Shielding
By AlphaZealot | Published: May 13, 2008 6:31pm EST
 To shield in Brawl, press fully in on the L or R-trigger. The analog input that was used in Melee has been removed, meaning only the digital input remains, or, essentially, when you hear the “click” as you press in on one of the triggers. Because of this feature, it may be beneficial to purchase a tri-wing screwdriver to remove the security screws on the standard GCN controller. You’ll also need a small Phillips screwdriver to remove the screws holding in place the triggers inside the controller; if your controller is older, these screws may be absent. Shielding is your primary defense against all attacks and you should become accustomed to predicting when your opponent will strike and reading different approaches so that you can react appropriately. Shielding can only be beaten one of two ways. First is simply by grabbing; all grabs will overcome any shield. Second, shields lose strength over time and depending on the amount of damage they take, after four seconds of shielding or after taking a large quantity of damage, your shield will break. After the shield breaks, your character is left phased and open to attack for about eight seconds. To reduce this time, simply rotate the control stick quickly and mash buttons (all face buttons, the triggers, but no C-stick). Before the shield breaks, its radius decreases in size, and your character can also succumb to attacks in areas the shield no longer covers, usually on the lower portion of most characters. To alleviate this problem, when shielding, be prepared to rotate the shield slightly by tilting the control stick to the area from which your character will soon be attacked. If your shield only covers half your body and you sense the opponent will try to D-Tilt to hit below your shield, simply shield and tilt the control stick slightly downward to adjust for the downward attack. Dropping a shield is much quicker in Brawl than in Melee and allows your character to counter-attack quite easily. This property can be used in conjunction with stopping a run using your shield. Simply run toward the opponent and shield just as you enter their attack range; this move will usually bait an attack, for which you will already be shielding and can then counter. |
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