Luigi (SSB4)

Luigi in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Poltergust 5000
Tier	B (18)

Luigi (ルイージ, Luigi) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. His return to the series was announced during a Nintendo Direct on August 7th, 2013, which coincided with the announcement of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and commemorated the Year of Luigi.

Charles Martinet's portrayal of Luigi from Super Smash Bros. Brawl was repurposed for Smash 4.

Luigi is ranked 18th out of 54 in the tier list, placing him in the B tier. This is a significant improvement over his E tier placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 28th out of 38. Like his brother, Luigi's most notable strength is his frame data, which makes his attacks difficult to punish and supplements his very strong and consistent combo game; all his aerials can autocancel or even repeat in a short hop, have low startup and/or ending lag, and are good for combos. His excellent air game is complemented by his great jump height and favorable launch angles on a number of his grounded moves. Luigi also benefits from a much better transition than his previous iteration, with improved physics and Hitstun canceling no longer invalidating his primary strengths. Lastly, Luigi's recovery remains unpredictable and long-distanced, with Green Missile and Luigi Cyclone being risky to intercept.

However, Luigi's mobility is still slow and awkward in spite of its improvements: his dashing speed is below-average at best, while his low traction and slow air speed still largely hinder his out of shield options and recovery. Despite having a fairly quick projectile, Luigi is unable to effectively fight from a safe distance, especially against characters that have better projectiles and/or disjointed hitboxes.

Overall, Luigi has significant representation and impressive results by the likes of MrConCon, Elegant, and more.

Attributes

Luigi is a middleweight whose attributes differ noticeably from those of other characters of the same weight class. Although he has average walking speed, his dashing speed is slightly below-average, and his traction is the lowest in the game. Luigi's aerial attributes are also very atypical for a middleweight: he has very slow falling and air speeds; low gravity; above-average air acceleration; the fourth highest jump; and the seventh highest double jump. As a result of these attributes, Luigi has overall slow mobility and is one of the most floaty characters in the game.

Like his brother, Luigi can be very difficult to punish, thanks to all but two of his regular moves (forward smash and down aerial) hitting before frame 10. This, in turn, gives his frame data the distinction of being the fastest in the game regarding startup lag and when excluding special moves. Luigi's excellent frame data is complemented by the impressive utility of his overall moveset. Neutral attack's damage output and range are decent, and it can be jab canceled reliably even at high percentages. Luigi's tilt attacks also have their own perks: forward tilt can be angled and, when angled downward, is capable of jab locking; up tilt has excellent combo and juggling potential; and down tilt can trip opponents or hinder their attempts at grabbing the edge.

Luigi's smash attacks are all among the fastest of their kind, have below-average ending lag, and possess enough knockback to be reliable finishers, allowing them to quickly and effectively punish opponents close to him, while being difficult to punish themselves on shield. Forward smash can be angled for higher power and deals extra shield damage, up smash is an effective anti-air attack due to rendering Luigi's head intangible while its hitboxes are active, and down smash is very useful for punishing rolls thanks to its minimal lag, respectable damage output, and long range. Both up smash and down smash also have set-up potential at low percents if Luigi successfully covers the opponent's options afterward, and the latter is a reliable follow-up from down throw against heavyweights and fast fallers.

Luigi's aerial attacks are also very useful, due to their combination of fast startup, quick interruptibility (except for neutral and back aerials), and ability to auto-cancel in a short hop. Neutral aerial is a sex kick and, like in previous installments, the only one that launches opponents vertically, which benefits its clean and late hitboxes: the former is a great combo breaker and a situational KOing option near the upper blast line, whereas the latter is a very useful combo starter when SHFF'd. Forward aerial has the fastest duration of its kind and launches at the Sakurai angle; at low to medium percentages, these traits make it very reliable for approaching or down throw-initiated combos into itself, neutral aerial, and up aerial, as well as a reliable edge-guarding option at high percentages. Back aerial has a very powerful clean hitbox and long range, which enable it to function as a safe and reliable KOing and edge-guarding option, or as an approach option via reverse aerial rush. Up aerial is useful for combos, since it can either extend them or, thanks to having the lowest amount of landing lag out of his aerials, use its clean hitbox to start them at low percentages when SHFF'd. Lastly, down aerial has the third fastest duration of its kind, surpassed only by Meta Knight and Little Mac's, while its clean hitbox is a meteor smash.

