Zero Suit Samus (SSB4)

Zero Suit Samus in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Metroid
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Gunship
Tier	A (6)

“	Zero Suit Samus Zeroes In!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Zero Suit Samus (ゼロスーツサムス, Zero Suit Samus) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Her return to the series was announced during a Super Smash Bros. Direct on April 8th, 2014, which coincided with the 10th anniversary of the European release of Metroid: Zero Mission. Like Sheik, Zero Suit Samus is now a standalone character, which means that she cannot activate or deactivate her Power Suit mid-match.

Rather than retaining Jessica Erin Martin and Ai Kobayashi, Samus' English and Japanese voice actors from Metroid: Other M, Alésia Glidewell reprises her role as Zero Suit Samus' voice actor, albeit via recycled voice clips from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Zero Suit Samus is currently ranked 6th out of 54 on the tier list. This is a slight improvement from her high-tier placement in Brawl, where she was ranked 9th out of 38, and is her best placement in the series. Zero Suit Samus's greatest strength is her dominant air game: her neutral and back aerials are safe and reliable set-up and KOing options, respectively, whereas her up aerial is an incredibly effective juggling option and combo tool that also boasts KO potential. In addition, her punishment potential is also one of the greatest among the cast, courtesy of her fast and nimble mobility, a paralyzing projectile in Paralyzer, and a potent combo game that can quickly rack up damage or even KO outright. Finally, she possesses a long-distanced and varied recovery, thanks to having two tether recoveries, a third jump in Flip Jump, and her new up special, Boost Kick. This makes her recovery hard to intercept as it's unpredictable and can be very deadly. The latter two specials also complement her air game, as both possess enough power to KO rather early.

Although she has outstanding strengths, Zero Suit Samus also has some noticeable weaknesses. Her ground game is unimpressive compared to her air game, which is most evident with her grab game: her grabs' long ranges are offset by their extreme amounts of start-up and ending lag, while her forward, back and up throws have very minimal utility outside of dealing damage. In addition, her ground moves also lack KO potential: her only ground move that truly has KO potential is her forward smash, which is one of the weakest smash attacks in the game, while the rest of her ground moves require very high percents or rely on edgeguarding to score a KO. By extension, many of Zero Suit Samus' attacks contain hitboxes that are positioned high above the ground, which can make it very difficult for her to fight against small characters. Finally, none of her aerials are effective combo breakers, which is further compounded by her susceptibility to combos. Altogether, these traits give Zero Suit Samus a weak neutral game.

Regardless of her flaws, Zero Suit Samus is widely considered to be a strong top tier in competitive play, with dedicated mains such as Choco, Marss, and Nairo proving her effectiveness in top-level competitive play.

Attributes

Zero Suit Samus is a tall lightweight who boasts overall excellent mobility, thanks to several of her attributes being among the top 10 of their respective categories. Her walking speed is tied with Sheik's for the fifth fastest, her dashing speed is the fifth fastest, her air speed is tied with the default Mii Brawler's for the sixth fastest, her traction is tied with Little Mac and Wario's for the third highest, her air acceleration is tied with Lucas and Bayonetta's for the eighth fastest, and her jump is the third highest. Unlike most lightweights, Zero Suit Samus has very quick falling speed and high gravity, and, like in her home series, can crawl and wall jump.

Zero Suit Samus's greatest asset is her superb air game. In addition to her excellent aerial attributes, her short hop is tied with Bayonetta's for the second highest in the game, which collectively supplement her useful aerial attacks. Her neutral aerial has long range and low landing lag, and launches at 55°, all of which make it very useful for follow-ups. Her forward aerial is quick and fairly powerful, making it useful as part of a combo at low percentages, and a dependable off-stage KOing option. Her back aerial has long range and high power, making it her most reliable aerial KOing option. Her up aerial is very quick, has very low base knockback and very high knockback scaling, and launches opponents vertically, all of which make it excellent at juggling and capable of KOing. Her down aerial can meteor smash and possesses a strong landing hitbox, though it is dangerous to use off-stage due to being a stall-then-fall. Unlike in Brawl, she now has a grab aerial, which can be used for spacing, set-ups, or as a tether recovery.

