Rosalina & Luma (SSBU): Difference between revisions

|ranking = 48

'''Rosalina & Luma''' ({{ja|ロゼッタ&チコ|Rozetta & Chiko}}, ''Rosetta & Chiko'') are playable fighters in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. They were revealed for the game along with {{SSBU|King Dedede}} and the rest of the veterans on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93H7YC-83o June 12th, 2018], now as unlockable fighters. Although they are a team, Rosalina & Luma are collectively classified as [[Fighter number|Fighter #48]].

Rosalina & Luma are currently ranked 48th out of 82 characters in the B- tier, putting her in the center of high-mid tier. This is a a drastic drop from her 5th out of 54 placement as a top tier character in ''Smash 4''. The pair is notable for their tag team mechanic which grants Rosalina the ability to control Luma almost anywhere on the stage, giving her access to [[advanced technique|tech]] such as [[Lunar Landing]]. Together, their attacks possess disjointed range, allowing them to wall out stubby characters. Luma also can function as a "shield" of sorts, as it does not share Rosalina's [[damage meter]]. Rosalina herself has a very effective aerial game, very flexible aerial movement due to her high air acceleration, and strong juggling capabilities courtesy of her up air. Finally, her recovery is long and flexible due to [[Launch Star]] being fast and covering great distance and [[Gravitational Pull]] allows her to deal with characters who try camping her out with projectiles.  

However, Rosalina and Luma have some significant flaws. Luma's survivability is hindered by its inability to act out of tumble and it lacking defensive options such as shielding and rolling. Without Luma, Rosalina's attacks are noticeably weaker and possess less generous hitbox placement, and she loses access to some of her tech and two special moves. In addition, Rosalina's disadvantage state is poor due to her tall stature, low gravity, and low falling speed, while her light weight makes her susceptible to early KOs. Finally, Rosalina & Luma often has difficulty playing against characters that have better disjoints or can outrange their attacks.  

Overall, Rosalina & Luma's strengths rely on understanding how to make the most use out of their unique mechanic, which leads to a high-learning curve. Despite having below-average representation in the current metagame, Rosalina & Luma continues to see success from players such as {{Sm|Dabuz}}, {{Sm|Homika}}, and {{Sm|yuzu}}.

Rosalina is a tall and floaty [[Weight|lightweight]], much like {{SSBU|Mewtwo}}, and {{SSBU|Zelda}}. Rosalina is tied with {{SSBU|Falco}} for being the 14th lightest character in the game; unlike Peach or Zelda, however, her overall grounded mobility is decent, thanks to her above-average initial dash speed and slightly above-average [[walk]]ing and [[dash]]ing speeds. Rosalina has average [[air speed]], the 2nd highest additional [[air acceleration]] values in the game (behind {{SSBU|Palutena}} and tied with {{SSBU|Mega Man}}), and both her [[jump]] and double jump have significant height. Additionally, her [[falling speed|falling]] and [[fast fall]]ing speeds are among the slowest, while her [[gravity]] is the 2nd lowest in the game. Lastly, the combination of Rosalina's high jump height, low gravity and slow falling speed give her the longest jump duration in the cast, allowing her more than 1 second (71 frames) in the air with an uninterrupted full hop. As a result of these attributes, she is a very [[Falling speed#Floaty|floaty]] character with superb aerial mobility and an ability to remain airborne longer than most other characters in the game.

Due to being allied with Luma, Rosalina also follows the tag team archetype established by the {{SSBU|Ice Climbers}}, and perpetuated by {{SSBB|Olimar}}. Luma can remain next to Rosalina to attack with her, or it can be sent away with [[Luma Shot]] to attack from a distance. This allows Rosalina numerous possibilities to attack opponents, as she can essentially create combos by "pinballing" opponents back and forth between herself and Luma. This ability also grants Rosalina the largest and most unique range in the roster, as Luma can attack from across stage or far above/below while Rosalina remains safely out of harm’s way. Luma mechanically functions like a blend of {{b|Pikmin|species}} and [[Ice Climbers|Nana of the Ice Climbers]]: it uses a [[hit points]] (HP) mechanic like the former, in which it will be KO'd if it is dealt 40%, and it responds to player inputs like the latter. Unlike Olimar, Rosalina cannot immediately summon Luma once it is KO'd, which forces her to wait 10 seconds (7 seconds if three players are present, and 5 seconds if four or more players are present) until another Luma appears. Luma also cannot experience status effects, such as [[stun]] or [[sleep]], which can allow it to attack and fend off opponents if Rosalina happens to find herself put under a status effect that renders her unable to move or attack. Luma also cannot be grabbed, and is able to act when Rosalina herself does get grabbed.

