Q&A The 'Mains' Advice Thread

[FalKoopa]

The purpose of the thread is to provide a central location for people looking for advice on which character to main.

Others users are also encouraged to weigh in and offer their advice. So ask away!

For more specific advice on a particular character, please go to the Character Discussion forum.

So many characters, who to main?​

 

[JustYuck]

Hey guys, So I am having trouble picking a main. I like R.O.B a whole lot, but I am better with Duck Hunt and Rose and Luma. I am a melee player, so characters like falcon and sheik SHOUL be natural fits for me but they aren't, I just don't like the way they feel. So should I pick the character that is most fun or the character I do best with is my question? R.O.B = Fun, I can win often in For Glory. Duck Hunt/Rose = Not that fun, I can win most of the time in For Glory.

EDIT: Also, I forgot about Diddy, I have heard that he is one of the easiest characters to be good at, and Sm4sh is really more of a side thing for me. If I am devoting most of my time to melee still, is Diddy a good option. I have almost no experience with him.

 

[DavemanCozy]

My personal thoughts, your main should be a character that:

1. you genuinely like them as characters,
   
2. you enjoy playing as,
   
3. you enjoy winning as.

Basically, step by step:

Choose a character you like already and try them out. What you like them for can be for whatever reason: for who they are, how they look, their moveset, the game they're from, etc. Lots to choose from!

Step 2 narrows it down by testing you to see if you enjoy playing as any of them. Liking a character does not necessarily mean that you will like playing as them. Try their whole move set and all sorts of whacky things that come to mind with them. You will be more sure of who you feel like playing as! Training mode and friendly games with your friends is where you do this.

Finally, once you've figured out which characters you like, it's time to try them out vs your friends in serious matches. Sometimes, you might find yourself frustrated playing a certain character: try switching to another one in this case. Enjoying winning as them basically means you savor the victories you get, while learning from your defeats. I recommend doing serious matches with "Items Off" and on a neutral stage (Battlefield, Smashville, Final Destination, etc) so that you may see how each of your characters movesets directly interact with each other.

This is what worked for me, anyways. I've played all smash games in the past, some of them casually and others competitively, but these are the steps that I've taken in the past for every Smash Bros game, and did it again when the 3DS version came out.

I found the answers to these while playing with friends rather than online, btw, since you get direct feedback from each other. I recommend you play with people close to your skill level as well. Or if you play against someone who is much more experienced than you, ask them for advice! They may know a thing or two about your character.

EDIT: Like FalKoopa said, the character boards are fantastic places to find information on your character(s). Give them a good read!

 

[16bit]

Hey guys, So I am having trouble picking a main. I like R.O.B a whole lot, but I am better with Duck Hunt and Rose and Luma. I am a melee player, so characters like falcon and sheik SHOUL be natural fits for me but they aren't, I just don't like the way they feel. So should I pick the character that is most fun or the character I do best with is my question? R.O.B = Fun, I can win often in For Glory. Duck Hunt/Rose = Not that fun, I can win most of the time in For Glory.

EDIT: Also, I forgot about Diddy, I have heard that he is one of the easiest characters to be good at, and Sm4sh is really more of a side thing for me. If I am devoting most of my time to melee still, is Diddy a good option. I have almost no experience with him.

Personally, I would recommend sticking with R.O.B, as you enjoy him, and if you practice enough, he'll be good.

 

[Duck SMASH!]

Hey guys.
So i'm trying to choose a secondary...
Although my signature says I main Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Captain Falcon, I usually don't choose Bowser for more serious matches yet... I need more practice with him.
But I'm looking for a secondary that fills any gaps that both Bowser Jr. and Captain Falcon have.
For example, Both of them have a great air game but not necessarily the best ground game... both of them have good mobility (Bowser Jr. has his kart dash to get around the stage) but both are also very predictable in their approaches.

My signature lists a bunch of characters I'm considering for fun or for training. But I wanted to see your thoughts on who I should pick up. Whether it's someone in my sig or someone else I didn't consider.

 

[DavemanCozy]

Hey guys.
So i'm trying to choose a secondary...
Although my signature says I main Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Captain Falcon, I usually don't choose Bowser for more serious matches yet... I need more practice with him.
But I'm looking for a secondary that fills any gaps that both Bowser Jr. and Captain Falcon have.
For example, Both of them have a great air game but not necessarily the best ground game... both of them have good mobility (Bowser Jr. has his kart dash to get around the stage) but both are also very predictable in their approaches.

