Lucario (SSB4)

Lucario in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Mega Evolution
Tier	B (17)

Lucario (ルカリオ, Lucario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Its return to the series was announced on January 31st, 2014, six years to the day of the year that Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in Japan. According to an extra post for its Miiverse reveal, this timing was done to commend the Brawl developers for succeeding in adding Lucario to Brawl.

Daisuke Namikawa reprises his role in the Japanese version from Brawl with new recorded voice clips of the game. Sean Schemmel, who voiced Sir Aaron's Lucario in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, now voices Lucario in the English version, replacing Bill Rogers from Brawl, after initially confirming that he would be reprising his role. As in Brawl, it is also voiced by different voice actors for SSB4's Spanish, French, German and Italian versions.

Lucario is ranked 17th out of 54 on the tier list, placing it in the B tier. Despite being buffed, this is a slight drop from its placement in Brawl, where it was ranked 11th out of 38. Lucario's signature Aura has been strengthened, which is further supplemented by the new rage mechanic. This makes most of its attacks among the strongest in the game when it is highly damaged, with its smash attacks, up and back throws, and its up and back aerials each being easily capable of KOing. The new Aura mechanics also grant new benefits to Lucario's special moves: with high Aura, Aura Sphere grows even larger than Lucario itself, Force Palm's blast possesses significantly more range, Extreme Speed covers much farther distance, and Double Team becomes one of the strongest counterattacks in the game. As a result, Lucario boasts very potent comeback potential, with a single opening being enough for it to KO careless opponents.

However, Lucario still maintains its below-average mobility, making it difficult for it to force an approach. Lucario's new Aura mechanics also cause its moves to deal drastically lower knockback and damage at low percentages, making it almost impossible to KO opponents until 150%. While this allows Lucario to combo reliably at low percentages, this makes it much harder for it to combo or create set-ups when it is highly damaged, due to the aforementioned strength of its attacks at high Aura and rage. As Lucario is also dependent on Aura to secure KOs, it has a riskier playstyle compared to many other characters. Some examples are its smash attacks, which have high lag, and Force Palm's grab, which can be escaped at low Aura. Finally, Extreme Speed now gains enough speed at max Aura that it can inadvertently cause a self-destruct if used recklessly, and the move has a full second of landing lag if it ends in the air, making Lucario heavily open for punishment.

Lucario has attained decent results in the competitive scene, though its representation is considered below-average. Despite having a number of upsets, such as at Frostbite 2017, where Japanese Lucario player Tsu- placed 2nd while defeating many top players like ZeRo, VoiD, Kameme and Salem, Lucario's true viability has been contested. While Serge and Day continue to develop its metagame, a number of players feel that Lucario's inherent playstyle makes it too risky to be a truly viable pick near the end of the metagame.

Attributes

Lucario is a middleweight with slightly below-average walking speed, average dashing speed, and above-average falling speed and air speed. It also has average gravity and air acceleration, and the highest traction. These attributes render Lucario's overall mobility average. It is also able to crawl, wall jump, and is one of the only five characters in the game that can wall cling.

Lucario possesses a unique mechanic called Aura. Aesthetically, Aura appears as blue, concentrated energy and affects Lucario's entire moveset. Mechanically, Aura is a damage multiplier with a baseline of 0.66× at 0%, and an apex of 1.7× when Lucario has received at least 190%. The multipliers also get multiplied whenever Lucario has a stock lead or not, effectively increasing or decreasing Lucario's Aura. When Lucario is 2 stocks or more ahead, Aura is affected by a 0.6333× multiplier. When at 1 stock ahead, it is affected by 0.8×, when at 1 stock behind, it is affected by 1.3333×, and when at 2 stocks or more behind, it is affected by 2×. This means that, even though most of Lucario's moves have high knockback scaling, their power is extremely low with low Aura; this grants it respectable combo potential, yet makes even its strongest attacks unable to KO until very high percentages. Conversely, high Aura does the opposite: it results in Lucario's combo potential becoming virtually nonexistent. Still, it grants its moves incredible power, with many of them easily surpassing every other character's at maximum Aura. In addition, the rage mechanic further boosts the knockback of Lucario's attacks, which complements their already high power.

