Godot Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 It took me a while to make this thread since there are quite a few similarities to playing both Ike and Bowser. However, despite both characters being heavies it is worth noting that Ike is a much more Aggressive heavy, while Bowser is much more of a defensive character. Today I am going to teach you how to kidnap princesses... or at least give them a black eye. Early Game/ Mid Game When Bowser is low on damage he has super armor to some weak attacks and projectiles. Though it isn't hugely reliable. It is good to keep in mind when regarding projectiles, he will not start to flinch until around certain percentages. The armor is knockback based. Here are some noteworthy projectiles that do not cause Bowser to flinch... Luigi's Fire Ball (lasts until ~60%) Toon Link's weak arrows (lasts until ~30%) Mega Man's Jab, aka PEW PEW PEW, aka bweep bweep bweep, aka mother fuckin' lemons (I stopped counting after 200%) Bowser doesn't want your damn lemons! ... Got a bit side tracked... ANYWAYS... Bowser is a character who benifits by playing defensively, aggressively... Does that make sense? You mostly want to stay at mid range against most characters, poking with jabs, forward tilt, up tilt, and at longer ranges, fire breath. However, the tip of the Fire Breath doesn't cause opponents to flinch, so keep that in mind. You want to keep people in the middle of the breath. Here are a few things your opponent may do, and how to react to those things. If an opponent is shielding a lot, take advantage with Grabs and your Koopa Claw attack [side B] DO NOT GO OFF OF THE STAGE UNLESS YOU ARE UP A STOCK!!! If you Suicide with the Koopa Claw/Hugo Slam you will be penalized for the Suicide and your opponent will be score for successfully killing you. If you grab your opponent, your safest bet is to put them in the air with up throw. Bowser is at the advantage with most characters when they are airborne. If your opponent Rolls a lot, punish their rolls away from you with Fire Breath. Punish rolls toward you with down smash or Whirling Fortress [the Grounded Up B], or if you're gutsy and in your opponent's head, go for a side smash. Aka THE DROP KICK MADE OF FUCK YEAH! Though your safest option is up tilt. It covers most of Bowser's body. If your opponent rushes in towards you, keep them out of arms length with jabs, and all three tilts. Side Tilt has more range, down tilt has more damage, and up tilt covers the area above and behind the King Koopa. Fire Breath pushes them back and allows yourself to gain some distance. When they start shielding your attacks, go for some grabs or Koopa Claws. If you fail and your opponent gets close, DO NOT GO FOR YOUR INSTINCT AND DOWN SMASH!!! Your best instinct is to go with grounded Up B. It's fast, reliable, and has good range. If your opponent jumps toward or away from you, cover their landing by running up to them and grabbing. If you don't think you can grab them, but know that they are open, go for the dash attack. Another fantastic and underrated tool Bowser has is his Up Smash. If you learn to time it right, his up smash will Completely Block and nullify all damage coming from above. It is almost invincible to both attacks and projectiles. Keep in mind that Multi hitting projectiles and attacks will most likely go through. It's also good to keep in mind that tall opponents and over head hitting projectiles don't harm Bowser when he connects the attack with an up smash. A couple notable ones are DK's Punch and Villager's Timber (chopping the tree down.) Also remember that when Bowser lands after thrusting his back into the air during his up smash animation, his hands and feet have a disjointed hitbox that can hit those that dodge or try punishing the attack incorrectly. For those who don't know what a Disjointed Hitbox is... It is an attack that hits where and/or when it doesn't look like it would hit. Lastly, your game plan may change entirely if you opponent is a projectile spammer and has no intention of getting close to you ever. So in this situation, you will want to play more aggressively than usual. However, your best change in options are Nair, Fair, and Air Fire Breath. When using Neutral Air or Forward Air, it is good habit to fast fall them by immediately pushing down as soon as the attack starts. This allows you to get back up and attack again to keep up your pressure. As for Fire Breath, You want to angle it by tilting the Control Stick or Circle pad in the general direction your opponent is in. It covers their feet and makes it harder for them to charge up and spam projectiles. It will also often