My signature lists a bunch of characters I'm considering for fun or for training. But I wanted to see your thoughts on who I should pick up. Whether it's someone in my sig or someone else I didn't consider.

Have you referred to the Falcon and Bjr boards and asked these questions? Those questions being ones regarding approaches, ground games, and other things you are having trouble with when you play as them. It might be a better idea to do that before considering adding a third character to learn.

 

[Duck SMASH!]

Have you referred to the Falcon and Bjr boards and asked these questions? Those questions being ones regarding approaches, ground games, and other things you are having trouble with when you play as them. It might be a better idea to do that before considering adding a third character to learn.

I already checked the Falcon boards, and I post frequently on the Jr. boards.
Falcon - Dash grab, dash attack, dashing shield then grab or attack, SH Nair/Bair, plus fakeouts. Falcon is fast enough to rushdown most characters but you need to space properly and he's still kinda predictable.
Jr. - Kart Dash, aerials, advancing Ftilt, autocanceled fair/bair if opponent is tall enough, advance with Mechakoopa, plus fakeouts. Shield covers literally everything Jr. can do except dashing shield (But Bowser Jr's dash is slow) His grab is twice as slow as others like Mario, Diddy Kong, and Sheik, without the range of tether grabs like ZSS, Olimar, and Yoshi. It sucks, in other words.

 

[jaketheknight]

I never thought I'd need this, but I feel like I'm having a 'smash identity crisis' right now. I enjoy Falcon, I enjoy Sheik, I enjoy Samus, I enjoy alot of characters(see sig), but I find I'm not much good at them. Should I narrow my focus to being really good with 2-3 characters or keep a more varied playstyle with multiple characters?

 

[gmBottles]

I never thought I'd need this, but I feel like I'm having a 'smash identity crisis' right now. I enjoy Falcon, I enjoy Sheik, I enjoy Samus, I enjoy alot of characters(see sig), but I find I'm not much good at them. Should I narrow my focus to being really good with 2-3 characters or keep a more varied playstyle with multiple characters?

While the smart thing to do is narrow your characters down, for some it isn't the fun thing to do. I personally don't play Smash 4, but I feel I can apply this from Melee to Smash 4 too. I play mostly two characters all the time, but I have some characters on the side to mess around with. I'd recommend maining your favorite character and making them your best character, then having a bunch of secondaries for having fun with.

 

[ChiePet]

In both Melee, but more adamantly in Project M, I play Peach. Yes, she can be mid-level easy peasy dumb to use, but I both love Her, her moves, and the immense plateau of Advanced Tech and Specifics that she requires to play; The Challenge wrapped in a cute bundle is my ideal character, and I usually aim for characters at Mid-Level to Top as far as their abillity goes.

My idea's for Sm4sh so far are:
Rosetta/Rosalina
Peach (harder than you think given Melee/PM specifics)
ZSSamus
Robin (female duh)
Lucina (not really, more respect her, not wanting to play worsemarth.)

 

[Rauthian]

In both Melee, but more adamantly in Project M, I play Peach. Yes, she can be mid-level easy peasy dumb to use, but I both love Her, her moves, and the immense plateau of Advanced Tech and Specifics that she requires to play; The Challenge wrapped in a cute bundle is my ideal character, and I usually aim for characters at Mid-Level to Top as far as their abillity goes.

My idea's for Sm4sh so far are:
Rosetta/Rosalina
Peach (harder than you think given Melee/PM specifics)
ZSSamus
Robin (female duh)
Lucina (not really, more respect her, not wanting to play worsemarth.)

What about Jigglypuff? Cute Package and lots of opportunity for advanced Tech (Rest, shorthop/floating, shieldbreaker punch.) Certainly more to her than meets the eye and comes to mind when you face her.

 

[ChiePet]

What about Jigglypuff? Cute Package and lots of opportunity for advanced Tech (Rest, shorthop/floating, shieldbreaker punch.) Certainly more to her than meets the eye and comes to mind when you face her.

Same goes for in Melee/Project M, she's great but not my kind of character, I can play her, but the risk involved always scares me.

