Cloud (SSBU): Difference between revisions

*Cloud has a unique [[fighter ability]] called the '''[[Limit Gauge]]'''. Over the course of normal play, the Limit Gauge will be filled automatically by inflicting or receiving damage. Alternatively, it can be filled manually by using his down special move, [[Limit Charge]]. The Limit Gauge is always present above his [[damage meter]] and will display its current state of charge. When it is filled up, Cloud's body will emit a blue, fiery aura and he will gain upgraded, single use versions of his special moves alongside enhanced mobility for the duration of the charge.

|ftiltdesc=An inward slash. It has fairly quick startup and is Cloud's only tilt attack that KOs at reasonable percentages, as it will KO middleweights at 125% while near the edge. However, its very low base knockback and moderate ending lag make it punishable on shield at low percentages unless it is spaced sufficiently. It resembles his basic attack in ''Final Fantasy VII''.

|utiltdesc=An overhead arcing slash. Its hitbox starts behind Cloud, although it does not extend beside Cloud and makes it unable to hit smaller characters beside him. It is fast, has a fairly large hitbox, and middling knockback. Altogether, these traits makes it a good anti-air, and allows it to reliably start combos such as into itself at 0% and into aerials at low to medium percentages.

|dtiltdesc=A [[Wikipedia:Dropkick#Baseball slide|baseball slide]]. His legs are intangible while the hitbox is active, and it will sometimes deal less damage if landed early. It has very quick startup, propels Cloud a good distance forward, launches opponents vertically, and significantly lowers his hurtbox. Altogether, these traits make it useful as an approach and [[punishment]] option, as well as a decent setup option into neutral and up aerials (albeit only during its ending frames). It resembles his Slide Buster from ''Ehrgeiz''.

|dashdesc=Thrusts the sharp edge of the Buster Sword forward while holding it diagonally downward. It has a lingering hitbox and, as of update 7.0.0, its clean hit is viable for KOing at 121% while near the edge.

|fsmashdesc=Performs three extremely fast slashes in front of himself. The first two hits combo into the third, which has higher range and immense knockback. It is Cloud's strongest non-Limit Break move, KOing middleweights 96% at center-stage, but it has rather slow startup, high ending lag, and deals below average [[shieldstun]]. Additionally, each hit is only active for 1 frame, which means it can be dodged entirely with a well-timed [[roll]] or [[sidestep]]. It resembles his Buster Sword Slash from ''Ehrgeiz'' and the ''Kingdom Heart'' series' depiction of his {{iw|khwiki|Cross Slash}} Limit Break.

|usmashdesc=An upward slash. It has some startup (frame 12) and moderate ending lag, and its KO power is only average compared to most other up smashes, but it has a wide arc and high range, being able to function as an effective anti-air. Its sweetspot KOs middleweights at 112%, although its sourspot (after the Buster Sword is held vertically) is weaker and KOs much later. It resembles the first hit of his Beta Chain from ''Ehrgeiz''.

|dsmashdesc=Kneels and thrusts the Buster Sword's hilt forward, then performs a reverse gripped thrust behind himself. The first hit launches opponents into the second, though it is possible to [[tech]] after the first hit, causing the second to miss. The second hit is a semi-spike, making it useful for launching opponents with weak horizontal recoveries off-stage. It hits on frame 8, making it Cloud's fastest smash attack, and a decent close-range out of shield option. It starts KOing at 109% while near the edge.

|nairdesc=Performs a one-handed circular slash while holding the Buster Sword parallel to himself. While its range is somewhat lacking compared to Cloud's other attacks, it is his fastest aerial nonetheless and covers his whole hurtbox decently well. Autocancels in a short hop, which makes it very useful for air-to-ground transitions.

|fairdesc=Briefly pauses and then performs a downward slash. It is his slowest aerial to start (frame 18), but has a sweetspot on the middle of the Buster Sword's blade as it comes down that powerfully [[meteor smash]]es aerial opponents. Grounded opponents are sent at a more vertical angle by the sweetspot. If contact is made once the blade stops, it deals weaker knockback. Its ending lag is moderate, though its landing lag is low for its range and power, and it autocancels from a full hop. On landing, its sweetspot on grounded opponents can act as a situational combo starter. It is almost identical to his Braver Limit Break and, to a lesser degree, resembles his attack animation when using the Deathblow Materia in ''Final Fantasy VII''.

|bairdesc=Turns around to perform an outward slash. It has very long range and respectable power, KOing middleweights at 115% while near the edge, making it effective for spacing and KOing. It also has very low landing lag and autocancels in a short hop; these traits make it very difficult to punish, even when blocked, and enable it to set up a combo or even a [[wall of pain]] at low percentages. It has limited vertical range, however, and its hitbox is only active for 2 frames. Its solid balance of speed, range and power has led to many considering it one of the best back aerials in the game. It resembles the sword strike he performs during his Meteorain Limit Break.

|uairdesc=Thrusts the sharp edge of the Buster Sword's blade upward while holding it parallel to the ground. It has [[sex kick]] properties. It comes out on frame 8, works as an excellent combo starter on landing, being able to combo into most of Cloud's moves especially at low percentages, while its late hit can set up KO confirms into Limit Cross Slash and Finishing Touch. It can also autocancel in a short hop and its large, lingering hitbox makes it an effective anti-air and punishment tool. It also boasts respectable knockback by itself, with its clean hit KOing near the upper blast line at 140%. Unlike in ''SSB4'', however, it is very difficult to land on grounded opponents, as its hitbox does not extend much beyond the Buster Sword itself.

