Monado Art Switching tactics discussion

[Masonomace]

Just thought I'd post this:

The gray box area that gives a run down on his stats says this:

Jump : Jump & midair jump up, defense down.
Speed: Walk & dash speed up, attack down.
Shield: Defense up, movement speed and attack down.
Buster: Attack up, launch power and defense down.
Smash: Launch power up, attack up; he himself becomes easier to launch, too.

Which is odd, because there's some added & changed differences compared to the OP:

Shield from the OP: Defense up, Movement down
Shield from the Gray: Defense up, Movement and Attack down = major nerf despite it being reasonable. Shield based off the Gray box will make Shield the least used now since it doesn't maintain your attack.

Buster from OP: Attack up, Launch power down
Buster from Gray: Attack up, Launch power and Defense down = nerf hurting Buster more with that extra Defense lowered, better be super aggro when you have the stage control.

Smash from OP: Launch power up, Attack down, lower defense against launching
Smash from Gray: Launch power up and Attack up; he himself becomes easier to launch, too. = buff making Smash not the most risky Art.

 

[Phantom High]

i honestly think shield is the worst one out of the modes afawk. Sure it's harder to launch Shulk,, but this implies he falls fast and there are certain combos that hurt fast fallers. not to mention it's really easy to theoretically combo him so, at best you break even.

 

[erico9001]

i honestly think shield is the worst one out of the modes afawk. Sure it's harder to launch Shulk,, but this implies he falls fast and there are certain combos that hurt fast fallers. not to mention it's really easy to theoretically combo him so, at best you break even.

I think I see your reasoning for thinking that it implies he will fall faster, something like he will be heavier right? That is what I thought would be the case before they also said he gets worse attack.

I now see the developers' justification of the downsides of Monado Shield being that the energy surrounding him also binds him to an extent, restricting how fast he can move his body and meaning that when he is attacking he must exert more force to counteract the energy, force that is taken away from the power of the attack. It's probably important that I bring up that character's weight, movement speed, and terminal velocity/acceleration are all totally separate components in the coding of the file for the character. I can easily take Pit and make his fall speed extremely fast while keeping his run speed and weight the same.

If anything, it would mean lower air mobility, but it says nothing about fall speed.

Another way I look at it is that when a character takes a metal box, the justification for the gain in weight (and being harder to knock back) is faster fall speed. With this move though, we already know that the justification for being harder to knock back is slower movement speed and lower attack, so it seems to be put negatively out of balance if we put faster fall speed in there too.

 

[MajorMajora]

I figure the uses will be this:
Jump: Used for extended recovery (rather risky though, since he becomes more susceptible to edge guarding KO's until it wears off). Also used for combos to follow up knock ups.
Speed: Used for pressure. You lose some mileage from your A attacks, but you can get some really good pressure on an opponent to get in the position to use Buster and Smash.
Shield: Deals with pressure, allowing you more lee-way to counter an opponent's assault. Also, if you are a stock up but high on percent, you can use this to turtle and keep your stock as long as possible.
Buster: Used chiefly when enemies are at low-mid percentage. Allows you to combo as if they were at a lower percent, allowing for longer combos that deal a lot of damage, amplified by the damage buff.
Smash: KO'ing opponents you feel you have an advantage on. Risky, but powerful if used at the right time.

 

[Beatness]

Do we know how long the modes last for? Or are they always in play until you switch to a different one?

 

[Kidney Thief]

Buster could be amazing to juggle at lower percents

 

[OptimistNic]

Buster could be amazing to juggle at lower percents

Because it reduces launch power it could potentially juggle at mid-high percentages.

 

[Fex13]

do they modes have some kind of cooldown or is it optional to switch? also, do you start the battle in one of the modes or does shulk have some kind of standard mode without any buffs and nerfs?

 

[Kidney Thief]

I was thinking if you had a decent lead, Defensive mode could be incredibly good since competitively speaking most of us just want to play safe at that point

 

[Kaeldiar]

Yeah that hardly seems necessary given the colors. But isn't that Chinese anyway? It was Chinese in Xenoblade so it'd be pretty weird to make it Japanese for no reason other than "hey I'm Japanese!"

Japanese game, Chinese symbols. It gives it the same sort of mystery that you have when playing the game in English, "Whoa! Cool symbols! I wonder what they mean!"

 

[KassandraNova]

Japanese and Chinese Kanji are pretty much the same thing though, since the Japanese stole most of their **** from the Chinese Language. So it really doesn't matter.

Also might want to update the OP post with the colors of each mode as well.

 

[ParanoidDrone]

I have a question about Shulk's stance changing, hopefully someone here can answer.

