Attack Resistances - Smash Mechanics

It's finally back after almost 2 years of not making another one. It's smash mechanics! Today we'll be taking a look at the various resistances you can find in smash ultimate. We'll cover how they work and what characters make use of them. So join me today as we take a look at the many defensive options that exist in smash ultimate.
Ruben's calculator: rubendal.githu...
Visuals by Zeckemyro:
/ zeckemyro
My Twitter:
/ rekzius
Discord:
/ discord

[@Mute14_]

0:55 “or other places it would make sense to have a hurtbox” and DK's *tie*

[@martzlolxd]

Xd

[@3kojimbles895]

that's part of his body, that's not a tie

[@Mute14_]

@@3kojimbles895 he has a hurtbox on his tie, it’s *literally* explained in the previous video-

[@3kojimbles895]

@@Mute14_ the tie has his heart in it

[@Robbie_Haruna]

The tie hurtbox is because of his hunched stature. If not for it a number of attacks (and most grabs,) would probably miss him. It's a little bit too thick, but the intent is there.

[@taterthot7112]

Lmao, I love how 16 hours after this video drops it is outdated because Kazuya just sprinkled some invincibility and intangibility into every other move

[@Mcool77]

*i n d e e d*

[@crazykid1325]

Yeah right “some”

[@Dylan-zb3ow]

Lmao

[@blueheart9873]

How much armor do you want? Kazuya: *YES*

[@ID3322pup]

Don't forget that almost all of his tilts have at least half of his body intangible

[@yingerfeltonboi654]

"You are given about 4 frames of intangibility on a normal or phantom footstool" *THE GIMR*

[@JulieLamia]

"The Gims always wins"

[@SailorWhyachi]

The Captain L

[@Berb0S]

Makes sense that heavyweights all have some useful armor, intangibility and invincibility moves. Except ganon, he only gets it on a 70 frame start-up move.

[@YounesLayachi]

Petition to give ganon super armour on startup of all his special moves I mean falcon has damage armour on side B which is useful, why not ganon

[@martzlolxd]

Poor men

[@4xzx4]

You forgot on his flame choke too.

[@Berb0S]

Oh yeah, and flame choke, like that matters in 1v1s I don't know, give him some armor on down b o side b startup, that way he doesn't get shafted by these negative ranged specisls

[@4xzx4]

@@Berb0S It actually matters in 1v1s against some characters. Snake, Pac-Man and Banjo cmes to mind.

[@Greenomb]

Hitstun and hitlag or knockback (especially how ultimate's "balloon knockback" works) could both be an interesting video topic.

[@elmaionesosexo]

Balloon knockback?

[@icanscratchmyback4698]

Characters that are in the Balloon weight class like phicu and jogglypifg

[@icanscratchmyback4698]

I think that's what he means

[@300PIVOTMASTER]

@@icanscratchmyback4698 balloon knockback refers to how characters fly very quickly when launched at mid/high percent and then appear to stop very quickly (like how an actual balloon would move when struck). it's one of the first differences people noticed when moving from smash4. People thought it looked strange at first but now that we are used to it, going back and looking at smash4 footage looks like everyone is on the moon.

[@icanscratchmyback4698]

@@300PIVOTMASTER thank you

[@alvaroqr2832]

Everyone: "And which of these mechanics does Kazuya have?" Sakurai: "YES."

[@megametexe5129]

I would love to see a smash mechanics on counters. Especially since smash seems to be full of them now that are all slightly unique in their own way.

[@Tonjit41]

Yes! This!

