Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Lucina (SSBU): Difference between revisions

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(→‎Differences from {{SSBU|Marth}}: This info isn't super relevant because we care about differences, not tier list disparaging.)
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This hot streak for Lucina declined following the first PGR season, as her simple playstyle allowed many players to learn the matchup and adapt to her playstyle. As several of her best representatives only used Lucina as a pocket, she was ultimately dropped with little consequences, while some solo-Lucina players that stuck around saw their results decline, most notably Mr. E. Despite this decline, players still regarded her rather highly for the next few years thanks to ProtoBanham's performances, which only served to improve in the post-online metagame after he began winning majors with a mix of Lucina and {{SSBU|Min Min}}, and the rise of {{Sm|Leon}} in Europe's tournament scene. Her representation received a hit as a result of her shrinking playerbase and the rise of other swordfighters such as {{SSBU|Roy}} and [[Pyra (SSBU)|the]] [[Mythra (SSBU)|Aegis]], and as such it never reached the heights of the very early metagame. However, her representation nevertheless remained above-average, hovering between 15th and 27th between July 2019 and December 2022. Although Lucina was no longer considered a top tier character, she was still well-regarded in competitive play, and as such she was ranked 22nd on the first tier list, placing her towards the front of the A+ tier as a high-tier character.
This hot streak for Lucina declined following the first PGR season, as her simple playstyle allowed many players to learn the matchup and adapt to her playstyle. As several of her best representatives only used Lucina as a pocket, she was ultimately dropped with little consequences, while some solo-Lucina players that stuck around saw their results decline, most notably Mr. E. Despite this decline, players still regarded her rather highly for the next few years thanks to ProtoBanham's performances, which only served to improve in the post-online metagame after he began winning majors with a mix of Lucina and {{SSBU|Min Min}}, and the rise of {{Sm|Leon}} in Europe's tournament scene. Her representation received a hit as a result of her shrinking playerbase and the rise of other swordfighters such as {{SSBU|Roy}} and [[Pyra (SSBU)|the]] [[Mythra (SSBU)|Aegis]], and as such it never reached the heights of the very early metagame. However, her representation nevertheless remained above-average, hovering between 15th and 27th between July 2019 and December 2022. Although Lucina was no longer considered a top tier character, she was still well-regarded in competitive play, and as such she was ranked 22nd on the first tier list, placing her towards the front of the A+ tier as a high-tier character.


Following the first tier list, ProtoBanham's tournament activity declined sharply as he only attended a couple of events in 2023. Leon and Mr. E remained notable threats at majors, however their results were unable to make up for ProtoBanham's absence in top-level play. As such, Lucina's playerbase stagnated, which led her representation to drop from 27th at the end of 2022 to 45th by the end of 2023. This stagnation was reflected in her placement on the second tier list, where she fell 6 spots to 28th, placing her towards the end of the A- tier; partly responsible to this drop was the rise of [[Samus (SSBU)|the]] [[Dark Samus (SSBU)|Samuses]], {{SSBU|Sora}}, {{SSBU|Bayonetta}}, and {{SSBU|Corrin}} on the tier list, characters who were all previously ranked below Lucina.
Following the first tier list, ProtoBanham's tournament activity declined sharply as he only attended a couple of events in 2023. Leon and Mr. E remained notable threats at majors, however their results were unable to make up for ProtoBanham's absence in top-level play. As such, Lucina's playerbase stagnated, which led her representation to drop from 27th at the end of 2022 to 45th by the end of 2023. This stagnation was reflected in her placement on the second tier list, where she fell 6 spots to 28th, placing her towards the end of the A- tier; partly responsible for this drop was the rise of [[Samus (SSBU)|the]] [[Dark Samus (SSBU)|Samuses]], {{SSBU|Sora}}, {{SSBU|Bayonetta}}, and {{SSBU|Corrin}} on the tier list, characters who were all previously ranked below Lucina.


=={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: A Path of Heroes==
=={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: A Path of Heroes==

Revision as of 21:20, May 15, 2024

This article is about Lucina's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Lucina.
Lucina
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Lucina SSBU.png
FireEmblemSymbol.svg
Universe Fire Emblem
Other playable appearance in SSB4


Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Critical Hit
Tier A- (28)
Lucina (SSBU)

Lucina (ルキナ, Lucina) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She was officially revealed on June 12th, 2018 alongside Robin and the rest of the returning roster. Lucina is Marth's Echo Fighter, thus being classified as Fighter #21ε.

Both Laura Bailey and Yū Kobayashi reprise their roles as Lucina, with their portrayals from Super Smash Bros. 4 being re-purposed for the international and Japanese versions of Ultimate, respectively. As a consequence of this, Lucina is one of only two Fire Emblem characters in Ultimate to not be portrayed by their current English actor from Fire Emblem Heroes onward (in her case, Alexis Tipton, who has otherwise held the role since 2017); the other being Lyn.

Lucina is ranked 28th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing her in the A- tier. This is a slight drop from her placement in Smash 4 where she was ranked 14th out of 54, and places her above her base fighter, Marth.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

Lucina must then be defeated on Arena Ferox (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Being Marth's distant descendant and his Echo Fighter, Lucina's moveset and animations are generally based off of Marth's, and her attributes are also identical to his, being a tall and rather light middleweight with above-average mobility in most aspects; like him, she has the fastest walking speed in the game, a very fast initial dash speed, a decent running speed, a decent jump height, decent air acceleration and an average falling speed; however, her air speed is merely average, and her gravity value is low, the latter of these two values making her feel somewhat floaty in the air.

As in SSB4, the primary difference between Lucina and Marth is that Lucina lacks a tipper, meaning that her sword attacks deal equal damage throughout her blade. While her sword attacks deal more damage and knockback than Marth's weak sourspots, they deal less damage and knockback than his powerful tipper sweetspots. Theoretically, Marth should deal more overall damage when played optimally and can kill earlier, but Lucina can deal consistent damage and kill more reliably without worrying about precise spacing, and her KOing potential is significantly more consistent in comparison, especially at higher percents.

Overall, whether a person wants to use Lucina or Marth is based on their playstyle. Marth relies on spacing, more defensive play, and early KOs with his powerful tippers. Lucina can be played more aggressively, and relies on her more effective combos to increase the opponent's damage enough so she can KO the opponent. Marth has the potential to be more rewarding if used correctly, but Lucina's consistent damage and knockback gives her a stronger up-close game, makes her attacks significantly safer on shield and on hit than Marth's sourspotted moves, and gives her better matchups against smaller or faster characters that Marth can have a hard time landing his tippers against, such as Pikachu or Fox. Even without a tipper, Lucina is still extremely effective at spacing nevertheless. She also shares Marth's other strengths, such as his decent mobility, above-average frame data, strong juggling and edgeguarding capabilities, and decent out of shield options. As such, she is considered to be one of the easiest and most versatile characters in the game, even when compared to Marth.