Aside from that, another big strength of Lucario is the good versatility throughout its moveset. Its aerial game has good uses: neutral and forward aerials are good combo moves, either for starting or continuing them. Down aerial is Lucario's fastest one, and has the interesting property of canceling Lucario's momentum, which can lead to mind games or gimps. Up and back aerials are Lucario's strongest ones, and since they have immense power when Lucario is at high levels of Aura, they serve as very effective KO moves. Meanwhile, its grounded game also provides decent options, with its neutral attack, forward and down tilts serving as good anti-pressure options, up tilt serving as a decent combo starter, dash attack being a great option to punish laggy moves, and Lucario's smash attacks having immense strength overall. Next, its grab game boasts impressive benefits. Since Lucario's pummel is the fastest in the game, it can deal large amounts of damage at high percentages. Its up throw has decent knockback, and can combo effectively at most percentages. It is also the most damaging and one of the strongest when Lucario's Aura is high, making up for its increased power. Down throw can serve as a combo starter as well, but only on light opponents and at low Aura. Its forward throw is the fastest in the game, as well as the strongest of its kind, with high Aura, along with Bowser's. Finally, its back throw is a very powerful semi-spike, making it excellent for edgeguarding, tech-chasing, and, with sufficiently high Aura, KOing.

Lastly, Lucario has a very useful special moveset. Aura Sphere is a strong projectile very similar to Charge Shot, but since its size and power are affected by Aura, it is much more dangerous at high percentages. Additionally, its serious damage output when fully charged allows it to out-prioritize most moves in the game. The charging hitbox is also infamous for being a true combo into Lucario's up smash, which is particularly dangerous at high percentages. Force Palm shoots a blast of Aura forward, with its range and power increasing with Aura. If used at point-blank range, the move is treated as a grab, bypassing shields, and has immense power with enough Aura. Extreme Speed is Lucario's recovery move, and can cover extremely long distances if Lucario has taken much damage, making it virtually impossible to gimp. It can also launch opponents that get hit head-on. Finally, Double Team is Lucario's counterattack. It is the strongest counter in the game with sufficiently high Aura while possessing impressive range, but it is also the slowest, since any opponent that is not in hitlag will most likely avoid it.

Nevertheless, Lucario is not without flaws. Despite its reasonable endurance, Lucario's average weight and low air movement make it vulnerable to most combos. Extreme Speed, while being a potent recovery move, also has downsides- unless Lucario grabs the edge or lands before it concludes, its very high landing lag will render it completely vulnerable, forcing it to mix up its landing spot. With low Aura, the move is sluggish and does not grant much distance; with high Aura, it is possible to overshoot the stage and self-destruct if Lucario is not careful. As an attack, it is difficult to hit with, since Lucario can only damage the opponent head-on, without having very high power to compensate. Its combo game is also heavily reliant on throws, as most other combo moves have either very limited follow-up options or awkwardly positioned hitboxes.

Its most serious flaw, however, is the polarized strength throughout its moveset when utilized in tandem with the fluctuating Aura mechanic itself. Its fastest moves are the weakest, and its strongest moves are the slowest, making the latter very punishable if not spaced well. Lucario's Aura can sometimes work against it, as attacks with high knockback scaling are bound to finish Lucario off before it has a chance to make use of its rage and/or Aura at the same time. With low Aura, its powerful moves are too weak to KO, and with high Aura, its combo-oriented moves are too strong to be chained together reliably. This makes it imperative to keep in mind how Lucario's attacks and knockback will function depending on how much damage all active fighters have accumulated, as it cannot afford to make mistakes at high percentages. It also often restricts Lucario to using a bait and punish playstyle, as it cannot safely perform rushdowns without getting punished most of the time. This gives Lucario an unusual disadvantage against high-knockback and heavyweight characters; a well-placed and powerful move will often be all it takes to end Lucario at mid or even low percentages, preventing it from utilizing Aura effectively.

