Kirby (SSBU)

Kirby in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Ultra Sword
Tier	C- (69)

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and is one of the eight starting characters. Initially teased in the then-unnamed Ultimate's announcement trailer, he was confirmed on June 12th, 2018, alongside all of the other veterans. Kirby is classified as Fighter #06.

Kirby is voiced in all regions once again by Makiko Ōmoto, using a combination of new voice clips and ones recycled from Super Smash Bros. 4.

Kirby is currently ranked 69th out of 82 on the Ultimate tier list, placing him near the end of the C- tier. While this does make him the lowest-ranked member of the perfect-attendance crew, this is still an improvement to his placement in Smash 4, where he was ranked 49th out of 54 in the F tier. Kirby possesses fast tilts and low ending lag on his aerials, granting him access to quick and powerful combos, while his back air and dash attack grant him strong KO options. Kirby's relatively small size and low crouch also makes him hard to hit; his crouch especially allows him to avoid most grabs and some attacks. Finally, Kirby's Inhale grants him access to his opponent's neutral special move, which not only deals more damage than the opponent's, but can also be used to alleviate some of Kirby's weaknesses.

However, Kirby has poor endurance, as his light weight makes him susceptible to early KOs. His poor air speed and merely average ground mobility, as well as a lack of reliable projectiles and ranged attacks, presents a host of problems in neutral and offstage, as Kirby has trouble approaching and fighting those that can out-range him. He also has a poor set of special moves that fails to help with his weaknesses, as they are situational and suffer from high startup and/or ending lag and inconvenient attributes. Finally, Kirby's recovery, though far-reaching, is rather predictable. Final Cutter grants decent distance, but it can only snap to the ledge at either the start or peak of Kirby's ascent and lacks coverage directly above or behind him. To compound this, Kirby's poor air speed and floatiness make him highly vulnerable to edgeguarding, juggling, and other forms of pressure.

Overall, Kirby is a fighter with many good moves that can rack up impressive damage at close range, but struggles to make use of his strengths due to his unimpressive reach, slow air speed, and lightweight properties. As a result, Kirby is once again a rarity in the metagame. Nevertheless, he has still seen success from dedicated mains such as Guilheww, JeJaJeJa, and Konokururu.

Attributes

Kirby is known for being a small lightweight, being tied for the eighth-lightest character in the game. True to his franchise, Kirby is a slow, yet floaty character. He has a slightly below-average walk speed (31st slowest), average dashing and initial dash (42nd fastest and 43rd slowest). He also has the 5th slowest air speed, above-average air acceleration, 3rd lowest gravity, the 5th lowest falling and fast falling speeds, and above average traction. Due to these statistics, Kirby has difficulty approaching opponents. Kirby's recovery is versatile: despite his slow air speed and low jump height rendering him susceptible to edgeguarding, his five midair jumps, slow falling speed, long vertical airdodge, and Final Cutter's decent distance give him good stalling capabilities and decent safety.

Kirby's greatest strengths are his quick frame data, high combo potential, and the versatility of his moveset. The majority of Kirby's attacks are characterized by speed, with his tilts being among the fastest in the game, while his slowest moves instead boast high power as a trade-off, while still being quite fast for their power. Neutral attack and forward tilt are fast and have decent range, allowing Kirby to quickly distance opponents, with the latter being used for tech chase setups. Up tilt's low knockback and high speed allow it to combo into multiple moves, such as itself, an aerial attack, or an Inhale. Down tilt's low power is compensated by its very fast speed, and it launches opponents at the Sakurai angle, which allows it to trip most opponents even over 80%. Should he trip his opponents with it, he can follow up with a variety of attacks, such as a dash attack, grab, or forward smash. Dash attack’s early hit is excellent for whiff punishing and scoring a KO, potentially KOing opponents starting at 90%, while the late hit can set up into an Inhale. His smash attacks have good range, high power, and great speed, making them excellent at scoring a KO. Kirby is also very small, making him hard to hit, and his very low crouch allows him to avoid almost all grabs and several attacks. As a result, Kirby has an excellent ground and defensive game thanks to his quick frame data and evasive crouch, requiring opponents to be careful when approaching him in neutral.