Lucina's special moveset also possesses immense utility, and in two cases, more than that of Marth. Shield Breaker can break shields thanks to its high shield damage, even when uncharged, and it is useful for punishing rolls. It also grants some horizontal movement, which is amplified when fully charged, deals additional damage should it directly strike an opponent's head, and deals consistent damage unlike Marth's version. Dancing Blade can be used to punish sidesteps and boasts damage-racking, mix-up, KO and even recovery potential. Unlike Marth's version, the move is easier to properly connect due to its consistent hitboxes. Dolphin Slash has quick startup (coming out on frame 5), provides intangibility during its startup, and is relatively strong upon coming out. These attributes make it Lucina's primary method of recovery, as its speed can make it difficult to intercept, while also making it a decent out of shield option as well. In addition, its power combined with the aerial version's frame 1 intangibility makes it capable of breaking combos, and even stage spiking reckless edgeguarding attempts. Lastly, Counter is a counterattack with a 1.2× damage multiplier that can KO an opponent who uses a sufficiently strong attack, and can also be used to edgeguard many recovery moves with damaging hitboxes.

Despite her strengths and versatility, Lucina is not without flaws, most of them shared with Marth. Perhaps the biggest one is her difficulty in escaping from juggles; her air speed is average at best, her gravity is fairly low, her weight is slightly below-average and her tall hurtbox provides an easy target. Dolphin Slash is her only reliable combo breaker, but as it leaves her helpless, it can inadvertently put her in an even worse position. Also, while Counter can be used defensively, it leaves Lucina extremely vulnerable to punishment should it whiff. Lucina also has little defense against juggling, as her aerials are ineffective at relieving pressure; though her attacks have quick startup and decent range, many of them come with high ending lag, and also suffer from short hitbox durations. Additionally, being a solely sword-based character, her otherwise-excellent neutral game suffers from her lack of a projectile, and she can sometimes struggle against projectile-heavy characters and playstyles; however, her combination of high mobility, good range and decent frame data helps to alleviate this issue.

Like with Marth, Lucina's lackluster grab game is another notable weakness. Except for her up throw, all of her throws have low knockback scaling, preventing them from KOing at realistic percents, while up throw can only KO starting at extremely high percents if Lucina has no rage. Her only other throw with utility is her down throw, which has limited combo potential outside of lower percents due to its high base knockback. However, it should be noted that the high base knockback of her forward and back throws allow Lucina to take advantage of her good edgeguarding capability, especially at the edge.

Lucina herself is somewhat vulnerable to edgeguarding, though she has options for mix-ups with her recovery. Dolphin Slash is her only reliable vertical recovery option, and while it is still a threat to edgeguarders due to its speed, frame 1 intangibility and high stage spike ability, its path is linear and its distance fixed, making it fairly predictable. Additionally, since this move grants little horizontal distance, Lucina is vulnerable to semi-spikes. While Shield Breaker can aid her horizontal recovery, it covers little distance without charging and does not halt her vertical momentum either. Lucina is also heavily reliant on her double jump and directional air dodge for mix-ups in her recovery, and is in significant danger if offstage without either of them.

Overall, Lucina is a "lower-risk, higher-reward" version of Marth, and her strengths outweigh her weaknesses. She trades Marth's stronger KO potential courtesy of his stronger but notoriously inconsistent tippers for more consistent spacing and damage-racking abilities, better close-range capabilities, as well as more consistent KO potential. She has a low learning curve thanks to her straightforward playstyle, since she benefits from spacing at close range while also having several fast and reliably strong KOing options, however this linear playstyle can also hurt her as players will ultimately have a better time fighting her once they learned the matchup.

Differences from Marth

As mentioned above, the primary difference between Lucina and Marth is that Lucina lacks a tipper, meaning that her sword attacks deal equal damage throughout her blade. This means that Lucina will be able to rack up damage and KO much more consistently, but in turn does not have the option to KO as early as Marth does. In essence, Lucina has less risk but less reward compared to Marth.

Lucina was also slightly recloned from her previous appearance in SSB4, as she is no longer smaller than Marth (which increases the size of her hurtbox but improves her range), her up tilt will now move her forward slightly, and she no longer keeps her momentum on her neutral attack and up tilt. Despite losing these somewhat negligible differences, she keeps one other difference from SSB4: her up tilt has a unique sweetspot based on how late into the swing the opponent is hit. This ensures that she can rack up damage more easily with her up tilt as long as she is facing away from her opponent.

While Lucina and Marth have largely identical attacks, mobility attributes and frame data, the lack of a tipper spreads across Lucina's entire moveset, making her one of the more unique Echo Fighters alongside her father Chrom and Ken. As such, these three characters are ranked separately from their base fighters on tier lists, and are allowed to be used alongside their base fighters in Squad Strike.

Aesthetics

  • Change As with all other Echo Fighters, Lucina has different taunts and victory animations.
  • Change Lucina's on-screen appearance is slightly different from that of Marth, as she removes her mask. She also has a different No Contest animation as well.
  • Change Unlike all other Echo Fighters, Lucina's Screen KO animation is different from Marth's.
  • Change Lucina has an additional voice clip for taking medium knockback, a trait shared with Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, Palutena, Robin, Shulk, Ryu, Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta.
  • Change Lucina's victory theme is different from that of Marth, being a remix of the Fire Emblem Awakening song "Id (Purpose)."
  • Change Lucina's sword trails are completely opaque, while Marth's are only opaque at the tip of his blade.

Attributes

  • Change Unlike the Falchion, the Parallel Falchion lacks a tipper. As such, its entire blade deals equal damage and knockback on most attacks, equal to the weighted average of Marth's sweetspotted and sourspotted attacks.
    • Buff Moves that move Lucina forward, such as Dancing Blade, are more effective than Marth's variants, due to the forward movement counteracting with the tipper.
    • Buff Lucina can rack up damage more easily than Marth, as most of his Falchion is composed of its sourspot.
    • Buff This makes Lucina's combos, edgeguarding and KOing ability much more consistent, and gives her a significantly better up-close game.
    • Nerf Lucina's damage output and knockback values are lower than Marth's sweetspots. This renders her incapable of securing extremely early KOs like Marth can.
    • Nerf Because Lucina's sword attacks do more damage and knockback than Marth's sourspots, she lacks some of Marth's combos and KO confirms that rely on his sourspotted attacks.
  • Change Aside from her neutral attack and Dancing Blade, the rest of Lucina's moveset lacks hitlag modifiers.
  • Buff Lucina's spot dodge retains her horizontal momentum, granting it follow-ups that Marth's lacks.
  • Nerf Lucina's shield jump goes slightly higher than Marth's (38 → 40.85), resulting in it taking 3 frames longer for her to land on flat ground.

Ground attacks

  • Change The middle hitboxes of Lucina's up tilt, down tilt and dash attack cover the tip hitboxes more, mildly changing the range around the sword.
  • Buff Lucina's up tilt (named "Anti-air Slash" in the in-game tips) has a unique timing-based sweetspot. On the latter half of the slash, the attack does more damage while also having weaker knockback. The combination of less knockback and more damage allows her up tilt to rack more damage than Marth's as long as she is facing away from her opponent.
    • Nerf Since the timing-based sweetspot deals less knockback, it cannot be used to reliably KO as much as Marth's variant.
      • Buff However, this allows it more effective combo potential.
  • Change The arm hitbox of Lucina's up smash has a slightly different angle (90 → 89).

Air attacks

  • Buff All of up aerial's hitboxes have altered angles, even compared to the non-tippered hitboxes of Marth's version (80/90 → 85).
  • Nerf Due to Marth's down aerial meteor hitbox being a tipper, Lucina's meteor hitbox deals less damage (15% → 14.25%) reducing her edgeguarding potential.
    • Buff However, the meteor hitbox has better combo potential as a result of this.
  • Change The middle hitboxes of Lucina's forward, back and up aerials cover the tip hitboxes more, mildly changing the range around the sword.