[@nsgarci8047]

Just for fun: Marth has tipper, Roy has sweetspot, Chrom and Lucina have equal damage, Ike has longer startlag and endlag but more active frames, Corrin turns into a dragon, Bayo simply slows you down, Little Mac moves out and back in, Shulk has two variations, Palutena and Joker have either a counter or reflector, K. Rool has both counter and reflector all-in-one, Lucario teleports in w a high kick, Greninja swaps in from a chosen direction, Mii brawler blocks and then grabs, Mii swordfighter sends upwards, Sephiroth still attacks after a second and the atck itself is a projectile and Peach and Daisy also have projectiles I think that's all of them Edit: i forgot incineroar

[@megametexe5129]

@@nsgarci8047 a few things I'd like to add about greninja's counter since Im a greninja main. downwards Direction of that counter will Spike. Greninja is one of if not the only character who is still vulnerable during their counter if you're fast enough and can predict the direction Greninja is coming from you can counter his counter. the eight different directions Greninja can come from we'll also have different damage assign to them. A lot of this is information from Smash 4 and some of these I have noticed carry-on in Ultimate. I'm just wondering about the complexity of other characters as well

[@Nosretep]

@@nsgarci8047 Incineroar gets powered up.

[@nsgarci8047]

@@Nosretep oh right! Thxs

[@drakeblight3498]

Ivysaur's bulb being throw intangible is probably so they dont get "sniped" by aerial command grabs

[@eukarya_]

And I think some grabs are actually to high to grab anything but the flower if Ivysur is crouching.

[@nieveangeletti1271]

2:00 "the relatively small amount of things that cause invincibility." *laughs in Kazuya*

[@Tonjit41]

...

[@Tonjit41]

...what you are referring to with Kazuya is intangiblity, described in the video you are commenting on lmao

[@xmaniarock1138]

I can’t wait till you make the video about kazuya when he releases

[@playboikaniiii]

he's getting the tekken hitboxes

[@mystcat3]

Actual hell let me tell ya

[@kidkruschev]

I kept winning against him with Samus yesterday but he can actually put up a good fight against Zero Suit Samus, I found that interesting

[@jazzy1554]

And now 1 day later kazuya brings even more moves with armor or invincibility

[@pandrewsta]

6:07 I main Rosalina and still had no idea this was a mechanic, thanks for the awesome video!

[@redfire6605]

6:31 yeah phew good thing sakurai is conservative on how he uses invincibility can you imagine if there was a character where half of his moves were invincible that would be crazy

[@WohMi]

La crocodilia

[@Tonjit41]

...no no watch this video. Kazuya is riddled with INTANGIBILITY not INVINCIBILITY

[@lunarkomet]

Sakurai apparently felt like there weren't enough cases of these attack resistances in the game and decided to compensate now with Kazuya's moveset

[@Andreecals]

I think the different kinds of damage in the game and their properties would be a neat topic as well (slash, blunt, fire, electricity, paralysis, freeze, darkness, damaging windboxes... a nice guide for them is the different icons that appear when villager/isabelle pocket something)

[@Lattie9001]

this video is a godsent, the amount of misinfo surrounding invulnerability and armor in this game is through the roof and having a resource like that one to explain this stuff is invaluable. That said there are sadly some minor inaccuracies (like calling grab invulnerability "grab armor", which is a different thing) and a few things that could be considered missing, like all characters having 10% cumulative damage based armor (like KKR's SideB) while being grabbed and thrown, or obscure stuff like knockback staking (when a character receives more knockback while already in hitstun but not enough to actually make them stop flying off), grab armor (the thing that makes grabs tank through certain moves like Banjo's SideB or some of Sonic's specials), armor piercing moves, etc. I get that not everything can make it into the video but it might be worth covering some of that stuff in an addendum maybe later down the road when every character is in the game and all the data is here. I regret not having finished completing the armor pages of the wiki before you started making this vid as maybe some of that stuff would have made it in. Like i said at the start, i'm still incredibly grateful this video exists, it makes my job way easier teaching folks this stuff!

[@Super_EpicGuy]

In GimR's phantom footstool video, he mentions how he was unable to footstool certain things like bowser's extended arm after he does FTilt. Would this possibly be another aspect of grab invincible hurtboxes?