So Shulk's arts cycle Jump > Speed > Shield > Buster > Smash > Jump etc. When you first tap B, does it always start on Jump, or does it start on your last used art?

To illustrate, suppose I use the Buster art and it wears off. I then press B once. Which art will activate? Jump, Smash, or Buster (which will fail)?

 

[Kaeldiar]

I have a question about Shulk's stance changing, hopefully someone here can answer.

So Shulk's arts cycle Jump > Speed > Shield > Buster > Smash > Jump etc. When you first tap B, does it always start on Jump, or does it start on your last used art?

To illustrate, suppose I use the Buster art and it wears off. I then press B once. Which art will activate? Jump, Smash, or Buster (which will fail)?

It always starts with Jump. VGBootCamp was streaming some play with Shulk when I read this, so I was able to watch specifically for it!

 

[OtakuDJK1NG]

Even if switching is slow and tough, the different art modes will make him highly likely one of the best teams character with his versatility.

It is slow. Because Arts and Monado powers requires cool down in Xenoblade.

So it only natural.

 

[Kaeldiar]

FAST FACTS ON MONADO ART SWITCHING

What the Arts DO have been discussed, but there is a lot of confusion on how the actual Art switching works. I've been carefully watching every piece of Shulk footage I can get my hands on, so let me clear up a few things:

1. Shulk begins each match in a "normal" form, with no Monado Art activated
2. Neutral B is used to activate different Monado Arts. By pressing B, the symbol for a Monado Art will appear behind you. Continuing to press B will cycle through them (it cycles just as fast as you can press them). Stop on a Monado Art to select it. It will activate after 60 frames (1 second).
3. Monado Arts appear in the following order. When cycling through Arts, it ALWAYS begins at Jump
Jump > Speed > Shield > Buster > Smash > Jump > Speed > ...etc.
4. Pressing B twice rapidly while using a Monado Art will cancel it
5. EDIT: Monado arts appear to last for 15-17 seconds, but I am not completely certain on this. Thank you, Aerodrome for pointing out this error
6. After a Monado Art goes away, there is a cooldown period during which that art cannot be activated

Things I do not yet know:
1. Exactly how long do the Arts last?
2. How long is the cooldown for Monado Arts?
3. If canceled early, does that Art go into the cooldown period? Does it completely refresh? Does the game remember how long you were in that and then subtract that from the next time you use it?

DISCLAIMER: I may be mistaken about some of these things, but this is what I have gathered from what Nintendo Treehouse has said and my own observations of watching Shulk play from various streams. If any of this is incorrect, please feel free to correct me. I am only concerned with making sure we all know how these things work.
EDIT: They demo'd Shulk at the Treehouse on release day, so you got to hear them talk about how he works. A lot of my info comes from this video at ~1:00:00 in http://www.twitch.tv/nintendo/b/567883411

 

[KuroganeHammer]

Shield lasts way more than 7 seconds.

 

[Kaeldiar]

Shield lasts way more than 7 seconds.

So I went back and watched some replays from a couple streams, notably the Nintendo Treehouse stream. Monado Arts seem to last about 15-17 seconds. I couldn't get an exact time, and I also couldn't be entirely sure if he was canceling Arts early.

 

[KuroganeHammer]

yes. also hai kaeldiar idk if you remember me or not, im the frame data guy from project m, i think we chatted once a while ago

Also here's some Monado Shield data:

Damage Multiplier: 0.6695x
Weight increase: +42

 

[Berserker.]

yes. also hai kaeldiar idk if you remember me or not, im the frame data guy from project m, i think we chatted once a while ago

Also here's some Monado Shield data:

Damage Multiplier: 0.6695x
Weight increase: +42

Lol. He just needs to look at the post above his to remember

Anyway thanks for the exact numbers

 

[Phantom High]

So it looks like Jump is use for recovery assuming you haven't lost your double jump.

How silly of me to think that Shulk will use jump to get star kos.

Hopefully speed helps him vs zoning heavy characters like DHD

 

[Kaeldiar]

So it looks like Jump is use for recovery assuming you haven't lost your double jump.

How silly of me to think that Shulk will use jump to get star kos.

up-smash > double jump stupidly high > up-air could very well be a thing. Shulk has a LOT of potential. It'll take an awful lot of fiddling to figure him out

Hopefully speed helps him vs zoning heavy characters like DHD

Or maybe he could just tank through it with Shield...lots of possibilities to try :D

 

[Berserker.]

Are there any streams showing Shulk? I've been staying on Shofu's stream

 

[Masonomace]

Man. . .coming back to this.