Special moves

  • Shield Breaker:
    • Buff Lucina's Shield Breaker's animation is different. She leans farther back during its start-up, trembles more exaggeratedly while rearing her arm back, and takes a step forward during its thrust. This marginally improves Lucina's horizontal recovery potential compared to Marth's, due to her hitbox being slightly wider when using this move. This change is also reflected when Kirby copies the move.
  • Dolphin Slash:
    • Change Lucina may shout when using Dolphin Slash, whereas Marth does not vocalize when using it.
  • Counter:
    • Change Lucina's Counter's stance as well as the actual counterattack's animation are different. She also has different quotes when she counterattacks, saying either "My turn!" or "You're mine!"
      • Nerf The altered animation for the counterattack and its slightly smaller hitboxes (5.5u → 5.0u) cause it to have shorter range than Marth's version.
  • Critical Hit:
    • Change Lucina utters "Time to change fate!" when using her Final Smash, whereas Marth merely grunts.

Misc.

  • Change Lucina has a different pose when trapped inside of Steve's Minecart, being the same as Chrom's.
  • Change Lucina's Back Shield is positioned slightly lower (y offset: 8 → 7.5).

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Like her ancestor Marth, Lucina was a high-ranking character near the end of SSB4's lifespan, especially after receiving major buffs from game updates, thanks to her combination of speed and range. In the transition to Ultimate, Lucina has received a mix of buffs and nerfs, though despite being objectively nerfed, the indirect changes to the game's engine benefit her playstyle greatly. As a result, Lucina has been neither strongly buffed or nerfed overall.

Compared to other characters, Lucina has received few major, direct changes between games, with most of her notable nerfs being shared with Marth. Her biggest nerf is to her neutral attack; previously an excellent combo starter and neutral tool due to its first hit, it has been altered as with most neutral attacks so that it can only follow up into the second hit from the first, completely removing its powerful jab cancel from SSB4 that was vital to Lucina's gameplan in exchange for more situational locking potential. Her KO potential was also weakened, with her forward smash, forward aerial, Shield Breaker and Dancing Blade receiving knockback nerfs. Dolphin Slash and Counter are also slightly more punishable than before. Lucina's previously weak grab game was further neutered, with forward throw losing its combo potential and up throw, previously an emergency KO option with the aid of rage, being weaker; this limits her options against shields, forcing her to rely on breaking them through the usage of Shield Breaker. Lastly, her already linear recovery was also made less safe by the changes to air dodge mechanics as well as the reduction in edge sweetspot size, making her easier to edgeguard and thus worsening her survivability.

In spite of these nerfs, Lucina benefits from the gameplay changes to an extent far greater than Marth. The ability to dash cancel into any attack improves her grounded spacing ability (especially for her tilt attacks), and allow her to bait attacks with fox-trotting; this is all further compounded by her fast running speed, which has also been improved due to the universal increase in mobility. The reduction in landing lag on her aerials makes them safer for spacing and approaching, while also enhancing their combo ability. The general increase in shieldstun also makes the majority of her attacks safer on shield. All of these changes improve her more aggressive game compared to Marth, as the game's faster pace fosters more aggressive playstyles than in SSB4, allowing her greater close-combat capabilities to be an advantage in far more situations. Adding to this, the changes to air dodges also greatly enhance her juggling and edgeguarding capabilities, as they provide less leeway for opponents to recover against her wide aerials, further improving her edgeguarding game to the point it is among the most fearsome.

Lucina also received a few noteworthy direct buffs, the most notable of them being to Dancing Blade: the move was sped up greatly, allowing her to link each hit into one another more reliably. A few of her moves received slight damage increases, further helping her damage racking game. Lastly, her dash attack, previously one of her more mediocre options in the previous game, also received a knockback buff, giving it more utility.

Overall, Lucina's nerfs weaken the miscellaneous tools she had in SSB4 as well as further defining one of her weaknesses, but the buffs she has received and the game's different engine have benefited her in several ways that generally compensate for these nerfs, as they affect her much less than Marth due to not relying on tippers at all. As a result of this, Lucina is now generally considered superior to Marth; however,the slight nerfs Lucina has received in game updates and general optimizations to the metagame have resulted in her overall performing similarly effective in Ultimate as in SSB4.

Aesthetics

  • Change Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, Lucina's model features a more vibrant color scheme. Her clothing now has subtle detailing, and her hair has been reshaped. Her face also appears sharper, with her cheeks now showing a slight pink blush.
  • Change All of Lucina's alternate costumes have been modified. Additionally, her eighth costume, formerly based on Sumia, has been changed to a completely different color scheme.
  • Change Being an Echo Fighter of Marth, his animation changes carry over to Lucina:
    • Change Lucina has several new basic animations. Her idle, crouch, and sidestep all have new animations, and her jump animations have all been changed as well, resembling (but not identical to) Roy's jumps in SSB4. She also has a new screen KO animation. However, she will revert to her SSB4 idle pose and crouch when holding a small item.
    • Change Lucina now occasionally vocalizes when performing her first jump.
    • Change Lucina's cape has better physics and rigging, allowing for more fluid animations.
  • Change Lucina's victory theme is now a snippet of the Fire Emblem Awakening song, "Id (Purpose)".

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Lucina's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
  • Buff Lucina walks faster (1.5 → 1.575).
  • Buff Lucina runs faster (1.785 → 1.964).
    • Buff Lucina's initial dash is significantly faster (1.5 → 2.255).
  • Buff Lucina's air speed is faster (1.02 → 1.071).
  • Buff Lucina's traction is much higher (0.055 → 0.114).
  • Buff Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 30).
  • Nerf Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 4-15).
  • Nerf Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 31 → 35).
  • Buff Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 27 → 26).
  • Buff Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
  • Nerf Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 53).
  • Change Lucina is larger (model size multiplier: 0.92x → 0.95x), now being the same size as Marth. This increases her range, but also makes her hurtboxes larger, making her easier to hit.
  • Buff Lucina has a new jump animation where she picks up her feet more, allowing her to short hop over certain projectiles.

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff The first hit transitions into the second hit much faster (frame 19 → 11), allowing it to connect better.
    • Buff The second hit has more knockback scaling (45 → 75).
    • Nerf Neutral attack does not retain Lucina's horizontal momentum anymore; like Marth, she stops if she uses her neutral attack.
    • Nerf Both hits have shorter durations, with the second hit also having more startup (frames 5-7 → 5-6 (hit 1), 3-5 → 4-5 (hit 2)).
    • Nerf Both hits have higher hitlag multipliers (0.7× → 1.3×), giving opponents more time to SDI the first hit and DI the second hit.
    • Nerf The first hit has altered angles (78°/65°/90° → 361°/361°/180°/361°) and knockback (55 base/30 scaling → 30 base/15/12/12/12 scaling) to keep opponents close to Lucina, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows it to jab lock much like in Smash 4 before update 1.0.8, but most importantly removes all its guaranteed jab cancel setups.
    • Change The first hit has an altered animation where Lucina swings in a more horizontal arc, matching its hitboxes better.
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt deals slightly more damage (10.925% → 11%).
    • Nerf It has less knockback scaling (77 → 74), KOing later despite its slightly higher damage output.
  • Up tilt:
    • Nerf Up tilt does not retain Lucina's horizontal momentum anymore; like Marth, she stops if she uses her up tilt.
    • Buff Up tilt has 2 new hitboxes on the first frame of its activation, improving the first frame's notoriously poor range.
    • Change Lucina's up tilt has her move forward just like Marth's. This improves its horizontal range, but makes it harder to repeatedly land the stronger late hit.
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Dash attack deals more damage (9.975% → 10.925%).
    • Buff It deals significantly more knockback (48 base/58 scaling → 75/67), giving it KO potential.
    • Buff It has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 1.5×, which combined with the increased shieldstun for ground attacks makes it safer on shield.
    • Change The move has a different animation, with Lucina swinging in a slightly more horizontal arc.
  • Forward smash:
    • Nerf Forward smash has less knockback scaling (80 → 73).
  • Up smash:
    • Buff Up smash's launcher hitbox can no longer hit on the same frame as the sword hitboxes and override their knockback at low percents, making it more consistent.
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash launches at a consistent angle (75°/361° (hit 1), 60°/361° (hit 2) → 361°), allowing it to set up edgeguards and KO near edges more effectively, despite the lower base knockback on both hits (60 (both) → 55 (front)/45 (back)).
    • Nerf It has one frame more ending lag (FAF 55 → 56).