Lucario's custom moves offer unique benefits and changes in playstyle. Snaring Aura Sphere has a windbox that pulls opponents in and moves slower, essentially re-purposing the move from a spacing and camping tool to a stage control and edge-guarding tool. Piercing Aura Sphere moves much faster, hits at a lower angle, and goes straight through opponents, making it even better at spacing and camping, though at the cost of its immense power. Long-Distance Force Palm has less power, but as its name implies, it has more range, allowing Lucario to strike distant opponents more easily. The grab is also stronger and a semi-spike, making it lethal in any situation. Ride the Wind gives the full distance at any percentage as well as greatly improved maneuverability, at the negligible cost of removing the hitbox from the move. Lastly, Glancing Counter is considerably weaker, but always allows Lucario to attack even if it is not hit.

In the end, Lucario is a very technical character whose weaknesses are outweighed by its strengths. While aura makes Lucario's moveset stronger and it boasts great utility at all kinds of percentages overall, it cannot use all of its moves as effectively at certain percentages as others, meaning Lucario cannot afford to get too predictable when approaching as it can take high damage if not approaching correctly, and it might not be able to KO the opponent or even approach it if they know what Lucario will do. This makes playing with Lucario very methodical, as a small error could cost Lucario its advantage, even if it manages to regain the advantage in any way. Even so, Lucario does have a small but dedicated playerbase, with players like Day, Gomamugitya, Motsunabe, and Serge achieving strong results.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Lucario has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. The modifications to Aura both help and hinder Lucario, and make it much more of a "high-risk, high-reward" character. Lucario starts with a lower Aura multiplier, and it takes longer for Lucario to reach maximum Aura, although Lucario is much stronger once it reaches maximum Aura, and Aura charges up slightly faster. A number of its attacks have improved combo potentials with minimum to low Aura (although this is also due to the changes to hitstun canceling), but at the cost of their KO potential.

Like Aura, Lucario itself has been buffed and nerfed both directly and indirectly. The changes to hitstun canceling, make up and especially down throws combo starters with minimum to low Aura despite the former's higher knockback. By extension, up and down tilts have improved combo potential with minimum to low Aura. However, all of them, barring up throw, deal less damage. Lucario's recovery has noticeably improved as its air speed is significantly higher and Extreme Speed has received a hitbox, and its distance scales with Aura, making it safer and travel a greater distance. However, it is still susceptible to punishment, either by overshooting it while at high to maximum Aura, or by failing to mitigate its noticeably higher ending lag via landing on solid ground. Lastly, Lucario's smash attacks have slightly longer ranges, but are noticeably laggier.

Lucario also received several useful buffs. Its KO potential has improved, both directly and indirectly: up and back aerials are more reliable KOing options, due to their higher damage and base knockback, while the changes to Aura combined with the rage mechanic supplement them and its other KOing options. Outside of this, Lucario's entire moveset is now affected by Aura; its mobility has been largely improved; and Double Team is stronger.

However, Lucario has received some significant nerfs. One of the most prevalent nerfs Lucario received across its moveset is that many of its attacks have shorter hitbox durations, hindering Lucario's spacing ability. A noticeable example of this is forward aerial, where its duration was decreased from 14 frames to a mere 2 frames. Forward aerial also has an altered angle and significantly increased base knockback, hindering its combo and edgeguarding potential (although the removal of hitstun canceling has allowed it to maintain its combo potential). Lucario's down aerial is also weaker and has a weaker stalling effect, hindering its spacing potential. Lucario's falling speed has significantly increased, which hinders its aerial game and makes it much more susceptible to combos combined with the removal of hitstun canceling. Lucario's endurance is also noticeably worse, especially horizontally. Lucario's weight is slightly lower, and its gravity is higher, making it easier to KO horizontally. The removal of momentum canceling and the introduction of rage further reduce Lucario's endurance, making it harder for Lucario to build up Aura despite its changes. Lucario's damage output without maximum Aura is also lower, hindering Lucario's damage-racking abilities unless it has full Aura. Lastly, Lucario's jab is significantly laggier, removing the strong jab canceling potential it used to have.

