Upgrade: Learn R.O.B.'s Advanced Techniques

Table Of Contents:

Introduction:

Catalog each of the techniques described for reference

Specify the inputs as clearly as I can for visualization

List practical advice for application

Recommend some training techniques for ease of learning

Formatting:

General Useful Tech:

Longer Up B

Instant Dash Attack

Up Smash Out of Shield

Reverse Aerial Rush (RAR)

Pivot Forward Tilt

Stutter Step Forward Smash





Trickier Useful Tech

Reverse Jump Cancelled Up Smash

Pivot Forward Smash

Roll Cancelled Grab

Stage Specific Tech

Platform Boosted Up-Throw

Both side Battlefield platforms

The Smashville platform

The center platform of the initial Town & City stage transformation

Both platforms of the second Town & City stage transformation

Up-Throw Suicide

Auto Canceled Aerials

Auto Cancel Back Air:

Auto Cancel Down Air:

Auto Cancel Up Air

Gyro Play

Z-Dropping

Z-Pick Up

Aerials with Items

Jump Cancelled Item Toss

Defunct Actions with Items

Spoiler Forward Tilt with Item



DESCRIPTION:



R.O.B. performs a Forward Tilt while still holding an item



EXECUTION:







THOUGHTS / PRACTICE TIPS:



If you tap left or right on the C-stick while crouching, you can break the rules of what the game normally allows you to do and Forward Tilt while holding an item. You're normally limited to either a special attack or an item toss while holding an item, so this can surprise your opponent. You can choose to hold down or just flick down to perform this technique. Additionally, you don't even need to be holding an item to practice this technique, just perform the actions to get a forward tilt that'll work even while you have an item.



TROUBLESHOOTING:



If I perform several of these in a row, I end up occasionally tossing my item

You're buffering a Forward Smash by accident. If you're holding down and using the C-stick to perform these Forward Tilts and flick the c-stick during your Forward Tilt animation, the game won't read a crouch input and go straight for the Forward Smash.





Forward Smash with Item



DESCRIPTION:



R.O.B. charges a Forward Smash with an item in hand



EXECUTION:



During item pick up, hold . At any time, or



THOUGHTS / PRACTICE TIPS:



Holding A as you pick up an item has some strange effects, pressing up on the c-stick won't do anything, pressing down will make your crouch, and pressing left or right will make you charge a Forward Smash. Release the A button to release the smash attack. This doesn't seem like it has much application beyond being an unexpected option, but it's certainly a neat trick.



You don't actually need to hold A during after your item pick up, you just need to find some time where you can hold the A button without initiating an item throw, such as during a roll or a special attack. Obviously, holding and pressing or is a pretty strange motion, so I recommend mapping attack to a spare shoulder button should you find this useful.



TROUBLESHOOTING:



I didn't personally run into any problems learning this technique. If you run into some yourself, PM me and I'll add what your problem was and how to fix it. R.O.B. performs a Forward Tilt while still holding an itemIf you tap left or right on the C-stick while crouching, you can break the rules of what the game normally allows you to do and Forward Tilt while holding an item. You're normally limited to either a special attack or an item toss while holding an item, so this can surprise your opponent. You can choose to hold down or just flick down to perform this technique. Additionally, you don't even need to be holding an item to practice this technique, just perform the actions to get a forward tilt that'll work even while you have an item.You're buffering a Forward Smash by accident. If you're holding down and using the C-stick to perform these Forward Tilts and flick the c-stick during your Forward Tilt animation, the game won't read a crouch input and go straight for the Forward Smash.R.O.B. charges a Forward Smash with an item in handDuring item pick up, hold. At any time,orHolding A as you pick up an item has some strange effects, pressing up on the c-stick won't do anything, pressing down will make your crouch, and pressing left or right will make you charge a Forward Smash. Release the A button to release the smash attack. This doesn't seem like it has much application beyond being an unexpected option, but it's certainly a neat trick.You don't actually need to hold A during after your item pick up, you just need to find some time where you can hold the A button without initiating an item throw, such as during a roll or a special attack. Obviously, holdingand pressingoris a pretty strange motion, so I recommend mapping attack to a spare shoulder button should you find this useful.I didn't personally run into any problems learning this technique. If you run into some yourself, PM me and I'll add what your problem was and how to fix it.