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials have reduced landing lag (12 frames → 7 (neutral), 16 → 10 (forward), 17 → 10 (back), 14 → 8 (up), 24 → 14 (down)).
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff Neutral aerial's first hit has more base knockback (30 → 45/45/35) and altered angles (80°/75°/65°/90° → 75°/80°/90°), allowing it to connect into the second hit while rising, and improving its combo potential on landing when combined with its lower landing lag.
    • Buff It deals slightly more damage (4.2% → 4.275% (hit 1), 8.5% → 8.55% (hit 2)).
    • Nerf Both hits now use 3 larger hitboxes rather than 4 smaller hitboxes (3.5u/3u/2u/3.5u → 3.8u/4u/3.3u), slightly reducing its range overall.
  • Forward aerial:
    • Nerf Forward aerial has altered hitbox placements (2u/0u/7.7u → 3.5u/0u/7.5u (Z-offset), 0u/0u/0u → 1u/1u/1u (X-offset)), and the hitboxes are smaller overall (3.5u/3.5u/3.5u → 3u/3.8u/3u), reducing its range.
    • Nerf It has less knockback scaling (85 → 77), hindering its KO and edgeguarding potential.
      • Buff However, it combos until later percentages as a result.
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff It deals slightly more damage (11.8% → 11.875%).
    • Nerf Back aerial has altered hitbox placements (2.0u/0u/7.7u → 3.7u/0u/7u (Z-offset), 0u/0u/0u → 0u/2u/0u (X-offset)), reducing its range.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff The removal of teching for grounded meteor smashes improves down aerial's combo potential onstage, compounded further by its lower landing lag.
    • Buff It deals slightly more damage (12.3% → 12.35% (non-meteor), 14.2% → 14.25% (meteor)).
    • Buff The meteor smash hitbox is larger (4.3u → 5u), and lower down (Y offset: -3u → -3.3u), improving its range.
    • Nerf The meteor hitbox has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×).

Throws and other attacks

  • Grabs:
    • Buff Standing grab has less startup (frame 7 → 6).
    • Nerf All grabs have increased ending lag (FAF 30 → 35 (standing), 37 → 43 (dash), 35 → 38 (pivot)).
    • Nerf Dash and pivot grab have more startup (frame 8 → 9 (dash), 9 → 10 (pivot)).
  • Change The speed of Lucina's throws is no longer weight-dependent. This improves her down throw's combo potential on heavyweights, but reduces it on lightweights.
  • Nerf All of Lucina's throws except up throw trigger a hitlag effect before the release frame, with back throw also having more startup, and thus they release the opponent later (frame 15 → 18 (forward), 8 → 19 (back), 16 → 20 (down)), making them easier to DI.
    • Buff However, back throw's total duration remains unchanged, giving it less ending lag.
  • Pummel:
    • Nerf Pummel deals less damage (2% → 1.3%).
    • Change It deals more hitlag (4 frames → 14), but has much less startup (frame 6 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 7).
  • Forward throw:
    • Change Lucina has a new forward throw, a quick elbow strike to the opponent's chest.
    • Nerf Due to the faster knockback physics, it has lost its combo potential.
  • Up throw:
    • Buff Up throw deals more damage (4% → 5%).
    • Nerf It has less knockback scaling (120 → 102), KOing slightly later despite its higher damage output.
  • Down throw:
    • Nerf Down throw deals less damage (5% → 4%), with knockback scaling compensated (50 → 57).
    • Nerf The faster knockback physics, combined with the throw no longer being weight-dependent, hinder its combo potential against much of the cast, due to the move's high base knockback compared to other throws.
    • Change Its animation has been changed slightly, with Lucina slamming the opponent onto the ground with a more exaggerated throw.
  • Edge attack:
    • Buff Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

  • Shield Breaker:
    • Buff Shield Breaker can be angled vertically.
    • Buff It deals 1.15× its regular damage if it hits an opponent's head.
    • Nerf Shield Breaker has less knockback scaling (95 → 90).
    • Nerf Fully charged Shield Breaker has slightly more startup lag (frame 78 → 79).
    • Change Shield Breaker only has the Parallel Falchion glow purple instead of Lucina's whole body.
    • Change The move triggers Special Zoom upon breaking an opponent's shield.
  • Dancing Blade:
    • Buff All swings except the first have less startup (frame 9 → 5 (second, neutral), 7 → 4 (second, up), 6 → 4 (third, neutral), 8 → 5 (third, up & down), 13 → 7 (fourth, neutral & down), 11 → 6 (fourth, up)), allowing the move to execute faster and connect all hits more reliably.
    • Buff All swings except the fourth ones have lower hitlag multipliers (1× → 0.5× (first), 0.7× (second & third)), allowing the move to transition faster and making it harder to SDI out of.
    • Buff All swings except the fourth ones deal less knockback (25 base/75 scaling → 25/30 (first), 30/30 → 30/25 (second, neutral), 30/60 → 30/25 (second, up), 40/43 → 55/30 (third, neutral), 40/50 → 55/30/30/50 (third, up), 50/28 → 40/30 (third, down)), improving their linking ability at high percents.
    • Buff The first swing has less ending lag (FAF 42 → 40 (grounded), 32 → 30 (aerial)), as does the fourth upward swing (FAF 51 → 45).
    • Buff The first two neutral swings have different angles (78°/92°/20° → 361°/90°/361° (first), 60°/65°/40° → 361° (second)), granting them the ability to lock.
    • Buff The fourth downward swing's hits after the first are faster (frame 19, 25, 31, 37 → 10, 13, 16, 19), and the first four hits have less knockback scaling (40 → 20), allowing them to connect better and preventing opponents from jumping out of them at low percents.
      • Nerf However, it has much more ending lag in combination with the faster swings (FAF 72 → 75).
    • Nerf All swings deal less damage (3.325% → 2.85% (first & second), 4.275% → 3.325% (third, neutral & up), 4.75% → 3.325% (third, down), 5.7% → 4.75% (fourth, neutral), 6.65% → 5.7% (fourth, up), 4.75% → 4.275% (fourth, down, last hit)).
    • Nerf The first swing has more startup (frame 6 → 9).
    • Nerf The fourth forward swing has lower knockback overall (60 base/130 scaling → 74 base/115 scaling), which alongside its lower damage hinders its KO potential.
    • Nerf The fourth upward swing has more base knockback (60 → 80/85), but drastically less knockback scaling (118 → 40), removing its ability to KO at realistic percents.
    • Change Dancing Blade's neutral swings all have altered animations, except for the third. The first one is an outward swing similar to her forward tilt, the second is a vertical swing instead of a horizontal one, and the final swing no longer has Lucina spinning before she slashes the opponent.
    • Change The third downward swing has an altered animation, now being a low outward swing instead of a stab.
  • Dolphin Slash:
    • Nerf Dolphin Slash has more landing lag (20 frames → 24).
    • Change It leaves multiple afterimages of Lucina during the leap, akin to the effect used by Fox Illusion and Falco Phantasm.
  • Counter:
    • Buff Counter's counterattack has less startup (frame 5 → 4).
    • Nerf Counter has more ending lag (counter: FAF 60 → 65, attack: FAF 36 → 41).
    • Change If a powerful enough attack is countered, it causes a large yellow flash, and plays the noise from Critical Hit if the counterattack successfully lands.
  • Critical Hit:
    • Buff Due to the changes to teching, Critical Hit is almost impossible to tech, although under some circumstances such as with Shulk's Shield Monado Art, it can still be teched at very low percentages.