The usefulness of Kirby's ground game also extends to his grab game. His grabs have short range but are among the fastest in Ultimate, while his pummel's meager damage output is counterbalanced by its very fast speed. His forward throw, unlike most other forward throws in the game, has combo potential, leading into aerial attacks from low to mid percentages. Back throw can be followed up by a back aerial at very low percentages on certain characters, can KO at high percentages, and can send opponents offstage. Up throw is his strongest throw and can KO almost all characters around 170%, or even earlier if it lands on a platform. Lastly, while down throw has no combo potential, it is reliable for damage-racking when no other throw can yield better results.

Kirby's aerial game is also notable. Despite his poor air speed, his air acceleration is high, and his aerial attacks also have great versatility. Neutral aerial has a long-lasting hitbox, the clean hit is disjointed and relatively strong, very low landing lag, and good coverage, making it a safe landing option. The weak hit of neutral air can combo into his tilts, grab, or even a smash attack, while the strong hit doubles as a combo finisher and a KO move at high percents. Due to the move lasting longer compared to his other aerials, it can safely pressure shields. Forward aerial is Kirby’s most reliable approaching tool. Despite its moderately slow startup, it has disjointed hitboxes on Kirby’s feet, has a long-lasting hitbox that can lead to a wall of pain at low percents, the final hit can lead to a KO at high percents, and has very little landing lag, which makes it very safe on shield and hard to punish. Up aerial has good vertical knockback, low landing lag, and a fairly quick auto-cancel window, allowing for several potential follow-ups and even opportunities to KO when near the upper blast line. Back aerial has decent range, high knockback on the clean hit, and is Kirby's fastest aerial, making it one of his strongest options overall. Lastly, down aerial has considerable startup, but has multiple hits that drag opponents downward before the final hit meteor smashes them and has low ending lag, making it a deceptively powerful edgeguarding tool as well as a reliable combo starter with follow-ups on grounded opponents.

Kirby's special moves can provide some unique strengths. Inhale is his most notable example; it allows him to either copy the neutral special move of any character he inhales, or spit them out as a weight-dependent projectile. Depending on what character he inhales, the copy ability can give Kirby a move that helps him in matchups to various degrees, such as useful projectiles to counter-camp his opponent (Needle Storm, Charge Shot, Wolf's Blaster), powerful punish options (Giant Punch, Homing Attack), a reflector (Nayru's Love), or other benefits (Monado Arts). In addition, Kirby's version of the opponent's neutral special has a 1.2× damage multiplier. Kirby can also inhale projectiles; smaller projectiles will be swallowed, allowing him to heal himself, while larger ones (such as a fully-charged Charge Shot) can be stored in his mouth and spat out, essentially giving Kirby a reflector. The spat projectiles can be used to punish opponents at mid-range and can launch them away with high knockback. Inhale can also be used to Kirbycide or spit the opponent offstage, although the opponent can escape by mashing. Hammer Flip is very powerful, especially when fully charged, and Kirby can move and jump while charging. However, its high startup and endlag, along with its short range and Kirby's already-sluggish movement being further slowed when charging, make it difficult to land outside of a shield break, covering ledge options, or after a jab lock. Outside his jumps, Final Cutter is his primary means of recovery, granting good vertical distance, as well as a disjoint in front of him during his ascent and descent. It also emits a shockwave projectile upon landing, making it difficult to punish if the opponent is not behind Kirby. Lastly, Stone causes Kirby to turn into an object and ignore up to 25% damage. It is also a strong attack, especially in the air, and can be canceled shortly after Kirby begins his descent, although these benefits are limited by its slow startup and ending lag, and Kirby is still vulnerable to grabs while transformed. It can also be used on the ground, where it has a faster startup due to creating a shockwave, and it launches at a semi-spike angle.

Kirby's most notable flaw, however, is his poor approach. Characters who have high mobility or who can camp with projectiles can wall out Kirby, such as Sonic and Samus. Kirby's lack of reliable burst options makes his approach in these matchups problematic and sometimes predictable. In addition, characters with long disjointed hitboxes such as Cloud can outrange and wall out Kirby since his range is short relative to the cast. Final Cutter's projectile has decent range and moves quickly, but Kirby cannot use it until he falls back to the ground, and he lacks other projectiles outside of spitting inhaled projectiles/opponents or from a copy ability. This requires conscientious use to avoid punishment. Kirby's great acceleration is undermined by his poor air speed, hindering his aerial approach and recovery despite possessing five midair jumps. While Kirby has several KO moves, some can be hard to land without a setup or correct reads due to their short range.

