Diddy Kong (SSBU)

Diddy Kong in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Donkey Kong
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Hyper Rocketbarrel
Tier	S- (8)

Diddy Kong (ディディーコング, Diddy Kong) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018 alongside Olimar and the rest of the returning roster. Unlike his previous appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, he is now an unlockable character instead of a starter character. Diddy Kong is classified as Fighter #36.

Diddy Kong once again retains his realistic chimpanzee screeches (sampled once again from the commonly used "Chimpanzee Screeche PE026201" stock sound effect) that were used in both Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 instead of being voiced by Katsumi Suzuki.

Diddy Kong is currently ranked 8th out of 82 characters on the Ultimate tier list, ranking him at the very top of S- tier. This is a slight drop from his ranking in Smash 4, where he was tied with Cloud at 2nd/3rd out of 54, which technically makes it his worst placement in the series. Diddy Kong possesses many strengths that are core to his gameplan. He has a strong neutral, with his signature item being the Banana Peel: it offers him an extensive and flexible array of options, such as combos and setups into KOs or edgeguards. His small size generally makes him hard to hit or pin down. Diddy Kong also has good frame data on his moves, allowing him to box out his opponents with ease. He also possesses a command grab in Monkey Flip, which can be used as a burst option and to condition foes to shield.

Despite these strengths, Diddy Kong has some weaknesses. Since his banana peel is an item, opponents can use it against him, allowing for their own combo or KO confirms. Diddy Kong also does not have as many reliable ways to secure stocks at high percents if his opponents are past KO confirm percentages, which is exacerbated by his light stature as he cannot take advantage of rage as effectively. Finally, his recovery is relatively exploitable: if he gets hit during Rocketbarrel Boost, he is put into a significant endlag animation that will likely result in him being KO'd.

Diddy Kong had a rocky start in the early phases of Ultimate, but balance changes and metagame shifts have resulted in Diddy Kong seeing strong tournament results from his mains. His most notable results come from Tweek, who has won several majors with him, and other players such as Aaron, Ryuoh and Nyonoknb.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Diddy Kong being the 37th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Donkey Kong or any character in his unlock tree, being the 7th character unlocked after Greninja.
• Have Diddy Kong join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Diddy Kong must then be defeated on Kongo Falls. In World of Light, he is fought on the Ω form of Kongo Jungle.

Attributes

Diddy Kong is a small middleweight with typical attributes for his weight class; he has very fast walk, run, and fall speeds, which allow him to move on the ground very well. In contrast, his air mobility is rather lacking, as his air speed and air acceleration are both below average. Overall, while Diddy outspeeds many characters on the ground, his air game is rather clunky due to his lackluster air attributes.

Similar to other characters of his weight and size, Diddy Kong has very fast frame data, which allows him to throw out a flurry of moves at his opponent while still being able to chase them with his strong grounded mobility. In fact, nearly all of his moves, except his forward smash, down aerial, and special moves, come out before frame 10, with many of them also having low endlag. Thanks to these attributes, Diddy has a strong, flexible combo game, allowing him to use multiple different moves to string into each other and continually pressure his opponent even if they escape his combos, as he has multiple ways to keep them at a disadvantage.

Another important aspect of Diddy's combo game is his excellent selection of combo starters, which lets him start combos reliably both in the air and on the ground and also lets him create mix-ups and play unpredictably. One of his main combo starters is from a grab, as both his down and up throws have low endlag and send at great angles for immediate follow-ups, as down throw can lead into a forward or back aerial, and up throw can lead into any of his aerials except for down aerial. Up throw also has potential KO setups into up aerial, although these are inconsistent and unreliable. His dash attack has a long duration and extremely low endlag and sends the opponent upwards, which lets Diddy follow up with an up, back, or forward aerial. His neutral aerial has a long-lasting hitbox and can lead into another aerial from low to high percents, with the late hit being particularly useful at high percents due to its lower knockback. Diddy's up and down tilts are both excellent combo starters themselves, with the latter having the ability to KO confirm into an up-smash at high percents. Additionally, all of Diddy's aerials except for neutral and up aerial can lead into a grab when landed on grounded opponents, thanks to their low knockback and landing lag.