[@YounesLayachi]

Interesting

[@martzlolxd]

I think that in order to footsool someone you "interact" with his hurtboxes, so for example you can footstool Mewtwo if his tail hurtbox is in the detection zone right below your character, or Plan during his down-b at any point of his extended hurtbox (all thought that would be a phantom footstool cause Plant would be performing an action). But this detection gets omitted if the hurtbox is invincible (I think when it's intangible too, but I'm not sure). You can test it yourself. Go to training mode and give the CPU a super star. Look how you can't footstool him when he's invincible. Now Bowser's arms during his tilts are invincible too and therefore one can't phantom footstool them during the attack, because your footstool detection box doesn't reach a non-invincible hurtbox before his hotboxes reaches you. Basically your footstool gets outranged. Now, this is my theory of what happens there, but don't take it as a fact, I may be rong.

[@YounesLayachi]

@@martzlolxd normal footstools are an attack (they put the opponent in vulnerable state) , while phantom footstools are not. It makes sense for invulnerability to block normal footstools, but it might not block phantom footstools (haven't tested , just a theory)

[@martzlolxd]

@@YounesLayachithat makes sense, but I just tested it and no, even phantom footstools can not be performed if the hurtbox is invincible. What I think is that the process in which the game checks if a footstool should be performed or not, is the same regardless of whether it a phantom footstool or a normal footstool is. Then, if the player that is being footstool is not performing an attack, it executes a normal footstool and if not, a phantom one.

[@YounesLayachi]

@@martzlolxd okay, good to know ! Gosh I wish we could turn off footstools

[@eddiec9756]

For the yoshi armor on double jump I had a replay of me spiking him with incineroar and his jump powering through.

[@Tonjit41]

Ah. Yoshi. A character indeed.

[@keldeo05]

If you make another one of these I would love to see a video about comeback mechanics

[@martzlolxd]

That would be cool, but also extremely long and painful. See how you need like 30 minutes only to explain One-winged Angel. And seeing how he explained rage and aura in his multiplier video, I don't think he will do it.

[@peterduprey7286]

Ah yes. That one mechanic the completely ruins the balance of competitive play.

[@GoldDragon20]

Funny enough, this video will give some explanation to some of Kazuya's mechanics. yay

[@panzerldr5724]

Mii Brawler's FMP invincibility DOES have some practical uses in certain 1v1 matchups. You can activate the move on certain object such as, most commonly in my experience, Steve crafting table. This can protect you from minecarts without forcing you to roll, spotdodge, or jump, and will hit steve if he remains in the cart. Also useful for baiting approaches. Also, many people don't even KNOW about the invincibility, and will attempt to punish it, and are punished themselves for it, as they slip into the move.

[@andypeoples7175]

This melted my brain. Great informative video, but I bet if Smash was a school subject this would be a study video about information I’d stress about needing to memorize

[@nick1wasd]

"It's a good thing there aren't many Invincible moves, as that would be ridiculous" >Kazuya trailer: "these 10 moves have invincibility on Kazuya's torso/legs" yaaaaaay......

[@terraria_ranger4887]

Every single smash player, at least once, has said "Lucas up smash is INVINCIBLE?"

[@Tonjit41]

It is. During the startup.

[@terraria_ranger4887]

@@Tonjit41 yeah, I know. I figured it out a while ago, I think by fiddling around in training mode. I'm just saying that I'm pretty sure most people would be surprised at such a case.

[@Creepo_J]

If you played against enough lucas you would know how cheese this move is

[@Tonjit41]

@@Creepo_J Lucas up smash is the smash embodiment of the word 'No'

[@meta04]

@@Tonjit41 I believe that's G&W's up-smash and down-B

[@skunkooo]

YEEEEAAAAHHH I MISSED THIS SERIES SO MUCH

[@spinybro1014]

I think the reason they went with 11.99 with Incineroar is because for some reason, the game calculator cannot properly measure 12% armor. This happens constantly with King K. Rool’s Crownerang which does have 12%, where some multihit moves that don’t break the armor in 1v1s happen to break it but others that do the same amount don’t. It’s a big issue for a move as slow as that and one of the many things the dev team forgot for the character because on god they didn’t program him correctly lol. It’s weird

[@Tonjit41]

Yes! Props to you for editing in each in-game clip.

