R.O.B. (SSB4)

R.O.B. in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	R.O.B.
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in Ultimate
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Super Diffusion Beam
Tier	D (35)

R.O.B. (ロボット, Robot) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. After initially being leaked on August 19th, 2014 as part of the ESRB leak, his reappearance to the series was officially announced on SSB4's official website on October 9th, 2014, during which Ganondorf was also announced.

R.O.B.'s realistic "beeping" robotic sounds from Super Smash Bros. Brawl are repurposed in Smash 4.

R.O.B. is ranked 35th out of 54 on the tier list, placing him in the D tier, a moderate drop from his placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 18th out of 38, thus resulting in his worst placement in the series to date. R.O.B. boasts his reowned strong zoning game and recovery: Robo Beam and Gyro are chargeable, long-ranged projectiles, while Robo Burner is versatile; covers impressive overall distance; and is complimented by his much faster air speed.

R.O.B. also possesses a strong air game, thanks to all excluding one of his aerials possessing disjointed hitboxes, alongside a capable grab game due to the useful applications of his throws. Despite being a heavyweight, R.O.B.'s overall mobility is also respectable. Notably, R.O.B.'s once poor KO potential has been significantly improved, thanks to receiving a number of strong KOing options.

However, R.O.B.'s grounded game lacks range compared to his air game. This is most obvious with his arm-based attacks, especially in regard to his overall grab, which is now the shortest-ranged in the game. While still remaining strong, R.O.B.'s zoning game has also been somewhat toned down; Robo Beam is slower and Gyro deals significantly less damage. R.O.B. is also susceptible to combos because of his heavy weight and large hurtbox. Lastly, his newfound KOing options are hindered by noticeable amounts of start-up lag and overall unsafety.

Overall, R.O.B. is a more powerful character compared to the previous game, thanks to him retaining all of his strengths and possessing noticeably improved KO potential; yet, the larger competition present and several of the tools the new characters possess, combined with the introduction of DLC characters, harm R.O.B more than in Brawl, thus resulting in a decline of his standing on the tier list relative to the cast. Despite that, R.O.B. still manages to maintain good success in the competitive scene due to gaining a number of dedicated players to his credit and acheiving impressive tournament results, such as the likes of Holy, LoNg0uw and especially 8BitMan.

How to unlock

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

• Play 70 VS Matches.
• Collect 200 unique trophies.

After completing one of the two methods, R.O.B. must then be defeated on PictoChat 2.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

• Play 60 VS Matches.
• Play through 10 rounds of Crazy Orders and defeat Crazy Hand.

After completing one of the two methods, R.O.B. must then be defeated on Wrecking Crew.

Attributes

R.O.B. is the tenth-heaviest character in the game, yet he possesses respectable overall mobility despite his weight class. This is thanks to his slightly above-average walking and average dashing speeds; above-average air, falling, fast falling speeds and air acceleration; high traction, jump and double jump; and low gravity. Altogether, these attributes allow R.O.B. to outmaneuver some of his fellow heavyweights; make him almost as mobile as a middleweight; and grant him better jumping prowess than most characters of either weight class.

Like in Brawl, R.O.B. is a zoning-oriented character with versatile projectiles to retain his opponents at bay. Robo Beam enables him to attack from a considerable distance, and becomes the noticeably stronger Super Robo Beam when it is left idle for 14.3 seconds. While Robo Beam interrupts opponents faster, Super Robo Beam deals more damage and has higher knockback growth. Gyro is an auto-chargeable projectile that becomes an item when fired. Compared to Robo Beam, it has a more favorable angle for disrupting opponents, while also being more manipulable as a projectile and having greater KOing potential. Thanks to R.O.B.'s item throws being among the strongest in the game, Gyro is also extremely useful when smash thrown as an item.

Aside from his offensive prowess with projectiles, R.O.B. himself also does not have issues against projectiles, courtesy of Arm Rotor's ability to reflect them with greater strength than they initially had. In addition to its reflection ability, Arm Rotor now boasts KO potential, thanks to its finishing hit possessing significantly higher knockback growth.

