Zelda (SSBU)/Neutral attack/Hit 1

Hitbox visualization showing Zelda's jab.

Overview[edit]

A small burst of magical energy from Zelda's palm. It is her fastest attack at frame 4, which gives it use as her safest combo finisher at low percents (e.g. from a falling down aerial or an up tilt at 0%), inflicting simple damage when transitioned into her rapid jab. The rapid jab finisher also has use as an emergency KO option.

On its own, jab can start combos at high percents, especially the higher Zelda's rage and the lower the opponent's weight. Most importantly, it can combo into down smash. Down tilt, up special and dash attack are also possible, but less reliable as KO confirms. Jab's combo ability is contingent on the inner hitboxes of the second hit connecting, and not the outer one. The outermost hitbox has much lower knockback, and will not provide sufficient frame advantage. In theory, many opponents can punish Zelda with a fast enough move if she tries to follow up with insufficient frame advantage. It is difficult for the opponent to tell which hitbox connected, however, so shielding will be their usual action out of hitstun. The opponent should be directly in front of Zelda at the beginning of the move in order for it to reliably combo. If the opponent is not safely close enough, Zelda can opt to simply use down smash outright. It's only 1 frame slower than jab while having better horizontal range, and often can KO on its own without needing the jab beforehand.

Another way jab can start a combo is by hitting opponents off the edge of platforms, which sends them into tumble. If the opponent misses the tech, Zelda can drop down with a fast-falled down aerial into a high-damage combo or kill confirm.

Jab is a moderate -13 on shield with a fast FAF, giving it some mixup potential on shields, especially if Zelda is behind the opponent.

Overall, its short range gives it poor use in neutral, but it has some uses that can result in rather unique KOs.

Update History[edit]

13.0.0

Neutral attack has less ending lag (FAF 25 → 24).

Hitboxes[edit]

The second hit's ID 4 hitbox does not have a hitstun modifier specified in the scripts, unlike the rest, but it still applies to it due to a glitch.

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			H×	SDI×	T%	Sound	Hit bits	Hit part	Hitstun
Hit 1
0	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	25	35	0	2.4	top	0.0	12.0	4.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All	—
1	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	25	30	0	2.4	top	0.0	12.0	7.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All	—
2	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	25	30	0	2.8	top	0.0	5.5	4.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All	—
3	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	25	20	0	3.2	top	0.0	11.8	10.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	Fighter only	All	—
4	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	25	20	0	3.2	top	0.0	11.8	10.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All	—
Hit 2
0	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	40	25	0	3.0	top	0.0	11.8	5.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All	+2 frames
1	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	40	25	0	3.0	top	0.0	11.8	8.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All	+2 frames
2	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	40	25	0	3.2	top	0.0	5.5	5.0	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All	+2 frames
3	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	25	20	0	3.5	top	0.0	11.5	11.5	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	Fighter only	All	+2 frames
4	0	0	2.5%	0	Forward	40	25	0	3.5	top	0.0	11.5	11.5	0.6×	1.0×	0%	Magic	All	All	—

Timing[edit]

Upon reaching the continuability window, the move transitions into the rapid jab if the button has been pressed and released at least 2 times since its initiation.