Overall, Lucario is a less well-rounded character, being more of a high-risk, high-reward character. Lucario has greater KO potential, especially with high aura, in exchange for having an overall worse moveset and reduced survivability, which makes it harder for Lucario to survive long and build up Aura. The changes to Smash 4's mechanics benefit Lucario overall, albeit not to the extent of some other returning veterans, as Lucario did receive a couple of hindrances to the new mechanics. Lucario's strength overall relative to the cast remains similar, and it has achieved respectable results in spite of its relatively small player base.

Aesthetics

• Lucario's design has changed. Its forepaws, pupils, spikes, and the concha of its ears are slightly smaller. Additionally, the hook-shaped tip of its tail is significantly more pronounced, and the fur around its neck is no longer ruffled upward. Lastly, the aesthetic used in SSB4 has resulted in Lucario having a sleeker design, and the blue portion of its fur being more vibrant. Altogether, these changes make Lucario appear virtually identical to its appearance in Pokédex 3D Pro.
• Lucario is slightly more expressive.
• Up taunt's visual effects have changed. Lucario now surrounds itself with a jagged, flame-shaped field of Aura, instead of emitting tiny wisps of Aura from its body.
• Side taunt's visual effects have slightly changed. Lucario now emits a slightly larger blast of Aura.
• Unlike the previous game, Lucario's tail lacks physics-based movement.
• Lucario now vocalizes upon waking up from sleep status when not suffering from any knockback, similar to many newcomers such as Palutena and Shulk.

