Editing Hitstun

[[File:SSB4SmashvilleCoinEvent.jpg|thumb|250px|{{SSB4|Villager}} being launched by [[Timber]], now in hitstun.]]

The amount of hitstun in the original ''SSB'' is much higher than in the subsequent ''Super Smash Bros.'' games, being equal to 0.533× of the inflicted amount of knockback. The multiplier is so high that long, highly damaging combos are commonplace, with competitive matches being heavily centralized around them. [[Zero-to-death combo]]s are not uncommon in ''SSB'', as every character in the game except {{SSB|Samus}} is capable of performing a zero-death using their normal moves.

The amount of hitstun in ''Melee'' is a significantly lower 0.4× multiplier, making ''Melee'' a less combo-oriented game, and zero-to-death combos a rarity. However, with the increased falling speeds, and generally faster and more varied movement, combos remain frequent, though generally more difficult to pull off consistently.

A peculiar property of hitstun in ''Melee'' is how it is handled for characters landing when taking knockback below [[tumbling]] range. In ''Smash 64'', the character simply remains in their flinching animation on the ground, and the hitstun proceeds as usual. In ''Melee'', however, if the character's launch speed higher than 0.5 (equal to 16.67 units of knockback) when touching the ground, they go into their landing animation, and the hitstun is overriden by their 4 frames of normal landing lag (slightly higher for some characters). Combined with [[ASDI]] allowing characters to move from the air to the ground (which is forbidden for standard [[SDI]]), this property allows characters to "tank" attacks at low percents to punish them more effectively, and is likewise the main factor behind [[crouch cancel]]ing's defensive utility. Hitstun carrying over to the ground as in ''SSB'', on the other hand, is generally uncommon, and the launch speed required is too low for any individual attack to benefit significantly from it; however, [[knockback stacking]] can cause a followup attack to inflict a noticeable amount of hitstun while lowering a character's launch speed to under 0.5, making it relevant for certain characters' combos. The most notable example is {{SSBM|Falco}}'s [[pillar]]ing combos on platforms, where he can [[spike]] the opponent close enough to them after a [[shine]] and have them remain in hitstun instead of landing, as both moves' launch speeds end up mostly canceling each other out, but the [[down aerial]] carries all the hitstun.

 

==In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''==

[[File:Falco up throw Brawl.jpg|thumb|150px|{{SSBB|Falco}}'s up throw is designed to have the blaster shot connect while the opponent is in hitstun.]]

''Brawl'' has the same hitstun multiplier ''Melee'' has. However, when hit by an attack that causes [[tumbling]] (or [[reeling]]), characters can now [[air dodge]] after 13 frames of hitstun, or use an [[aerial attack]] after 25 frames, regardless of the actual amount of hitstun they sustained. This new mechanic, known as [[hitstun canceling]], drastically reduces the effective hit advantage granted to the attacker, especially at higher knockback values. For example, a character taking 100 units of knockback in ''Melee'' would invariably sustain 40 frames of hitstun, but in ''Brawl'', they will only be in actual hitstun for 13 frames if they air dodge, or 25 if they attack; if this knockback value is doubled, the ''Melee'' character would sustain 80 frames of hitstun, while the ''Brawl'' character will still only be in true hitstun for 13 or 25 frames.

This change significantly reduces the amount of true combos, and means the only attacks that can truly combo are those that deal low enough knockback to not cause tumbling while having low enough ending/landing lag to followup (such as [[chain throw]]s and {{mvsub|Sheik|SSBB|forward tilt|poss=y}}), and at tumble percentages, very few attacks, if any, are fast enough to followup within 13 frames before the opponent can air dodge, such as {{mvsub|Meta Knight|SSBB|up aerial|poss=y}}. Any attack that deals even slightly more knockback or has slightly more ending lag will require the player to [[Mindgame#Predicting|read]] the opponent's action to successfully followup. This new mechanic also allows launched characters to act before their knockback wears off, which allows characters to perform certain actions during knockback to [[momentum canceling|reduce their aerial momentum]], allowing them to survive blows that would otherwise KO them.

The much slower falling speeds, loss of [[L-canceling]] with most aerials not having their [[landing lag]] fully compensated, and generally slower movement also reduce the amount of possible combos, though the effect of these is minuscule compared to the ability to act so early out of hitstun.

