Pit (PM)

Pit in Project M and Project+
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Universe	Kid Icarus
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Pit (SSBB), Pit (SSB4)
Alternate costume	Classic Pit

Pit is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. He has been buffed for his Project M appearance.

Pit ranks 35th out of 41 on the official tier list, putting him near the top of the D tier. This is a large drop from his Brawl tier list position of 17th out of 38. However, in the official Project + tier list, he has improved considerably, ranking 22nd out of 42, landing near the top of B tier.

Attributes

Hence the name of his game, Pit is primarily based off Icarus, a man in Greek mythology who made wings to fly. This is a trait that Pit inherits via the Wings of Icarus, with said wings allowing him to fly as a recovery move. His power of flight is one of many aspects that make Pit a formidable opponent.

Aside from wings, Pit also has weapons granted to him by Palutena. One of them is a bow that contains magical arrows which allow Pit to not only shoot, but also control the direction that they travel, which serves as a perfect out-of-range attack. The other is a shield that allows him to reflect projectiles with full power, and reflect enemies to the other direction.

With a fast and long dash dance, multiple double jumps, and an excellent, low short hop and a fantastic fast fall (his SHFF is 21 frames, tied for 8th in the cast; this is slightly better than Captain Falcon's), Pit is a very maneuverable fighter indeed. In addition to his gifted movement, Pit possesses a large shield, good spot dodges and a slightly disjointed hitbox; his Bow can be separated into two small blades to slice his opponents. Pit's detachable bow possesses sweetspots at the hilt of his blades, and sourspots at the tip; with the exception being his down air, which has a spike at the tip of the backswing. Therefore, Pit is a character that is very versatile; good movement, a disjoint, a long recovery, a strong projectile, and potent edge guarding all come together to make Pit a force in the right hands.

Due to Pit's fast speed, and projectile, his SHFFL spacing game can be used effectively; while his aerials are poor against crouch cancel, if Pit can open up his opponent's movement with the threat of his dash dance, arrows, and grab game, Pit can utilize his aerial attacks for quick pop-ups. If Pit suspects his opponent will shield, cross-up neutral airs and down airs can be used. In addition, Pit's forward air is +1 on block, allowing for effective shield pressure in conjunction with the multi-hit neutral air, jabs, dash dance, down tilt, up smash, down smash and grab.

Despite these great strengths, Pit suffers from poor tech rolls, a low weight, a long jump squat, and a recovery that can be susceptible to being gimped. If Pit is hit out of the Wings of Icarus, all he has left is his Shield Bash, which grants little more distance than an air dodge. Furthermore, Shield Bash incurs 40 frames of landing lag; it isn't wise to land on stage with it too often. To avoid being gimped so easily, Pit can use his multiple double jumps, Wings of Icarus, Palutena's Bow, and forward, neutral and up aerial attacks as resources to return to stage more safely.

Pit's most notable weakness is his lack of kill power. Outside of edge guarding, or carry-offs with his forward aerial and arrows, Pit often struggles to combo into his few kill moves, outside of DI mixups. Pit's back aerial attack, Shield Bash, and forward smash are his main kill moves, but each of them have issues. The aforementioned Shield Bash incurs a large amount of lag if missed, and leaves Pit helpless upon the whole descent. His forward smash, a move where he slashes two times, unfortunately can be very easily crouch cancelled and shielded in between the linking hit and the finishing blow, making it often ineffective outside of reads. Lastly, his back aerial doesn't have many set-ups to use it, so it is mostly used for finishing combos early or as a raw kill move at mid-high percents.

Another weakness of Pit's is his combo game at low percents against heavies or space animals; Pit must mostly rely on his down throw to tech chase opponents (and chain grab some opponents if they DI incorrectly), as his up smash does not link properly, his down tilt is slow with low range (albeit with high reward from its meteor hitbox) and his down smash can be crouch canceled until moderate percents. Pit does have a serviceable dash attack; while it can be crouch canceled, it can be used in conjunction with his down throw if the opponent DIs away to pop them up for up tilt, regrab, jab, down smash, down tilt, up smash, an aerial, or even another dash attack.

However, an aerial opponent or an opponent with moderate percent is very liable to being up air combo'd by Pit, which is very devastating; it can lead to edge guards through DI away on up air, or the use of forward air, back air or neutral air, and he can combo the opponent into his Shield Bash for a kill, usually through the use of a late up air.

