to keep one or two lives ahead of everyone else if you can.
As with Time, if the items are on, run about collecting items whenever
they drop, throwing capsules on the floor. Mines you no longer need to
worry about reflecting, since a mine kill simply means one life lost to
whomever steps on the mine, as opposed to one point gained for the owner
of the mine in Time games.
Stock FFA games allow you to run away as much as you want. However,
this is boring, so I don't follow this myself. It's just that you have
the ability to do so, successfully, and if anyone decides to chase you,
you can easily take care of them with one hand tied behind your back.
Some newbies have been known to use this strategy (not picking people
off, but just running away) to gain a significant life advantage at
the end of the game (see below), but that is usually easily taken care
of...
Unlike Time, the end of a Stock game is always a Duel situation. Stop
running and begin to attack, however you prefer. Same game, same rules,
but one person almost always has a handicap of damage or lives to begin
with. If you're playing carefully, that will always be you. With items
on, however, this can easily change much like the stock market does--
so again, be on your guard.
Again, remember your escape moves. Lives are much more valuable. And
remember the most important two words: Don't die. =P Doesn't get much
more obvious, does it?
_____________________
E) 2v2 Team \
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|
What Fox does, or should do, in a team game. |
fox25_team |
_______________________________________________________________________|
Heh... well, Team games really depend on your style, and how well you
work with the second member of your team. Fox is flexible mostly
because his incredible speed allows you to do whatever the heck you want
and get away with it (most of the time ;).
Fox is pretty good as a support character because of his speed and his
escape moves. If you're playing with a power character as your team-
mate, you might want to double as support when you're not off throwing
people left and right. As support, use the Laser a lot more than when
you're actively on the offense--you have more room for error when you
play support.
When on the offense, you might want to consider using faster moves
(escape moves, air hits, throws), since you can't forget that your
teammate is always there and you may have to switch to support at any
point in the game. Edge-guarding, as always, is important.
_____________________
F) Other Team (Nv1) \
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|
What to do if you're hunting, and what if you are the hunted? |
(Handicaps, of course, are assumed.) |
fox26_other |
_______________________________________________________________________|
Hunting: Fox isn't a very good hunter, to be honest with you. His
moves are too weak. When hunting on a 1-9 handicap, the throw and
reflector shield are utterly worthless. Your best bet is to go with
the "item-whoring" strategy and find various ways to pester the
9-handicapped player with lasers and other damage-building moves.
Juggling is a good idea.
If you use a 1-1 handicap (which you shouldn't!), do whatever. Your
opponent is guaranteed to die. Don't be so mean when you're hunting
in a 3v1 game--in the least, a difference of 3 should be required.
Hunted: 9-1 handicap? 5-1 handicap? Whatever the case, just stick to
reflector shields--the other players are absolutely no match for you.
Throws will work, too, and tailsweeps if you like screwing around for no
particular reason.
However, if you happen to be using a 1-1 handicap, against skilled
players, you may be in a bit of trouble. ;) Throwing is the best idea
at this point, since you can use your enemies as projectiles and escape
from a lot of sticky situations. Since this is 3-1, feel free to Fox
Spike as much as you want (under the assumption that you have mastered
the spike).
_____________________
G) Edge Guarding \
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|
The heart of a Smash Brothers game. Broken down into convenient |
(or not really) character-by-character analyses. |
fox27_edge |
_______________________________________________________________________|
1. Donkey Kong
DK's Up+B often keeps him rather high, and it has some decent air
priority. In this case, wait for him to land (block-throw/Z+A) and toss
him back off the edge again. Don't bother with other moves. You will
need to know DK's Up+B timing, however, because you can hit him fairly
easily at the end of the Spinning Kong (use an air attack). Finally, if
he is low enough, luckily for you (Peach's Castle is good for this), use
Down+A for a free kill. If he's a little higher than that, or if you
prefer humiliation value, Down+B will do the trick.
On the other end, DK has a decent variety of edge-guards himself. Some
skilled (or not quite so) DK players will use the Up+B to edge-guard;
this can be really annoying if you don't watch out for it. If you are
below the platform, most DKs will try to time a Down+A spike or else a
powerhit Down (spin) to hit you, and some of the sneaky ones will use a
soft-down and kill you instantly. Watch yourself, and know your edge-
catch timing well. ^_^
2. Captain Falcon
Falcon has one of the more annoying Up+B moves. Although he is an easy
spike target (free kills), you're going to want to wait for his recovery
to finish before you spike him. If you're impatient, use a Down+A, but
remember that Falcon can still catch you occasionally with the airthrow.