In addition, Kirby also has poor endurance. While being light and floaty can help him escape combos from other characters, this also means he risks getting KOed earlier. Rage further compounds these issues, as Kirby will be launched even further by a high-damage opponent, and his low weight means he will sometimes not survive long enough to take advantage of his own rage. He is also vulnerable to juggling, due to his aforementioned slow falling and air speeds. This poses a risk in approaching opponents in the air, while also preventing Kirby's aerials from being used effectively when in a disadvantage state, often forcing him to rely on the timing of his jumps, Stone, or neutral aerial to escape and return to the ground or ledge.

Kirby's weaknesses are also pronounced by his special moves, as their high start-up and ending lag and inconvenient combinations of attributes result in situational moves that have poor synergy with the rest of his moveset. Inhale gives Kirby access to his opponent's neutral special, but it has noticeable ending lag, the utility of the move he gains access to depends on the character, recovering health by eating small projectiles has extreme ending lag and gives him minimal healing, spitting out larger projectiles to reflect them is situational and Kirby has a random chance of losing his Copy Ability if he gets hit after the first 20 seconds after he obtained it, losing out on tools to take on opponents. Hammer Flip has poor range for a disjointed hitbox, stops Kirby's horizontal momentum in the air, and is too laggy to use effectively. Stone protects Kirby from attacks below 25% and has good power, but it has noticeable start-up and ending lag, especially in the air, and grabs will force him out of the transformation as if he's shielding; and Final Cutter covers a decent distance but it's linear and predictable, as it only snaps to the ledge at the start and at the end and it suffers from slow start-up, which makes it a poor out-of-shield option.

Overall, Kirby tends to run hot and cold, but is overall a glass cannon. He can inflict an impressive amount of damage if he gets close to his opponent, thanks to his excellent frame data and potent combo game, but doing so is challenging for him due to his poor approach. As such, Kirby functions well with a bait-and-punish playstyle, although being unprepared for an opponent's approach can be hazardous due to his low survivability.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Near the end of SSB4's metagame, Kirby had been considered a low-tier character due to a combination of lackluster attributes and underwhelming specials. Likely owing to this, Kirby has been buffed overall in the transition to Ultimate.

Most of Kirby's buffs lie in the increased utility of his moveset as a whole, with overall improved frame data and KO power on many of his moves. The first two hits of his neutral attack can now jab lock and connect better into the looping hits (albeit at the cost of reduced damage output), while forward tilt is a stronger poke and KO option due to its reduced endlag and its increased knockback. His dash attack has been mostly reverted to its Melee iteration, however, it is significantly faster, stronger, has less startup, far longer duration compared to his previous dash attack in SSB4, can cross-up on shields, covers more ground, and is more reliable for catching opponents thanks to only consisting of a single, long-lasting hitbox—these changes make it a stronger punish tool and a much more versatile move overall. His smash attacks are now stronger punish options, with forward smash having much more range, up smash having faster start-up, and down smash regaining its semi-spike angle, restoring its utility at edgeguarding. His smash attacks also have improved KO power, with forward and up smash dealing more knockback, and down smash's altered angle KOing earlier at the edge despite its reduced knockback. Several of Kirby's attacks, such as up tilt and all his aerials (except for up aerial), also have more range, partially alleviating one of his weaknesses from SSB4.

The universal reduction to landing lag has also greatly benefited his aerials, which already had among the lowest landing lag in SSB4; his aerials are not only safer, but now capable of leading into follow-ups, with forward aerial's first two hits now being able to follow up into a grab or forward smash. His neutral aerial (being one of his most situational attacks) is now faster, has more range, has less endlag, and deals more knockback (the clean hit being one of the strongest neutral aerials in Ultimate). Up aerial received many of the same buffs as neutral aerial, and both it and forward aerial deal more damage, regaining some of their lost KO power from Melee.

For Kirby's special moves, Inhale has been significantly buffed with faster startup, less ending lag, a much longer grace period in which Kirby cannot lose his Copy Ability, a lower probability of losing said ability after this period has ended, and a new 1.2× multiplier to his copied neutral special compared to his opponent (albeit without a corresponding increase to knockback), giving him a greater incentive and a higher reward from inhaling opponents. Furthermore, he can now eat the projectiles he swallows to heal himself (and store certain ones in his mouth as well, enabling him to spit them out as stars). Hammer Flip now renders Kirby nigh-impossible to stop for a longer time as long as he's grounded. Final Cutter is faster, snaps to the ledge slightly sooner, and its landing hit is much more powerful, which improves its utility. Stone's aerial variant now has super armor during its startup, making it more difficult to interrupt Kirby out of the attack, as in previous Smash games, he could be interrupted even when he was fully transformed.

