The Final Smash Ultimate Balance Patch has Released

Earlier this afternoon, the patch notes for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate version 13.0.1 went live! And with this new version being dropped, this marks the end of Smash Ultimate balance patches, apart from potential bug fixes down the road.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Here’s a brief selection of what changes players can expect to see in this patch and for the rest of Smash Ultimate’s lifespan:

• Donkey Kong received some buffs in the form of his Neutral Attack 2 having a longer hit detection, and his Neutral Special generates super armor faster.
• Ice Climbers received some buffs in the form of increased attack speed for their Dash Attack and Up Special moves.
• Mewtwo received some buffs, as their Side Tilt and Forward Throw have increased power.
• Meta Knight received some significant buffs, as his Up Smash has a greater range, and his Forward Air and Back Air have increased power.
• Rosalina and Luma received changes, as Luma generally receives less knockback after being hit.
• Cloud received a buff to his Down Special, which increased the attack speed of his Finishing Touch.
• Inkling received some buffs, as they have less vulnerability when reloading ink, and their Neutral Special has a longer range.
• Piranha Plant received some significant buffs, as its Down Special requires less time to perform, and its Down Air’s meteor effect lasts longer.
• Min Min received some slight nerfs, as the Dragon's beam from her Side Smash has a shorter duration.
• Pyra and Mythra both received slight nerfs; Pyra’s Side Special has increased vulnerability, and Mythra’s Side Smash has a shortened launch distance.

This list is not all-encompassing, and the full list of changes can be found here.

Author’s Note: It is somewhat bittersweet now that there are no further balance changes planned for Smash Ultimate, which means that the current multipliers are going to stay the way that they are. Are you happy with the changes? What changes would you have included in the final balance patch? Let us know in the comments!

Credits:
Writing: UtopianPoyzin
Editing: @Zerp
Thumbnail: @Zerp
Social: @Zerp

 

No Pichu buffs, damn. Well, at least update 11.0.0 reversed some of the damage that update 3.1.0 did to Pichu.

I’m happy to see buffs for DK,Ice climbers and Meta Knight.

 

Bowser Jr. buffs! Heck yeah, I needed this.

 

Why "13.0.1" and not "13.1.0" tho

But yeah, this patch is a surprise since I only thought it would be bug fixes. Speaking of bug fixes, I wonder what they squashed. (Has to be Sora stuff, right?)

 

I was here hoping for some pichu and banjo buffs.

 

I honestly can't fathom the dumpster fire that is this patch. These are the most RANDOM stupid buffs/nerfs I've ever seen in my life. Sure... some DK buffs. Whatever.

The Smash balance team......................... WHY??? What IS this patch????? Why didn't Pika/Joker/Pyra-Mythra get nerfed??? Why didn't Ganon/Mac/Marth/Doc/DDD etc get buffed???????

This is the worst patch I've ever seen.

 

Yay min min nerfs!

 

Definitely a mixed bag. I like all the buffs, but there are still characters like Ganondorf, Marth, Dedede, Ridley, and Banjo who I feel needed another round or two of buffs (arguably moreso than most of the characters who got buffs this patch). Likewise, I feel that Pikachu, ROB, and Game and Watch would have been better candidates for nerfs than Min Min or Pyra & Mythra.

 

A shame Banjo and Kazooie didn't get a single buff since they released. At least Mega Man finally got some buffs.

 

A shame Banjo and Kazooie didn't get a single buff since they released. At least Mega Man finally got some buffs.

Some patches ago they received some buffs.

 

As someone who loves playing Banjo, while I would have loved some buffs, the F-Smash and U-Tilt buffs were quite nice a couple patches ago. They're definitely middle tier characters so they could of course use some more love, but I do think there are characters that could use it more. And how R.O.B. / Pikachu have avoided nerfs forever are beyond me. Pythra could have gotten more, but at least it's something, and they're recovery is at least exploitable so they for some reason feel the most fair for the Top Tiers. I mean there are a lot of high tier characters like Peach, Snake, Joker, Palu, but Pika and R.O.B. really do feel a step above the rest. shrug

 

1. Kind of sad that the final balancing update failed to fix up some notable blind spots; a few examples include Yoshi's up tilt and Ganondorf's forward smash.
2. The nerf to Mythra's forward smash is a bit questionable in the sense that a lot of her attacks don't even begin to make KOs until well beyond sudden death levels. It's almost like the game is telling you to switch over to Pyra.
3. As for Wario, I don't think his neutral attack's problem was its damage output, but more its start-up lag; it could've at least been halved so that it hits on frame 4.
4. Someone mentioned about the Ice Climbers being broken in a bad way. Looks like Nana's AI will continue to be a hindrance to their overall viability.
5. The biggest question of all is why none of the slower fighters ever received any mobility improvements during the game's entire lifespan. I get that Incineroar is supposed to be a slow runner, but when a large amount of fighters can walk faster than your running speed, that doesn't feel too good.

Anyway, personal rant over, and we can finally move forward without having to do any more speculation topics.