Aesthetics
Similar to all veterans returning from Smash 4, Lucario's model has a more subdued color scheme, and its fur has a more detailed texture.- Aura is now cyan in color instead of indigo at earlier percentages, and its visual effects are smoother. At higher Aura levels, the flames produced are more intense, becoming indigo in color, which leave behind a trail as Lucario moves. Purple electricity starts emanating from its paws, and the spikes on each paw begin to glow white. The appendages on the back of its head also rise up as Aura grows in power.
- Many of Lucario's attacking animations have been updated from SSB4. Notably, Lucario stands on one foot more in its attacks, particularly with its smash attacks and Double Team.
Attributes
Like all characters, Lucario's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).- Lucario walks slightly faster (1.05 → 1.103).
- Lucario runs faster (1.55 → 1.705).
- Lucario's initial dash is significantly faster (1.8 → 2.255).
- Lucario's air speed is much higher (1.09 → 1.281), now being on par with Wolf's.
- Lucario's air acceleration is higher 0 → 0.01 (base), 0.07 → 0.08 (additional), 0.07 → 0.09 (max).
- Lucario's traction is higher (0.0736 → 0.116). However, due to traction being significantly increased across the cast, it no longer has the highest traction in the game going from first out of 58 to eighteenth out of 76 characters.
Lucario is lighter (99 → 92), making it more difficult to survive at higher percents to take advantage of Aura.- Aura increases in strength faster at lower percentages, reaching base damage at 65% (70% in SSB4), but slower at higher percentages, reaching a maximum of 1.6x power at 190% (down from 1.7x). Aura's strength at 0% is unchanged (0.66x).
- The weakening of Rage reduces Lucario's KO potential at high percents. When combined with the changes to Aura and Lucario's reduced weight, he has become considerably less threatening when damaged.
- Aura's effects have been modified regarding placement. In 1v1 matches, the overall multiplier for Aura has increased slightly (0.8x → 0.83x (minimum), 1.33x → 1.4x (maximum)).
- However, this new multiplier applies beyond 1v1, also reducing the maximum multiplier of a four player match down from x2 to x1.4. This removes much of the Anubis Combo's extreme comeback factor, which makes Lucario more reliant on taking damage to reap the benefits of Aura.
Ground attacks
- Neutral attack:
- Neutral attack's hits connect much more consistently.
- All three hits of neutral attack have less ending lag (FAF 34, 38, 41 → 27, 27, 36).
- The first two hits of neutral attack can jab lock opponents.
- Neutral attack's first hit comes out later than before (frame 6 → 7).
- The first hit has fewer active frames (frames 6-8 → 7-8).
- The final hit has fewer active frames (frames 9-11 → 9-10).
- Dash attack:
- Dash attack now has a sweetspot located on Lucario's foot during the early frames of the attack. This new sweetspot deals more damage (10%) and knockback than the rest of the attack, letting it KO earlier.
- The sourspot of the clean hit does more damage (8% → 8.5%).
- Dash attack's sweetspot has more range (hitboxes: 3.0u → 3.6u (clean), 2.8u → 2.9u (late)).
- Lucario now lands on its feet after using dash attack; previously, it fell on its side after the kick.
- Forward tilt:
- Forward tilt has a new animation, with Lucario leaning back before the palm thrust. In addition, the updated visual on the Aura effect matches the hitboxes much better.
- Up tilt:
- Up tilt has a new animation; Lucario jumps slightly higher when kicking, and kicks in an overall more animated fashion. It then quickly hops back into place at the end of the attack.
- Down tilt:
- Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 25 → 23). This improves its safety and combo potential.
- Down tilt's new animation has Lucario crouch low to the ground while kicking. This allows it to lower its profile and dodge more attacks while using down tilt.
- Forward smash:
- Forward smash's clean hit has a larger hitbox (5.5u → 5.7u), and greater horizontal extension (Z offset: 4.7-10.2 → 5-11.7), improving its range.
- Forward smash becomes active earlier (frame 22 → 19).
- Forward smash has more vibrant Aura effects.
- Forward smash's animation is more animated and snappy compared to SSB4. It also now ends the attack standing on one foot.
