- Game Versions
- Smash Wii U
Introduction
So this is my first guide and what better character to start out with than my own character? I haven't seen an up to date guide on her so i thought why not do one?
My recommended control scheme
GameCube controller
R-jump L-shield Z-can be anything
Y-grab X-jump
B-special A-attack
C-stick attack
Differences from Marth
Now first off there's the obvious, she doesn't have a tipper
Then there are some lesser known ones like Lucina is a little shorter or when she walks and uses dsmash, up smash, jab, and up tilt, she does a slide along with her move while Marth doesn't
Also for some reason when Marth does up tilt without moving he slides forward while Lucina doesn't. I couldn't tell you why the slides happen, but they do and it's all that matters.
Some things you need to know
While not having a tipper, spacing is still important and while you don't have the same shield pushback as a tipper, you have the same shield stun through your entire sword so you have more space to work with depending on the range of their grab, like a small grab range like Little Mac, you have more room to work with than someone with a tether like the Links or the Samus'.
Some of Marth's moves also hit at a different angle apply to Lucina as well, tipper dsmash will launch you horizontally while tipper jab will launch you more vertically.
As I said before, Lucina is shorter than Marth and her reach is shortened by that height difference, however she can still hit come things Marth can't in very specific moments, like certain parts of Bayo's crouch or when Kirby is in that animation of standing up out of a crouch (both are hit by jab), this also means that if something royzones with Lucina it is going to with Marth.
The slide that I also mentioned earlier is literally performed when you attack with one of those moves out of a walk
Moves
Forward air is your standard walling move, it has a lot of range, sometimes it can combo into its self and sometimes it can kill, but it's mostly used for walling people out in neutral or a follow up after fthrow at low %s, it's basically your do it all move
Neutral Air is the move that has the most versatility if you hit the first hit and can kill if you hit the second hit, the first hit can lead into many other different moves like jab, utilt, fsmash, etc. depending on %s since it doesn't have set knockback, the second hit is only there to finish off combos or kill since it has more base knockback and knockback growth than back air which is also a pretty good kill move plus it has the first hit to add more damage to have a better chance at killing
Back Air as I just said is a very good kill move and is one of 3 back airs that turn you around after using it the other 2 being Marth and Roy, even if you land before the hitbox comes out you will still turn around. While nair is the better kill option in terms of knockback, bair is also a lot more practical since they can fall out of nair if you fast fall it while bair is just a single hit, it can also combo into fair at very low %s as a mixup
Up air doesn't really have any follow ups unless it's at low %s and you're landing as you hit it or it's a 50/50 after a dthrow/utilt. It has the same base knockback as both forward and back air but has less knockback growth than both moves, it's decent at keeping opponents off the ground and it can still kill consistently off the top
Down air is a good landing mix up but it has a lot of landing lag so use it sparingly, it also spikes an opponent at frame 11, otherwise it causes them to go either sideways or up depending on how you space it (I forgot, this moves has some tipper effects too), both can kill but the upward hit only really kills at the top of the screen but the side hitbox murders anyone with a bad recovery like non-limit cloud or Mac
Jab is a solid combo starter, it can lead to grab, dancing blade, possibly up b if it's a sliding jab, fsmash is a 50/50, etc. It Also takes up a good amount of space and has a little amount of lag which makes it a good tool in neutral
Ftilt like fair is good for walling out characters and sending them offstage, however it's slow in terms of startup and and lag which makes it more useful for ledge traps rather than in neutral
Up tilt is a good follow up option to a landing up air and can actually lead to up air, it's a good anti air and can juggle if they're too close to the ground for up air to hit, it can start combos into bair/up air depending on how they di, it can poke at opponent's through platforms, and at around 150 (depending on the character) it starts too kill off the top, it's one of those do it all moves except for the fact it has short range when it's on the ground
Dtilt is pretty standard, it's poking them with your sword, but it can cause an untechable spin which can kill confirm into an up smash, dtilt can also 2 frame the opponent. It can also poke shields making it a solid tool in neutral since you can act right out of it.
Fsmash is your most commonly used kill move, you win or lose on that one fsmash whether you like it or not, it has invincibility on the front and is tied for the fastest fsmash in the game with Marth and Samus, it isn't safe on shield but it can 2 frame the opponent if timed correctly.