 

[absolatias]

here is my personal advice for anyone looking to find a main or secondary for competitive play.
1. Write down a list of all the characters you like within the respective smash game.
2. take each one against a bot of your skill level and mess around with the character, trying to get a feel for them. If you like the feel, advance them forward. If not, cross their name out.
3. after learning the feel and control of each character, take each of them out for 10 battles 1v1 against either a high level bot or another player, online or off. The person who gets the most wins should probably be your main, with the second most wins being your secondary. (note: ten matches may not be enough to decide.)

this is how i decided on my characters! Hope it helped.

 

[DavemanCozy]

I already checked the Falcon boards, and I post frequently on the Jr. boards.
Falcon - Dash grab, dash attack, dashing shield then grab or attack, SH Nair/Bair, plus fakeouts. Falcon is fast enough to rushdown most characters but you need to space properly and he's still kinda predictable.
Jr. - Kart Dash, aerials, advancing Ftilt, autocanceled fair/bair if opponent is tall enough, advance with Mechakoopa, plus fakeouts. Shield covers literally everything Jr. can do except dashing shield (But Bowser Jr's dash is slow) His grab is twice as slow as others like Mario, Diddy Kong, and Sheik, without the range of tether grabs like ZSS, Olimar, and Yoshi. It sucks, in other words.

If you want someone with a versatile approach, I can tell you definetely not Shulk and you should give Sonic a try.

I generally don't like spending time with too many characters myself, but if you really are looking, Sonic's Spin Dash shield cancels and spinshots can be effective for mixing up ways you approach your opponents.

 

[Duck SMASH!]

here is my personal advice for anyone looking to find a main or secondary for competitive play.
1. Write down a list of all the characters you like within the respective smash game.
2. take each one against a bot of your skill level and mess around with the character, trying to get a feel for them. If you like the feel, advance them forward. If not, cross their name out.
3. after learning the feel and control of each character, take each of them out for 10 battles 1v1 against either a high level bot or another player, online or off. The person who gets the most wins should probably be your main, with the second most wins being your secondary. (note: ten matches may not be enough to decide.)

this is how i decided on my characters! Hope it helped.

I think getting the feel for your character is the most important factor. I main Bowser Jr. now but when I started out I was getting curb stomped by others in For Glory because even though I had decent control of my character, I only learned more about how to use him in practical terms online. You find out the hard way, by losing to people, what works and what doesn't. So don't let a few losses get you down.
But it's good that you mentioned this.

 

[absolatias]

I think getting the feel for your character is the most important factor. I main Bowser Jr. now but when I started out I was getting curb stomped by others in For Glory because even though I had decent control of my character, I only learned more about how to use him in practical terms online. You find out the hard way, by losing to people, what works and what doesn't. So don't let a few losses get you down.
But it's good that you mentioned this.

you are right, i just wanted to create a general template, and ty for the compliment

 

[Pippin (Peregrin Took)]

Is it bad to have 4 mains if two of them are essentially the same character (Pit/Dark pit)?

 

[FalKoopa]

Is it bad to have 4 mains if two of them are essentially the same character (Pit/Dark pit)?

There's nothing good or bad about maining a certain character. I think it's a good way to have 4 characters to play as while having to memorise only 3 movesets.

 

[absolatias]

Is it bad to have 4 mains if two of them are essentially the same character (Pit/Dark pit)?

I agree with falkoopa on that. As long as you work with them and enjoy playing with them you are good.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

So I was looking at characters to main. And I narrowed it down to Wario, Mr. Game & Watch, Link, Zelda, Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, Marth, Ike, Robin, Little Mac, Pikachu, Charizard, Jigglypuff, Duck Hunt, Ness, Olimar (and Steve ), and Shulk. Obviously I didn't do a very good job on the narrowing down. I think I will use Ike because he is the most different from everyone, and it could be beneficial to me to have a change of tactics readily on hand, but I can't decide on everyone else. I guess I could further sort them like this:
Arial assault: Wario, Mr. Game & Watch, Marth, Pikachu.
Ground Assault: Ike, Little Mac, Zero Suit Samus (I may take her off the list because I can't seem to use her Paralyzer very well).
Both: Shulk, Pit, Ness.
Spacing: Mega Man, Olimar (My Olimar is ready to switch to an arial assault when needed), Samus, Link, Zelda.
Other: Charizard (Relys on super armor when approaching, and is typically KOed at 200%).