Diddy's special moveset also comes with several unique options. His neutral special, Peanut Popgun, is a small projectile with low range and knockback when uncharged. It is useful for pestering the opponent in the neutral game and can be charged, giving it extreme power when fully charged, although it has extremely high lag, doesn't shoot at a distance, and its charge cannot be saved like other chargeable projectiles(such as Samus' Charge Shot). He can also cancel charging the move by shielding, dodging, or spotdodging. His side special, Monkey Flip, has Diddy leap forward and will act as a command grab when landed on the opponent or will be a fast kick if the player presses the attack button again during the duration of the move. Due to its fast speed and decent distance, low endlag, and ability to edge-cancel off platforms or the ledge of the stage, it can be used as both a movement option and a way to approach, as its speed can compensate for his poor air mobility. It can also be used for horizontal recovery. His up special, Rocketbarrel Boost, is Diddy's main vertical recovery option. Uncharged, the move has unremarkable distance, but when fully charged, it moves much faster and travels much further. However, this requires Diddy to stay in place while charging the move in the air, leaving him highly vulnerable to gimps or edgeguards. The move also has a unique property in that if the opponent hits Diddy while using the move, the barrels will fly off and will irregularly move around, with the player having a small amount of control over their trajectory before they lose control. This gives him a useful, although niche, stage-controlling option, and the barrels will deal high damage and knockback when landed on an opponent. Lastly, Diddy's down special, Banana Peel, is his most useful special and one of his best moves. It has him pull out a Banana Peel over himself, which can be picked up and thrown by both Diddy and his opponent. If Diddy places it down before the opponent can grab it, then they will be tripped by it if they attempt to pick it up. This lets Diddy land almost any attack he wants on his opponent if he times it before the tripping animation is done, and allows for a plethora of combo options and even KO confirms into his smash attacks. Thanks to its ease of use and low commitment due to him only having to throw it at the opponent for it to work, it is integral to his kit and lets him punish missed attacks, have a strong advantage in the neutral game, create extremely long combos, and take control of the stage. He can also use a held banana as an excellent out-of-shield option when thrown. The only true downside to his Banana Peel is that the opponent can also catch and throw it just like he can, which allows them to use it against Diddy and take away one of his most important tools. Additionally, only one Banana Peel can be used at a time, and it disappears when hit by an opponent or thrown twice.

Despite very strong strengths, Diddy isn't without his weaknesses. His two main flaws are a lackluster disadvantage state and a predictable recovery. Monkey Flip, while fast, can be extremely predictable when used in a disadvantagous position, as it is Diddy's main way of getting out of juggle situations, due to his horrible air mobility. Diddy especially suffers when the opponent can consistently keep him in a disadvantageous state, not allowing the banana to be pulled. This can snowball in some matchups, making it extremely hard to catch up to the opponent if Diddy is not able to get his gameplan started. Diddy's other main weakness, his recovery, is arguably worse, however. Monkey Flip has respectable distance and safety when the kick version is used, but has some endlag and also doesn't allow him to use Rocketbarrel Boost afterwards. Rocketbarrel Boost itself grants Diddy a relatively long-range recovery option, the drawback being that it leaves Diddy wide open for attacks. If Diddy is hit out of the Rocketbarrel Boost with a weak move, he will become helpless and slowly fall to his death, making it easy to gimp him. Diddy Kong also suffers from a lack of range, though this is somewhat offset by his banana, which provides him with a fast and transcendent projectile.

