Super Smash Bros. series

Angling

From SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
This article is about tilt and smash attack angling. For the shielding technique, see Shield angling.
All taken from SmashBoards.
Luigi using his forward smash in various angles.

Angling (officially known as shifting) is the ability for a character to alter the direction of a forward tilt or forward smash. For example, angling a punch attack up will generally cause the character to punch diagonally upwards instead of straight forward, while angling it down will tend to cause the character to punch diagonally downwards. Additionally, most attacks will deal slightly altered damage amounts when angled, with attacks typically dealing 1-2% more damage when angled up, and 1% less damage when angled down (though some attacks deviate from this). On the whole, attacks can only be angled if they are a straight punch, kick, or similar strike; attacks that cover vertical ground (such as an overhead sword slash) have no purpose for angling.

Angling attacks downwards can aid in striking short or crouching characters such as Pikachu or Kirby in cases where the regular attack would miss just overhead, but most attacks deal slightly less damage when angled down as mentioned previously. Angling upwards is useful for intercepting aerial characters and often comes with the aforementioned slight damage bonus, but the aforementioned short characters will be even more able to avoid it. Angling can also help with edgeguarding; Ganondorf's and Falco's forward tilts in Melee are prime examples of forward tilts that are more useful at guarding the area around the edge when angled down.

To angle a forward tilt, the player must hold the control stick diagonally up or down when inputting the tilt. Angling forward smashes works differently, and depends on the game. In Melee, angling smash attacks is somewhat difficult; the player has to hold the direction of the C-Stick or control stick at a precise angle between forward and diagonally while inputting the forward smash (which the GameCube controller's control sticks have no indentation for, making it even more difficult). Holding the sticks diagonally up or diagonally down inputs an up smash or down smash instead of an angled forward smash (unlike with tilts). From Brawl onward, the player can angle forward smashes by holding up/down immediately after initiating it (or while charging the smash), making it significantly easier and simpler to do. Using the Wii Remote, it is impossible to angle a forward tilt upwards without an input earlier for the same reason as an up tilt (due to lack of a control stick); however, it is possible to execute a downwards forward tilt by crouching first and using a forward tilt while getting up.

Attacks that can be angled generally have three possible angles: up, side (or neutral), and down. In Smash 64, some attacks have up to 5 angles.

List of attacks that can be angled

Character Super Smash Bros.[1] Super Smash Bros. Melee Super Smash Bros. Brawl Super Smash Bros. 4 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Tilt Smash Tilt Smash Tilt Smash Tilt Smash Tilt Smash
Bayonetta No No No Yes
Bowser Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Bowser Jr. Yes Yes Yes Yes
Captain Falcon 5 Angles 3 Angles Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Charizard No No Yes No Yes No
Chrom No No
Cloud No No No No
Corrin No Yes No Yes
Daisy No Yes[n 1]
Dark Pit No No No No
Dark Samus Yes Yes
Diddy Kong Yes No Yes No Yes No
Donkey Kong 3 Angles 3 Angles Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Dr. Mario Yes[n 2] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Duck Hunt Yes No Yes No
Falco Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Fox 5 Angles No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Ganondorf Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No No
Greninja Yes No Yes No
Ice Climbers Yes No Yes No Yes No
Ike Yes No Yes No Yes No
Incineroar Yes No
Inkling No No
Isabelle No No
Ivysaur No Yes No Yes
Jigglypuff 3 Angles No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Ken No No
King Dedede No No No No No No
King K. Rool Yes Yes
Kirby 3 Angles No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Link No No No No No No No No No No
Little Mac No Yes[n 3] No Yes[n 3]
Lucario Yes No Yes No Yes No
Lucas Yes No Yes No Yes No
Lucina[n 4] No No No No
Luigi 3 Angles 5 Angles Yes[n 2] Yes Yes[n 5] Yes[n 6] Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mario 3 Angles 5 Angles Yes[n 2] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Marth[n 4] No No No No No No No No
Mega Man No No No No
Meta Knight No No No No No No
Mewtwo Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
Mii Brawler Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mii Gunner No No No No
Mii Swordfighter No No No No
Mr. Game & Watch No No No No No No No No
Ness 3 Angles No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Olimar No No No No No No
Pac-Man Yes No Yes No
Palutena No No No No
Peach No No No No No No No Yes[n 1]
Pichu No No No No
Pikachu 3 Angles No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Pit No No No No No No
R.O.B. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Richter[n 7] No Yes
Ridley Yes No
Robin No No No No
Rosalina No Yes No Yes
Roy No No No No No No
Ryu No No No No
Samus 5 Angles 5 Angles Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Sheik No No No No No No No No
Shulk No Yes No Yes
Simon[n 7] No Yes
Snake No No No No
Sonic No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Squirtle No Yes Yes Yes
Toon Link No No No No No No
Villager No No No No
Wario Yes No Yes No Yes No
Wii Fit Trainer No No No No
Wolf Yes No Yes No
Yoshi 3 Angles 3 Angles Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Young Link No No No No
Zelda Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Zero Suit Samus Yes No Yes No Yes Yes

Notes

  1. ^ a b In Ultimate, the weapon used for Peach and Daisy's forward smash depends on the angle. Angling forward (no angle) uses the golf club, which has longer reach; angling upward uses the frying pan, which deals more damage; and angling downward uses the tennis racket, which is a semi-spike.
  2. ^ a b c In Melee, Mario, Luigi, and Dr. Mario's forward tilts deal very weak set knockback at the Sakurai angle when angled down.
  3. ^ a b Little Mac's forward smash becomes different types of attacks when angled. Angling forward (no angle) is a straight punch, angling up is an uppercut with more vertical knockback, and angling down is a body hook that deals low knockback but high damage and shield damage.
  4. ^ a b In Ultimate, Marth and Lucina can angle their neutral special.
  5. ^ In Brawl, Luigi's forward tilt deals no knockback when angled down.
  6. ^ In Brawl, Luigi's forward smash has additional IASA frames when angled up, making it more difficult to punish. The move also does higher damage (and therefore knockback), making the move's already very strong knockback scaling especially immense.
  7. ^ a b Simon and Richter can angle their forward aerial and back aerial attacks as well.

References