R.O.B.'s air game is also strong, thanks to the excellent and disjointed ranges of all excluding one of his aerials. Neutral aerial has large, disjointed hitboxes that make it a reliable combo starter at low to medium percentages when SHFF'd, as well as a useful spacing option. In addition, the clean hit can KO at high percentages while nearing the blast zones. Up aerial is one of R.O.B.'s best attacks in his entire kit overall, thanks to its usefulness in harassing airborne opponents by either juggling or KOing them. Back and down aerials are R.O.B.'s most damaging aerials when sweetspotted, and have large hitboxes like neutral aerial. However, they also boast specific strengths: the former has recovering potential thanks to its propelling R.O.B. forward slightly, whereas the latter is a meteor smash. Lastly, forward aerial is R.O.B.'s fastest aerial, which makes it reliable for spacing, especially when SHFF'd, as well as edge-guarding.

Unlike in Brawl, R.O.B. now boasts respectable KO potential, like his fellow heavyweights. Like his up aerial, back aerial, up throw and Arm Rotor, R.O.B.'s smash attacks now boast KO potential, thanks to being buffed in various ways. Forward smash's sweetspot deals slightly more damage and higher knockback. Although forward smash's other hitboxes deal less damage, they have been re-positioned farther outward, which improves its range. Up smash's sweetspot and down smash also deal more damage and, like forward smash, have had their hitboxes tweaked for the better: up smash now has hitboxes on R.O.B.'s arms that launch the opponent into its thruster hitboxes, whereas down smash is now a semi-spike.

R.O.B.'s outstanding grab game has also been improved. His set of grabs, while short-ranged, is quick, and his pummel is characterized by quick speed. Forward and back throws are still limited regarding utility, but are nevertheless decent for spacing and setting up edge-guards, as well as KOing at very high percentages at the edge. In comparison, R.O.B.'s up and down throws are much more useful. Up throw is his most damaging throw; a viable KOing option, especially when boosted by rage; and can even be used for combos at low percentages. In comparison, down throw deals respectable damage, and is a reliable combo starter into his up aerial from 0% to medium percentages.

Although R.O.B. possesses several noticeable strengths, he also has some noteworthy shortcomings. Despite his KO potential's drastic improvements, landing his KOing options can still be problematic because of their being laggy and/or unimpressive ranges. The latter trait is especially noticeable regarding R.O.B.'s arm-based attacks, most of which have hitboxes that have either become smaller and/or tweaked for the worse. For example, his grab game is hindered by his overall grab now being the shortest-ranged in the game because of his much smaller grabboxes, whereas his up tilt has drastically less utility because of its adjusted hitboxes.

In addition to the issues within R.O.B.'s hitboxes, his own hurtbox also hinders him, as it has become larger since Brawl. When coupled with his faster falling speed, he is much more susceptible to combo-oriented characters, such as Luigi and Zero Suit Samus. This is further compounded by his aerials' inability to reliably break combos: neutral and down aerials are too sluggish, forward and up aerials only hit in front of and above R.O.B., respectively, and back aerial has both slow start-up and only hits behind him.

While R.O.B.'s zoning game remains his greatest strength, the universal impact of projectile camping has somewhat toned it down. Gyro, in particular, has been the most adversely affected of his projectiles: in addition to retaining its susceptibility to being stolen, a fired Gyro deals drastically less damage and covers less range. The removal of glide tossing also significantly hinders its approaching potential. Robo Beam's nerfs are not as severe in comparison, but are nevertheless noticeable: it now deals slightly less damage, and both it and Super Robo Beam travel more slowly. As a a result of these nerfs, R.O.B. now has a more difficult time dealing with most characters that have better projectiles (such as Sheik and Diddy Kong); attacks that counteract his own projectiles (such as Fox and Falco); or both (such as Villager).

