- This page refers to one of Marth's attacks. For information regarding combos that break shields, see here.
The Shield Breaker is Marth's neutral special move. It is functionally similar to Roy's Flare Blade. Shield Breaker charges much more quickly and does not deliver as much damage and knockback, but does not deal any recoil to Marth. It does not yield an explosion, as the Flare Blade does when fully charged. As it name suggests, it deals considerable shield damage, and will break any shield when fully-charged.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the move has had a change in animation. Instead of an overhead vertical slash with a large arc area, it has become a single powerful stab. The style used now is much more in kind with Marth's battle animations in the Fire Emblem games. This is to reference Marth's game.
The damage of the attack is the same, but it is much more easily sweetspotted because of the animation. It is also much faster, also making it easier to sweetspot. It now has higher knockback when not sweetspotted (which is slightly weaker and does 18% instead of the tipped 23%). The only downside is that it is harder to hit people with.
A fully charged Shield Breaker used in the air can be used to aid recovery if it is performed when Marth is knocked in the very top left or right position of the screen/stage as makes him move forward quite a bit. Not fully charged also moves forward but much less. After performing Shield Breaker, Marth can still use his up special move to further aid his recovery.
Strangely, although it breaks shields, it can be perfect shielded. This attack is also more predictable because it now makes a small sound during the attack.
Gallery
Shield Breaker in Melee