So I realized another way to utilize the Speed art. I'm not aware of Shuk's grab game, such as how effective his standing grab OOS is, his pivot grab's range, & his dash grab. But Speed art can work like Brawl Sonic when it comes to getting successful grabs due to your fast-paced movement. Never again will Shulk allow a stage-long mis-input go unjust without punishing it greatly. It's always Shulk time!

EDITED.

 

[Berserker.]

Man. . .coming back to this.

So I realized another way to utilize the Speed art. I'm not aware of Shuk's grab game, such as how effective his standing grab OOS is, his pivot grab's range, & his dash grab. But Speed art can work like Brawl Sonic when it comes to getting successful grabs due to your fast-paced movement. Never again will Shulk allow a stage-long mis-input go unjust without punishing it greatly. It's always Shulk time!

EDITED.

I think that's a great idea along with just using a quick jab or a quick f-tilt attack but it's a bit disappointing that speed debuffs damage output. Shulk can combo off u-throw

 

[Masonomace]

I think that's a great idea along with just using a quick jab or a quick f-tilt attack but it's a bit disappointing that speed debuffs damage output. Shulk can combo off u-throw

Nice, I'd be willing to choose his Speed Art in situations where I want to mind-game my opponent with dashing away to pivot tilts & such. Running around is crazy as it is, forcing a lot of people to make stupid inputs if they feel intimidated. Damage % racking up would suffer like you mentioned, but depending on how much % he racks up with his assorted grabs especially Uthrow, then perhaps the trade-off of Speed Art would fair decently.

 

[Berserker.]

Nice, I'd be willing to choose his Speed Art in situations where I want to mind-game my opponent with dashing away to pivot tilts & such. Running around is crazy as it is, forcing a lot of people to make stupid inputs if they feel intimidated. Damage % racking up would suffer like you mentioned, but depending on how much % he racks up with his assorted grabs especially Uthrow, then perhaps the trade-off of Speed Art would fair decently.

I'm guessing the exact damage value which speed art debuffs is also at 20% like smash art.

So the damage Shulk deals is reduced by 20% which isn't that drastic but that really depends on what your definition of "drastic" is.

Making another guess here but I think we're overlooking one more potential kill move: Air slash. Although I'm not sure about its base knockback but with Monado Smash, I think it will have good knockback. Air slash has a fast start up and incredible range so that helps

 

[Masonomace]

I'm guessing the exact damage value which speed art debuffs is also at 20% like smash art.

So the damage Shulk deals is reduced by 20% which isn't that drastic but that really depends on what your definition of "drastic" is.

Making another guess here but I think we're overlooking one more potential kill move: Air slash. Although I'm not sure about its base knockback but with Monado Smash, I think it will have good knockback. Air slash has a fast start up and incredible range so that helps

Overreaction:: 20?! 20%??!?!?!?! That's more than just decimating our damage output, it's blasphemy!

No problem for me, it's not as bad as 's Stamina value combined with Fatigue value, & as a main from Brawl I speak very humbly that I'm only getting a permanent 20% reduction for using Speed / Smash Art. Regardless of Stale-move-Negation to add on with Speed & Smash's Art damage reduction, it seems fair to think of it like that when you have all the speed you need.

Air Slash does seem underrated just because everyone wrote it off as a "Oh great a Marth cloned move!" When realy, it seems a lot more combo-able than Dolphin Slash, seeing how Shulk's Utilt trajectory looks, Utilt > Air Slash would be a potent string.

 

[Berserker.]

Overreaction:: 20?! 20%??!?!?!?! That's more than just decimating our damage output, it's blasphemy!

No problem for me, it's not as bad as 's Stamina value combined with Fatigue value, & as a main from Brawl I speak very humbly that I'm only getting a permanent 20% reduction for using Speed / Smash Art. Regardless of Stale-move-Negation to add on with Speed & Smash's Art damage reduction, it seems fair to think of it like that when you have all the speed you need.

Air Slash does seem underrated just because everyone wrote it off as a "Oh great a Marth cloned move!" When realy, it seems a lot more combo-able than Dolphin Slash, seeing how Shulk's Utilt trajectory looks, Utilt > Air Slash would be a potent string.

--- I mean, air slash is best used as (sans as a recover) a combo finisher or a surprise KO move with Smash (the KO part is pure guessing). That's all I can think of but really and I'll be brutally honest, the first part of it definitely looks like dolphin slash

 

[Masonomace]

--- I mean, air slash is best used as (sans as a recover) a combo finisher or a surprise KO move with Smash (the KO part is pure guessing). That's all I can think of but really and I'll be brutally honest, the first part of it definitely looks like dolphin slash

Definitely. Air Slash would work perfect against because, you know, Air anything > LMac. But mainly Air Slash varying with the current Art, he'd for sure use it OOUthrow or Utilt

 

[Berserker.]