Gyro Cancelling and Wavebouncing

Gyro Cancelling (Easy Way)

Gyro Cancelling (Hard Way)

Turn Around Special

B-Reversing

Wavebouncing

Where to Start?

Closing Remarks

- Longer Up B- Instant Dash Attack- Up Smash Out of Shield- Reverse Aerial Rush (RAR)- Pivot Forward Tilt- Stutter Step Forward Smash- Reverse Jump Cancelled Up Smash- Pivot Forward Smash- Roll Cancelled Grab- Platform Boosted Up-Throw- Up-Throw Suicide- Auto Cancelled Back Air- Auto Cancelled Down Air- Auto Cancelled Up Air- Z-Dropping- Z-Pick Up- Aerials With Items- Jump Cancelled Item Toss- Defunct Actions with Items- Gyro Cancelling (Easy Way)- Gyro Cancelling (Hard Way)- Turn Around Special- B-reversing- WavebouncingHello, I'm TheMantyke. I've been playing Smash competitively in varying capacities since the release of Brawl in 2008. I mained R.O.B. in that game and picked him up again for the Wii U version. Over the course of Brawl and Smash 4, I've heard of some basic and slightly more complicated techniques and have spend the time grinding them out in training mode.With this guide, I hope to:Each technique listed here will be presented in this format to outline all the general information about it.What the technique does is described here. A few times, I'll mention that you need to be holding forward and specify an example direction. Whatever I say here will of course work in the opposite direction.What button inputs you'll need to make are listed here.Some thoughts on application as well as some recommendations for how to practice the technique are listed here.Common unintended results from attempting the technique and solutions on how to avoid bad results are listed here.Lets start off with some simple and powerful techniques.R.O.B. can recover longer and farther with his Up B if you press the B button repeatedly instead of holding it down. Rob will flail his arms violently with several puffing sounds accompanying him-> mash+ holdThis is a very basic but very useful technique that every R.O.B. main should be doing. To see how much extra height you get, try it for yourself. If you stand in the middle of Battlefield with a full tank of fuel, you'll be able to reach just a little above offscreen. If you press b repeatedly instead, you'll go a noticable distance higherYou're holding up on the control stick. Make sure you're inputting purely horizontal directions while doing this. The game will have R.O.B. continue his flight uninterrupted if you're holding B or Up on the control stick.R.O.B. performs a dash attack directly out of a walking or standing position.Every character in the game can do a dash attack without having to be in a dash for a long period of time. R.O.B. has an above average Dash Attack, so this is handy for him.You need to make sure you're smashing the control stick forward before you input down on the C-stickR.O.B. does an Up Smash directly out of shield without having to first lower his shield.While holdingandquickly ->Being able to instantly perform an Up Smash after shielding a hit is very valuable to R.O.B. as Up Smash is one of his best killing moves. Note that this is not the same as simply shielding, letting go of shield, and Up Smashing. It's much faster. Do note that this cannot be performed using the C-stick.I find this technique easier to execute if you slide your thumb from Y to A quickly, as if you were flicking a light switch with your thumb or pulling your thumb across a table to sample its texture.You're not going from Y to A quick enough. Try the thumb sliding technique I recommended in the paragraph above this. If you're already doing this, do it quicker.You're pressing the A button first.R.O.B. runs forward, jumps, and is now facing the opposite direction he was running.-quickly->RAR is an ancient, Day 1 Brawl technique that has some simple practical application, mainly being able to run towards your opponent and Back Air them. It's an incredbily simple technique mostly included in this guide to get those who've still somehow not heard of it up to speed.Make sure your inputtingbefore jumping.R.O.B. does a Forward Tilt in the opposite direction he was running without the need to stopWhile Running ForwardDoing a Forward Tilt in opposite direction is pretty useful against people chasing after you or as a way to mix people up as an approach. This is a very simple technique to perform, so I'd give it the 5 minutes or so you need to commit it to muscle memory.You're pressing A before moving the stick in the opposite direction. Make sure you press A after the sticks moved to the opposite direction.Look at you, you're learning the timing for the next technique on the list. You're pressing A right as the stick is hovering over the neutral stance of the control stick. Make you A input a little