Like Mario, Luigi's grab game is among the most effective in the game. His grabs are among the fastest in the game, while his pummel is tied with Mr. Game & Watch's as the fourth most damaging in the game. Down throw is not only Luigi's most useful throw, but also his most useful move. Although update 1.1.1 removed its ability to set up safe KOs, down throw's combos are still among the most versatile and consistent in the game, regardless of the opponent's weight, falling speed, and gravity. Regarding middleweights, it can be followed up with forward smash at 0%-10%; up tilt, up smash, any aerial attack, and Luigi Cyclone at low percentages; forward and reverse aerial rushed clean back aerials at medium percentages; and clean up aerial at medium to high percentages. Despite being weakened since Brawl, back throw is as strong as Lucas's, and thus remains a reliable KOing option at high percentages. Lastly, forward and up throws have minimal utility, but are quick and deal respectable damage.

As a semi-clone of Mario, Luigi has two special moves that are derived from his older brother, yet his versions deviate in noticeable ways. Fireball is a projectile that is useful for pressuring, hindering an opponent's approach, or setting up an attack. Unlike Mario's Fireball, Luigi's is unaffected by gravity, which makes it somewhat less effective at hindering an opponent's recovery or edge-guard attempt. Super Jump Punch has a very quick startup like Mario's, but propels him vertically instead of diagonally. By extension, it consists of a sweetspot and sourspot, instead of multiple hitboxes like Mario's. Its sweetspot boasts devastating power, which makes it a very potent punishment option, yet it is very risky because of its virtually useless sourspot and very high ending lag.

Aside from these, Luigi's other special moves are completely distinct from Mario's. Green Missile deals damage and covers horizontal distance, both of which can be increased thanks to its ability to be charged. However, it is also possible for Green Missile to misfire; in this case, it becomes even stronger than the fully charged version, and covers approximately 60% of Final Destination. Lastly, Luigi Cyclone can function as an approach option, a KOing option near the upper blast line and, with sufficient button mashing, a recovery option. With proper timing, it can even gimp recoveries as well.

However, Luigi has noticeable weaknesses, with the most significant one being his recovery. Green Missile is slow and can be stopped by opponents willing to endure its hitbox, and if fully charged or misfired towards a wall, Luigi will get stuck in it for a considerable time, giving opponents ample time to punish him. Luigi Cyclone requires a considerable amount of button mashing (roughly 10 presses per second for maximum distance) to be effective without prior momentum. Lastly, Super Jump Punch is the least effective recovery option in his arsenal, owing to its lack of any sort of horizontal movement as Luigi ascends. When coupled with his very slow air speed, Luigi's recovery is similar to Yoshi's, in that he is overly reliant on his double jump to recover and is very susceptible to gimps.

As in previous installments, Luigi's mobility prevents him from approaching quickly, especially from the air. This makes it significantly difficult for him to keep up with faster opponents, such as Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, and Sonic, which in turn hinders his otherwise excellent neutral game. As a result, Luigi is heavily reliant on using either short-hopped neutral, forward, and back aerials to approach, or Fireball to force approaches. However, there are a few methods that, to varying degrees, alleviate Luigi's problematic traction. Shield-stopping negates his dash's noticeable skid, which makes his approach safer.

Fox-trotting enables Luigi to dash while enduring only a very slight skid; although this makes it slightly risky, it allows him to go on the offensive more reliably, and even enables him to play mindgames. The last method is simply walking: although Luigi's walking speed is average, it is not as glaringly susceptible to his traction like his dash is. When coupled with proper usage of Fireball, this method can also enable him to maintain stage control. A notable user and proponent of the walking method is J.Miller.

Lastly, Luigi's moveset has noticeable weaknesses in spite of its impressive strengths. Due to most of his range being short and his lack of a reflection move, opponents with disjointed hitboxes and/or projectiles are very difficult for Luigi to fight against effectively. Luigi's unimpressive overall mobility also hinders his moveset. Down throw is an essential aspect of his playstyle, yet his dash grab and especially his shield grab are hindered by his slightly below-average dashing speed and very low traction, respectively. Similarly, forward and clean back aerials are reliable for edge-guarding, yet they are risky to use as such while far from the edge because of his very slow air speed.

The majority of Luigi's custom moves are useful, with his most notable ones being Floating Missile and Quick Missile. Floating Missile is much riskier to intercept because it propels Luigi in a perfectly straight line, charges much faster, and is only slightly weaker than Green Missile. Quick Missile travels much farther and moves much faster, similarly to how Green Missile functioned in Melee. However, it is slightly weaker, while its considerably higher ending lag and lack of traction upon landing on a stage or platform make it much more punishable.