In the event that Falcon is above you, I recommend that you just wait
for him to fall down before you attack him.
When coming back, Falcon's edge-guards are also quite powerful. Most
Falcon players know better than to air-throw you; they probably can't
catch you. However, skilled Falcon players understand the value of the
soft-down move and the regular powerkick in edge-guarding. They, um,
hurt. Worse than that is the 'horizontality' juggle-if the Falcon
player is good, he WILL consistently hit you directly sideways. This
spells disaster. Nonetheless, it is safest to FireFox from above,
unless you have the edge-catch timing down to an art. Remember that
you may have to *attack* Falcon with the Up+B from time to time instead
of going past him.
3. Fox
Fox's spike works wonders on ... Fox himself ;_; ... Well, it's all good
though. If you have trouble timing the spike against Fox (while he's
standing still charging the Up+B), just go with an air kick. You may
have some troubles if he comes from above, but again, the air kicks
should do the trick for you.
Coming back, you want to fly as far above Fox as you can. Do not
approach Fox from below, if it is at all possible. A good Fox player
can quite easily spike you. Also, don't go for the direct attack with
the FireFox, since Fox is quick enough to move out and hit you out of
your charge.
4. Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff is nutritious. Ehrm, rather, just go with throws if you're
skilled enough (or rather that the Jigglypuff lacks skill), and spike
only if you're feeling sadistic.
Against good Jigglypuff players, you will RARELY find chances for spikes
due to Jigglypuff's good air priority and powerhits. You may even have
trouble throwing her off the edge to begin with, if the player is good
enough. Either way, go with powerhits and throws unless you have a
chance to land a spike. Continually attempting spikes spells out
sudden and unhappy doom for a Fox player.
Jigglypuff has no good edge guards above, so FireFox over her if you
can...just time your fall and dodge her as you drop. This isn't too
hard, since Jigglypuff herself falls very slowly in the air.
5. Kirby
Kirby, surprisingly enough, isn't too hard to Fox Spike. Having said
that, it is fairly hard to edge-guard a Kirby at less than 50% health
successfully, without attempting to spike. Do your best to hit him
before he lands and gains his jumps back, though.
If Kirby is stupid enough to Up+B without noticing you, run forward, and
time a spike OR powerhit to hit him on the way down from the Final
Cutter. Powerhits may be a better option if you're afraid you can't hit
with the Spike... you just want to knock him away. Don't reflect the
Cutter's beam unless you really feel like it; he'll get his jumps back.
.. A Kirby edge-guarding a Fox can be a bad thing. On the plus side,
Kirby is fairly slow in the air, but on the minus side, he has a whole
variety of spikes, air attacks, a powerful Down+A powersplit, and that
incredible Fwd+A powerhit. Try to land on the other side of Kirby, if
you know he's going to hit you; otherwise, same as always...
6. Link
Link is, contrary to common opinion, not the easiest to edge-guard. If
anything, Samus would fit in that category. Link dies more easily, but
that's because his comeback doesn't get as much distance. It is harder
to Fox Spike Link because of the sideways swipes his sword gets when he
uses the Up+B. Even a Down+A powerhit doesn't always hit him out of it,
so you may want to wait for him to come close to landing from the Up+B
and then dash-kick/throw (kick to steal jump, throw if he's at lower
damage).
Smart Link players have a good variety of edge-guarding moves. I'll
repeat again... your best bet is to try to get above him. If he hits
you from below (usually with a Down+A), you can expect him to jump
and air combo. Most Link players have some knowledge of the Powerhit
Fwd+B--some of them will accidentally save your jump thusly, while
others are skilled and will steal your jumps consistently with it.
Also, if you think you can do it, FireFox into Link...you may be able
to hit him before he hits you with the powerhit, but do note that if
he DOES hit you, you're dead.
There's a slight chance that Link will try to catch you into a Soft-Up
chain (soft-up, soft-up, soft-up) when you come back, and then he'll
finish with a Fwd+A powerhit. This is bad. Bad. Bad. No way out of
this one. Actually, he's more likely to do this during combat, when
you're on the edge, and not when you come back, but what the hey.
Some Links edge-guard with the Air Down+A downstab. This is a bad
omen. Try not to get hit by it; I think it's stronger than the Up+B.
7. Luigi
8. Mario
These two are, for the most part, about the same in terms of edge-
guarding. You can spike them, but it's pretty hard to pull off a Down+A
if you want to hit them normally. Instead, sit back and use a powerhit
if you're going to edge-guard. Kind of boring...
