Samus

Alternate Colors

Smash Attacks

SIDE SMASH DAMAGE 12~14%

Samus jabs her arm cannon into your opponent to blast that opponent. You can angle it up or down.

DOWN SMASH DAMAGE 10~12%

A quick sweep attack that hits both in front of and behind Samus.

UP SMASH DAMAGE 3~6% MAX DAMAGE 18% : 5 Hits

Samus uses her arm cannon in an arc above her head. This can hit grounded opponents but more often hits multiple times against airborne opponents.

Basic Attacks

Standing Attack DAMAGE 3%, 8%

A jab that goes into a downward swing of her arm cannon that pushes opponents back.

Side Tilt DAMAGE 5~7%

This spinning horizontal kick attack has good range and is fairly quick. You can angle it up or down. For the most DAMAGE, try to hit with the tip of this attack.

Up Tilt DAMAGE 12~13%

Samus raises her leg before bringing it down on anyone in front of her. When this hits grounded opponents who have very low DAMAGE, it leaves them open to follow-up attacks.

Down Tilt DAMAGE 12%

Samus fires her arm cannon at the ground in front of her. Launches opponents up and away.

Dash Attack DAMAGE 6~10%

Samus tucks her head and plows into your opponent shoulder first. Comes out fairly quick and has decent range as well.

Edge Attack

Samus returns to the stage with a long-range trip attack.

Air Attacks

Neutral Air Attack DAMAGE 6~8% MAX DAMAGE 15% : 2 Hits

Samus performs a spinning kick that hits in front of and behind her.

Up Air Attack DAMAGE 1~4% MAX DAMAGE 11% : 6 Hits

A spiraling upward drill-kick attack. Good for racking up DAMAGE.

Down Air Attack DAMAGE 10~14%

Samus swings her arm cannon in an arc below her. This attack can have a meteor effect.

Forward Air Attack DAMAGE 1~5% MAX DAMAGE 11% : 5 Hits

Samus blasts her arm cannon in a downward arc in front of her. Can hit multiple times for a lot of DAMAGE.

Back Air Attack DAMAGE 9~14%

A reverse back kick that has a lot of range.

Special Attacks

Charge Shot (Neutral Special) DAMAGE 3~25%

While grounded, Samus charges up her projectile attack. Hitting Left or Right gives you an evasive roll to continue charging from where you left off. You can also Shield to stop and store your charge. Pressing the button again releases the shot. When used in the air, Charge Shot fires from whatever level you’ve charged to.

Dense Charge Shot DAMAGE 4~27%

This more powerful variation has greater knockback but takes 30% longer to fully charge. Its travel speed is slower, but it stays out twice as long as the regular version.

Melee Charge Shot DAMAGE 5~18%

Release a shot immediately in front of you. The longer you charge it up, the wider the attack is. Note this version can hit multiple opponents; however, it can’t reflect or absorb.

Missile (Side Special) DAMAGE 5~10%

Fires a homing missile at the closest opponent. If you input the attack as a Smash attack, it fires a Super Missile. The Super Missile launches higher, travels farther, and deals more DAMAGE, but only travels horizontally. Note, you can only have one Super Missile out at a time or Samus will misfire.

Relentless Missile DAMAGE 3~12%

These missiles stick around much longer, deal more DAMAGE, and travel slower. The Homing Missile sticks around three times longer and the Super Missile stays out 60% longer. Note you can only have two Homing Missiles or 1 Super Missile out out at any given time.

Turbo Missile DAMAGE 4~9%

This variation has the missile staying put before rapidly speeding forward. Before speeding up, it focuses on one opponent, but once it begins speeding up it flies straight.

Screw Attack (Up Special) DAMAGE 1~12% MAX DAMAGE 12% : 12 Hits

Samus balls up and spins into the air, striking anyone caught in her tracks multiple times. You can control this a bit to the left or right. This attack has some invincibility on startup.

Screw Rush DAMAGE 2~5% MAX DAMAGE 15% : 6 Hits

This version rushes to the side and hits multiple times. You don’t recover as high vertically.

