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A [[clone]] of {{SSB4|Marth}}, [[Marth|her ancestor]] within the [[Fire Emblem (universe)|''Fire Emblem'' series]], Lucina was originally planned as an [[alternate costume]] for him. However, she was given her own character slot later in development once her attacks were given differing traits. She was one of three intended alternate costumes to be made separate in this way, with the other two being {{SSB4|Dr. Mario}} and {{SSB4|Dark Pit}}.
A [[clone]] of {{SSB4|Marth}}, [[Marth|her ancestor]] within the [[Fire Emblem (universe)|''Fire Emblem'' series]], Lucina was originally planned as an [[alternate costume]] for him. However, she was given her own character slot later in development once her attacks were given differing traits. She was one of three intended alternate costumes to be made separate in this way, with the other two being {{SSB4|Dr. Mario}} and {{SSB4|Dark Pit}}.


Lucina is currently ranked 36th out of 58 on the [[tier list]], placing her at the bottom of the E tier and making her the lowest ranked mid-tier character. Like Marth, Lucina has good overall speed both on the ground and the air (including sharing the fastest walk speed in the game), giving her reliable control in her movement for both approaching and retreating. Lucina's {{s|fireemblemwiki|Parallel Falchion}} also grants her an above-average [[disjoint]]ed range, many attacks with minimal start-up, useful combo options in the form of her neutral attack's first hit and [[Dancing Blade]], and potent KOing options in the form of her forward smash, up smash, back aerial and [[Shield Breaker]].
Lucina is currently ranked 36th out of 58 on the [[tier list]], placing her at the bottom of the E tier and making her the lowest ranked mid-tier character. Like Marth, Lucina has good overall speed both on the ground and the air (including sharing the fastest walk speed in the game), giving her reliable control in her movement for both approaching and retreating. Lucina's {{s|fireemblemwiki|Parallel Falchion}} also grants her an above-average [[disjoint]]ed range, many attacks with minimal start-up, useful combo options in the form of her neutral attack's first hit and [[Dancing Blade]], and potent KOing options with her forward smash, up smash, back aerial and [[Shield Breaker]].


Finally, her lack of a [[tipper]] [[Sweetspot (hitbox)|sweetspot]] makes her attacks less polarized than Marth's, which grants several benefits such as as inflicting higher [[shieldstun]] at close range (which makes her slightly more difficult to punish [[out of shield]] compared to Marth's sourspotted attacks), more consistent KO potential at high percentages, and makes it easier for her to defend against pressure at close range, most notably against rushdown characters like {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}} or removing {{SSB4|Luma}} from play more reliably.
Finally, her lack of a [[tipper]] [[Sweetspot (hitbox)|sweetspot]] makes her attacks less polarized than Marth's, which grants several benefits such as inflicting higher [[shieldstun]] at close range (which makes her slightly more difficult to punish [[out of shield]] compared to Marth's sourspotted attacks), and more consistent KO potential at high percentages. This also makes it easier for her to defend against pressure at close range, most notably against rushdown characters like {{SSB4|Captain Falcon}}.  


However, Lucina similarly shares Marth's flaws, including attacks that have considerable ending lag, a poor grab game, and [[Dolphin Slash]] being fairly easy to [[gimp]] due to its linearity. Additionally, her lack of a sweetspot is considered to be detrimental at high-level play; she lacks the extremely powerful tippers Marth can use to KO very early, while her strongest KO moves are weaker than Marth's optimally spaced tipper attacks. Finally, her higher overall knockback removes several noteworthy sourspot combos that Marth possesses at higher percents.
However, Lucina similarly shares Marth's flaws, including attacks that have considerable ending lag, a poor grab game, and [[Dolphin Slash]] being fairly easy to [[gimp]] due to its linearity. Additionally, her lack of a sweetspot is considered to be detrimental at high-level play; she lacks the extremely powerful tippers Marth can use to KO very early, while her strongest KO moves are weaker than Marth's optimally spaced tipper attacks. Furthermore, her higher overall knockback removes several noteworthy sourspot combos that Marth possesses at higher percents.


Furthermore, while Lucina's moveset is safer overall compared to Marth's (due to her swings dealing slightly more shieldstun at close range since it lacks a sourspot and low hitlag modifiers), this still is not enough to make her moves safe at close range, and her moves can all be punished at close range, like Marth's. As such, in order for Lucina's attacks to be safe on shield, she must utilize her Parallel Fachion's range in order to space her moves at the blade's tip for them to be safe. However, this is something Marth is better rewarded for doing, and whose moves are even safer due to dealing more damage and having a high hitlag modifier. These traits have ultimately led many professionals to view Lucina as inferior to Marth.
While Lucina's moveset is safer overall compared to Marth's (due to her swings dealing slightly more shieldstun at close range since it lacks a sourspot and low hitlag modifiers), this still is not enough to make her moves safe at close range, and her moves can all be punished at close range, like Marth's. As such, in order for Lucina's attacks to be safe on shield, she must utilize her Parallel Fachion's range in order to space her moves at the blade's tip for them to be safe. However, this is something Marth is better rewarded for doing, and whose moves are even safer due to dealing more damage and having a high hitlag modifier. These traits have ultimately led many professionals to view Lucina as inferior to Marth.


