List of flaws in artificial intelligence (SSB4): Difference between revisions

The following is a list of flaws in the [[artificial intelligence]] of ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', present in both games up to the most recent version ([[1.1.1]]), unless otherwise stated.

2. Suboptimal play by the CPU in general does not constitute an AI flaw. For something to be considered an AI flaw, it has to be a repeated behavior by the AI that directly hinders a CPU's performance regardless of outside circumstances.

3. Per the previous guideline, a potential example must be a behavior by the CPU that it will nearly always repeat when the circumstances leading to the example occurs.

4. Make sure to add the latest version in which the flaw occurs: if your game isn't updated to the currently latest version (1.1.1), you might want to check if the flaw was fixed in posterior versions, and add your version in which it occured accordingly. Otherwise, always list the version as 1.1.1 with its correspondent Smash symbol. Since the AI is the same between both the 3DS and Wii U versions from 1.0.6 onward, always add {{GameIcon|ssb4}} unless it's a stage flaw, in which either {{GameIcon|ssb4-3}} or {{GameIcon|ssb4-u}} should be added if the stage is exclusive to one version.-->

|rowspan=8 align=center|Attack choices

|When a foe gets very close to them after they roll, land from midair or finish another attack, CPUs will nearly always use a [[grab]], or occasionally a jab is the foe is not shielding, becoming predictable.

*If the player constantly stays a safe distance away from the CPU, it will aggresively dash towards them and use a [[dash grab]] or stop the dash in close, making its approach predictable. During this period, the CPU also won't attempt to dodge the player's attacks.

|rowspan=4|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|When launched upwards, CPUs tend to fall down above the player and use a [[down aerial]] when in close range, or a [[stall-then-fall]] special if they have one, even though this can be easily shielded and punished, when landing safely away from the player would have been a better option.

|Like in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'', CPUs that launch a foe upwards will just wait for them on the ground to spam up tilts and up smashes as they come near, rarely using other attacks.

|CPUs persistently try to use certain projectiles or special moves even when only one of them can be out at a time, or when a certain period of time must pass for the special to be used again; they will just use it again with no results, causing them to become vulnerable most of the time. These moves include [[Clown Cannon]], [[Mechakoopa]], Wario Bike, [[Banana Peel]], Robin's four special moves (of which {{b|Thunder|Robin}} and [[Arcfire]] suffer the most from this behavior), [[Robo Beam]], [[Gyro]], [[Pikmin Throw]] and [[Bonus Fruit]].

|When at a moderate distance from a foe, most CPUs often jump before shooting projectiles, even if these are fired in a straight horizontal trajectory, such as [[Water Shuriken]] or [[Charge Shot]], or at an otherwise more vertical angle, such as [[Shot Put]], causing them to miss if the foe just stays on the ground.

|If a CPU is not in lag when a nearby player has [[intangibility]] from a roll or sidestep, it will also [[roll]], taking the intangibility as a menace; if this is done repeatedly, the CPU will continously roll around, seemingly rolling in lockstep with the player, attacking only if the player is not intangible as the CPU's lag ends, instead of simply punishing them. This easily allows the player to bait the CPU and get followups.

|rowspan=3|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|CPUs hold their shield against incoming attacks even if they have remarkable [[shield break]]ing potential (such as [[Hand Slap]], also notorious with items like the Hammer and [[Home-Run Bat]]) or are strengthened enough by [[equipment]] to do so, allowing the player to easily set up followups and KOs on them afterwards.

|High-level CPUs always attempt to [[air dodge]] incoming attacks and grabs while airborne, even if doing so causes other dangers, such as [[landing lag]] if used right above a platform or risking self-destructs on stages like [[Jungle Japes]], where the air dodge's lag can cause them to fall in the water.

|After shielding an attack, CPUs tend to always roll before attacking the player, rarely using [[shield grab]]s or just dropping their shield to use attacks, making them easy to predict and punish.

|rowspan=4|{{GameIcon|ssb4-3}}1.0.4

|CPUs shielding attacks at a fair distance might hold them for a long time or constantly put them on and off until they are close to breaking, regardless of what the player does.

|When on a platform, CPUs shielding attacks from below will just hold their shields in place if attacked repeatedly, or drop them to then shield the next attack again, not trying to roll or jump away until their shield is close to breaking. This allows them to be easily [[shield stab]]bed.

|rowspan=19 align=center|Recovery

|rowspan=3|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|When using [[Abandon Ship]], CPU Bowser Jr. never attacks with the hammer, instead air dodging continously when pursued until landing or grabbing an edge.