Update history

Unlike Marth, who was slightly buffed, Lucina was slightly nerfed overall, likely as a result of her perceived top-tier status. Update 3.0.0 increased the range of her dash grab, much like Marth, Roy, and Chrom. The nerfs to the shield damage of various projectiles also benefits Lucina, making it easier for her to overcome projectile camping from various characters. However, update 3.1.0 reduced the knockback scaling of her forward smash and forward aerial, somewhat hindering her KO ability, though forward aerial combos for somewhat longer as a result.

Despite this, and due to no further nerfing, Lucina remains highly viable in the competitive scene and is seen as superior to Marth, her parent character.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 1.1.0

  • Change The animation for swinging with a battering item has been adjusted.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.0.0

  • Buff The grounded-only grabbox of dash grab was made bigger (2.6u → 3.0u) and placed higher (Y offsets: 7.0 → 7.25). This notably prevents it from missing a shielding R.O.B..

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.1.0

  • Nerf Forward smash has less knockback scaling (77 → 73).
  • Change Forward aerial has less knockback scaling (81 → 77), hindering its edgeguarding and KO potential. However, this improves its combo potential at later percentages.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 12.0.0

  • Bug fix Fixed an issue that caused opponents to sometimes go below the ledge and get bounced off the side of the stage after using down throw.

Moveset

  • Lucina's overall damage output is close to the weighted average of each of the hitboxes of Marth's attacks.

