Roll

A rolling dodge, or simply roll (called EscapeF and EscapeB internally in Melees and Brawls files, depending on which direction the character is rolling) is a maneuver that moves the character left or right on the ground and allows them to dodge attacks for a brief window of time. It is performed by pressing the control stick left or right while holding a shield button.

Characters experience intangibility frames while rolling, though the duration and timing of these frames varies from character to character. It is advantageous for a character to have quick and long-distanced rolls because slow rolls are easier to react to and short rolls are easier to punish. Most characters use a rolling, somersaulting or spinning animation for this technique, hence the name, though others without an acrobatic physique (such as Zelda or Mewtwo) will instead simply step back, slide or even teleport (the latter being the case for Palutena and Rosalina) into the direction the control stick is flicked, and some such as Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch use a cartwheeling animation. Yoshi and Samus have particularly unique rolling animations: Yoshi rolls while in his Egg, and Samus rolls while in Morph Ball mode, though both rolls are considerably slow.

After rolling, characters will always end up facing the direction they came from. That is, characters that roll backwards will remain facing the same way, while characters that roll forwards will turn around. This lets characters close enough to an opponent roll to the opposite side of the foe and always end up facing them, which allows for easier punishment of laggy attacks or grabs. However, this property reduces their utility as an approach option. Additionally, characters cannot roll off edges; should they roll towards an edge, the character's movement will instantly halt at the edge while the remainder of the animation continues.

Computer players, especially high-leveled ones, often use rolls to evade attacks. Due to rolls' trait of moving the character while dodging attacks, most casual players tend to over-rely on them by using them preemptively even when not in range of any of their opponents' attacks, sometimes even preferring them over walking and dashing to simply move across the stage. However, due to their short duration and vulnerability frames at the end, excessive rolling can leave the user vulnerable against attacks by a more competent player, as the opponent can read their reaction and throw an attack into the direction they are going to roll into to punish them, or use attacks that hit at both sides and/or have long-lasting hitboxes, such as down smashes and neutral aerials. Additionally, simply faking a rush can threaten and condition such a player into rolling, allowing the rusher to punish them.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, rolling multiple times within a short timeframe causes each subsequent roll to be executed slower (thus increasing its lag) and grant less intangibility frames, leaving the player far more open to punishment. This trait, known as dodge staling, also applies to spot dodges and air dodges, such that overusing any type of dodge also affects the others.

Rolling vs. wavedashing (Super Smash Bros. Melee)
Many casual players believe that rolling and wavedashing play the same role and that the wavedash is just a superior version of the roll. This misconception exists because professional players wavedash in most situations in which casual players would roll. In fact, rolling and wavedashing play very different roles: rolling provides intangibility and generally more distance than a wavedash, but has a determined length and is more easily punished; it is generally used to get behind an attacking opponent or avoid attacks that cannot be wavedashed away from. On the other hand, wavedashing allows a character to act faster and attack while moving sideways at the expense of intangibility; it is generally used to quickly alter spacing or move towards an opponent while standing without turning around (like a forward roll would cause). If the wavedash did not exist, upper-level smashers would replace the wavedash with a dash dance in most situations, not a roll.

Rolling frames in Smash 64
All fighters are vulnerable for 3 frames at the start of a roll, then are invulnerable until frame 19 (except for Samus, who is invulnerable until frame 23).

Rolling frames in Melee
These lists show the intangibility and the total lag frames of the rolls, but not the distance travelled or the size of the character while rolling.

&#42; Samus' morph ball shrinks her body until frame 30.

Rolling distances in Melee
This list shows the overall rankings for how far the characters roll in Melee, taken from 's Melee information dump.

Rolling frames in Smash 4
In Smash 4, rolls have been sped up slightly for the majority of the cast, making them safer for repositioning and getting away from attacks. Additionally, with the exception of, all characters have identical frame data between their forward and back roll.

Rolls have been slightly nerfed in updates, with both version 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 reducing their intangibility by one frame at the end. The following list shows the frame data of rolls as of the latest version of the game.

Rolling frames in Ultimate
In Ultimate, the effectiveness of rolls has been reduced overall. While forward rolls keep the same overall speed as in SSB4, back rolls have received more ending lag by five frames on average, and grant intangibility one frame later for most characters. As a result, back rolls are now different from forward rolls for every character, unlike in previous installments, and due to their higher lag, rolling away from opponents is generally more punishable. Both types of rolls also grant slightly less intangibility across the cast, though this is compensated for some characters with slightly reduced ending lag on their forward rolls. Most notably, the rolls of, and , which were the slowest in Smash 4, have been sped up relative to other characters.

In addition to the direct changes to characters' rolls, a staleness mechanic has been introduced, which reduces their intangibility frames and lengthens their duration if they are performed repeatedly, gradually leaving the user more vulnerable. This mechanic is shared with spot dodges and air dodges.

The formula to determine a roll's duration before it can be interrupted is D * (1 + P), where D is the total duration of the roll when fresh, and P is a penalty value that increases by 0.06 for every forward roll, and 0.1 for every back roll. The penalty value caps at 0.3 for forward rolls, and 0.5 for back rolls; as a result, five consecutive uses of either roll will fully stale them, and back rolls have their duration increased more than forward rolls. The penalty is reset per each roll used every time the player spends roughly one second without using any kind of dodge. When fully stale, all rolls grant intangibility four frames later, making them worse for escaping pressure.

Rolling distances in Ultimate
This list shows the overall rankings for how far the characters roll in Ultimate. Values are approximated from the markings in and adjusted to account for the marking's incorrect scale (a 1 unit mark is around 1.067 units).

Trivia

 * In Super Smash Bros., a glitch occurs if or  repeatedly rolls backwards against a wall, which makes the character slowly move sideways out of the plane of gameplay. This causes them to dramatically increase in size, and they will eventually either appear to move randomly across the stage, or disappear entirely. If another action is inputted, the character returns to normal.