later.R.O.B. Moves slightly forward or back and performs a Forward SmashWhile standing,or-quickly->During the opening frames of a dash, you can still perform a Forward Smash. Performing this results in you inching forward or back slightly and Forward Smashing, ideal for spacing yourself correctly.R.O.B. is performing a Dash Attackyourtoinput is far too slow. The two stick movements should be almost simultaneous.Here we have a few more useful techniques, though they're not as simple to execute as what's been listed already. You'll need to practice these techniques frequently in training mode to build the muscle memory needed to perform them consistently.R.O.B. performs a sliding Up Smash out of a run in the opposite direction he was facingWhile running forwardThis technique isn't terribly useful for R.O.B. compared to some other characters who have an Up Smash that comes out behind them first, but it still has some application. This is useful for punishing spot dodges in the same way pivot Forward Tilts and Forward Smashes are.You might find it helpful to learn this technique if you think about doing it as if it were a reverse aerial rush as the timing for certain parts is very similar.. You're essentially substitutingandforandin the techniques order ofYou might have noticed I don't have a section for regular jump cancelled Up Smashes in this guide. I chose not to write a section about jump cancelled up smashes as R.O.B.'s running Up Smash goes about the same length and is easier to perform.Make sure yourmovement is very distinctYour movement fromtoisn't quick enough. I find it easiest to slide or flick your thumb fromtoR.O.B. does a Forward Smash in the opposite direction he was running without the need to stop.While running forwardbut presswhile stick is atOR With A+B to Smash Attacks enabled, while running forwardThis is a little trickier to do, but it's a useful way to kill so I think it's very much worth the time learning. If the execution section was a little confusing, here's more elaboration: While moving the stick from forward to back, press the A button right as the stick is in the neutral position as if it wasn't being pushed at all. This means you have an A + smashed direction input that the game will interpret as a Smash Attack.As of the Version 1.06 patch, a new "Press A + B to smash attack" feature has been added. This makes this technique much easier to perform and uses timing analogous to a Pivot Forward Tilt. If your having difficulty doing it the traditional way, try this.You're pressing the A Button too soonYou're pressing the A button too late.R.O.B. Interrupts a roll with a grab, extending his grab rangeWhile standing,R.O.B.'s grab range is pretty mediocre as is. This technique extends it slightly.This technique can't be done out of a run or shield, so you'll need to return to a neutral position first to perform it.The bright flash that happens during a roll will appear during your grab if you successfully perform this technique. I find the flash difficult to see I solid ground, so I recommend practicing on a platform as it's much more visible.The grab range extension is very slight, but it is there and can be useful. For an example, try grabbing the Wii Fit Trainer while you two are on opposite sides of a Battlefield platform. With a dash grab, you won't be able to grab her. With a roll cancelled grab, you will.Make sure that you're at a standing position, this technique won't work if you're shielding or running. If you're still performing rolls while at a standing position, try pressingsooner.You're performing the run action before your shield action. Make sure you're inputs are, notR.O.B. has a few other useful techniques, but they require certain stage layouts to work. There isn't exactly a lot to practice here, just keep conscious of these options during play. This section lacks trouble shooting sections as the techniques here are ultra self explanitory.R.O.B. does an Up Throw below a platform and lands on that platform instead of were he was previously.Up Throw while under a reasonably close platform.This trick allows you to get a little extra height to your Up-Throw, allowing you to score KOs earlier and follow up from your throw at higher altitudes. Common platforms this can be performed under include:Among others. For moving platforms, if the platform isn't quite yet in position, I recommend pummeling your opponent a little to buy some extra time.R.O.B. does an Up Throw over a part of the stage that won't be under him when he comes back down, KOing R.O.B. and his opponent.Up Throw while on a part of the stage that won't be under R.O.B. when he comes back down.Unlike every other 'go up, then come back down' throw in the game, R.O.B.'s doesn't stop him where he started