79,768
edits
Lucas (SSB4): Difference between revisions
m
intro cleanup as well to be less of a comparison to his Brawl incarnation, also removing competitive info in sections outside of the competitive section
m (→In competitive play: cleanup) |
m (intro cleanup as well to be less of a comparison to his Brawl incarnation, also removing competitive info in sections outside of the competitive section) |
||
| Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
'''Lucas''' ({{ja|リュカ|Ryuka}}, ''Lucas'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. Initially absent as a playable character, Lucas's return to the series was announced during a [[Nintendo Direct]] on April 1st, 2015.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMedqo8mLaQ Nintendo Direct 4.1.2015]</ref> He was then made available as [[Downloadable content (SSB4)|downloadable content]] on June 14th, 2015, alongside {{SSB4|Roy}} and {{SSB4|Ryu}}.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWM-SCjIuNg Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U - New Content Approaching 6.14.15]</ref> Lani Minella reprises her role as Lucas' voice actor; however, she does so via recycled voice clips from ''Brawl'', some of which have been slightly sped up. | '''Lucas''' ({{ja|リュカ|Ryuka}}, ''Lucas'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. Initially absent as a playable character, Lucas's return to the series was announced during a [[Nintendo Direct]] on April 1st, 2015.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMedqo8mLaQ Nintendo Direct 4.1.2015]</ref> He was then made available as [[Downloadable content (SSB4)|downloadable content]] on June 14th, 2015, alongside {{SSB4|Roy}} and {{SSB4|Ryu}}.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWM-SCjIuNg Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U - New Content Approaching 6.14.15]</ref> Lani Minella reprises her role as Lucas' voice actor; however, she does so via recycled voice clips from ''Brawl'', some of which have been slightly sped up. | ||
Lucas is ranked 28th/29th out of 54 on the [[tier list]], tied with {{SSB4|Ness}} at the bottom of the C tier. This is a significant improvement over Lucas' lower-mid tier placement in ''Brawl'', where he was ranked 30th out of 38 and is his best placement in the series. | Lucas is ranked 28th/29th out of 54 on the [[tier list]], tied with {{SSB4|Ness}} at the bottom of the C tier. This is a significant improvement over Lucas' lower-mid tier placement in ''Brawl'', where he was ranked 30th out of 38 and is his best placement in the series. Lucas's greatest strengths is his grab game; [[Rope Snake]] has the lowest ending lag out of all tether grabs, while Lucas possesses several strong KO throws, with up throw and back throw being two of the best KO throws in the game. Complementing his throw game is his combo game, as his down throw can combo into a variety of aerials up until high percents, allowing Lucas to rack up damage rather easily. Finally, Lucas possesses a strong zoning game thanks to [[PK Fire]] and his grab aerial, while most of his moves have disjoints, granting him decent range. | ||
However, Lucas' | However, Lucas' also has several nerfs. Lucas possesses slow ground mobility and average frame data, giving him a lackluster [[neutral game]], poor approach options, and a recovery that is occasionally susceptible to [[gimp]]s and [[edgeguarding]], making him especially vulnerable to fast, mobile characters that can overwhelm him. Lucas also lacks any great landing options, allows characters with disjointed ranges (such as {{SSB4|Marth}} and {{SSB4|Cloud}}) to give him a hard time landing. Finally, his best KO moves often have downsides, such as a blindspot (up air), slow startup (grab), or being easily punishable (his smash attacks). As such, despite a plethora of KO options, Lucas may have some trouble KOing on-stage. | ||
Initially, Lucas was poorly regarded when he was first released, but the buffs he received from game updates have allowed him to achieve decent results. This has been most evident with the efforts of {{Sm|Taiheita}}, | Initially, Lucas was poorly regarded when he was first released, but the buffs he received from game updates have allowed him to achieve decent results. This has been most evident with the efforts of {{Sm|Taiheita}}, whose strong performances led many to question whether Lucas could be better than Ness. Although Lucas' results became stagnant after Taiheita's hiatus, most players still agree that Lucas is a viable character and much better than initially perceived. | ||
==Attributes== | ==Attributes== | ||
| Line 33: | Line 33: | ||
However, Lucas does have his flaws. With his aforementioned sub-par mobility, fast characters such as {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} and {{SSB4|Sonic}} can give Lucas a difficult time. Another problem is a predictable approach, reliance on his zoning tools (which can be overcome), and occasionally a lack of range in spite of his tether grab. Some of his moves require precision at times; his up aerial, whose hitbox is static and significantly smaller than it was in ''Brawl'', can miss large opponents like {{SSB4|Bowser}} due to its glaring blindspot driectly in front of him. Another prominent example is his down smash, whose three hits are all mutually exclusive and thus gives opponents a perfect opportunity to punish Lucas if they manage to shield it. Lucas can also have problems scoring KOs despite his smash attacks' impressive strengths, as they mainly require effective reading and should be used wisely as a result. He also has poor approach options, as his dash attack is slow, and as all his aerials except for back aerial have worse autocancel windows compared to ''Brawl'', none of them can autocancel in a short hop. Although Lucas has a reliable tether recovery, [[PK Thunder#PK Thunder 2|his other method of recovery]] is also gimpable because of it having much slower priority than Ness, and it can be still be reflected or absorbed, most infamously by {{SSB4|Rosalina & Luma}}. Like his fellow DLC characters, Lucas does not have any custom moves, which limits him in tournaments that allow [[character customization]]. | However, Lucas does have his flaws. With his aforementioned sub-par mobility, fast characters such as {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} and {{SSB4|Sonic}} can give Lucas a difficult time. Another