R.O.B.'s custom moves can alleviate several of his weaknesses. Wide Angle Beam, true to its name, can be aimed in a much wider arc, which enables R.O.B. to catch aerial opponents easily. However, it deals slightly less damage. Infinite Robo Beam, also true to its name, can be shot infinitely. This allows R.O.B. to use his zoning game constantly and defend himself. However, it also deals less damage, cannot ricochet, and Super Robo Beam needs to charge for longer. The Reflector Arm acts like a traditional reflector, having a higher reflection multiplier and longer duration. However, R.O.B. will not move when using it, preventing him from pressuring the opponent.

Backward Arm Rotor has a shorter duration, but is a very effective defensive option, as it moves R.O.B. backward, and comes out much faster (contrary to what its description suggests). High-Speed Burner has less fuel, but allows R.O.B. to recover more easily due to its increased aerial movement. Robo Rocket functions like a traditional recovery move, launching R.O.B. upwards, and can even meteor smash. However, it cannot be used in bursts, covers less horizontal distance, and its meteor smash is weak. Fire Gyro deals more damage, but covers less distance when fired. Slip Gyro slides across the stage, making it more predictable, but trips opponents when the Gyro hits them, giving R.O.B. access to many follow-ups.

Overall, R.O.B. is a defensive, yet non-traditional heavyweight zoner that still possesses a strong zoning game, but now wields improved close-range offense. While R.O.B. now has to use close-quarters combat more frequently because of his playstyle being less reliant on his projectiles, he can now effectively KO opponents without having to rack up an outstanding amount of damage, a trait that all of his fellow heavyweights share. As a result, he has become a more potent character than he was in Brawl and has some dedicated and noteworthy mains to his credit, such as Holy, Mister Eric, and 8BitMan.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

R.O.B. has received a mixture of buffs and nerfs in the transition from Brawl to Smash 4, but was noticeably nerfed overall. However, he has received noticeable buffs as well. The most prominent improvement was to his KO potential; several of his KO options in Brawl have become more powerful and/or slightly easier to land, while other moves have been strengthened as a whole to the point of possessing reasonable KO potential, such as his up aerial and down smash. R.O.B. has also received some benefits from the changes to Smash 4's mechanics, as the weakening of SDI improves the reliability of his multi-hitting moves and the changes to hitstun canceling and DI have improved his combo potential. R.O.B. also benefits from the introduction of rage as it further improves his KO power, while his solid recovery and heavy weight allow him to build up a high amount of rage. R.O.B.'s mobility has also improved significantly, especially in the air, sporting increased walking speed, dashing speed, air speed, falling speed, air acceleration, and gravity; in particular, the latter four are all above-average now, with the latter three no longer being among the lowest in the game, which makes him much more resilient.

However, R.O.B. also received some significant nerfs. His powerful zoning game has been impaired as his projectiles have seen some noticeable downgrades. Robo Beam travels significantly slower, while Gyro is much weaker when fully charged, and its firing rate is slower. R.O.B. was also one of the characters who was hindered the most by the removal of glide tossing, as it significantly hinders his approach with Gyros. This makes approaching more prominent, as R.O.B.'s camping and defensive game was significantly toned down. R.O.B. is a larger target, and a fair amount of his moves have reduced range, making him an even easier target to hit. Further compounding this is his increased falling speed and gravity, as while it does make him a lot more resilient and makes it drastically easier for him to land, it gives him a high susceptibility to combos, especially considering the changes to hitstun canceling. R.O.B.'s overall frame data has been nerfed as several of his attacks have increased startup lag, shorter durations, increased ending lag, or all three. R.O.B.'s aerial game has also been toned down: R.O.B.'s short hop is also significantly lower, which greatly reduces his aerial output, and his forward and back aerials have increased landing lag with the latter also possessing a much stricter auto-canceling window now, as well as his up and down aerials. While R.O.B. has much greater KO power, his existing KO moves have received some downgrades, making them harder to land, as many of them are noticeably laggier, and some of them, especially forward smash and back aerial, now have significantly weaker sourspots. Neutral aerial is weaker in exchange for having more combo potential, forward aerial is weaker and has increased ending lag, back aerial is drastically laggier and possesses several new sourspots, up aerial deals much less damage (although it connects more reliably and the final hit is stronger), and down aerial is weaker. His recovery was also slightly nerfed overall, as while his air speed and air acceleration are drastically faster, Robo Burner travels slower and covers less distance, while his aforementioned increased falling speed and slower back aerial further hinder his recovery.

