Palutena

Smash Attacks

SIDE SMASH

Giant wings flap forward to strike anyone in front of Palutena. Opponents just outside the range of this attack are pushed back.

DOWN SMASH

Giant wings slam down on either side of Palutena, hitting anyone in the path. Opponents just outside the range of this attack are pushed back.

UP SMASH

Palutena summons a pillar of light immediately in front of her that blasts opponents upward. The pillar is extremely tall!

Basic Attacks

Standing Attack

Palutena lowers her staff to hip level to attack opponents multiple times. After the rapid strikes, a final hit launches opponents away.

Forward Tilt

Palutena sends her staff spinning in front of her. Best used against groups of opponents.

Up Tilt

Palutena spins her staff above her head. Hits multiple times and launches opponents vertically.

Down Tilt

Palutena spins her staff on the ground in front of her. Can launch opponents diagonally away.

Dash Attack

Palutena charges her opponent with her shield. During this dash attack, she has partial invincibility. This attack also reflects!

Edge Attack

Palutena swings herself back up to the stage and performs a long-range leg sweep.

Air Attacks

Neutral Air Attack

Palutena spins her staff around her body. Hits multiple times.

Up Air Attack

Palutena raises her staff up to hit opponents above her multiple times. Decent horizontal hitbox, but it’s difficult to land because of her height and jump distance.

Down Air Attack

Palutena kicks downward and then to the side. Has a meteor effect when hitting opponents in the air.

Forward Air Attack

A very quick jump kick attack that does not stay out for very long.

Back Air Attack

Using her shield, Palutena strikes behind her.

Special Attacks

Autoreticle (Neutral Special)

Targets an opponent and fires three energy blasts from Palutena’s staff. You must be facing the opponent, and there must be no obstacles in the way. If obstacles are in the way or if the target is out of range, then no shots are fired.

Reflect Barrier (Side Special)

Palutena casts forward a reflective wall. It reflects projectiles and pushes opponents out of the way.

Warp (Up Special)

Palutena teleports in any direction of your choosing. You can’t attack or be attacked while teleporting. Be sure not to land off-stage, or you will fall to your doom!

Counter (Down Special)

Palutena raises her staff and shield to counter incoming attacks before retaliating with her staff. This counter has good range.

Final Smash

Black Hole Laser

Palutena summons a black hole to pull opponents in before she jumps backward to unleash a huge laser beam attack on them. The laser beam lowers over the duration of the attack. While the black hole reaches about half of Final Destination form, the laser beam makes it most of the way across Gerudo Valley. Since Palutena jumps back before using the laser beam, it has the potential to hit opponents that were behind her when she started the black hole. Overall, this has good damage and KO potential, launching opponents diagonally away.

Strategy

Palutena is one of the lighter characters in the game, but she’s also one of the fastest! Her ground speed, air speed, and fast fall speed are surprisingly high, given her height. Her weakness, though, is she can’t really fight from range because most of her Special attacks are defensive. To be most effective, go on the offense while using all of your defensive tools to keep you safer. Palutena’s Smash attacks are quite damaging with excellent range; Up Smash in particular has a very high hitbox and is useful to prevent opponents from approaching you. Forward Smash has great KO potential and can push away opponents who are just outside of its hitbox, similar to Down Smash. Her Tilt attacks start off a little slow but cover a good amount of ground.

Autoreticle is Palutena’s sole long-range projectile attack. She must be facing the opponent, and the opponent must be in range for the autoreticle to target and fire. This targets the closest opponent who is not in an invulnerable state. Once fired, the blasts head toward the reticle. Damage on this is fairly decent, but it takes some time to pull off, so make sure you’re in a safe position. Reflect Barrier is useful to push opponents away and to reflect projectiles. Reflected projectiles are faster and stronger on return. Use this near the edge to make life difficult for opponents off-stage. Palutena’s Counter is her next defensive tool, returning damage stronger than it was originally dished out. As a bonus, it also attacks in the correct direction, so use this in the air or against opponents behind you. Warp is fast and can get you out of trouble quickly, but be sure not to land off-stage, as you will be in a fall state! Also note that Palutena briefly turns invisible when using spot dodge or evasive rolls; this can confuse opponents up close.

For aerial offense, Palutena has some good options as well. Forward Air is extremely quick and has a sweet spot just on top of Palutena’s foot. Neutral Air is useful to keep opponents off of you. Palutena’s Back Air is her best option to KO opponents, and it has some invincibility as well. Lastly, her Down Air has a meteor effect against airborne opponents. To punish long-range on the ground, don’t be afraid to try a Dash Attack—it has partial invincibility! This can be effective for edge-guarding along with Palutena’s Autoreticle, Counter, and Reflect Barrier. Overall, use her speed to your advantage to deal some damage, then use your Smash attacks and Back Air to knock opponents out!

Recovery

Palutena has one main tool for all of her recovery: her Warp Special. It covers an impressive distance both horizontally and vertically, but it leaves her in a fall state. Fortunately, Palutena has a couple of Specials to slow her fall by a little bit. First is her Autoreticle attack, which will also fire at any nearby opponents. Her other Special that can slow her fall is her Counter—use this when you see someone coming to attack you air-to-air.