Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. 4

Aura

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File:Aura graph.png
A graph of how much damage aura attacks do based on the user's current damage. Click for full-size version.

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

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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:

File:Aura formula SSBB.png

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.

It is known from the official Brawl website that aura is not only affected by damage percentage, but also by Lucario's placing in the match, making it stronger when it's ahead and weaker when it's behind. However, these numbers are not currently compiled.

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.

File:Aura formula SSB4.png

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.

In addition to the above, the multiplier is multiplied again with a complicated factor based on Lucario's placing in the match and how many players there are (excluding CPUs). When Lucario's position changes, it takes 8 seconds for the new value to scale into full effect; if Lucario's position changes again during this time, the multiplier immediately skips to its new value. The mechanic is named Stock Rage by players.

File:Aura stock formula SSB4.png

In this formula:

  • p is the number of players in the game, excluding CPUs, with a maximum of 4. It does not take team affiliation into account.
  • t is the number of stocks Lucario is trailing the leader of the match by, with a maximum of 2.
  • l is the number of stocks Lucario is leading the trailer of the match by, with a maximum of 2.

This formula has an additional wrinkle in modes other than stock. In time mode, Lucario's lead/trail is equal to 1 until the difference between it and the leader/trailer is 5, at which point the lead/trail is 2. In coin mode, the value is 0 when Lucario is even and 2 otherwise.

For practical purposes, the most common multipliers in serious play are thus:

Placing Multiplier (2 players) Multiplier (4 players)
Ahead by 2 0.8 0.6333
Ahead by 1 0.888 0.8
Even 1.0 1.0
Behind by 1 1.142 1.333
Behind by 2 1.333 2.0

Once all these factors are combined, the final aura multiplier cannot be lower than 0.6x or higher than 1.8x.

Mega Lucario's aura attacks always deal 1.8x damage regardless of its current damage percentage.

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.
  • When Lucario has a high defense stat, the aura grows more slowly. For example, usually Aura Sphere's charging sound is different at 160%, but with 200 Defense, it will have the usual sound from 0%.[citation needed]

References