Zero Suit Samus' special moves also possess considerable versatility. Paralyzer is quick, has decent range, and paralyzes the opponent, granting it excellent follow-up potential. Plasma Whip has long range and, like her grab aerial, can be used for spacing or as a tether recovery. Boost Kick is decent for recovery, but thanks to it hitting on frame 4 and boasting impressive power, it is actually one of Zero Suit Samus' most viable KOing options, especially from out of shield. Lastly, Flip Jump functions like a third jump, but also grants intangibility at its start and allows her to move unpredictably. As such, it can enable her to avoid attacks or mix up her recovery, the latter of which is supplemented by its ability to automatically wall jump upon making contact with a wall. Like Boost Kick, it also boasts impressive offensive potential: its inputted kick is strong enough to KO easily and can meteor smash aerial opponents, whereas its footstool stomp is now capable of both burying grounded opponents and meteor smashing aerial ones.

Lastly, Zero Suit Samus possesses a few invaluable KO set-ups aside from Paralyzer. Her down smash is one of the few smash attacks of its kind that only hits in one direction, but it has low ending lag and paralyzes an opponent like Paralyzer, allowing her to follow it up with a forward smash, back aerial, a grab, Boost Kick, or Flip Jump, with the last KOing at very low percentages. In addition, Zero Suit Samus's down throw itself has guaranteed follow-ups at any percentage below 160%. Depending on the opponent's DI, it can combo into her forward or up aerial, and sometimes her back aerial and Boost Kick. This throw is also notorious for its ability to score very early KOs. Without proper DI, a series of up aerials leading into a Boost Kick can KO the majority of the cast at 50% while near the upper blast line. The latter's loop hits also have high base knockback and can KO if its last hit does not land due to SDI, even with perfect DI. Even with proper DI, this combo can also KO earlier if the opponent is near an edge. Due to its speed, Zero Suit Samus's neutral attack's first hit can also function as a surprisingly effective set-up into Boost Kick at medium to high percentages. Altogether, these traits make Zero Suit Samus' punishment potential one of the most potent in the game.

However, Zero Suit Samus has some noticeable weaknesses. She can be KO'd fairly early because of her status as a lightweight, but unlike the majority of her fellow lightweights, she is also burdened with a susceptibility to combos because of her tall frame, very quick falling speed, and high gravity. Aside from her pummel's speed and her down throw's excellent combo potential, the rest of Zero Suit Samus' grab game is poor. Her grabs' long ranges are offset by their overall lag: they are tied with Grapple Beam for the highest amount of start-up lag in the game, and their ending lag is the third highest in the game, surpassed only by Pac-Man's grabs and her Power Suit's Grapple Beam. Despite having respectable damage outputs, her forward, back, and up throws have no guaranteed follow-ups; although the back throw has some semblance of mix-up potential, its mix-ups are very situational and require hard reads.

By extension, the overwhelming majority of Zero Suit Samus' attacks have hitbox placements that are high above the ground, making it easy for short characters to avoid getting hit, especially while crouching. Despite Paralyzer's paralysis effect, its range is decent at best, and it does not stay out for very long. As a result, her approach against most defensive and zoning characters is limited to dodging their projectiles with her mobility, perfect shielding, and either coming in from above with an aerial, or fast falling and then immediately grabbing. All of these drawbacks also make Zero Suit Samus susceptible to momentum shifts, which in turn gives her a weak neutral game.