As a result of these differences, Lucina has limited tournament representation and almost nonexistent competitive success, with her metagame and playerbase remaining largely stagnant in comparison to Marth's. While Lucina has not achieved the breakout of impressive results that Marth has since they were buffed in updates [[1.1.3]] and [[1.1.4]], the buffs improved her abilities by a noticeable amount in a similar fashion, and as such, her position on the first tier list was debatable. This has since been reflected in the second tier list ranking her as a mid-tier character rather than a bottom-tier character, as several professionals (such as {{Sm|Mr. R}}, {{Sm|Dabuz}}, and {{Sm|ZeRo}}) believe that the gap between her and Marth is not as significant as it seems, if it exists at all.
As a result of these differences, Lucina has limited tournament representation and almost nonexistent competitive success, with her metagame and playerbase remaining largely stagnant in comparison to Marth's. While Lucina has not achieved the breakout of impressive results that Marth has since they were buffed in updates [[1.1.3]] and [[1.1.4]], the buffs improved her abilities by a noticeable amount in a similar fashion, and as such, her position on the first tier list was debatable. This has since been reflected in the second tier list ranking her as a mid-tier character rather than a bottom-tier character, as several professionals (such as {{Sm|Mr. R}}, {{Sm|Dabuz}}, and {{Sm|ZeRo}}) believe that the gap between her and Marth is not as significant as it seems, if it exists at all.

Revision as of 21:04, January 4, 2017

This article is about Lucina's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see Lucina.
Lucina
in Super Smash Bros. 4
Lucina
FireEmblemSymbol.svg
Universe Fire Emblem
Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Critical Hit
Tier E (36)
Lucina's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Lucina Wakes Her Blade?!
—Introduction Tagline

Lucina (ルキナ, Lucina) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. She was confirmed during a live stream alongside Captain Falcon and Robin on the official Super Smash Bros. website on July 14th, 2014, making her the only unlockable character to be revealed before SSB4's release. Laura Bailey and Yū Kobayashi reprise their roles as Lucina's English and Japanese voice actors, respectively.

A clone of Marth, her ancestor within the Fire Emblem series, Lucina was originally planned as an alternate costume for him. However, she was given her own character slot later in development once her attacks were given differing traits. She was one of three intended alternate costumes to be made separate in this way, with the other two being Dr. Mario and Dark Pit.

Lucina is currently ranked 36th out of 58 on the tier list, placing her at the bottom of the E tier and making her the lowest ranked mid-tier character. Like Marth, Lucina has good overall speed both on the ground and the air (including sharing the fastest walk speed in the game), giving her reliable control in her movement for both approaching and retreating. Lucina's Parallel Falchion also grants her an above-average disjointed range, many attacks with minimal start-up, useful combo options in the form of her neutral attack's first hit and Dancing Blade, and potent KOing options with her forward smash, up smash, back aerial and Shield Breaker.

Finally, her lack of a tipper sweetspot makes her attacks less polarized than Marth's, which grants several benefits such as inflicting higher shieldstun at close range (which makes her slightly more difficult to punish out of shield compared to Marth's sourspotted attacks), and more consistent KO potential at high percentages. This also makes it easier for her to defend against pressure at close range, most notably against rushdown characters like Captain Falcon.

However, Lucina similarly shares Marth's flaws, including attacks that have considerable ending lag, a poor grab game, and Dolphin Slash being fairly easy to gimp due to its linearity. Additionally, her lack of a sweetspot is considered to be detrimental at high-level play; she lacks the extremely powerful tippers Marth can use to KO very early, while her strongest KO moves are weaker than Marth's optimally spaced tipper attacks. Furthermore, her higher overall knockback removes several noteworthy sourspot combos that Marth possesses at higher percents.

While Lucina's moveset is safer overall compared to Marth's (due to her swings dealing slightly more shieldstun at close range since it lacks a sourspot and low hitlag modifiers), this still is not enough to make her moves safe at close range, and her moves can all be punished at close range, like Marth's. As such, in order for Lucina's attacks to be safe on shield, she must utilize her Parallel Fachion's range in order to space her moves at the blade's tip for them to be safe. However, this is something Marth is better rewarded for doing, and whose moves are even safer due to dealing more damage and having a high hitlag modifier. These traits have ultimately led many professionals to view Lucina as inferior to Marth.