While they are largely defensive characters, Rosalina & Luma have several offensive options that allow them to rack up damage if given the opportunity. They have many attacks with disjointed hitboxes, most notably each of Rosalina's aerials, which are also very useful for racking up damage. Their neutral aerial is a fast, low commitment option with upwards knockback, perfectly complimenting their aerial and juggling oriented fighting style. Her forward aerial keeps the opponent in place, hits multiple times, and combos well with her down throw like {{SSBU|Ness}}' same combo. Despite having a large multi-hitting hitbox, it has the longest amount of landing lag out of her aerials and is generally unsafe on shield. Her and Luma's back aerials are quick [[semi-spike]]s and can be used in a wide range of scenarios, such as edge-guarding and spacing. Their up aerial is a capable attack, as it possesses outstanding disjointed range and can KO off the top of some stages when used properly. Although their slowest, down aerial is also a very potent edge-guarding option: Rosalina's hitbox is very large, hard to challenge from below due to its duration, and capable of [[meteor smash]]ing, whereas Luma's hitbox can easily KO outright thanks to its very high knockback growth and sending opponents directly outward.

Rosalina also has access to a unique advanced technique called Lunar Landing. If Rosalina inputs an aerial attacks right as she lands, the aerial will not come out and she will land without enduring any landing lag (Unless using down air), but Luma will continue performing its respective aerial attack. This allows for greater mix-up and follow-up potential, as well as mindgames, but requires Luma in order to actually be performed. Their dash grab also has a similar occurrence, where if Rosalina performs a dash attack and instantly grabs, Rosalina will perform a dash grab while Luma will perform its respective dash attack. This makes their dash grab a lot safer, and means they can deal an extra 3% just by landing the grab. Rosalina can also use Lunar Landing to access her advantage state by inputting Luma to do its respective back aerial or forward aerial with Lunar Landing to [[clang]] with various projectiles and grounded moves without Rosalina herself having any ending lag when inputting those moves while landing, giving her an easier time landing back on stage and providing a consistent option to punish certain attacks and even projectiles. When coupled with Rosalina's reliable set of throws, these traits give her and Luma even greater mix-up potential, as well as more approaching and punishing options. Using the attack canceling feature built into Ultimate's mechanics, Rosalina can preform one move while Luma does a tilt or dash attack. This also allows for multiple combos and mindgames.

Rosalina obtains a variety of optimizations within her throws to setup into punishes and follow-ups with both her aerials and Luma. Rosalina's up throw constructively acts as her main combo throw which allows for extremely effective setups for her to combo into various attacks that combo into each other or other moves allowing for great utilization of setups into numerous combos. Only when her opponent is at early percentages is when she can use up throw to combo into her up smash however she can consistently use her up throw to combo into her neutral aerial, up tilt, and up aerial. This allows Rosalina to easily find ways to rack up damage with her up throw to setup into further combos with aerial attacks or by juggling her opponents with her neutral aerial or up aerial. Her forward throw is a potent tool to set up edge-guarding when throwing an opponent at the ledge or it can KO her opponents at much higher percentages. Her forward throw even has further use with her forward throw allowing her to throw her opponent into a detached Luma's attacks, effectively being able to "pinball" her opponent with the forward throw typically at lower percentages. Her back throw is commonly used as her primary kill throw when at higher percentages, although it can allow for set ups to edge-guard her opponents especially if Rosalina uses back throw to throw her opponent off of the ledge. Her down throw, however, has very limited combo potential, outside of lower percent combos into her forward aerial, due to its high base knockback and ending lag.  

