Aura
Lucario's attacks have the aura effect. By itself, aura has no effect other than producing blue flame-like energy; when used by Lucario, however, the power of the attack is altered based on Lucario's current damage, being weakened when Lucario is at low damage and strengthened when Lucario is at high damage.
In Brawl
In Brawl, all of Lucario's attacks are affected by aura except for its dash attack, back throw, down throw, and floor attacks. The strength formula is as follows:
where r is the percentage of the damage dealt (for example, if r is 80, the attack is at 0.8x strength) and d is Lucario's current damage.
Effectively, Lucario's attacks deal normal damage when it is at 75%, weakening to as low as 0.7x damage when it is at 20% or lower, and strengthening to as high as 1.4x damage when it is at 170% or higher.
In SSB4
In SSB4, the effect of aura has been increased overall - the limits are more extreme, as are the multipliers at those extremes. In addition, all of Lucario's attacks are now affected without exception.
Effectively, Lucario's attacks deal normal damage when it is at 70%, weakening to as low as 0.66x damage when it is at 0%, and strengthening to as high as 1.7x damage when it is at 190% or higher. Overall, this amounts to a buff compared to Brawl, except when Lucario is at a minuscule 8% damage or lower.
Notes
- In Brawl, it is a common misconception that aura attacks reach maximum power at 182% damage, not the actual 170% damage. This is due to Event 25: The Aura Is With Me placing Lucario at 182% to start the match, implying that 182% is the maximum.
- A less common misconception is that each of Lucario's attacks has an individual aura cap. This is due to the game not displaying or otherwise acknowledging the presence of decimal figures, so for example an attack dealing a maximum of 9.8 damage can be believed to have capped earlier than one dealing a maximum of 9.0 damage.
- When copying Lucario, Kirby does not copy the aura mechanic; his Aura Sphere will remain at base power regardless of his damage.