Zero Suit Samus' custom moves are among the most polarized in the game. New advantages are gained from using them, but each one has a noticeable disadvantage to go alongside them, to the point that some are inferior to her default specials because their disadvantages outweigh their advantages. Blast Shot is faster, and Electromagnetic Net lasts longer, but both sacrifice Paralyzer's excellent utility. Plasma Dash has better offensive potential, and Whip Lash has excellent set-up potential, but they both have distinct flaws: the former is less reliable at edge trumping and lacks recovery potential, whereas the latter requires precise spacing to be effective. Impact Kick is much stronger, and Lateral Kick travels farther, but each has noticeable flaws: Impact Kick is much slower, which removes its status as a follow-up entirely and often makes it unable to connect with itself, whereas Lateral Kick KOs much later, which hinders Zero Suit Samus' KO potential. Lastly, Shooting Star Flip Kick and Low Flip have much less utility overall: the former is difficult to hit with, whereas the latter is less reliable for both recovering and KOing.

Overall, Zero Suit Samus' very potent air and punishment games allow her to reliably set up combos and KOs like in Brawl, while her KO potential has improved thanks to her newfound KOing options. However, she must nevertheless be wary of characters with strong neutral games, due to the poor quality of her own neutral game.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Despite being a high-tier character in Brawl, Zero Suit Samus has been buffed in the transition to SSB4, mostly due to Smash 4's altered mechanics, combined with the nerfs other Brawl veterans received. Her KO potential has improved, most notably thanks to her new forward smash and her new up special, Boost Kick, the latter of which is especially potent from out of shield. Zero Suit Samus' combo game has also improved, mainly due to the changes to hitstun canceling combined with her altered down throw and up aerial. She also greatly benefits from the introduction of rage, which can allow her combos to KO opponents at insanely low percents. Lastly, Plasma Whip tethers the ledge much sooner, improving her already strong recovery, and she now has a grab aerial, improving her spacing potential and giving her an additional recovery option.

However, Zero Suit Samus also received some nerfs. The most noticeable of these was that, as she is no longer tied to Samus, she no longer has access to her Power Suit Pieces, which significantly hinders her stage control and her item game, combined with the removal of glide tossing. Although Plasma Whip has improved recovery potential, it has more ending lag and is significantly weaker, making it much easier to punish and far less reliable for KOing, eliminating one of her most useful KO moves. Her aerial prowess has also slightly worsened. Her jumps are lower (especially since she no longer has Plasma Wire), and her aerials, except for down aerial, are all weaker. She is significantly more vulnerable to combos due to the removal of hitstun canceling, combined with her increased falling speed. Lastly, some of her ground attacks have been nerfed as well: her down tilt has increased startup and much more ending lag along with a less favorable angle, removing all of its combo potential and making it arguably her worst move; her new dash attack has one more frame of startup along with much higher ending lag, making it much more punishable and removing its locking and follow-up potential; and her down smash is weaker, has smaller hitboxes, its stun duration was decreased, and it has increased ending lag, worsening its follow-up potential and making it less safe on shield.

Overall, Zero Suit Samus is an even larger threat in Smash 4, with her tournament results and representation being even higher, although she is less effective than in earlier versions of the game, as update 1.1.4 added Bayonetta and gave Zero Suit Samus some minor nerfs, while update 1.1.5 nerfed her further. Nevertheless, Zero Suit Samus remains one of the stronger characters in Smash 4.