Definitely. Air Slash would work perfect against because, you know, Air anything > LMac. But mainly Air Slash varying with the current Art, he'd for sure use it OOUthrow or Utilt

Oh um.... Space it right though. Little Mac on ground....

Grounded Little Mac >>>> Everyone

 

[x-Ace-x]

For those who like to play with items every now and then it seems like the monado blaster art, that increases the damage given, also help you grab the smash ball faster. Again it should be a given but it's nice to know.

I noticed it on this video at about 3:40:

Great gameplay by the way

 

[guedes the brawler]

Shield might be good when you already have high damage and wnt to maximize how much damage you cna deal befor edying. of course, you could always take a gamble with Smash...

i don't think Jump will be that good for recovery, since it makes you light and thus, makes Edgeguarding shulk much more effective.

Speed might net some stage-wide combos for Shulk, no? Smart use of switching to speed while mixing up your movements with platforms might give shulk a decent approach vs campers and stuff.

 

[Masonomace]

I have a general idea of how Shulk may play factoring in Monado Arts:

• Winning

1. Depending on how much you're winning starting the match with (Jump Speed Shield) or without Arts in Neutral game playing footsies, the common possibility that once Shulk wins said Neutral game racking up enough % on them, he'll switch to Buster to rack up even more %.
2. When getting some or a lot of % dealt to yourself, you'll take the risk-reward game activating Smash to clear a stock off your opponent scoring a KO.
3. After clearing a stock & the fighter(s) are on revival platform, Shulk switches to either of the preferred Arts: Speed, or Shield.
4. Speed would be recommended when you have a % within the range of 80 - 100, while Shield would be more beneficial to activate at a % of 100 or more, to effectively stock tank. If you play smart, be safe & avoid strong hits during Speed, you'll have no trouble stock tanking with turning on Shield afterwards.
5. Rinse & repeat. Speed, Shield, Buster, & Smash to me would be the main Combat-viable Arts to use. Speed & Shield would go hand-in-hand in a defensive play-style, while Buster & Smash compliment each other in an offensive play-style.

EDIT: I'm implying that Shulk has the lead for most of the match, but a scenario of Shulk losing against an unfavorable MatchUp:

• Losing

1. Depending on how much you're losing with or without Arts, you may want to play safe & don't over-extend yourself while being too reckless. I recommend staying in less offensive Arts & stick with Speed.
2. Speed can be played offensively & reckless, but we want to use Speed at first to mind-game your opponent. Dashing to rolling away are common fake-outs to make your opponent react, including Dashing Shield Cancels into grab if you're that close, always going for throws with your insane movement speed.
   
   Spoiler: Shield being a no-no early game

   Shield would be an alternative, but when in Neutral game playing footsies with the opponent at low %, you're more prone to being combo'd in strings, becoming more hazardous activating Shield despite the good intentions. Imo Shield activated effectively would be ideal if your % was any higher than 70%.
3. After struggling with your match, finally racking up enough % with or without Buster, you may want to decide on switching to Smash, fish a bit without being too committed to your KO options, & land that finishing blow sealing a stock. Let's say you're still behind taking their first stock after you already losing yours, you proceed to switch to either Speed or Shield based off your current %.
4. Whichever Art you decide on, this practically rinses & repeats until you learn their patterns & you adjust mid-match to their play-style, thus you may mix-up your game from here & either try something different, or again rinse & repeat.

 

[Berserker.]

When to use....

Jump

1) Recovering- Alright, here's something.... DON'T USE YOUR SECOND JUMP RIGHT AWAY WHEN OFF STAGE. Switch to monado jump then use it at the right time. Once you've recovered, switch out from Monado jump. That reduced defense really sucks

2) Escaping ledge traps- Ledge traps might be a thing in Smash 4--- No wait, they probably will be (I think). Monado jumping out of these situations really help. The difficult part though is making sure to have a safe time going to the ground. D-air is a bit too narrow BUT IT'S AN OPTION, so you'll have to be precise with it. F-air works too since it actually reaches Shulk's lower area. Vision is actually pretty good too

Speed

1) Campers- Neutral Shulk will have a tough time going against campers. It's best to have speed on so you can quickly get up to their face and stay on them as much as possible. (Question: Does Monado speed somehow improve Shulk's air speed?)