However, Kirby has also received several noteworthy nerfs. The most notable were to his grab game: his already mediocre grab range has been worsened (most notably on his pivot grab), and forward throw has him jump up higher after the throw, which runs the risk of possibly landing on top of a soft platform, potentially negating follow-ups when executed incorrectly, while back throw has lost most of its combo setups due to changes to the animation. Altogether, this grants Kirby a less effective neutral game off of his grabs overall. Other nerfs include Stone no longer hitting shielding opponents twice, reducing its shield pressure considerably; back aerial deals less knockback (although it has more range and the clean hit now lasts for slightly longer to compensate); and down aerial, one of his most reliable combo starters in SSB4, has more range on the looping hits, but slightly less on the final hit and is less advantageous on landing due to the removal of frame canceling, reducing the effectiveness of its follow-ups since its landing lag was not reduced enough to compensate properly.

Universal changes to the game's mechanics both benefit and hinder Kirby. The weakening of rage improves Kirby's overall survivability, while he's not affected as significantly due to some of his moves' high damage and power. The changes to downwards velocity KOing opponents faster from the bottom blast line now render Final Cutter as a significantly more deadly edgeguarding and sacrificial KO option, further improving its utility. The increased shieldstun and increased startup on shield grabbing notably benefit Kirby's safety on hit, due to his moveset's naturally high damage and low ending lag, making him harder to shrug off and punish accordingly, especially with the changes to dash-canceling which benefit Kirby's fast grounded moveset; conversely, the changes to grabs' ending lag make Kirby's own grab riskier to throw out, as their ending lag can prove more punishable. The revamped air dodging mechanics improve his innate ability to edgeguard opponents more effectively, and directional air dodges have also given him a secondary recovery option, but this also makes him more susceptible to juggling and edgeguarding as well due to his short-ranged aerials, predictable landing options, and his air dodges being among the slowest in the game. The increase in mobility, however, adversely affects Kirby the most, as while his mobility has improved overall relative to the cast (most notably his aerial mobility), it doesn't fully compensate for his problems with camping, exhibited with the increased prevalence of zoners, and many more characters can now take advantage of their faster mobility to either punish Kirby or stay away from him. Overall, his offensive, defensive and edgeguarding options have been improved at the cost of his range issues becoming even more prevalent than in SSB4.

In the end, Kirby's changes now render his punish game much more deadly, make him much harder to shake off once he gains the advantage, and allow him to seal stocks at much more varied percentages, but the universal changes to the game's engine have made it slightly easier for certain opponents to stay away from him or wall him, rendering his punish game slightly more inconsistent. Of note is that Kirby still retains many of the same issues that plagued him in SSB4, with his mediocre range, sluggish aerial mobility, and a high susceptibility to being camped due to the aforementioned issues. Kirby has received a myriad of buffs through game updates, which have further helped his punish game, though updates have also introduced strong DLC competition, as well as buffing other characters. As a result, Kirby performs better in Ultimate than in SSB4, albeit not enough to significantly improve compared to the cast.