|dairdesc=A downward thrust. Striking directly beneath Cloud with the first few frames meteor smashes aerial opponents. Its late hit is a capable combo starter when autocanceled (from a full hop, but right before he reaches the apex), which even has certain KO confirms at high percentages. It has a long duration, but also has high ending lag, making it very risky to use offstage. Despite its meteor smashing capabilities, it has rather quick startup (frame 11); this enables it to be used as a setup option. It resembles the ''Kingdom Heart'' series' depiction of his {{iw|khwiki|Climhazzard}} Limit Break.

|fthrowdesc=A modified [[wikipedia:dropkick#Dropsault|dropsault]]. It has low knockback, so it is usually used for positioning or throwing opponents off-stage. It only KOs at 223% on Battlefield. It resembles [[Tifa Lockhart]]'s Somersault Limit Break.

|uthrowdesc=A {{s|wikipedia|540 kick}}. It is Cloud's most damaging throw, yet its only utility is to set up juggles, due to its knockback being too low for KOing reliably and its ending lag being too high for followups. It KOs at 179% while on {{SSBU|Battlefield}}'s top platform, but only KOs at 234% without platforms.

|dthrowdesc=A one-handed body slam. It launches opponents behind him with low base knockback, making it a very ineffective throw for combos. Although it KOs earlier than any of his other throws excluding platforms, it only does so at 181% against middleweights and while Cloud is facing away from the edge of Battlefield. It resembles Tifa's Meteor Strike Limit Break, albeit performed while grounded instead of airborne.

The Limit Break variant possesses [[transcendent priority]], moves much faster across the ground, grants Cloud's entire body intangibility on startup and hits multiple times, with its last hit having great KO potential KOing at 102% while near the edge. It is still weaker and slower when performed in midair, however. Upon hitting a wall, the Limit Break variant will not disappear and instead act as if hitting a player, making it an effective stage-spiking tool if performed under the ledge. However, this maneuver is rather risky considering Cloud's poor recovery.

Its Limit Break variant results in Cloud unleashing all five strikes with a single input regardless of whether he hits anything. It also significantly increases both the damage and KO potential of the move, KOing middleweights at 100% from center-stage, while reducing the move's ending lag to such an extent that it becomes nearly impossible to punish without being right behind Cloud as he unleashes the move while also granting intangibility to Cloud's body on startup. Additionally, Limit Cross Slash deals a high amount of [[shield damage]], so much so that the final hit can sometimes break a middleweight's shield if used after a forward or back air, making it risky for opponents to hold shield near Cloud during Limit Break. When used in the air, it halts all momentum until the move is finished. It is commonly considered Cloud's most effective Limit Break move due to its abundance of positive traits.

|usdesc=A leaping reverse gripped slash. If the special button is pressed again, it is followed with a descending reverse gripped slash. The first hit deals set knockback that leads into the second hit, which has a sweetspot at the center of the Buster Sword's blade that meteor smashes opponents as Cloud descends. It is Cloud's primary recovery move, though it is notable for being very ineffective due to multiple traits: it grants mediocre distance with low vertical height and almost no horizontal momentum, and the descending slash cannot be canceled and is not able to sweetspot the edge until Cloud has fallen a certain distance with it, making it unsuitable to use offstage. Its fast startup makes it a good surprise attack when grounded, particularly as an [[out of shield]] option.

|dsdesc=Holds the Buster Sword horizontally in front of himself and remains still in order to manually [[charge]] the Limit Gauge. While the move is being held, a text box labeled "Limit" appears above Cloud, which contains a meter that denotes the current level of Limit and increases as it is charged. The Limit Gauge will reach full charge either by using Limit Charge for 335 frames but can be alternatively filled by inflicting 150% or receiving 100% and each of these methods stacks with each other. When the Limit Gauge is fully charged, Cloud will say "{{ja|限界を越える|Genkai wo koeru}}" ("limits are meant to be broken", "breaking the limit"). The move can be [[charge-cancel]]ed by pressing the [[shield]] button, hitting the control stick left or right (which triggers a roll), grabbing, or pressing the special button again (the latter of which has an 8 frame delay). When the Limit Gauge is filled, Cloud is surrounded by a blue, fiery aura, and his mobility receives a noticeable increase. As long as he is in this state, he has access to much more powerful, single use variants of his special attacks, as listed above. Using any of these attacks will empty the Limit Gauge and return Cloud to his normal state, even if the move misses or is interrupted. The charge goes away in 15 seconds if it isn't used at all when fully charged.

The Limit Break variant of Limit Charge itself is an entirely different attack called '''Finishing Touch''', in which Cloud performs a spinning, upward arcing slash to generate a large whirlwind. Although the whirlwind inflicts only 1%, it has tremendous knockback, so much so that it can KO most opponents before 70%. The move hits on frame 14 but has very high ending lag and almost no shieldstun due to its abysmal damage output. The attack is weaker as a whole when performed in the air, however, KOing 24% later when hit in the front and 36% later with the back hitbox. The attack's hitbox is deceptively large, and it generates a powerful [[windbox]] that extends even further beyond the Buster Sword's range, [[push]]ing opponents away. Finishing Touch's animation may be based on [https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/8/80/Cloud_Tornado_Limit_Sketch.jpg/ Tornado], an unused Limit Break in ''Final Fantasy VII''.

CloudOnScreenAppearanceSSBU.gif|Cloud's on-screen appearance.

*'''Up taunt''': Twirls the Buster Sword and places it behind his back. It is almost identical to his victory animation and [[:File:SSBU spirit Cloud.png|the official artwork]] from ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII}}'', while saying {{ja|興味ないね|Kyōmi nai ne}} ("I'm not interested."), his catchphrase from ''Final Fantasy VII''.