upon descent and allows him to continue hurtling down into the blast zones.To do an Up-Throw Suicide, you'll need to Up-Throw on either a moving platform like the Smashville platform or Town and City platforms during a transition or their second transformation or during a Stage transformation on Isle Del Fino or Wuhu Island. In team battles, your partner can push you while your Up-Throwing with a windbox. In singles, the only way you can be shoved this way is by Pac-Man's fire hydrant.This will kill R.O.B. before your opponent. You'll both for certain be KOed, but if you do this on your last stocks,R.O.B. has some sizable to bad landing lag on a few of his aerials, mainly Up Air, Back Air, and Down Air. However, with the right timing, you land in a way where the aerial is completed just before you land. This nets you virtually no landing lag.short hop -quickly->R.O.B. normally suffers a lot of landing lag if you're in the middle of his Back Air, but if you perform it right after a short hop, the move finishes in time and you experience virtually no lag.Using the C-stick to perform the back air is not recommended as the time it takes to make your input after your thumb travels from a jump button to the C-stick is very strict.You're not performing the Back Air quick enoughFull hop ->With the right timing, you can perform a Down Air right off the ground and land with no lag. This is great for hitting people on the ledge, especially if they're re-grabbing it with no invincibility. A short hop -> Down Air will leave rob colliding awkwardly with the ground, so a full hop is used instead. note that there's a slight delay between your full hop and your Down Air input.You're performing your Down Air too quicklyYou may be fast falling after performing your Down Air. For a visual clue of when it's safe, It's safe to start fast falling once R.O.B. is almost done holding his hands on his head.short hop -quickly, but not too quickly->This is by far the hardest of the auto cancel aerials to get down, but it's very useful for pressuring opponents above you on platforms. If you up air shortly after you short hop, you'll land with no landing lag. The timing on this is very strict. Too soon and you'll do an up smash. Too late and you'll suffer landing lag. You'll know if you got it right if you see R.O.B. return to his normal standing stance afterwords. You'll know you got it wrong if R.O.B. stares at you with his arms behind his back.This is incredibly difficult if not impossible with the C-stick, so using the A Button is recommended.Make your Up Air input later.Make your Up Air input sooner.Once you have a gyro in your hands, what to do next? Here are a few techniques to lend you a few new ideas.R.O.B. drops whatever item he's holding midair with no start up or endlag as if it just fell from his hands.While airborne with the stick at neutral (),This is a pretty simple technique that doesn't really deserve the title of advanced, but it has so much application I felt like I needed to cover it. A Z-drop will make your gyro descend a little slower and bounce a little longer at the cost of some initial damage (item damage is calculated based on how fast a projectile is moving so it starts off weaker than say an item throw downward). You can ever regrab your Gyro by air dodging or performing an aerial. Use this to claim space, pressure your opponent's sheild, gimp... there's a lot to do.You're inputting a direction with your press of. Make sure the stick is at a neutral position when you make yourpress.R.O.B. grabs an item in midair without start up or end lag.While airborne next to an item, tapThe opposite of the previous technique, this allows R.O.B to instantly grab a Gyro or other item. The only requirement is that you A) Don't tap the grab button too hard and B) R.O.B's hands are close enough to the item. If they're too far away, he'll air dodge instead. You might still be able to grab the item, but you'll have an air dodge's start up and cool down.You're either pressingtoo hard or R.O.B.'s arms aren't close enough to the item.R.O.B. drops whatever item he's holding midair and then recatches it with an aerial, allowing you to perform an aerial and keep your itemWhile airborne with the stick at neutral (),, Any aerialNormally your only option while airborne with a gyro in hand is to throw it, drop it, or air dodge. With this technique, you can perform all of your aerials too. Transitioning between keeping the stick at neutral then performing your aerial all while trying to maneuver in the air can be a bit difficult. Start off slow by not touching your control stick at all and doing item recatch neutral airs. After that, move on to other aerials using the C-stick, then try moving around the stage. The item physics