2) VERY mobile and fast characters- These types of characters are also iffy to deal with if you're thinking about just using buster against them. They're too fast to catch up to and they have a lot of mobility options. Shulk is NOT mobile. You're gonna need Monado speed to catch up with them

3) Follow ups and combos- We all know Monado speed increases Shulk's foot speed. No brainer. At time, your combo sends your opponent off a distance such that you probably won't reach them in time to continuously combo them. Luckily if you have speed on, you can literally just run to them and attack with a quick attack

[Edit]

4) Mind games- Thanks to Masonomace for this. Almost forgot about it but with the speed, you can easily fake out your opponents and confuse them. Also in case if you get in the opponent's average range of their attacks, you can run away fast so you won't take any sort of unwanted damage. This is also a good way to chip in some damage

Shield

1) At high percent- If you have a high percent, you better switch to shield. You become the heaviest character in Smash Bros for a while. Also, your knockback doesn't take a debuff (indirectly though since Shield reduces damage dealt) so in case if your opponent is also at a high percentage, using shield is fine if you're still planning to finish the fight instead of risking it and using smash

2) Heavy hitters- Getting hit by heavy hitters sucks ass. Getting hit by heavy hitters while having Buster or Smash on sucks real hard. If you want to play it safe (Especially against Bowser), you're way better of using shield at the start of a match

3) After KO'ing an opponent- This is related to the first reason. If your percentage is at around 0-89%, you can switch to buster, but above that? Your better off shielding so that you can secure a good lead over the opponent. I'm aware that you can't use shield again once it wears off so after it wears off and assuming your percentage is high, it's fine to use Buster to rack up damage OR you can switch to Smash and attempt to gimp the opponent

4) Performing a comeback- If your opponent has the big lead, your better off tanking and just taking him out with shield stance often. That way, you'll be very difficult to kill and you can still kill your opponent while you're at it

Buster

1) Dealing damage- This is the number one reason you should use buster. It adds a LOT of damage and it's great to combo with thanks to the reduced knockback. Although, play with it carefully because you receive more damage with buster activated

2) Being effective with it and smash- When Shulk was revealed and his moveset details were revealed, his plan was kinda obvious from the get-go. Rack up damage with buster then kill with smash. Although, this doesn't really apply all the time at the start of a match since the art you start with really depends on your opponent

3) If you're feeling it (lol)- If you're feeling cocky and if you feel like you can play it safe against the characters you shouldn't be using buster that often against, go ahead and rack up that damage. Just learn how to space and you'll be fine for the most part. Hopefully. Just don't get crazy. I suggest you start using it when their (certain characters) percentage is at 60%+ AND when your percentage is not that high

4) If the character isn't either a heavy hitter, ultra fast, or camper type....- Starting with buster is a good idea

Smash

1) Landing a KO- Smash art grants a knockback buff which is awesome. From the damage racked, you can switch to smash and finish the opponent with any of your attacks. Your KO range should be at around (excluding the use of vision counter) 80-130%.

2) Vision counter+Smash = Doom- This one's REALLY scary when combined with Vision counter. Vision counter is one of the stronger counters in the game. Against characters that naturally deal a lot of damage in a hit, it's scary... The higher the damage countered, the higher damage and knockback vision counter deals. Also, smash adds up to the knockback. You can potentially KO enemies at around 25% depending on the attack countered

3) Edgeguarding- The knockback buff from Smash is very impressive. Combine that with your range and you can actually do well in edgeguarding with n-air, f-air and b-air. Oh and, b-air is exceptionally quite powerful and it also has long range. Off stage, it's easily one of (If not the best) Shulk's best edgeguarding tools along with f-air

 

[x-Ace-x]

I have a general idea of how Shulk may play factoring in Monado Arts:

1. Winning

• Depending on how much you're winning starting the match with (Jump Speed Shield) or without Arts in Neutral game playing footsies, the common possibility that once Shulk wins said Neutral game racking up enough % on them, he'll switch to Buster to rack up even more %.
• When getting some or alot of % dealt to yourself, you'll take the risk-reward game activating Smash to clear a stock off your opponent scoring a KO.
• After clearing a stock & the fighter(s) are on revival platform, Shulk switches to either one of the two preferred Arts: Speed, or Shield.
• Either or, Speed would be recommended with a % range of 80 - 100, while Shield would be recommended when having a % of 100 or higher, in order to stock tank longer. If you play smart being safe & avoiding strong hits while using Speed, you'll have no trouble stock tanking with turning on Shield afterwards.
• Rinse & repeat. Speed, Shield, Buster, & Smash to me would be the main Combat-viable Arts to switch off of. Speed & Shield would go hand-in-hand in the defensive play-style, while Buster & Smash compliment each other in an offensive play-style.

Nice
But personally, I was wondering if starting with Buster isn't a better idea knowing that your launch ability are lesser with it.