Diddy Kong falls into a quick, bait-and-punish heavy playstyle. He must control the neutral game with his banana and great ground moves, capitalising on his opponents' mistakes by repeatedly getting them offstage or juggling them to rack up damage. Diddy can use his fast and non-committal down tilt to set up for kills at high percent or use his banana to set up for a smash attack, ending the opponent's stock even earlier. However, players must be smart in how they use his Banana Peel, as the opponent could potentially hinder his options by taking it away from him and also exploiting his linear recovery.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Diddy Kong was one of the most dominant characters in both of his appearances in Brawl and SSB4, thanks to his useful moves and the ability to produce items. These, namely Banana Peels, grant him an amazing control of the neutral game. Even after receiving nerfs in game updates in SSB4, Diddy continued to be dominant. Most likely owing to his overwhelming success, Diddy Kong was initially nerfed significantly in the transition to Ultimate, though he would later receive significant buffs in various updates to compensate. Ultimately, Diddy is considered to be slightly nerfed overall.

Diddy Kong's neutral game has been toned down due to many of his staple moves being worsened in various ways. Up and down tilts, down smash, forward aerial's late hit, up aerial, and grab all have less range, making it harder for Diddy to take advantage of these moves at their highest range. Banana Peels cannot be grabbed as quickly due to him releasing one at a higher arc, and they have a cooldown before they can be produced again after disappearing. Rocketbarrel Boost travels a drastically shorter distance when fully charged, and the charge time itself was reduced by a third, worsening his already vulnerable recovery when hit very far offstage. Diddy is also lighter, making him easier to KO.

Further exacerbating these nerfs, some of the universal changes hinder Diddy overall. The reduced shieldstun for items and increased lag on grabs weaken his approach and defensive game with Banana Peel; the latter change is compounded by the nerfs to his grabs' range. The faster knockback physics reduce his up throw's combo potential, no longer having reliable combos or KO setups at high percents. He also suffers from the universal increase in jump speed, as he can no longer reliably hit small characters with his back aerial from a rising short hop.

Despite this, Diddy Kong has also received notable buffs to help compensate, some of which have been received through game updates. His neutral attack no longer has an infinite portion, which decreases its damage potential but allows it to connect much more reliably, improving its overall consistency and utility as a close-range option. Some of his moves have more range and/or reduced lag that increases their combo ability, namely neutral aerial (which can now autocancel from a short hop fast fall), forward aerial's clean hit, dash attack, up tilt, down aerial, and down throw, the latter working better as an alternative to his up throw at lower percents. A few of Diddy's moves also have more power, such as his up and down smash attacks.

His special moveset has also been improved in many ways. Monkey Flip has reduced startup lag and much more range, and is barely affected by the changes to jostle mechanics, greatly improving its utility as an offensive tool and making it unpredictable as to whether or not Diddy will cross the opponent up. Peanut Popgun has a faster startup, deals more damage, and charges significantly faster, marginally improving the overcharge portion as a hard punish. Rocketbarrel Boost goes further when uncharged and makes Diddy fall much slower during the charge period, slightly compensating for his worse recovery. Finally, Banana Peels benefit from the item's tweaked natural properties: they now possess transcendent priority, making them unable to trade with attacks and thus riskier to pick up; and they can now be thrown twice at opponents before disappearing (though this does potentially give opponents more opportunities to use the item against Diddy). Finally, in terms of gameplay changes, the universal increase in mobility noticeably benefits Diddy, as his already fast mobility has been further improved, allowing him to keep up with the rest of the cast.

Overall, Diddy Kong's nerfs moderately outweigh his buffs, even accounting for game update changes. Diddy must now take more risks to win the neutral game with his standard moves, and his Banana Peels have been nerfed to be less spammable. However, he has been generally compensated in terms of moveset utility and power, and still possesses an oppressive factor courtesy of his fast frame data and movement speed, and Banana Peels remain a strong tool in the neutral game, which is further noticeable due to their new inability to trade. As a result, Diddy performs similarly effectively as in Brawl and SSB4.