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

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack Slash (スラッシュ) / Combination Slash (コンビネーションスラッシュ) 3.325% Slashes the Parallel Falchion twice in front of herself. The first hit can also jab lock. It is tied with her up aerial and Dolphin Slash as her fastest move in her entire moveset as well.
4.75%
Forward tilt Hard Edge (ハードエッジ) 11% A fast upward swipe while leaning forward. Has a large arc that is useful for spacing. Can hit opponents standing on top of some platforms. The move can also serve as an emergency KO move near the ledge at extremely high percents.
Up tilt Anti-air Slash (アンチエアスラッシュ) 7.6% (early), 8.075% (late) Swings the Parallel Falchion in a large arc above her head, with a large hitbox that can hit enemies in front of, above and behind her. Has the fastest startup out of Lucina's tilts. Additionally, the move has a timing-based sweetspot unlike Marth's version; on the latter half of the swing, Lucina deals more damage but less knockback, allowing her to rack up damage more easily as long as she is facing away from her opponent. Covers platforms very well and is useful for juggling and starting aerial combos. It can KO at very high percents as well.
Down tilt Low Thrust (ロースラスト) 8.5% A quick crouching sword poke. Has the lowest ending lag out of Lucina's tilts, making it useful for interrupting grounded approaches and creating space. Deals semi-spike knockback, making it useful for edgeguarding. Knocks opponents into a tumble around 80%, which can force opponents into a tech-chase situation.
Dash attack Raid Chop (レイドチョップ) 10.925% A running, upward-sweeping diagonal slash. Has somewhat slow startup for a dash attack, but deals decent horizontal knockback, KOing middleweights at the edge at around 130%. Has notable ending lag and low hitlag, making it rather unsafe against shields. Compared to forward tilt, it has slower startup, higher ending lag, less vertical range, is less safe on shield, and is more situational, but it has more horizontal range and KOs much sooner.
Forward smash Dragon Killer (ドラゴンキラー) 15% Rotates her body counter-clockwise with a strong overarching one-handed swing from her head to the ground. Very fast startup for a forward smash, but has high ending lag. Deals considerably high knockback, KOing middleweights at the edge around 82%.
Up smash Justice Sword (ジャスティスソード) 3% (ground), 14.25% (blade). A quick, upward thrust. The weak grounded hit can knock nearby opponents into the main attack. Good for aerial protection and chasing down landing opponents. It is also comparatively more reliable than Marth's, because of the positioning needed for him to land a sweetspot in his case.
Down smash Whirlwind (ワールウインド) 9.5% (hit 1), 14% (hit 2) Sweeps the Parallel Falchion on the ground toward the front outward then toward the back inward. The back hit is noticeably stronger than the front hit. Lucina's fastest smash attack, though it also has high ending lag.
Neutral aerial Double Slash (ダブルスラッシュ) 4.275% (hit 1), 8.55% (hit 2) Two horizontal slashes around herself via an inward slash followed into a full 360° outward spin. The second hit can hit on both sides of Lucina, and can be used to create space by short hopping then fast-falling immediately after using the move in the air. The first hit has low knockback scaling, which when combined with fast falling and the move's low landing lag, allows it to combo into many of Lucina's tilts, and even her forward smash, even at high percentages. The second hit has moderately strong knockback, KOing middleweights at the edge around 120%.
Forward aerial Flag Cut (フラッグカット) 10.5% Does a descending crescent slash in front of her with great coverage. This is Lucina's best tool for air combat, and its reasonably low landing lag makes it very safe when spaced properly. Lucina can also use this move more reliably than Marth can, as it deals relatively high damage and knockback throughout. Around 27%, it begins to knock opponents into a tumble, which can force a tech-chase situation. KOs middleweights at the edge around 150%.
Back aerial About Face (アッパースイング, Upper Swing) 11.875% An upward crescent slash behind her in an inward swipe. Has the interesting property of turning Lucina around, changing the direction she is facing. Similar use to her forward aerial, although with more knockback and a smaller hitbox. Safe on shield when spaced low to the ground. Rather strong given its speed, KOing middleweights at the edge around 110%.
Up aerial Luna Slash (ルナスラッシュ) 11.4% An overhead crescent slash with good coverage, ending in a delayed somersault. Lucina's fastest aerial, it is good for juggling thanks to its large arc, making it a good anti-air as well, and has moderate knockback. Due to its angle, it makes for a reliable combo starter, especially on landing. Compared to Marth's, it loses true combo percent potential sooner due to its greater knockback compared to his equivalent move's sourspot. It can KO at very high percents near the upper blast zone.
Down aerial Halfmoon (ハーフムーン) 12.35% (non-meteor), 14.25% (meteor) A downward, wide crescent slash with large coverage. If the attack connects at the middle of the swinging arc (directly below Lucina), it serves as a powerful meteor smash. However, the meteor smash window only lasts for one frame (frame 11), and the move has very high ending lag for a down aerial. Can be useful against cross-ups and as an out of shield option as it starts behind Lucina and covers a wide area below her.
Grab Grab (つかみ) Reaches out with her free hand.
Pummel Grab Kneebutt (つかみニーバット) 1.3% A knee strike.
Forward throw Elbowbutt (エルボーバット) 4% An elbow strike with her sword arm. Can be used to set up edgeguards, but it is not useful for comboing or KOing.
Back throw Leg Hooker (レッグフッカー) 4% Tosses the opponent over her leg, sending them behind her. Like with forward throw, its high base knockback allows her to set up edgeguarding, but it cannot combo or KO reliably.
Up throw Casting (キャスティング) 5% A powerful one-armed upward throw. Lucina's strongest throw, which can KO at extremely high percentages. However, it is fairly weak for a KO throw.
Down throw Grab Drop (グラブドロップ) 4% Throws opponent to the ground with one arm, bouncing them upwards. Lucina's combo throw. At low to mid percents, its angle and high base knockback allow it to follow up into an up or back aerial depending on DI, or only an up aerial at higher percents. Despite having low knockback scaling, it still loses its combo potential at around roughly 80%-90%.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Spins around gracefully and slashes the Parallel Falchion in a circle.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7% Swings the Parallel Falchion behind, then in front of her before getting up.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5% Stabs behind her, then slashes in front of herself before getting up.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  9% Backflips onto the stage and slashes.
Neutral special Shield Breaker 8.575% (uncharged), 23% (fully charged) Lucina assumes a readying stance and charges the Parallel Falchion at chest level before powerfully thrusting it forward. This attack deals massive shield damage even when uncharged, and will instantly break shields at full charge, although it can be safely perfect shielded. It also deals decently high damage and knockback, especially when fully charged, and unlike Marth, the fully-charged version is in fact stronger than her fully-charged forward smash. The aerial version gives Lucina a very slight horizontal boost, while a fully-charged aerial version will thrust Lucina in whatever direction she is facing, giving her a strong horizontal recovery option, albeit with very high startup. Can be angled up or down, though this does not change the damage or knockback. The attack deals 1.15× regular damage if it hits the opponent's head.
Side special Dancing Blade Varies (see below) A sequence of sword slashes with several variations based on directional input. Four slashes total, with each capable of being altered in direction, allowing for eighteen total possible combinations. Standard strikes are trailed red, high strikes are trailed blue, and low strikes are trailed green (see table below for details and limits of the move).
Up special Dolphin Slash 11% (clean), 7% (late blade), 6% (late body) Lucina performs a high-speed jumping uppercut slash that can be B-reversed. Has a powerful sweetspot and grants very slight intangibility in the first few frames, which can easily cause stage-spikes under the right circumstances. Grants good vertical distance but is rather lacking in horizontal distance. Does not snap to the edge until after its hitbox is gone.
Down special Counter 1.2× (minimum 8%) Lucina assumes a defensive stance and retaliates against incoming attacks. The power of the counterattack scales with the strength of the attack blocked. Starts up on frame 6 and lasts 22 frames. Ineffective against projectiles and attacks with sufficiently long reach, such as many of Shulk's or Simon's tilts and smash attacks.
Final Smash Critical Hit 60% Lucina raises the Parallel Falchion skyward, uttering "Time to change fate!", then lunges in one direction, attacking the first opponent she connects. Immense knockback, enough to one-hit KO any character on any roofless stage. This move is impossible to tech unless using FS Meter or against Shulk's Shield Monado Art at very low percentages. Pressing the special button again will cause her to stop mid-dash.
Dancing Blade
Hit Damage Description
First Hit (Neutral) 2.85% Does an outward slash. Deals very little knockback even at extremely high percents. Can lock. The tip of the sword lifts opponents off the ground slightly, making it combo into the second hit more consistently.
Second Hit (Up) 2.85% An upward lifting slash. Has greater vertical reach than the first hit or the second neutral hit. Lifts opponents slightly off the ground, with the tip of the sword pulling them in slightly.
Second Hit (Neutral) 2.85% Does an inward slash. Has a shorter hitbox than the first hit, which can lead to it sometimes missing if the first hit is landed from too far away. Deals very little knockback, even at extremely high percents. Can lock.
Third Hit (Up) 3.325% Does an upward slash while turning clockwise. Launches opponents up and away, leading into the upward finisher.
Third Hit (Neutral) 3.325% Takes a step forward and does a leaning outward slash. May push opponents too far away for the fourth hit to connect at high percents.
Third Hit (Down) 3.325% Leans in and does a horizontal slash low to the ground. Deals less knockback than the other third hits, which can make it useful for connecting with the neutral finisher at higher percents, when the third neutral hit may send too far away.
Fourth Hit (Up) 5.7% Twirls counterclockwise and does an upward slash. Launches opponents up, making it useful for starting juggling strings. Has the least ending lag of the three finishers. Fairly low knockback. Has greater vertical reach than any other hit of the move.
Fourth Hit (Neutral) 4.75% Turns counterclockwise, steps forward, and does very powerful vertical slash downward. This is the strongest finisher in regards to knockback, KOing middleweights at the edge around 100%.
Fourth Hit (Down) 2% (hit 1-4), 4.275% (hit 5) Does a flurry of five lower stabs. Deals the most damage of the three finishers, wearing down shields well, and can shield poke low shields. Has the highest ending lag of the three finishers.

Stats

Stats Weight Dash speed Walk speed Traction Air friction Air speed Air acceleration Gravity Falling speed Jumpsquat Jump Height Double jump Height
Value 90 2.255 – Initial dash
1.964 – Run
1.575 0.114 0.00375 1.071 0.01 – Base
0.07 – Additional
0.075 1.58 – Base
2.528Fast-fall
3 33.66 - Base
16.26 - Short hop
33.66

Announcer call

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On-screen appearance

  • Warps onto the stage using warp magic, and then removes the mask she wears while disguised as Marth.

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Twirls the Parallel Falchion and then assumes a stance highly similar to her pose from her official art in Fire Emblem Awakening, saying "Come at me!" (かかってきなさい., "Come at me.") This is also similar to (and mirrors) her father's up taunt.
  • Side taunt: Turns around to have her back face the screen while sheathing the Parallel Falchion and saying "I cannot lose." (負けられませんから., "I won't lose now.")
  • Down taunt: Puts on the mask she used while disguised as Marth while putting her hand on her hip; she then removes the mask.

Idle poses

  • Holds her hand to her chest, closes her eyes, and silently takes a breath.
  • Brushes her hair out of her face.

Crowd cheer

Cheer (English) Cheer (Japanese/Chinese) Cheer (Italian) Cheer (Dutch) Cheer (French)
Cheer NTSC

PAL
NTSC

PAL
Description Lu - ci - na! Lu - ki - na! Lu - ci - na! Luci - na! Luci - na! Lu - ci - na!
Cheer (German) Cheer (Spanish) Cheer (Russian) Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Lu - ci - na! Lucina! Lucina! Ya! Ya! Ya! Lu - tsi - na! Lu - ki - na!

