Super Smash Bros. 4

Palutena (SSB4): Difference between revisions

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(Redid the entire "Attributes" section. It wasn't easy... Took me almost 3 hours...)
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==Attributes==
==Attributes==


{{cleanup|Needs condensed.}}
Palutena's characteristics are unique, and defy those set up by characters such as {{SSB4|Mewtwo}}, {{SSB4|Zelda}} and {{SSB4|Rosalina}}. She is tall, she has a respectable [[walking]] speed, a very fast [[dashing]] speed, high [[traction]], below average [[weight]], slow [[falling speed]], high [[gravity]], high [[jump]] force and is tied for the highest air friction. These characteristics give Palutena amazing ground movement, great ground-to-air transitioning, and allow her to quickly change direction in mid-air. However, they also make her very susceptible to [[juggling]], and while her weight isn't that low (91), her slow falling speed makes her heavily susceptible to vertical [[knockback]].


Palutena deviates from several character archetypes, being a tall yet [[weight|lightweight]] character with solid ground movement, having an above average [[Walking|walking]] and very fast [[Dash|dashing]] speed, and high traction <!--(with a decent perfect pivot, having a value of 3.5)-->. She also has above-average [[jumping]] height and the highest air acceleration in the game. However, she also has low [[air speed]], high gravity and below-average [[falling speed]]. Her slow attacks and tall frame also make her susceptible to knockback and punishment. In addition, her grounded and aerial movesets differ greatly: on the ground, she possesses many laggy yet long-ranged, disjointed moves that allow her to space and zone out opponents, while in the air, her attacks have faster startup but lower damage and range.
Palutena's greatest strength is, arguably, her phenomenal air game. All of her aerial moves have good utility, fast start-up, and little landing lag (excluding up air). Her neutral air is a useful damage racking move, dealing 11%, and a decent protection move, coming out on frame 5. Her up air is her most gimmicky aerial move, having the strongest knockback while lacking range, having 24 frames of landing lag, and being [[Interruptibility|interruptible]] before it can [[autocancel]]. Her down air, while it only lasts one frame, it has no sourspot, making it an easy-to-use [[meteor smash]], as well as a relatively safe [[out of shield]] option. Her forward air has the longest range of her aerial moves, the least ending and landing lag, as well as completely autocancelling in a [[SHFF]]. Her back air, however, is her most useful aerial, as it is the most damaging, dealing 12%, and having [[invincibility]] frames during start-up and as long as the hitbox is out. This makes her aerial game one of the best in the entire game.


===Default moveset===
Her grab game is also very capable. She has one of the longest, non-tether grab ranges in the game. Her [[pummel]] is one of the most damaging and decently fast, being a great move to rack up damage. Her back throw, while being a rather weak KO throw, having an easily [[DI|DIed]] launch angle (the [[Sakurai angle]]) and, ironically, the lowest base knockback of all her throws, it is nevertheless highly damaging, dealing 10%, and a great way to send the opponent offstage and set up an [[Edgeguarding|edgeguard]]. Her forward throw has high base knockback, deals a good 9% damage, and while it has very low knockback scaling, it is even better than her back throw at setting up edgeguards, as well as an infallible trigger if [[Autoreticle]] is used. Her most versatile throw, however, is her down throw. Posessing the right amount of base knockback and extremely low knockback scaling, it can combo into any aerial move (barring down air) and perhaps an up smash if the player can read the opponent's reaction. Her down throw can even combo at KO percentages into up air, granting Palutena her very own "Hoo-Hah".


With her default moveset, Palutena's primary strength consists of her erratic movement with use of [[Warp]], most notably on levels with platforms. It can be ledge-cancelled much more easily than other teleports, which allows her to act almost immediately out if it. This can be used as a strategy-planning technique, as it allows her to quickly move throughout the stage, allowing for stage control, positioning, retreating, movement and getting out of juggles. She is the only character in the game that possesses both a [[Reflect Barrier|reflector]] and a [[Counter (Palutena)|counter]] on her default moveset, allowing her to deal with both powerful and aggressive foes like {{SSB4|Ganondorf}}, and camping foes like {{SSB4|Villager}}. She has at her disposal one of the best  jabs, and it is possibly her best ground attack since it has long range for a jab and it has damage-racking capabilities, along with decent power. It can also be jab cancelled quite early, letting it combo into a grab, another jab, or a back air or up smash at very high percents, although it unfortunately has slow startup for a jab.
Despite these tremendous advantages, Palutena is completely crippled by her grounded moveset. Even though Palutena's moves come out relatively quickly, and her smash attacks have a quick [[charge]] release, all of her moves (except jab and down tilt) have disproportionately high ending lag. Her forward and up tilt, as well as her dash attack, have more than 25 frames of ending lag, and all of her smash attacks have more than 40. This makes her missed attacks heavily susceptible to [[punishment]], even if the opponent is a good distace away from her. This makes it crucial for her to never miss a single ground move, or rely solely on her jab and down tilt, and if she fails, she may be sent in the air, where she is at mercy of almost any kind of juggle. The exceptions to this rule are admittedly her only safe grounded moves. Her jab, while it comes out somewhat slowly and the finisher having noticeable ending lag, it can be a very reliable damage racker, especially if one takes into account its high interruptibility, allowing for an easy [[jab cancel]]. Her down tilt is highly interruptible, having only 16 frames of true ending lag, making it a good spacing and roll punishing tool. Her dash attack, while being very unsafe on shield, it has actual KO power, as well as the same kind of invincibility her back air does, making it her least punishable grounded KO move.