Attributes

• Aura has updated multipliers (0.7× → 0.66× (lowest), 1.4× → 1.7× (highest)) and percentage windows (0%-20% (minimum Aura)/21%-74% (low Aura) → 0%-69% (minimum to low Aura), 75%-169% → 70%-189% (average to high Aura), 170%+ → 190%+ (maximum Aura)). While Lucario is weaker with no Aura, Lucario builds up Aura faster, and while it takes longer for Lucario to reach maximum Aura, Lucario is significantly stronger with maximum Aura. These changes improve Lucario's combo potential with minimum to low Aura, and improve its KO potential with average to maximum Aura. However, they hinder its KO potential with minimum to low Aura, and hinder its combo potential with high to maximum Aura.
• Lucario's entire moveset is now affected by Aura.
• Lucario is lighter (100 → 99), hindering its endurance. While this would also make it less susceptible to combos, its much faster falling speed, higher gravity, and the changes to hitstun canceling collectively result in it being more susceptible to combos.
• Lucario walks faster (1.0 → 1.05).
• Lucario dashes faster (1.414 → 1.55).
• Lucario's air speed is faster (0.987 → 1.09).
• Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 2) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 32).
• Air dodge has a shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 2-25).
• Lucario falls drastically faster (1.2 → 1.68), with it receiving the largest increase out of everyone, matching its fast-falling speed from Brawl. Much like R.O.B., its falling speed is also much faster relative to the cast, going from the 5th worst to the 14th best. This significantly improves its vertical endurance, but makes it more susceptible to combos.
  • Lucario's fast-falling speed is also substantially faster (1.68 → 2.688).
• Lucario's gravity is higher (0.0625 → 0.084). This improves its aerial mobility, but hinders its horizontal endurance.
• Rolls have a shorter duration (frames 4-19 → 4-14) and have more ending lag (FAF 28 → 30), going from among the best rolls in the game to merely just slightly above average rolls.
• Spot dodge has a shorter duration (frame 2-20 → 2-15) and has more ending lag (FAF 26 → 27).
• The newly-added rage stacks with the effects of aura, further improving Lucario's KO potential with high Aura.
• However, the introduction of rage combined with the removal of momentum canceling as well as Lucario's lower weight and higher gravity significantly hinders Lucario's endurance, making it harder for Lucario to build up and make good use of Aura.
• The removal of meteor canceling hinders Lucario's endurance against meteor smashes due to its lower weight and higher falling speed, while it still has no meteor smashes of its own.
• Lucario's item throw is weaker (1 → 0.96). The removal of glide tossing also hinders Lucario's approach with items.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The second hit of neutral attack has less startup lag (frame 9 → 5), making it come sooner despite Lucario being unable to transition into the second hit for an extra 3 frames.
  • Neutral attack's first and last hits deal less damage (3% → 2.5% (hit 1), 5% → 3% (hit 3)) and the knockback scaling on the final hit was not fully compensated (110 → 120). The first two hits also have significantly increased ending lag (FAF 21 → 34 (hit 1), FAF 23 → 38 (hit 2)), drastically hindering their jab canceling potential.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has an altered animation where Lucario turns away more upon thrusting. Its unused hand is also tucked away in tandem.
  • Forward tilt deals less damage (5% → 4% (hit 1), (6% (body)/8% (arm) → 6%) (hit 2)), has a shorter duration (frames 12-18 → 12-16) and has more ending lag (FAF 30 → 33).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt no longer deals consistent damage (6% → 6% (foot)/5% (leg)), and deals less knockback (33/38/43 (base), 130 (scaling) → (45/45/50)/110). These changes significantly improve its combo potential with minimum to low Aura at low to medium percentages, and its juggling potential with average to high Aura at high percentages, but hinder its KO potential.
  • Up tilt has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 5-15 → 6-13).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals less damage (7% → 5%) and knockback (28 (base), 130 (scaling) → 37/110), improving its combo potential with minimum to low Aura at low percentages but hindering its damage racking and KO potential.
  • Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 9-15 → 9-12).
• Dash attack:
  • Lucario's dash attack has an improved animation: it performs a lunging flying kick angled diagonally upwards, instead of a simple jump kick from a dash.
  • Compared to the previous dash attack, it deals less damage (10% (clean)/7% (late) → 8%/6%), has a shorter duration (frames 7-18 → 7-15) and more ending lag (FAF 35 → 42).
  • It consists of one straight hitbox angled diagonally upwards, instead of three separate hitboxes with a larger foot hitbox. Its altered animation also causes its hitbox to be positioned significantly higher due to Lucario's lunge. Combined, this means dash attack can miss shorter or prone characters.
  • Dash attack has more knockback scaling (50 → 75) and better range due to its lunging animation, making it stronger despite its lower damage output. The late hit also has increased knockback (45 (base), 30 (scaling) → 70/75). Unlike the previous dash attack, it is affected by Aura, making it stronger when Lucario is at higher percentages.
• All smash attacks' animations have slightly changed. Lucario now stays in place and/or continuously trembles like the rest of the cast, instead of making a full movement.
• All smash attacks have slightly increased ranges.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash deals more knockback (25 (base), 93 (scaling) → 40/106).
  • Forward smash has a clean and late hit with both hits dealing consistent damage (14%/16% → 16% (clean)/14% (late).
  • Forward smash has a shorter duration (frames 22-29 → 22-25), and can no longer hit opponents behind Lucario.
  • Forward smash has increased ending lag (FAF 44 → 55).
• Up smash:
  • Clean up smash no longer deals consistent damage (13% → 14%/12%).
  • Up smash has received an additional hitbox that deals 4% and launches grounded opponents at 100°, decreasing its startup lag (frame 19 → 15) and slightly improving its horizontal range. The main hit also deals more knockback (32 (base), 95 (scaling) (clean), 28/100 (late) → 32/103).
  • Up smash has a much shorter duration (frames 19-42 → 15-23).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash deals more knockback (25 (base), 93 (scaling) → 30/99).
  • Down smash has increased ending lag (FAF 50 → 55).
  • Down smash has a shorter duration (frames 19-22 → 19-21).