Victory poses

  • Left: Swings her sword, then assumes a pose similar to her official SSB4 render, saying "The future is not written!" ("未来を変えて見せます!", Watch me change the future!).
  • Up: Points her sword upward, then poses, saying "Father, I won." ("勝ちましたよ、お父様", I won, Father.).
    • If Ike was present in the match, there is a chance she will instead say "And they call you the Radiant Hero?" ("これが蒼炎の勇者?", This is the Radiant Hero?).
  • Right: Sheathes her sword, saying "You'll never defeat me!" ("負けるわけにはいきません!", I cannot lose!).
    • If Marth was present in the match, there is a chance she will instead say "This is the Hero-King?" ("これが英雄王の力?", This is the strength of the Hero King?).
A short orchestral cover of "Id (Purpose)" from Fire Emblem Awakening.

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Lucina players (SSBU)

  • Japan Etsuji - The second-best Lucina player in Japan in the early metagame, ranking 34th on the Fall 2019 PGRU and regularly placing highly at majors, including 2nd at EGS Cup 2, 5th at EGS Cup 3, and 9th at Umebura SP 5. He dropped Lucina for Diddy Kong in 2021 before retiring from competitive play, with only a few appearances in tournaments since.
  • USA Laid - One of the best Lucina players in North America who saw most of his success in the Northeast, notably winning Overclocked Ultimate III and placing 7th at Defend the North 2019 and 9th at Suplex City Smash, ultimately ranking 84th on the OrionRank 2019. Although he had a notable presence in the first few months of the online metagame, he has since become less active in competitive play while playing other characters when he does attend events.
  • France Leon - The best Lucina player in Europe who has been a top 10 player in the continent since 2021, thanks to his consistently strong performances at European events, including 3rd at both VCA 2021 and Glory 2.0 as well as 9th at COLOSSEL 2022. Internationally, he has notably placed 9th at Glitch - Infinite and 25th at GENESIS 9. His highest ranking was 55th on the OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse.
  • Mexico MkLeo - The greatest Ultimate player of all-time who used Lucina prominently in the first few months of 2019, including to win GENESIS 6 and Smash Ultimate Summit. He eventually dropped Lucina in mid-2019 but has rarely pulled her out as a counterpick with middling results.
  • USA Mr. E - The best Lucina player in North America, especially after MkLeo dropped the character. In the first half of 2019, he frequently finished top 32 at majors, most notably 13th at 2GG: Prime Saga, Pound 2019, and Smash 'N' Splash 5, and was ranked 38th on the Spring 2019 PGRU. Although no longer as consistent as before, he remained one of the few Lucina players who still solo-main her in the newer metagame and remains one of her best representatives, with couple of strong major results such as 5th at LVL UP EXPO 2023 and 7th at Glitch 8 - Missingno.
  • Japan ProtoBanham - The best Lucina player of all-time, playing her alongside Min Min. He has won several majors with Lucina, including Kagaribi 4, Double Down 2022, and Smash Ultimate Summit 5.

Tier placement and history

Lucina was a very popular pick in early-Ultimate, even amongst swordfighters that dominated the early months of Ultimate, due to her low learning curve and possessing a simple neutral, above-average edgeguarding, and consistent KO power. As such, she was widely considered a top tier during this time and a better character choice than Marth due to her blade's consistent damage output. Several top players had notable Lucina pockets or counterpicks, most notably MkLeo, who used Lucina to win some of the game's earliest majors, while success with Lucina as a solo-main also came from players such as Mr.E and ProtoBanham. This led to her high representation during this era: OrionRank ranked her 6th in terms of representation for January-June 2019, while seven different players were ranked on the Spring 2019 PGRU with Lucina, the most out of any other player. Even though some players ranked with Lucina did not use her in many sets, it was still a testament to her easy-to-pick-up characteristic.

This hot streak for Lucina declined following the first PGR season, as her simple playstyle allowed many players to learn the matchup and adapt to her playstyle. As several of her best representatives only used Lucina as a pocket, she was ultimately dropped with little consequences, while some solo-Lucina players that stuck around saw their results decline, most notably Mr. E. Despite this decline, players still regarded her rather highly for the next few years thanks to ProtoBanham's performances, which only served to improve in the post-online metagame after he began winning majors with a mix of Lucina and Min Min, and the rise of Leon in Europe's tournament scene. Her representation received a hit as a result of her shrinking playerbase and the rise of other swordfighters such as Roy and the Aegis, and as such it never reached the heights of the very early metagame. However, her representation nevertheless remained above-average, hovering between 15th and 27th between July 2019 and December 2022. Although Lucina was no longer considered a top tier character, she was still well-regarded in competitive play, and as such she was ranked 22nd on the first tier list, placing her towards the front of the A+ tier as a high-tier character.

Following the first tier list, ProtoBanham's tournament activity declined sharply as he only attended a couple of events in 2023. Leon and Mr. E remained notable threats at majors, however their results were unable to make up for ProtoBanham's absence in top-level play. As such, Lucina's playerbase stagnated, which led her representation to drop from 27th at the end of 2022 to 45th by the end of 2023. This stagnation was reflected in her placement on the second tier list, where she fell 6 spots to 28th, placing her towards the end of the A- tier; partly responsible for this drop was the rise of the Samuses, Sora, Bayonetta, and Corrin on the tier list, characters who were all previously ranked below Lucina.

Classic Mode: A Path of Heroes

Lucina's congratulations screen.

All of Lucina's opponents are Fire Emblem characters. They appear in reverse of the order their respective games were released, likely referencing Lucina traveling into the past in her own game.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Corrin (SSBU)Corrin (SSBU) Corrin (x2) Find Mii Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)
2 Chrom (SSBU) Chrom Arena Ferox Conquest (Ablaze) Items do not appear. References her duel with Chrom in Chapter 4 of Awakening.
3 Robin (SSBU)Robin (SSBU) Robin (x2) Reset Bomb Forest Id (Purpose) (Remix)
4 Ike (SSBU) Ike Castle Siege Eternal Bond
5 Roy (SSBU) Roy Norfair Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure The stage references Roy's association with fire.
6 Marth (SSBU) Marth Coliseum Story 5 Meeting Items do not appear.
Bonus Stage
Final Master Hand Final Destination Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity)
Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)
On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Note: Every stage plays a track from the Fire Emblem universe, no matter what universe the stage originates from.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Lucina has Id (Purpose) accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Lucina in World of Light

Although Lucina does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, she was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (excluding Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Lucina was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. She can be found in the area that resembles the remains of a clockwork guarded by the spirit of Omega Ridley.

Fighter Battle

No. Image Name Type Power Stage Music
21ε
Lucina SSBU.png
Lucina
Attack
Attack
10,000 Arena Ferox (Ω form) Id (Purpose)

Spirit

Lucina's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Lucina has been unlocked. Unlocking Lucina in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Her fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with her artwork in Ultimate.