between a Banana and a Gyro are similaryo the point where you can use them to practice in training mode instead of shooting out a Gyro everytime you accidentally throw your item.On a Gamecube controller, performing X or Y, then Z, then A can be a pretty uncomfortable motion. Consider binding L to Grab instead to make the motion less awkward (I personally do this). One trick some R.O.B.s use is to bind their D-pad to grab so that they can ensure the control stick is at neutral when they input grab to drop their itemYou're inputting a direction with your press ofor your pressingbefore. Make sure the stick is at a neutral position when you make yourpress and that you pressand notfirst.You need to input your aerial faster.R.O.B. throws an item with a significant and useful slide either backwards or forwards while throwing and item in any direction.Forward Jump Cancelled Item Toss:While facing->->(Any Direction) +OR->->(Any Direction)Retreating Jump Cancelled Item Toss:While facing->->(Any Direction) +OR->->(Any Direction)Note: moving fromtois very difficult. Consider binding a shoulder button to jump instead if using this method.If you're familiar with the Brawl technique of glide tossing, this mimics it very closely. You throw your projectile with a nice slide to either further follow your projectile up or to back off and make some distance. This is a very valuable technique to learn with R.O.B. since it ups his Gyro game.One thing to remember is that your item toss animation after throwing your item should keep R.O.B looking like he's standing. If he hunches over and looks like hes about to trip, you did a normal running item toss.I VERY HIGHLY recommend not using your Gyro while using this technique. Instead, use the boomerang item. The boomerang item will always come back to you and you never need to waste time shooting a gyro. This makes the cool down time between throws and overall time spent learning this technique substantially smaller. You can even juggle two of these things!You're not doing the A or C-stick movement to toss your projectile quickly enough. Try doing it sooner.Truth be told, R.O.B's forward jump cancelled item toss doesn't go that far, but you may be performing something I can only describe as a stutter step item toss. You may be just making the input of dashing forward and then throwing. Make sure you press the jump button in there.You're performing a normal running item toss. make sure that you're pressing jump.In previous versions of the game, you were able to perform Forward Tilts and Forward Smashes with items. Due to an engine change in the Version 1.06 update, these two techniques can no longer be performed. You can read about how they were performed below:History lesson time! Back in early 2008, people experimented and bound their C-sticks to Special instead of Smash. They noticed that whenever they pressed the C-stick in the opposite direction they were facing, they did this distinctive bounce backwards. The bounce was coined a wavebounce. As time went on, people started figuring out they could perform a wavebounce with very quick stick motions instead and that a wavebounce was in fact two techniques, Turn Around Specials and B-reversing, put together.Because of the very simple technique of Gyro Canceling, I think R.O.B. is the best character in the game to use to learn wavebouncing. You can quickly perform each part of a wavebounce with absolutely no cool down time. If you ever have a friend who needs to learn the technique, point them towards ROB to learn it quickly.Start slowly and in order learning these techniques. First, learn easy Gyro Cancelling. Use it to learn turn around specials and B-Reversing. Then, but it all together to learn Wavebouncing.You can practice these techniques on any stage, but I highly recommend creating a custom stage featuring a large spring to help you learn. Performing these techniques while bouncing up and down on a spring allows you to attempt each of them multiple times per leap in the air. It also means you don't ever have to input a jump and focus solely on using the B button and control stick.Do note that you can B-reverse and Wave Bounce all of R.O.B.'s specials, but I'm going to focus on how to do these with R.O.B.'s Down B since Gyro Canceling makes it so easy to learn.R.O.B. pulls out and puts away his Gyro almost instantlyWhile holdingIf you played Brawl competitively, you might have heard of Gyro Cancelling before. In Smash 4, it's much, much faster to do and has a lot more practical use.This is the easy way to perform a Gyro Cancel, just hold shield, and press Down B. R.O.B.'s arms will spaz out for a brief moment and he'll return to his normal falling animation. The trouble is finding the space to hold the shield