At high percent, Pit can force a DI mixup with his down throw and forward throw; if the opponent DIs out, the forward throw will send them very close to the blast zone, where Pit can shoot arrows and attempt to gimp them with his forward or back air. If the opponent DIs in, the the down throw will often confirm into a Shield Bash to kill off the top at around 110%.

Overall, Pit has an impressive neutral game, but fails to find kills easily and can be combo'd relatively well by the rest of the cast. His moves can be tricky to use, as they rarely garner substantial advantage on their own, and he relies on DI mixups to effectively combo his opponents. Still, Pit can be a formidable character choice if the player can read and condition their opponents' habits, and be wary of the earliest available kill windows.

Changes from Brawl to PM

Pit's new up special, Shield Bash.

Pit was significantly buffed from Brawl to Project M, as the faster paced physics combined with his versatile mobility now give him much more options to combo, though he was slightly nerfed in his defensive game, having weaker projectiles and a shortened recovery. These buffs initially made him one of the best characters in Project M, which was most prominent when Armada and ZeRo began to dominate with him in the 3.0 era. As a response to these results, Pit was heavily nerfed in 3.5, with all of his combo starters and extenders becoming laggier, weaker, or gaining more knockback at combo percents. While he still remains buffed from Brawl, he is now considered a mediocre character in the current metagame due to other characters now far surpassing him in strength.

Aesthetics

• On-screen appearance now has Pit shout "Here we go!".
• Down taunt now has Pit scoff as he spreads his wings.

Attributes

• Pit's attack mechanics are now similar to Roy's: moves involving his bow daggers now inflict more damage/knockback (if not both) the closer enemies are to him, with most sourspotted attacks keeping their Brawl power. Some notable examples include his forward tilt and down smash, which gain more KO potential when connecting with the hilt, as well as his forward and back aerials, which give Pit an enhanced, deadlier wall of pain employable against almost any character, potentially enhancing Pit's combo, edgeguarding and KO options.
• Pit can no longer glide by holding a jump button; he must use his side special to do so.
• Pit's air speed increased (0.893 → 1.0).
• Pit has a faster dashing speed (1.583 → 1.82) and has a new animation.
• Pit is significantly lighter (94 → 80).

Ground Attacks

• Rapid jab is much easier to perform.
• Forward tilt has slightly more reach, does more damage (12% → 13%/10%) has adjusted knockback (12 base/95 growth → (45/40 base/70 growth), and can be angled.
• Up tilt's bow dagger hitbox has been removed, causing it to inflicting less damage (16% → 13%) and no longer dragging in crouching opponents as reliably.
• Up tilt has less knockback which with Project M's physics allow for better follow-ups at lower percents.
• Down tilt does slightly more damage (11% → 12%/10%), and the meteor smash hitbox is easier to land. It also has less base knockback and allows for follow-ups at low percents.
• Dash attack with the new physics makes it less of a KO move, though its still a good move to use at lower percents.
• Dash attack has 7 frames less ending lag.
• Forward smash has more reach. Second hit is now optional like Links, and is a stronger KO move, so Pit can either lead into aerials with the first hit at high percentages, or rack up damage with both hits at low percents, increasing his follow-up options and mindgames and gives Pit a boost forward on the ground.
• Up smash does more damage (13% → 16%) and connects better with less hitlag.
• Down smash is stronger and does vertical knockback.

Aerial Attacks

• The hitboxes of Neutral, Forward and Down aerials are now attached to Blade as opposed to being static in Brawl.
• Neutral aerial inflicts less damage total, and connects much worse, overall making it less usable.
• Neutral aerial hits fewer times (8 hits → 4).
• Forward aerial startup (frame 12 → 9) and ending lag (IASA 38 → 33) have been decreased.
• Forward aerial has altered knockback (10 (base)/82 (scaling) → 0/90).
• Back aerial deals slightly less damage (15% → 14%/12%) and has decreased knockback (base 30 → 25).
• Back aerial has a new animation, now resembling Pit's back aerial in Smash 4.
• Up aerial now consists of a single, powerful hit which decays on damage, capable of juggling most characters up to great amounts of damage if sweetspotted, increasing Pit's aerial combo options, and ends sooner.
• Down aerial now spikes upon connecting with the tip (akin to Marth's down aerial), improving its utility as an edgeguarding move and combo starter.

Grabs and Throws

• Standing grab range is increased.
• Forward throw is slightly weaker.
• Back throw is slightly weaker.
• Down throw does more damage.