Iceball has a slightly lower damage output, higher startup lag, shorter range, and travels more slowly. However, it momentarily freezes opponents beginning at 50%, while its slower speed enables Luigi to fire multiple Iceballs in immediate succession. True to its name, Burial Header buries grounded opponents, but also covers much more vertical height; descends much faster; and has much less landing lag. However, it deals much less damage and lacks KO potential. Mach Cyclone covers almost no horizontal distance, and possesses a windbox and a concluding hitbox instead of multiple hitboxes. However, it covers a tremendous amount of vertical distance, while its lone hitbox is very powerful, making it very useful for edge-guarding. Aside from these, the rest of Luigi's custom moves are generally not worth using because of their advantages being situational at best.

Overall, Luigi can be a force to be reckoned with as long as his significant flaws are circumvented. Although his tournament representation has decreased following update 1.1.1's nerf to his down throw, Luigi has continued to achieve impressive results in tournaments regardless.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Luigi was regarded as a low mid tier character as while he had great frame data and surprisingly solid KO power (especially considering the speed of his attacks), he suffered from having very poor mobility and range, both of which made it extremely difficult for him to approach and his opponents could very easily keep him out. Luigi also simply did not work particularly well in Brawl's engine, as hitstun canceling and Directional Influence gave him a rather inconsistent combo game outside of low percents, which heavily hindered him as his combos were his main method of building up damage. While Luigi could build up a lot of damage with his combos, it largely relied on his opponent making mistakes, rather than him being able to abuse inescapable combos.

In Super Smash Bros. 4, Luigi has seen a mix of buffs and nerfs, and while he received more nerfs overall, he has been significantly improved, largely due to the game's altered universal mechanics.

Luigi's overall mobility has been improved, especially on the ground. His dash speed is noticeably faster, his fast falling speed is higher, and his air speed/traction are also marginally higher, making it easier for him to approach. Luigi also possesses a stronger grab game. His grabs are faster and have more range, and his down throw has now become an extremely powerful combo starter due to the changes to hitstun canceling/DI, making it easier and more rewarding for Luigi to utilise his grabs.

Luigi's aerials have become more effective combo tools (except for back aerial). Luigi's aerials are weaker, which overall makes them more effective at performing combos (although this does come at the cost of their KO power). Luigi's down aerial in particular now has a clean hit, which consistently meteor smashes aerial opponents, which not only makes it more reliable at edgeguarding, but it also makes the move a much more reliable combo tool, especially since its late hit is weaker and can still lead to combos. Luigi's back aerial was the only aerial that did not receive improved combo potential, but in return, it is a stronger KO move.

Luigi's aerial Luigi Cyclone has also seen some improvements as an attack, as it connects more reliably and its final hit is stronger near the upper blast zone. Its loop hitboxes also have increased knockback, and they can meteor smash opponents, which makes the move even more effective at edgeguarding opponents. Luigi Cyclone can now fairly easily edgeguard characters with poor recoveries (and even some characters with stronger recoveries, such as Bayonetta) at very low percents, which Luigi can set up with his down throw and down aerial. As a result of these changes, Luigi Cyclone is now a highly effective edgeguarding tool and a solid vertical KO move, rather than being an unreliable KO move and a situational edgeguarding tool.

Luigi's largest benefits, however, come from the changes to hitstun canceling and DI (with both being far less effective). Both of these changes, combined with his weaker aerials, greatly improve his combo potential, collectively granting him one of the most potent and consistent combo games among the cast. At very low percentages, Luigi can easily start a combo with his down throw, which can build up a very high amount of damage. In the most extreme cases, Luigi can even perform 0-death combos. This overall greatly improves Luigi, as he now has consistent and highly damaging combos, making it much more rewarding when Luigi successfully approaches his opponent, much like in Smash 64 and Melee (which is now easier due to his improved mobility and grabs).