As a result of these differences, Lucina has limited tournament representation and almost nonexistent competitive success, with her metagame and playerbase remaining largely stagnant in comparison to Marth's. While Lucina has not achieved the breakout of impressive results that Marth has since they were buffed in updates 1.1.3 and 1.1.4, the buffs improved her abilities by a noticeable amount in a similar fashion, and as such, her position on the first tier list was debatable. This has since been reflected in the second tier list ranking her as a mid-tier character rather than a bottom-tier character, as several professionals (such as Mr. R, Dabuz, and ZeRo) believe that the gap between her and Marth is not as significant as it seems, if it exists at all.

How to unlock

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

  • Play 40 VS Matches.
  • Complete Classic Mode with Marth without using any continues.

Lucina must then be defeated on Arena Ferox.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

  • Clear Classic Mode on 5.5 Intensity or higher.
  • Play 30 VS Matches.

Lucina then must be defeated on Coliseum.

Attributes and differences from Marth

Replacement of the old one. Post-patch slow motion helped a lot.
Lucina's Parallel Falchion lacks a specific sweetspot compared to Marth's Falchion, as seen in the trails of their swords' blades.

Lucina is a clone of Marth, meaning her moveset and animations are primarily based off of his. In a Miiverse post, Masahiro Sakurai explains that "whenever there is even a small difference in abilities, that character gets an actual roster slot", citing Lucina as an example.[1] The primary difference between Lucina and Marth is their swords; Lucina's Parallel Falchion has a consistent damage output throughout its blade, while Marth's Falchion is more powerful when hitting with just its tip. Additionally, the power of all her attacks is the weighted average of Marth's sourspotted and sweetspotted attacks.

Lucina has a few advantages that set her slightly apart from Marth. Although Lucina lacks intricate sourspot set-ups that Marth can utilize to set up his tippers, she gains more consistent damage off her strings than Marth does due to her lack of such sourspots. Lucina also has less trouble KOing at high percentages, since she does not necessarily need to space her most powerful attacks to KO, while Marth's sourspotted attacks deal mediocre damage and knockback even at high percentages. Of note is that her up smash, down aerial and Dancing Blade are all more powerful than Marth's equivalents in any given case.

Nonetheless, Lucina also possesses notable disadvantages compared to Marth. Since Lucina lacks a tipper, she cannot secure early KOs with hard reads or gain as much positional advantage off precise spacing on enemy approaches or shields. This makes her much less threatening in the neutral game; attacking opponents do not have to space their approaches relative to the Parallel Falchion's blade the same way they would with Falchion's, and defending opponents do not need to adjust their spacing to avoid being hit by a tipper. Additionally, opponents do not have to worry about being KO'd early from a powerful and timely tippered attack. Thus, Lucina's ability to mechanically and psychologically pressure opponents is inferior to Marth's.

While the lack of a tipper does make her combos and rushdown tactics more consistently damaging than Marth's, she still lacks lingering hitboxes in her sword swings like Marth, making her attacks unsafe to use on shield up close despite their greater power. Due to this, at higher levels of play, Lucina must ironically adapt much of the same playstyle as Marth and space her swings to make them safe on shield, but does not get the extra reward for doing so. As such, the offensive advantages of Lucina's attacks are usually only influential at low-level play.

Overall, Lucina is a "low-risk, low-reward" version of Marth, as she trades an emphasis on spacing for more consistent KO power and damage racking. While she does possess some advantages that allow her to fare better in certain matchups than Marth does, such as against Pikachu and Captain Falcon, she still lacks the main advantages that Marth's tipper provides. Despite her flaws, Lucina's actual level of viability is debatable; while her playerbase is small and she has sparse results in low to mid-level play and poor results in high-level play, she significantly benefits from many of the same buffs that Marth received from update 1.1.4 onward, which have led Marth himself to become a much more viable character.

Aesthetics

  • Change Lucina's wields the Parallel Falchion from Fire Emblem Awakening, an alternate timeline variant of Falchion.
  • Change Unlike Falchion, the Parallel Falchion lacks a tipper. This is demonstrated with its trail being translucent and blue during a swing's initial and middle stages and white during the late and final stages. Conversely, Falchion's trail is translucent and blue with an accentuated tip throughout an entire swing.
  • Change Lucina's on-screen appearance is slightly different, due to her removing her mask.
  • Change Lucina's taunts and victory poses are different.
  • Change Unlike Marth, Lucina is dubbed in English for non-Japanese versions of SSB4. She also has unique victory quotes against him and Ike.

Attributes

  • Change Lucina is slightly shorter than Marth. This gives her a slightly smaller hurtbox, but also makes her range slightly shorter than Marth's.
  • Change Due to the Parallel Falchion lacking a tipper like Falchion, its entire blade deals equal damage and knockback. Additionally, while Lucina's attacks deal more damage and knockback than Marth's sourspotted attacks, they deal less damage and knockback than his sweetspotted attacks.
  • Change Aside from her neutral attack, the rest of Lucina's moveset lacks hitlag modifiers.
  • Change Although Lucina's dashing animation is faster than Marth's, their dashing speeds are exactly the same.
  • Buff Lucina's neutral attack, up tilt and sidestep retain her horizontal momentum.