Special Moves

• Palutena's Arrow decays on damage as it travels, with close-up arrows being notably stronger, and weakened ones having juggling potential, the latter which can be used against offstage foes to lead into a wall of pain. They also much have much more knockback.
• Palutena's Arrow decaying on damage causes it to be less useful for camping, thus discouraging over-reliance on them and encouraging close range combat.
• Pit now has a new side special; a redesigned Wings of Icarus, in which he boosts horizontally and glides. Pit can now use any of his aerial attacks during a glide, in addition to his glide attack (now inputted with a grab button, akin to a zair), granting him bolstered approach and guard breaking options that his previous Angel Ring didn't have. Ending the glide or using a glide attack no longer enforces helplessness, and Pit can use any action except another glide afterwards.
• The loss of Angel Ring means Pit can no longer use it to reflect projectiles. In addition, Pit can no longer use it to disrupt enemies returning to the edge, or for shield pressure.
• Pit's up special (Wings of Icarus) has been replaced with Shield Bash; a jumping Mirror Shield strike upwards, which inflicts damage and acts as a powerful vertical finisher at high percents.
  • Shield Bash grants considerably less distance, both horizontally and vertically, giving even less distance than Mario's Super Jump Punch and not being as versatile as Wings of Icarus, thus significantly worsening Pit's recovery options.
• Mirror Shield can now only be held for a maximum of one second.

Revisions

v2.5b

• Down tilt meteor sweetspot moved from blade to body and made stronger in knockback.
• Forward smash is two parts and the first hit links into the second hit better.
• Up smash hitboxes cleaned up and link better.
• Down air sweetspot is now a spike and easier to hit.
• Grounded Shield Bash links better into the sweetspot and damage on sourspot slightly increased.
• Aerial Shield Bash goes a bit higher, animation adjusted, and the sweetspot is easier to hit.
• No longer has two glides in the air, however, starting from the ground does not use it up, and it is regained when grabbing an edge.
• Ending glide animation smoothed out.
• Glide cancels into fall rather than Special Fall.
• Forward tilt can be angled up or down.
• Back air strong hit sends at a lower angle, lasts slightly longer, and has a bit less base knockback.
• Arrows take longer to weaken initially, but then reach their weakest level at the same time they did before.
• Arrows can now be SDIed normally, and use the new light element effect.
• Shield Bash is now reversible.
• Shield Bash uses the new light element effect.
• Grounded Shield Bash sweetspot placement adjusted.

v2.6b

• Arrows no longer lose charge when they degrade in damage.
• Arrow knockback no longer degrades to set knock back, but always has some growth.
• Shield Bash landing lag increased to the default duration to be similar to other KO specials.
• Mirror Shield Super Armor replaced with Heavy Armor.
• Up smash hitboxes redone from scratch and animation tweaked so that the hitboxes properly follow the blades.
• Up smash has less base knockback and more growth.
• Down throw trajectory raised slightly.
• Palutena's Arrows start up slightly increased, and aerial end lag matched to grounded end lag.
• Mirror Shield hold duration significantly shortened.

v3.0

• Standing grab range slightly increased.
• Down tilt IASA added two frames before the move ends.
• Up smash final hit knockback increased.
• Down air spike sweetspot has increased knockback and the trajectory was raised to send further outward.
• Down tilt meteor sweetspot reduced in knockback. Tipper knockback behavior homogenized to be a standard launcher.
• Fixed animation glitches during forward smash 2 and angled forward tilts.
• Neutral air revamped as a more traditional “drill” move. Hits an additional time, linking knockback tweaked for consistency, hitboxes cleaned up and sync’d to his blades, and the final hit has reduced knockback and hitlag.

v3.5

• Dash attack deals less damage.
• Dash attack deals more knockback.
• Forward tilt deals less knockback.
• Down tilt has higher startup.
• It deals more knockback at higher percents, worsening Pit's combos.
• Pit has a new forward smash, reminiscent of his forward smash from Super Smash Bros. 4.
• The first two hits of Pit's up smash deal slightly more damage and knockback.
• The final hit deals slightly less damage.
• Neutral aerial deals less damage.
• Forward aerial has less knockback and has more endlag.
• Forward aerial comes out one frame earlier.
• Up aerial deals less damage at the tip.
• Up aerial deals more knockback, worsening Pit's combos.
• Down aerial deals less damage at the tip.
• Down aerial deals more knockback.
• Up aerial deals less damage at the tip.
• Down throw deals less knockback and ending lag, allowing for more follow-ups but worsening chain throws.
• Glide attack deals less damage at the blade.
• Arrows no longer decay in damage.
• Sweetspotted Shield Bash deals more damage.