Palutena's grab can be comboed from a jab or an auto-cancelled forward aerial at low percents, and her grab range is pretty large for a non-tether grab, and she also possesses one of the best pummels in the game as it does high damage while its speed is decent. Her back throw is her strongest throw as it can KO at high percents with enough rage, usually starting at 150%, while her down throw is her best throw as it sends opponents on a favorable angle for combos; it can combo into a forward aerial, neutral aerial or a RAR back aerial at low percents, an up smash or an up aerial at high percents, or a down aerial near the ledge. She also has a notably good comboing ability thanks to her aforementioned down throw, forward aerial and jab being able to start combos, and all aerials but down aerial being able to combo into the other if properly read the opponent's DI. Her punishing game is also fairly good thanks to her aforementioned combo game, her long-lasting tilts and her powerful smash attacks, which have disjointed hitboxes and relatively fast startup, and her forward and down smashes having windboxes at the tip. Finally, she has also got two moves with temporary invincibility, her dash attack and back aerial, which have invincibility frames that last as long as their hitboxes remain active.
If that wasn't enough, Palutena's default special moves are notoriously bad. Even though her Autoreticle has homing capabilities, the same can't be said about its projectiles, as they move only towards the fixed reticle, and on top of being incredibly sluggish, each one deals very slightly less than 3%, giving them abysmal [[priority]]. [[Reflect Barrier]], while having an [[unblockable]] hitbox, a [[push]] effect and being a long lasting [[Reflection|reflector]], it does not cover her entirely, and does not move along with her in mid-air, making it one of the worst reflectors in the game. [[Warp]], while being extremely quick and allowing a safe recovery and swift repositioning, it has absolutely no hitboxes, leaving her wide open to attacks before and after she moves. Lastly, even though her [[Counter (Palutena)|Counter]] has a high damage multiplier, it has a sourspot (the only [[counterattack]] to do so), less range and more ending lag than most other counters (only {{SSB4|Lucario}}'s is slower).


Without customs, however, Palutena is crippled entirely by a huge amount of drawbacks. While she has a decent spotdodge and a good air dodge, she posseses poor rolls. Her high gravity harms her overall as it makes her vulnerable to meteor smashes, it makes her easy to combo at low percents while being just as easy to KO vertically at high ones despite not being as light or floaty as other characters like {{SSB4|Zelda}}, and it hinders her recovery, especially when considering her low air speed, and despite her above-average jumping prowess. She is also prone to be juggled due to her below-average falling speed and her aforementioned high gravity as her anti-juggling options are downright bad outside Warp. Her default special moveset is infamous for being unarguably the worst of all the cast, with almost all her specials having very limited utility: her projectile in [[Autoreticle]] is one of the worst projectiles in the game as it is easily avoided, it has long startup lag after it locks on an opponent, long duration and high ending lag should it miss, and it can be outdone by many projectiles with enough priority. While [[Warp]] has good range, it can be gimped at the start/ending of the move as it does not have a hitbox nor gives invincibility/intangibility frames before and after execution making it the worst [[Teleport (disambiguation)|teleport]]. [[Reflect Barrier]] and [[Counter (Palutena)|Counter]] are both easily punishable and slow on both execution and ending, and they are pretty weak for their utility (with Counter even having a sourspot), making them the worst of their kind. She also has one of the laggiest movesets in the game despite not being a heavyweight: she lacks approach options with quick execution, meaning she must look for gaps in the opponent's strategy to press the offensive; she has many moves with long duration wich leave her wide open and in a punishable position; and she has high ending lag overall among her moveset (jab finisher, forward tilt, dash attack, all smashes, almost all of her aerial attacks, all grabs and all her specials except Warp). This makes her ironically the most punishable fighter in the game despite having a good punishing game, which is further exacerbated by her lightweight, tall frame and poor rolls, and it also gives her poor out of shield and neutral games. Her laggy moveset also carries along low damage output overall, as well as notable KO problems, with her smashes having long punishable ending lag, up aerial being avoidable and punishable, and having other attacks that aren't that powerful like her back throw and some that require proper [[spacing]], like her back aerial.
All these make Palutena a defensive character, as without punishing, her offensive options are severly lacking, moreso than most other characters.


Overall, Palutena, with her default moveset, is a frail, though defensive-minded character with a higher learning curve than other low tiered characters, who relies a very patient playstyle that consists of shielding attacks and [[turtling|turtle]] for a good portion of the match until an opening can be found, as long as she isn't left wide open as well, even with her good mobility. This is especially true when platforms aren't present. Most of her mains fail to place high with her in a default setting, with some of them either using her as a counterpick or dropping her in favor of another character as she sometimes gets outclassed by other characters, which gives her an extremely low representation in tournament play. This makes it doubtful whether or not she has a niche in tournament play without using a single custom move, with many smashers agreeing that, with customs turned off, she is one of the worst, and possibly, the worst character in the game.
Palutena benefits from custom moves more than any other character. [[Super Speed]] allows her to move faster than {{SSB4|Sonic}}, and since it can be jump-cancelled into any aerial move and up smash, or straight into a dash attack, it is considered to have immense utility, making up for its predictability. [[Lightweight]] amplifies her movement speed and jump force, to the point where she dashes faster than Sonic, and jumps almost as high as {{SSB4|Falco}}. This move gives her 15 seconds of drastically improved offstage game, a quicker and safer recovery, blinding ground speed, and a more capable combo game. As a recoil, this move increases damage taken (and knockback because of it, though the difference is marginal), and after expiration of the move, Palutena moves slower for 5 seconds, with her damage vulnerability and jump force returning to their original values. These two moves alone allow for tons of mix-ups, mindgames, combos and edgeguards.


