Zelda (SSB4): Difference between revisions

Due to her status as the second lowest ranked character in ''Brawl'', Zelda received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to ''SSB4'', being buffed overall. However, those buffs weren't enough to improve her standing compared to the rest of the cast. Farore's Wind is the most notable buff that she received; in addition to being a much safer recovery, it is now a risky but potent KO option, especially from out of shield, thanks to various hitbox and knockback adjustments. The removal of [[meteor cancel]]ing greatly improves down aerial's reliability off stage. Zelda's new down special, Phantom Slash, is a fairly strong projectile with a decent amount of utility: it is a capable edge-guarding option, helps her cover almost all [[edge recovery|edge get-up options]], can protect and/or enable her to attack from behind the Phantom itself, and boasts KO potential when fully charged. Din's Fire now has a powerful sweetspot placed in the inner part of the explosion. Zelda's KO potential was also improved outside of the aforementioned attacks thanks to beneficial hitbox changes: her forward tilt and dash attack can now KO at high percentages to compensate for the loss of their combo potential, while her forward and up smashes possess stronger KO potential.

As a result of the removal of [[hitstun canceling]], Zelda's combo game has also noticeably improved: neutral attack's angle adjustments make it a better set-up option at low percentages, up tilt's lower damage output and increased speed make it a reliable combo option, neutral aerial's multihit adjustments make it better at damage racking and follow-ups, and down throw's increased knockback and altered angle make it a reliable combo starter and KO set-up into up aerial and back aerial at high percentages.

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 hitbox sizes and frame data: up and down smash have much shorter ranges with the former in particular having less utility and being slower, while the latter has slightly more startup and has a weaker front hit. Lightning Kicks have weaker sweetspots and are drastically laggier, preventing her from being actionable or auto-canceling in a short hop. This massively worsens their risk and greatly hinders their use in neutral. Din's Fire is much 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 compound 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 and gravity.

*{{change|Most attacks have updated visual and sound effects.}}

**{{buff|Combined with neutral attack's higher damage, the changes to shields noticeably improve the move's safety on shield, with it now being safe on shield against a majority of the cast.}}

**{{buff|The first two hits have altered set knockback on Zelda's hand and magic burst (30 (hand)/7 (burst) → 40/30) and they now send opponents up and toward Zelda ([[Sakurai angle|361°]] → 140°). This makes the move connect more reliably.}}

***{{nerf|However, these new angles combined with the final hits higher knockback hinder the move's ability to trip and [[jab lock]].}}

**{{buff|The arm hitboxes are larger (2.5u/3u (hits 1-2), 2.5u/3.5u (hit 3) → 3.2u (hits 1-2), 3.6u (hit 3)), and they are now static hitboxes positioned lower at the same height as the burst hitbox, improving their ability to hit grounded opponents.}}

**{{buff|Up tilt has less startup lag (frame 10 → 7) and much less ending lag (FAF 48 → 30). The hitboxes have a slightly shorter duration (frames 10-24 → 7-18), but are longer relative to the move's total duration.}}

**{{buff|Up tilt launches opponents at a higher and inward angle (70° → 100°).}}

**{{nerf|Up tilt deals less damage (11% → 7.2%) and knockback (65 (base), 105 (scaling) → 45/110), significantly hindering its KO potential.}}

***{{buff|However, when combined with the move's greatly increased speed, altered launch angle and the changes to [[hitstun canceling]] and [[directional influence]], this significantly improves the move's combo potential.}}

**{{nerf|The arm and shoulder hitboxes are smaller (4.5u/4u → 3u/3u).}}

**{{change|Down tilt now always launches opponents vertically (270° (leg/body/ground foot)/80° (aerial foot) → 80°).}}

***{{buff|This allows Zelda to follow up with aerials, especially at mid percents, as well as making the move slightly safer on hit due to it forcing the opponent into the air.}}

***{{nerf|This means that the move is no longer capable of [[trip]]ping, significantly hindering its set up potential at lower percents.}}

***{{nerf|This also significantly hinders the move's ability to lead into itself (especially against floatier characters), as well as hindering its edgeguarding potential.}}

**{{nerf|Zelda now gets pushed backward after landing multiple down tilts, which along with the move's altered angle further hinders its ability to chain into itself.}}

**{{nerf|Down tilt deals less damage (8% (leg)/7% (foot) → 5.5%), and it has increased knockback scaling (80 → 120), hindering its damage racking potential at lower percents and its follow-up potential at higher percents, especially when combined with its new angle.}}