Ground attacks

  • Nerf Lucina's neutral attack transitions slower (frame 18 → 19) and its second hit has less knockback growth (75 → 45).
  • Buff Lucina's late up tilt deals more damage (6%/5% → 8.075%).
  • Change Lucina's down tilt has different particle effects.

Special moves

  • Change Lucina's Shield Breaker's animation is much more exaggerated.
  • Change Lucina may shout when performing Dolphin Slash, whereas Marth does not vocalize when using it.
  • Change Lucina's Counter's animation is different. Additionally, she may say "My turn!" or "You're mine!" when she counterattacks, whereas Marth merely grunts whenever he counterattacks.

Update history

Initially a poorly regarded character like her ancestor, Lucina has received noticeable buffs in game updates since update 1.0.6, with most of her buffs being shared with him. These buffs further improved her overall damage output, decreased the ending lag of several combo-oriented moves and increased the knockback of many of her standard attacks, most notably up tilt. Additionally, Dancing Blade was improved due to all of its hits connecting together better, while her punishes became stronger than they were initially.

However, the biggest buffs Lucina received were indirect. Originally, the low shieldstun in the game made her neutral game quite unsafe, and the fact that her moves (aside from neutral attack) lack hitlag modifiers resulted in them being less safe on shield than Marth's sourspotted attacks. The changes to shield mechanics in update 1.1.1 remedied this, making her moves safer on shield, especially when compared to Marth's and Roy's sourspotted moves. Shield Breaker was nerfed as a trade-off, however, as it is now noticeably more difficult to destroy shields with.

Update 1.1.4 increased all of the damage outputs for all of Lucina's aerials, which not only improved her aerial combo and juggle potentials, but further closed the gap between her overall damage output and Marth's. Her hitboxes on aerials and ground attacks were also increased to the point where, like Marth, her range now overreaches certain characters' ranges, like Sheik. When coupled with her multitude of buffs, this makes Lucina much better than she was during SSB4's initial release.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS 1.0.4

  • Nerf Neutral attack's first hit deals less knockback (25 base/60 scaling → 20/50). While this does allow it to connect more reliably into the second hit from far ranges, this more importantly prevents it from linking into the second hit until much higher percents, hindering its reliability as well as its safety on hit.
  • Bug fix Fixed a glitch where using Counter after being edge-trumped no longer changes momentum.


Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.6

  • Buff Neutral attack's first hit can be interrupted earlier: frame 29 → 26.
  • Buff Forward tilt can be interrupted earlier: frame 39 → 35.
  • Buff Down tilt deals 0.5% more damage: 8.075% → 8.575%.
  • Buff Forward smash deals 0.55% more damage: 14.725% → 15.275%.
  • Buff Down smash's second hit deals 0.5% more damage: 13.775% → 14.275%.
  • Buff Forward aerial deals 0.5% more damage: 8.075% → 8.575%.
  • Buff Shield Breaker deals more damage: 8.075% (uncharged)/21.85% (fully charged) → 8.575%/22.85%.
  • Buff Dancing Blade's first hit can be interrupted earlier: frame 45 → 42 and its hits connect together better.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.8

  • Nerf Neutral attack's first hit deals 1.425% less damage: 4.75% → 3.325%.
  • Buff Neutral attack has been improved. Its first hit launches opponents vertically and transitions faster, which makes both of its hits connect together better. Its first hit has also been given follow-up potential outside of transitioning to the second hit, which is now stronger.
  • Nerf Neutral attack can no longer jab lock due its first hit's angle alteration.
  • Buff Forward tilt deals 0.95% more damage: 9.975% → 10.925%.
  • Buff Up tilt has been improved. Its base knockback increased, it launches opponents vertically and its ending lag decreased by 3 frames.
  • Buff Neutral aerial's landing lag decreased by 3 frames.
  • Buff Dolphin Slash's knockback growth increased.
  • Change Dolphin Slash and Crescent Slash's hitlag multipliers increased: 0.5x → 0.7x.
  • Change Lucina may say either "My turn!" or "You're mine!" when using Counter.
    • In the Japanese version, she may say either "そこ!" ("There!") or "つきやり!" ("An Opening!")
  • Change Lucina may grunt when using Dolphin Slash.

Technical changelist 1.0.8

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.0

  • Buff Neutral aerial deals more damage: 2.375% (hit 1)/6.65% (hit 2) → 3.325%/7.6%.
  • Buff Up tilt deals more damage: 6.65% (early)/7.125% (late) → 7.6%/8.075% and its ending lag decreased by 3 frames.
  • Buff All aerials' landing lag decreased.
  • Buff All variations of Shield Breaker have had their ending lag decreased by 2 frames.
  • Buff All variations of Dolphin Slash have had their landing lag decreased by 3 frames.
  • Change Dancing Blade's first, second and third hits' input window durations increased by 5 frames. This makes them connect together better, but makes the first hit harder to follow up with an attack other than another hit of Dancing Blade.