Aesthetics

• Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, Diddy Kong's model features a more subdued color scheme. Like Donkey Kong, his fur is less detailed and appears flatter. The fabric of his hat and shirt has subtle detail, and his facial proportions have been tweaked.
• Diddy Kong faces the foreground at an angle, instead of facing directly forward. In addition, most of his animations are mirrored while some are slightly altered. However, he reverts to his previous idle animation while holding a small item.
• Diddy Kong is more expressive, he appears angry during his up and down throw as well as grabbing onto a ledge.
• Diddy Kong's hat has greater independent physics; it appears to be "looser" around his head, popping off slightly while performing many actions.
• Up taunt has an altered ending animation. Diddy Kong now fixes his hat as it lands crooked on his head.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Diddy Kong's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
• Diddy Kong runs faster (1.824 → 2.006).
  • His initial dash is significantly faster (1.7 → 2.09).
• Diddy Kong walks faster (1.25 → 1.313).
• Diddy Kong's air speed is higher (0.88 → 0.924).
• Diddy Kong's traction is much higher (0.0484 → 0.093).
• Diddy Kong is lighter (93 → 90), worsening his endurance.
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-15 → 4-14) and has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 29).
• Back roll has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 34).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 26 → 24).
• Spot dodge has more startup and grants less intangibility (frame 2-16 → 3-14).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 2-26 → 2-27).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 32 → 45).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first and second hits have significantly less ending lag (FAF 34 → 20 (hit 1), 37 → 21 (hit 2)), no longer being among the slowest to interrupt.
  • The first and second hits have altered angles (105°/78°/45° (hit 1), 100°/78°/45° (hit 2) → 361°/180°) and knockback (16/18/24 set/100 scaling → 25/20 base/25/15 scaling (hit 1), 20 base/25/15 scaling (hit 2)) to keep opponents on the ground and closer to Diddy Kong, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to connect better and jab lock.
  • The first hit transitions into the second hit faster (frame 9 → 6), which transitions into the third hit faster (frame 9 → 7). The third hit also has less startup lag (frame 9 → 5).
  • The first hit can be held for a consecutive jab.
  • The infinite portion has been removed; the third hit instead launches at a different angle (90°/85°/60° → 361°) and no longer deals set knockback (25/37 set/100 scaling → 60 base/80 scaling).
    • This makes the neutral attack much more consistent, no longer risking opponents escaping it before the final hit and punishing Diddy Kong. The third hit also has less ending lag compared to the previous neutral infinite's finisher (FAF 39 → 35).
    • However, the move deals much less damage overall as a result, despite all three hits having their damage values increased (1.2% → 2% (hit 1), 1.2% → 1.5% (hit 2), 2% → 4% (hit 3)). The third hit is also weaker compared to the previous neutral infinite's finisher, no longer KOing under 300% from the center of Final Destination.
  • All hits have a shorter hitbox duration (2 frames → 1 frame).
  • All hits have a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.6× (hit 1), 1.2× (hit 2), 2× (hit 3)).
  • The third hit has an altered animation, being a side kick rather than a back kick.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt's arm hitboxes have a longer duration (1 frame → 2 frames), and the hand hitboxes retain full damage for longer before transitioning to sourspots (1 frame → 3 frames), improving the consistency of both the range and damage output of the move.
  • The late hit has a longer duration (11-13 → 13-16).
  • The hitboxes on Diddy Kong's fists are larger (2.7u → 3.8u).
  • It sends opponents at a lower angle (361° → 35°), improving its ability to set up tech chases and edgeguards, and improving its KO potential.
  • Forward tilt has more base knockback (10 → 60), but less knockback scaling (100 → 60). This increases its safety on hit at low percents, but reduces its KO potential at high percents, and removes its ability to lock.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 33 → 30), improving its combo potential.
  • It has an altered animation where Diddy Kong does not leap as high, decreasing its vertical range. It can no longer hit opponents on the middle platforms in Battlefield.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt's farthest hitbox is noticeably smaller (4.2u → 3u), reducing its range.