Aesthetics

• Zero Suit Samus' design is now a combination of her appearance in Metroid: Other M, and her official artwork for Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission. Her bangs, beauty mark, shorter height, larger bust/waist/hip measurements and Zero Suit are from Other M. Additionally, her lean musculature is from Fusion and Zero Mission; her facial structure and greenish blue eyes are from Zero Mission; and her flaxen blonde hair is from Fusion. Lastly, the aesthetic used in SSB4 has resulted in Zero Suit Samus' hair being of a significantly higher visual quality than in Brawl.
• Zero Suit Samus has received three new alternate costumes, two of which are based on her Casual Outfits seen in the endings of Fusion and Zero Mission. One replaces her purple costume.
• The Paralyzer's design is now from Other M. Its plasma-based attacks also have updated visual effects and are lower-pitched.
• The Zero Suit's segments are now navy blue instead of blue, and it is now equipped with a matching set of Jet Boots and metal bracelets. The Paralyzer also features magenta accents within its interior. These changes are unique to SSB4.
• Zero Suit Samus is more expressive. She now winces with one eye closed when being hit or launched; winces with both eyes closed when screen KO'd; and frowns depressingly after tripping and being stunned.
• Zero Suit Samus now speaks during her taunts, instead of at the end of their animations.
• Zero Suit Samus' previously unused damage yells from Brawl's Sound Test are now heard when taking high knockback.
• Forward jump's animation has slightly changed. Zero Suit Samus now somersaults twice, instead of once.
• Dash's animation has slightly changed. Zero Suit Samus now keeps her right arm steady, instead of swinging both arms.
• Due to no longer being a transformation of Samus, Zero Suit Samus is listed on the character selection screen