However, Luigi also received some nerfs, with Luigi receiving more nerfs overall. His overall frame data is worse, with a handful of his attacks having shorter durations, increased startup or ending lag, or all of the above. A fair amount of Luigi's attacks also have reduced range, with multiple attacks having smaller hitboxes and losing hitboxes in certain cases. Luigi's damage output is also lower overall, which hinders the KO potential of numerous moves including up tilt, forward smash, up smash, the front hit of down smash, all of his aerials except for back aerial (especially neutral and down aerials, and even back aerial now has a much weaker sourspot on its clean hit and it has increased ending/landing lag), back throw and Super Jump Punch. In some cases such as with his aerials and up tilt, this does act as a double edged sword, as it does also improve their combo potential but with most of his grounded moves, this purely acts as a hinderance (although the introduction of rage can compensate for this, and Luigi's solid weight means that he can build up rage fairly easily). This overall results in Luigi's KO potential going from being highly solid (especially considering his frame data) to now being closer to average, especially since numerous returning veterans had improved KO potential overall, unlike Luigi.

Luigi's grounded Super Jump Punch, in general, has been noticeably toned down. While the move does have increased range, it also has increased startup lag and reduced KO power, which can make it harder and less effective to confirm into in certain situations (particularly out of jab and late neutral aerial due to the former's higher ending lag and the latter's higher landing lag, although the latter's landing lag can still be negated with auto-canceling). The move also grants much less height, and Luigi has less control in the air, making it much harder for him to drift to the ledge to reduce its lag. Luigi can no longer land before he enters free fall, and once he does land, the move has much higher landing lag, making the move much easier to punish. The aerial version is also weaker, and it grants less height (albeit not as severely as the grounded version).

Luigi's recovery in general is now worse due to the changes to his specials. On the positive side, Luigi does have better air speed, a higher double jump, Luigi Cyclone travels more horizontal distance in the air, and, like with other characters, Luigi does benefit from the removal of edge hogging and the increased speed of his air dodge. However, all of Luigi's specials are worse for recovering. Green Missile can no longer auto-snap the ledge, and the regular version no longer grants Luigi intangibility, making it a much riskier and exploitable recovery move. In addition to this, Luigi is less likely to get a misfire, although the misfire does now grant Luigi some intangibility. As mentioned before, Super Jump Punch covers less distance, both horizontally and vertically, and despite all of its improvements, Luigi Cyclone covers less distance with button mashing, making it a less effective vertical recovery move.

Lastly, despite the changes to the game's mechanics greatly benefiting Luigi overall, he has still seen some hindrances from them. The removal of DACUS, glide tossing and skid canceling does hinder Luigi's approach potential in certain situations. The changes to shield mechanics (particularly the changes made in version 1.1.1) made his already poor Out of Shield game even worse, as he now suffers from higher shieldstun, making it even harder for him to use his otherwise strong Out of Shield options (although he does benefit from the increase to shield damage, the removal of shield-slide offs, and a fair amount of his attacks are overall safer due to these changes). Luigi's Super Jump Punch is now a slower Out of Shield option, which, combined with the higher shieldstun, makes it incapable of punishing more attacks, although its increased range, along with his grab also having more range, allows him to punish opponents from slightly further distances, especially when combined with his slightly higher traction.

Overall, while Luigi's direct changes may not have improved him on paper, Smash 4's universal mechanics were far more than enough to make him a much more effective character, and he did receive some useful direct buffs in addition. The changes to the game's mechanics gave him a rather powerful, consistent, and devastating punish game, which was something he sorely lacked in the previous game (due to his punish game being far less consistent). Luigi also has a slightly easier time approaching due to his improved mobility, combined with many characters who gave him a hard time in the previous game being toned down.

Luigi was initially considered to be a top-tier character in earlier versions of the game (especially after the Wii U version was released), due to his powerful punish game. After version 1.1.1, however, Luigi did receive a nerf to his down throw, which noticeably hindered him. In earlier versions, his down throw was identical to its Brawl counterpart (besides its animation), but it was far more effective due to the changes to hitstun canceling and DI, as it was an excellent combo throw at lower percents, and it even had KO setups at higher percents, which worked at an extremely large percentage range. In 1.1.1, the throw had decreased base knockback, which improved its follow-up potential at lower percents, but it had significantly increased knockback scaling, which greatly hindered its follow-up potential at higher percents, and in turn, it made his KO setups far more precise. This made the throw much worse at higher percentages, which considerably hindered Luigi overall. Aerial Luigi Cyclone also received reduced KO power in the patch, and this, along with the changes to shields in the same patch, did not help him either.