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial deals less damage (11% (clean)/7% (late) → 8%/6%). This improves its combo potential with minimum to low Aura at low percentages, but hinders its spacing, edgeguarding, and KO potential.
  • Neutral aerial has increased start-up lag with a shorter duration (frames 6-24 → 8-11, 22-29), and has decreased range.
  • Neutral aerial has decreased ending lag (FAF 68 → 43).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial deals 1% more damage (5% → 6%), and deals much higher knockback (28 (base), 100 (scaling) → 80/70). It also has an altered angle (50° → 64°). The removal of hitstun canceling allows forward aerial to maintain its combo potential despite its higher knockback. Altogether, these changes improve its combo potential at low percentages but hinder its combo potential at higher percentages.
  • Forward aerial has a much shorter duration (frames 7-20 → 7-8), significantly hindering its spacing potential.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial deals more damage (12% (clean)/9% (late) → 15%), no longer having a weaker late hit and has increased base knockback (12 (clean)/7(late) → 30), significantly improving its KO potential.
  • Back aerial has increased start-up lag with a shorter duration (frames 15-28 → 16-19). It also auto-cancels later (frame 33 → 40).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial no longer deals consistent damage (10% → 11% (clean)/6% (late)).
  • Up aerial has increased base knockback (15 → 30).
  • Up aerial has a shorter duration (frames 10-21 → 10-11 (clean), 12-15 (late)) and it auto-cancels later (frame 27 → 29). The introduction of a late hit makes it harder to utilize up aerial as a KO move.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial deals less damage (8% (both) → 5% (hit 1)/6% (hit 2)) and has increased ending lag (FAF 29 → 31). Down aerial's stall effect is also weaker, hindering its stalling potential. It can also no longer auto-cancel in a short hop nor be performed multiple times in a short hop.

Throws/other attacks

• All grabs have increased ranges.
• Standing and dash grabs have decreased ending lag (FAF 30 → 29 (standing), FAF 40 → 36 (dash)).
• Pivot grab have more ending lag (FAF 30 → 34).
• Pummel:
  • The changes to Aura significantly improve Pummel's damage racking potential.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals 2% less damage (10% → 8%) and has decreased knockback scaling (65 → 55), hindering its spacing potential.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw has decreased knockback (60 (base), 65 (scaling) → 50/60).
  • Back throw is now affected by Aura, further hindering its spacing and KO potential with minimum to low Aura, but improving its KO potential with high Aura.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw deals 5% more damage (6% → 11%), has increased base knockback (60 → 70), and its angle has been altered (90° → 88°), improving its KO potential. The changes to Aura and hitstun canceling allow it to maintain its combo potential with minimum to low Aura at low to medium percentages despite these changes.
  • However, these changes hinder its overall combo potential, especially with high Aura, and the removal of chain grabbing hinders its damage racking potential.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw's angle has been altered (75° → 80°). When coupled with its lower knockback and the changes to hitstun canceling and DI, these changes improve its combo potential with low Aura.
  • Down throw is now affected by Aura, improving its combo potential at most Aura levels and improving its KO potential with high Aura, but hindering its combo potential with high Aura.
  • Down throw deals 3% less damage (10% → 7%), and its knockback scaling was not fully compensated (25 → 30). Lucario also releases the opponent sooner (frame 36 → 28), and the throw's ending lag was not fully compensated (FAF 52 → 51), hindering its follow-up potential.
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack now deals consistent damage compared to its old fast edge attack (8% (Aura)/6% (body) → 7%).

Special moves

• Aura Sphere:
  • Reverse Aura Sphere now slightly pushes Lucario backward, improving its mindgame potential.
  • Fully charged Aura Sphere deals less damage (18.75% → 17.25%).
  • Aura Sphere has updated visual effects. Its outline is thicker and makes it appear slightly jagged, instead of smooth.
• Force Palm:
  • Force Palm's size now scales with aura.
  • Force Palm's near blast deals 1.88% more damage (10% → 11.88%).
  • Force Palm's blast is larger, especially with high Aura, and the throw has increased knockback (40 (base), 83 (scaling) → 66/86).
  • Force Palm's mid and far blast deal less damage (9% (mid)/8% (far) → 7.56% (both)).
  • Force Palm's animation has changed. Lucario now leans in further with its body facing more at a more sideways angle, places its following arm high and behind itself, and performs a stomp with its leading foot while firing the blast.
  • Force Palm's visual and sound effects have changed. Its blast is now shaped like a smooth flame instead of a jagged flame, and its sound effect's pitch scales with Aura.
• Extreme Speed:
  • Extreme Speed has received a hitbox at the end of its animation that deals 3% and launches at 38°, improving its safety. The distance it covers also now scales with Aura, drastically improving its recovery.
  • Extreme Speed has increased ending lag. However, this can be avoided by ending it on the ground, or by making Lucario hit the stage headfirst.
  • Extreme Speed has updated visual effects. Lucario now emits streams of Aura from its forepaws.
  • Extreme Speed is reusable if it ends on the ground with tap jump disabled.
• Double Team:
  • Double Team has a longer duration (frames 5-35 → 5-39), increased power and range.
• Mega Lucario:
  • Lucario has a new Final Smash, Mega Lucario. Lucario undergoes Mega Evolution to become Mega Lucario. Unlike Aura Storm, Mega Lucario is a transformation-based Final Smash that can move freely across the stage. Mega Lucario has an Aura multiplier of 1.8×, regardless of Lucario's damage before Mega Evolving, and has both super armor and flinch resistance throughout its duration. However, its duration will shorten upon receiving damage.

