Roy (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Roy was infamous for being the a lower-ranked character in previous appearances, with his [[Roy (SSBM)|debut appearance in ''Melee'']] being particularly egregious. Even in ''SSB4'', he still retained a committal approach and unsafe aerials (especially compared to other fellow swordfighters), and his inverse tipper attribute hindering his spacing abilities, which collectively resulted in both his lower mid tier placement and being ranked as the lowest ranked DLC fighter. Likely owing to this, Roy has been heavily buffed overall in his transition to ''Ultimate'', and is the only DLC fighter from ''SSB4'' to remain mostly buffed in that transition.

Roy's most significant improvements are indirect, as he benefits noticeably from the changes to the universal gameplay mechanics in ''Ultimate''. The improved flexibility of [[dash cancel]]ing and the decreased landing lag on his aerials greatly improve his combo game, aerial offense, rushdown potential, and make his KO power consistent. Complementing this, the universal mobility increase benefits Roy's core strategy of closing the distance on his opponents and landing hits with the hilt of his sword, as well as helping counterbalance his vulnerability to camping. These changes almost fully alleviate the need to approach at dangerously close ranges in order to deal optimal damage and knockback, which was his main flaw that had plagued him in previous games and was not present in his other fellow swordfighters.

Some of Roy's useful buffs are also direct. Moves like his [[dash attack]], [[forward tilt]], [[forward aerial|forward]], [[back aerial|back]] and [[up aerial]]s, and [[Double-Edge Dance]], have increased power, significantly increasing his options at higher percentages and further toning down his trouble at KOing. Furthermore, KO confirms with his neutral attack and the first hit of neutral aerial or a sourspotted up aerial have become much more consistent and reliable. A small amount of his moves have also had their hitbox placements improved, which is notable in his forward smash and Double-Edge Dance, the former of which can now hit opponents in the lower platforms of {{SSBU|Battlefield}}. Double-Edge Dance has also been sped up greatly, making its hits link into each other much more consistently. His air game in general has directly improved, as forward aerial now auto-cancels in a short hop and has knockback and angle adjustments that make it better for both combos and KOs; neutral, back and up aerials are stronger (the lattermost of which can now KO reliably), and down aerial has larger sweetspots. These changes, compounded with his lower landing lag all-around, makes Roy's air game one of the most versatile and fearsome of any character.

However, Roy is not without a few nerfs, some of which are significant. His forward throw has lost its combo potential altogether, and down throw has less followups due to its increased knockback. [[Blazer]] now needs to travel half its maximum distance before it can sweetspot ledges and also deals less knockback, reducing its use as a KO option. Moreover, while these nerfs are comparatively few, Roy still has some of his flaws from past games, such as mediocre offstage survivability, a vulnerability to combos, and an ineffective spacing game.

Overall, Roy's core playstyle remains fundamentally the same as it was in ''SSB4'', but the changes made to the game's engine and his substantial buffs now make him less polarizing and allows him to comfortably play aggressively up close, while retaining his raw power, range, and speed mostly intact. Because of this, he is considered to be much more viable than he was in any of his previous playable appearances, and is widely seen as one of the best swordfighters in the game and a very powerful character in competitive play.