    • It is also lower down (Y offset: 2.25 → 1.8).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less startup (frame 9/18/24 → 8/16/22) and ending lag (FAF 46 → 41), improving its combo potential.
  • Due to the changes to jostle mechanics, it can no longer whiff if initiated too close to an opponent.
  • The first and second hits have lower hitlag multipliers (1× → 0.5× (hit 1), 0.8× (hit 2)) and an additional hitbox, as well as different launch angles for aerial opponents, with the second and hit's also being larger (3.5u → 4u). The second hit also uses different set knockback values (55/40/70 → 45/45/70) and the third hit has a larger hitbox (4.5u → 5.5u), allowing the move to connect more reliably.
  • The second and third hits have a longer hitbox duration (1 frame → 2 frames).
  • The third hit launches at a slightly higher angle (78° → 83°).
  • Diddy Kong sports an angry expression at the third hit.
• Forward smash:
  • The first hit uses different angles (90°/60°/30° → 10°/45°/80°/22° (clean), 0° (late)) and set knockback values (28/35/42 → 20/35/25/42 (clean), 20 (late)), as well as weight-independent knockback, allowing it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • The second hit has one frame less startup (frame 22 → 21).
    • However, its total duration remains unchanged, giving it one frame more ending lag.
• Up smash:
  • The first and second hits have received various changes to their angles and set knockback, and the second hit uses weight-independent knockback like the first, allowing the move to connect more reliably.
  • The third hit deals more knockback (50 base/129 scaling → 55/131).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash deals more knockback (40 base/72 scaling → 46/77 (hit 1), 35 base → 38 (hit 2)).
  • The second hit has less startup (frame 16 → 12).
    • However, it has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 16-18 → frame 12), with its total duration not fully compensated, giving it more ending lag (FAF 53 → 51).
  • Both hits have two hitboxes instead of three, which are smaller, significantly reducing its range (4u/4u/5u → 3.9u/3.3u).
  • The first hit has slightly more startup (frame 6 → 7).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (13 frames → 8 (neutral), 26 → 16 (forward), 12 → 7 (back), 21 → 9 (up), 28 → 17 (down)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has regained its much faster auto-cancel window from Brawl (frame 59 → 27), allowing it to auto-cancel in a short hop fast fall once again.
  • It has noticeably larger hitboxes (2u → 3.5u).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's early hit has noticeably larger hitboxes (4u → 5u).
  • Forward aerial's late hit has much smaller hitboxes (5u → 2.7u).
  • It has an altered animation where Diddy Kong does not spin as much.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 39 → 36), matching its ending lag from SSB4 prior to update 1.0.8. This allows it to combo slightly better into itself.
  • It deals more damage (6% → 7%) with only base knockback compensated (64 → 57), slightly improving its KO potential.
  • Up aerial has an altered animation where Diddy's attacking foot is positioned higher up on frame 4 (with the move's hitbox timing and duration unchanged), noticeably reducing the move's horizontal range in front of Diddy Kong, especially against grounded opponents.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial has less startup (frame 17 → 15), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 49 → 47).
  • The removal of teching for grounded meteor smashes improves down aerial's combo potential onstage, compounded further by its reduced landing lag.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more startup (frame 6 → 7 (standing), 8 → 10 (dash), 9 → 11 (pivot)) and ending lag (FAF 32 → 37 (standing), 39 → 45 (dash), 37 → 40 (pivot)).
  • All grabs have less range (Z2 offset: 8.3u → 7.8u (standing), 9.9u → 9.5u (dash), 13.9u → 13.6u (pivot)).
  • Diddy Kong uses one hand to grab instead of both. He also has a surprised expression if he misses his grab.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals more hitlag (4 frames → 11), but has less startup (frame 2 → 1) and significantly less ending lag (FAF 17 → 7), shortening its effective duration.
  • It deals less damage (2% → 1%).
  • It has an altered animation where Diddy Kong no longer hops off the ground while pummeling.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 27).
    • However, the faster knockback physics hinder up throw's combo potential at high percents despite this, no longer having a KO setup into up aerial unless initiated at the top platform of Battlefield.
• Down throw:
  • Diddy Kong releases opponents from down throw later (frame 19 → 22). While this does make it easier to DI, this also improves its combo potential, as its total duration was unchanged.
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