Technical changelist 1.1.0

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.1

  • Nerf Partially charged Shield Breaker deals less shield damage: 30 → 25.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.3

  • Buff Multiple changes to the knockback, hitbox sizes, and damage have made Dancing Blade/Effortless Blade link better.

Technical changelist 1.1.3

Change Old value New value
Dancing Blade/Efortless Blade hit 2 forward knockback growth (hitboxes 0/2) 70 30
Dancing Blade/Efortless Blade hit 2 forward knockback growth (hitbox 1) 50 30
Dancing Blade/Efortless Blade hit 2 forward base knockback (all 3 hitboxes) 28 30
Dancing Blade hit 3 down damage (both hitboxes) 3.325% 4.75%
Dancing Blade hit 3 down knockback growth (hitbox 0) 60 28
Dancing Blade hit 3 down knockback growth (hitbox 1) 40 28
Dancing Blade hit 3 down angle (both hitboxes) 20° 44°
Dancing Blade hit 3 down base knockback (both hitboxes) 30 50
Dancing Blade hit 3 down size (hitbox 1) 4.3 4.6


Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.4

  • Buff Neutral attack's first hit has less ending lag: 28 frames → 25.
  • Buff Neutral attack's hitbox sizes increased: 6.5u → 7u.
  • Buff Forward and up tilt's ending lag decreased: 36 frames → 33.
  • Buff Forward tilt's sour x hitbox and main hitbox sizes increased: 2u (sour x)/6.7u (main) → 2.5u/7.7u.
  • Buff Down tilt's sour x hitbox and main hitbox sizes increased: 6.7u (main)/15.2u (sour x) → 8.2u/16.7u.
  • Nerf Down tilt's y hitbox size decreased: 3.2u → 2.7u.
  • Buff Down smash's ending lag decreased: 64 frames → 54.
  • Buff All aerials deal more damage: 3.345% (neutral hit 1)/7.6% (neutral hit 2), 8.5% (forward), 9.975% (back/up), 11.4% (down sourspot)/13.3% (meteor) → 4.2%/8.5%, 10.5%, 11.8%/11.4%, 12.3%/14.2%.
  • Buff Neutral, forward and back aerials' main hitbox sizes increased: 6.7u (neutral hit 1)/6.5u (neutral hit 2), 6.7u (forward, back) → 7.7u/7.5u, 7.7u.
  • Buff Dancing Blade has been improved. Its first hit's start-up decreased: 7 → 6 and it had its grounded and aerial ending lag decreased by 1 frame