===With [[Character customization|custom movesets]]===
Her other custom moves have notable advantages, but are held back by their easily exploitable weaknesses. [[Explosive Flame]] is a more reliable damage racker than Autoreticle, but it is a pinpoint explosion with limited range, and is just as sluggish. Patch [[1.1.1]] was bad news for this move, since the last hit is no longer unblockable. [[Heavenly Light]], outside of being an invaluable healing move for {{SSB4|Ness}}, {{SSB4|Lucas}} and the {{SSB4|Mii Gunner}}, is useless, as it will never land on any opponent that isn't [[Stun|stunned]]. [[Angelic Missile]] is a good recovery move and a potent edgeguarding option, thanks to its high base knockback, but it has high startup lag, suprisingly low knockback scaling and a linear path, making it extremely easy to intercept. [[Jump Glide]] gives extreme horizontal distance and allows for safe approaches, but it leaves Palutena defenseless, and has the same fatal flaw [[Wings of Icarus]] used to have: if, for any reason, Palutena flinches during the move, she cannot use it again if she doesn't touch solid ground. [[Rocket Jump]], other than having a meteor smash hitbox below Palutena, is inferior to both Warp and Jump Glide in every way. Lastly, [[Celestial Firework]] has intangibility during startup and is a good anti-air move in general, but it is hard to hit with, and delivers unimpressive knockback.


Palutena is one the most customizable characters, with custom special moves that can be used for either long- or close-ranged combat, having many different options to choose from. These can give her a significant amount of approach, mix-ups, recovery, and follow-up options. [[Explosive Flame]] can be used to space out opponents in the neutral while refreshing her other moves, while [[Heavenly Light]] is a superb option when teamed up with {{SSB4|Ness}}, {{SSB4|Lucas}} or the [[Mii Gunner]], as they can absorb it with their [[PSI Magnet]]s and [[Absorbing Vortex]] moves. [[Angelic Missile]] can aid her recovery without leaving her helpless and also gives her another KO option when offstage, but [[Super Speed]] can be used as a mindgame, mix-ups, and mobility option as it allows her to damage opponents and set up an attack. In the air when canceled with a jump, its momentum is maintained with huge horizontal distance, allowing Palutena to approach with an aerial attack or escape pressures above. [[Jump Glide]] has great horizontal and decent vertical recovery. It can be used as an approach by acting out of it with an aerial attack. Although Palutena takes doubled damage (but not knockback) under [[Lightweight]] effect, her speed and jumping prowess are increased, improving her off stage game, and she can nearly guarantee landing her KO set ups from her down throw to up aerial at high percentage. It is also worth mentioning that with the proper use of Super Speed and Lightweight customs as a recovery, Palutena will have one of the best recoveries in the game when combined with Warp or Jump Glide.
With customs off, Palutena is considered one of the worst characters in the game, courtesy of her pathetic grounded frame data and useless special moves. Many smashers use her as a secondary or counterpick, and almost always fail to achieve notable tournament success with her. However, with customs on, Palutena is considered to be a solid choice, being at the upper parts of the mid tier. This is because of Super Speed and Lighweight concealing her horrendous weaknesses, with smashers such as [[Smasher:AeroLink|AeroLink]] having proved this. Among the competitive community, there exists speculation on whether Palutena should be given the ability to always have the choice to use her custom specials, even if customs are otherwise banned.
 
Her custom moveset is not flawless, however. Explosive Flame has set range, meaning that it can be predicted and avoided quite easily, and Heavenly Light has no use outside of Doubles play. Super Speed can get predictable as she relies on it with customs turned on, while Angelic Missile is easily predicted as a KO move and is normally outclassed by Super Speed, despite its slightly better recovery prowess. Jump Glide must be used carefully when recovering as she can get gimped before it ends and as she cannot do anything until she hits the ground outside of grabbing the ledge if this happens, this may lead to a KO. While [[Celestial Firework]] can be used as an anti-air option, it is generally outclassed by her other options. [[Rocket Jump]] is unarguably her worst custom special as it doesn't have too much KO power, it cannot be easily landed in a neutral position, and it provides the least vertical distance of her recovery moves and little to no horizontal movement. Finally, none of her custom moves address her KO problems outside of her up aerial and possibly up smash (as it's possible to hit an opponent with the hitbox on Super Speed and follow up with her up smash), and she still has to work around the rest of her laggy moveset in general to refresh her special moves and avoid getting predictable.
 