Up smash is a good move in general since it can kill, do a lot of damage, and it's hitbox is shaped like a ****, not kidding it is
Down smash is your useless smash attack, seriously there's almost no reason to use this, but it is your fastest attack on the ground and it is possible to 2 frame and kill them unlike down tilt, but if you miss you're likely getting hit by a get up attack there's so much end lag to it
Shield Breaker is exactly what it sounds like and an uncharged one does a shocking amount of shield damage, a fair to uncharged shield breaker is an instant shield break and I've seen it break shields with less damage on it, I remember getting a peach turnip to shield breaker one time. Anyway, using it too much it very punishable though, fishing for something is something you don't want to do what ever the reason especially something so momentum changing like a shield break
Dancing Blade is easily you most spammable move and not make it look like spamming, and there are so many different ways to use it, you can get someone offstage with it, you can kill at ledge at around 100% you can bait out a Greninja side b mash out with the up variation and punish with an fsmash (so can Roy) and I'm just getting started, if your opponent is shielding you can do the third hit downwards and take a step back rather than hit the last slash right at their face, you can break shields sometimes with the downward variation, you can send opponent's in the air and start to juggle them with the up variation, side side down up can get fastfallers off the ground to hit them with the last hit of up (since they normally can't get hit by the up variation) and there's so much unexplored with this move
Counter... It's a counter that for some reason has the front foot vulnerable, if you just it the front foot counter doesn't activate (found by @Ruben_dal on twitter) it's happened to Marth ever since Melee
Dolphin Slash is your up b, it's invincible on frame 1 and the beginning is the sweetspot, you can kill with it but it isn't recommended unless there's a platform you can land on incase you miss, it can also get you out of combos but if you miss and there isnt a platform then good luck
Grab
Your grab is a standard grab, you have average combo throws but nothing to write home about
Down Throw is your more consistent throw, depending on how they di the throw you can get a back air or up air and follow up depending on which one, at high %s you can do down throw and hit them with the top of up b until they're in kill % for up throw, it's pretty safe until then
Forward Throw is your 2nd combo throw which can lead to Dancing Blade or forward air at very low %s only, other than that it's just to get them offstage
Back Throw is only to get them offstage unless in doubles, then you use it to send them into a kill move
Up throw is your kill throw at around 150%, nothing else to really say about it
Closure
Now this is my first guide on here, hell it's the first time I've posted something on here this long and I ended up deleting everything else, I originally wanted to put in pictures but I didn't like how you had to put in the url of the picture but if you want to see some of the stuff I was talking about then go follow @Lucina_Memo on twitter, while it's completely Japanese it shows you pictures of what it's roughly talking about
Also follow @MarcinaLab since they are the labbers of Marcina and join the Marcina discord as well.
So this is my first guide and what better character to start out with than my own character? I haven't seen an up to date guide on her so i thought why not do one?
My recommended control scheme
GameCube controller
R-jump L-shield Z-can be anything
Y-grab X-jump
B-special A-attack
C-stick attack
Differences from Marth
Now first off there's the obvious, she doesn't have a tipper
Then there are some lesser known ones like Lucina is a little shorter or when she walks and uses dsmash, up smash, jab, and up tilt, she does a slide along with her move while Marth doesn't
Also for some reason when Marth does up tilt without moving he slides forward while Lucina doesn't. I couldn't tell you why the slides happen, but they do and it's all that matters.
Some things you need to know
While not having a tipper, spacing is still important and while you don't have the same shield pushback as a tipper, you have the same shield stun through your entire sword so you have more space to work with depending on the range of their grab, like a small grab range like Little Mac, you have more room to work with than someone with a tether like the Links or the Samus'.
Some of Marth's moves also hit at a different angle apply to Lucina as well, tipper dsmash will launch you horizontally while tipper jab will launch you more vertically.
As I said before, Lucina is shorter than Marth and her reach is shortened by that height difference, however she can still hit come things Marth can't in very specific moments, like certain parts of Bayo's crouch or when Kirby is in that animation of standing up out of a crouch (both are hit by jab), this also means that if something royzones with Lucina it is going to with Marth.