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
620
SSBU spirit Caeda.png
Caeda Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Marth Marth (SSBU)
Shield
13,500 Temple (Battlefield form) •Hazard: Heavy Wind •Dangerously high winds are in effect
•The enemy has increased move speed and reduced weight
Story 5 Meeting
627
SSBU spirit Minerva.png
Minerva Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Charizard Charizard (SSBU)
Shield
3,500 Skyworld N/A •The enemy has increased jump power
•The enemy has increased move speed
Story 5 Meeting
629
SSBU spirit Pegasus Sisters.png
Pegasus Sisters Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)Lucina (SSBU)Lucina (SSBU)
Grab
8,900 Skyworld (clouds only) N/A •The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random
•The enemy has an extra midair jump
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem Medley Palla (green costume)
Est (white costume)
Catria (navy costume)
653
SSBU spirit Eirika.png
Eirika Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Ike Ike (SSBU)
Shield
9,200 Coliseum N/A •The enemy has increased attack power
•The enemy has increased move speed
•The enemy has increased jump power
Preparing to Advance
657
SSBU spirit Titania.png
Titania Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Grab
1,700 Castle Siege (Ω form) •Attack Power ↓ •You have reduced attack power
•The enemy has increased attack power
The Devoted
670
SSBU spirit Tharja.png
Tharja Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Grab
4,100 Kalos Pokémon League (Battlefield form) •Hazard: Poison Cloud •The stage is covered in a poisonous cloud
•The enemy's special moves have increased power
Conquest (Ablaze)
671
SSBU spirit Anna.png
Anna Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Neutral
3,300 Castle Siege (Throne Room) •Strengthen Weapon
•Item: Swords
•All fighters' melee weapons have increased power after a little while
•Items will be pulled toward the enemy
Code Name: F.E.
675
SSBU spirit Severa.png
Severa Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Neutral
1,700 Coliseum (Battlefield form) N/A •The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random Duty (Ablaze)
679
SSBU spirit Hinoka.png
Hinoka Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Attack
9,800 Suzaku Castle (Battlefield form) •Hazard: Heavy Wind •Dangerously high winds are in effect
•The enemy has an extra midair jump
Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)
952
SSBU spirit Fiora.png
Fiora Xenoblade Chronicles Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Shulk Shulk (SSBU)
Shield
9,300 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) •Defense ↓ •You have reduced defense after a little while Time to Fight! - Xenoblade Chronicles
967
SSBU spirit Pyra.png
Pyra Xenoblade Chronicles Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Shulk Shulk (SSBU)
Attack
13,900 Halberd (Battlefield form) •Item: Fire Bar
•Hazard: Lava Floor
•The floor is lava
•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power
•The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Bar
Still, Move Forward!
972
SSBU spirit Mòrag.png
Mòrag Xenoblade Chronicles Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Palutena Palutena (SSBU)
Attack
2,400 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) •Hazard: Lava Floor •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The floor is lava
Battle!! - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Mor Ardain - Roaming the Wastes -[SB 1]
1,205
SSBU spirit Milly.png
Milly Baten Kaitos Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Neutral
1,700 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) N/A •The enemy starts the battle with an Ore Club The Valedictory Elegy
1,227
SSBU spirit Aisya.png
Aisya ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Shield
2,500 Bridge of Eldin (hazards off) •Assist Trophy Enemies (Shovel Knight)
Bob-omb Festival
•Bob-ombs will rain from the sky after a little while
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
Attack - Soma Bringer
1,251
SSBU spirit Calista.png
Calista The Last Story Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Simon Simon (SSBU)
Grab
3,700 Reset Bomb Forest N/A •Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle Battle Scene / Final Boss - Golden Sun
1,392
SSBU spirit Ingrid.png
Ingrid Fire Emblem Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Shield
2,400 Garreg Mach Monastery (Marketplace) •Item Tidal Wave
•Item: Food
•Certain items will appear in large numbers Tearing Through Heaven
1,461
SSBU spirit Lora.png
Lora Xenoblade Chronicles Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Zelda Zelda (SSBU)
Cloud Cloud (SSBU)
Grab
3,800 Jungle Japes (Battlefield form) N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win Battle!!/Torna
1,512
SSBU spirit Aqua.png
Aqua Kingdom Hearts Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU) (150 HP)
Mr. Game & Watch Mr. Game & Watch (SSBU)×4 (50 HP)
Shield
9,400 Find Mii (Ω form) •Assist Trophy Enemies (Krystal) Stamina battle
•Hostile assist trophies will appear when the enemy's at high damage
•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd
Night of Fate
1,527
SSBU spirit Swordfighter Peach.png
Swordfighter Peach Super Mario Series Lucina Lucina (SSBU) (140 HP)
Attack
3,400 Hyrule Castle (hazards off) •Item: Swords Stamina battle Kingdom Stadium: Night

As a minion

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
966
SSBU spirit Rex.png
Rex Xenoblade Chronicles Series Shulk Shulk (SSBU) (90 HP)
Lucina Lucina (SSBU) (90 HP)
Shield
9,900 Kongo Falls (Ω form) •Hazard: Lava Floor •The floor is lava
Stamina battle
•The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Bar
Battle!! - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Pyra
Cloud Sea of Alrest (Ω form)[SB 1] N/A[SB 1] Stamina battle
•The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Bar[SB 1]
Argentum[SB 1]
1,250
Zael
Zael The Last Story Simon Simon (SSBU)
Lucina Lucina (SSBU)
Attack
3,600 Temple •Sudden Damage •You'll occasionally take sudden damage when the enemy's at high damage Battle Scene / Final Boss - Golden Sun Calista
  1. ^ a b c d e This alternative occurs when the corresponding DLC has been purchased and downloaded.

Alternate costumes

Alternate costume (SSBU)
Lucina (SSBU) Lucina (SSBU) Lucina (SSBU) Lucina (SSBU) Lucina (SSBU) Lucina (SSBU) Lucina (SSBU) Lucina (SSBU)

Gallery

Fighter Showcase Video

Trivia

  • At least two of Lucina's screenshots on the Ultimate site allude to events from Fire Emblem Awakening.
    • The screenshot depicting her alongside Marth alludes to their kinship as descendant and ancestor, respectively.
    • The screenshot of her taunting defensively in front of Charizard alludes to "The Threat of Silence" paralogue from Awakening, in which the Shepherds must protect the draconic Tiki.
  • In early builds of the game, Lucina's idle animation was unchanged from Super Smash Bros. 4, while Marth received a new one. However, her idle was changed to match Marth's new one in the final build.
  • Lucina has animation folders labelled "bow" and "bowarrow" but have no animations inside each. This is either a mistake due to copying asset folders from Link, or an indication that she was going to have a bow in her moveset referencing Fire Emblem Awakening and Fire Emblem Heroes.
  • Due to Lucina's height being changed to Marth's height, she stands the same height as her father Chrom, who in the Fire Emblem games is significantly taller than Lucina.
  • Lucina, Marth, Young Link, Roy, Chrom, and Wolf are the only characters that use their crouching animation from their previous Smash Bros. game when holding a small item (in Chrom's case, he uses Roy's previous crouching animation).
    • This makes Lucina, Marth, and Wolf the only characters to have both updated idle and crouching animations, but transitions to their previous animation when holding a small item.
  • Prior to update 8.0.0, Lucina's unique voice clip when winning against Ike ("And they call you the Radiant Hero?") was missing in the Sound Test. She shares this distinction with Fox, Wolf, Simon, and Palutena.
  • Lucina is the only Awakening character who is always fought on the Arena Ferox stage as Robin is never fought on the stage and Chrom only does so outside of World of Light.
  • Lucina's and Byleth's Classic Mode route share the same theme, as both fight Fire Emblem characters as opponents.
  • Despite fighting all Fire Emblem fighters along with any alternate variants, Ike's Radiant Dawn alternate costume and herself do not appear in Lucina's Classic Mode route, excluding Byleth, who is a DLC character.
  • During certain animations such as jumping, pausing, and zooming the camera around Lucina's belt reveals that her stomach will split open.