Overall, with customs on, Palutena is a character that needs to be on the move while overwhelming her opponents with her high speed and combos, while spacing them out when needing to refresh her most important moves. This is drastically different to her patient, slow playstyle without customs. Generally speaking, she is in a much better position than in default, with her tournament placings with customs turned on being more favorable as demonstrated by smashers like {{Sm|AeroLink}}, and some professional smashers arguing that, with customs turned on, she does rank favorably, as a mid or mid-high tier character. Even so, there has been some debate in the community because Palutena's custom moves are all available by default, as to whether her custom moves should be allowed as a special case if disallowing customs becomes the norm.


==Update history==
==Update history==

Revision as of 16:44, October 3, 2015

This article is about Palutena's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see Palutena.
Palutena
in Super Smash Bros. 4
Palutena
KidIcarusSymbol.svg
Universe Kid Icarus
Availability Starter
Final Smash Black Hole Laser
Palutena (SSB4)
Palutena Alights!
—Introduction Tagline

Palutena (パルテナ, Palutena) is a character from the Kid Icarus series. She was confirmed as a playable fighter alongside the Mii Fighters and Pac-Man in Super Smash Bros. 4 during E3 2014 on June 10th, 2014. As the Goddess of Light, she fights using powers she granted Pit (and other angels in the multiplayer) in Kid Icarus: Uprising.

She is voiced in Japanese by Aya Hisakawa (who reprises her role from Uprising) and in English by Brandy Kopp, the latter replacing Ali Hillis due to availability conflicts.

Attributes

Palutena's characteristics are unique, and defy those set up by characters such as Mewtwo, Zelda and Rosalina. She is tall, she has a respectable walking speed, a very fast dashing speed, high traction, below average weight, slow falling speed, high gravity, high jump force and is tied for the highest air friction. These characteristics give Palutena amazing ground movement, great ground-to-air transitioning, and allow her to quickly change direction in mid-air. However, they also make her very susceptible to juggling, and while her weight isn't that low (91), her slow falling speed makes her heavily susceptible to vertical knockback.

Palutena's greatest strength is, arguably, her phenomenal air game. All of her aerial moves have good utility, fast start-up, and little landing lag (excluding up air). Her neutral air is a useful damage racking move, dealing 11%, and a decent protection move, coming out on frame 5. Her up air is her most gimmicky aerial move, having the strongest knockback while lacking range, having 24 frames of landing lag, and being interruptible before it can autocancel. Her down air, while it only lasts one frame, it has no sourspot, making it an easy-to-use meteor smash, as well as a relatively safe out of shield option. Her forward air has the longest range of her aerial moves, the least ending and landing lag, as well as completely autocancelling in a SHFF. Her back air, however, is her most useful aerial, as it is the most damaging, dealing 12%, and having invincibility frames during start-up and as long as the hitbox is out. This makes her aerial game one of the best in the entire game.

Her grab game is also very capable. She has one of the longest, non-tether grab ranges in the game. Her pummel is one of the most damaging and decently fast, being a great move to rack up damage. Her back throw, while being a rather weak KO throw, having an easily DIed launch angle (the Sakurai angle) and, ironically, the lowest base knockback of all her throws, it is nevertheless highly damaging, dealing 10%, and a great way to send the opponent offstage and set up an edgeguard. Her forward throw has high base knockback, deals a good 9% damage, and while it has very low knockback scaling, it is even better than her back throw at setting up edgeguards, as well as an infallible trigger if Autoreticle is used. Her most versatile throw, however, is her down throw. Posessing the right amount of base knockback and extremely low knockback scaling, it can combo into any aerial move (barring down air) and perhaps an up smash if the player can read the opponent's reaction. Her down throw can even combo at KO percentages into up air, granting Palutena her very own "Hoo-Hah".

Despite these tremendous advantages, Palutena is completely crippled by her grounded moveset. Even though Palutena's moves come out relatively quickly, and her smash attacks have a quick charge release, all of her moves (except jab and down tilt) have disproportionately high ending lag. Her forward and up tilt, as well as her dash attack, have more than 25 frames of ending lag, and all of her smash attacks have more than 40. This makes her missed attacks heavily susceptible to punishment, even if the opponent is a good distace away from her. This makes it crucial for her to never miss a single ground move, or rely solely on her jab and down tilt, and if she fails, she may be sent in the air, where she is at mercy of almost any kind of juggle. The exceptions to this rule are admittedly her only safe grounded moves. Her jab, while it comes out somewhat slowly and the finisher having noticeable ending lag, it can be a very reliable damage racker, especially if one takes into account its high interruptibility, allowing for an easy jab cancel. Her down tilt is highly interruptible, having only 16 frames of true ending lag, making it a good spacing and roll punishing tool. Her dash attack, while being very unsafe on shield, it has actual KO power, as well as the same kind of invincibility her back air does, making it her least punishable grounded KO move.

If that wasn't enough, Palutena's default special moves are notoriously bad. Even though her Autoreticle has homing capabilities, the same can't be said about its projectiles, as they move only towards the fixed reticle, and on top of being incredibly sluggish, each one deals very slightly less than 3%, giving them abysmal priority. Reflect Barrier, while having an unblockable hitbox, a push effect and being a long lasting reflector, it does not cover her entirely, and does not move along with her in mid-air, making it one of the worst reflectors in the game. Warp, while being extremely quick and allowing a safe recovery and swift repositioning, it has absolutely no hitboxes, leaving her wide open to attacks before and after she moves. Lastly, even though her Counter has a high damage multiplier, it has a sourspot (the only counterattack to do so), less range and more ending lag than most other counters (only Lucario's is slower).