Rosalina and Luma's tilt attacks obtain numerous uses, especially when used when Luma is detached from Rosalina as they can mainly be used as a measure for the duo to tactfully place Rosalina into advantage state or for Rosalina to get back into neutral in situations where she is placed in disadvantage. Luma's respective tilts can be effectively used when Rosalina uses her neutral special to call back a tethered Luma, allowing Rosalina to quickly escape disadvantage state as Luma covers the stage with a quick attack as it is sent back to Rosalina. Rosalina has substantial range on her forward tilt and down tilt, especially when paired with Luma. Specifically, their forward tilt allows them to use its range to knock opponents forward and set up [[tech-chasing]] at lower percentages or to utilize it as a poking tool. Rosalina's down tilt can set up for tech-chasing at mid-percentages and can effectively ledgetrap against character whose recoveries do not have hitboxes. Luma's down tilt possesses noteworthy range both when attached and detached to Rosalina's and it can act as a combo finisher, poking tool, Rosalina can use it gimp certain recoveries if Luma's respective down tilt is used while detached from Rosalina's at the ledge or offstage. Rosalina and Luma's up tilt is not only a great combo starting tool but even a great combo extender, primarily into their up aerial, and their up tilt can act as a useful anti-air. Luma's respective up tilt can hit opponents when they are both grounded and in the air, with Luma's up tilt even being a functional move to KO grounded opponent at high percents.

Rosalina and Luma's special moves give them special utility inaccesible to any other character. Luma Shot gives Rosalina a method to attack safely from a distace and gives them superior ledge guarding capabilities. Star Bits, their side special move, is a very good tool for keeping opponents away from. It cannot be clanked with and has long lasting hitboxes, allowing it to stop fast approaches like a Sonic Spin Dash. When used properly, Rosalina is practically immune to projectiles via Gravitational Pull. While it does not deal damage, it causes Rosalina to completely nullify any projectile near her. Despite not being a reflector, it shares the same ability of making incoming items and projectiles come under Rosalina's ownership, which means any opponents can be damaged by the orbiting item or projectile if they are too close. In addition, Gravitational Pull activates on frame 4 and has very little ending lag, making it difficult for an opponent to punish her for using it. This allows Rosalina to virtually shut down projectile-reliant playstyles of zoning-oriented characters such as Villager, as their over-reliance on projectiles causes them to have a difficult time fighting her so long as Gravitational Pull is properly used. Although situational, Gravitational Pull can also gimp certain recoveries, with the best examples being PK Thunder; Rosalina can immediately pull away the PSI lightning bolt projectile before Ness or Lucas can use it to recover, rendering them helpless as a result. Aside from Gravitational Pull, Luma can also be used to block projectiles, although this comes at the cost of depleting its HP. Launch Star provides one of the longest and fastest-traveling recovery moves in the game, which when coupled with Rosalina’s extremely slow falling speed and high acceleration makes her less reliant on her double jump offstage, allowing her to travel far out from the sides of the stage while almost always being able to make it back with proper aim and timing.

Her biggest flaw, however, is that she is drastically weakened without Luma, as her respective attacks' knockback values are unimpressive and both Luma Shot and Star Bits are rendered useless. Although Luma will inevitably respawn, the 10 seconds it takes to do so can be more than enough time for the opponent to land a combo or score a KO on Rosalina. This is further compounded by Luma's inability to act out of a tumble until landing on the ground, as attacks that knock Luma off-stage will result in it being inevitably KO'd, regardless of how much HP it has. Most of the cast also has a reliable move to use in order to KO Luma and thus avoid the risk of being punished by Rosalina. Luma's vulnerability is coupled with Luma possessing no way to shield on it's own, with the only way to protect it being through Rosalina's shield. Luma's lack of any shield can potentially put it at risk whenever it is tethered away from Rosalina, making it so that some characters with strong projectiles can easily KO a de-tethered Luma. Luma's lack of rolls, a spotdodge, or an airdodge makes it very easy for opponents to pressure it if Rosalina is forced to dodge an attack. Luma's lack of a grab also makes it have difficulty pressuring shields without being tethered to Rosalina. Additionally, both Rosalina and Luma have a particularly difficult time against characters with larger disjoints or fast moves that deal high base knockback, especially because Luma takes more knockback than it did in SSB4. Characters with swords or other long, disjointed hitboxes will have no problem using their weapons to easily outrange both her and Luma, challenge her attempts at aerial pressure, and juggle her, making it difficult for her to wall them out and putting Rosalina in a position where a mistake could easily result in her taking a large amount of damage or even losing a stock.  

Overall, Rosalina & Luma have a high learning curve, where players must become comfortable with using her aerial bait-and-punish abilities as well as her grounded keep away options. Players must also learn when to separate Rosalina from Luma, as well as when to protect each during the course of a match with their various options. Mastering her unique playstyle allows for creating impressive tag-team combos and scoring KOs through strong pressure.