Overall, while R.O.B.'s KO power is greater, it does not compensate for his worse zoning game, combined with his worse frame-data, aerial game, and recovery. R.O.B. is largely forced to engage in a mix of zoning and close-quarters combat to score KOs, and his worst frame data, reduced range on multiple moves, larger size, and increased susceptibility to combos do not help this matter. The changes to Smash 4's mechanics also do not benefit him as much as some other characters, as the changes to hitstun canceling are considered a double-edged sword for him, and he has seen some notable hindrances, especially from the removal of glide tossing. R.O.B. does not even benefit from having a better matchup spread as while he has an easier time against some of the characters who gave him a difficult time in Brawl, such as Meta Knight, King Dedede, Falco and Olimar, due to their severe nerfs, this cannot be said for the entire cast and he has a very difficult time against Cloud, and Bayonetta. As a result, R.O.B. is considerably worse than in Brawl, although he remains a relatively viable character.

Aesthetics

• R.O.B.'s design has slightly changed. His body now has a satin finish, instead of a polished finish; his gray-colored components are darker; his head is slightly smaller; and his eyes are slightly larger and have more defined lenses. Altogether, these changes make R.O.B. appear significantly more in line with his appearance as a real-life video game peripheral.
• R.O.B. has received two new alternate costumes.
• R.O.B.'s default costume now changes depending on the language the game is set to. The Famicom color scheme (which was R.O.B.'s default costume in Brawl) is still the default in the Japanese or Korean versions. All other versions use his NES colors as the default instead. The non-default color scheme appears as the second costume in both cases.
• R.O.B. now faces the foreground at an angle instead of facing directly forward. He also typically faces the screen, regardless of whether he is facing left or right.
• R.O.B. is more expressive; he appears angry while charging his up and down smashes, and during his up and down throws and Arm Rotor. R.O.B. also appears sad when he is grabbed.
• R.O.B. does not emote whatsoever in Versus Mode. However, he emotes properly in most other game modes, such as Training Mode.
• R.O.B.'s mechanical sound effects are lower-pitched.
• Arm-based attacks now emit visual trails that match R.O.B.'s selected color scheme.
• R.O.B.'s previously unused damage yells from Brawl's Sound Test are now heard when taking high knockback.