The slide that I also mentioned earlier is literally performed when you attack with one of those moves out of a walk
Moves
Forward air is your standard walling move, it has a lot of range, sometimes it can combo into its self and sometimes it can kill, but it's mostly used for walling people out in neutral or a follow up after fthrow at low %s, it's basically your do it all move
Neutral Air is the move that has the most versatility if you hit the first hit and can kill if you hit the second hit, the first hit can lead into many other different moves like jab, utilt, fsmash, etc. depending on %s since it doesn't have set knockback, the second hit is only there to finish off combos or kill since it has more base knockback and knockback growth than back air which is also a pretty good kill move plus it has the first hit to add more damage to have a better chance at killing
Back Air as I just said is a very good kill move and is one of 3 back airs that turn you around after using it the other 2 being Marth and Roy, even if you land before the hitbox comes out you will still turn around. While nair is the better kill option in terms of knockback, bair is also a lot more practical since they can fall out of nair if you fast fall it while bair is just a single hit, it can also combo into fair at very low %s as a mixup
Up air doesn't really have any follow ups unless it's at low %s and you're landing as you hit it or it's a 50/50 after a dthrow/utilt. It has the same base knockback as both forward and back air but has less knockback growth than both moves, it's decent at keeping opponents off the ground and it can still kill consistently off the top
Down air is a good landing mix up but it has a lot of landing lag so use it sparingly, it also spikes an opponent at frame 11, otherwise it causes them to go either sideways or up depending on how you space it (I forgot, this moves has some tipper effects too), both can kill but the upward hit only really kills at the top of the screen but the side hitbox murders anyone with a bad recovery like non-limit cloud or Mac
Jab is a solid combo starter, it can lead to grab, dancing blade, possibly up b if it's a sliding jab, fsmash is a 50/50, etc. It Also takes up a good amount of space and has a little amount of lag which makes it a good tool in neutral
Ftilt like fair is good for walling out characters and sending them offstage, however it's slow in terms of startup and and lag which makes it more useful for ledge traps rather than in neutral
Up tilt is a good follow up option to a landing up air and can actually lead to up air, it's a good anti air and can juggle if they're too close to the ground for up air to hit, it can start combos into bair/up air depending on how they di, it can poke at opponent's through platforms, and at around 150 (depending on the character) it starts too kill off the top, it's one of those do it all moves except for the fact it has short range when it's on the ground
Dtilt is pretty standard, it's poking them with your sword, but it can cause an untechable spin which can kill confirm into an up smash, dtilt can also 2 frame the opponent. It can also poke shields making it a solid tool in neutral since you can act right out of it.
Fsmash is your most commonly used kill move, you win or lose on that one fsmash whether you like it or not, it has invincibility on the front and is tied for the fastest fsmash in the game with Marth and Samus, it isn't safe on shield but it can 2 frame the opponent if timed correctly.
Up smash is a good move in general since it can kill, do a lot of damage, and it's hitbox is shaped like a ****, not kidding it is
Down smash is your useless smash attack, seriously there's almost no reason to use this, but it is your fastest attack on the ground and it is possible to 2 frame and kill them unlike down tilt, but if you miss you're likely getting hit by a get up attack there's so much end lag to it
Shield Breaker is exactly what it sounds like and an uncharged one does a shocking amount of shield damage, a fair to uncharged shield breaker is an instant shield break and I've seen it break shields with less damage on it, I remember getting a peach turnip to shield breaker one time. Anyway, using it too much it very punishable though, fishing for something is something you don't want to do what ever the reason especially something so momentum changing like a shield break
Dancing Blade is easily you most spammable move and not make it look like spamming, and there are so many different ways to use it, you can get someone offstage with it, you can kill at ledge at around 100% you can bait out a Greninja side b mash out with the up variation and punish with an fsmash (so can Roy) and I'm just getting started, if your opponent is shielding you can do the third hit downwards and take a step back rather than hit the last slash right at their face, you can break shields sometimes with the downward variation, you can send opponent's in the air and start to juggle them with the up variation, side side down up can get fastfallers off the ground to hit them with the last hit of up (since they normally can't get hit by the up variation) and there's so much unexplored with this move
Counter... It's a counter that for some reason has the front foot vulnerable, if you just it the front foot counter doesn't activate (found by @Ruben_dal on twitter) it's happened to Marth ever since Melee
Dolphin Slash is your up b, it's invincible on frame 1 and the beginning is the sweetspot, you can kill with it but it isn't recommended unless there's a platform you can land on incase you miss, it can also get you out of combos but if you miss and there isnt a platform then good luck
Grab
Your grab is a standard grab, you have average combo throws but nothing to write home about
Down Throw is your more consistent throw, depending on how they di the throw you can get a back air or up air and follow up depending on which one, at high %s you can do down throw and hit them with the top of up b until they're in kill % for up throw, it's pretty safe until then
Forward Throw is your 2nd combo throw which can lead to Dancing Blade or forward air at very low %s only, other than that it's just to get them offstage
Back Throw is only to get them offstage unless in doubles, then you use it to send them into a kill move
Up throw is your kill throw at around 150%, nothing else to really say about it
Closure
Now this is my first guide on here, hell it's the first time I've posted something on here this long and I ended up deleting everything else, I originally wanted to put in pictures but I didn't like how you had to put in the url of the picture but if you want to see some of the stuff I was talking about then go follow @Lucina_Memo on twitter, while it's completely Japanese it shows you pictures of what it's roughly talking about
Also follow @MarcinaLab since they are the labbers of Marcina and join the Marcina discord as well.