button. I'd recommend holding it after a jump out of shield or during the middle of an aerial so you don't waste time doing an air dodge.This isn't of much use for now, but it will become very useful later on. Consider it the celery stick to the Ranch dressing of B-reversing and Wave Bouncing. You should be using the easy way of Gyro Cancelling while learning B-reversing and wavebouncing.This is pretty simple so if you run into any problems I can list here, contact me.Perform a Gyro Cancel without the prior need of holding the sheild buttonSimultaneously:This is much, much harder than doing it the "hold a shield button" way, but it means you don't have to find the time to hold the shield button down. Don't beat yourself up if you can't perform this easily, you'll grow into the timing.You need to input shield sooner.R.O.B does a special attack in the opposite direction you're facing. Your momentum is unaffected.While facingin the air,R.O.B. turns around in the air and uses his Gyro. This is a very useful technique, I can't tell you how many people I've caught with a turn around gyro as they approached while I was jumping away facing the other direction. It's also very effective with Gyro Cancelling as you can jump forward, be facing one way and have your opponent expecting a fair or bair, then gyro cancel and do the opposite.Yourmovement can be anywhere in the range fromto halfway between. In other words, about 3/4's of a quarter circle back motion. To do a Turn Around Neutral B, you'll need to move the stick just a small bit away from the center. Too much and you'll perform a Side BYou're performing a B-reverse, which reverses the direction your character faces and your momentum. This means that you're pressing down and right on the joystick after you've pressed B. Make sure you're holding the stick in that direction, then press B.R.O.B does a special attack in the opposite direction you're facing. Your momentum is reversed.While facingin the air,-quickly->R.O.B. reverses his momentum and direction with a B-Reversal. This is particularly useful when combined with Gyro Cancelling for coming down back onto the stage, something R.O.B. really struggles with.The timing between pressing Down B to the opposite direction you're facing is very strict. I would recommend rolling the stick from down to backwards the same way you might make an input in a traditional fighting game.Your not pressing b while the stick is down. Try pressing the B Button sooner.Try moving the stick from the down to the back position quicker.Rob reverses his momentum while staying in the same direction he was facing by using a combination of a Turnaround special and a B-reversal.While facingin the air,-quickly->When you combine the two above techniques, you get a powerful bounce in the opposite direction you're facing while still facing your original direction. This is great as a way to use your Gyro or laser with a nice defensive spacing boost or to vary your aerial movement alongside a Gyro cancel.A quick rolling motion fromto) is highly recommended to start off. You might find yourself easing into a simpler motion with practice.Make sure your doing a rolling motion from down back to forward. Also, make sure you're pressing B while your stick is still in a down back position.Your stick input is probably too slow.This might all seem like a lot to take in, but it's much less intimidating learning these techniques one at a time. Each section in this guide is generally organized so that the most important and easiest to learn techniques are towards the front of each section with the trickier and more situation techniques are in the back.I would start by practicing everything in the "General Useful Tech" section until its muscle memory and completely section nature. Then, start learning a little bit of the first few techniques in each sections, diving a little deeper and learning more wherever it interests you. Simply keep conscious of the Stage Specific Techniques section; there's nothing to practice there, it's just a matter of being aware in a game.If you have difficulty learning any specific technique, read throuhg the practice tips section and trouble shooting sections associated with it to see if those'll help. If they don't, feel free to ask for help in the Discussion section attached to this guide or send me a private message about your trouble.That's everything, hope some of this helps you folks comprehend some of the many things R.O.B. can do.If you have any recommendations on some technique to add to the guide or if you've attempted one of these techniques yourself and found yourself with an issue this guide didn't have troubleshooted, feel free to contact me. I'll likely add something in on it.Now get to training that R.O.B.