[@Creepo_J]

Incin doesn't get invincibility on his arms if he does neutral-b in the air The power of the move doesn't get changed

[@hope7237]

There is also another type that is invulnerability , for example: the tip of ridley's wings during up-b ( there are other moves but this one is the only i remember) . For what i understood it's like invincibility or when two hitboxes ( or tw swords) collide toghether and it gives you that freeze animation . I think that you can also grab it

[@archerking2784]

Kazuya: I’m about to end this man’s whole career

[@AricHolmes]

A lot of super armor breaks in 2 hits as well, most notably dks side b and up b

[@martzlolxd]

That's not true. It would be more accurate to say that most of the time, two hits are enough to brake those super armors, but that doesn't mean they don't resist two hits. Most of the time what happens is that they resist too little damage or that they're active for a very short time, then it seems like they don't resist two hits. But it's incomparable with an attack like focus attack, where the super armor is active for like a whole second, it tanks a f**king Gannon's f-smahs and yet not two Pichu's jabs.

[@winterstelling7837]

Luma being an invincible projectile is so weird

[@andreasobermuller3044]

Mii brawler´s flashing mach punch has full body invincibility for the entire duration of the move the moment he hits

[@windowsxp8579]

All this waiting for your videos are SO worth it! Keep it up man!

[@Kingbee642]

bro saved himself from talking about every Kazuya move while talking of intangibility

[@4xzx4]

Topic suggestion: Reflectors

[@Scorpio3002]

4:14 it actually doesn't, since Banjo gets put into hitlag. It's why I feel totally comfortable tossing out Lucas's PK Fire at Banjo, because even if he Wonder Wings it, the hitlag will usually give me time to shield. Also, Lucas can partition the last three i-frames of upsmash by charging the attack: the first three frames of the charge release are invincible.

[@ilikestamps2978]

Fun fact Bowser can just run through magic burst

[@deathpie24]

And some final smashes before the last hit

[@Phun-Bun]

He big boy

[@grfrjiglstan]

I wonder how many new characters, with their own corresponding mechanics, could be added to Smash before the code collapses under its own weight.

[@rompevuevitos222]

Pretty sure that many of the gimicks of the new characters didn't require much in the way of addition to the engine and where achieved with the existing code, Steve's was the most arduous one in that regard and it was a struggle tho Hero's menu maybe, but that's just a simple menu

[@Tonjit41]

1

[@YounesLayachi]

@@rompevuevitos222 with hero the game also calculates how much MP is gained by each different connecting normal attack, and it's not just a multiplier, but a specific base value for each move that's also affected by multipliers

[@martzlolxd]

In conclusion, ultimate is a deam masterpiece because it works

[@rompevuevitos222]

@@YounesLayachi The game already has event triggers for taking damage and for checking how much damage is coming in, this is used for many mechanics So gaining MP is not exactly a big effort to code in

[@scamuel1896]

The way you just completely ignored Kazooie while talking about Wonderwing made it sound like Banjo just... makes himself invincible somehow? I wish people would acknowledge Kazooie, at least every now and then. She's the driving force for basically their entire moveset, and literally everything that makes them "annoying."

[@Tonjit41]

I'll huff glue with you, fellow banjo player.

[@scamuel1896]

@@Tonjit41 what???

[@skeletonwar4445]

Because who cares about the *lore* reasons for invincibility in a gameplay mechanic video?

[@scamuel1896]

@@skeletonwar4445 well, it's not really *lore* per-se... I mean, she's right there, covering them with her wings... you can see her...

[@skeletonwar4445]

@@scamuel1896 So? Most players don't care. It's annoying to specify Banjo *and Kazooie* every single time, so you just say Banjo, cause he's the main character and does most of the moves. Kazooie is like the duck of the Duck Hunt duo. No one gives a shit about it. That's why "Duck Hunt" gets referred to as a dog sometimes, cause the duck is irrelevant. Just like Kazooie.

[@grimmadjick1321]

Conservative on invincibility.... Kazuya: Feed me more

[@blutarchtheblue8453]

Are you telling me that bowser don't have a hurtbox on his tail but DK have one in his tie!!!?

[@ryanwagner3890]

I like how what's supposed to be little mac's trump card of ko punch has by far the least armor frames of any of his moves lol. Like you have so much time where even a simple jab would block it.