Attributes

• Zero Suit Samus is slightly shorter. While this would shorten her hurtbox, this is largely mitigated by her Jet Boots elevating her. The Jet Boots have also translated to Zero Suit Samus' moveset, be it through a tweaked animation or a completely new move. However, her metal bracelets are merely aesthetic.
• Zero Suit Samus walks faster (1.33 → 1.4).
• Zero Suit Samus dashes faster (1.93 → 2.1).
• Zero Suit Samus' air speed is faster (1.034 → 1.2).
• Zero Suit Samus' air acceleration is lower (0.1 → 0.095).
• Zero Suit Samus falls faster (1.43 → 1.7). This makes her more susceptible to combos, and while this would improve her vertical endurance, this is offset by her higher gravity, giving her slightly worse vertical endurance overall.
• Zero Suit Samus' fast falling speed is faster (2.002 → 2.72), making her less susceptible to juggling.
• Zero Suit Samus' gravity is considerably greater (0.0884 → 0.12), going from the 13th highest out of 39 characters to the fifth highest out of 58. This improves her ability to land, but hinders her endurance, and increases her susceptibility to combos (the height of her jumps was compensated).
• Zero Suit Samus' double jump is marginally lower (height multiplier: 1x → 0.9933x).
• Zero Suit Samus is slightly lighter (81 → 80), hindering her endurance. While this would also make her less susceptible to combos, her faster falling speed, higher gravity, and the changes to hitstun canceling and Directional Influence collectively result in her being more susceptible to combos.
• Back roll has less ending lag (FAF 38 → 28) now matching her forward roll.
• Back roll has a shorter duration (frames 4-19 → 4-15).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 26 → 25), now being one of the fastest spot dodges in the game.
• Spot dodge has a shorter duration (frames 2-20 → 2-15).
• Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 2) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 31).
  • Additionally, she can now cancel her air dodge at any time with her new grab aerial.
• Air dodge has a shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 2-25).
• The removal of meteor canceling hinders Zero Suit Samus more than any other veteran, as while it improves the reliability of her down aerial and Flip Jump, it drastically hinders her endurance against meteor smashes as she previously had one of the most lenient meteor cancel windows in Brawl.
• Due to the limitations of the Nintendo 3DS' processing power, Zero Suit Samus is no longer connected to Samus via Final Smash or character selection screen input. As a result, she no longer has access to her Power Suit Pieces, which significantly hinders her stage control at the beginning of a match.
• Zero Suit Samus' Item throw is weaker (1 → 0.9333333). Additionally, the removal of glide tossing significantly hinders her approach with items.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack's first and second hits have higher set knockback (10 (both) → 23/45 (hit 1), 34/50 (hit 2)). These changes make its hits connect better, and decrease the possibility of opponents powershielding the second and third hits. It also improves its jab canceling potential despite all three hits having higher ending lag. Its last hit also has more base knockback (45 → 60).
  • Neutral attack's first two hits deal less damage (2% → 1.5%) and all three hits have more ending lag (FAF 18 → 21 (hit 1), FAF 21 → 26 (hit 2), FAF 23 → 32 (hit 3)). The first hit also has a shorter duration (frames 1-3 → 1) and less range (3.5u/3.8u/4.8u/3.4u → 3u/3.8u). Lastly, the higher knockback of the first two hits can allow the last hit to whiff against floaty characters.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has a new animation where Zero Suit Samus now takes a step forward before kicking, improving the move's range.
  • Forward tilt has higher base knockback (8 (up/non-angled)/12 (down) → 30), improving its KO potential (outside of the down angled version's nearest hitbox).
    • However, this also hinders its locking potential, with the move no longer being able to reliably lock above 10%.
  • Forward tilt has smaller hitboxes (4u/4.5u/4u/3.5u) → 3.8u/4.2u/3.8u) and the back leg hitbox has been removed.
    • Additionally, the near leg hitbox is now attached to Zero Suit Samus's knee, rather than her leg. The hitbox has not been moved back far enough to compensate (x offset: 0 → -5), giving it less range inside of Zero Suit Samus.
  • The non and down angled versions no longer have an extra trip chance (20% (non angled)/60% (down) → 0% (both)). When combined with the move's higher base knockback, this significantly hinders its tripping ability, especially the down-angled version.
  • The up-angled version deals more damage (6% → 8% (far)/6.5% (near)).
  • The non-angled version deals more damage to Zero Suit Samus' foot and leg (6% → 7%).
  • The down-angled version deals less damage (9% → 8% (far)/6.5% (near)), hindering the near hitbox's KO potential despite its higher base knockback.
  • Zero Suit Samus does not bend her leg quite as low for the down-angled version, giving it less range below her.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt now grants intangibility to Zero Suit Samus's lower legs from when the first hit becomes active, until the second hit ends. This makes it a safer anti-air.
