Lucario (SSB4): Difference between revisions

'''Lucario''' ({{ja|ルカリオ|Rukario}}, ''Lucario'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. Its return to the series was announced on January 31st, 2014, six years to the day of the year that ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' was released in Japan. According to an extra post for its Miiverse reveal, this timing was done to commend the ''Brawl'' developers for succeeding in adding Lucario to ''Brawl''.

However, Lucario still maintains its below-average mobility, making it difficult for it to force an approach. Lucario's new Aura mechanics also cause its moves to deal drastically lower knockback and damage at low percentages, making it almost impossible to KO opponents until 150%. While this allows Lucario to combo reliably at low percentages, this makes it much harder for it to combo or create set-ups when it is highly damaged, due to the aforementioned strength of its attacks at high Aura and rage. As Lucario is also dependent on Aura to secure KOs, it has a riskier playstyle compared to many other characters. Some examples are its smash attacks, which have high lag, and Force Palm's grab, which can be escaped at low Aura. Finally, Extreme Speed now gains enough speed at max Aura that it can inadvertently cause a [[self-destruct]] if used recklessly, and the move has a full second of landing lag if it ends in the air, making Lucario heavily open for punishment.

==Attributes==

Lucario possesses a unique mechanic called [[Aura]]. Aesthetically, Aura appears as blue, concentrated energy and affects Lucario's entire moveset. Mechanically, Aura is a damage multiplier with a baseline of 0.66× at 0%, and an apex of 1.7× when Lucario has received at least 190%. The multipliers also get multiplied whenever Lucario has a stock lead or not, effectively increasing or decreasing Lucario's Aura. When Lucario is 2 stocks or more ahead, Aura is affected by a 0.6333× multiplier, when at 1 stock ahead it is affected by 0.8×, when at 1 stock behind it is affected by 1.3333×, and when at 2 stocks or more behind it is affected by 2×. This means that, even though most of Lucario's moves have high knockback scaling, their power is extremely low with low Aura; this grants it respectable combo potential, yet makes even its strongest attacks unable to KO until very high percentages. Conversely, high Aura does the opposite: it results in Lucario's combo potential becoming virtually nonexistent, but grants its moves incredible power, with many of them easily surpassing every other character's at maximum Aura. In addition, the [[rage]] mechanic further boosts the knockback of Lucario's attacks, which complements their already high power.

Its most serious flaw, however, is the polarized strength throughout its moveset when utilized in tandem with the fluctuating Aura mechanic itself. Its fastest moves are the weakest, and its strongest moves are the slowest, making the latter very [[punish]]able if not spaced well. Lucario's Aura can sometimes work against it, as attacks with high knockback scaling are bound to finish Lucario off before it has a chance to make use of its rage and/or Aura at the same time. With low Aura, its powerful moves are too weak to KO, and with high Aura, its combo-oriented moves are too strong to be chained together reliably. This makes it imperative to keep in mind how Lucario's attacks and knockback will function depending on how much damage all active fighters have accumulated, as it cannot afford to make mistakes at high percentages. It also often restricts Lucario to using a bait and punish playstyle, as it cannot safely perform rushdowns without getting punished most of the time. This gives Lucario an unusual disadvantage against high-knockback and heavyweight characters; a well-placed and powerful move will often be all it takes to end Lucario at mid or even low percentages, preventing it from utilizing Aura effectively.

==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''==

Like Aura, Lucario itself has been buffed and nerfed both directly and indirectly. The changes to [[hitstun canceling]], make up and especially down throws combo starters with minimum to low Aura despite the former's higher knockback. By extension, up and down tilts have improved combo potential with minimum to low Aura. However, all of them barring up throw deal less damage. Lucario's recovery has noticeably improved as its air speed is significantly higher and [[Extreme Speed]] has received a hitbox, and its distance scales with Aura making it safer and travel more distance. However, it is still susceptible to punishment, either by overshooting it while at high to maximum Aura, or by failing to mitigate its noticeably higher ending lag via landing on solid ground. Lastly, Lucario's smash attacks have slightly longer ranges, but are noticeably laggier.