All these make Palutena a defensive character, as without punishing, her offensive options are severly lacking, moreso than most other characters.

Palutena benefits from custom moves more than any other character. Super Speed allows her to move faster than Sonic, and since it can be jump-cancelled into any aerial move and up smash, or straight into a dash attack, it is considered to have immense utility, making up for its predictability. Lightweight amplifies her movement speed and jump force, to the point where she dashes faster than Sonic, and jumps almost as high as Falco. This move gives her 15 seconds of drastically improved offstage game, a quicker and safer recovery, blinding ground speed, and a more capable combo game. As a recoil, this move increases damage taken (and knockback because of it, though the difference is marginal), and after expiration of the move, Palutena moves slower for 5 seconds, with her damage vulnerability and jump force returning to their original values. These two moves alone allow for tons of mix-ups, mindgames, combos and edgeguards.

Her other custom moves have notable advantages, but are held back by their easily exploitable weaknesses. Explosive Flame is a more reliable damage racker than Autoreticle, but it is a pinpoint explosion with limited range, and is just as sluggish. Patch 1.1.1 was bad news for this move, since the last hit is no longer unblockable. Heavenly Light, outside of being an invaluable healing move for Ness, Lucas and the Mii Gunner, is useless, as it will never land on any opponent that isn't stunned. Angelic Missile is a good recovery move and a potent edgeguarding option, thanks to its high base knockback, but it has high startup lag, suprisingly low knockback scaling and a linear path, making it extremely easy to intercept. Jump Glide gives extreme horizontal distance and allows for safe approaches, but it leaves Palutena defenseless, and has the same fatal flaw Wings of Icarus used to have: if, for any reason, Palutena flinches during the move, she cannot use it again if she doesn't touch solid ground. Rocket Jump, other than having a meteor smash hitbox below Palutena, is inferior to both Warp and Jump Glide in every way. Lastly, Celestial Firework has intangibility during startup and is a good anti-air move in general, but it is hard to hit with, and delivers unimpressive knockback.

With customs off, Palutena is considered one of the worst characters in the game, courtesy of her pathetic grounded frame data and useless special moves. Many smashers use her as a secondary or counterpick, and almost always fail to achieve notable tournament success with her. However, with customs on, Palutena is considered to be a solid choice, being at the upper parts of the mid tier. This is because of Super Speed and Lighweight concealing her horrendous weaknesses, with smashers such as AeroLink having proved this. Among the competitive community, there exists speculation on whether Palutena should be given the ability to always have the choice to use her custom specials, even if customs are otherwise banned.

Update history

Game updates have seen Palutena has received a slight mix of buffs and nerfs starting in update 1.0.4. The range on her attacks and neutral game are slightly better than before, but the lag problems on her moveset still linger, she has lost some of the utility she had in her large pivot grab and some of the gimmicks on her custom moveset have been removed. However, the many changes on the shield mechanics also harm her more than doing good, as her attacks are less safe on shield due to their low hitlag and the fact hitlag modifiers also apply to sheilding characters, and the significant increase to shieldstun on attacks makes shielding less safe for her to find an opening, due her reliance on it.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS 1.0.4

  • Buff Up tilt and down tilt have less endlag.
  • Buff Up Smash's hitbox lasts for three frames longer.
  • Nerf Pivot grab range reduced.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS 1.0.5

  • Change Up air has improved visual effects.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.6

  • Change Due to concerns raised by CERO, Palutena’s shorts and skirt were updated to be less revealing in the Japanese version.
  • Bug fix Fixed where Super Speed's momentum being maintained after jump canceled attacks.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.8

  • Buff Up tilt hitboxes moved from bone 1000 to bone 0 (the hitboxes are now centered around her rather than her staff, meaning the loop hits link better into themselves).
  • Buff Up tilt (loop hits) damage increased: 1% → 1.2%

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.0

  • Buff Forward tilt has increased hitbox sizes: 3.8/2.5 → 4.1/2.8
  • Change Frames 17-24 and 25-39 of forward tilt have reversed properties (Angle in frames 17-24: Sakurai angle → 48° and its knockback growth: 100 → 65, while the angle in frames 25-39: 48° → Sakurai angle and its knockback growth: 65 → 100).
  • Buff Down tilt has increased hitbox sizes: 2.4/1.9 → 2.7/2.1
  • Buff Down tilt has less ending lag.
  • Buff Neutral aerial has increased hitbox sizes: 3.0 → 3.4
  • Buff Forward aerial damage increased: 7% → 8%
  • Buff All grabs have 2 less frames of ending lag.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.1

  • Bug fix A glitch where Palutena could infinitely renew Lightweight on platforms has been fixed.
  • Buff Explosive Flame inital looping hit size increased 3.7 → 4.8.
  • Buff Explosive Flame damage slightly increased 0.6% → 0.8%.
  • Buff Explosive Flame final hit size increased 14.0 → 15.5.
  • Buff Explosive Flame final hit damage increased 4.0% → 4.2%.
  • Nerf The last hit of Explosive Flame is no longer unblockable.

