Ness (SSBU)/Down smash

Hitbox visualization showing Ness's down smash when charging.

Hitbox visualization showing Ness's down smash.

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Overview[edit]

Down smash is automatically unleashed from charging state earlier and hit less often while charging (rehit rate: 3 → 4).
The physics of Ness' yo-yo string are stiffer. This improves the consistency of down smash at the ledge.

The physics of Ness' yo-yo string have been reverted back to their pre-3.0.0 properties.

The move and its hitboxes has some unusual properties, which are shared with Ness' up smash:

The yo-yo, while attached to Ness and causing him to experience hitlag alongside opponents hit, is programmed as its own object with unique tether physics. This gives the hitboxes pseudo-projectile properties; for example, they can clang with aerial attacks, and do not have their damage affected by Ness being giant or tiny.
When shielded, the 0.67× hitlag reduction only applies to the opponent, making it comparatively less safe than other attacks.
Compared to other smash attacks, it has a lower maximum charge damage multiplier, capping at 1.2× instead of 1.4×, and can only be held for up to 30 frames after reaching full charge instead of 120 frames.

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)
Lag time	Charge interval	Hitbox	Interruptible

On frame 26, the front hit is coded to change its hitbox to have a higher angle (35° → 90°) and set knockback (20 → 30). However, as the hitboxes are also deleted on this frame, this change never takes effect in-game.

Ness's moveset