Editing Roy (SSBU)

:''For information on the playable [[Koopaling]], see [[Bowser Jr. (SSBU)]].''

|tier = A

|ranking = 19

Roy is ranked 19th out of 82 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the A tier. This is a significant improvement from his mid-tier placement in ''SSB4'', where he was ranked 41st out of 54 characters, and his best placement in the series. Roy's primary strength revolve his fast air and dash speeds which, combined with great frame data in his aerial and tilt attacks, gives him a strong combo game and several mix-up options. The mechanic changes in ''Ultimate'' also benefit Roy by making it easier for him to approach and land his sweetspot at the hilt, which in turn makes it easier for him to not only rack up damage quickly, but also take stocks at relatively early percentages. Roy possesses some strong KO options with quick start-up such as forward tilt, forward smash and [[Double-Edge Dance]].

However, Roy also has several weaknesses, the most significant being his weak recovery, with a fast falling speed and [[Blazer]] giving him poor vertical distance. This leaves him susceptible to gimps and edgeguarding at early percents. Roy's fast falling speed also give him a poor disadvantage state, in which he is easier to combo and juggle than other characters. Finally, Roy's blade is afflicted by a weak sourspot at the tipper, which hinders his combo, spacing game, and overall range. Therefore, he has to get close to his opponent at every time to be able to land the sweetspot.

Overall, Roy is considered to be one of the best swordfighters in the game, and this has been reflected by his above-average representation in the metagame, which is spearheaded by players such as {{Sm|Kola}}, {{Sm|Goblin}}, and {{Sm|HIKARU}}.

Roy's special moveset maintains his sheer speed and KO power; [[Flare Blade]] is known for being one of the strongest single-hitting attacks in the game, with the capability to one-hit KO any fighter in the game when fully charged. Combined with its ability to be reversed and its extremely high knockback, it adds up to be a very potent [[edge-guarding]] and ledge trapping tool, and has deceptively low ending lag despite its power to avoid punishment. As a result, Roy is one of few characters who can reliably close out stocks on shield breaks regardless of the opponent's damage. [[Double-Edge Dance]] is a quick and efficient damage-racking series of high-speed sword slashes, along with being a reliable finisher at higher percentages if sweetspotted; it is fast enough for each hit to connect reliably and catch spot dodges. His main recovery move, [[Blazer]], is an excellent [[out of shield]] option, due to Roy gaining super [[armor]] on startup and having decent knockback growth when grounded. Lastly, his [[Counter]] has a short window of active frames compared to other counterattacks, but it makes up for being one of the strongest counters in the game thanks to its 1.35× damage multiplier.

Roy was infamous for being a lower-ranked character in previous appearances, with his [[Roy (SSBM)|debut appearance in ''Melee'']] being particularly egregious. Even in ''SSB4'', he still retained a committal approach and unsafe aerials (especially compared to other fellow swordfighters), and his inverse tipper attribute hindered his spacing abilities, which collectively resulted in both his lower mid tier placement and being ranked as the lowest ranked DLC fighter. Likely because of this, Roy has been drastically buffed overall in his transition to ''Ultimate'', and is the only DLC fighter from ''SSB4'' to remain mostly buffed in that transition.

Roy's most significant improvements are indirect, as he benefits noticeably from the changes to the universal gameplay mechanics in ''Ultimate''. The improved flexibility of [[dash cancel]]ing and the decreased landing lag on his aerials greatly improve his combo game, aerial offense, rushdown potential, and make his KO power consistent. Complementing this, the universal mobility increase benefits Roy's core strategy of closing the distance on his opponents and landing hits with the hilt of his sword, as well as helping counterbalance his vulnerability to camping. These changes almost fully alleviate the need to approach at dangerously close ranges in order to deal optimal damage and knockback, which was his main flaw that had plagued him in previous games and was not present in his other fellow swordfighters.

Some of Roy's useful buffs are also direct. Moves like his [[dash attack]], [[forward tilt]], [[forward aerial|forward]], [[back aerial|back]] and [[up aerial]]s, and [[Double-Edge Dance]], have increased power, significantly increasing his options at higher percentages and further toning down his trouble at KOing. Furthermore, KO confirms with his neutral attack and the first hit of neutral aerial or a sourspotted up aerial have become much more consistent and reliable. A small amount of his moves have also had their hitbox placements improved, which is notable in his forward smash and Double-Edge Dance, the former of which can now hit opponents in the lower platforms of {{SSBU|Battlefield}}. Double-Edge Dance has also been sped up greatly, making its hits link into each other much more consistently. His air game in general has directly improved, as forward aerial now auto-cancels in a short hop and has knockback and angle adjustments that make it better for both combos and KOs; neutral, back and up aerials are stronger (the lattermost of which can now KO reliably), and down aerial has larger sweetspots. These changes, compounded with his lower landing lag all-around, makes Roy's air game one of the most versatile and fearsome of any character.

However, Roy is not without a few nerfs, some of which are significant. [[Blazer]] now needs to travel half its maximum distance before it can sweetspot ledges and also deals less knockback, reducing its use as a KO option. He now boasts a less effective grab game, as his forward throw has lost its combo potential altogether, and down throw has less followups due to its increased knockback; the universal nerfs to grabs further pronounce these issues, making it riskier and less rewarding for him to grab the opponent.