However, Lucario has received some significant nerfs. One of the most prevalent nerfs Lucario received across its moveset is that many of its attacks have shorter hitbox durations hindering Lucario's spacing ability. A noticeable example of this is forward aerial where its duration was decreased from 14 frames to a mere 2 frames. Forward aerial also has an altered angle and significantly increased base knockback hindering its combo and edgeguarding potential (although the removal of hitstun canceling has allowed it to maintain its combo potential). Lucario's down aerial is also weaker and has a weaker stalling effect hindering its spacing potential. Lucario's falling speed has significantly increased which hinders its aerial game and makes it much more susceptible to combos combined with the removal of hitstun canceling. Lucario's endurance is also noticeably worse especially horizontally. Lucario's weight is slightly lower and its gravity is higher making it easier to KO horizontally. The removal of [[momentum canceling]] and the introduction of rage further reduce Lucario's endurance making it harder for Lucario to build up Aura despite its changes. Lucario's damage output without maximum Aura is also lower hindering Lucario's damage racking abilities unless it has full aura. Lastly, Lucario's jab is significantly laggier removing the strong [[jab cancel]]ing potential it used to have.

*{{buff|Aura has updated multipliers (0.7× → 0.66× (lowest), 1.4× → 1.7× (highest)) and percentage windows (0%-20% (minimum Aura)/21%-74% (low Aura) → 0%-69% (minimum to low Aura), 75%-169% → 70%-189% (average to high Aura), 170%+ → 190%+ (maximum Aura)). While Lucario is weaker with no Aura, Lucario builds up Aura faster and while it takes longer for Lucario to reach maximum Aura, Lucario is significantly stronger with maximum Aura. These changes improve Lucario's combo potential with minimum to low Aura, and improve its KO potential with average to maximum Aura. However, they hinder its KO potential with minimum to low Aura, and hinder its combo potential with high to maximum Aura.}}

*{{buff|Lucario's entire moveset is now affected by Aura.}}

*{{buff|Lucario [[walk]]s faster (1.0 → 1.05).}}

*{{buff|Lucario [[dash]]es faster (1.414 → 1.55).}}

*{{buff|[[Air dodge]] has less startup (frame 4 → 2) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 32).}}

*{{nerf|Air dodge has a shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 2-25).}}

*{{change|Lucario's [[gravity]] is higher (0.0625 → 0.084). This improves its aerial mobility, but hinders its horizontal endurance.}}

*{{nerf|[[Spot dodge]] has a shorter duration (frame 2-20 → 2-15) and has more ending lag (FAF 26 → 27).}}

*{{buff|The newly-added [[rage]] stacks with the effects of aura further improving Lucario's KO potential with high Aura.}}

*{{nerf|However, the introduction of rage combined with the removal of [[momentum canceling]] as well as Lucario's lower weight and higher gravity significantly hinders Lucario's endurance making it harder for Lucario to build up and make good use of Aura.}}

*{{nerf|Lucario's [[item throw]] is weaker (1 → 0.96). The removal of [[glide toss]]ing also hinders Lucario's approach with items.}}

**{{change|Up aerial no longer deals consistent damage (10% → 11% (clean)/6% (late)).}}

**{{buff|Up aerial has increased base knockback (15 → 30).}}

*[[Down aerial]]:

**{{nerf|Down aerial deals less damage (8% (both) → 5% (hit 1)/6% (hit 2)) and has increased ending lag (FAF 29 → 31). Down aerial's stall effect is also weaker hindering its stalling potential. It can also no longer [[auto-cancel]] in a short or be performed twice in a short hop.}}

===Special moves===

*[[Aura Sphere]]:

**{{buff|[[Aura Sphere#Reverse Aura Sphere|Reverse Aura Sphere]] now slightly pushes Lucario backward, improving its [[mindgame]] potential.}}

**{{nerf|Fully charged Aura Sphere deals less damage (18.75% → 17.25%).}}

**{{change|Aura Sphere has updated visual effects. Its outline is thicker and makes it appear slightly jagged, instead of smooth.}}

*[[Force Palm]]:

**{{buff|Force Palm's near blast deals 1.88% more damage (10% → 11.88%).}}

**{{buff|Force Palm's blast is larger especially with high Aura, and the throw has increased knockback (40 (base), 83 (scaling) → 66/86).}}

**{{nerf|Force Palm's mid and far blast deal less damage (9% (mid)/8% (far) → 7.56% (both)).}}

**{{change|Force Palm's animation has changed. Lucario now leans in further with its body facing more at a more sideways angle, places its following arm high and behind itself, and performs a stomp with its leading foot while firing the blast.}}

**{{change|Force Palm's visual and sound effects have changed. Its blast is now shaped like a smooth flame instead of a jagged flame, and its sound effect's pitch scales with Aura.}}

Furthermore, Aura Sphere became even more situational as of update 1.1.3, thanks to its decreased [[hitlag]] resulting in it being impossible to perform with a charging Aura Sphere charge at low Aura. Despite this, it is still possible to perform with a charging Aura Sphere at high Aura, as the higher damage output generates more shieldstun and hitlag. Even so, Lucario's most damaging moves, such as its smash attacks and Force Palm, benefited from these changes thanks to their ranges and, in the case of its forward and down smashes, their hitlag.

'''{{GameIcon|ssb4-3ds}} [[1.0.4]]'''

{{UpdateList/1.0.4|char=Lucario}}

'''{{GameIcon|ssb4-3ds}} 1.0.5'''

'''{{GameIcon|ssb4}} [[1.0.6]]'''

*Lucario's moveset is affected by [[Aura]]. The following moveset list details the properties of its attacks when its Aura is at its lowest (0%), average (70%), and highest levels (190%).

*Lucario is able to [[Crawling|crawl]], [[wall cling]], and [[wall jump]].

{{MovesetTable

|game=SSB4

|nsc1name=Snaring Aura Sphere

|nsc1dmg={{AuraDamageSSB4|2.5}} (no charge), {{AuraDamageSSB4|14.5}} (fully charged), {{AuraDamageSSB4|0.5}} (charging sphere)

|nsc2name=Piercing Aura Sphere

|nsc2dmg={{AuraDamageSSB4|3}} (no charge), {{AuraDamageSSB4|6.75}} (fully charged), {{AuraDamageSSB4|0.7}} (charging sphere)

|fsdesc=[[bulbapedia:Mega Evolution|Mega Evolves]] into Mega Lucario. Mega Lucario has an Aura multiplier of 1.8×, regardless of Lucario's damage prior to Mega Evolving, and has both super [[armor]] and [[flinch]] resistance throughout its duration. However, its duration will shorten upon receiving damage. Lucario can still use his custom special moves after transforming.

}}

===[[On-screen appearance]]===

|desc-up=Folds its arms and then extends them while growling and emitting a surging, jagged, flame-shaped field of Aura around itself.

|desc-side=Extends its right forepaw forward and growls before emitting a small blast of Aura from its forepaw.

===[[Idle pose]]s===

|game=SSB4

|desc-us=Lu-cario!

|pitch-us=Group chant

|pitch-jp=Group chant}}

===[[Victory pose]]s===

{{Victory/SSB4

|victory-theme=PokemonUniverseTheme.ogg

|victory-desc=An orchestral excerpt of the title theme from [[bulbapedia:Pokémon Red and Blue Versions|''Pokémon Red'', ''Blue'']] and [[bulbapedia:Pokémon Red and Green Versions|''Green Versions'']], which has since become the main theme of the ''Pokémon'' series.

|desc-1=Moves its paws in front of itself and then clasps them together while saying "The Aura is with me!" ({{ja|波導は我にあり！|Hadō wa ware ni ari!}}, ''The aura is with me!'').

|desc-3=Performs a kata where it leans forward while extending its left arm forward, keeping its right arm to its side, and performing a kiai while a flame-like field of Aura briefly surges from its body.

|char=Lucario}}

|set10=1311

}}

===Tier placement and history===

==In [[Event Match]]es==

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{SSB4Characters}}

{{Pokémon universe}}