[@ryanwagner3890]

Ko punch: two frames of armor at the end of the move. Waft: 9 frames of armor that guarentee the move gets activated properly. Balanced game.

[@cjlite0210]

15:45 Sakurai was feeling spicy that day, let him make every move worth $11.99

[@kota8045]

Big ups to you dude

[@cullenhutchison6528]

The random grab armor areas are stupid. It makes grabbing with many characters even less consistent than it already is.

[@YounesLayachi]

Agree, the random partial intangibility is also stupid. There's nothing visual in the game that shows what moves have partial intangibility where, and the only way is to learn all frames of all moves of all characters, absolutely crazy. If I see that my sword is touching DK's extended arm, then DK should damn well get hit by it.

[@Robbie_Haruna]

It exists for a reason and nine times out of ten doesn't have anything do to with grabs being inconsistent. Usually it's on parts of limbs so you're not getting grabbed out of an active hitbox, or in Ivysaur's case doesn't let you get sniped above your body by a midair command grab.

[@cullenhutchison6528]

@@Robbie_Haruna That's not always the case though. Sometimes they are placed exactly where one might grab, like a tall character trying to grab Ivysaur or Pichu, and there are plenty of other times where a grab is prevented by coincidental positioning, especially for characters with small grabs. And I don't think Ivysaur's bulb being grabbed by a command grab is any more of an issue than it is being hit by a hitbox, or than certain characters' ledge hangs being grabbed by Buster Wolf. Ultimately it makes it where grabs not just visibly but functionally connect with the hurtbox and still don't grab, which is stupid, especially when an attack would still land.

[@Robbie_Haruna]

@@cullenhutchison6528 obviously it's because you're not supposed to be able to grab stuff like the ears of Pichu or Pikachu's tail or Ivysaur's bulb. It's also worth noting that Ivysaur's Bulb pretty much never actually effects a normal grab because you're not going to reach that anyway. The vast majority of cases though, the grab invincible areas aren't remotely a cause for inconsistencies and their reason for existing makes sense, it's not always the case, but it is more often than not.

[@JustLazer]

I wasn't expecting to learn much of anything from this video. The stuff at the end was very new to me though. Great video.

[@namename9194]

Hitlag multipliers would be interesting. Especially with how Kazuya has basically none, Ryu/Ken have stupid high hitlag, the difference between Marth's sweet/sourspots, etc

[@itsbuckaroo4828]

5:29 as a brawler main you can use the invincibility on unknowing opponents like hitting PAC Mans hydrant or Steve’s TNT

[@peterduprey7286]

Too bad I use shot put instead…

[@itsbuckaroo4828]

@@peterduprey7286 I used to run FMP but it became more and more useless. Now I use shot put.

[@redlord5892]

I always laugh when a Hero uses bounce against my Falcon. You trying to reflect these hands?

[@colgateknowswhereyoulive4812]

As a Little Mac main it always manages to get a little giggle out of me as well.

[@HazelnutButtercup]

Does anyone ever like, have an empty echoey room in their home and scream SMASH, SPEED, BUSTER, SHIELD, JUMP and just listen back to it?

[@camtheman7654]

I believe game and watch only had his head invincible, which is why he had more invincibility frames

[@cliffthecrafter]

Throw invincibility also matters if you're fighting Ice Climbers and grab Nana. If you grab Popo the Nana AI will stop attacking but if you grab Nana the player can still try to hit you with Popo.

[@8CanadianBacon9]

This video was sooooo informative. I learned so much. I wish I could give it more likes

[@addisonqi8133]

They need to buff King K Rool's armor more, since he is a heavy weight and a final boss, he still feel more like that when you are playing as him.

[@gbx4858]

For lucas’ up smash, he gains invincibility for the first four frames of the move, then gains an additional 3 frames of invincibility after you stopped charging the move

[@seansquiers6506]

This came out before Kazyua...how cute

[@SonicTheCutehog]

Oh. I thought Attack Resistances meant the Type Effectiveness mechanic Pokémon Trainer had in Brawl.

