Super Smash Bros Ultimate Beginner Tips
Duck, Dodge, Dip, Dive, and Dodge
Sometimes, the best way to avoid an attack is to press and hold the Guard button, but there’s always an Achilles’ Heel or two. Guards are powerless against grabs, and any guard will break if hit enough, which will stun a character (or instantly KO Jigglypuff) and leave them open to a fully-charged Smash attack. When guarding does more harm then good, it’s time to start dodging.
Dodges come in three flavors: rolling, sidestepping, and air dodging. Each offers a brief window of invincibility, and they have specific uses to boot. If you want to get behind your opponent for a quick backstab, you’re going to want to roll. Sidesteps, on the other hand, don’t give you a more advantageous position but also shine when opponents use large, single-hit attacks. Plus, sidestepping just looks cool.
As for an air dodge, they’re the easiest to pull off and are key to getting back on stage when opponents don’t just wait for you to fall.
Of course, each type of dodge has its own set of weaknesses. Rolling leaves you open to large, sweeping attacks; sidestepping is useless against multi-hit moves, and air dodging is also the easiest to screw up and leave you defenseless. More importantly, spamming any dodge exponentially decreases the window of invulnerability, and talented players can predict dodges and punish them to horrendous results. Remember, this ain’t Dark Souls.