 

[absolatias]

So I was looking at characters to main. And I narrowed it down to Wario, Mr. Game & Watch, Link, Zelda, Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, Marth, Ike, Robin, Little Mac, Pikachu, Charizard, Jigglypuff, Duck Hunt, Ness, Olimar (and Steve ), and Shulk. Obviously I didn't do a very good job on the narrowing down. I think I will use Ike because he is the most different from everyone, and it could be beneficial to me to have a change of tactics readily on hand, but I can't decide on everyone else. I guess I could further sort them like this:
Arial assault: Wario, Mr. Game & Watch, Marth, Pikachu.
Ground Assault: Ike, Little Mac, Zero Suit Samus (I may take her off the list because I can't seem to use her Paralyzer very well).
Both: Shulk, Pit, Ness.
Spacing: Mega Man, Olimar (My Olimar is ready to switch to an arial assault when needed), Samus, Link, Zelda.
Other: Charizard (Relys on super armor when approaching, and is typically KOed at 200%).

yeah you will need to lower that list to get a good main. i recommend that you look at my first comment and follow that system. It may help u out. I understand it's hard. smash has a lot of good options, and you cant really choose wrong, just different

 

[phantom man]

Alright, Im changing this post entirely! My mains at the moment are there.

 

[KittyKyat]

So I was looking at characters to main. And I narrowed it down to Wario, Mr. Game & Watch, Link, Zelda, Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, Marth, Ike, Robin, Little Mac, Pikachu, Charizard, Jigglypuff, Duck Hunt, Ness, Olimar (and Steve ), and Shulk. Obviously I didn't do a very good job on the narrowing down. I think I will use Ike because he is the most different from everyone, and it could be beneficial to me to have a change of tactics readily on hand, but I can't decide on everyone else. I guess I could further sort them like this:
Arial assault: Wario, Mr. Game & Watch, Marth, Pikachu.
Ground Assault: Ike, Little Mac, Zero Suit Samus (I may take her off the list because I can't seem to use her Paralyzer very well).
Both: Shulk, Pit, Ness.
Spacing: Mega Man, Olimar (My Olimar is ready to switch to an arial assault when needed), Samus, Link, Zelda.
Other: Charizard (Relys on super armor when approaching, and is typically KOed at 200%).

If you like Ike, I think you would love Shulk, Marth or Link. Pit could work as well as a secondary, to cover faster characters and longer zoning.

But if you like Ike because of THE DAMAGE, I reccomend King DeDeDe. Spacing like character while having the damage and survivabilty. Maybe not as good horizontal recovery, but he's up your alley.

Oh jeez, I still don't have a decent main! (besides Pikachu) How about........ or maybe ? uhhhhh? Can you people please respond and tell me what I could possibly narrow it down to. Also here are some more options.


So yeah, Ive been narrowing it down since last time!

If you like Pikachu...hm... Pit (Pitoo if ya want), Toon Link, Falco, Luigi and if you're the zoning kinda guy, Robin, Dr. Mario and Megaman? Kinda hard with all the differing types of characters. I recommend trying your characters out and seeing what you like the best.

 

[absolatias]

Oh jeez, I still don't have a decent main! (besides Pikachu) How about........ or maybe ? uhhhhh? Can you people please respond and tell me what I could possibly narrow it down to. Also here are some more options.


So yeah, Ive been narrowing it down since last time!

i would personally go with or , but that's just me

 

[BlackFrost56]

Hey guys,what characters' main focus is the aerial game? What characters are high risk high reward?

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

@ KittyKyat Thanks for the advice. I think that should be a good variety of characters to mix things up. Funny thing is, I hated Ike so much in Brawl even though I was good with him.
@ BlackFrost56 If you are going for areal based characters, you want Marth, Jigglypuff, and Mr. Game & Watch. Pikachu and Wario do well in that department as well, but I don't know if they are supposed to be used that way. As for high risk and reward, I couldn't tell you exactly, but Charizard, and Jigglypuff have what I consider to be high risk high reward with their Charizard's Flame Charge, and Jigglypuff's Rest. (I'm curious. Who is your avatar of? I'm thinking he is from kingdom Hearts, but I don't know.)

 

[KittyKyat]

Hey guys,what characters' main focus is the aerial game? What characters are high risk high reward?