[@rubis5904]

In case of Luigi's tornado saying it lasts a frame longer is misleading : in fact it ends a frame later, but lasts 3 less frames and is much less reliable on the ground overall

[@cjlite0210]

At least people playing Mewtwo can't complain if the get grabbed, it's tail is immune to being grabbed

[@VetriVade]

One of your best videos

[@aidenzorn8322]

As bowser is one of my mains I feel that this will be helpful to me

[@SuperZeve]

16:48 20%! WHAT! 16:50 Oh, that makes more sense.

[@Liggliluff]

Finally! Been waiting so long :D

[@nintygc]

Great video as always

[@Yourname-dz8lj]

alot of stuff i didnt know so thank u

[@velvetbutterfly]

I never knew this was a series, glad to see it. Did you do Lucas's Hitboxes yet? I'd like to see how his smash attacks change with repeated use

[@gg_novastar8492]

Very good timing considering what Kazuya has

[@jackfearow]

23:06 Steve says no hand holding before marriage

[@toast4248]

I was baited into thinking this was a k rool video

[@TheCubicalGuy]

Fun fact: Lucas Up-smash is the only move in the game with invincibility and intangibility.

[@Andreecals]

Very nice video, thanks a lot!

[@MSCDonkeyKong]

i wasn't expecting you to actually get the pac-man's side b super armor correct. i see a lot of misinformation thrown out about it. good on you! its especially important to get it right since its super handy to know about when edge guarding pac-man. its often smarter to try and hit pac man before or after the super armor ends, whereas i see a lot of people try and hit the pellet and then getting armored. they then proceed to complain about him on twitter without taking the time to learn the matchup just because they didnt know to respect the armor.

[@vapeshrimp5220]

good video much appreciated

[@Sturben-qn7ph]

Finally a video

[@mellin7049]

excellent video!

[@Cutzerella03]

thank you for this video

[@Bacchus325]

I think a video about direction dependent moves would be cool. Thinks like Shulk's backslash and Mewtwo's disable

[@poiberry8956]

When you turn on Spirits And then you use slow power armor It's all over for the opponent

[@bionicallyacomputer292]

Interesting

[@fukawadesu]

What about the SSB4 elemental dammage modifier. Electric deals more damage. Fire inflicts burn and is slightly more powerfull. Water is neutral but deals slightly more knockback. Dark deals more dammage but doesn't modify knock back. Light is purely neutral.

[@skeletorthebest7204]

Mii Gunner also has invincibility on Cannon Jump Kick, from frame 6 to 8

[@ButterStick64]

14:30 Kazuya: *laughs in F-Smash*

[@Odium_DOB]

me: who wanted to learn about kirby down b future me:YES FINALLY I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT

[@Antonio-is2cn]

I once broke King K Rool's Belly Armor with Hatchet Man as Hero!

[@thenerdyanarchist3492]

Ken and ryu’s focus attack armor is also knock back effected

[@brethebird3148]

Thanks

[@oussama7132]

do clashing next

[@MegAmi24]

10:54 "which is mostly just for multiplayer" so it's always in effect?

[@djdrizzy9139]

You forgot to mention Kirby's stone has Super Armor F19-28.

[@admg2005]

opened up KZbin ad the right time today lol

[@Nowel22222]

You don't actually have to footstool squirtle to make him fall over, you can just jump on him. It's actually pretty easy and gives you a huge punish

[@TheJosiahTurner]

imagine being able to tank a sword hit straight to the face becaus you blew a whistle

[@murraymurphy85]

Wait, did you do King Dedede's down special? It's what I was looking out for all video but either I tuned out when it came up, or it wasn't included.

[@RicozGaming4]

Transcendent projectiles vs all the other kinds of projectiles in the game. And how they’re the best kind to have in a character’s kit if the character was to have a long range move.

[@fukawadesu]

They really need to buff robin rip

[@JJaaggoobb]

Need a video on b reversing and wavebouncing

[@eukarya_]

I think you could've mentioned knockback resistance when being frozen or buried, because albeit extremely rare there are some moves that can do this.