|CPU Luigi, Sheik and Zero Suit Samus never aid their recoveries with their respective [[down special]]s, causing them to fail their recoveries and get KO'd if their other recovery moves do not attain enough distance to get back onto the stage.

|CPUs of characters with multiple midair jumps, as well as Ness, often intentionally hover by the ledge using up all of them before grabbing it, instead of simply getting back to the stage, leaving themselves open to subsequent [[gimp]]s.

|Similar to the situation seen above, CPU Ness and Lucas always distance away from the stage edge to aim at it with PK Thunder 2 (or z-air in the case of Lucas), becoming extremely vulnerable to gimps.

|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1, {{GameIcon|ssb4-3}}: 1.0.5 onward

|rowspan=3 align=center|Other

|rowspan=3|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|When [[Shuriken of Light]] is repeatedly used against CPUs at a far distance (near to the point where the move gets maximum power), they will just hold their shield in place even if the attack doesn't reach them at all, holding it until it's close to breaking if the player doesn't cease fire, allowing the player to get easy shield stabs and breaks on them afterwards. In this situation, CPUs with reflectors will also rarely use them at all.

|CPUs still ignore when [[Team Attack]] is on, carelessly using powerful moves like [[smash attack]]s even if there are teammates with high damage near them, thus KOing them. When accidentally grabbing teammates, they will also still [[pummel]] and throw them.

|rowspan=7 align=center|[[List of flaws in artificial intelligence (SSBB)|Reminiscent of ''Brawl'']]

|When launched a high distance, high-leveled CPUs will almost always [[air dodge]] after [[hitstun]] ends, very ocassionally jumping or using an aerial attack instead, which allows players to easily get followups on them. In this case, they will also never interrupt their air dodges with an action besides another dodge.

*In this situation, CPUs may also air dodge continously until they land, without trying to counterattack pursuing players at all, and will still air dodge when close to the ground as well, becoming vulnerable due to the landing lag.

|rowspan=7|{{GameIcon|ssb4-3}}1.0.4

|When grabbing edges, CPUs frequently choose to jump from them instead of using other options, ignoring players that may punish them.

|During the period a player has respawn invincibility, CPUs will still jump onto a nearby platform, and flee to others when the player pursues them, without attempting to dodge their attacks.

|CPU Kirby often uses his forward aerial after a midair jump to attack edgeguarders during his recovery, regardless of his level, which, while making him harder to gimp, is a very predictable and stoppable process as the CPU will never attempt to act differently.

===Character Specific===

|{{CharHead|Mario|SSB4}}{{CharHead|Dr. Mario|SSB4}}

|CPU Mario and Dr. Mario tend to use [[Cape]]/Super Sheet after a jump, instead of their superior aerial attacks, leaving themselves open to punishes if predicted correctly.

|rowspan=3|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{CharHead|Luigi|SSB4}}

|{{CharHead|Peach|SSB4}}

|When [[float]]ing towards the player, CPU Peach will never cancel the float to air dodge incoming attacks; as she often floats to approach from the ground or edgeguard, this can be easily exploited to fatally KO her.

|{{Head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|Yoshi|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|Wario|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|Robin|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|Kirby|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|King Dedede|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|Lucario|g=SSB4|s=20px}} {{Head|Mewtwo|g=SSB4|s=20px}}

|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1, {{GameIcon|ssb4-3}}: 1.0.5 onward

|{{CharHead|Yoshi|SSB4}}

|CPU Yoshi will sometimes jump before using Egg Lay even if the foe is on the ground, thus missing with the move.

|{{GameIcon|ssb4-3}}1.0.4

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Rosalina|SSB4}}

|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1, {{GameIcon|ssb4-3}}: 1.0.5 onward

|CPU Rosalina will never intentionally attempt to make Luma attack projected away from her upon using [[Luma Shot]], only calling him back to use the move over again, causing him to be easily KO'd by foes.

*She will also persistently try to call Luma back even when he's stunned from an attack (period during which he cannot be called back), leaving herself open to enemy attacks.

|{{CharHead|Bowser Jr.|SSB4}}

|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1 (1.0.6 onward)

|{{CharHead|Wario|SSB4}}

|rowspan=5|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{CharHead|Donkey Kong|SSB4}}

|When grabbing a foe, CPU Donkey Kong always uses his cargo up throw, never using his many other throws; he will only use his cargo down throw when grabbing foes near an edge.