Little Mac and Charizard are literally the definition of high risk high reward type characters. Little Mac more so due to his recovery being poor.

Aerials, I'd say Jigglypuff and Peach.

 

[Zethoro]

Hey guys,what characters' main focus is the aerial game? What characters are high risk high reward?

I highly recommend Captain Falcon, Yoshi, or Jigglypuff. Captain Falcon thrives on aggressive play, which is high-risk to begin with, and all of his aerials are top notch, being really his main focus. He can function well in his ground game too!
Yoshi, like Captain Falcon, has quite the aggressive playstyle, but can also play defensively with a really good projectile. His aerial speed is the highest in the game (tied with Jigglypuff), and his NAir and BAir outprioritize a lot of things, making his aerial game something to be feared. Like the Captain, he functions well on the ground too. ...also his DAir does about 30% damage and is super evil now that Smash DI is gone, so that's a cool thing.
As for Jigglypuff, she's got probably the second or third best aerial toolkit in the game (second to Diddy and maybe Marth), has the highest aerial speed in the game tied with Yoshi, and Rest is the definition of high-risk, high-reward. She's super satisfying to play if you really like the danger, and is a lot of fun. Be warned though...she's not the best character, and if people outrange her aerial toolkit (which a small portion of the cast does), she's in serious trouble.





Now, as for myself...I've been having trouble deciding a main since day one, and while I started to decide on Jiggs/Bowser, I tried some difference characters recently and now I'm torn again.

Here's the characters I'm thinking about:
Kirby: I like Kirby, but he just feels too defensive for me and lacks a lot of options.
Dedede: Spacing and huge range is cool and I used him a lot in Brawl, but he feels so weird now.
Meta Knight: Always liked him, and he seems much more fun than Brawl. Very aggressive and combo-based, which is cool, but he lacks any sort of defensive options which is kind of frustrating.
Robin: I really, REALLY like FE;A and I started this game maining Robin, but she just feels way too clunky and slow.
Captain Falcon: The most stylish character. Super aggressive and dangerous, but I'm no good with him at all.
Dr. Mario: Really balanced and is pretty cool, but I don't do very well with him.
Charizard: Super fun and underrated, but he's a bit clunky.
Bowser: Mained him a lot in Brawl/Melee/ProjectM, but he just feels weaker here despite the fact that I know he's better.
Jigglypuff: I've mained/secondaried Jiggs for ages, but as always I just feel like she's so zone-heavy.
Shulk: Really great and a versatile character. Lots of fun, but he's so laggy and clunky sometimes.
Little Mac: I'm a huge fan of Punch-Out and he's probably my favorite character to use as he can be incredibly aggressive and defensive...but ledge campers and his abysmal recovery (that was almost salvageable prior to 1.0.4) really make me feel sour using him.
Fox: Feels very similar to LM for me, but without the abysmal recovery and with less versatility.
Pikachu: I can use him effectively, he's very versatile, but he just doesn't feel right. I can't put my finger on why.
Diddy Kong: I actually used him quite a bit early on, but now I feel bad for using him and that people would just think I'm bandwagoning, so I don't. Wasn't that good with him anyway.


As I've found in other fighting games, I'm very fond of aggressive, but versatile characters, preferably with a projectile since For Glory loves to camp.


also @ SMAASH! Puppy , his avatar is of Black Frost, a recurring character from the Shin Megami Tensei series.

 

[phantom man]

This is changing too!

Mains:

Secondaries:


Fun:

 

[KittyKyat]

Now, as for myself...I've been having trouble deciding a main since day one, and while I started to decide on Jiggs/Bowser, I tried some difference characters recently and now I'm torn again.

