R.O.B. (SSB4): Difference between revisions

R.O.B. has been mostly ignored in the patches, receiving only three direct changes total, one of which was a negligible cast-wide standardization and one other just a visual bug fix; R.O.B. was ignored to such a a degree that his infamous inability to emote in Wii U's Vs. Mode, a major visual glitch known since the Wii U version was released, was never fixed while many other lesser visual glitches were. His one and only significant direct gameplay change was to his up throw in 1.0.6, where its base knockback was nerfed significantly and its knockback scaling was slightly reduced, overall making it KO about 20% later, and significantly increasing the potential window between Beep Boop no longer connecting and up throw KOing, especially when significant rage is present. Prior to 1.0.6 it was the strongest up throw in the game and second strongest throw after {{SSB4|Ness}}' [[Ness (SSB4)/Back throw|back throw]]. It wasn't a straight nerf however, as the base knockback reduction made it a very effective combo throw up to middish percentages, allowing more varied and damaging followups than what R.O.B.'s down throw offers, helping R.O.B. rack up damage a bit faster at lower percents, while helping to keep his down throw and up aerial fresher for stronger Beep Boops at higher percentages. Additionally, after the knockback nerf it still remains one of the strongest KO throws in the game, allowing it to still effectively work in its main purpose.

Despite the lack of direct changes and the up throw nerf having its benefits, R.O.B. has been negatively affected by changes made to the game by the patches however. Version [[1.0.4]]'s changes to [[vectoring]] gave R.O.B. a significant indirect buff, as it made Beep Boop work for drastically longer percent ranges and turned it into a very strong KO option. However the shieldstun increase of version [[1.1.1]] gave R.O.B. a relative nerf, as R.O.B. himself benefited among the least of the cast from it, due to his moves being projectiles or possessing hitboxes with low damage output, seeing negligible shield safety increases as a result, while R.O.B. still remains unable to effectively pressure shields. It additionally amplified R.O.B.'s poor out-of-shield game when he is not holding a Gyro, and made getting vital shield grabs especially difficult with his extremely short grabbing reach. Then while the nerfs to several top tier characters were beneficial to R.O.B., some are still considered very difficult matchups for R.O.B., especially {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}}, while the significant direct buffs to many mid and lower tier characters made them more difficult matchups for R.O.B., introducing more matchups considered to be disadvantageous in the process that were considered even or advantageous before, most notably [[Marcina]]. Then [[DLC]] introduced multiple new difficult matchups for R.O.B., particularly {{SSB4|Mewtwo}}, {{SSB4|Cloud}}, and {{SSB4|Bayonetta}}, with Bayo in particular considered to be a [[hard counter]] that is either R.O.B.'s worst matchup or second worst after Zero Suit Samus, even after the [[1.1.6]] patch dedicated to nerfing her.

Overall, while R.O.B. has remained relatively static throughout the updates, his percieved viability and strength relative to the cast has dropped a fairly significant amount throughout Smash 4's history since his percieved peak in 1.0.4., due to most of the changes brought to game by the patches since being unfavorable to him and making the cast around him stronger.

*{{nerf|Up throw's knockback decreased|70 (base)/72 (growth)|60/70, making it KO about 20% later.}}

*{{buff|The base knockback decrease however made it significantly more effective as a setup throw at low percents.}}