Characters have four base stats- Power, Speed, Constitution, Recovery- as well as three attack stats- Ground, Aerial, and Grapple- all of which range from 1 to 10, and are based on the characters’ in-game abilities. Each character also has four Special Attacks, which have a unique effect and damage for each character. Most characters will be balanced on a basis of a set number of points to be distributed between all attributes- some break that rule, but usually have another handicap weighing them down anyway.
Now to explain each of the eight stats: Power, in conjunction with any of the selected attack stats, determines how much damage a character can dish out. A low power stat does not mean a character is necessarily weak, because a high attack stat can counter that; in just the same way, a low attack stat can counter a high power stat. Damage in the Smash Bros. games is determined by a percentage level (%). As the % gets higher and higher, the player is knocked farther and farther away with each subsequent attack. 100% is not a maximum; damage will keep rising past that. The player dies when he/she is knocked clear off of the screen. More on this in later stats.
Speed is used for a lot of things. First, it determines your relative running speed. Certain super-fast characters will be able to traverse two rooms during one phase. A very slow character might even take a whole phase just to travel one section of a room. Second, it factors in with the Ground Attack stat in determining the chance to hit an opponent. Speed will also, along with the Recovery stat, determine how a character will fare in both employing and against stealth tactics. One character, of course, will be naturally stealthy without concern to the two stats. Finally, it also factors in with Constitution in determining the ability to avoid enemy attacks.
Constitution is the stat that determines, all at once, the size and weight of your character’s body. This will become a factor in the success of Grapple Attacks, where body mass is very important. It has many other uses as well: Characters with a low Constitution will probably find it easy to avoid attacks due to their small size. Because of their low weight, they will fall slower and be less likely to die in a bottomless pit (GASP!). On the flip side, however, they will be smacked around very easily by enemy attacks. As you might expect from a character with a higher Constitution stat, he/she will be relatively easy to hit, and will fall faster, but will also be able to withstand more damage than a lighter character. Characters with a Constitution of 4 will usually be KO’d if they are hit after reaching 100%. For each point higher or lower, add or subtract 10%- you have the damage level at which your character will be KO’d if they are hit. So while a 10-Constitution character can reach 160% before he/she is KO’d, for a 1-Constitution character it will take only a hit after 70%.
The Recovery stat is basically another word for “Jump”- it is derived from the term “recover,” which in Smash Bros. means to return to the stage after being knocked off through the use of mid-air jumps or other aerial techniques. It determines the height that a character can jump, and in that affects several other attributes. First off, it affects the accuracy of Aerial Attacks. Additionally, with the Constitution stat, it factors into an attempt to escape from a bottomless pit. With the Speed stat, it determines ability to be stealthy. Finally, there are also a few vertical “rooms” inside the maze. A character with a low Recovery stat might take twice as long to travel up (but not down) one of these rooms than one with a higher Recovery stat. This can be crucial in escape or chase tactics. A fast character might be caught in a vertical room because of a low Recovery, while a slower one with a high recovery can use the room to escape easily.
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