Aesthetics

• Kirby's appearance is largely the same as it was in SSB4, though his model features a more subdued color scheme. His feet have a pinkish tint, and his blush marks are slightly blurred. These changes make Kirby more closely resemble his appearance in recent Kirby games.
• Like many other characters, Kirby is more expressive, both with his face and his movement.
• Some of Kirby's animations, particularly his dash and initial jump, have been tweaked to closer resemble his appearance from Kirby's Return to Dream Land onward.
• One of Kirby's voice clips when taking high knockback has been changed to his alternate KO sound from SSB4.
  • As a result, he gains a new KO clip, which sounds similar to one of his unused high knockback voice clips from Brawl.
  • Kirby's unused damage yell from Smash 4 is used when he takes medium knockback.
• Kirby's on-screen appearance has a more intense, fiery explosion than in previous games. The large, cartoony stars that appear have been removed, and while the sparkle effects are still present, they have been drastically toned down. All in all, it more closely resembles how it appeared in Super Smash Bros.
• Up taunt has been shortened, with Kirby striking the ending pose without dancing first. The pose itself has been tweaked; Kirby raises one of his feet, resembling the pose he makes when gaining abilities in his games.
• Kirby smiles during his side taunt.
• Kirby's victory poses have been modified. Two new dances are used, one with Kirby waving his arms and breakdancing, and another with Kirby moonwalking and sliding, both based on Kirby’s Return to Dream Land and ending in a unique pose. Kirby also splits into three separate Kirbys when not in team battles, referencing his home series. This is the first and only game to have Kirby's victory poses finish differently.
  • Kirby's idle pose at the end of his victory animation is more animated, with a gentle squash-and-stretch effect leading to a more rubbery feeling.
  • Kirby faces forward instead of away when "wiggling" in one of his victory poses.
• When Kirby gains a new Copy Ability, he briefly poses as he does in his home series. This animation can be canceled.
• Some Copy Ability hats have been changed.
  • His Samus helmet has a fully opaque visor, as it was in Super Smash Bros.
  • His Captain Falcon helmet has triangular eyes, and the visor is opaque as in Super Smash Bros.
  • Unlike Smash 4, his Jigglypuff cap matches his costume color, as in previous games up to Brawl.
  • His Zelda cap has been changed from the wimple she wore as a child in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to a hairstyle matching her new A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds-inspired look.
  • His Ganondorf cap is consistent with Ganondorf's Ocarina of Time appearance, effectively reverting to its design in Melee.
  • His Ike cap uses the hairstyle from his Path of Radiance design, as in Brawl.
  • His Wolf cap matches Wolf's Star Fox Zero-based appearance.
  • His Robin cap, upon exhausting the Thunder tome, will disappear as it does in all other cases, instead of just disappearing with no animation.
• Kirby no longer vocalizes when using Bowser's Fire Breath, though the relevant voice clip is still present in Sound Test. He also has updated voice clips for using Nayru's Love and Warlock Punch when coping Zelda and Ganondorf respectively.
• Kirby's Boxing Ring alias has been changed to "The Pink Demon", a direct translation of the Japanese title, for consistency with its appearance in Kirby: Planet Robobot.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Kirby's jumpsquat takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
• Kirby runs faster (1.57 → 1.727).
  • His initial dash is noticeably faster (1.5 → 1.9).
• Kirby walks faster (0.93 → 0.977).
• Kirby's air speed is slightly faster (0.8 → 0.84).
• Kirby's traction is much higher (0.0493 → 0.116), going from below average to being tied for the 17th highest, making it easier for him to punish out of shield.
• The changes to taunt interruptibility benefit Kirby more than any other returning veteran, as he can act quicker after discarding a Copy Ability.
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 4-15).
• Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 31 → 36).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 63), being tied with Rosalina for the second slowest air dodge in the game duration-wise, only behind Jigglypuff.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack's first and second hits have altered angles (55° → 361°/180° (hit 1), 70° → 361° (hit 2)) and knockback (8 base/30 scaling → 20 base/25/20 scaling (hit 1), 15/30 → 25/15 (hit 2)) to keep opponents close to Kirby, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to jab lock, and noticeably improves their previously poor linking ability.
  • The first hit has less startup lag (frame 3 → 2), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 16 → 15).
  • The second hit transitions faster into the infinite (frame 8 → 5) and has a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.3×), although with a slightly higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×).