Conversely to hitstun canceling, ''Brawl'' also no longer allows characters taking knockback below tumbling level to land during hitstun, with the character instead remaining in their flinching animation and not landing until the hitstun is over. In combination with crouch canceling no longer reducing knockback taken, this weakens characters' defensive options at percents before hitstun canceling is possible.

In ''Smash 4'', hitstun has a very slightly altered formula: by default, the result is decreased by one frame compared to ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'', but if the character is sent tumbling (''not'' reeling) or launched by an [[electric]] attack, one more hitstun frame is added, with both factors being able to stack. For example, if a character that sustains 100 units of knockback is sent reeling, they will be in hitstun for 39 frames, but if they are sent tumbling by an electric attack, they will be in hitstun for 41 frames.

More significantly, however, while the ability to act out of hitstun with an air dodge or aerial attack returns from ''Brawl'', its effect is considerably less pronounced. Characters in ''Smash 4'' can only air dodge out of hitstun after at least 40 frames, and if their current launch speed is lower than 2.5; likewise, they can only cancel hitstun with an aerial attack after at least 45 frames, and if their current launch speed is lower than 2. For reference, launch speed starts at 0.03× of the knockback inflicted (so in the former example, it would start at 3), and decreases by 0.051 every frame. As a result, hitstun canceling not only occurs much later than in ''Brawl'', but is further delayed as knockback increases (starting to increase after roughly 56 frames of hitstun to cancel with an aerial, or 59 frames to cancel with an air dodge), to the point of becoming irrelevant at extreme knockback values. The [[Knockback#Melee onward|gravity penalty]] for vertical launch speed is also taken into account, giving characters slightly better hitstun cancel windows the lower their gravity is.

The significantly weakened hitstun canceling, coupled with the cast's generally increased [[gravity]] and [[falling speed]]s, makes true combos past low percentages possible again, and renders [[momentum canceling]] effectively impossible, allowing moves to KO earlier. Furthermore, air dodging to cancel hitstun actually marginally worsens horizontal endurance, as similarly to ''Brawl'', a fighter is not able to begin opposing their momentum with directional inputs until all of the knockback momentum is gone (despite hitstun actually ending a little earlier than this). Because of this, characters such as {{SSB4|Sheik}} and {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}} are indirectly [[buff]]ed, as their comboing abilities from previous games have been restored, while ''Brawl'' newcomers such as {{SSB4|Meta Knight}} and {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} also benefit by gaining a similar or even greater combo potential. However, with the retained ability to air dodge or attack out of hitstun at higher percentages, gravity increasing knockback as in ''Brawl'', and falling speeds still being slower than in ''Melee'', true combos at higher percentages are exclusive to a few characters (and even then, they must not [[rage|be at high percentages]] themselves), making them less prevalent than in ''Melee'' and especially the original ''SSB''.

 

*For {{SSB4|Rosalina & Luma}}, Luma uses an altered hitstun formula if only Rosalina is hit, equal to 0.27× of the knockback taken by her. This effectively causes Luma to take 67.5% of Rosalina's hitstun, allowing it to retaliate faster against attackers.

''Ultimate'' retains the 0.4× multiplier used since ''Melee'' to determine the base amount of hitstun, but always reduces the result by one frame, even if the target is sent tumbling or hit by an electric attack, unlike in ''Smash 4''. More significantly, however, hitstun is affected by the new speed-up effect used for tumbling knockback (commonly dubbed "balloon knockback" by the community), which causes characters to be launched faster as they take higher knockback. As a result, after [[tumbling]] starts happening, the effective hitstun frames increase at a slower rate in comparison to previous ''Smash'' games. For example, 90 and 145 units of knockback, which would inflict 36 and 58 frames of hitstun (respectively) in ''Smash 4'', inflict 33 and 41 frames in ''Ultimate''. Oddly, [[reeling]] can sometimes cause an extra frame of hitstun at tumbling percents, but the cause for this is unknown.