Moveset

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   3% Holds her staff out and releases a multi-hit flash from the orb before knocking the enemy away with an upwards swipe. Long range and Palutena's best ground attack. It is useful for spacing. When jab canceled, she can combo into grabs or another jab at low percent, and back aerial and up smash at very high percents. Finishing hit has decent power, but long ending lag, and the first hit has extremely slow startup for a jab due to it coming out on frame 8.
1% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt   6% (staff head), 4% (staff tail) Makes her staff spin in the air in front of her, hitting the enemy up to three times. Long duration, good range, and can be used to punish spot-dodges and rolls. However, it leaves her vulnerable to other attacks due to its long duration and high ending lag.
Up tilt   1.2% (loop hits), 2.5% (last hit staff head), 1.5% (last hit staff tail), 8.7%/9.7% if all hits connect Kneels and makes her staff spin in the air above her, hitting the enemy up to seven times. Long duration and decent vertical range. When she performs this attack, Palutena's hitbox becomes very low, allowing her to stop most aerials above her, especially poorly executed stall-then-fall attacks like Bowser's Bowser Bomb. It also can be used for punishing the opponent's air dodge. However, like her forward tilt, it leaves her vulnerable to other attacks due to its long duration (though it comes out faster than her forward tilt). It also has little horizontal range. Good KO potential at very high percents, usually starting at 145%.
Down tilt   8.5% (staff head), 5% (staff tail) Makes her staff spin along the ground in front of her. It is her fastest tilt, and it can be interrupted noticeably earlier than her other tilts. Great spacing tool and can be used to catch spot dodgers and rolls. Good for ledgeguarding. It has less vertical range than her forward tilt.
Dash attack   9% (clean), 5% (late) Bashes the enemy with her shield. The shield can block attacks due to the attack having invincibility frames (12 frames). Large hitbox. Can be used to catch landing opponents and combo into other moves if read the opponents reaction. However, it has long endlag. Has a decent KO potential at very high percentage, starting at 150%. Can reflect.
Forward smash   16% (near), 13% (far) Creates ethereal wings and swings them in front of herself. Comes out quickly and has has high knockback and long horizontal range, giving it great KO potential. Has a sourspot near the tip of the wings, which deals less knockback. It also has a windbox at the tip of the wings that can autospace this move if it fails, and to gimp some some recoveries. High ending lag (48 frames). Can KO at 100% when sweetspotted, KOs in the 120s range when sourspotted.
Up smash   16% (bottom), 12% (middle), 9% (top) Conjures a blue beam of light from the ground in front of her, firing it high up into the air. It has the highest range of any up smash in the game and it comes out quickly along with having great KO potential, making it one of the best up smashes. Excellent for edgeguarding, especially after a ledge trump. Can be used in a conjunction with a down throw by reading opponent's air dodge. However, it has thin horizontal range and high ending lag (though it is her smash attack with the least endlag at 43 frames). Can KO at 100% when sweetspotted.
Down smash   15% (clean), 13% (late) Creates ethereal wings and flaps them down on either side of her. It also has a windbox at the tip of the wings that can autospace this move if it fails, and to gimp some some recoveries. High knockback. Can be used to catch rolls. However, it has very high ending lag (being her smash attack with the most endlag at 53 frames) making it less safe than her forward smash, and one of the worst down smashes in the game. It KOs at 114% and sends opponents vertically if clean, though it KOs at 145% and sends opponents at a semi-spike when late.
Neutral aerial   1.5% (loop hits), 4% (last hit), 11.5% if all hits connect Spins her staff around her. The first five hits have the auto-link angle, which can potentially trap opponents in the rest of the attack. Good for pressuring opponents on platform above and catching out of air dodge. Can combo into aerial or ground attacks at low percentage.
Forward aerial   8% Dropkicks in front of herself. Long horizontal hitbox and low landing lag. Good spacing tool and can combo into grabs and other attacks. It can also be auto-cancelled from SHFF. It is less safe on shield since it delivers less shield stun. Not very much duration, and has relatively high ending lag.
Back aerial   12% (shield), 9% (arm) Hits with her shield behind herself. The shield can block attacks due to the attack granting her invincibility frames (8 frames). Can beat out most aerial attacks and certain projectiles. Comes out one frame faster than her forward air, it has low landing lag and can be auto-cancelled from a short hop. However, it is easy to miss if the opponents is too close to Palutena since it does not have a hitbox around her, and it has very high ending lag for an aerial (41 frames).
Up aerial   1% (loop hits), 5% (last hit), 9% if all hits connect Twirls and then lights up her halo, which hits up to five times. The first four hits have the -link angle, which can potentially trap opponents in the rest of the attack. Long duration and can be used to pressure aerial opponents above her. Has a great KO potential at high percentage. However, it has fairly high ending lag (24 frames). Interestingly enough, this attack has more interruptible frames than auto-canceling frames, as if she uses this attack in certain distance above the ground, even if she finished using this move, she'll suffer from high ending lag, meaning it cannot be auto-cancelled at all. This can, however, be avoided by using other attack with lower ending lag before she hits the ground, like her forward air. Has weak meteor properties when fast-falling, making it possible to combo into another grab at low percentages despite its ending lag.
Down aerial   9% Performs an arcing kick below herself, meteor smashing anyone below her. This attack has no late hits, meaning it will always meteor smash. Can be used as an out of shield option. However, it lasts for only one frame and it has very low range, making it difficult to land, as well as having long ending lag, though it doesn't have high landing lag.