Update history

Lucario has received a mix of buffs and nerfs from game updates. While it has experienced few direct changes, its most notable nerf in 1.0.4 gave a significant increase to Extreme Speed's landing lag if Lucario lands while helpless, making it notoriously exploitable. However, update 1.1.3 improved Lucario's mobility by increasing its walking, air and falling speeds, the latter of which makes it slightly less susceptible to vertical KOs.

The changes to shield mechanics have affected Lucario indirectly: due to the shieldstun increase brought about by update 1.1.1, Lucario could attempt to break shields by using Aura Sphere on the edge with the opponent shielding so the opponent could fall for an unavoidable KO if they did not attempt to SDI out of the move. However, this technique was very situational and was not used at high-level play.

Furthermore, Aura Sphere became even more situational as of update 1.1.3, thanks to its decreased hitlag resulting in it being impossible to perform with a charging Aura Sphere charge at low Aura. Despite this, it is still possible to perform with a charging Aura Sphere at high Aura, as the higher damage output generates more shieldstun and hitlag. Even so, Lucario's most damaging moves, such as its smash attacks and Force Palm, benefited from these changes thanks to their ranges and, in the case of its forward and down smashes, their hitlag.

1.0.4

• Forward smash's ending lag increased: frame 46 → 55.
• Down smash's ending lag increased: frame 50 → 55.
• Landing lag from helplessness increased: 36 → 60 frames.
• Extreme Speed/Extreme Speed Attack hit 2 ending lag (frames): 0 → 8
• Extreme Speed Attack hit 1 ending lag: 0 → 5

1.0.5

• Fixed a glitch where Extreme Speed could be used to cancel non-tumble hitstun (this was never present in the version).

1.0.6

• Fixed Extreme Speed's landing lag glitch.

1.0.8

• Neutral attack's first and second hits' knockback decreased. This allows them to connect together better.

1.1.1

• Glancing Counter's angle altered: 58° → 65°.
• Glancing Counter's ending lag decreased.

1.1.3

• Falling speed has been increased (1.56 → 1.68).
• Air speed (1.01 → 1.09), fast falling speed (2.496 → 2.688) and walking speed (1 → 1.05) have been increased.
• Aura Sphere charge (including custom variants) angle (80° → 83°).
• Aura Sphere (including custom variants) knockback scaling (100 → 93).
• Aura Sphere charge (including custom variants) hitlag modifier (1x → 0.78x), making it harder to DI..

Mega Lucario

• Aura Sphere (including custom variants) knockback (10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 12/93).
• Aura Sphere (including custom variants) hitlag modifier (1x → 0.78x), making it harder to DI.

Moveset

• Lucario's moveset is affected by Aura. The following moveset list details the properties of its attacks when its Aura is at its lowest (0%), average (70%), and highest levels (190%).
• Lucario is able to crawl, wall cling, and wall jump.

For a gallery of Lucario's hitboxes, see here.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Sweep (はらい) Thrust (つき) Kick Up (けりあげ, Kicking Lift)	2.5%	The kham choui, a downward sweeping punch in Shaolin Kung Fu, followed by the choong choui, a jab-style punch in Shaolin Kung Fu, followed by a stretch kick.
			2%
			3%