User:CanvasK/Max speed


 * updated

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, characters can have their speed increased by buffs, (e.g. Monado Arts), spirits, and certain items (e.g. Bunny Hoods). A character's walk and run motion is limited to 5× their scaled, "trans" bone movement. The "trans" bone controls movement of a character in an animation. A character's scale adjusts their model/armature. As the "trans" bone and animations are part of the armature, the character's movements are also scaled. For example, if a character's animation moves them 1.5 units in a frame and they have a scale of 0.8, their animation then moves 1.2 units in a frame. This "scaled" movement (the 1.2 in the example) is then affected by buffs, spirits, items, and the character's movement speed, with the combined result being capped at 5×. The maximum speed a character can go can be estimated by multiplying the "scaled" movement by 5 and the maximum multiplier would be that result divided by the character's normal max speed, assuming they have a smooth animation.

In order to keep a character's animation smooth and not appear like they are sliding across the stage, their "scaled" movement is further scaled to whatever the target speed is. For example, if a character's "scaled" movement is 1.2 units per frame and their running speed is 1.6 units per frame, that movement and animation will be increased by 1.333×. This 1.333× "game" movement then leaves 3.75× (5/1.333) left for other things like buffs, spirits, and items to affect the animation, but in turn affect the movement speed meaning they can reach a maximum speed of 6.0 units per frame (1.6×3.75=6.0).

Some characters don't have smooth, linear movements (such as Jigglypuff's skips), which can cause inconsistencies depending on which frames are scaled or skipped. Mii Brawler for example has some frames where they go 1.4382958 units and some where they go 2.9014592 units, over 1.5 unit difference. Using a max speed spirit team of 6.272× (Primary Weight ↓ (1.4), Ninja style (1.6), 1×Trade-Off Speed ↑ (1.4), 2×Undamaged Speed ↑ (2.0)) will allow Mii Brawler to reach the 5× limit for their slowest and average speed, but a Bunny Hood (2.0) is needed to reach the 5× limit for their maximum speed&mdash;this allows for a Mii Brawler to easily out run another one with the same spirit team just by using a Bunny Hood, even if the extra speed is only for a couple frames in the animation cycle. Zero Suit Samus' average max speed is higher than Captain Falcon's, but Captain Falcon can out run Zero Suit Samus because he has a couple frames that let his maximum reach higher. Due to this, characters listed in the tables below that are close in average max speed may not be properly ranked with when done in a long-distance race. But it should also be noted that because of the high speeds and consequential long acceleration times, that this situation is unlikely to be of any significance before a blastzone or ledge is reached even on the largest stages&mdash;stages that loop (such as Mario Bros.) will snap characters to the same position when they pass the camera, meaning a character that can loop in 50 frames won't gain any ground on another character that can loop in 50 frames.

This mechanic was added in Brawl and is present in Smash 4 as well. Crawling is not affected by this mechanic.


 * old

Measured on Mario Bros. by counting the number of frames it takes to loop around. Mario Bros. loops fighters that come within 25u of a blast line. Blast lines are at x=±200u, therefore 400u wide, -25u from both results in 350u. 350u is divided by frames to give speed in u/f. Size verified with Mii Gunner's walk (1u/f) which took 350f to loop.

Spirit team used: Primary Weight ↓ (Cat Peach, 1.4), Ninja style (1.6), 1×Trade-Off Speed ↑ (1.4), 2×Undamaged Speed ↑ (2.0). This team gives a run speed multiplier of 6.272 (the highest currently possible). Maxim Tomatoes and Heart Containers were used to remove the Trade-Off Speed's damage and activate the Undamaged Speeds. If the 6.272 multiplier was reached, a Bunny Hood (2.0) was used to try to push it further.

Fighter buffs, such as Monado Arts, Limit, Deep Breathing, etc. were tested. These hit the same limit as without them and as such were omitted from the list. A slower spirit team could use them to reach the limit, but with this team it is unnecessary.

If a fighter hits their limit, they can still win out in a pushing match against someone with a lower speed. For example, Palutena's limit is slower than Sonic's unmodified max run speed, letting him win in a race. If they run into each other, Palutena wins as she has excess speed past the limit (in another way, if the speed is 8 and the limit is 4, but there is a counter force of 2, 8-2=6 which is still limited to 4 and the counter force loses as 4>2). Using this to test is tricky as these speeds can exceed a lot of fighter's jostle force, which is also reduced by 20% due to the Weight ↓ making it even easier to surpass.

Palutena is the only fighter whose walk limit is over their run limit. Duck Hunt and Steve have equal walk and run limits.