The breakdance, however, is a very effective (and thus annoying) edge
guarding maneuver. Unlike Link's Down+A swipes, the breakdance sends
you flying forward/up, so if you get hit, you may be in trouble ;) Lucky
for you, they're really not all that quick, so they may not get to you.
Some players, however, prefer the dash-throw, in which case you'll just
have to stay as far away as is possible. Roll-recover if you can, then
if you're still next to them, tailsweep.
9. Ness
Possibly the easiest character to edge-guard, although you will have
some difficulty killing him by spiking. Ness is the one character for
which I would wholeheartedly recommend spiking, since he flies quite far
from the spike and is required to PK Thunder. If you hit him on the
edge with the Reflector and he's at low health, he will jump up, right?
But the problem with that is his first jump will send him forward...
giving you an opportunity to power-Down+A split and kill him before he
can grab onto the edge.
If not, then jump off and either get hit by his PK Thunder or just
spike him again. Ness doesn't have the same air priority Jigglypuff
does, except with that spike...well, so it would be good for you to stay
ABOVE Ness. ;)
Ness has spikes, the two PK moves, and a yo-yo. Recommendation, again,
would be to stay ABOVE him--mostly because of the spikes, but also
because if he PK Thunders you, you need to still be able to FireFox
back. Finally, should he yo-yo and you go over him, there's a chance
he'll either miss you with the yo-yo, or he'll send you flying in the
wrong direction, giving you a chance to recover.
10. Samus
Samus is pretty easy to spike. It's true that she has that corkscrew,
but you can pretty easily evade it if you have any foresight at all.
Know your enemies...
If you don't spike Samus, you can always go with your other moves.
Down+A will work wonders if you can pull it off, and if not, throws
and Forward+A powerhits are always good too. Up+A ... well, Samus
is a heavyweight, so it'd be better for you to send her off the edge
and then guard.
FireFox ABOVE Samus if you can, since she has a spike. If you can
FireFox from below, that's also good, because her Down+A is weak and
sends you upwards, and also because she can't hit you with the charge
shot too easily in that case. If you don't have to FireFox, then don't;
you want to be able to be ready to Down+B if you can. Watch out for
the Wings move (Air Back+A), it packs a punch. If Samus corkscrews,
don't worry, you get sent backwards anyhow, and you get a chance to
recover to boot. In the event that Samus tries to spike you and you're
right below and in front of her, Firefox forwards and not upwards like
most people do to evade it, or else go straight upwards...even diagonal
down if you must.
11. Pikachu
Pikachu is also fairly easy to edge-guard. Do NOT spike Pikachu unless
you're trying to force him to Up+B so you can powerhit/throw him. You
can't expect to get a spike kill very often (you'd have to repeatedly
spike the Pikachu about two-three times), so instead, just hit him on
the edge or in an air combo if you're using the Reflector, and stick
to powerhits. Predict where he can land with his Teleport, and act
accordingly; throwing is a good idea since you're probably going to be
dashing as it stands. If you can Up+A safely, by all means do so.
With Pikachu, it is extraordinarily important to FireFox above him.
He has some pretty nasty attacks--
Down+B - Call Lightning. Well, this is relatively tame, plus sometimes
it sends you in the wrong direction...just don't touch Pikachu
itself.
Soft Down+A - Small tail swipe, which is quick and deadly. I've got a
hunch that Pikachu has the strongest soft-down attack of them
all...although Yoshi's is probably deadlier.
Power Down - This is worse than the soft down, since it's faster, but
at the same time, it gets a lot less range.
Soft Up - Just like Link, albeit less powerful.
Power Up - Not as good as Mario's, but close. He won't do this often.
If he does, however, count on him using Down+B right
afterwards, so veer away as soon as you get hit.
Air Drill - If he's any good at buffering into an Up/Down+A after the
drill, you're as good as dead... actually he doesn't even
need to use the drill; the Up/Down+A are good enough on their
own, and he can do a Semi-Horizontality with the Up+A.
B - Projectiles can steal your jump, remember? He may also hit you if
you're in the middle of your FireFox. Don't let him do that.
As you can see, though, all of these moves cover mostly the forward
and downward areas...so, stay above him! The Down+B is very weak, so
you're not going to die if you get hit by it.
12. Yoshi
Yoshi is not too hard to edge-guard. Don't bother with attacks, unless
you really have a good opportunity to Down+A, or if you really want to
steal his jump (Down+B/Fwd+A... aww, don't do this more than once).