  • The infinite has shorter gaps between hits (4 frames → 2), a consistent angle (55°/68°/80° → 361°), a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.5×) and SDI multiplier (1× → 0.4×), and deals less knockback (6/4/2 base/100 scaling → 7 base/35 scaling). This allows it to connect more reliably and makes it much harder to escape.
  • The infinite's finisher has less startup (frame 5 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 51 → 40).
  • The finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%) and launches at a lower angle (45° → 361°), with knockback not fully compensated (80 base/120 scaling → 70/115), improving its KO potential.
  • All hits except the finisher deal less damage (2% → 1.8% (hit 1), 3% → 1.6% (hit 2), 1% → 0.2% (infinite)).
  • The first hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.7×), giving opponents more time to SDI it.
  • The second hit and each hit of the infinite have a shorter hitbox duration (2 frames → 1), and the latter also has one frame more startup (frame 6 → 7), although this is compensated by its faster transition from the second hit.
  • The finisher has smaller hitboxes overall (4.5u/6.5u/5.5u → 5u/5u/5u).
  • The finisher has a much higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 3×), making it easier to DI after SDIing the infinite.
  • The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 7×. This allows it to lock opponents into their shields between each hit, and thus pressure them more effectively, but also allows them to cancel shieldstun and punish Kirby more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
  • Kirby's punching hand disappears during his rapid jab; instead, the visual effects have been made thicker.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 24). Combined with the increased shieldstun for ground attacks, this makes it much safer on shield.
  • It has much more base knockback (12 → 40), improving its KO potential.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt's closest hitbox is larger (4u → 4.8u), slightly surpassing the late hit in Brawl.
  • The late hit and foot intangibility last one more frame (frames 6-9 → 6-10), matching its duration from Brawl.
  • It has less base knockback (40 → 30/26 (clean), 26 (late)) and more knockback scaling (116 → 132/125 (clean), 110 → 130/119 (late)), allowing it to combo better into his aerials from low to mid percents, while also improving its KO potential at very high percents.
  • The hitbox at the tip of Kirby's foot launches at a slightly different angle (100° → 98° (clean), 88° → 86° (late)).
• Down tilt:
  • Due to the increased traction across the cast, opponents do not slide back as much upon tripping from down tilt, improving its reliability for starting combos.
  • It has more knockback scaling (30 → 43), causing it to stop tripping opponents sooner, but improving its combo potential at higher percents if it doesn't trip due to the aforementioned change.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has reverted to its Melee iteration, where Kirby does a flaming tackle identical to the Burning copy ability from his home series, although it does not drop him off edges.
  • It hits only once instead of six times, possessing a clean hit, mid hit and late hit. This makes it more reliable overall than the previous dash attack, which could sometimes miss its last hit due to the looping hits' poor linking ability.
  • It propels Kirby a much farther distance forward, increasing its range.
  • It has less startup lag with its hitboxes active fully throughout (frames 12, 15, 19, 24, 30, 35-37 → 9-17 (clean)/18-26 (mid)/27-34 (late)).
    • However, the total duration has not been fully compensated, giving it 1 frame more ending lag despite the shorter total duration (FAF 54 → 52).
  • It has larger hitboxes (3.5u/3.5u/3.3u (hits 1-5), 3u (hit 6) → 5u (clean), 3.5u (mid & late)).
  • It has lower hitlag multipliers (2× → 1.3× (clean)/1× (mid)/0.8× (late)). In combination with its faster startup and consisting of a single hit, this makes it harder to DI.
  • The clean hit deals more damage (1% (hits 1-5), 4% (hit 6); 9% total → 12%), with knockback not fully compensated (100 base/70 scaling → 82/71), and launches at a more horizontal angle (65° → 46°). This turns it into a much stronger finisher, KOing opponents at around 160% from center stage and 105% near edges, compared to being unable to KO under 280% regardless of horizontal positioning.
  • The mid and late hits deal more damage than the previous dash attack's last hit (4% → 9% (mid), 6% (late)), and the former launches at a higher angle (65° → 76°), allowing it to KO slightly earlier despite its lower knockback values (100 base/70 scaling → 80/50).
  • The late hit deals much less knockback (100 base/70 scaling → 80/50), hindering its KO potential despite launching at a higher angle (65° → 76°).
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash's clean hit deals more knockback (30 base/102 scaling → 32/109), improving its KO potential.
  • Kirby lunges farther forward, giving it more range.
  • It deals more damage when angled down (14% → 15% (clean), 10% → 11% (late)).
  • It deals less damage when angled up (16% → 15% (clean), 12% → 11% (late)), although the clean hit is still slightly stronger than in Smash 4 due to its higher knockback values.
  • The clean hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×), making it easier to DI.