Despite these changes along with the introduction of Cloud and Bayonetta in later patches, Luigi managed to sit comfortably in high tier within the later stages of the game's meta, and he overall managed to achieve consistent success in competitive play. All in all, despite still having diffiulty approaching due to his poor mobility and range, in addition to having toned down frame data, KO power and an even more exploitable recovery, Luigi is one of the most improved characters in Smash 4 (even if it is largely due to the game's universal changes), alongside Mario, Captain Falcon, Bowser, Mewtwo, Sheik, and Sonic.

Aesthetics

• Due to the aesthetic used in SSB4, Luigi has a sleeker design, and his overall color scheme is more vibrant. His overalls' pant legs are also no longer rolled up around his ankles. The seams on his overalls are less accentuated. Altogether, these changes make Luigi appear virtually identical to his appearance as of Super Mario 3D Land.
• Luigi's purple alternate costume has been slightly altered. The "L" on his cap is now purple instead of yellow. Luigi has also received two new alternate costumes, one of which resembles Mario's appearance on the Game & Watch boxart for Donkey Kong Jr..
• Luigi is significantly more expressive. He now smiles during his defeated/No Contest animation, sports a toothy grin during Fireball, the last hit of his neutral attack, and Luigi Cyclone, smiles nervously during his pivot grab, sports an oohing expression during Luigi Cyclone's loop hits, appears alarmed during his down aerial and screen KO, and winces depressingly during his back and up aerials, standing and dash grabs, back throw, and childish punching victory pose. Luigi also sports humorously quirky expressions during his sidestep and up taunt.
• Luigi's chest now always faces the screen, regardless of the direction he’s facing, mirroring his animations. For example, Luigi's up smash animation is reversed, with his head facing away from the screen rather than towards it.
• Crawl has updated sound effects. Luigi's footsteps now mimic the running sound effect from Mario Bros.
• Dash's animation has slightly changed. Luigi now has a slightly different stance upon skidding to a stop.
• Jump's animation has changed. Luigi now performs the Scuttle, one of his signature techniques that debuted in Super Mario Bros. 2.
• Luigi's victory pose, where he makes gun motions with his fingers, has been tweaked. He now keeps both eyes open during it instead of winking each eye in sync with the direction he sways his hands.
• Luigi's previously unused damage yells from Brawl's Sound Test are now heard when taking high knockback.