Moveset

  • Generally, Lucina's overall damage output is close to the weighted average of each of the hitboxes of Marth's attacks, based on the sizes of the sweetspot and sourspot hitboxes. Marth's non-tippered moves are unchanged.
  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   3.325% Two alternating upward slices. One of Lucina's most effective combo moves, as the first hit grants numerous follow-up options, most notably into itself or a forward aerial at low percentages, or a forward smash at medium to high percentages.
4.75%
Forward tilt   10.85% A lunging upward slice. Covers a very large area, making it useful for spacing. While not remarkably powerful like Marth's sweetspotted forward tilt, it deals noticeably more knockback compared to his sourspotted forward tilt, making it useful for KOs at high percents near the edge.
Up tilt   7.6% (early), 8.075% (late) An overhead arcing slash. Deals vertical knockback and has a large hitbox that can even hit opponents behind her. Oddly, landing a late hit behind Lucina deals more damage, but less knockback, than the early hitbox. A great combo starter at low percentages that can chain into itself, and a viable KOing option at very high percentages.
Down tilt   8.575% A crouching thrust. Lucina's fastest tilt attack, useful for edgeguarding and is capable of starting tech-chases. Its length allows it to poke opponents attempting to grab an edge. On heavier characters, it can be followed up immediately with a grab or dash attack.
Dash attack   9.975% A lunging outward slash. A decent follow-up from down tilt and hits grounded opponents, although its moderate ending lag makes it unsafe on shield.
Forward smash   15.275% Rotates her body to perform a lunging downward slash. Its high base knockback and moderate knockback growth make it Lucina's most reliable KOing option. However, while it has moderately fast start-up, it has high ending lag.
Up smash   3% (ground), 14.25% (blade) An overhead thrust. It is a decent anti-air option due to its vertical range and high knockback growth, while its deceptive horizontal range makes it capable of punishing rolls and landings. As such, it is a fairly reliable KOing option. It is also one of the few attacks in Lucina's moveset that is comparatively more reliable than Marth's, due to the positioning needed to land a sweetspot in his case.
Down smash   9.5% (hit 1), 14.275% (hit 2) A crouching outward slash in front of herself and then behind herself. The first hit deals weak knockback and it unsafe on shield due to the move's duration. However, the second hit is stronger, making it useful for catching rolls. Oddly, this move launches opponents at a different angle if it is tippered like Marth's, despite the Parallel Falchion's lack of a tipper.
Neutral aerial   4.2% (hit 1), 8.5% (hit 2) An inward horizontal slash followed by a spinning, outward horizontal slash. A good spacing option and can it can combo into other moves as well. The first hit can chain into other moves if Lucina lands straight after, allowing it to start combos. Deals decent knockback on the second hit, making it useful near the edge of the stage, though it does not start KOing until around 160%. Oddly, it KOs approximately 5% earlier than Roy's neutral aerial, which is almost identical, yet he has to space to get similar power.
Forward aerial   10.5% Slashes downward in a diagonal arc. Fast with good range, making it great for spacing and fending off aerial opponents, but landing with this move is very unsafe due to its short duration and 16 frames of landing lag.
Back aerial   11.8% Rotates her body to perform an upward slice. Very similar to her forward aerial, although it has slightly more damage and knockback. Additionally, the swing starts from below instead of above, which can make it catch grounded enemies more easily. Has the interesting property of turning Lucina around, changing her facing direction. Has the most knockback of all her aerial moves, making it great for edgeguarding.
Up aerial   11.4% A backflipping, upward arcing slash. Extremely wide arc and decent damage. These factors make it a useful anti-air option and damage racking tool. If timed correctly, a late hit can connect against grounded opponents just before landing, which can lead to aerial combos.
Down aerial   12.3% (non-meteor), 14.2% (meteor) A downward arcing slash. If struck in the middle of the arc, it deals more damage and meteor smashes opponents, while its other hitboxes deal moderate knockback. However, it has high ending and landing lag, and its meteor smashing hitbox only lasts for 1 frame.
Grab   Reaches out with her free hand.
Pummel   2% A knee strike. A fairly fast pummel.
Forward throw   4% Spins and flings the opponent forward. It can tech-chase, combo into a forward aerial against heavier characters at low percents, or combo into Crescent Slash until around 150%.
Back throw   4% Tosses the opponent behind herself while looking away. It has no follow-up or KO potential due to its high ending lag and extremely low knockback growth. However, it is very effective at launching the opponent off-stage due to its high base knockback.
Up throw   4% Heaves the opponent upward with her free hand. Lucina's only throw that has KO potential, it starts KOing at 165% and even earlier when Lucina is affected by rage.
Down throw   5% A one-armed body slam. It launches the opponent backward, which enables it to combo into her neutral, forward, back and up aerials at low to medium percentages. However, it quickly loses combo potential at high percentages due to its high knockback growth, as it will launch opponents too high to hit.
Floor attack (front)   7% Gets up while slashing to the left and then to the right.
Floor attack (back)   7% Gets into a kneeling position and then slices around herself as she gets up.
Floor attack (trip)   5% Hops briskly to her feet and then does a thrust to the left and a slash to the right.
Edge attack   7% Slashes outward while climbing up.
Neutral special Default Shield Breaker 8.575% (uncharged), 23% (fully charged) Rears back and then performs a powerful thrust. It is chargeable and, as its name implies, deals a high amount of shield damage and can even instantly break shields when fully charged. It also grants a decent amount of horizontal distance when fully charged in midair.
Custom 1 Storm Thrust 3.8% (uncharged), 10.45% (fully charged) The thrust emits a gust of wind from the Parallel Falchion's tip. The gust's pushing strength increases with its charge, but the thrust itself deals noticeably less damage.
Custom 2 Dashing Assault 5.7%/4.75%/2.85% (grounded uncharged early/mid/late), 6.65%/5.7%/3.8% (aerial uncharged early/mid/late), 15.2%/12.35%/8.55% (grounded fully charged early/mid/late), 16.15%/13.3%/9.5% (aerial fully charged early/mid/late) The thrust has improved range due to propelling Lucina forward, but it deals less damage.
Side special Default Dancing Blade 3.325% (first hit/second forward hit), 4.275% (third forward/upward hits), 3.325% (third downward hit), 5.7% (last forward hit), 6.65% (last upward hit), 2% (last downward hits 1-4), 4.75% (last downward hit 5) A combination of sword swings, which can be influenced by directional inputs. The finishing swing is one of three options: an upward slice with with good KO power at high percentages but low range (tilting the control stick up), a downward slash with good KO power at high percentages near the edge (no control stick input or tilting the control stick forward), or a flurry of low-angled thrusts that deal the most amount of damage but the least amount of knockback (tilting the control stick down). Like Marth's version, the first hit stalls Lucina while in midair, which can aid her recovery. Surprisingly, it has overall stronger KO potential than Marth's due to the higher base damage of Lucina's Parallel Falchion.
Custom 1 Effortless Blade 2.375% (parts 1-3), 4.275% (part 4) The swings are easier to chain together, but only the side inputted swings can be used. The first three hits also deal less damage.
Custom 2 Heavy Blade 7.6% (part 1), 9.5% (part 2), 10.45% (part 3), 13.3% (part 4 up), 14.25% (part 4 side), 2.09% (part 4 down hits 1-4), 11.4% (part 4 down hit 5) The swings deal considerably more damage and knockback, but are harder to chain together.
Up special Default Dolphin Slash 11% (clean), 7% (late blade), 6% (late body) A jumping upward slash. It deals the most damage during its first few frames and is an excellent out of shield option, due to its fast speed and its ability to be reversed. It is also useful for escaping neutral infinites should the stage have platforms to land safely on. Grants a decent amount of vertical distance, but very little horizontal distance.
Custom 1 Crescent Slash 7% (clean), 12% (late blade), 6% (late body) Grants more horizontal distance, but less vertical distance. The clean and late blade hits' damage outputs are also reversed. True combos from forward throw until around 150%.
Custom 2 Dolphin Jump Grants more vertical distance, but deals no damage.
Down special Default Counter 1.2x (min 8%) Parries and then counterattacks against any incoming attacks with a slash. Damage and knockback dealt scale on the move that is countered. It has the same properties as Marth's, along with the custom variations.
Custom 1 Easy Counter 0.7x (min 4%) The parrying stance is longer and has a wider trigger window, but the damage multiplier and the counterattack's power are weaker.
Custom 2 Iai Counter 1.3x (min 6%) Dashes behind the opponent and slashes them at a blinding speed. Has a stronger damage multiplier, activates faster, launches opponents backward and deals electric damage. However, it has a narrower trigger window.
Final Smash Critical Hit 60% Dashes at a blinding speed to perform a lunging outward slash. Its immense knockback enables it to score a one-hit KO on any character. Pressing the button again will bypass its initial animation and immediately trigger the slash.

