Zero Suit Samus (SSBU)/Down smash

Hitbox visualization showing Zero Suit Samus's down smash.

Overview

Zero Suit Samus aims her Paralyzer downwards and fires an electrical blast towards the ground which paralyzes opponents for some time, allowing her to follow up with one of her finishers for a potential KO.

The amount of time the move keeps the opponent paralyzed depends on what percent they are at with the move keeping them stunned for longer the higher their percentage is. The move comes out quite slowly on frame 20 which makes it one of the slowest down smashes in the game. However, its ending lag is very low as it only has 17 frames of cooldown, making it difficult to punish. Additionally, it also has large hitboxes that lasts for 5 frames which gives it decent range as well as 2-frame potential. Its low ending lag combined with its decent range even makes it rather safe on shield if it is properly spaced.

The move does have some shortcomings, however. As previously mentioned, the move has slow startup which can make it difficult to land at times and unlike most down smashes, it only hits in front of the user rather than on both sides. A big nerf it has received is that the move also applies hitlag to both Zero Suit Samus and her opponent whereas in previous Smash games, only her opponent suffered from hitlag. Lastly, the move has a lower hitlag multiplier and less overall knockback which reduces the amount of time the opponent is paralyzed, particularly at low percents where it will be unsafe on hit which is exacerbated if the sourspot is landed. All of this combined prevents the move from granting Zero Suit Samus the frame advantage it did in Smash 4 and especially in Brawl, although it is still very rewarding.

Although not as potent as it was in previous Smash titles due to the nerfs it has received, it still remains as a valuable tool in Zero Suit Samus's toolkit.

Hitboxes

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	Set weight	Radius	Bone	Offset			H×	SDI×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Effect	Type	G	A	Sound	Direct	Hit bits	Hit part	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	No GFX	Heedless
0	0	0	8.0%	0		Standard	0	90	0		4.0	top	0.0	3.0	13.0 to 8.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%							Electric		All	All
1	0	0	6.0%	0		Standard	0	85	0		7.0	top	0.0	3.0	17.0 to 10.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%							Electric		All	All

Timing

Charges between	15-16
Hitboxes	20-24
Interruptible	42
Animation length	55

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Charge interval

Hitbox

Interruptible

Zero Suit Samus's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2 · 3) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial · Grab aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Floor getups (trip)
Edge attack · Edge getups
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special · Final Smash