- Not to be confused with the freeze glitch. For game freezing, see game crash.
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Freezing, also known as ice, is an attack effect in the Super Smash Bros. series that debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee and has appeared in every subsequent game.
In Melee only, being hit by a freezing attack causes a variation of the ping sound to play; high knockback-dealing attacks, such as the Freezie and Articuno's attack, cause the actual ping sound.
Freezing attacks are boosted by Freezing Attack stickers in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's The Subspace Emissary and the Support Spirit skill Water & Ice Attack ↑, as well as certain Spirit Battle conditions in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Spirit skill or trait Water/Freezing Resist ↑ will worsen freezing attacks.
In Ultimate, the Support Spirit skill Ice-Floor Immunity prevents the equipped fighter from being frozen or being damaged by Spirit Battle ice floors, but does not affect the damage the player takes from freezing attacks.
Technical Data
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The base time an opponent is frozen is calculated with 5 * d + 0.5 * p
, rounded down, where:
- d is the damage dealt by the attack, taking the 1v1 multiplier and stale-move negation into account.
- p is the opponent's percentage before the attack connects.
Fighters hit by a freezing attack are frozen for an amount of time based on the damage dealt by the attack; in Ultimate only, the duration is typically increased by 1 frame for every 2 percent of the victim's current damage. For example, if a character is hit by a fully charged PK Freeze at 25%, the equation is 5 * 23 + 0.5 * 25
, resulting in a base freeze period of 127 frames. Since only damage influences the equation, factors such as weight and knockback are irrelevant. In Ultimate, being hit by ice attacks while frozen causes the base freeze duration to stack, although subsequent ice attacks have a 0.67x penalty on the additional freeze duration. Additionally, base freeze duration now caps out at 250 frames.
Similar to when buried, opponents can mash to reduce the number of frames spent frozen. For every input, 4 frames of ice are removed[1]. However, each attack that hits a frozen opponent adds 4 frames to the base duration.
While frozen, characters take 0.5× damage and 0.25× knockback from subsequent attacks. As a result, it is very difficult to KO a frozen opponent, with even powerful meteor smashes dealing negligible knockback. However, given the amount of time an opponent can stay frozen, despite the halved damage, it is an excellent way to build damage, since they are immobile. Setting opponents up with other external factors such as items and projectiles is also effective.
Additionally, Hero's Kacrackle Slash applies a 2× multiplier to base frozen time[2], giving him ample time to set the opponent up.
The Subspace Emissary
Freezing is one of the more useful effects in The Subspace Emissary: it deals extra damage to flame-based enemies and about half of the bosses, and is only specifically resisted by Glices. However, it cannot cause non-fighter enemies to freeze, and attacks with the freezing effect are rare and almost exclusively indirect, which most enemies and bosses resist; Judge is the only non-indirect freezing attack available in The Subspace Emissary, and it can only be used at random.
List of freezing attacks
By characters
Character | Move(s) | Games |
---|---|---|
Giga Bowser | Down smash | |
Hero | Command Selection (Kacrackle Slash) | |
Ice Climbers | Ice Shot | |
Blizzard | ||
Iceberg | ||
Kirby | Ice Breath | |
Kirby (Copy Abilities) | Ice Shot | |
PK Freeze | ||
Lucas | PK Freeze | |
Luigi | Ice Ball | |
Mega Man | Ice Slasher | |
Mr. Game & Watch | Judge (number 8) | |
Ness | PK Freeze |
By items
Character | Move(s) | Games |
---|---|---|
Assist Trophies | Krystal: Ice Blast | |
Riki: Freezinate | ||
Wily Capsule: Ice projectiles | ||
Freezie | Thrown Freezie | |
Attacking a Freezie | ||
Poké Ball Pokémon | Abomasnow: Ice Punch | |
Abomasnow: Blizzard | ||
Alolan Vulpix: Icy Wind | ||
Articuno: Icy Wind | ||
Ditto: Transform (if the summoner possesses freezing attacks) | ||
Kyurem: Icy Wind | ||
Suicune: Blizzard | ||
Suicune: Contact with head before attacking | ||
Suicune: Aurora Beam | ||
Togepi: Powder Snow |
By enemies and bosses
Enemy/Boss | Attack(s) | Games |
---|---|---|
Blue Bubble | Ramming into the player | |
Crazy Hand | Tri-Poke (third hit) | |
Frozen Rope | ||
Cryogonal | Ice Beam | |
Giga Bowser | Down smash | |
Glice | Ice attack | |
Marx | Ice balls | |
Master Hand | Icy Wind |
By stage hazards
In addition to natural stage hazards, the Spirit Battle condition "The floor is frozen" creates a hazard that inflicts freezing damage.
Stage | Hazard | Games |
---|---|---|
Gerudo Valley | Kotake's ice spell | |
Mushroom Kingdom U | Falling Icicles |
Trivia
- According to the official Japanese Super Smash Bros. minisite, an "ice" effect was originally planned for inclusion in Super Smash Bros., but was ultimately not used.
- In Stamina fights, characters who are KO'd from freezing attacks cannot thaw out unless they are hit by Flame attacks. In Ultimate, this does not seem to delay the defeated character's self-destruction.
References
- ^ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UdH2L0xi8dO6jyPCcO5e5-8j7SGzezxkeZuF1uP8uOw/edit#gid=1341015828 Ice effect detailed here
- ^ https://rubendal.github.io/ssbu/#/Character/Hero 0x10239ee7f0