During the initial release of the game, Rosalina & Luma were drastically nerfed overall in the transition from ''SSB4'' to ''Ultimate'' much like {{SSBU|Corrin}} and {{SSBU|Bayonetta}}, but also received significant buffs from game updates. Overall, Rosalina & Luma received a mixture of buffs and nerfs in their transition from ''SSB4'' to ''Ultimate'', being nerfed overall in a similar manner to {{SSBU|Cloud}}, likely as a result of their previous top tier (5th out of 55) placement.

The universal changes allow Rosalina & Luma to juggle and gimp opponents more easily, but also makes it more difficult for them to land and get back to the stage. All of their aerials have reduced landing lag, which allows them to chain moves more easily. Luma's respawn time has been shortened, and instead of always respawning after a fixed period of time in all modes of play, the respawn time now depends on the amount of players present in a match, being significantly shorter if there are at least four players in a match. Star Bits has more range, enhancing its zoning utility. Gravitational Pull now auto-equips items, which makes it easier for Rosalina to retaliate with throwable objects (such as [[Metal Blade]]s, [[Gyro]]s, [[Remote Bomb Rune|Remote Bombs]], and [[Vegetables]]). Rosalina's new neutral aerial has much less ending lag and offers better protection when Luma is gone, while her forward aerial is much faster too, especially in terms of ending lag. Luma also receives a new damage boost when detethered from Rosalina. This incentivizes Rosalina players to send Luma out and take advantage of her zoning potential. Her aerials have altered autocancel windows, allowing neutral and forward aerial to autocancel in a short hop, and the former can even do so in a short hop fast fall, improving her approach when combined with the universal improvement to mobility.

On the other hand, Rosalina & Luma also received critical nerfs to their potent movesets. Their neutral aerial has fewer active frames and Luma's increased startup, which makes it a less useful option for approaching which greatly hinders their ability to "wall out" certain characters. Rosalina's notorious up aerial had its endlag increased, meaning that it can no longer chain into itself as easily. Gravitational Pull is slower and has lower range, making it unsafe against characters with fast projectiles. Luma also does not move forward as much when using its neutral attack, which severely impedes Rosalina's ability to stop approaches, ledge trap, and zone her opponents. Finally, the biggest nerf involves Luma, who now is frailer than ever, as it has not only has less HP, but also takes more knockback from attacks, making it much easier to KO; in addition, Luma does not benefit from its additional damage multiplier if tethered to Rosalina, making it less effective when paired with her.

Due to the significant changes to their moveset, Rosalina & Luma are forced to play much more oppressively compared to in ''SSB4'', which changes their playstyle substantially. Due to said playstyle being considerably less effective, however, they are considered to be noticeably worse than their iteration in ''SSB4.'' This has shown in their very minimal tournament results in ''Ultimate''{{'}}s early metagame with an overall smaller playerbase. Rosalina & Luma's overall perception became extremely negative, with players such as {{Sm|MkLeo}}, {{Sm|Dark Wizzy}}, and {{Sm|ESAM}} describing them as competitively unviable, and {{Sm|Dabuz}}, who was the best Rosalina & Luma player in ''SSB4'', even going as far as to describe them as being some of the worst characters in the entire game. In more recent times, however, Dabuz has started using them more as a co-main to his {{SSBU|Olimar}}, and both {{Sm|Homika}} and {{Sm|Kirihara}} have placed high with the duo at tournaments at their regions. On top of this, they have received significant buffs from balance patches, which have helped to negate some of their previous nerfs. This has led to most professionals who once believed the duo to be a low or even bottom tier characters to re-evaluate their opinions, with most of them now considering Rosalina & Luma to be firmly in the mid-tier. However, some others are convinced that Rosalina & Luma are possibly high tier characters; Dabuz, in particular, is convinced they have reclaimed their status as top tier characters. Although Rosalina & Luma are still agreed to be worse than in ''SSB4'', their true viability remains questionable.