***{{buff|However, this also improves its follow-up potential below higher percents.}}

**{{nerf|Down tilt now uses one smaller extended hitbox (5u/4.5u/4u/4u → 3.6u) which is positioned closer to Zelda than the previous foot hitbox (y offset: 6.5 → x offset: 6) which overall has less rage than the previous hitboxes. The move has a smaller disjoint and no longer covers Zelda's body.}}

**{{change|The clean hit's sweetspot has a higher hitlag multiplier (1x → 1.2x), but still has less hitlag due to losing the electric effect.}}

**{{change|The clean hit's sweetspot is now a static hitbox positioned directly in front of Zelda's hands rather than on her head.}}

***{{buff|This makes the sweetspot easier to land on grounded opponents to the sides of Zelda.}}

***{{nerf|However, it is much smaller (4.8u → 2.2u), which along with its new position gives it much less range behind and above Zelda. It also no longer increases the move's total range due to now being completely within the sourspot's range.}}

**{{nerf|The clean hit's sourspot is smaller (7u → 5u). This reduces its vertical range, but its horizontal range was compensated due to now being an extended hitbox (z offset: 12 → 7.8 to 13.8).}}

**{{change|The late hit is now one hitbox instead of consisting of a sweetspot and sourspot.}}

**{{buff|The late hit now uses an extended hitbox.}}

**{{change|The launch angle is now uniformly diagonal (90°/361° (sweetspots/sourspots) → 50°).}}

***{{buff|The clean hit's sweetspot has higher base knockback (70 → 85), which improves its KO potential when used near the horizontal blast zone.}}

****{{nerf|However, this hinders its overall KO potential, especially from center stage or farther from the ledge.}}

***{{nerf|The clean hit's sourspot has altered knockback (50 (base), 70 (scaling) → 80/50), overall having worse KO potential unless it is used extremely close to the horizontal blast zone.}}

****{{buff|However, the higher base knockback now makes it safe on hit at all percents.}}

***{{nerf|The late hit deals less damage (8% (head)/7% (hands) → 6%). It knockback was not fully compensated (20 (base), 70 (scaling) → 80/50), which overall hinders its KO potential, especially when used far from the horizontal blast zone.}}

****{{nerf|It can no longer trip or lock.}}

****{{buff|However, the late hit's higher base knockback makes it safe on hit at all percents.}}

**{{buff|Forward smash's loop hits' angles (30°/45°/60° → 25°/165°) and set knockback (30/40/50/80 → 40/50) have been altered. When combined with the weakening of [[SDI]], this makes forward smash connect more reliably despite the looping hits' higher SDI multiplier (0.5x → 1x).}}

**{{nerf|Forward smash has much more ending lag (FAF 40 → 50).}}

**{{nerf|Up smash has more startup lag (frame 6 → 9). This particularly hinders Zelda's out of shield game as she is no longer capable of punishing -6 or -7 moves on shield, unless she powershields.}}

**{{nerf|Up smash only has 7 looping hits instead of 10 (frame 6/8/10/12/14/16, 23/25/27/29 → 9/12/15/18, 25/28/31), reducing the number of active frames. The number of frames between the first hit and and the launching hit is unchanged, but at the cost of increased gaps between its hits.}}

**{{buff|The first set of looping hits deals more damage (1% → 2%), while the second set deals slightly less (1% → 0.8%). Overall, the move deals slightly more maximum damage despite having less hits (15% → 15.4%).}}

**{{nerf|The looping hits have much smaller hitboxes (5u/5u/5.5u/5.5u → 3.5u/4.2u/3.5u/3.5u).}}

**{{nerf|The upper loop and side hitboxes are positioned lower (y offset: 21/18 → 18/17). This reduces its vertical range to the point where the looping hits can no longer hit opponents above Zelda on the side [[Battlefield]] platforms, while not giving them more range below her due to their smaller size.}}

**{{nerf|The side hitboxes are positioned closer to Zelda, reducing the move's horizontal range (z offset: 6 → 5).}}

***{{nerf|Altogether, these changes greatly hinder up smash's use as an [[Out of Shield]] option, as its range has been drastically reduced.}}

**{{change|The loop hits have a higher SDI multiplier (0.1x → 0.5x), but have less knockback (60/50/60/60 (set), 100 (scaling) → 40/105). The upper loop hit now uses an auto-link angle (270° → [[Autolink angle|366°]]). Overall, these preserve the looping hits' consistency given the changes in their size and positions.}}