*He also often uses the throw instantly, never moving around and not [[pummel]]ing the foe until very high percentages.

|{{CharHead|Diddy Kong|SSB4}}

|{{CharHead|Sheik|SSB4}}

|{{CharHead|Samus|SSB4}}

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Zero Suit Samus|SSB4}}

|rowspan=4|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{CharHead|Palutena|SSB4}}

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Marth|SSB4}}{{CharHead|Lucina|SSB4}}

|CPU Lucina almost always tries to combo her down throw into [[Dolphin Slash]], even when this often proves to be a poor attempt at doing so, being easily avoidable by [[DI]]ing away and leaving her vulnerable afterwards.

|rowspan=12|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{CharHead|Ike|SSB4}}{{CharHead|Meta Knight|SSB4}}

|When the player is [[Floor recovery|knocked down]] or hanging on a ledge, CPU Ike will nearly always use [[Quick Draw]], as will Meta Knight with [[Mach Tornado]], regardless of their distance from the foe, which often prove to be ineffective.

|{{CharHead|Robin|SSB4}}

|{{CharHead|Kirby|SSB4}}

|CPU Kirby tends to incorrectly use copy abilities that aren't [[camp]]able projectiles like [[PK Flash]] and [[Warlock Punch]], which he uses even against foes out of the moves' range, or [[Monado Arts]], which he uses at inappropiate moments (such as using Shield or Smash at low percentages).

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Little Mac|SSB4}}

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Fox|SSB4}}{{CharHead|Falco|SSB4}}

|CPU Falco always shoots only two or three times when using Blaster, and doesn't end the move quicker even if the player gets close to him, becoming vulnerable to attacks.

|{{CharHead|Pikachu|SSB4}}

|{{CharHead|Jigglypuff|SSB4}}

|{{CharHead|Greninja|SSB4}}

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Ness|SSB4}}{{CharHead|Lucas|SSB4}}

|When using PK Flash, CPU Ness always charges the move to nearly its maximum against grounded opponents, no matter how close they are to him, allowing them to punish him with powerful attacks like fully charged smashes.

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Captain Falcon|SSB4}}{{CharHead|Ganondorf|SSB4}}

|CPU Captain Falcon and Ganondorf often use [[Falcon Kick]]/[[Wizard's Foot]] at far distances from the player.

|rowspan=2|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{CharHead|Villager|SSB4}}

|CPU Villager rarely performs [[Timber]] properly, failing to detect where he planted the sapling or tree to initiate the next phases of the move, and occasionally even attacking his own tree (instead of using the axe) when it grows.

|{{CharHead|Olimar|SSB4}}

|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{CharHead|Wii Fit Trainer|SSB4}}

|CPU Wii Fit Trainer using [[Deep Breathing]] never attempts to end the move earlier, and may use it repeatedly even though it becomes slower per use, allowing players to easily punish them with powerful attacks like charged smashes.

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Pac-Man|SSB4}}

|If a CPU Pac-Man can't use his Bonus Fruit for some reason, he will persistently use Power Pellet in the same situations he would use Bonus Fruit, becoming extremely predictable and punishable.

*At lower levels (or all of them in older 3DS versions), he will instead try to uselessly summon another Bonus Fruit, doing this repeated times before approaching the player.

|rowspan=5|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{CharHead|Sonic|SSB4}}

|{{CharHead|Mewtwo|SSB4}}

|After being launched upwards, CPU Mewtwo will sometimes [[Teleport]] diagonally down as it falls even if not attacked, leaving it highly vulnerable afterwards.

*It will even do this near edges on some stages, causing it to self-destruct. Mewtwo additionally uses Teleport instead of a roll in some ocassions to dodge certain special moves such as Kirby's Stone, often self-destructing when doing this near an edge.

|rowspan=2|{{CharHead|Mii Brawler|SSB4}}

|After down throw, CPU Mii Brawler tend to not jump before using Helicopter Kick, thus missing with the move and becoming vulnerable.

|{{CharHead|Mii Swordfighter|SSB4}}

|rowspan=2|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

|{{CharHead|Mii Gunner|SSB4}}

|CPU Mii Gunner never fires [[Laser Blaze]] continously, always shooting once at a time.