Here's the characters I'm thinking about:
Kirby: I like Kirby, but he just feels too defensive for me and lacks a lot of options.
Dedede: Spacing and huge range is cool and I used him a lot in Brawl, but he feels so weird now.
Meta Knight: Always liked him, and he seems much more fun than Brawl. Very aggressive and combo-based, which is cool, but he lacks any sort of defensive options which is kind of frustrating.
Robin: I really, REALLY like FE;A and I started this game maining Robin, but she just feels way too clunky and slow.
Captain Falcon: The most stylish character. Super aggressive and dangerous, but I'm no good with him at all.
Dr. Mario: Really balanced and is pretty cool, but I don't do very well with him.
Charizard: Super fun and underrated, but he's a bit clunky.
Bowser: Mained him a lot in Brawl/Melee/ProjectM, but he just feels weaker here despite the fact that I know he's better.
Jigglypuff: I've mained/secondaried Jiggs for ages, but as always I just feel like she's so zone-heavy.
Shulk: Really great and a versatile character. Lots of fun, but he's so laggy and clunky sometimes.
Little Mac: I'm a huge fan of Punch-Out and he's probably my favorite character to use as he can be incredibly aggressive and defensive...but ledge campers and his abysmal recovery (that was almost salvageable prior to 1.0.4) really make me feel sour using him.
Fox: Feels very similar to LM for me, but without the abysmal recovery and with less versatility.
Pikachu: I can use him effectively, he's very versatile, but he just doesn't feel right. I can't put my finger on why.
Diddy Kong: I actually used him quite a bit early on, but now I feel bad for using him and that people would just think I'm bandwagoning, so I don't. Wasn't that good with him anyway.


As I've found in other fighting games, I'm very fond of aggressive, but versatile characters, preferably with a projectile since For Glory loves to camp.


also @ SMAASH! Puppy , his avatar is of Black Frost, a recurring character from the Shin Megami Tensei series.

Out of that list and with your playsyles, I think Meta Knight and Fox fills those roles you want best. Meta Knight can still teleport around the battlefield to deal with the camp. A few other suggestions are Lucario and Shiek, having a projectile while being quite aggressive and having tons of options.

The most important thing is just have fun with your character though, so just mess around until you feel things click!

 

[Zethoro]

Out of that list and with your playsyles, I think Meta Knight and Fox fills those roles you want best. Meta Knight can still teleport around the battlefield to deal with the camp. A few other suggestions are Lucario and Shiek, having a projectile while being quite aggressive and having tons of options.

The most important thing is just have fun with your character though, so just mess around until you feel things click!

I'll try MK and Fox some more then; not too fond of Shiek and I have a bit of a hatred for lucario, so I'll stick with them.
Thanks.

 

[Otsillac]

So, as you can see, I main Pit. I've been looking for a secondary, but having no luck. There are other characters I enjoy, but I'm not sure if they cover Pit's weaknesses and bad matchups. So yeah, if you have any suggestions for a character that does that, lay 'em on me.

(For reference, some other characters I like are: )

 

[JellyNut]

Im really trying to main But I'm having a bit of trouble doing stuff fast, and racking up damage is a bit troublesome, I choose to main Lucario for + Counter
+ Projectile
+ Good Air Mobility

but some cons exist such as
- Sorta Floaty
- A bit slow
- hard to rack up damage.
If anyone could help me out, it would be much appreciated.

Mains:
Secondaries:
Enjoyable to play as:

 

[DavemanCozy]

Im really trying to main But I'm having a bit of trouble doing stuff fast, and racking up damage is a bit troublesome, I choose to main Lucario for + Counter
+ Projectile
+ Good Air Mobility

but some cons exist such as
- Sorta Floaty
- A bit slow
- hard to rack up damage.
If anyone could help me out, it would be much appreciated.

Mains:
Secondaries:
Enjoyable to play as:

Lucario is more about having damage racked up on him to start being a powerful threat. Aura is ridiculously good and makes his attacks very powerful, able to KO mid-light characters like Diddy as early as 80%.

He's not an easy character to play though. He requires good precision and knowledge of his hitboxes (aura affects the range of his moves, another key aspect of playing Lucario). His neutral game is not safe on shield for the most part, so overcommitting will get you in danger if you don't set distance between you and your opponent properly. Extremespeed is also not an easy recovery to use, and has a lot of landing lag if you land onstage.

I'm no Lucario main, though, so take what I said with a grain of salt. I would consult the Luke boards for better advice.