Apex Screw Attack DAMAGE 2~9% MAX DAMAGE 11% : 2 Hits

This version hits twice, once at the beginning and once at the peak. The first hit will knock players into the second stronger hit.

Bomb (Down Special) DAMAGE 4~5% MAX DAMAGE 9% : 2 Hits

Samus drops a bomb from Morph Ball form. The bombs explode on impact or after a short time. These bombs do slightly more DAMAGE if they hit an opponent directly. If Samus is hit by the explosion, it sends her upward a bit but does not deal DAMAGE to her.

Slip Bomb DAMAGE 2.5~3.5%

Though this bomb deals less DAMAGE, it gives a meteor effect against airborne opponents and trips grounded opponents.Additionally, the bomb’s fall speed is faster, the explosion is larger, and the fuse is shorter.

Mega Bomb DAMAGE 4~9% MAX DAMAGE 13% : 2 Hits

This bomb is much more damaging, but it takes longer to explode. Only one can be out at any given time. Because the explosion is higher, you can use it to bomb-jump higher as well.

Final Smash

Zero Laser

Samus charges up and fires her giant Zero Laser at all opponents. She can aim it up or down a bit while firing. This attack also has a vacuum effect, pulling in players around Samus and bringing them into the laser beam. Opponents who are immediately in front of the Samus receive a little bit of extra DAMAGE during the startup of the beam. Range-wise, it has no problem crossing Gerudo Valley, so you won’t have any issues using it on other stages. Overall, it has great range, DAMAGE, and KO potential for opponents with some DAMAGE who are near the side of a stage.

Strategy

Samus has a variety of projectiles to attack opponents from long range and some good tools to rack up DAMAGE in the air. She is somewhat unique in that she is a fairly heavy character with decent ground speed who is also rather floaty. While she has a strong long-range game, she can also be effective up close. Her main weaknesses are her horizontal recovery and her KO power. She does have a few good tools that rack up DAMAGE well enough, so this helps address her KO power.

For Samus’s long-range game, you have a lot of choices. You have Charge Shot, which you can use in quick bursts or fully charged up, and you have two Missile variations. Since a fully charged Charge Shot has good KO potential, consider keeping it fresher by using it less. Mixing up Homing Missile and Super Missile will throw off your opponent’s timing. If you ever hit with a Super Missile, immediately send out more Homing Missiles or charge up your Charge Shot. (When it comes to knockback, Super Missiles are much more effective than Homing Missiles.) If playing in free-for-all modes, use a lot of Bombs around you as small traps to keep you safer while using your projectiles. Since the bombs don’t DAMAGE Samus, it literally doesn’t hurt to have one around. You can even use the blast from one to bounce Samus and make her stay in the air longer. Screw Attack has a tiny bit of invincibility and is a decent out-of-shield option, but it’s primarily used for Samus’s vertical recovery. Don’t forget you can also shoot these projectiles in the air to create a vertical minefield for your opponents to avoid!

Up close, Samus’s Side Tilt attack is very quick, given its excellent range, but its DAMAGE output is fairly low. Down Tilt is also good for its speed and knockback. You can also use Samus’s long-range grapple to throw opponents while on the ground, as it prevents opponents from approaching recklessly. For KOs, go with Side Smash, Down Tilt, or a fully charged Charge Shot. Up Smash can work for KOs as well, but because it’s hard to use against standing opponents, use it against airborne opponents instead. In the air, Samus has a couple of good DAMAGE-racking options with Up Air and Forward Air. For KOs in the air, however, go with Back Air. When opponents are off-stage, use your missiles to edge guard, as this may interrupt their recoveries. If you successfully interrupt them, try to follow up with Down Air for a meteor smash.

Recovery

Samus’s main recovery option is her Screw Attack for vertical recovery. You can aim this a little to the left or right during the input of the attack. Horizontally, Samus doesn’t have a lot of options outside of her grapple. Use the grapple when off-stage to catch onto the edge, and press Up to pull yourself back up. Additionally, you can use Samus’s Bomb to stall temporarily. Moving left or right while dropping bombs will help keep you afloat awhile. This is especially useful when other opponents are off-stage with you.