Although Rosalina's buffs are not as drastic in comparison to Luma's, they are nevertheless worthwhile. [[Launch Star]]'s safety issues were alleviated in two ways: update 2.0.0 enabled Rosalina to grab edges more reliably throughout its duration, while update 3.1.0 increased her [[fast fall]]ing speed upon using it. Neutral aerial's start-up lag was decreased slightly (a buff shared with Luma) and its hitboxes were improved, which improved its utility for approaching and starting combos. In comparison, down aerial's meteor smashing hitbox now functions consistently because of its sourspot being removed. Aside from these changes, Rosalina also received a few minor buffs in the forms of slight lag decreases for her grabs and forward aerial, shortened edge lockout times for her neutral and forward aerials, a larger shield as part of a near-universal buff, and improved hitboxes for her forward aerial.

|usmashdesc=Rosalina performs a battering ram before arcing backward while emitting a rainbow colored trail. Her head is intangible on frames 7-16.<br>Luma performs a bicycle kick. It is Rosalina's best out of shield option, and her most reliable KO option without Luma. It also has minimal startup for a smash attack.

|pummeldmg=1.2%

|pummeldesc=Rosalina smacks the opponent with her wand.

*'''Side Taunt''': Rosalina puts her hand on her hip, leans back, waves her wand, and says "Mmm hmm!" while Luma nods in agreement, then backflips. Rosalina's animation is slightly different if she is facing right.

[[File:Victory! (Rosalina).ogg|thumb|A flourished and remixed portion of ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy}}''{{'}}s [[mariowiki:Super Mario Galaxy Original Soundtrack|Overture]].]]

*{{Sm|Dabuz|United States}} - Tri-mains Rosalina & Luma with {{SSBU|Olimar}} and {{SSBU|Min Min}}, and is considered the best Rosalina & Luma player in the world. Placed 2nd at {{Trn|Albion 4}}, {{Trn|Low Tier City 7}}, {{Trn|The Big House 9}}, {{Trn|MomoCon 2022}}, and {{Trn|Smash Factor 9}}. Ranked 7th on the [[PGRU v3 NA]].

*{{Sm|Homika|France}} - The best Rosalina & Luma player in Europe. Placed 1st at {{Trn|SEL 4: Crêpes Strikes Back}}, 5th at {{Trn|Ultimate Fighting Arena 2019}}, 7th at {{Trn|Stunfest 2019}}, and 9th at both {{Trn|Syndicate 2019}} and {{Trn|Ultimate Fighting Arena 2022}} with wins over players such as {{Sm|Meru}}, {{Sm|Oryon}}, and {{Sm|Tru4}}. Ranked 24th on the [[PGRU v3 EU]].

*{{Sm|Kirihara|Japan}} - The best Rosalina & Luma player in Japan but has since switched to {{SSBU|Sheik}}. Placed 1st at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 1}}, 4th at {{Trn|Umebura SP 5}}, 9th at both {{Trn|Umebura Japan Major 2019}} and {{Trn|EGS Cup 3}}, and 13th at {{Trn|EVO Japan 2020}} with wins over players such as {{Sm|KEN}}, {{Sm|ProtoBanham}}, and {{Sm|Lea}}. Ranked 48th on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]].

*{{Sm|yuzu|Japan}} - Placed 4th at {{Trn|Kurobra 19}}, 9th at both {{Trn|Kagaribi}} and {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 2}}, 13th at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 4}}, and 25th at {{Trn|EGS Cup 2}} with a win over {{Sm|Kisha}}.

Rosalina & Luma's opponents hail from franchises that occur in outer space and/or on alien planets. The exception is {{SSBU|Bowser}}, who is fought in reference to his boss battles in ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy}}'' and ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy 2}}''. The boss of this route, [[Marx]], fits with the cosmic theme due to how the final battle against him in ''{{iw|wikirby|Kirby Super Star}}'' occurs in outer space. In addition, Assist Trophies summon [[Starfy]] exclusively, presumably due to his resemblance to {{iw|mariowiki|Power Star}}s and his own ambiguously alien heritage.

|5||{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Yellow}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Blue}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Red}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Green}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=White}} {{SSBU|Kirby}} (x6)||{{SSB|Dream Land}}||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Kirby|Green Greens (for 3DS / Wii U)}}''||Horde Battle.<br>The Kirbys could also be a possible reference to the Lumas themselves.

Rosalina & Luma were among the many fighters that fell under [[Dharkon]]'s control after Galeem was first defeated. They are found in [[The Dark Realm]] near the entrance of the [[Mysterious Dimension]] sub-area, where the spirit of [[List of spirits (Mega Man series)|MegaMan.EXE]] must be confronted before approaching them.

*By complete coincidence, Rosalina & Luma have their placement on the first official [[tier list]] as the exact same number as their [[Fighter number]]; with their placement on the tier list being 48th out of 82 and their Fighter number being Fighter #48. They are the only fighters to have this occur.