v3.6

• Pit's wings will burn when he loses momentum using the Wings of Icarus. They will also emit a purple aura rather than a blue light when wearing his "Dark" costumes
• The duration of Pit's flight has been reduced.
• Pit's forward smash, forward tilt, back air, and dashing use animations inspired by Super Smash Bros. 4.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Pit slashes twice, then follows up with an upper slash. If the attack button is mashed, Pit will spin his bow instead, hitting multiple times.
			3%
			5%
			1-2% (loop)
Forward tilt	↗		14% (base), 11% (tip)	Pit thrusts both blades forward. Has decent knockback. This move can be angled up or down.
	→		13% (base), 10% (tip)
	↘		12% (base), 9% (tip)
Up tilt			6% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	Plants his bow into into the ground and does a handstand on it, performing a two-hitting kick above him, with the first kick connecting into the next. This is one of Pit's fastest attacks start-up wise.
Down tilt			10% (blade), 12% (body)	Pit swipes one blade across the ground in front of him, knocking any foe upwards. This move spikes any opponents who come in contact with Pit's body. A good move for edgeguarding.
Dash attack			12% (arm & upper body), 9% (lower body), 7% (blade)	Pit steps forward and slashes one of his blades horizontally in front of himself. Overall deals below-average knockback, but knockback is much higher at around 100% and up.
Forward smash			9% (arm), 7% (blade)	Pit slashes his right-handed blade inward that deals low knockback. If the attack button is pressed again, he will follow up with an outward clearing turn with his bow that deals more damage and knockback. If fully charged and both hits connect, it can KO at 80%.
			12% (body), 10% (blade)
Up smash			3% (hits 1-2), 10% (hit 3)	A leaping triple slash to the sky as Pit turns in midair, which is similar to Link's up smash but is noticeably faster and weaker. All the knockback is in the last slash, the first two slashes having reverse knockback, sucking the opponent closer to set up for the final slash.
Down smash			10% (blade), 12% (hilt), 13% (body)	Pit stabs the ground in front of himself with one blade, then behind him with the other. Both the front and the back slash deals the same damage. Interestingly, when using his down smash in Brawl, Pit only uttered a sound upon charging the smash, however this was changed and he will now utter the sound when releasing the attack button.
Neutral aerial			2-3% (hits 1-3), 3% (hit 4)	Pit spins his bow in midair, hitting multiple times. This move can stop weak projectiles if executed at the right time. This aerial has the highest ending lag out of all of Pit's aerials, and if used right, can be a solid damage-rack up tool as well as a lock-down attack.
Forward aerial			13% (blades), 15% (body)	Thrusts both blades forward and quickly brings them apart, slashing horizontally. A powerful edgeguarding and gimping tool that also works great for combos.
Back aerial			14% (clean hilt), 12% (clean blade), 8% (late hilt), 6% (late blade)	Pit performs a reverse dual-bladed thrust. Quick and very powerful, being Pit's strongest aerial, knockback-wise, if sweetspoted. Not easy to short hop with, but with a fast-fall used in conjunction with this move, it can provide many opportunities to string up combos and to gimp opponents with.
Up aerial			14% (clean center), 10% (clean tip), 8% (late)	Pit spins his bow above his head, hitting once. Can be used after down throw to hit heavy/fast-falling characters reliably. Similar to Meta Knight's up aerial, if tap jump is turned on, Pit will jump (whilst airborne) once every time he uses it if the control stick is held up at the right time. A very good combo tool.
Down aerial			12% (blade), 10% (hilt)	Pit slashes under him in a downward-inward sweep with his left blade. The blade can spike opponents when sweetspotted at the end of the animation. Can be used up to four times in the air if used right after initial-midair jumps.
Glide attack			9% (blade), 12% (hilt & body)	Slashes his bow in a 160° arc upward. If used right before landing, there is almost no ending lag upon execution.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Knees the opponent in their midsection.
Forward throw			6% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Pit slashes opponent away with an uppercut slash. Can chaingrab at very low percentages against heavier characters.
Back throw			8%	Pit spins around with the opponent trailing behind and slams them on the ground behind him.
Up throw			1% (hit 1), 7% (throw)	Pit rolls on his back and handstand kicks the enemy.
Down throw			4% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Pit slams the opponent on the ground then quickly follows up by reaping the opponent with a downward chop slam with his bow. This throw bounces the opponent into the air, which makes it easier to follow-up with aerial attacks.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Pit gets up and slashes forward, then stabs behind himself.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Pit gets up and slashes on either side of himself.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Spins his bow behind, then in front of him.
Edge attack (fast)			8%	Pit flips onto the stage and delivers a sweep kick.
Edge attack (slow)			10%	Pit slowly climbs onto the stage and stabs forward with his right blade.
Neutral special		Palutena's Arrow	3-7%	Pit shoots a bluish-white arrow that can be curved in any direction. Can be aimed to the sides and up while charging.
Side special		Wings of Icarus	—	Pit will perform a glide, which can be canceled by hitting the grab button to perform a glide attack or using any aerial attack. Ending this move in the air does not cause Pit to become helpless, but leaves him with one midair jump and cannot perform this move again until he touches the ground.
Up special		Shield Bash	9% (startup), 14% (clean), 9% (late)	Pit throws his shield upward, bashing any enemies directly above him. This can be a good finishing move at high percents.
Down special		Mirror Shield	x1.5 of reflected attack	Pit pulls out his shield and crouches down while holding it out in front of him. The shield can be angled up or down to reflect attacks. When initially brought out, the shield gives Pit armor and can reverse enemies trying to attack him. If used in midair, this shield can be used to reflect characters' recoveries and force them to self-destruct.
Final Smash		Palutena's Army	18% (per centurion)	An enormous image of Palutena will appear in the sky (which is transparent on most stages, but is easier seen on stages such as Final Destination), and Centurions fly onto screen, ramming into other players at incredibly high speeds. Each Centurion makes a single attack to a character, and then falls in battle. During the course of the attack, Pit is not bound to a position. Therefore, he is free to move and attack as he pleases. However, unlike most characters, he is not invincible during his Final Smash.