• Peanut Popgun:
  • Peanut Popgun has less startup lag (frame 18 → 16) and charges much faster (frame 120 → 94 (full charge), 123 → 97 (explosion)).
    • However, its total duration remains unchanged, giving it more ending lag.
  • It has gained a melee hitbox that deals 3%, increasing its utility at point blank range by allowing it to rack up more damage and negate reflectors.
  • The peanuts deal more damage (3.6%-12% → 4.8%-13.8%).
  • Diddy Kong's animation for Peanut Popgun is mirrored, and he can fire with either his left or right hand.
  • Peanuts bounce once upon hitting the ground, and float upwards before exploding upon hitting an opponent, although these animations are only aesthetic.
• Monkey Flip:
  • Monkey Flip has less startup lag (frame 20 → 18).
  • The grab has more horizontal range (Z offset: 3u/2u → 4.5u/4u).
  • The jump attack now immobilises the opponent for exactly 20 frames if the move does not cause tumble, regardless of hitstun, increasing the stun time if hitstun is lower than 20 frames, but lowering it if hitstun is between 20 and 32 frames.
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 44 → 48).
  • The grab's automatic pummel has Diddy Kong repeatedly scratch the opponent instead of simply latching onto them.
• Rocketbarrel Boost:
  • Rocketbarrel Boost's clean hit has larger hitboxes (3.5u → 4u).
  • The uncharged boost is larger (initial speed: 2.2 → 3.1).
  • The additional boost per frame of charge is smaller (0.031 → 0.019).
  • Its maximum charge time has been significantly reduced (90 frames → 60), combined with the previous change, this significantly reduces the height of the fully charged version to the point where it barely grants more distance than the uncharged version if used while falling, hindering Diddy Kong's recovery.
  • The boost multiplier when used in the air is lower (1.12× → 1.05×), and thus the height gained when using the move in the air isn't increased as much compared to when used on the ground, further reducing the distance it travels in the air.
• Banana Peel:
  • The Banana Peel can hit opponents twice before disappearing rather than only once, bouncing off in a high arc on the first hit. This allows Diddy Kong to pick it up and throw it again, but shielding opponents can likewise punish Diddy Kong and steal the Banana Peel, leaving him more disadvantaged. However, it drastically improves the moves combo potential.
  • The Banana Peel now has transcendent priority making it phase through other hitboxes. This allows it to be used much more effectively for spacing and edgeguarding, as it can combo into down air when z dropped at the ledge.
  • Diddy Kong throws the banana in a higher arc, causing it to take longer for him to pick up.
  • The amount of time that must pass before Diddy Kong can generate another banana peel is much higher (12 frames → 85). This makes the move more restrictive, and more importantly prevents Diddy Kong from exploiting the new Banana Peel properties to perform an infinite.
  • The move has a snappier animation.
• Final Smash:
  • Diddy Kong has a new Final Smash, Hyper Rocketbarrel, which functions differently from Rocketbarrel Barrage. Diddy Kong generates a Special Rocketbarrel Pack, multiplys himself, and flies across the stage in all directions, attacking his trapped opponents. The final hit is where Diddy Kong does a delayed, aimed attack, dealing heavy knockback to opponents he attacked the most. Diddy Kong then lands at the spot he blasted off from.