Instead, I suggest you allow him to land, and then throw him. (Or, even
throw him before he lands, if you like.) You're just trying to build
up damage so he can't come back with that third jump of his. If you're
really mean, you can also steal his jump with, yes, a Tailsweep.
Beware the Ides of March... Er, I mean, the soft-down sweep. Yoshi has
a terribly powerful AND FAST soft-down. He has a tendency to dash-
attack and combo into a soft-down. Ugh, is that combo ever powerful.
Suffice it to say, against Yoshi, you're gonna die, and you're gonna die
miserably. My advice to you would be to FireFox, once again, over Yoshi
if you can, or else hope he screws up and mistimes his hits.
Or you can also hope that the Yoshi player you're up against isn't any
good. Which he very likely isn't, because not too many people have
really mastered Yoshi.
If you are still not convinced that Yoshi makes a mean edge-guarder, let
me list out his edge-guard moves.
1. Fwd+A spike. Good Yoshi players know how to use this well...VERY
well. Believe me on that one.
2. Down+A spike. A good Yoshi player doesn't suicide when using this;
rather, he stays right over the edge and uses the Down+A in a combo,
so that he lands on the edge when he's done, while you are spiked
and fall down, failing to get up.
3. Up+A powerhit. Geez, that's powerful.
4. Down+A powerhit. Hard to connect, but if it connects, you're
thorougly screwed.
5. Soft-Down sweep. You think the Up+A powerhit is bad? At least you
aren't guaranteed a death when you get hit by it. A good Yoshi
uses the soft-down much more often than the power-down.
6. Up+B artillery. These are VERY annoying.
7. Down+B. Gives Yoshi the ability to stand from behind and hit you
when you land on the ledge, if he does it from the ground, and
otherwise, it's just powerful in general. The stars are good, too.
8. R. Yes, Yoshi has a range-throw. Most people underestimate the
power of the weakest range-throw in the game...it's still good if
used properly.
9. Fwd+A. I rarely see this used, since the soft-down and power-up are
a bit more effective, but still...
..
Conclusion of Sorts
*******************
That's basically it. Remember, the kuroneko says nyao. If I managed to
forget anything, go ahead and email me.
(email is at the bottom of this file)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) Quick Credits List fox30_creds
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In no particular order:
Friends - Quasipun, Darkforce, CowGoddess, Syveril, the Jungle Commando,
and some others. All of who play SB. ... P.Cheon (DK) for
coining the term "spike," and some others. Yes, I know about
30 or so people who play SB. Often a scary thought, no?
10/30/2005 -- ... or "played," rather. It's been awhile.
Also, I hear Mr. Cheon (Cheung, Cheon, whatever) is off
playing Magic professionally now...
Mogster11 (G. Oh) for having come and gone. Here's to you,
Mister Dartmouth, and your uncontrollable prepubescent fits
of giggling. Holy crap man, I bet you're actually tall now.
A. Lee (I think) for coining the term 'Tricky Kick.'
M. Gayed for coining the term 'Horizontality'. He's wrestling
alligators in Florida these days for their teeth, as I
understand it.
J. Hsieh for learning Fox to about the same length as I have,*
J. Kubicki for learning Fox with a completely different style
compared to mine, and finally, B. Pancost for having the
courage to learn to play Jigglypuff against three good Fox
players ^_^
*Actually, he was probably better than I was
Contribs- Kyle Hawk for a bunch of edge-guarding strategy and other
information. Good stuff. Thanks a lot. :)
X1372 (Robert Pollack) for pointing out that I had forgotten
Yoshi, and some other edge-guarding stuff. I think he's going
to have a FAQ at some point, so if you see it, you might want
to take a look at it. And I'd like to see him beating down
that Pikachu's butt sometime. >:)
Other people who have contributed feedback - thanks! I've
lost my email backlog, but whatever ;P
For the purpose of reminding those who wish to send me feedback:
1) I don't play SSB anymore. I don't have an N64 or the cart.
2) I'm busy. I apologize if I can't respond to your emails--I just
don't have the time.
3) I wrote this thing six years ago. Six. I was a few inches shorter
when I began writing this FAQ.
Thanks much.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1416) Copyright / duplication information fox32_notice
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This document is copyrighted work (1999-2005) by PentaroX.
You may reuse and copy this document in any way, shape, or form, so long
as it remains unaltered.
I took a little time out of my day to think about my previous blurb
here,--and realized that I don't really care if you want to use this file
commercially or sell it in printed form translated into Swahili. In
fact, if you do so, drop me a line and tell me all about it.
Email: pent percent semilunar dot org, replace % with @