Attributes

• R.O.B. is larger, making his hurtbox bigger and thus easier to hit. While this would also improve his overall range, this is slightly mitigated by some of his moveset possessing smaller hitboxes.
• R.O.B. walks faster (1.1 → 1.122).
• R.O.B. dashes faster (1.5 → 1.568), although he dashes slower relative to the cast.
• R.O.B.'s air speed is significantly faster (0.89 → 1.08).
• R.O.B.'s air acceleration is drastically higher (0.046 → 0.085), going from the third-slowest in the game to above-average. This also improves his recovery, as his midair jump still halts all his horizontal momentum in the air.
• R.O.B. falls significantly faster (1.2 → 1.6), with him receiving the second-largest increase out of the entire cast, only behind Lucario. Relative to the cast, his falling speed has gone from the 5th-worst in the game to above-average. As a result, he is no longer a floaty character. This significantly improves his vertical endurance, but makes him much more susceptible to combos.
  • His fast-falling speed is also drastically faster (1.68 → 2.56).
• R.O.B.'s gravity is noticeably higher (0.065 → 0.09), going from the 7th-lowest in the game to above-average. When combined with his significantly increased falling speed, this substantially improves his ground-to-air transitioning and leaves him much less susceptible to juggling, but it also makes him more susceptible to combos, which is further exacerbated by the changes to hitstun canceling and his larger hurtboxes.
• R.O.B.'s item throw is stronger (0.9 → 1.02).
• Rolls have a longer duration (frames 4-15 → 4-16) and less ending lag (FAF 35 → 30).
• Rolls have a new animation where R.O.B. does not move as far into the Z-axis, allowing his opponents to punish his rolls sooner despite their increased intangibility.
• Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 33).
• Air dodge has a slightly shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 3-27).
• Spot dodge has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 2-20 → 3-17) and has more ending lag (FAF 26 → 27).
• Opponents gain much more height when footstooling off of R.O.B., making him much less susceptible to footstool-based combos.
• The changes to hitstun canceling both assist and hinder R.O.B.: it significantly improves his own combo potential, but it also makes him more susceptible to combos, especially when combined with his significantly increased falling speed, higher gravity, and larger hurtboxes.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The second hit of neutral attack now has consistent base knockback (40/30 → 40).
  • Both hits of neutral attack have a shorter duration (frames 3-6 → 3-4) and smaller hitboxes as all of their hitboxes excluding the main hitboxes have been removed, while their size (3u → 3.5u) and x/y/z offset (-1/0/-7 (both) → 0/10/12.5 (hit 1), 0/7.7/13 (hit 2)) were not fully compensated. This also means that the first hit always launches vertically (100°/361° → 100°), removing the near hit's ability to lock opponents.
  • Neutral attack has updated sound effects.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has more ending lag (FAF 30 → 34).
  • Up angled forward tilt has smaller hitboxes (4.2/4/3.5/4.2u → 4/3.8/2.5/4u).
• Up tilt:
  • Arms' tip and arms' base up tilt have significantly smaller hitboxes. Up tilt also has a shorter duration (frames 4-8 → 4-7).
  • Tip up tilt has a slightly larger hitbox.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals consistent damage (4%/5% → 5%).
  • Down tilt now has one extended hitbox rather than four separate hitboxes.
  • Down tilt has a smaller tripping chance (40% → 20%).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack deals 2% more damage (6% (arms)/5% (arms' tips) → 7%), deals more knockback (70/65/60 (base), 50 (scaling) → (70/65)/70) and has increased range, improving its spacing potential.
  • Dash attack has more ending lag (FAF 31 → 36).
• Forward smash:
  • Base forward smash deals 1% more damage (14% → 15%) and has increased knockback (30 (base), 95 (scaling) → 32/100), improving its KO potential.
  • Forward smash also has a slightly larger hitbox, and its mid and tip hitboxes have been re-positioned farther outward. Altogether, these changes improve its range.
  • Mid and tip forward smash deal less damage (13% (mid)/12% (tip) → 11.5%/6%), hindering their KO potential despite their higher knockback and having smaller hitboxes. Forward smash also has increased startup (frame 13 → 16) and ending lag (FAF 39 → 55).
  • Forward smash's animation has changed. R.O.B. now leans forward and positions his arms downward for support to fire the optical energy blast. His head also now rotates when it is charging.
  • Forward smash has updated sound effects.
  • Up and down angled forward smash have a lower hitlag multiplier (1.0× to 0.5×).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's sweetspot is now placed on R.O.B.'s base, while the sourspot is now the tip. This makes up smash a more powerful KO option against grounded opponents, but hinders its use as an anti-air.
  • Up smash's 12% sourspot has been removed. Its hitboxes have also been re-positioned further upward, improving its range.
  • Up smash has a new initial hit, which deals 3% and launches opponents at 111°. These changes significantly improve its reliability, giving up smash less startup lag (frame 12 → 10) and granting it out of shield potential.
  • Up smash has less knockback scaling (100 → 98), hindering its KO potential. It also has a smaller hitbox.
  • Up smash's main hit has increased start-up lag (frame 12 → 14) and up smash has increased ending lag (FAF 44 → 49).
  • The removal of DACUS also slightly hinders up smash's approaching potential.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's final hit deals more knockback (90 (base), 105 (scaling) → 37/160), significantly improving its KO potential. It also has larger hitboxes.
  • Due to its angle being altered (70° → 33°), down smash is now a semi-spike, significantly improving its edge-guarding potential.
  • The weakening of SDI makes down smash significantly more difficult to escape from.
  • It has increased startup (frame 4 → 7) and ending lag (FAF 35 → 46).
  • The multi-hits no longer deal consistent damage (2% → 2%/1.5%)