===Item Related===

 

| Explosives || Like in ''Brawl'', CPUs throw explosives such as [[Deku Nut]]s and [[Smart Bomb]]s against foes too close to them even if that causes them to get caught in the explosions that follow, self-destructing in the process (especially with [[Bob-omb]]s). || rowspan=8|{{GameIcon|ssb4}}1.1.1

| [[File:BeehiveSSB4.jpg|32px|link=Beehive]] [[File:CuccoSSB4.jpg|32px|link=Cucco]] || CPUs often inadvertently attack Cuccos and Beehives in an attempt to attack other players.

| [[File:Gold.jpg|32px|link=Golden Hammer]] [[File:Hammer.jpg|32px|link=Hammer]] || CPUs still experiment most flaws from ''Brawl'' when using the Hammer.

| [[File:FranklinBadgeSSB4.jpg|32px|link=Franklin Badge]] || CPUs do not recognize Franklin Badges, and often use projectiles (including fully charged ones) on players who are wearing them, even though this may prove to be fatal.

| [[File:BumperSSB4.jpg|32px|link=Bumper]] [[File:MotionSensorBombSSB4.jpg|32px|link=Motion-Sensor Bomb]] [[File:UniraSSB4.jpg|32px|link=Unira]] || While CPUs are overall better at avoiding dangerous items activated by anyone other than them, this can become a problem with Motion-Sensor Bombs, Uniras and Bumpers. If one is activated between the thrower and a CPU, it will repeatedly walk up to it, only to back up at the last second (either by jumping backwards, rolling, or sidestepping) and occasionally use a random attack, rarely managing to jump over it unless there are other CPUs at the same side.

| [[File:BackShieldSSB4.jpg|32px|link=Back Shield]] || If a CPU is cornered near the edge of a stage by a player facing away from them while wearing a Back Shield, the CPU may continuously attack the shield or roll backwards rather than trying another option such as jumping over the player.

| rowspan=2|[[File:SmashBall.jpg|32px|link=Smash Ball]] || When a player near them has partial intangibility from a dodge, CPU Bowser, Little Mac and Lucario still roll during their Final Smashes to "avoid" them instead of attacking them, despite becoming invincible to knockback, allowing the player to easily stall them out until the Final Smashes wear off.

| [[File:Ore Club - Uprising.png|40px|link=Ore Club]] || CPUs won't use the Ore Club correctly; when holding it, they often stand in place and use its [[forward tilt]] repeatedly as if expecting this to produce a projectile, even though a forward smash must be used to do this. They also do this with most other battering items, persistently using jabs and forward tilts with them even if the foe is not in range. || {{GameIcon|ssb4-3}}1.0.4

===Stage Related===

| [[File:SSB4UTheGreatCaveOffensive.jpg|128px|link=The Great Cave Offensive]] || On The Great Cave Offensive, CPUs will still jump to use aerials or try to reach higher-placed foes even if below a low ceiling with [[Danger Zone]]s, receiving avoidable damage and eventually self-destructing if they are above 100%. || rowspan=4|{{GameIcon|ssb4-u}}1.1.1

| [[File:PalutenasTempleWiiUFull.png|128px|link=Palutena's Temple]] || CPUs have a difficult time chasing opponents on the moving platform above the stage, often hitting themselves with the spikes below it or failing to get on it at all.

| [[File:SSB4 Corneria.JPG|128px|link=Corneria]] || On Corneria, CPUs will attempt to grab items even if they fall onto the Great Fox's laser blaster, often not being able to make it back onto the ship's deck afterwards (repeatedly jumping in place or off the gun only to get back onto it), forcing them to stay put until they are inevitably blasted offscreen. || rowspan=2|{{GameIcon|ssb4-3}}1.0.4

| [[File:SSB4 Paper Mario.JPG|128px|link=Paper Mario]] || In the third section of Paper Mario, CPUs who are standing on the Bowser head won't pay attention to when the head rotates, often focusing on fighting anyone else who may be on there too, rather than maintaining their footing, often resulting in them falling off and not making it back to the stage.

==Update History==

*AI is matched to that of ''Smash U'', significantly improving it. In addition, some other changes were made:

**CPU Ness no longer uses PK Flash on land, instead using it only for edgeguards.

'''{{GameIcon|ssb4}} 1.0.6'''

*CPUs now unleash a fully charged smash on a foe stunned from a broken shield, instead of a random attack.

*{{GameIcon|ssb4-3ds}} CPUs wait for a couple of seconds before using Share Stock.

*CPU Luigi properly rises when using Luigi Cyclone to recover. He now combos his down throw into forward air instead of up air.

*CPU Bowser Jr. uses Clown Kart Dash on land much more often, and now uses the hammer when recovering with Abandon Ship.

*CPU Marth and Lucina perform all hits of Dancing Blade more often, but have a higher tendency of using the move as a result.

*CPU Sonic now uses Spin Dash before his midair jump to recover.

*CPU Mii Brawler uses Feint Jump to recover.

'''{{GameIcon|ssb4}} 1.0.8'''

* [[Flaws in artificial intelligence]]

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFBnhaXql24 A video showcasing the CPUs' poor navigation of several stages, allowing a lucky player to win against level nine CPUs by doing absolutely nothing (in reference to a ''Mario Party'' meme).]