Lucina (SSBU): Difference between revisions

==Differences from Marth==

As an [[Echo Fighter]] of Marth, Lucina shares all of his moves and has identical physical attributes. Whilst all of her attacks have identical framedata to Marth's, the main difference is that Lucina's Parallel Falchion deals the same amount of damage throughout all parts of the sword for most moves (with exceptions such as Dolphin Slash), equal to the weighted average of Marth's sweet and sourspotted attacks. Theoretically, Marth deals more overall damage, and can kill earlier due to the high power of his tippers, but Lucina's attacks are decently more powerful than Marth's sourspot attacks. However, the same strategies can be applied to both characters.  

*{{change|Due to the Parallel Falchion lacking a [[tipper]] like Falchion, its entire blade deals equal damage and knockback, equal to the weighted average of Marth's sweet- and sourspotted attacks. This change applies to most, but not all attacks.}}

==Attributes==

As with Marth, Lucina is considered to be emblematic of swordfighters; her playstyle revolves around spacing, utilizing her exceptional range and reliable moves to. She is in the middle ground of [[weight|lightweight and middleweight]], boasting high overall mobility, notably sporting the fastest [[walk|walking speed]] in the game (tied with her base fighter, {{SSBU|Marth}}), a fast [[dash|dashing speed]], average [[air speed]], above average [[air acceleration]], moderate [[falling speed]], and low [[gravity]].

Lucina's playstyle revolves around effective [[spacing]], due to the long range of her sword, and overall safety when far. Her frame data is overall above-average, with many attacks having low startup and wide range all-around, allowing her to space efficiently. Because of this, Lucina aims to fight a step away from danger, without leaving herself too open to punishment.

 

Like Marth, Lucina's [[neutral game]] is unique by scaling with percent, as set-ups and combos become more rewarding at higher percentages. She also benefits from being one of the few characters in the game who can outright KO through playing her neutral and spacing game; essentially, while Lucina's neutral reward is not as rewarding or damaging as other characters including Marth's, Lucina has the ability to win neutral exchanges with relative ease and safety, especially with her balanced blade which grants consistent set-ups and follow-ups.

 

Lucina's advantage state as a whole is quite strong. Her combination of good speed and range give her  excellent [[juggling]] capabilities, as she can easily dash to where a falling opponent might land and catch them with her wide attacks, especially her up tilt and up aerial. Her disjointed hitboxes also allow him to challenge opponent's falling attacks safely. Because of this, Lucina has an easy time keeping opponents in the air and racking up damage. These traits also grant her strong [[edgeguarding]] abilities, as her wide aerials can cover enemy movement well, and certain moves such as her back aerial can outright KO offstage opponents thanks to their power and reliability. Moreover, her general floatiness also allows her to recover back to the stage after edgeguarding attempts fairly safely. Certain moves such as her forward smash have respectable kill potential, killing as early as 80% onstage no matter which part of the sword she strikes.

 

Lucina's special moveset provides interesting options as well; her neutral special, [[Shield Breaker]], deals very high shield damage, even when uncharged, and is useful for covering rolls and landings. [[Dancing Blade]] is a four-hit combo that can be used to punish sidesteps and rolls, as well as effectively rack up damage. [[Dolphin Slash]] has quick startup, provides slight intangibility during its startup frames, is relatively strong when it first comes out, and has high knockback scaling. These attributes make it an excellent out of shield option and combo-breaker. It is also Lucina's primary method of recovery, as its speed can make it difficult to intercept, and it can stage spike reckless edgeguarders. Lastly, [[Counter]] provides her with the capability to reverse attacks with 1.2× the damage, KOing if the attack was strong enough; it can also be used against opponents with easily predictable recoveries.

 

Despite her strengths, Lucina has some notable weaknesses. Due to Lucina possessing a sword, her moves generally have greater ending lag than characters who fight with physical attacks. Though her attacks have quick startup, many of them come with high ending lag, and also suffer from short hitbox durations, leaving him open for counterattacks during certain situations. As a solely sword-based character, Lucina's neutral also suffers from a lack of a projectile, and she can struggle against projectile heavy characters and playstyles. This ties in with her vulnerability once he loses the neutral: despite having below average weight and only average falling speed, Lucina is susceptible to combos, and her tall hurtbox provides an easy target. Dolphin Slash is her only reliable combo-breaker, but as it leaves her helpless, it can inadvertently put her in an even worse position. Also, while Counter can be used defensively, it leaves Lucina extremely vulnerable to punishment should it whiff. Lucina also has little defense against juggling, as her aerials are ineffective at relieving such pressure.

 

Lucina additionally has a fairly weak grab game. Except for up throw, they have low knockback scaling, preventing them from KOing at realistic percents, while up throw can only KO starting at 170%, if Lucina has no rage. Her other throws are somewhat lackluster; aside from having a fairly fast pummel, Lucina's throws deal low damage and have high base knockback, making them poor for combos and damage-racking outside of down throw leading into an aerial until high percents. However, it should be noted that the high base knockback of her throws allow Lucina to take advantage of her good edgeguarding capability, especially at the edge.

 

Lucina herself is somewhat vulnerable to edgeguarding, though she has options for mix-ups with her recovery. Dolphin Slash is her only reliable vertical recovery option, and while it is still a threat to edgeguarders due to its speed and high stage spike ability, its path is linear and its distance fixed, making it fairly predictable. Additionally since this move grants little horizontal distance, Lucina is vulnerable to semi-spikes. While Shield Breaker can aid her horizontal recovery, it covers little distance without charging. Lucina is also heavily reliant on her double jump for mix-ups in her recovery, and is in significant danger if offstage without it.

 

Overall, Lucina is an effective character that has many benefits; high overall mobility, long range, reliable and safe attacks, and above-average frame data. However, Lucina has a relatively low amount of attack power overall compared to other sword users, her close range game is not ideal due to relatively high endlag on her moves.  At her purest, Lucina is most rewarding for players with good fundamentals, with many playstyles applicable to her due to her flaws being easily worked around with careful play.

Much like with {{SSBU|Marth}}, Lucina highly benefits from the universal changes in ''SSBU'', particularly in terms of aerials and tilts. In addition, the new engine is also a benefit to Lucina's balanced blade, as the faster pace of the game allows her greater close-combat capabilities to be an advantage in certain situations. Unlike most clones, Lucina became slightly more similar to Marth, though a majority of her reclonings were neglible (such as her being slightly shorter, or a few moves not stopping her momentum).

|bairdesc=An upward crescent slash behind her in an inward swipe. Has the interesting property of turning Lucina around, changing the direction she is facing. Similar use to her forward aerial, although with more knockback and a smaller hitbox. Safe on shield when spaced low to the ground. Lucina's strongest aerial, KOing middleweights at the edge around 110%.

|dthrowdesc=Throws opponent to the ground with one arm, bouncing them upwards. At low to mid percents, its angle and high base knockback allow it to follow up into an up back aerial depending on [[DI]], or only an up aerial at higher percents. Despite having low knockback growth, it still loses its combo potential around roughly 80%-90%.

*{{Sm|K9sbruce|USA}} - Uses Lucina in tangent with Wolf. Placed 17th at {{Trn|SoCal Chronicles}} using only Lucina.