problem is a predictable approach, reliance on his zoning tools (which can be overcome), and occasionally a lack of range in spite of his tether grab. Some of his moves require precision at times; his up aerial, whose hitbox is static and significantly smaller than it was in ''Brawl'', can miss large opponents like {{SSB4|Bowser}} due to its glaring blindspot driectly in front of him. Another prominent example is his down smash, whose three hits are all mutually exclusive and thus gives opponents a perfect opportunity to punish Lucas if they manage to shield it. Lucas can also have problems scoring KOs despite his smash attacks' impressive strengths, as they mainly require effective reading and should be used wisely as a result. He also has poor approach options, as his dash attack is slow, and as all his aerials except for back aerial have worse autocancel windows compared to ''Brawl'', none of them can autocancel in a short hop. Although Lucas has a reliable tether recovery, [[PK Thunder#PK Thunder 2|his other method of recovery]] is also gimpable because of it having much slower priority than Ness, and it can be still be reflected or absorbed, most infamously by {{SSB4|Rosalina & Luma}}. Like his fellow DLC characters, Lucas does not have any custom moves, which limits him in tournaments that allow [[character customization]]. | ||
Altogether, Lucas' pros slightly outweigh his cons. He has an excellent damage-racking game along with some good approach options, though his approach in general is predictable and can be faulty at times. He can also have a hard time KOing opponents outside of edgeguarding, and he is not as effective when his zoning tools can be nullified | Altogether, Lucas' pros slightly outweigh his cons. He has an excellent damage-racking game along with some good approach options, though his approach in general is predictable and can be faulty at times. He can also have a hard time KOing opponents outside of edgeguarding, and he is not as effective when his zoning tools can be nullified. | ||
==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''== | ==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''== | ||
| Line 44: | Line 44: | ||
However, Lucas has seen a plethora of nerfs as well with his direct changes outside of his shorter grab release animation nerfing him overall. He can no longer use the [[Zap Jump]] or the [[Magnet Pull]] exploits, which were his two most pivotal techniques in ''Brawl'', although the aforementioned buffs to PK Thunder 2 and Rope Snake can somewhat compensate for this off stage, at least in terms of recovery. In addition, many of his attacks have seen their damage, knockback and range reduced, while some of them have had their startup/ending lag increased. This is most notably seen with his aerials: his neutral, forward and up aerials lost their ability to auto-cancel in a short hop (although the landing lag of both is minimal), his down aerial has increased start-up lag and is no longer able to reliably set up for the infamous down tilt [[lock]], and his up aerial has notably less range while also being slower and having static, all of which significantly hinders his already poor approach and landing options. He additionally has a slightly harder time KOing because of various of his previous KO moves including his forward and up smashes as well as his forward tilt and down throw having reduced knockback (although down throw has KO setups to compensate) alongside the loss of his advanced techniques. He is also slower on the ground relative to the cast as he is one of the only returning veterans whose dash (and walk) speed was not increased. His falling speed and gravity are also the same being lower relative to the cast although this has both positives and negatives. | However, Lucas has seen a plethora of nerfs as well with his direct changes outside of his shorter grab release animation nerfing him overall. He can no longer use the [[Zap Jump]] or the [[Magnet Pull]] exploits, which were his two most pivotal techniques in ''Brawl'', although the aforementioned buffs to PK Thunder 2 and Rope Snake can somewhat compensate for this off stage, at least in terms of recovery. In addition, many of his attacks have seen their damage, knockback and range reduced, while some of them have had their startup/ending lag increased. This is most notably seen with his aerials: his neutral, forward and up aerials lost their ability to auto-cancel in a short hop (although the landing lag of both is minimal), his down aerial has increased start-up lag and is no longer able to reliably set up for the infamous down tilt [[lock]], and his up aerial has notably less range while also being slower and having static, all of which significantly hinders his already poor approach and landing options. He additionally has a slightly harder time KOing because of various of his previous KO moves including his forward and up smashes as well as his forward tilt and down throw having reduced knockback (although down throw has KO setups to compensate) alongside the loss of his advanced techniques. He is also slower on the ground relative to the cast as he is one of the only returning veterans whose dash (and walk) speed was not increased. His falling speed and gravity are also the same being lower relative to the cast although this has both positives and negatives. | ||
Overall, Lucas has not significantly improved since ''Brawl'' as his moveset has seen many direct nerfs. However, he greatly benefits from ''Smash 4''{{'}}s mechanics and one of his main issues in ''Brawl'' was fixed resulting in him fairing better in ''Smash 4'' overall. He was initially worse when he was first released but as of update 1.1.3, he is considered to be moderately better than how he was when he was initially released in ''SSB4'', due to the buffs he received up to and including that update | Overall, Lucas has not significantly improved since ''Brawl'' as his moveset has seen many direct nerfs. However, he greatly benefits from ''Smash 4''{{'}}s mechanics and one of his main issues in ''Brawl'' was fixed resulting in him fairing better in ''Smash 4'' overall. He was initially worse when he was first released but as of update 1.1.3, he is considered to be moderately better than how he was when he was initially released in ''SSB4'', due to the buffs he received up to and including that update. | ||
===Aesthetics=== | ===Aesthetics=== | ||