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial deals 2% less damage (10% → 8% (base)/6% (tip)) and has decreased knockback scaling (108 → 100 (base)/98 (tip)). When coupled with the changes to hitstun canceling, these changes grant and improve its combo potential. However, these changes significantly hinder its damage-racking and KO potential.
  • Neutral aerial has smaller hitboxes (8.0u/6.0u/4.0u → 7.0u/5.0u) and has lost the hitbox that launches opponents at an 80° angle.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has decreased start-up lag (frame 7 → 6).
  • Forward aerial deals less damage (10% (clean)/6% (late) → 7%). While this improves its wall of pain potential at higher percents combined with R.O.B.'s higher air speed, it significantly hinders its safety at lower percents and its KO potential.
  • It has a smaller hitbox, a shorter duration due to the removal of the late hit (frames 7-17 → 6-7), and more ending lag (FAF 32 → 36). Its higher ending lag, combined with R.O.B.'s lower short hop, prevents R.O.B. from performing another aerial after it in a short hop.
  • It has more landing lag (12 frames → 15).
• Back aerial:
  • Clean back aerial has more base knockback compared to the previous hitbox (30 → 32), improving the clean base's KO potential.
  • Back aerial's hitboxes are positioned farther outward, improving its range.
  • It propels R.O.B. slightly farther and stalls him slightly more (speed applied: 1.2 (horizontal)/0.1 (vertical) → 1.5/0.5), improving its recovery potential (although this is nullified by back aerial's increased lag).
  • Due to consisting of sweetspots and sourspots instead of a consistent hitbox, back aerial no longer deals consistent damage (11% → 12% (clean base)/10% (clean tip)/6% (late base)/4.5% (late tip)).
  • While the clean base is stronger, all other hitboxes are weaker, making back aerial a much more difficult aerial to utilize.
  • Back aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 11-25 → 19-23 (clean)/24-29 (late)), and has more ending ending lag (FAF 40 → 53), which is further exacerbated by its worse auto-cancel window (frame 26 → 46).
  • It has much more landing lag (12 frames → 22).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial's last hit deals 1% more damage (3% → 4%), has increased knockback (60 (base), 120 (scaling) → 45/180), and launches at a higher angle (60 → 70), granting it KO potential.
  • The weakening of SDI makes up aerial significantly more difficult to escape from.
  • Up aerial's loop hits deal less damage (4%/5% → 1.5%), which greatly decreases its overall damage potential (19%/20% → 10%).
  • Up aerial auto-cancels later (frame 36 → 40), now only doing so at the peak of a short hop.
• Down aerial:
  • Mid down aerial deals 2% less damage (13% → 11%) and its knockback was not fully compensated (30 (base), 100 (scaling) → 20/110). The mid hit is now the only hit that can meteor smash opponents, hindering its edgeguarding potential. The sweetspot also has a shorter duration (frames 20-24 → 20-21).
  • Down aerial has received a late hitbox that deals 8% and launches at 361°. This lengthens its duration (frames 20-24 → 20-26), but makes it more susceptible to punishment at low to medium percentages.
  • Down aerial has slightly larger hitboxes, and its hitboxes have been re-positioned farther downward. These changes improve its range. When coupled with the updated edge mechanics and the removal of meteor canceling, these changes also significantly improve its reliability.
  • Mid down aerial no longer meteor smashes grounded opponents (280°/80° → 80°/45°). These changes improve its KO potential but remove its ability to trip.
  • Down aerial auto-cancels later (frame 27 → 45), significantly hindering its use as a landing and spacing tool.