**{{nerf|The second set of looping hits and the final hit have a higher hitlag multiplier (0.5x, 1x → 1x, 2x), giving them more hitlag despite no longer having an electric effect.}}

**{{nerf|Zelda's right leg is no longer intangible on frames 4-14.}}

**{{nerf|The leg hitboxes no longer semi-spike (20° → 361°), noticeably hindering their edgeguarding and KO potential.}}

**{{nerf|Down smash now uses static hitboxes, which does not reach as far as the previous hitboxes (foot hitbox x/y/z offsets: -2/7/0 → 0/3/12.5 (front)/0/3/11 (back)). This gives down smash less range overall, as well as hindering its ability to hit opponents in the z-axis.}}

**{{change|Neutral aerial's loop hits no longer deal consistent damage (2% → 2.5% (front)/1.5% (back)). This improves its damage-racking ability if the opponent is in front of Zelda, but worsens it if hit behind her.}}

***{{buff|The front hit now has higher priority, effectively increasing the move's damage output on average.}}

**{{buff|The loop hits use a uniform auto-link angle (150° (hands)/270° (head)/90° (body) → 366°) and set knockback (75 (hands)/50 (head)/120 (body) → 75) and knockback scaling (100 (hands)/90 (head/body) → 100), making them connect more reliably and improving the move's follow-up potential.}}

**{{nerf|The final hit's head and body hitboxes have lower knockback scaling (120 → 110).}}

**{{nerf|Forward aerial has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 53), with Zelda no longer being actionable again in a short hop.}}

***{{nerf|Altogether, these changes significantly hinder forward aerial's spacing potential and safety on hit.}}

**{{nerf|Back aerial has more ending lag (FAF 36 → 53), with Zelda no longer being actionable again in a short hop.}}

***{{nerf|Altogether, these changes significantly hinder back aerial's spacing potential and safety on hit.}}

**{{nerf|The clean hit deals much less knockback (50 (base), 90 (scaling) → 30, 65). This hinders its edge-guarding potential and KO potential, while not improving its combo potential on stage due to the introduction of [[tech]]ing against grounded meteor smashes.}}

**{{buff|All of Zelda's grabs extend farther out (z offset: 10 (standing)/9 (dash)/-13 (pivot) → z stretch: 13.5u/14.5u/-16.7), giving them more range.}}

**{{nerf|Dash and pivot grab do not extend as far inside Zelda (z offset: -3 (dash)/-1 (pivot) → 4/-4), removing their ability to grab opponents behind Zelda.}}

**{{buff|Down throw deals more knockback (80 (base), 42 (scaling) → 85/55), but launches opponents at a higher angle (120° → 100°). When combined with the changes to hitstun canceling and DI, these changes significantly improve its combo potential despite its higher knockback.}}

**{{nerf|Din's Fire deals less damage (8%-16% → 7%-14% (sweetspot)/3.5%-7% (sourspot)).}}

**{{nerf|Its travel distance, maneuverability and explosion's range have been drastically decreased, and it must travel a set distance away from Zelda before it can be detonated. The delay before the explosion is also longer. Lastly, maneuvering it into the stage now makes it stop moving and explode at the same time, instead of explode. Altogether, these changes significantly hinder its zoning utility.}}

**{{change|Due to consisting of a sweetspot and a sourspot instead of a consistent hitbox, Din's Fire has altered knockback (50 (base)/60 (growth) → 50/97 (sweetspot), 55/40 (sourspot)). This improves its KO potential when fully charged and sweetspotted, but significantly hinders its strength when sourspotted.}}

**{{buff|Farore's Wind's initial hit has decreased start-up lag (frame 11 → 8).}}

**{{buff|Farore's Wind's grounded first hit's knockback (40 (base)/100 (growth) → 118/30) and angle have been altered (80° → 91°), granting it combo potential into its aerial second hit.

**{{change|The aerial first hit has slightly increased base knockback (40 → 60), but an unaltered launch angle and knockback scaling, leaving it with a much smaller window to combo compared to the grounded hit.}}

**{{buff|The disappearance and reappearance occur much faster (frame 34/54 → frame 21/41).}}

**{{nerf|The grounded reappearance has significantly more ending lag (FAF 30 → 41), hindering the move's movement and safety.}}