- The new animation of forward smash has Lucario lean back at the start of the attack, allowing it to evade attacks before retaliating with its own.
- Up smash:
- Up smash has an altered animation, with Lucario raising its leg much higher while releasing the blast of Aura. The charging stance is different, and the blast of Aura is much wider than before to match the hitbox more accurately.
- Up smash's first hit has more horizontal range (Z offset: -4–4 → -5–5).
- Up smash's second hitbox is larger (8u → 8.8u), and lower down (Y offset: 25 → 23.5), improving its horizontal range and allowing it to connect better against opponents pulled up from the ground, but reducing its vertical range.
- Down smash:
- Down smash has a new animation; instead of raising its arms into the air and bringing them down, Lucario now briefly stands on one foot before stomping it to the ground while simultaneously releasing Aura from its palms.
- The charging animation of down smash now has Lucario fold its arms while crouching in front of its chest instead of waving its arms in a circular motion.
- Due to the change in stance, Lucario is less vulnerable to attack while charging down smash.
Aerial attacks
- Neutral aerial:
- Neutral aerial now consists of six hitboxes which surround Lucario rather than consisting of two hitboxes on its right arm (6u/4u (clean)/4.5u/3.3u (late) → 4.6u/4.6u/4.6u/4.6u/3.6u/3.6u (both)). This allows the move to hit behind Lucario much sooner and lead into the second hit; increasing its potency.
- This also allows the attack to drag opponents forwards if they are behind Lucario, improving its followup potential.
- It has less landing lag (9 frames → 5).
- The first hit has more startup lag (frame 8 → 10).
- The first hit has a longer hitbox duration (frames 8-11 → 10-14).
- The second hit has less startup lag (frame 22 → 18).
- The second hit has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 22-29 → 18-21).
- Altogether, these changes allow both hits to connect much more reliably.
- It auto-cancels earlier (frame 39 → 36).
- Its initial auto-cancel window is shorter (frames 1-7 → 1-4).
- It has a new animation; Lucario spins more quickly than it did in Smash 4.
- This new animation is longer (54 frames → 56), slightly increasing the amount of time Lucario cannot grab ledges after performing the move.
- Forward aerial:
- Forward aerial has less landing lag (18 frames → 9).
- Lucario can grab ledges sooner after using forward aerial (64 frames → 52).
- Back aerial:
- Back aerial has less startup lag (frame 16 → 13).
- It deals less damage (15% → 14%/13%), hindering its KO potential.
- It has more ending lag (FAF 49 → 50).
- Its initial auto-cancel window is longer (frames 1-3 → 1-4).
- The burst of aura from its animation has better adjusted to more accurately better match its hitboxes.
- It has a new animation which is slightly shorter than the previous animation (63 frames → 61). This slightly decreases the amount of time Lucario cannot grab ledges after performing the move.
- Up aerial:
- Up aerial has less landing lag (22 frames → 13).
- It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 10-15 → 10-13).
- It has an altered animation, with Lucario backflipping following the initial kick.
- This new animation is longer (50 frames → 54), slightly increasing the amount of time Lucario cannot grab ledges after performing the move.
- Down aerial:
- Down aerial stalls Lucario's movement less on successive uses.
- It has more landing lag (9 frames → 12).
- It has a new animation which is longer than the previous animation (31 frames → 40). This increases the amount of time Lucario cannot grab ledges after performing the move.
Throws and other attacks
- Pivot grab has more horizontal range (Z offset: 4-15.2 → 4-16.5).
- Forward throw is now a two-hit move. This change also grants the move a collateral hitbox to hit opponents near Lucario. This is makes it better at seperating certain two-in-one characters such as the Ice Climbers and Rosalina & Luma.
Special moves
- Aura Sphere:
- Aura Sphere is visually closer to how it appears in recent Pokémon games. It has an "energy absorption" effect while charging and no longer emits a trail of smoke when launched.
- Aura Sphere can now be jump-canceled, even in the air. Additionally, it can now be canceled into any grounded option while charging with an advanced technique called Charge Storage Cancelling.