Attributes

• Luigi dashes noticeably faster (1.34 → 1.5), going from the 6th slowest out of 39 characters to the 17th slowest out of 58.
• Luigi's air speed is marginally higher (0.7332 → 0.7341766), although it is still the second lowest (and now by a wider margin).
• Luigi's falling speed is slightly greater (1.22 → 1.25), although relative to the cast, it has gone from the 9th lowest out of 39 characters to the 6th lowest out of 58. This slightly improves his vertical endurance, but makes him slightly easier to combo.
• Luigi's fast falling speed is faster (1.708 → 2.0), matching his fast-falling speed from Melee. This greatly improves his ground-to-air transitioning and leaves him less vulnerable to juggling, although much like his regular falling speed, it is now lower relative to the cast.
• Luigi's gravity is higher (0.065 → 0.075). This, combined with his faster falling speed, allows him to land more safely. However, it also makes him more susceptible to combos when he is not put into tumble, and it hinders his endurance when he is put into tumble.
• Luigi's short hop is lower due to his higher gravity. This makes it easier for Luigi to hit his opponents out of a short hop but hinders his aerial output while short-hopping.
• Luigi's full hop and especially his double jump are higher, improving his air game and aerial mobility.
• Luigi's traction is marginally higher (0.022 → 0.024), although it is still the lowest by a wide margin.
• Much like his brother, the changes to hitstun canceling and Directional Influence drastically improve Luigi's combo ability, giving him a rather devastating combo game, similar to his appearances before Brawl.
• Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 50 → 33).
• Air dodge has a slightly shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 3-27).
• Spot dodge has a shorter duration (frames 2-20 → 2-17) and more ending lag (FAF 26 → 27).
• Rolls have less ending lag (FAF 32 → 31).
• Rolls have a shorter duration (frames 4-19 → 4-17).
• Luigi's new skidding animation (after dashing) is longer. When combined with the fact that the skid can no longer be cancelled with shield or grab, this means that it is now very risky for Luigi to stop dashing via skidding.
• The removal of glide tossing hinders Luigi's approach with items.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • All three hits of neutral attack now always launch opponents in the direction Luigi is facing. This allows the move to connect more reliably with the later hits if Luigi hits the opponent from behind.
  • The first hit has a new animation where Luigi stretches his arm out further. Despite this, the move's hitboxes were not adjusted, resulting in the move no longer fully covering Luigi's hand.
  • The first hit has more ending lag (FAF 16 → 19), hindering its jab cancel potential (particularly into Super Jump Punch).
  • The second hit has a new animation where Luigi keeps his fist out for longer. This gives the second hit a more consistent range, as Luigi no longer moves his arm back on the move's second active frame.
    • However, this also makes the move more susceptible to whiff punishment, as Luigi takes longer to return to his original position and he no longer sways backwards.
  • The third hit has increased base knockback (50 → 65).
  • The third hit has a slightly different animation where Luigi jumps much further forward when he performs the hip thrust, increasing its range.
    • However, this also makes Luigi more susceptible to punishment if the move is whiffed or shielded.
  • The third hit has more startup lag (frame 5 → 6).
    • However, its total duration was unchanged, giving it less ending lag.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt's near hitboxes are slightly larger (3.84u/3.36u → 4u/3.4u).
  • Down angled forward tilt no longer has set knockback (2 (base), 1 (set), 100 (scaling) → 2/0/100). This greatly improves its safety, as it is no longer dangerously punishable on hit at any percent.
    • However, this also hinders its locking potential, especially at higher percents.
  • Forward tilt now always launches opponents in the direction Luigi is facing.
  • Forward tilt deals less damage (10% → 8%).
  • Forward tilt has a shorter duration (frames 5-10 → 5-7).
  • The body hitbox has been moved closer to Luigi, with the hitbox now ending as it covers Luigi's neck rather than his nose.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt deals less damage (9% → 6%), without full compensation on its knockback (30 (base), 127/125/123 (scaling) → 8/150). This significantly hinders its KO potential and makes it unsafe on hit at low percents.
  • Up tilt has more ending lag (FAF 30 → 31).
  • The body/arm hitboxes are marginally smaller (3.36u/4.32u → 3.3u/4.3u).
  • Up tilt's lower knockback combined with the changes to hitstun canceling/DI improve its combo potential beyond low percents despite its slightly higher ending lag.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 35 → 27), making it a much safer move to throw out.
  • Down tilt deals more knockback (30 (base), 50 (scaling) → 20/65).
  • Down tilt now always launches opponents at the Sakurai angle, as opposed to only the foot hitbox sending aerial opponents at the Sakurai angle, while all other hitboxes (including the foot hitbox against grounded opponents) were meteor smashes (361° (aerial foot hitbox)/270° → 361° (all)).
    • This makes down tilt a safer spacing tool if it does not trip, especially when combined with its lower ending lag.
    • However, this also hinders down tilt's combo potential, and it prevents the move from tripping much sooner (80 KB → 60).
    • Additionally, this also hinders down tilt's edgeguarding potential.
  • Down tilt deals less damage (9% → 8%).
  • Down tilt has a lower trip chance (35% → 25%), which, along with its altered angle, makes it far less likely to trip, and even when it does, the opponent will be sent further away, limiting Luigi's follow-up options.
  • Down tilt no longer moves Luigi forward (horizontal momentum: 1.2 → 0), reducing its range.
  • The leg hitbox is marginally smaller (3.84u → 3.8u) and the body hitbox has been removed.
    • Altogether, these changes hinder down tilt's utility.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack's hits now use a sound effect unique to them, rather than using the sound effect for Green Shells and Red Shells.
  • Dash attack's loop hits have more base knockback but less knockback scaling (1 (base), 80 (scaling) → (26/60)/10). This allows all the loop hits to combo into each other and even the final hit (against most characters) at 0%, preventing the opponent from shielding the rest of the attack, which they could previously do right up until higher percents.
  • The loop hits' angles have been altered (361° → 65°/10°), allowing them to connect more reliably with each other, especially when combined with their altered knockback.
    • However, these new angles put the opponent into the air, which allows them to SDI upwards, which grounded opponents could not previously do.
  • The loop hits have a lower SDI multiplier (1.6x → 1x), which, along with the weakening of the mechanic, makes dash attack more difficult to escape from.
  • The loop hit's body hitbox is larger (3.84u → 4u).
  • The final hit deals more knockback (50 (base), 100 (scaling) → 60/128), making it safer on hit but still not enabling it to KO at realistic percents.
  • The final hit's middle hitbox is larger (3u → 4u).
  • Dash attack has more ending lag (FAF 69 → 76).
  • The loop hit's hand hitbox is smaller (4.8u → 3.6u) and the body hitbox has been moved closer to Luigi.
  • The final hit has a shorter duration (frames 48-50 → 48).
  • The final hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 2.5x), making it much easier to DI.
• Battering item dash attack:
  • While dash attacking with a battering item, Luigi now holds the item with one hand instead of both.
• Forward smash:
  • Non and down angled forward smash deal more damage (14% (non-angled)/13% (down) → 15% (both)), now matching the up angled version.
  • Non-angled forward smash launches opponents at a slightly lower angle (55° → 53°).
  • Forward smash now has a stab effect instead of a slash effect.
  • Forward smash has less knockback scaling (135 (all) → 121 (up)/116 (non-angled)/117 (down)), hindering its KO potential (especially the up/non-angled versions), despite the non-angled and down-angled versions' more serious damage.
  • Forward smash has marginally smaller hitboxes (3.84u/4.32u/2.4u → 3.8u/4.3u) and the body hitbox has been removed.
  • The up-angled version has significantly higher ending lag (FAF 29 → 42), now matching the other angles, like it did before Brawl.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's sweetspot deals less damage (15% → 14%), slightly hindering its KO potential.
  • Luigi does not slide as far when charging up smash, hindering its approach potential. This is further compounded with the removal of DACUS.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has more startup lag (frame 5 → 6).
  • The feet hitbox is smaller (4.8u → 4.5u), with the first hit's foot hitbox being positioned closer to Luigi (z offset: 12 → 11).
    • This, combined with the first hit's higher startup, has noticeably reduced its range, with the move no longer being significantly disjointed during its first active frame.
    • However, this makes the sweetspot easier to connect for the second hit.
  • Down smash deals less damage (17% (feet)/16% (body) → 15%/14%). The first hit did not see full compensation on its knockback scaling (80 → 85), hindering its KO potential.
  • The second hit launches opponents at a lower angle (70° → 60°), hindering its KO potential and making it more susceptible to DI.
  • The second hit has much higher knockback scaling (80 → 104), improving its KO potential despite its lower damage/lower launch angle.
  • The body hitbox is slightly larger (3.84u → 4u).