Update history

Due to the engine changes and the direct nerfs to his most useful tools in the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate, which overall significantly hindered his viability, Diddy Kong was buffed significantly via game updates. Update 2.0.0 only brought one, but substantial change to his neutral aerial; the move now autocancels significantly earlier. Update 3.0.0 also granted Diddy Kong with some worthwhile buffs. His dash attack is now faster overall with less startup on all of its hitboxes and the move ends slightly sooner. However, the first hitbox now lasts only one frame instead of two due to a frame speed multiplier being used without proper compensation. On the flipside, his forward tilt gained late hitboxes, overall increasing the move's hitbox duration. His down smash was made stronger, his neutral aerial now has bigger hitboxes and his up aerial deals more damage without fully compensated knockback, making the move much stronger.

Update 3.1.0 was the biggest patch for Diddy Kong, bringing him many plentiful and noteworthy buffs. The second hit of his neutral attack now connects more reliably into the first hit. The final hit of up smash was made stronger and the move now connects much better overall. His up aerial was buffed once more with less startup and ending lag. His down aerial also received similar buffs, with less startup and a shorter overall duration. Peanut Popgun also was graced with considerable buffs, with every charge instead of the max level dealing more damage. The move also charges much faster overall. And finally, his once previously weak recovery, Rocketbarrel Boost, was given two buffs. Diddy Kong now falls slower while charging the move (only applies to the first charge) and the move now flies higher after charging.

After a small buff intangibility buff in update 7.0.0, Diddy Kong was buffed once more in update 8.0.0. His forward tilt now launches opponents at a lower angle, the fist hitboxes were made bigger, and the late hitboxes added in update 3.0.0 now lasts two frames longer, further increasing the move's hitbox duration. The second hit of dash attack now links more reliably into the third hit, with the aforementioned hit now having larger hitboxes. Down smash now has two frames less startup on both hits and a shorter duration overall, making the move end sooner. And finally, the clean hit of his forward aerial has bigger hitboxes.

While Diddy was mostly buffed, he has also received two notable nerfs to his Banana Peel, thanks to update 8.0.0 and once more in update 11.0.0, it now takes longer for Diddy to respawn another Banana. As a result, all of his infinite banana combos are obsolete, though this change is negligible to his gameplay outside of the infinite.

Overall, Diddy Kong was one of the most buffed characters in Ultimate, going from a mid-tier to a high tier, debatably top tier character. While Diddy Kong is still weaker than his Brawl and Smash 4 incarnation, he is still a character that should not be underestimated and continues to receive good placements in tournaments.

2.0.0

• Neutral aerial autocancels earlier (frame 50 → 27). It is now early enough to buffer short hop and fastfall with no landing lag.
• Monkey Flip release glitch has been fixed.

3.0.0

• Dash attack has less startup lag (frame 9/18/24 → 8/16/22) with identical ending lag, shortening its duration (FAF 43 → 41).
• Forward tilt has a new late hit on frames 13-14 that deals less damage (10% → 7%) but increases its duration overall.
• Down smash deals more knockback (Hit 1: 40 base/72 scaling → 46/77; hit 2: 35 base → 38).
• Neutral aerial has more range (2u/2u/2u/2u → 3.5u/3.5u/3.5u/3.5u).
• Up aerial deals more damage (6% → 7%) with base knockback not fully compensated (64 → 57).

3.1.0

• Neutral attack 2 has more range and connects more reliably from neutral attack 1.
• Dash attack's final hit sends at a slightly more vertical angle (78° → 83°).
• Up smash's hits connect more reliably.
• Up smash's final hit deals more knockback (50 base/129 scaling → 55/131).
• Up aerial has less ending (FAF 37 → 36) and landing lag (13 frames → 9).
• Down aerial has less startup lag (frame 17 → 15) with identical ending lag, shortening its duration (FAF 49 → 47).
• Peanut Popgun's peanut projectile deals more damage (with shield damage compensated: 0 → -1) (3.3%-15% → 4.3%-13.8%) and charges faster (max charge: frame 121 → 94, explosion startup: 123 → 97).
  • However, they deal less damage at full charge (15% → 13.8%).
• Diddy Kong falls slower while charging Rocketbarrel Boost.
• Rocketbarrel Boost travels more vertical distance when charged.
• Hyper Rocketbarrel's explosion and jet at the start deal more damage (total: 7% → 16%).
• Hyper Rocketbarrel's tackle deals less damage (2.5% → 2%).
• Hyper Rocketbarrel's final tackle deals slightly less overall knockback (135 base/47 scaling → 115/58).

4.0.0