Starting with Buster would allow you to quickly rack up some % and it will buy you time to change Monado arts when it disappear if needed, because I will send your opponent further away with simple attacks, the fact that the Buster art launch ability is so low make me think that's it's not a perfect art to use just before the Smash art. Being in a neutral art sounds better to me just because some neutral smash attacks could eventually send the opponent flying already (depends on the position in the stage).
You will more likely get a cheap kill with neutral than Buster or Speed just because you can send your enemy a bit further.

It's only when my opponent is past 90% that I would recommend to use the Smash art.
I saw Marth getting killed at about 80% with smash activated (in the middle of the stage)

So I would say:

1. 斬 (Buster)

2. Neutral

3. 撃 (Smash)

At this point let's consider your opponent lost a stock and that you're still on the stage.
He respawns...

4. 疾 (Speed)

5. 盾 (Shield)


Bis Repetita

Only use 翔 (Jump) at big % to try to recover. Never use it at low % because it gives edge guarding an advantage.
At big % it's not so terrible if you die

 

[Berserker.]

Nice
But personally, I was wondering if starting with Buster isn't a better idea knowing that your launch ability are lesser with it.

Starting with Buster would allow you to quickly rack up some % and it will buy you time to change Monado arts when it disappear if needed, because I will send your opponent further away with simple attacks, the fact that the Buster art launch ability is so low make me think that's it's not a perfect art to use just before the Smash art. Being in a neutral art sounds better to me just because some neutral smash attacks could eventually send the opponent flying already (depends on the position in the stage).
You will more likely get a cheap kill with neutral than Buster or Speed just because you can send your enemy a bit further.

It's only when my opponent is past 90% that I would recommend to use the Smash art.
I saw Marth getting killed at about 80% with smash activated (in the middle of the stage)

So I would say:

1. 斬 (Buster)

2. Neutral

3. 撃 (Smash)

At this point let's consider your opponent lost a stock and that you're still on the stage.
He respawns...

4. 疾 (Speed)

5. 盾 (Shield)


Bis Repetita

Only use 翔 (Jump) at big % to try to recover. Never use it at low % because it gives edge guarding an advantage.
At big % it's not so terrible if you die

It's not always ideal to start out with buster though. It really depends on the match up. Sometimes, using speed or shield at the start is better than going with buster. There are gonna be times when you're not gonna use buster at all unless you're feeling confident. That's not to say that Buster is useless (In fact, it's Shulk's most useful art)

Although, I agree with you about using neutral stance before Smash. I should make some ramblings about the neutral stance...

 

[Gold_Jacobson]

So to confirm, does shield:

Reduce damage?

Reduce knockback?

Or both?

 

[Berserker.]

So to confirm, does shield:

Reduce damage?

Reduce knockback?

Or both?

Both

 

[x-Ace-x]

It's not always ideal to start out with buster though. It really depends on the match up. Sometimes, using speed or shield at the start is better than going with buster. There are gonna be times when you're not gonna use buster at all unless you're feeling confident. That's not to say that Buster is useless (In fact, it's Shulk's most useful art)

Although, I agree with you about using neutral stance before Smash. I should make some ramblings about the neutral stance...

Yes of course, it mostly depends on matchups

 

[Masonomace]

When to use....

Jump

1) Recovering- Alright, here's something.... DON'T USE YOUR SECOND JUMP RIGHT AWAY WHEN OFF STAGE. Switch to monado jump then use it at the right time. Once you've recovered, switch out from Monado jump. That reduced defense really sucks
Wanted to point this out, but Jump also increases the vertical height of Air Slash. I believe the second little 'hop' after swinging the Monado a second time is also increased by the Jump Art.
2) Escaping ledge traps- Ledge traps might be a thing in Smash 4--- No wait, they probably will be (I think). Monado jumping out of these situations really help. The difficult part though is making sure to have a safe time going to the ground. D-air is a bit too narrow BUT IT'S AN OPTION, so you'll have to be precise with it. F-air works too since it actually reaches Shulk's lower area. Vision is actually pretty good too
With Jump, the aerial mobility traveling sideways left or right is increased helping us mix-up our air-game. It makes a DI'd D-air or F-air do a little bit better, including Vision.