- With Lucario's increased air speed, this makes it possible to edge-guard opponents by charging Aura Sphere and then cancelling it into an aerial, as well as improving its movement when combined with B-Reverses, Wavebounces, etc.
- Moving the control stick down has Lucario spot dodge, much like how moving it left or right has it roll.
- Lucario cannot shield immediately out of Aura Sphere, making it less safe to charge.
- Lucario cannot use its standard grab out of a charging Aura Sphere without shielding, as pressing the Z button fires the Aura Sphere.
- The aerial charge animation for Aura Sphere was altered; it now more closely resembles the grounded charging animation.
- Fully charged Aura Sphere has a larger hitbox (2.0u → 2.6u).
- Force Palm:
- Force Palm has increased grab range.
- Force Palm's projectile deals less damage with the far hit (7.56% → ~5.4%).
- Force Palm's hitbox now matches its Aura graphics more closely.
- Force Palm's grab triggers Special Zoom if Lucario has at least half of its maximum Aura.
- The animation for Force Palm has been completely changed; instead of pulling its left paw back before thrusting it forward with a stomp to release a blast of Aura, Lucario now moves its paws in a circle around its body while crouching low to the ground before gathering its paws together and releasing a blast of Aura from its left paw.
- Extreme Speed:
- Extreme Speed has less ending and landing lag.
- Extreme Speed now has a hitbox upon directly crashing into the ground or a wall, making it safer to use for recovery.
- Crashing into a wall now sends Lucario upward as opposed to stopping it in place. This greatly increases the safety of the recovery.
- Extreme Speed's controls have been modified; the initial flight direction is locked in a short period of time before flight begins, which can lead to unintentional self-destructs.
- Extreme Speed travels less distance overall.
- Extreme Speed now halts at the end of the move, making it worse for recovering at low percents.
- The animation for Extreme Speed has been updated; Lucario now gathers Aura in its paws at the start of the move. If it is grounded, dust ripples appear around Lucario as it gathers Aura. Additionally, the streams of Aura during flight are much bigger and more colorful than before. At the end of the flight, a gust of wind envelops the front of Lucario to indicate the attack portion of the move.
- Double Team:
- When performing the attack, Lucario now moves into the direction the control stick is being held rather than from it, making the move more intuitive.
- Double Team deals more damage (11% → 12.5%).
- Double Team's counterattack activates faster (frame 28 → 16), making the attack much more consistent.
- Lucario leaves blue-colored afterimages of itself in the location where it stood just before the attack.
- Double Team has less ending lag on an unsuccessful counter (FAF 80 → 71), decreasing the window of time where Lucario can be punished.
- Double Team can now track opponents that activate the counterattack; Lucario will teleport to the attacker's location (within a certain range) and start its counterattack.
- Double Team now slows down time for the opponent that attacked Lucario. This allows Double Team to punish many more attacks, greatly increasing its reliability.
- Double Team has fewer active frames (frames 5-39 → 5-24), no longer having the longest frame window in the game.
- Double Team has significantly fewer intangibility frames (5-39 → 4-13), no longer covering the entire counter window.
- Double Team's momentum in the air carries over into Lucario's own movement, which both benefits and hinders its recovery potential, as it can help with recovering when facing towards the stage, but prevent recovery (or even lead to a self-destruct) when facing away from the stage.
- The animation for Double Team has completely changed; instead of moving its arms in a circular motion while crouching, Lucario now stands upright with its left leg raised while holding a pose. It then pulls its right paw back while holding its martial arts-like stance. A vortex of wind surrounds Lucario throughout the entire animation.
- Final Smash:
- Lucario's Final Smash has been reverted to Aura Storm. It now Mega Evolves into Mega Lucario before performing the attack.
- Compared to Aura Storm in Brawl, the beam fired is much wider, improving the move's horizontal reach.
As a result, the undead glitch on the Stamina Mode, and results screen glitch on the timed team battle have been removed.- Due to Lucario's voice clips being re-recorded in Smash 4, Lucario says "Max aura!" instead of "Watch the power of aura!" when Aura Storm is activated, and is now silent when firing the beam.