Overall, Roy's core playstyle remains fundamentally the same as it was in ''SSB4'', but the changes made to the game's engine and his substantial buffs now make him less polarizing and allows him to comfortably play aggressively up close, while retaining his raw power, range, and speed mostly intact, though with a few risks added to his playstyle such as a less effective grab game. Despite this, while Roy's nerfs are comparatively few, he still has some of his flaws from past games, such as mediocre offstage survivability, a vulnerability to combos, and an ineffective spacing game. Nevertheless, Roy is considered to be much more viable than he was in any of his previous playable appearances, and is widely seen as a solid contender in competitive play and one of the best swordfighters in the game.

|dashname=Raid Down ({{ja|レイドダウン|Reido Daun}})

|fsmashname=Power Slash ({{ja|パワー スマッシュ|Pawā Sumasshu}})

|usmashname=Flame Sword ({{ja|フレイムソード|Fureimu Sōdo}})

|nairdesc=An inward slash followed by a spinning, outward slash. Deals decent damage and is a useful combo extender, and is Roy's main aerial approach tool due to its high amount of active frames. The first hit can start guaranteed combos, though it can be difficult to setup due to how fast it ends. Interestingly, it is set apart from identical neutral aerials (including {{SSBU|Chrom}}'s) in that the second hit possesses weight-independent knockback, KOing all characters at the same percentages regardless of their [[weight]].

|pummeldesc=A knee strike. Average power and speed.

|uthrowdesc=Heaves the opponent upward with his free hand. Roy's only throw with KO potential, starting around 185%.

|dsdmg=1.35× (minimum 8%)

*'''Up taunt''': Triumphantly holds the Binding Blade overhead. Resembles his overworld sprite in ''The Binding Blade''.

SSBURoyIdle1.gif|Roy's first idle pose.

SSBURoyIdle2.gif|Roy's second idle pose.

''See also: [[:Category:Roy players (SSBU)]]''

 

When ''Ultimate'' was released, Roy looked promising in the metagame due to the universal decreased landing lag on aerials and ability to use tilts out of a dash, which drastically fixed one of his biggest weaknesses. Along with his excellent mobility and some of the strongest KO power in the game, many professionals believed that Roy could potentially be a top-tier character. However, people also noticed that his [[Echo Fighter]], {{SSBU|Chrom}}, despite having less power and a significantly worse recovery than Roy, was more consistent due to his lack of sourspots, making him better at spacing than Roy. Chrom also had a notorious sacrificial KO move from his forward aerial to Soaring Slash. Although the latter was eventually removed, Chrom was still widely agreed to be one of the best characters in the game and was considered to be better than Roy in the early metagame. Despite this, Roy has achieved many noteworthy results thanks to players such as {{Sm|Goblin}} and {{Sm|Flow|p=France}}, and is still thought to be significantly improved from ''Smash 4'', with many players ranking him as a high-tier or even top-tier character.

 

Roy's reputation continued to improve during and after the end of the online metagame. {{Sm|Kola}}, a rising star prior to the pandemic, made waves during the online metagame and ultimately placed 1st on the [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5]]. He maintained this momentum after offline play returned, and consistently placed top 8 at majors. Other Roy players such as Goblin and {{Sm|HIKARU}} also saw strong results during this period, leading to an increase in Roy's representation, especially in the United States: Roy had the second-highest character usage by the end of 2021,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zTKrF1HOv70Pp8xdJKrRQy3QiMYKLTCstoVNgxymt0o/edit#gid=0|title=OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse character usage}}</ref> and continued to be a top 10 character representation-wise in the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gRlzy4z_dpqb2ZRhGoqtbDcuvUKz_ROsMZHGegon53M/edit#gid=329450080|title=OrionRank 2022 character usage}}</ref> With Chrom's decline as a result to a shrinking playerbase, many players such as {{Sm|Dabuz}} and {{Sm|Tweek}} consider Roy to be one of the best, if not the best, Fire Emblem characters in the game. As such, Roy was ranked 8th on the first tier list as a top tier character.

 

Following the first tier list, Roy's representation saw a sudden decline at the top level, attributed to Kola's declining performances and months-long hiatus, Goblin's severe decline, and HIKARU's retirement from competitive ''Smash''. Although Roy remained a popular character overall, on the other hand, there were few Roy players that could match the three's performances, as {{Sm|alice}} remained rather inconsistent while Flow did not become more prominent until the latter half of 2023. Finally, Kola's results following his return were better than his results right before his hiatus; however, they were still worse than his results at his peak. This decline led to Roy dropping out of the top 10 in terms of representation by mid-2023, the first time he was outside the top 10 since the early metagame, and this drop, alongside many players questioning whether Roy's hilt sweetspot and linear recovery were becoming more of a problem, led players to believe he was overrated on the first tier list. This view was reflected in the second tier list, where he dropped 11 spots to 19th in the A-tier, tied with Chrom and {{SSBU|Ken}} as the largest drops from the first tier list.

*Roy is the only male character unlocked in {{b|The Final Battle|World of Light}} realm in World of Light.

**Additionally, since Roy is found in The Final Battle, he is the only character with an Echo Fighter based on them who cannot be found in [[The Light Realm]], as {{SSBU|Samus}}, {{SSBU|Peach}}, Marth, {{SSBU|Pit}}, {{SSBU|Ryu}}, and {{SSBU|Simon}} can all be found in it, while all Echo Fighters (except {{SSBU|Dark Samus}}) can be found in [[The Dark Realm]].

**This also means that Roy is the only character with an Echo Fighter that can be unlocked in World of Light first, with Chrom being found in the [[Sacred Land]] sub-world of The Dark Realm.

**Roy is the only base character in World of Light that has a higher "power level" than his Echo Fighter. Roy has a power level of 12,500, matching the remaining fighters in The Final Battle area, while Chrom's power level is 10,600, being on a similar level as most of the fighters trapped within The Dark Realm.