Zelda (SSB4): Difference between revisions

As a result, Zelda's strong punish game is not enough to make up for her poor mobility, endurence, neutral game, disadvantage state, approach potential and inconsistent moveset, resulting in Zelda struggling against most of the cast, much like she did in the previous two games. Ultimately, this meant that Zelda retained extremely minimal representation in competitive play much like the previous two games and in turn, extremely sparse results. However, Zelda has nevertheless managed to find a few instances of success, from players such as {{Sm|ven}}, {{Sm|Fairess}}, {{Sm|Purple Guy}}, {{Sm|Onpu}}, and {{Sm|Zolda}}.

However, Zelda also received noticeable nerfs. The most notable is the removal of her ability to [[Transform]] into Sheik, which is further compounded by the latter having been significantly buffed in the transition from ''Brawl'' to ''SSB4''. Outside of this, most of Zelda's direct nerfs have been applied to her damage output and frame data: up and down smash had slightly shorter ranges with the former smash having less utility, being laggier and less reliable while the latter has slightly more startup and has a weaker initial hit. Sweetspotted Lightning Kicks have lower base knockback and the Lightning Kicks themselves are significantly laggier having more ending lag preventing them from being performed twice in a short hop or auto-canceling in a short hop greatly hindering their spacing potential. Up tilt deals much less damage and has lower knockback greatly hindering its KO potential, and Din's Fire is less maneuverable and more inconsistent due to having a sourspot in the outer area of the explosion, making it worse as a zoning tool. While [[rage]] can improve her already strong KO power, her low weight prevents her from consistently building up a high amount of rage and it worsens her already poor endurance. While her combo game is stronger, she is also easier to combo not only due to the aforementioned removal of hitstun canceling but also because of her faster fall speed/gravity.

**{{buff|The final hit now has a magic effect, instead of an electric effect.}}

**{{buff|The sweetspots now have a magic effect, instead of an electric effect, reducing their previously rather extreme hitlag.}}

**{{nerf|Up aerial has a slightly smaller hitbox (8.199994u → 8u).}}

**{{buff|The sweetspot can now hit grounded opponents, giving the move less startup lag with a longer duration against grounded opponents (frames 15-24 → 14 (clean)/15-24 (late)).}}

**{{buff|The sweetspot has a larger hitbox (2.5u → 4u).}}

**{{buff|The sweetspot now has a magic effect, instead of an electric effect.}}

***{{buff|When combined with the introduction of [[frame canceling]], this noticeably improves down aerial's safety and followup potential, especially with the sweetspot.}}

**{{nerf|The sweetspot deals less knockback (50 (base), 90 (scaling) → 30/65). This hinders its edge-guarding potential and KO potential (although this is partially compensated with the removal of [[meteor cancel]]ing) and while it does improves its combo potential on stage, this is overall negated by the introduction of [[tech]]ing against grounded meteor smashes.}}

**{{change|Down throw's visual effects have changed. Zelda now casts [[Flame|fiery]] magic, instead of electrical magic.}}

**{{nerf|Due to consisting of four hits instead of six, Nayru's Love deals 4% less damage (15% → 11%).}}

**{{buff|Nayru's Love's loop hits' angles have been altered (10° → 160°). When coupled with the weakening of SDI, this makes it significantly more difficult to escape from.}}

**{{buff|Nayru's Love has increased intangibility frames (frames 5-12 → 5-15).}}

**{{buff|The final hit can now hit aerial opponents with all hitboxes.}}

**{{buff|Farore's Wind's second hit deals more damage (6% → 10% (grounded sweetspot)/7% (grounded sourspot)/12% (aerial sweetspot)/8% (aerial sourspot)). Additionally, due to consisting of a sweetspot and a sourspot instead of a consistent hitbox, its second hit has altered knockback (40 (base)/100 (growth) → 90/90 (grounded/aerial sweetspot), 70/90 (grounded/aerial sourspot)). Lastly, its aerial second hit's angle has been altered ([[Sakurai angle|361°]] → 55°). Altogether, these changes grant it KO potential when sweetspotted, especially while near the upper blast line, and improve its safety.}}

**{{buff|Farore's Wind has decreased start-up lag (frame 11 → 8). Additionally, it travels farther and covers significantly more height when used with a jump. Lastly, it now snaps the edge when first used, instead of requiring Zelda to reappear first. Altogether, these changes significantly improve its recovery potential.}}