The Charge Shot
By AlphaZealot | Published: August 4, 2008 5:53pm EST
 Samus’ charge shot (press the B-button once to begin charge and the B-button again to fire while standing) takes three seconds to reach full charge and is one of her most powerful moves. Many characters near the edge of a stage can be KO’d with it around 130-160%. Even if a KO can’t be landed, the blast still does a significant 26% damage. Finding ways to create openings for landing the charge shot is an important aspect of becoming efficient with Samus. One effective way to do this is hitting the other player with a Z-Air. If the Z-Air hits the opponent just before Samus lands, then the subsequent stun will give you that opening to hit them. Samus can also use the uncharged shot in some situations. To fire an uncharged shot while standing, press the B-button twice quickly. While in the air, the B-button will only need to be pressed once. An uncharged shot will do 3% damage, but don’t let that fool you. It also creates significant stun, and will often stop the opponent in their tracks, sometimes creating an opening for her dash attack or dash grab. A charged or uncharged shot performed just before landing will have lag. However, if initiated on the way up from a short hop, the animation will end before landing and there will be no lag. Against taller opponents, it is possible to hit them with an uncharged shot, land, and then hit them with another attack just as they recover from the lag. In addition to this, Samus can also perform two attacks in a single short hop. After performing a rising uncharged shot, there should be enough room to send out either a U-Air or N-Air before landing. If you are facing an opponent like Bowser, you can therefore land an uncharged shot on the way up from a short hop, an N-Air just before landing, and if they have poor DI even a follow up S-Smash. Even with good DI, it may be possible to dash grab them after the N-Air. |