On-screen appearance

  • Warps onto the stage using warp magic and then removes the mask she wore while disguised as Marth.
LucinaOnScreenAppearanceSSB4.gif

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Twirls the Parallel Falchion and then assumes a stance highly similar to her pose from her official art in Fire Emblem Awakening, saying "Come at me!" (かかってきなさい., "Come bring it if you would.")
  • Side taunt: Turns around to have her back face the screen while sheathing the Parallel Falchion and saying "I cannot lose." (負けられませんから., "I won't lose from here on.")
  • Down taunt: Puts on the mask she used while disguised as Marth, then removes it.
Up taunt Side taunt Down taunt
Lucina's up taunt in Smash 4 Lucina's side taunt in Smash 4 Lucina's down taunt in Smash 4

Idle poses

  • Holds her hand to her chest, closes her eyes, and silently takes a breath.
  • Brushes her hair out of her face.
Lucina's first idle pose in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Lucina's second idle pose in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Crowd cheer

English Japanese
Cheer
Description Lu-ci-na! Lu-kin-a!
Pitch Group chant Male

Victory poses

An orchestral excerpt of the title theme from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, which has since become the main theme of the Fire Emblem series.
  • Points the Parallel Falchion upward and then poses, saying "Father... I won." (勝ちましたよ、お父様)
    • If Ike is present in the match, there is a chance she will instead say "And they call you the Radiant Hero?" (これがそうえんの勇者, "This is the Radiant Hero?")
  • Swings the Parallel Falchion, then performs the same pose from her official artwork, saying "The future is not written!" (未来を替えて見せます!, "Watch me change the future!")
  • Sheaths the Parallel Falchion, saying "You'll never defeat me!" (負けるはいけません!, "I cannot lose!") After winning a Team Battle, Lucina performs this pose with her back towards the screen if she does not have a point lead.
    • If Marth is present, there is a chance she will instead say "This is the Hero-King?" (これが英雄王の力?, "This is the strength of the Hero King…?")
LucinaPose1WiiU.gif LucinaPose2WiiU.gif LucinaPose3WiiU.gif

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character Custom sets available
Lucina's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Lucina 3113 3123 1123 3133 1133
3121 1121 3111 1131 3131

Notable players

Active

Inactive

Tier placement and history

Upon SSB4's release, Lucina was quickly compared to Marth due to her inheriting many of the flaws he had received in his transition from Brawl, namely the lower damage output, poor grab game and low utility on some of her moves. However, her shorter range compared to Marth's and her Parallel Falchion consistent power being less of a selling point than Marth's powerful tippers resulted in Lucina being regarded worse than Marth, as well as one of the worst chracters in the game. As time went on, however, game updates gradually improved Lucina, with the vast majority of her buffs being shared with Marth.