  • Up tilt has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×), making it easier to DI.
  • The first hit launches opponents at different angles (120°/130°/80° → 150°/130°) and has lower knockback (55/80 (base), 70 (scaling) → (55/85)/(30/50)), making it connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • The first hit has been positioned higher against aerial opponents (z offset: 11 → 14), giving it more range above Zero Suit Samus.
  • The first hit now has consistently sized hitboxes (3u/3u/4u/4u/3u → 3u/3u). As the larger hitboxes were positioned the furthest away from Zero Suit Samus, this gives the move less range against grounded opponents.
    • Additionally, the move does not extend as far horizontally against aerial opponents (z offset: 10/-10 → 8/z stretch: 8), giving it less horizontal range against them.
  • The second hit has more startup lag (frame 7 → 9).
    • However, its total duration was unchanged, giving the move less ending lag.
  • The second hit more damage (6% → 7%) and has higher knockback scaling (80 → 90), significantly improving its KO potential.
  • The second hit has larger hitboxes (6u/5u → 7u/6u).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has a new animation, where Zero Suit Samus now moves forward when performing the legsweep.
    • This new animation improves down tilt's range, as well as allowing it to be used as a pseudo-crawl.
    • However, this also significantly hinders its safety, as Zero Suit Samus moves towards her opponent.
  • Down tilt deals more knockback (65 (base), 70 (scaling) → 60/85).
  • The far hitbox deals more damage (6% → 8%).
  • Down tilt has a lower trip chance (40% → 20%), although it is still incapable of tripping under normal circumstances.
  • Down tilt has more startup with a shorter duration (frame 5-7 → 8-9).
  • Down tilt has more ending lag (FAF 26 → 36) and a much longer animation (36 frames → 69).
  • Down tilt launches opponents at a lower angle (70°/90°/80° → 60°). When combined with the move's higher ending lag and knockback, this significantly hinders down tilt's follow-up potential, even with the changes to hitstun canceling and DI.
  • Down tilt has smaller hitboxes (4u/4.7u/4u → 4.2u/3.8u) and the nearest hitbox has been removed. The move also does not extend as far (y offset: -7/-1 → x offset/stretch: 5.2/0), reducing its range relative to Zero Suit Samus, especially inside of her.
    • These changes, along with its new animation, also mean that the move will now flat out whiff if Zero Suit Samus uses it too close to her opponent.
• Dash attack:
  • Zero Suit Samus has a new dash attack, a jet-propelled knee strike.
    • With this new dash attack, Zero Suit Samus does not extend her body as far horizontally, making her harder to hit horizontally.
    • However, Zero Suit Samus extends her body more vertically, making the dash attack worse at going under hitboxes.
  • Dash attack covers considerably more distance, going from covering around 25% of Battlefield to now covering around 40%-45% of Battlefield.
  • Dash attack has a longer duration overall (frames 6-15 → 7-19).
    • However, the clean hit has a shorter duration (frames 6-9 → 7-9).
  • The clean hit deals more damage (7% → 8%).
  • Dash attack has more base knockback but less knockback scaling (30/20 (base), 80 (scaling) → (100/80)/40), in addition to now launching opponents vertically (361° → 70° (clean)/60° (late)). When combined with its greater distance, this improves its cross-up potential, but hinders its ability to set up edgeguards.
  • Dash attack has more startup lag (frame 6 → 7).
  • Dash attack has much more ending lag (FAF 32 → 52). This not only greatly hinders its safety, but it also removes its follow-up potential despite its altered knockback and the changes to hitstun canceling and DI.
  • Dash attack no longer deals any extra shield damage (1 → 0).
  • Dash attack has smaller hitboxes (3.5u/5u/6u → 3.5u/4.5u (clean), 2.5u/3.8u/3.5u → 3.1u/4.1u (late)) and the nearest hitbox has been removed. The move now uses static hitboxes, which do not cover as much lateral distance, giving it less lateral range in comparison to Zero Suit Samus.
    • These changes, along with the move's new animation, also make it more prone to whiffing when used at close range.
    • However, the move now has a considerable disjoint despite its reduced lateral range, due to the move's new animation.
• Forward smash:
  • Zero Suit Samus has a new forward smash, a mid-level side kick, followed by a spinning side kick at a slightly higher angle.
  • Unlike the previous forward smash, it consists of two hits instead of one (10%/11%/13%/6% (front)/6% (back) → 5% (hit 1)/11% (hit 2)), and its second hit deals more knockback (30/35 (base), 100 (scaling) → 28/(106/109)). These changes make it significantly more effective at KOing. It also has less start-up (frame 21 → 14) and ending lag (FAF 67 → 63).
  • Forward smash has less range compared to the previous forward smash. Unlike the previous forward smash, it also cannot hit opponents standing directly behind Zero Suit Samus.
  • Forward smash has a normal and flame effect, whereas the previous forward smash has an electric effect.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's loop hits deal 0.2% less damage (1% → 0.8%), but it has received an additional loop hitbox. This results in its overall damage output remaining unchanged.