In competitive play

Notable tech

Labbing Discord Tech Post

Notable players

•  Frost - Ranked 5th on Illinois Power Rank
•  Gallo - Ranked 24th on PMRank 2017.
•  Sosa - Ranked 1st on PMRank 2018, placed 3rd at Undertow with mostly Pit.

Alternate costumes

Project M

Pit's alternate costumes remain largely unchanged from Brawl with the exception of his black swap, which has been adjusted to look identical to Dark Pit.

He also has a costume based on his appearance in Kid Icarus and Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, in addition to the trophy of Pit which was present in Melee. This costume has a "fallen angel" recolor (similar to Pit's "fallen angel" costume from Brawl) in 3.6. Pit's red costume has also been modified in version 3.6.

Pit's alternate costumes in PM

Project+

Pit received new recolors based on characters in Kid Icarus: Uprising.

• Orange: Referred to as "Fruit Pit" in the credits.
• Dark Green: Inspired by Viridi.
• Violet: Loosely inspired by the Eggplant Wizard.
• Brown: Inspired by the Centurion army.

In Project+ 2.3, his classic costume was significantly revamped with better physical features and accessories, including a new bow and blades. It has been given new recolors for team battles, with the "dark" costume removed.

• Red (NES):
• Green (NES): Based on Pit's appearance on the original Kid Icarus when having an Arrow Strength of 2. Also loosely based on Palutena's color palette.
• Blue (NES):
• Yellow (NES): Gives Pit a more accurate portrayal of his appearance in the Captain N: The Game Master series.

Pit's alternate costumes in P+

Z-Secret Costume (Eggplant Pit): Inspired by the effects of the Eggplant Wizard, which turn Pit into an eggplant if it touches him. It is a variant of the Classic Pit costume, with a purple color scheme and his head humorously replaced with an eggplant.

R-Secret Costume (Three Sacred Treasures): Pit dons the three sacred treasures that are used to defeat Medusa and Hades throughout the Kid Icarus series.

Trivia

• Many elements of Pit's appearance in Project M and Project+ are inspired by Kid Icarus: Uprising, the original Kid Icarus, and the myth that the games draw inspiration from. Icarus was a man whose makeshift wings were melted by the sun before he plummeted into the sea:
  • The Wings of Icarus burn as Pit loses gliding momentum, which is a side effect of using the Power of Flight in Kid Icarus: Uprising. Similarly, the wings also glow purple when wearing the dark costumes, which is based on the effect of Dark Pit's wings after he absorbed the spirit of Pandora and could fly indefinitely without trouble.
  • Pit's alternate costumes reference Kid Icarus lore as a whole. The NES costumes also have different facial expressions, with Pit always smiling (reflecting Pit's silly yet kind-hearted nature) and the dark costume (prior to Project+ Version 2.3) always frowning (reflecting Dark Pit's more aggressive, stoic and serious nature).
  • Pit's render in Project+ seems to reference his official artwork in Kid Icarus: Uprising.