To determine the magnitude of the knockback speed-up effect, the game takes the [[FAF]] after hitstun (for example, 40 for 100 units of knockback), and calculates a [[frame speed multiplier]] between 1× and 6×, which is determined by the FAF's placement between 30 and 80 (though since the effect depends on tumbling, it cannot normally apply to hitstun below 31 frames). This speed multiplier is then applied to the first frame of knockback, and multiplied for subsequent frames by the result of <code>(initial_faf * 0.3 - faf) / (initial_faf * 0.3 - initial_faf)</code>, where <code>faf</code> is the FAF minus the previous frame's speed multiplier. For example, with 39 frames of hitstun, the initial FAF would be 40, resulting in a frame speed multiplier of 2× for the first knockback frame, which would then decrease to approximately 1.857× on the second frame (multiplied by 0.9285×). Due to the algorithm capping the FAF at 80, the speed-up effect stops scaling for knockback above 200 units, after which hitstun increases at a rate of <code>(knockback - 200) * 0.25</code>.

As a result of these changes, hitstun remains unchanged in comparison to ''Smash 4'' if a move's knockback is low enough, but is decreased otherwise, giving characters less time to combo opponents at higher percents. However, due to the cast's generally improved mobility (namely faster [[dashing speed]]s, [[air speed]]s, [[jumpsquat]]s, and full hop speeds), lower [[landing lag]], and the effect of [[rage]] being weakened, combo potential is overall slightly increased up to mid percents, with a detrimental effect only at higher knockback ranges where combos are less common. Furthermore, while hitstun canceling is still possible, and its launch speed thresholds take the knockback speed-up effect into account, its earliest windows of 40 and 45 frames do not, thus providing a considerably smaller benefit. Worth noting, however, is that moves with [[set knockback]] do not use this effect, meaning their hitstun at tumble percents is only reduced by one frame compared to ''Smash 4'', and hitstun canceling can still have a noticeable effect on moves with high enough set knockback (such as {{SSBU|Luigi}}'s down taunt).

''Ultimate'' retains ''Smash 4''{{'}}s adjustments to landing hitstun, hitstun reduction when bouncing off surfaces, and Luma's unique hitstun factor, the latter which is now comparatively lower due to using the same speed-up magnitude as Rosalina. As a new minor adjustment, attacks that cause [[flinch]]ing always inflict a minimum of 4 frames of hitstun, slightly increasing it for attacks with extremely low knockback (such as the late hit of Luigi's [[Super Jump Punch]]).

 

A new property of hitstun in ''Ultimate'' is the addition of hitstun modifiers, which can add or deduct hitstun frames to/from individual moves regardless of their knockback, allowing them to combo better or worse (respectively) than they normally would. These are mainly present in [[neutral attack]]s, which have additional hitstun to connect better, but a few other moves use them as well, such as {{SSBU|Fox}}'s [[down tilt]] (3 extra frames), and the linking hits of {{SSBU|Samus}} and {{SSBU|Dark Samus}}'s [[up aerial]]s (10 less frames), with the intention of either comboing better into their next hits and other moves, or preventing certain followups, both without altering their knockback or lag. Hitstun modifiers do not alter how early attacks can cause tumbling, and the resulting hitstun is still reduced by the knockback speed-up effect.

Due to a glitch, even if a move has a hitstun modifier only coded for specific hitboxes, the game applies the multiplier to all hitboxes of the move during frames where the specified hitbox is present. Likewise, if a move has different hitstun modifiers for each hitbox, the modifier for the hitbox with the highest ID number applies to all hitboxes, and other modifiers are ignored. This glitch is also present for [[shieldstun]] multipliers. However, some hitstun modifiers are marked as "revised" and appear to function normally; these are denoted by an asterisk in the following table.

 

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Banjo & Kazooie}}||Neutral attack||5 (hit 1)<br>6<ref>Has a specified modifier of 5 for the closest hitbox, but is overriden by this modifier due to the aforementioned glitch</ref> (hit 2)<br>3 (rapid jab)

|rowspan=3|{{SSBU|Bayonetta}}||Neutral attack||8 (hit 1)<br>10 (hits 2-3)<br>2 (rapid jab)

|[[Witch Twist]] (last hit)

|{{SSBU|Bowser}}||[[Bowser Bomb]] (grounded, hit 1)||8

|{{SSBU|Byleth}}||Neutral attack||7 (hit 2)<br>3 (rapid jab)