  • Up smash has more startup lag (frame 8 → 10) and ending lag (FAF 47 → 49).
  • The final hit has more knockback scaling (133 → 145). It also has larger hitboxes (6u (hit 1)/5u (hits 2-6)/5u, 6.5u, 8u (hit 7) → 6u/5.2u, 5.6u, 6.5u/6u, 7.5u, 9.6u).
  • The weakening of SDI makes up smash significantly more difficult to escape from.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has more ending lag (FAF 36 → 42).
  • Down smash deals less damage (11% → 8% (near)/6% (far)). The far hit's knockback was not compensated, which, along with the changes to the paralysis formula, makes it stun opponents for less than half the amount of time.
  • Down smash has smaller hitboxes (9u/9u → 4u/7u), reducing its range, despite the hitboxes now being extended and with the near hitbox extending closer to Zero Suit Samus (z offset: 10 → z stretch: 8).
    • Additionally, the far hitbox can no longer hit aerial opponents, greatly reducing its range against them, despite the near hitbox being moved further away from Zero Suit Samus (z offset: 10 → 13).
  • The near hit deals more knockback (40 (base), 50 (scaling) → 50/90). This hinders Zero Suit Samus' ability to follow up out of it (especially when combined with its higher ending lag), and while this would make the move stun opponents for longer, this is offset by the changes to the paralysis formula, causing it to stun opponents for a significantly shorter amount of time, despite its higher knockback.
    • Altogether, these changes significantly hinder down smash's follow-up potential, no longer being able to chain into itself multiple times against fast fallers to rack a huge amount of damage.
  • The changes to shields significantly hinder down smash's safety on shield, as the move no longer deals hitlag to shielding opponents. When combined with its lower damage and higher ending lag, this makes down smash go from being completely safe on shield against almost the entire cast to now being fairly punishable if the opponent is in range.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • The change to hitstun canceling and DI significantly improves neutral aerial's setup potential.
  • The changes to shields significantly improve neutral aerial's safety on shield, with the move's high hitlag no longer hindering the move's safety on shield. The move is now no longer punishable by grabs with a perfectly timed landing.
  • Neutral aerial now launches opponents at a consistent angle (55°/52°/50°/47° → 55°).
  • Neutral aerial now uses two extended hitboxes instead of four normal hitboxes.
    • The near hitbox is larger (5u → 5.7u (front)/5.6u (back), and the move has a slightly wider range in front of Zero Suit Samus.
    • However, the far hitbox is smaller (5u → 3u) and the move overall has less range above, below, and behind Zero Suit Samus.
  • Neutral aerial is now properly affected by stale-move negation.
  • Neutral aerial deals less damage (10% → 8%), although its knockback was compensated (40 (base), 80 (scaling) → 38/96).
  • Neutral aerial has a shorter duration (frames 10-18 → 10-11/15-16).
  • Neutral aerial can no longer auto-cancel in a short hop due to Zero Suit Samus' higher falling speed/gravity.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has less ending lag (FAF 48 → 47).
  • Forward aerial has larger hitboxes (5.5u/4.8u/5u → 6.4u/5.5u).
  • Forward aerial now always launches opponents in front of Zero Suit Samus.
    • This allows the first hit to connect more reliably with the second hit.
  • Forward aerial has a new animation where Zero Suit Samus performs slightly higher kicks.
    • Zero Suit Samus stretches her leg out much further during the second hit, giving it more range.
    • However, Zero Suit Samus does not stretch her leg out as far for the first hit, giving it less range. Zero Suit Samus also moves her leg inwards during the move's later active frames for both hits (rather than outwards).
    • This new animation is also longer (47 frames → 74), significantly increasing the time Zero Suit Samus cannot grab ledges after performing the move.
  • The thigh hitbox has been removed on both hits.
• Hit 1:
  • The first hit has a shorter duration (frames 6-9 → 6-7).
  • The first hit deals less damage (6% → 5%).
  • The first hit has more base knockback but less knockback scaling (35 (base), 70 (scaling) → 50/50).
    • This allows it to connect more reliably into the second hit at higher percents, especially when combined with Zero Suit Samus' greater aerial mobility.
    • However, this does also remove forward aerial's ability to lock and trip at lower percents.
• Hit 2:
  • The second hit has a shorter duration, due to it no longer having a late hit (frames 16-17 (clean)/18-20 (late) → 16-17).
  • The second hit deals less damage compared to the previous clean hit (11%/10% (clean)/7% (late) → 7%), without full compensation on its knockback scaling (105 → 116), significantly hindering its KO potential.
• Back aerial:
  • The far hitbox is now connected to Zero Suit Samus' knee instead of her foot; however, it has been moved further away from Zero Suit Samus (x offset: 0 → 6), giving it slightly more range overall.
  • As with most back aerials, back aerial now always launches opponents behind Zero Suit Samus.
  • Back aerial has a shorter duration (frames 8-10 → 8-9).