Grab   Holds her staff vertically in front of herself, magically trapping the enemy. Fairly large grab range, though it has some ending lag.
Pummel   3.1% Blasts the enemy with light.
Forward throw   9% Pushes the enemy away with her magic. It is Palutena's weakest throw in terms of knockback, though it can be used to throw opponents off the ledge for an edge-guard.
Back throw   10% Performs a ballet-inspired throw, which launches the enemy at a 180 degree angle behind herself. Launches at the Sakurai angle. It is her strongest throw, and it can KO at high percents depending on weight, rage, staleness and DI. However, due to the angle it launches opponents away, and its low scaling, it is easily DI'd to avoid getting KO'd.
Up throw   8% Sends the enemy into the air with her staff. Can be used to pressure opponents in the air with aerial attacks or an up tilt.
Down throw   5% Magically shoves the enemy into the ground. Ideal for combos and KO set-up; depending on opponent's DI, it can combo into a neutral, forward, back or up aerial, and even an up smash by reading the opponent's air dodge. It can also combo into a down aerial near the ledge for a potential meteor smash.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Swings her staff in front and behind her.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7% Swings her staff 180 degrees along the ground.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5% Similar to her other floor attacks.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  7% Climbs up the stage and hits with a leg swipe.
Neutral special Default Autoreticle 2.9% (per hit) Takes aim with a charge-shot reticle from Kid Icarus Uprising which appears over the enemy, then fires three light shots at that location. Can be initiated only an enemy is within range, nothing is blocking her target, and said enemy doesn't have invincibility from teching, dodging, etc. Can be used as a way for stopping direct approaches. It is able to hit behind Palutena and be used for jab locks, though this can be tricky to do, depending on the opponents' position. It also stalls her mid-air, making it useful to stop opponents from gimping her.
Custom 1 Explosive Flame 0.6% (loop), 4% (last) Creates a Smart Bomb-like explosion at approximately 3 character lengths away. Great spacing and zoning tool, but its slow startup and set distance can make it easily predictable.
Custom 2 Heavenly Light 1% (per hit) Projects a huge rectangular field of supernal light above her and to the sides. It deals damage in the whole area without producing knockback or flinching, as well as repelling all enemies from the sides. Because of this, this move can be used to steal a KO from a fighter who launched another. Can be absorbed. Hold the button to extend the duration.
Side special Default Reflect Barrier 5%, 1.17x damage (reflected projectiles) Raises her shield forward, casting a rectangular barrier which pushes opponents away and reflects projectiles. Palutena's shield has a hitbox when it is being raised, allowing her to damage opponents with it. The hit is unblockable. If it reflects an attack that deals at least 50% damage, the reflector will break. However, it can be used immediately after it has broken, unlike other reflectors.
Custom 1 Angelic Missile 13% Shoots herself forward to attack with her head, similar to Skull Bash and Green Missile. Can aid her recovery significantly without leaving her helpless. It is also a decent (albeit somewhat easy to dodge) KO move offstage.
Custom 2 Super Speed 2.6% Performs a charging attack where she glides along the ground very quickly and for a long distance. She can damage enemies by ramming into them. While in the air, the move will send her diagonally downwards. It is considered her best side special move due to its speed and ability to retain its momentum after canceling the attack, which it gives Palutena plethora of options from her mix-ups, recovery, potential pressure, and mobility. Can be cancelled with her jump, up smash, grab, dash attack, and other attacks. Its downside however, is that it has a small cooldown duration.
Up special Default Warp 0% Disappears and then reappears in a chosen direction, much like Teleport. Can be ledge-cancelled, allowing for defensive and movement options.
Custom 1 Jump Glide 0% Jumps a fair distance up, then glides similarly to Peach Parasol. Good for keeping vertical follow-ups, and it has higher horizontal recovery distance than Warp, however, it cannot be ledge-cancelled and, if gimped, she cannot do anything until she hits the ground, which may lead to an inevitable KO.
Custom 2 Rocket Jump 12% (ground), 10% (air) Creates an explosion that boosts Palutena upwards and damages nearby enemies. The explosion strongly meteor smashes airborne enemies below her. However, it gives her the least vertical distance of all her up specials and little to no horizontal movement.
Down special Default Counter 1.3x damage of countered attacks, 10% minimum After hiding behind her shield, she performs a counterattack with her staff, similar to that of many of the Fire Emblem characters. It has surprisingly high damage, though despite what one of the in-game's tips says, it has the lowest range and lowest power of all counters, and it also has very long punishable endlag should it miss. It also has a sourspot that deals even less knockback. Will One-hit KO anyone if she managed to counter an attack that deals at least 50% damage.
Custom 1 Lightweight 0% Increases her speed and jumping height. While in this effect, it significantly improves her off stage game and allows her to have more follow ups and an access to her near guaranteed KO set ups from down throw. However in exchange for this effect, she will only take an increased damage (knockback remains the same), while under this effect. Before it wears off, she will have an reverse effect of this move for a very short time.
Custom 2 Celestial Firework 3.2% (toss), 1.2% (blast) Shoots an explosive firework upwards in front of her. It has invinciblity frames before firing the firework.
Final Smash Black Hole Laser 2.4% (loop), 12% (last) Attracts foes towards the center of the stage with Black Hole, putting them in a tumbling state, then fires the Mega Laser into the Black Hole to deal damage, concluding with a final hit to knock the victims away as Black Hole dissipates.