 

[Cypher99]

I'm looking for a secondary to complement my main Diddy I would prefer a character that is easy to play on a competitive level. I prefer to play defensive(but it is not necessary) but I like to still be able to hold my own in close range.
I'm considering one of these but I have an open mind if you have a better idea

 

[IamError2]

ok so I am pretty much totally new to Smash with this iteration aside from a few matches at parties when I really didn't know what I was doing, I haven't owned a fighting game since SFII for my SNES. I main Toon Link at the moment but mostly because I love how he looks and Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda. I have spent the majority of my solo time with the game using him and trying to not only learn him but also Smash as a whole at the same time. I have nothing to go off of from past games like many do and was just wondering if anyone had any tips on the best way to try out multiple characters to see if Toon Link is in fact my main or at least find some solid secondary characters I can whoop my friends with. I want to try my hand at the small scale competitive scene and want to make sure I am not hindering my chances by actually playing with a character that is in fact not my best. Nothing is going to stop me from using Toon Link like crazy when I play against friends or Amiibo but does anyone have suggestions on how many characters might be too many to start trying to learn alongside Toon Link. I don't want to overwhelm myself but I also want to make sure I have enough options that if one doesn't work I don't get discouraged and go back to Toon Link just because I am getting stomped by my friends with a new character. I realize it doesn't help that I am also learning all the ins and outs of the franchise at the same time but any help would be appreciated.

 

[DavemanCozy]

ok so I am pretty much totally new to Smash with this iteration aside from a few matches at parties when I really didn't know what I was doing, I haven't owned a fighting game since SFII for my SNES.
I main Toon Link at the moment but mostly because I love how he looks and Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda.
I have spent the majority of my solo time with the game using him and trying to not only learn him but also Smash as a whole at the same time.
I have nothing to go off of from past games like many do and was just wondering if anyone had any tips on the best way to try out multiple characters to see if Toon Link is in fact my main or at least find some solid secondary characters I can whoop my friends with.

If you are just starting out, learning movement (walking and dashing speeds, jump height, recovering offstage) is key.

I think you'll be fine with Toon Link, but don't be afraid to test other characters either. If you want to be competitive, you'll also have to know your enemies. That's where training mode comes in, and this is the mode to try all sorts of whacky and creative things you can think of.

I want to try my hand at the small scale competitive scene and want to make sure I am not hindering my chances by actually playing with a character that is in fact not my best.
Nothing is going to stop me from using Toon Link like crazy when I play against friends or Amiibo but does anyone have suggestions on how many characters might be too many to start trying to learn alongside Toon Link.
I don't want to overwhelm myself but I also want to make sure I have enough options that if one doesn't work I don't get discouraged and go back to Toon Link just because I am getting stomped by my friends with a new character.
I realize it doesn't help that I am also learning all the ins and outs of the franchise at the same time but any help would be appreciated.

There is no "correct" number of characters you should main, it's generally based on what your goals are and how much time you are willing to distribute to training with them. I personally stick with 1 main and ~3 secondaries / pocket characters, but that's me. There are other players who play many characters and find success.

A good way of knowing if a character really clicks with you competitively is to look up tournament videos of other players using them, tutorial videos, etc.

I suggest hitting up the Toon Link boards to find videos, tutorials, and discussion on him. For your convenience:
http://smashboards.com/forums/toon-link.411/

Hope you enjoy Smash and your time here!

 

[JellyNut]

Lucario is more about having damage racked up on him to start being a powerful threat. Aura is ridiculously good and makes his attacks very powerful, able to KO mid-light characters like Diddy as early as 80%.

He's not an easy character to play though. He requires good precision and knowledge of his hitboxes (aura affects the range of his moves, another key aspect of playing Lucario). His neutral game is not safe on shield for the most part, so overcommitting will get you in danger if you don't set distance between you and your opponent properly. Extremespeed is also not an easy recovery to use, and has a lot of landing lag if you land onstage.

I'm no Lucario main, though, so take what I said with a grain of salt. I would consult the Luke boards for better advice.

I understand, thankyou very much for replying, I'll check the Lucario boards then.

 

[IamError2]

Awesome, thanks for the advice. Being new to Smash I just didn't want to overwhelm myself with trying to learn too much at once. No matter what though this is some of the most fun ive had with gaming and I started with the Atari at grandma and grandpas. Are there any characters besides Link that would feel similar to Toon Link to maybe make the initial transition of trying other characters a bit easier.

 

[Shokwav]

I'm just going to echo the guy above me by saying that I would also like to main either Toon Link or Olimar. I choose these characters because I am naturally a campy player- I enjoyed Brawl's speed more than Melee's (though I still think Melle the better game). Anyways, I haven't really seen much Tink representation, more so Link; would you guys say Link is superior in this game? Every "tier list", for what they're worth, has put Link above Tink, and people say his sword attacks are laggy, though I don't see it.