Speed

1) Campers- Neutral Shulk will have a tough time going against campers. It's best to have speed on so you can quickly get up to their face and stay on them as much as possible. (Question: Does Monado speed somehow improve Shulk's air speed?)
Agreed. And I'm not too sure about that, Speed's general info only says it increases Shulk's walking speed & running speed. Not aerial movement speed, probably needs testing perhaps.
2) VERY mobile and fast characters- These types of characters are also iffy to deal with if you're thinking about just using buster against them. They're too fast to catch up to and they have a lot of mobility options. Shulk is NOT mobile. You're gonna need Monado speed to catch up with them

3) Follow ups and combos- We all know Monado speed increases Shulk's foot speed. No brainer. At time, your combo sends your opponent off a distance such that you probably won't reach them in time to continuously combo them. Luckily if you have speed on, you can literally just run to them and attack with a quick attack

[Edit]

4) Mind games- Thanks to Masonomace for this. Almost forgot about it but with the speed, you can easily fake out your opponents and confuse them. Also in case if you get in the opponent's average range of their attacks, you can run away fast so you won't take any sort of unwanted damage. This is also a good way to chip in some damage
Sorry but thank you. Another thing to note about Mind gaming with Speed is the ability to walk or run past the opponent & input pivot tilts or a pivot grab. The heavy increase of speed makes a simple walk past them nerve-wrecking.

Shield

1) At high percent- If you have a high percent, you better switch to shield. You become the heaviest character in Smash Bros for a while. Also, your knockback doesn't take a debuff (indirectly though since Shield reduces damage dealt) so in case if your opponent is also at a high percentage, using shield is fine if you're still planning to finish the fight instead of risking it and using smash

2) Heavy hitters- Getting hit by heavy hitters sucks ***. Getting hit by heavy hitters while having Buster or Smash on sucks real hard. If you want to play it safe (Especially against Bowser), you're way better of using shield at the start of a match
Agreeable for the most part. I'd like to prefer using Speed against Heavy-hitting slow characters outplaying them, then switching to Neutral or to Shield would even out the playing field of durability, but mostly Shield is favorable in these certain MatchUps. Buster is NOT a good idea at all versus Bowser.
3) After KO'ing an opponent- This is related to the first reason. If your percentage is at around 0-89%, you can switch to buster, but above that? Your better off shielding so that you can secure a good lead over the opponent. I'm aware that you can't use shield again once it wears off so after it wears off and assuming your percentage is high, it's fine to use Buster to rack up damage OR you can switch to Smash and attempt to gimp the opponent

4) Performing a comeback- If your opponent has the big lead, your better off tanking and just taking him out with shield stance often. That way, you'll be very difficult to kill and you can still kill your opponent while you're at it
This is especially crucial, well done on this whole post berserk. There is a apparent effect that alters a character's knock-back-scaling power. The 'Rage Effect' increases the knock-back / launch power of your attacks & grabs as your % rises. So being at high % using the Shield Art, along with the Rage Effect taking place while you stock tank, it would be very worth to try using Smash after Shield goes on cooldown.

Buster

1) Dealing damage- This is the number one reason you should use buster. It adds a LOT of damage and it's great to combo with thanks to the reduced knockback. Although, play with it carefully because you receive more damage with buster activated

2) Being effective with it and smash- When Shulk was revealed and his moveset details were revealed, his plan was kinda obvious from the get-go. Rack up damage with buster then kill with smash. Although, this doesn't really apply all the time at the start of a match since the art you start with really depends on your opponent
I believe an effective quota for Buster to meet all the requirements, is to simply watch Shulk's current %. The higher Shulk's % reaches, the bigger danger Shulk is in if Buster is still active. As Issai would say, "Don't get hit.", & this would be Buster's #1 requirement.
3) If you're feeling it (lol)- If you're feeling cocky and if you feel like you can play it safe against the characters you shouldn't be using buster that often against, go ahead and rack up that damage. Just learn how to space and you'll be fine for the most part. Hopefully. Just don't get crazy. I suggest you start using it when their (certain characters) percentage is at 60%+ AND when your percentage is not that high
I'm not feeling it.
4) If the character isn't either a heavy hitter, ultra fast, or camper type....- Starting with buster is a good idea