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Captain Falcon}}||Neutral attack||3 (hit 2)<br>2 (rapid jab)

|[[Raptor Boost]] (grounded)||3 ({{SSBU|3.1.0}} onward)

|Forward smash (charging loop hits)||3 ({{SSBU|3.0.0}} onward)

|Up aerial (loop hits)||-10<ref name="samus">Only specified for the body hitbox, but applies to all hitboxes due to the aforementioned glitch</ref>

|{{SSBU|Dr. Mario}}||Down tilt||3 ({{SSBU|7.0.0}} onward)

|{{SSBU|Duck Hunt}}||Rapid jab||2 (7.0.0 onward)

|[[Kaboom]] (hit 1)||4 ({{SSBU|8.0.0}} onward)

|[[Magic Burst]] (looping hits)||2 ({{SSBU|5.0.0}} onward)

|{{SSBU|Incineroar}}||Neutral attack (hit 2)||2<ref>Only specified for the middle hitbox, but applies to all hitboxes due to the aforementioned glitch</ref> (3.1.0 onward)

|{{SSBU|Isabelle}}||Neutral attack||14 (8 before {{SSBU|4.0.0}})

|{{SSBU|Jigglypuff}}||[[Pound]]||2 ({{SSBU|6.0.0}} onward)

|rowspan=15|{{SSBU|Kazuya}}||Neutral attack||8* (hit 1)<br>11 (hit 2)<br>9* (hit 5, closest grounded hitboxes)<br>4* (hit 6, closest hitboxes)<br>9* (hit 7, closest hitboxes)<br>6* (hit 8, closest hitboxes)

|Up tilt (hit 1)||1/3* (grounded/aerial)

|Down tilt||17

|Up-forward tilt (hits 1-3)||10*

|Down-forward tilt (hit 1)||4/8* (grounded/aerial)

|Crouch attack||22/16* (body/arm)

|Forward crouch attack||11

|Back crouch attack||9

|[[Left Splits Kick]]||10*

|Down smash||5*

|[[Devil Blaster]] (late)||10*

|[[Wind God Fist]]||15/13* (grounded/aerial, clean)<br>17/13* (grounded/aerial, late)

|Electric Wind God Fist||19/14* (grounded/aerial)

|[[Spinning Demon to Left Hook]] (hit 1)||7

|Side taunt||8* (hit 1)<br>10* (hits 2-4)<br>9* (hit 3)

|rowspan=4|{{SSBU|Ken}}||Forward tilt (tapped, close)||9<ref name="grounded">Only specified for the hitbox against grounded targets, but applies to both due to the aforementioned glitch</ref>

|Down tilt (tapped)||1 (3.1.0 onward)

|[[Hadoken]] (early)||5<ref name="grounded"></ref>

|[[Ken (SSBU)#Roundhouse Kicks|Nata Otoshi Geri]] (hit 1)||2

|{{SSBU|King Dedede}}||Neutral attack||5 (hits 1-2)<br>2 (rapid jab)

|{{SSBU|King K. Rool}}||Neutral attack (hits 1-2)||4

|{{SSBU|Link}}||Up smash (hits 1-2)||3* (9.0.0 onward)

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Little Mac}}||Neutral attack (hit 2)||2

|Up tilt||2 ({{SSBU|13.0.0}} onward)

|{{SSBU|Lucas}}||Neutral attack (hit 2)||2

|{{SSBU|Meta Knight}}||Rapid jab||2

|{{SSBU|Mewtwo}}||Neutral attack||6 (hit 1)<br>3 (rapid jab)

|{{SSBU|Mii Gunner}}||Neutral attack||1 (hit 1)<br>4 (hit 2)

|{{SSBU|Mii Swordfighter}}||[[Stone Scabbard]] (hit 1)||4

|{{SSBU|Min Min}}||Neutral attack||8 (hits 1-2)<br>3 (rapid jab)

|rowspan=3|{{SSBU|Mr. Game & Watch}}||Rapid jab||4

|Forward aerial (hit 1)||5

|[[Fire]] (grounded, hit 1)||10

|rowspan=4|{{SSBU|Mythra}}||Neutral attack||7 (hit 1)<br>8/12* (hit 2, close/far;<br>8 for all before {{SSBU|12.0.0}})<br>4 (rapid jab)

|Up smash (hits 2-4, ground-only)||10

|[[Lightning Buster]]||5 (hit 1, clean)<br>2 (hits 2-3 uncharged,<br> hits 2-4 fully charged)