force your opponent off of the stage, where Bowser is strong. Mid to Late Game When your opponent starts getting towards kill percent you want to keep your opponent as far away from the center of the stage as turtle-ly possible. Bowser is great at pressuring people off of the stage, and setting up great invigorating kills. Again, Forward and Down Tilt, Jab, Whirling Fortress, Back and Forward Grab, and Koopa Claw are all great attack for getting your opponent off stage. Once they are off stage you often have the following options to punish their recovery or ability to get back on stage. A. If they try to get on stage naturally or with an attack, You can either jab, Forward tilt, down tilt, or grab to throw them back off. If you are really feeling risky, try charging a side smash. The Dropkick of fuck yeah has disgusting amounts of kill power. B. If they try jumping back on to the stage either from the ledge or not, it's usually worth going for an Up Air or Back air. The Back air is my personal favorite since it has a wide hit box, is deceptively fast, and is like a mini drop kick made of fuck yeah. If you aren't really feeling the Bair or Up Air, instead read the jump arc and try to punish the landing with either an up smash, or grab. C. If your opponent Rolls back on, try reading it with a Drop Kick, Down Smash, Grab into forward/back throw, or whirling fortress. D. If your opponent tries ledge stalling, aka dropping down from the ledge and regrabbing it. Try one of the following. Fire Breath to gimp their attempt to regrab the edge, stand at the edge of the stage and tilt the direction of your fire breath towards them. Suck them up from the ledge with a down smash. Try something risky and either steal the ledge or ledge trump them, and when they lose the ledge, jump back and Back Air them. Try an even riskier option and go for the Down air Spike. They won't see it coming. Bowser can also steal the ledge easy with his down B. If you down B right on the ledge, Bowser will grab it. It is risky, but useful in many ways. If your opponent is Ganondorf be careful, he will attempt ganonciding you and stealing the kill. Just stay out of his grab range when he is recovering. Pac-Man, Villager, Pit, and Wii Fit Trainer have some disgusting off the ledge camping game. Don't try anything risky against them. Read their re grabbing of the ledge and Fire Breath or down tilt it. Not many people know this, but Bowser's down tilt has quite a bit of kill power. Lastly, sometimes it is not a good idea to cater to their bullshit and just wait for them to actually try a reasonable method to get back on stage. Other tactics to finish your opponent off can involve either reading a roll or dodge properly and smash attacking them or properly punishing a shield. Here are some alternative options to get kills with Bowser. Down Tilt is surprisingly strong and underrated. It can kill at some pretty reliable percents. It is also quick and good at covering a roll. All three smash attacks can kill. Down smash and up smash are the safest. Up Smash is good at covering opponents landing. Both natural landings and landings that you may force. Down Smash covers rolls and side steps. and Side smash is risky... but almost always a guaranteed kill. It works best when covering a roll. Koopa Claw or side B actually has a surprising amount of kill power. Grab a shielding foe and try to land as close to the edge of the stage or on top of the highest platform you can find. That will increase your chances of the move killing. Another option to punish and KO opponents who are shielding is to grab, up throw, double jump, and up air. Though it is harder to read and land the up air, especially when your opponents are floaty or have strong recovery. Down Air and Down B also have a lot of kill power. If you aim or hit you opponent just right you can put them out of their misery in the most miserable looking way possible. Keep in mind that the Down air can be Angled, spikes, and has a disjointed hitbox. The Down B can be combo'd into itself on the ground, and penetrate shields if blocked improperly. If an opponent's shield is broken, stand to the side of them and fully charge a forward smash. The Drop Kick of Fuck Yeah can kill most opponents at around 50% from the center of the stage. It also has no sour spots. When in the Disadvantage Bowser will struggle if he is fighting someone who is faster, has a lot of range, or has really good projectiles. When dealing with a speedy character, like Little Mac, Shiek, or Sonic, it is best to pressure them with fire breath and not forget your basics. Keep in mind that Shiek's Bouncing Fish, Sonic's