Taunts

  • Up Taunt: Makes a sweeping gesture with her arms while producing her ethereal wings and halo, saying "You shall be purified!" (浄化してあげましょう, You will be purified.)
  • Side Taunt: Spins around her staff, dancing with her foot in the air, laughing.
  • Down Taunt: Lets go of her staff, which floats while she brushes her hair aside as her halo shines, saying "Ready when you are." (いつでもどうぞ?, Feel free whenever.)

Idle Poses

  • Touches the ground with the tail of her staff and shield in front of her, briefly making her halo shine.
  • Looks away while crossing her staff and shield in front of her, briefly making her halo shine.

On-screen appearance

  • Walks out of a heavenly golden door surrounded by a glowing light.

Victory fanfare

  • A small excerpt of the title screen theme of Kid Icarus, with an original ending. This is shared with Pit.


Victory Poses

  • Spins around her staff, then sits in midair laughing.
  • Twirls around while hovering, saying "No one can hide from the light."
    • If she beats Pit, there is a chance she will instead say "Oh, so sorry about that, Pit."
  • Twirls her staff and points it in front of her, saying "Too bad for you."
    • If she beats Dark Pit, there is a chance she will instead say "Poor little Pittoo."

In Competitive Play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character Custom sets available
Palutena (SSB4) Palutena 2322 2312 1322 1312 2122
1122 2332 1332 2313 2323

Notable players

Reveal trailer

<youtube>xqTW13AYniY</youtube>

Alternate costumes

Palutena Palette (SSB4).png
Palutena (SSB4) Palutena (SSB4) Palutena (SSB4) Palutena (SSB4) Palutena (SSB4) Palutena (SSB4) Palutena (SSB4) Palutena (SSB4)

Trophies

Palutena
Ntsc In Kid Icarus: Uprising, the goddess of light uses telepathy to communicate and grants miracles to support Pit on his adventure. In Smash Bros., she has special moves like Warp and Heavenly Light at her disposal. She's very adaptable—you can customize her into a long- or close-range fighter!
Pal Said to be able to perform miracles, this goddess supports Pit in battle, using telepathy to communicate with him. She's no slouch on her own, either. She has a huge variety of moves you can customise and use to your advantage. Short or long range, the sky's the limit! Or maybe not. After all, she can teleport.
NES: Kid Icarus (08/1987)
3DS: Kid Icarus: Uprising (03/2012)
Palutena (Alt.)
Ntsc Palutena's Reflect Barrier side special deflects any attacks and projectiles that come at her from the front. Unlike other reflective moves, you can leave this barrier in place and it will keep reflecting. If you really want to ruin someone's day, you can push them over an edge using this move.
Pal Palutena's Reflect Barrier special deflects any attacks and projectiles that come at her from the front. Unlike other fighters' reflective moves, you can deploy this barrier and then leave it to its own devices. You can also push opponents with it, so use it on someone who's teetering on the edge of the stage to push them off.
NES: Kid Icarus (08/1987)
3DS: Kid Icarus: Uprising (03/2012)
Black Hole Laser
Ntsc Palutena's Final Smash. After doing a divine twirl, she creates a black hole in front of her, drawing in her opponents. When she's got 'em where she wants 'em, she follows up with a wide laser beam that reaches from one edge of the screen to the other. It even changes direction slightly, just in case someone managed to avoid the black hole.
Pal Palutena's Final Smash. After doing a divine twirl, she creates a black hole in front of her, drawing in her opponents. When she's got 'em where she wants 'em, the next step is a wide laser beam that reaches from one edge of the screen to the other. It even changes direction slightly, for that extra chance of taking out her foes.

In Event Matches

Solo Events

Co-op Events

Gallery

Trivia

  • The anime portions of Palutena's reveal trailer were created by Studio Shaft, who also worked on the Kid Icarus: Uprising animated short Palutena's Revolting Dinner. One member of Studio Shaft, Hideyuki Morioka, also drew the illustration found on Palutena's page in the official Smash Bros. site; Morioka was credited as "Animation Character Designer" in said animated short.
  • Palutena and the Mii Fighters are the only characters that have their customizable special moves unlocked from the start.
  • Unused sound files exist for Kirby using all three of Palutena's neutral special moves, suggesting either that it was not until late in development that it was decided which would be the default, or that Kirby was originally able to copy any one of her neutral special moves.
  • Palutena is the only character who can use both a reflector and a counterattack without customs.
  • Palutena is the only character who was part of a Final Smash the previous game and a fighter the next game.
  • Excluding Snake with his up smash in Brawl, Palutena has the highest vertical-ranged, non-projectile up smash with her pillar of light.
  • Most character's landing animations have them simply land on their two feet. However, Palutena always twirls herself upon landing.
  • Palutena is the only character (along with a Mii Gunner wearing the Proto Man Costume) in Smash 4 with a visible shield that does not protect her while idle: Link and Toon Link have versions of the Hylian Shield which are able to block projectiles while standing and walking, while Palutena's shield does not have this property. Her shield does give her dash attack and back aerial invincibility frames, however, meaning her shield isn't entirely aesthetic.
  • Palutena's newcomer artwork is the only one to not depict any Mario characters, as well as the one with the fewest number of characters at four (herself, Pit, Link and Dark Pit).

References