|-

|[[Ray of Punishment / Chroma Dust]] (slash)||15

|{{SSBU|Pac-Man}}||Neutral attack (hit 1)||4

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Palutena}}||Neutral attack (hit 1)||4

|Neutral aerial (hit 6)||-13 (7.0.0 onward)

|{{SSBU|Piranha Plant}}||Neutral attack||6 (hit 2)<br>4 (rapid jab; 3 before 3.1.0)

|{{SSBU|Pit}}||Neutral attack (hits 1-2)||2

|rowspan=3|{{SSBU|Pyra}}||Neutral attack||7 (hit 1)<br>8/12* (hit 2, close/far;<br>8 for all before 12.0.0)<br>4 (rapid jab)

|[[Flame Nova]] (loop hits)||10

|[[Blazing End]]||20<ref>Has a specified modifier of 40 against grounded opponents, but is overriden by this modifier due to the aforementioned glitch</ref> (travel)<br>25 (start and loop hits)

|{{SSBU|R.O.B.}}||Neutral attack (hit 1)||5<ref>Only specified for the closest hitboxes, but applies to all due to the aforementioned glitch</ref>

|{{SSBU|Richter}}||Neutral attack||2 (hits 1-2)<br>3 (rapid jab)

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Rosalina & Luma}}||Neutral attack (Rosalina)||6 (hit 1)<br>8 (hit 2)<br>3 (hit 3 and rapid jab)

|Neutral attack (Luma)||5 (hit 1)<br>6 (hit 2)<br>3 (rapid jab)

|rowspan=3|{{SSBU|Ryu}}||Forward tilt (tapped, close)||2<ref name="grounded"></ref>

|Down tilt (tapped)||1 (3.1.0 onward)

|[[Shakunetsu Hadoken]] (loop hits)||10 (clean)<br>4 (late)

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Samus}}||Neutral attack (hit 1)||4

|Up aerial (loop hits)||-10<ref name="samus"></ref>

|{{SSBU|Sephiroth}}||Neutral attack||2 (hit 1)<br>3 (hit 2)

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Sheik}}||Rapid jab||2

|Up tilt (hit 1)||2 (9.0.0 onward)

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Shulk}}||Neutral attack||2 (hit 1)<br>5 (hit 2)

|Up smash (hit 1)||3<ref name="aerial">Only specified for the hitbox against aerial targets, but applies to all due to the aforementioned glitch</ref> (9.0.0 onward)

|{{SSBU|Simon}}||Neutral attack (hits 1-2)||2 (hits 1-2)<br>3 (rapid jab)

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Snake}}||Neutral attack (hit 1)||rowspan=2|2

|Forward tilt (hit 1)

|{{SSBU|Sonic}}||Neutral attack||8 (hit 1)<br>4 (hit 2)

|rowspan=8|{{SSBU|Sora}}||Neutral attack||11/8* (hit 1, clean/late)<br>10* (hit 2)

|Forward tilt||13/12* (linking hit 1)<br>10* (hit 2)

|Up tilt (hit 6)||rowspan=2|4*

|Down tilt

|Neutral aerial||2/4/10* (frame 8)<br>1/2/4* (frames 9-10)

|Forward aerial||4/6/8* (frames 10-11)

|[[Firaga]]||9/7/5* (first shot, clean/mid/late)<br>1/-1/-3* (repeated shots, clean/mid/late)

|[[Blizzaga]] (last hit)||8/6* (clean/late)

|rowspan=3|{{SSBU|Steve}}||Neutral attack||rowspan=3|-10* (no weapon)<br>-7/-5* (Stone/Gold)<br>-5/-3* (other)

|{{rollover|Neutral aerial|Includes forward and back aerial buffered out of a short hop|y}}

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Villager}}||Neutral attack||7 (hit 1; 2 before 8.0.0)<br>11 (hit 2; 2 before 8.0.0)

|Up tilt (hit 1)||2<ref name="aerial"></ref> (8.0.0 onward)

|[[Grab aerial]]||4 (7.0.0 onward)

|{{SSBU|Zelda}}||Neutral attack||2 (hit 2)<br>3 (rapid jab)

|rowspan=2|{{SSBU|Zero Suit Samus}}||Neutral attack (hit 1)||2<ref>Has specified modifiers of 10 and 6 for the closer hitboxes, but they are overriden by this modifier due to the aforementioned glitch</ref>

====Notes====