Updates 1.0.8 and 1.1.0 noticeably improved Lucina, such as reducing the lag of her tilts, reducing the landing lag of her aerials, and improving the angles and/or knockback of her up tilt and Dolphin Slash. Update 1.1.1 also brought her biggest, albeit indirect, buffs in the form of the changes to shield mechanics, making her moveset much safer on shield overall, fixing a notable disadvantage and bringing this area more in line with Marth. These changes helped her mitigate some of the problems she initially had, although they were not sufficient enough in comparison to Marth's, who began developing a much more dedicated playerbase than her. As such, Lucina achieved much poorer results despite her improvements, which saw her ranked 47th on the first tier list, placing her in the H tier and six places below Marth.

However, Lucina continued to improve over time, and gained some of her most significant buffs from update 1.1.4, with some of them once again being shared once again with Marth. These improvements included increased damage outputs for her aerials and the hitboxes of numerous attacks being increased in size, which allowed Lucina's offense to flow more consistently than before, which gives her a niche over Marth in certain matchups. Although these buffs were still not enough to enable her to achieve significant results, even from her best players like C-Lu, they still improved her perception within the community. As a result, Lucina is currently ranked 36th on the second tier list, placing her at the bottom of the E tier and resulting her being reassessed as a mid-tier character instead of a bottom-tier character.

Reveal trailer

<youtube>N9ytrX0wweA</youtube>

Trophies

Lucina
Ntsc Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DSChrom's daughter and the future Princess of Ylisse. When she arrives from a doomed future seeking to prevent it from ever happening, she goes by the name Marth before her identity is revealed. She fights much like her adopted namesake, but more than just the tip of her sword is powerful.
Ntsc Super Smash Bros. for Wii UChrom's daughter and the future Princess of Ylisse. When she arrives from a doomed future seeking to prevent it from ever happening, she goes by the name Marth before her identity is revealed. She fights much like her adopted namesake, but her entire blade is equally powerful instead of having a more powerful tip.
Pal Daughter of Chrom and future Princess of Ylisse. When she comes from the future to prevent a terrible future from unfolding, she goes by the name of Marth, but only until her true identity comes to light. She is a very similar fighter to Marth, except it doesn't actually matter which part of her sword she strikes with.
3DS: Fire Emblem: Awakening (02/2013)
Lucina (Alt.)
Ntsc Lucina's moves are much like Marth's, but there are subtle differences. With Marth, you need to try to hit with the tip of his sword, but Lucina's sword is equally powerful all along the blade. Her Shield Breaker move lets her attack opponents and break their shields at the same time. Charge it fully to shatter shields in one hit.
Pal Lucina's moves are much like Marth's, but there are subtle differences. With Marth, you need to try to hit with the tip of his sword, but with Lucina, it doesn't matter, making her easier to use. Her Shield Breaker move lets her damage opponents and break their shields at the same time. Charge it fully to shatter shields in one hit.
3DS: Fire Emblem: Awakening (02/2013)
Critical Hit (Lucina)
Ntsc In Lucina's Final Smash, she raises her sword high before dashing swiftly forward to deliver a deadly blow to whomever she makes contact with first. Even if their damage is low, this strike is powerful enough to take out foes in a single hit. Just make sure you don't dash off the stage when you use it in midair!
Pal In Lucina's Final Smash, she raises her sword high, then dashes swiftly forwards to deliver a deadly blow to whoever stands in her way. Even if their damage is low, this strike is powerful enough to take them out in a single hit. Just be careful not to dash off the stage if you use it in mid-air!

In Event Matches

Solo Events

Co-op Events

Alternate costumes

Lucina Palette (SSB4).png
Lucina's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. LucinaHeadGreenSSB4-U.png LucinaHeadBlackSSB4-U.png LucinaHeadWhiteSSB4-U.png LucinaHeadRedSSB4-U.png LucinaHeadYellowSSB4-U.png LucinaHeadNavySSB4-U.png LucinaHeadPurpleSSB4-U.png

Gallery

Trivia

  • Lucina makes a few references to her home game:
  • Lucina is the only clone in the entire series whose special moves, including custom variations, all share the same names with the character she is a clone of. She is also only clone to share every single move with the character they are derived from.
  • Robin and Lucina are the only playable Fire Emblem characters to originate from the same game in their home series.
  • Lucina is the only unlockable character in both versions of SSB4 who was officially revealed prior to the release of SSB4 and the only unlockable character to appear in the opening movie for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
  • Lucina is the only one of the three clone characters to not share their counterpart's screen KO animation.
  • Lucina and Dr. Mario are the only characters that players are not forced to play as in any single player Event Matches.
  • Lucina is the only Fire Emblem character whose Counter does not involve her holding her sword in a reverse grip during either her stance or counterattack. However, as stated earlier, she will instantly shift to Marth's stance for an extremely brief moment when her Counter is triggered.

References