  • It has a different startup animation: Kirby pulls back before executing a thrust kick instead of performing a spin first, resembling Smash Kick, one of Smash Bros. Kirby's attacks in Kirby: Planet Robobot.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has less startup (frame 14 → 12), with its leg intangibility frames moved accordingly (frames 14-19 → 12-17) and its total duration reduced (FAF 48 → 46).
  • The clean hit has a longer duration, with the late hit having a shorter duration instead (frame 14 (clean)/15-16 (mid)/17-19 (late) → 12-14/15-16/17). This improves its utility as an anti-air, as the clean hit remains active when the hitboxes go above Kirby.
  • The clean hit deals more knockback (33/30 base/104/99 scaling → 36 base/104 scaling), improving its KO potential.
  • The mid hit's sourspot (12% → 13%) and late hit (12%/11% → 13%/12%) deal more damage.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash launches at a semi-spike angle like its foot hitboxes in Melee and Brawl (69° → 29°), significantly improving its edgeguarding ability and allowing it to KO earlier near edges.
  • It has less startup lag (frame 10 → 7) with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 54 → 51).
  • It has much less knockback scaling (110 → 94), hindering its KO potential from center stage and across the stage.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (10 frames → 6 (neutral), 13 → 8 (forward), 17 → 10 (back), 12 → 7 (up), 17 → 16 (down).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8) and significantly less ending lag (FAF 73 → 53).
  • The clean hit deals significantly more knockback (30 base/90 scaling → 35/117), allowing it to KO reliably at around 150% from center stage.
  • All hitboxes are bigger (8u → 9u (clean), 7u → 8u (mid), 6u → 7u (mid-to-late), 5u → 6u (late)).
  • It auto-cancels earlier (frame 56 → 51).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's first hit launches at a higher angle (45°/80° → 53°/84°) and deals less knockback (35 base/50 scaling → 43/39 (close), 35/38 (far)), allowing it to connect into the second hit more reliably.
  • The first and second hits have lower hitlag (1× → 0.8×) and SDI multipliers (1× → 0.5×), making them harder to escape.
  • The first and third hits have larger hitboxes (4.3u/4.3u → 5u/4.4u (hit 1), 4.9u → 5.1u (hit 3)), with the latter extending further horizontally (Z offset: 8u-12u → 7u-13u) and vertically (Y offset: 3.9u-4.2u → 3u-4.2u), improving their range.
  • Due to its reduced landing lag, and forward smash's improved range and knockback, the first hit has gained a KO setup into it at high percents.
  • The second hit extends further outwards (Z offset: 8u-12u → 7u-13u) and below Kirby (Y offset: 3.7u-4.2u → 2.8u-4.1u), improving its horizontal range, and allowing it to hit short or crouching characters, even in a rising short hop.
  • The second and third hit deal more damage (3% → 4% (hit 2), 5% → 6% (hit 3).
  • The third hit has a longer duration (frames 25-26 → 25-27).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has larger hitboxes (4u → 4.5u (clean), 3.4u → 3.5u (late)), and they extend further horizontally (Z offset: 7u-10.5u → 6u-13u (clean), 7u-10u → 6u-11u (late)), noticeably improving its range.
  • The clean hit has a longer duration (frames 6-7 → 6-8).
  • The clean hit has slightly less base knockback (20 → 15), hindering its KO potential.
  • The clean hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×), making it easier to DI.
  • The late hit has a shorter duration (frames 8-14 → 9-12).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8), less ending lag (FAF 40 → 36), and auto-cancels earlier (frame 22 → 20).
  • It deals more damage (9% → 10%) and has noticeably more knockback scaling (100 → 115), greatly improving its KO ability, without worsening its combo ability due to its reduced lag.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial's looping hits deal more damage (1% → 1.3%, total: 7% → 8.5%), with knockback scaling compensated (107 → 100).
  • The looping hits have a noticeably lower hitlag multiplier (1.5× → 0.8×), alongside a larger hitbox (5u → 6u), increasing their range and making them harder to escape from.
  • It can no longer be frame canceled, with its landing lag not reduced enough to compensate. As a result, it has more landing lag relative to Smash 4 if the landing hit connects, hindering its combo potential.
  • The last hit has a smaller hitbox (6.2u → 5.6u).

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 28 → 34 (standing), 39 → 42 (dash), 33 → 37 (pivot)), albeit they are still among the fastest in the game.
  • All grabs have less range (Z2 offset: 10.2u → 9.4u (standing), 12.1u → 11u (dash), -17.9u → -15.7u (pivot)).
  • Dash grab has slightly more startup lag (frame 8 → 9).
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals less damage (1.55% → 1%).
  • It has less startup (frame 9 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 10 → 6), but deals considerably more hitlag (4 frames → 11), increasing its effective duration.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw has Kirby jump slightly higher and further backwards at the end of the animation, able to reach the height of Battlefield's lower platform. The additional height weakens its combo potential at low percents, while the additional backwards distance pr