Aerial attacks

• Due to Luigi's lower short hop, neutral and back aerials can no longer be performed twice with a short hop. He can also no longer perform two up or down aerials with a short hop and still auto-cancel them. Lastly, he can no longer perform three aerials with a short hop.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has more landing lag (10 frames → 14).
  • Neutral aerial has smaller hitboxes, especially the late hit (4.5u/4.5u (both) → 4.5u/4u (clean), 3u/2.5u (late)).
  • The clean hit deals less damage (14% → 12%) and has decreased knockback scaling (100 → 90), significantly hindering its KO potential, especially near ground level.
    • However, this also significantly improves its combo potential.
  • The clean hit has a shorter duration (frames 3-6 → 3-5).
  • The late hit angle launches opponents at a slightly lower angle (90° → 80°). When combined with Neutral Aerial's higher landing lag, this hinders its combo potential at lower percents.
  • The changes to hitstun canceling and DI drastically improve neutral aerial's combo potential beyond low percents, despite its increased landing lag.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's hand hitbox is larger (4.8u → 5.6u).
  • Forward aerial deals less damage (10% → 8%). This improves its combo potential but hinders its KO potential.
  • The hand hitbox now takes priority over the arm hitbox, as opposed to the other way around.
  • Forward aerial has a new, longer animation (34 frames → 39), increasing the amount of time Luigi cannot grab ledges after performing the move.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial's clean hit has a sweetspot on Luigi's foot. This sweetspot deals more damage (12% → 14%), and its knockback was not compensated, greatly improving its KO potential.
  • The clean hit's leg hitbox is marginally larger (5.76u → 5.8u).
  • Back aerial has more ending lag (FAF 37 → 46), losing its interruptibility.
  • Back aerial has more landing lag (12 frames → 16).
  • Back aerial has a shorter initial auto-cancel window (frames 1-5 → 1-2).
  • Back aerial has a shorter duration (frames 6-9 (clean)/10-16 (late) → 6-7/8-13).
  • The clean hit now has a sourspot on Luigi's legs. The sourspot deals noticeably less damage (12% → 8%) without compensation on its knockback, matching the late hit, no longer having any KO potential.
    •