Throws/other attacks

• Grab:
  • All grabs have significantly smaller grabboxes (4.5/3.5u (standing/dash), 4.5/4/3.5u (pivot) → 2.8u (standing/pivot)/2.2u (dash)) and only have one grabbox instead of two. Altogether, R.O.B.'s grab now has the worst range in the game.
  • Standing and pivot grabs have increased start-up lag (frame 6 → 7 (standing), frame 10 → 11 (pivot)).
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals 2% less damage (10% → 8%).
• Up throw:
  • Up throw deals 2% more damage (10% → 12%), although with compensation on knockback (70 (base), 72 (scaling) → 60/70).
  • The changes to hitstun canceling combined with its altered knockback grant up throw combo potential at low percentages to medium percentages.
• Down throw:
  • The changes to hitstun canceling also significantly improve down throw's combo potential at low to medium percentages, and even having a down throw into up aerial 50/50 kill confirm known as the "Beep Boop".
• Edge attack:
  • R.O.B. has a new edge attack, a fiery blast from his thrusters.

Special moves

• Robo Beam:
  • Uncharged Robo Beam deals 2% more damage (5% → 7%).
  • Robo Beam deals less damage (5% → 4.5%).
  • Super Robo Beam deals 1% more damage (9% → 10%). It also charges six seconds faster (1220 frames → 860).
  • Robo Beam and Super Robo Beam travel slower.
  • Super Robo Beam's visual effects have changed. It is now wide and whitish yellow with a whitish crimson outline and cerulean trail, instead of being thin and whitish crimson.
• Arm Rotor:
  • Arm Rotor now deals consistent damage (1%/2% (loop)/3%/4% (last) → 1%/3%).
  • Arm Rotor has much more endlag (FAF 75-125 → 106-133).
  • Arm Rotor now has a finishing hit, making it less punishable. The final hit has increased knockback (40/50 (base), 120 (scaling) → 40/210), granting it KO potential.
  • Arm Rotor now covers significantly more distance when moved forward or backward, improving its approaching potential and safety.
  • The weakening of SDI makes Arm Rotor significantly more difficult to escape from.
• Robo Burner:
  • Robo Burner has slightly higher initial upwards acceleration (0.13 → 0.14).
  • Robo Burner has increased gravity (0.05 → 0.065).
    • Because of this, repeated bursts cover less distance.
  • Robo Burner has less fuel (150 frames → 130).
  • R.O.B.'s air speed is much lower when using Robo Burner (1.3 → 0.7).
  • Robo Burner's additional air acceleration is lower (0.025 → 0.02).
  • Robo Burner's fuel refills at a much slower rate (1.8 → 0.5).
    • Altogether, these changes hinder Robo Burner's recovery potential.
• Gyro:
  • Fully charged Gyro has much less startup when fired (frame 22 → 9).
  • Fully charged Gyro deals 8% less damage (18% → 10%) when fired. Gyro's firing range has also decreased.
  • Gyro's animation has changed. R.O.B. now recoils slightly when failing to pull a Gyro from his base. This new animation is significantly laggy.
  • Gyro has updated sound effects. It now emits a whirring sound while spinning by itself on-stage.
  • The removal of glide tossing significantly hinders Gyro's approach potential.
• Super Diffusion Beam:
  • R.O.B. has a new Final Smash, Super Diffusion Beam. R.O.B. re-configures his body into a cannon-like form to fire a large laser that fans out into smaller lasers that trap the opponent before concluding and then being immediately followed by a large energy blast. Compared to Diffusion Beam, Super Diffusion Beam deals less damage overall and has a shorter duration, but deals more knockback and has more range.
  • Unlike Diffusion Beam, Super Diffusion Beam forces R.O.B. to be stationary throughout its duration.
  • The regenerating terrain glitch has been fixed.

Update history

Like Mario and Pit, R.O.B. has received a very small number of direct changes from game updates. Update 1.0.4's changes to LSI indirectly buffed him by enabling his Beep Boop combo (down throw → up aerial) to function past low percentages, and become one of the game's most infamous 50/50 KO combos out of grab. However, update 1.0.6 notably decreased the knockback of R.O.B.'s up throw, with it now KOing roughly 15-20% later; previously, it was the strongest up throw in the game, and the seco