Falco (SSB4)/Neutral aerial

Hitbox visualization showing Falco's neutral aerial.

Overview

Falco spins with his wings, hitting four times for a total of 11%. It is capable of comboing into itself or forward aerial at slightly higher percentages, and the final hit is slightly disjointed. Landing with the move can be unsafe, as the attack lacks a landing hitbox and the landing lag may allow opponents to hit Falco out of landing neutral aerials, however, if buffered from a short hop and fast fallen as soon as possible, Falco can frame cancel the move, making its grounded combo potential very good as the frame cancel is consistent due to the method. The move is also able to kill at higher percents, and the autolinking multi-hits can drag opponents down, possibly leading to gimps.

The move is notably hampered by generally lacking range, like most of Falco's other moves, and the inability to short hop autocancel the move, making it unsafe to use frequently. Overall, however, it is a relatively decent move for Falco, providing good combo potential at lower percents and having decent kill power at the ledge.

Update history

1.0.8

• Loop hits set knockback (15 → 22).
• Loop hits angle (110° → 367°).
• The loop hits middle hitbox is larger (4u → 6u) and it is now static, now fully covering Falco's body.
  • Altogether, these changes make neutral aerial connect much more reliably.
• Hit 2 damage (3% → 2%).
• Final hit base knockback (40 → 55).
• The final hit now uses one large extended hitbox rather than multiple smaller hitboxes (4u/4u/3u/3u → 8u), giving it more range overall.
• The final hit now always launches opponents in the direction Falco is facing, making it more consistent.
• Final hit hitlag (1x → 2x). This makes it benefit more from frame canceling (even with its higher knockback) but makes it easier to DI.
  • Initially, this also significantly hindered its safety on shield although the changes to shields in 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 removed this disadvantage.
• Final hit startup/duration (frames 21-24 → 23-24).

Hitboxes

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct
Hit 1
0	0	3%	0		0	100	22	6.0	0	0.0	11.0	1.5	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
1	0	3%	0		0	100	22	4.0	22	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
2	0	3%	0		0	100	22	4.0	16	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
3	0	3%	0		0	100	22	3.0	15	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
Hit 2
0	0	2%	0		0	100	22	6.0	0	0.0	11.0	1.5	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
1	0	2%	0		0	100	22	4.0	22	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
2	0	2%	0		0	100	22	4.0	16	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
3	0	2%	0		0	100	22	3.0	15	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
Hit 3
0	0	2%	0		0	100	22	6.0	0	0.0	11.0	1.5	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
1	0	2%	0		0	100	22	4.0	22	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
2	0	2%	0		0	100	22	4.0	16	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
3	0	2%	0		0	100	22	3.0	15	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
Hit 4
0	0	4%	0		55	130	0	8.0	0	0.0	11.0	7.0	1.0x	2.0x	0%							Slash

Timing

Attack

Initial autocancel	1-2
Hit 1	3-5
Hit 2	6-9
Hit 3	14-17
Hit 4	23-24
Ending autocancel	43-
Interruptible	49
Animation length	57

Landing lag

Animation length	15

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Autocancel

Interruptible

Falco's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2 · inf) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Floor attack (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Edge attack
Neutral special (def · c1 · c2) · Side special (def · c1 · c2) · Up special (def · c1 · c2) · Down special (def · c1 · c2) · Final Smash