Super Smash Bros. Ultimate recently took the next step with the Version 7.0.0 update. Most people are focused on the new goodies, including Byleth as a playable fighter, but there’s more going on under the hood. The new update also brought some significant character balance changes, and we’ve got the patch notes. Sakurai and his team are always tweaking things to try to make the game just a little bit better, and they made quite a few adjustments this time. Around ten characters received major buffs while three others were nerfed. Dozens of others saw minor tweaks, especially to their shields.

If you’re a fan of Samus, Dark Samus, Sheik, Zelda, Dr. Mario, Young Link, Toon Link, Cloud, Ryu, and Ken, good news! They just got better thanks to their recent buffs. If you play Palutena, Joker, or Zero Suit Samus, you may instead find the game harder due to the latest nerfs. You can check out a summary of the biggest changes from the patch notes below!

Smash Ultimate 7.0 patch notes

Major buffs

Samus / Dark Samus

Dash Attack – Increased the power of the beginning of the attack.

Up Smash Attack – Extended launch distance.

Down Smash Attack – Extended launch distance.

Up Throw – Extended launch distance.

Increased power of midair grab.

Increased the amount of time hit detection lasts for midair grab.

Increased shield size.

Made the right arm briefly invincible after activating shield. (Dark Samus only)

Sheik

Down Smash Attack – Increased attack speed. Made it easier to hit multiple times.

Grab – Increased grab range of stationary grab.

Neutral Special – Reduced vulnerability when landing after using the move in the air.

Side Special – Reduced vulnerability after using the move on the ground and in the air. Increased the amount of time hit detection lasts for the explosion. The explosion will no longer get negated.

Up Special – Extended launch distance for the explosion.

Other – Increased shield size.

Zelda

Side Tilt Attack – Increased power. Extended launch distance.

Neutral Air Attack – Reduced vulnerability when landing after using the move. Made it easier to hit multiple times.

Up Air Attack – Increased attack range. Increased the amount of time hit detection lasts. Decreased power for the latter half of the time hit detection lasts. Extended launch distance when hit in the high-damage range.

Side Special – Increased the high-damage range. Increased the amount of time hit detection lasts.

Down Special – Increased power. Extended launch distance.

Other – Increased shield size.

Dr. Mario

Side Tilt Attack – Increased power. Extended launch distance.

Down Tilt Attack – Increased the amount of time opponents will be in the damage animation. Shortened launch distance.

Neutral Air Attack – Increased the power of the attack in the high-damage range. Extended launch distance when hit in the high-damage range.

Down Air Attack – Increased the amount of time hit detection lasts.

Up Special – Extended launch distance when hit in the high-damage range.

Young Link

Neutral Attack 1 – Increased attack speed.

Up Smash Attack – Extended launch distance.

Up Air Attack – Extended launch distance.

Forward Throw – Extended launch distance.

Increased attack speed for midair grab.

Adjusted launch angle for midair grab.

Increased the amount of time opponents will be in the damage animation.

Increased shield size.

Toon Link

Dash Attack – Reduced vulnerability

Down Smash Attack – Extended launch distance

Back Air Attack – Increased attack speed

Down Air Attack – Increased the power of the attack in the low-damage range. Extended launch distance when hit in the low-damage range.

Increased the amount of time hit detection lasts for midair grab.

Cloud

Dash Attack – Extended launch distance when hit in the high-damage range.

Side Smash Attack – Made it easier to hit multiple times.

Up Smash Attack – Extended launch distance when hit with the sword tip. Increased attack speed.

Up Special – Increased the speed of the edge-grab timing.

Down Special – Increased the speed at which the gauge fills up with Limit Charge.

Increased shield size.

Ryu

Down Tilt Attack (Heavy) – Adjusted launch angle.

Down Smash Attack – Now possible on hit to cancel the attack animation into a special move. Reduced the power against shields.

Neutral Special – Increased the opponent’s downtime when shielding against Hadoken. Made it easier for Shakunetsu Hadoken to hit multiple times.

Side Special – Made the pivoting leg invincible while rotating when used on the ground. Increased power. Extended launch distance when hit in the high-damage range.

Increased shield size.

Ken

Down Tilt Attack (Heavy) – Adjusted launch angle.

Down Smash Attack – Now possible on hit to cancel the attack animation into a special move. Reduced the power against shields.

Side Special – Made the pivoting leg invincible while rotating when used on the ground. Made it easier to hit multiple times.

Increased shield size

Nerfs

Palutena

Up Tilt Attack – Increased power of the last attack. Extended launch distance for the last attack.

Down Smash Attack – Extended launch distance when hit in the high-damage range.

Neutral Air Attack – Shortened launch distance. Reduced the range of the last attack against opponents in the air.

Downward Throw – Extended launch distance.

Increased shield size

Joker

Neutral Special – Reduced the range when shooting downward in the air.

Reduced the amount of time Arsene is summoned for when receiving damage while Arsene is summoned in battles with two or fewer opponents.

Zero Suit Samus

Down Special – Shortened the time opponents are buried when stomped on.

Increased shield size

That about does it for all the major buffs and nerfs, but there were plenty of other small changes. You can check out the full patch notes on the official Nintendo website by clicking the source link below! Many thanks to Popi (the ” Via” link below) for the handy graphic highlighting the most important buffs and nerfs from the patch notes.

[Source] [Via]