Smash

1) Landing a KO- Smash art grants a knockback buff which is awesome. From the damage racked, you can switch to smash and finish the opponent with any of your attacks. Your KO range should be at around (excluding the use of vision counter) 80-130%.
About that Rage Effect I talked about earlier in Shield. Essentially, the Rage Effect scales with more knock-back, the higher your % reaches, sort of like Lucario's AuraBoost% built-in mechanic. So when Shulk has dangerously high % while Smash is active, his KO power goes even further beyond feeling it. Shulk's Smash at high % literally makes him more risk-rewarding, so that's something cool to note.
2) Vision counter+Smash = Doom- This one's REALLY scary when combined with Vision counter. Vision counter is one of the stronger counters in the game. Against characters that naturally deal a lot of damage in a hit, it's scary... The higher the damage countered, the higher damage and knockback vision counter deals. Also, smash adds up to the knockback. You can potentially KO enemies at around 25% depending on the attack countered
I love this idea, since I recently learned Shulk's dash counter is inputting a left or right forward direction during the execution. Because Smash reduces % damage dealt, the Dashing Vision counter-attack increasing the base damage of the counter move counter-balances the setback Smash has, making it up for the extremely powerful knock-back.
3) Edgeguarding- The knockback buff from Smash is very impressive. Combine that with your range and you can actually do well in edgeguarding with n-air, f-air and b-air. Oh and, b-air is exceptionally quite powerful and it also has long range. Off stage, it's easily one of (If not the best) Shulk's best edgeguarding tools along with f-air
Another interesting option to do when edgeguarding the opponent while they recover snapping the ledge, is to predict their wake-up attack with a Vision counter, including the Smash augmenting Art plus the forward input during the counter increasing the damage it would deal. Smash used aggressively to edgeguard given by your provided post is well-informed, it's a bit difficult to do on the 3DS, but maybe noting RAR B-air being a solid Edgeguarding tool is a swell idea too.

My replies are all in your quote. All of my text is lighter colored.

Nice
But personally, I was wondering if starting with Buster isn't a better idea knowing that your launch ability are lesser with it.

Starting with Buster would allow you to quickly rack up some % and it will buy you time to change Monado arts when it disappear if needed, because I will send your opponent further away with simple attacks, the fact that the Buster art launch ability is so low make me think that's it's not a perfect art to use just before the Smash art. Being in a neutral art sounds better to me just because some neutral smash attacks could eventually send the opponent flying already (depends on the position in the stage).
You will more likely get a cheap kill with neutral than Buster or Speed just because you can send your enemy a bit further.

It's only when my opponent is past 90% that I would recommend to use the Smash art.
I saw Marth getting killed at about 80% with smash activated (in the middle of the stage)

So I would say:

1. 斬 (Buster)

2. Neutral

3. 撃 (Smash)

At this point let's consider your opponent lost a stock and that you're still on the stage.
He respawns...

4. 疾 (Speed)

5. 盾 (Shield)


Bis Repetita

Only use 翔 (Jump) at big % to try to recover. Never use it at low % because it gives edge guarding an advantage.
At big % it's not so terrible if you die

Good stuff Ace, though starting with any Art would vary on the MatchUp at the start of the match. If you're versing a character Shulk can handle fine, then Buster Blader them. Any character that can zone with projectiles that are poking you down with any bonus hazards they can lay out, is automatically a disadvantage for Buster Shulk. The way I see Buster honestly, is "Speeding up the Process". You take the risk of losing knock-back & your launch resistance decreased, for the price of dealing more damage. Buster is a very risky Art & otherwise to me isn't needed unless I feel like popping it on. For me, It's actually the most situational Art to use, unless you're doing smooth not taking damage, it's mostly a bad idea to keep it on let alone use it at all when you're getting dealt endless zoning of poking % damage.

Apologies for not discussing about Neutral though. I was only thinking of the tactics we could use in-between switching Arts. Neutral is pretty solid & is most likely used in Neutral game most of the time.

As for the timings on using Arts, I'd debate that Smash would rather be used when your % & the opponent's % are ripe. In Sm4sh, a certain effect called the 'Rage Effect', increases knock-back on attacks & grab throws the higher your current % is. So using Smash during our very high % to play the extremely risky-rewarding game, would pay off most definitely if scoring a KO. Smash depending on both ours & the opponent's %, could be activated earlier or later depending on their weight class. A light fighter like Marth would be around 70% for my tastes, whereas Bowser being Very Heavy would be around the 90% marker like you mentioned. Very Light characters like Jigglypuff would be a definite 50% Smash activation.

EDIT: This is what I mean by Rage Effect. Ladies & Gentlemen, & props to @warionumbah2 for this share in Lucario's overall changes thread. I give you this video.
Rage Effect not only further increases Shulk in general at high %, but:

• stock tanking with Shield while almost negating his indirect nerf of less damage, is compensated with more knock-back
• hunting off-stage opponents edgeguarding with Jump provided by the granting knock-back boost, edgeguarding got much more fun & interesting
• Buster's less knock-back initially being a setback to Shulk, now compensated a bit the more % he has. Still becomes a risky Art to use regardless of the small regain of some knock-back.
• Smash benefiting the most from the Rage Effect, his added knock-back value plus more knock-back scaling makes Smash alone more dangerous & risky, yet much more rewarding. Said earlier that Vision counter with the forward input change, plus the augment change of Smash, combined with Rage's Effect from having high %, all adds up to be formidable & noted.