Homing attack, and Zero Suit Samus's Side B (I cannot remember the name atm) can all easily deal with the fire breath. Chances are you will be Up Bing a lot, keep in mind that your opponents will eventually learn this as well. Characters like Marth, Ike, and King Dedede can give Bowser a hell of a time with the range of their attacks. Stay out of range of their attacks, try not to rely too much on shield because they can sometimes easily break them and punish you for being too defensive. Characters like Mega Man, Samus, or Villager can easily harass you with projectiles and keep you away from them. They can also fight you without ever needing to get close to you. So practice good shielding and aggressive approach when it seems opportune. In an offline environment it is easier to practice perfect shielding and eating projectiles with up smash. Do not try it in an online environment, there is quite literally just enough lag to throw anyone off. The second you see an opening, it is best to go for a running grab. Bowser doesn't have any good combos out of throws... but you can reposition your opponent to your liking with it. Last Disadvantage Bowser has is landing on the ground when he is being juggled. Most Bowser players will instinctively land with a Down Air, Down B, or Aerial Dodge into the ground. Though those may work SOMETIMES they don't work against higher skilled or educated opponents. Even good Bowser players have difficulty landing. Here are a few alternative landing options... Down Airing right next to your opponent instead of on top of them can make your landing safe occasionally. The disjointed hitbox is harder to sidestep, and can sometimes push people away. Neutral air into the ground is often safe and recommended when people are right on top of you and you have no other options. Nair also reduces Bowser's landing lag the most. There is a technique known as the Pillar of Fire. This is where you position Bowser to be facing towards the opponent and fall with your fire breath being angled towards your opponent. This keeps them from wanting to get close to you or rushing you. Bowser will land with his fire breath still in tact. Down B off stage... and catch the ledge. If you down B right on to the ledge Bowser will grab the ledge. Though this is incredibly risky, it is actually Bowser's safest and most reliable way to land on the ground. Teenage Mutant Ninja Kaijus? Not many people know this, but Bowser has a fun exploit in his custom Side B, the Dash Claw. It allows him to slide forward and do a claw attack. It may not seem all that great at first. However, Diddy can do some crazy Bullshit when his can use his side B and miss with out being left open. He makes it safe by canceling his landing with his backwards crawl animation somehow. Fun Fact, custom Bowser can do this with his Dash Claw custom in a faster and much more effective way. When the move is practiced it looks just like Melee/PM style wave Dashing. Despite that I am anti-custom as well as anti-fun. I am aware that this custom helps Bowser tremendously with the some of the characters mentioned above that he is at the disadvantage of. Welp this is all I have to say for now. If you guys have any questions hit me up. This is the superior GG, Glorious Godot Signing out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Tack Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 (edited) yes i do understand how old this is When Bowser is low on damage he has super armor to some weak attacks and projectiles. Though it isn't hugely reliable. It is good to keep in mind when regarding projectiles, he will not start to flinch until around certain percentages. The armor is knockback based. Here are some noteworthy projectiles that do not cause Bowser to flinch... Luigi's Fire Ball (lasts until ~60%) Toon Link's weak arrows (lasts until ~30%) Mega Man's Jab, aka PEW PEW PEW, aka bweep bweep bweep, aka mother fuckin' lemons (I stopped counting after 200%) Bowser doesn't want your damn lemons! This Property of bowser becomes stronger while crounching, you can use that super armor through crash bombs w/ crouching until 190% with lemons being until 372 % w/o crouching, you're immune to most hits in ness's PK fire until 44 % and at 164% ness's Dtlt starts working, i might just make this into a full list later of every move and the % You will neer be effected by the falco laser while crouching, you you can walk then crouch a laser and continue that way if you think that's a good idea. Edited September 19, 2015 by Shadow Tack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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