Fans of the Banjo-Kazooie series are in for a real treat: there’s finally some new Banjo & Kazooie merchandise, and it comes in the form of a (surprisingly well-made) amiibo figure. Here’s some even better news, then — Banjo & Kazooie’s Figure Player is solid. Not necessarily top-tier, but solid nonetheless. It does have one particularly disappointing AI quirk – that being it can’t tell when it’s out of Wonderwing uses. Before we continue, we have even more information on Banjo & Kazooie – including their strengths, weaknesses, matchups, and tournament representation – and you can find all of that over at their corresponding wiki page. Otherwise, let’s jump right into today’s training!
Special thanks to MiDe for contributing Banjo & Kazooie’s training information!
Spirits
If you’re new to amiibo training and are starting out with Banjo & Kazooie, congratulations — you’ve made a good decision! If you want to equip it with a Spirit team, then we’ve got you covered. If possible, you should finalize your FP’s Spirit build before you start training it, as Spirits actually change an FP’s training data when used. If you’d like more information on how Spirits work in this game, you can read our detailed guide! In the meantime, here are some optimal setups you can use on Banjo & Kazooie:
- Banned bonuses: Banjo & Kazooie are classified as a heavyweight fighter, so they can make good use of the three-slot Super Armor bonus. As its name might imply, it gives its user universal super armor! Said armor can be broken through, but that only happens when the user reaches a high damage percentage. Another option would be Armor Knight plus Trade-Off Ability ↑ — this is one of the strongest bonus combinations in the entire game.
- Tournament-legal bonuses: Physical Attack ↑ buffs pretty much everything Banjo’s got, and you can load up with two Physical Attack ↑ skills for tons of extra power. Trade-Off Ability ↑ (on its own, without Armor Knight) works well if your FP uses a bit of Wonderwing, and then Air Defense ↑ and Critical Immunity can be considered as secondary options.
- Raid Boss bonuses: Each of the Spirit effects above could apply well to a Raid Boss! Add Great Autoheal, Instadrop, Move Speed ↑, and Landing Lag ↓ to your list of options to consider, too.
In terms of stats, don’t worry about the numbers too much. A balanced spread (2100 / 2100) works just fine for this character. Lastly, make sure your FP’s Spirit-type is Neutral. That way it won’t lose Spirit-type matchups if it happens to fight an opponent with Spirits of its own.
Competitive Training
This section is all about competitive training, so if you’re looking to raise your Banjo & Kazooie amiibo to perform well in tournaments, read on! If you’d rather train it up as a Raid Boss, scroll down just a little farther, where you’ll find a dedicated section on just that. Now then, when training Banjo & Kazooie, your best movement option is walking. No need to jump, dash, or roll — keep away from these three maneuvers, and your FP will perform even better against AI opponents. It’s also important to note that Banjo & Kazooie should remain on-stage at all times, as their recovery moves aren’t reliable enough to warrant edgeguarding off-stage. Here’s what an optimal Banjo & Kazooie FP looks like:
- Forward smash is the duo’s best attack. For this move, Banjo slams Kazooie on the ground and into nearby opponents. This should be your go-to finisher and one of your go-to damage rackers. It’s excellent!
- Down tilt’s launch angle is highly favorable, especially when used at the ledge. At close range, you can mix in some forward tilt in addition to the aforementioned forward smash.
- Up smash strikes multiple times and boasts above-average launching power. Use it to intercept your FP’s landing; if it isn’t KO’d, you can then follow up with a bunch of consecutive up airs.
- From a distance, you can use a dash attack to approach. It’s a roll-type move that actually hits surprisingly hard!
- At later levels, your FP will launch you into the air. As you approach the ground, you can use a neutral air (or, more rarely, a down air) to secure a safe landing. Neutral air can drag opponents down with you, and that can then combo into a forward or down tilt.
- Mix in some grabs, too. Banjo’s back throw is quite strong, and at lower percentages, his down throw can combo into one of his aerials. You don’t actually have to use said aerials afterward, though; the combos are hard-coded by the time the FP reaches Level 43.
To reiterate what we covered earlier, don’t go off-stage. Banjo & Kazooie are much better off walking up to the edge and intercepting their opponent with a mixture of down tilt, forward smash, and grabs. More rarely, you can use a limited amount of back air and forward air while landing, but you only need to use these moves a total of two or three times during all of the matches you play. Don’t use any special moves during training; by the time the FP reaches its maximum level, the AI will know when to use them even if you didn’t teach it to. This includes Wonderwing!
Raid Boss Training
In terms of moves to use, Banjo & Kazooie’s optimal Raid Boss moveset isn’t too different from his optimal competitive training strategy, but we’ve still got the full run-down here! Since you’ll be training your FP to battle human opponents, you can dash and jump as often as you like. Be aggressive, and try to use as many attacks as possible. When your FP is at its early levels, purposefully get hit by attacks you want it to use (and this goes for both competitive and Raid Boss training). You should still keep Banjo & Kazooie on-stage at all times, though, as human players will be able to take advantage of its predictable recovery habits. Here’s a separate move list of attacks you should teach a Raid Boss Banjo & Kazooie amiibo to use:
- Forward tilt, down tilt, and grabs at close range. Down tilt works well when used at the ledge, and Banjo’s up throw can combo into two up airs and then a forward air. That combo deals a lot of damage!
- Up tilt is a solid anti-air move, and its usage is essentially the same as in competitive: link up tilt into a string of up airs or follow up with an up smash.
- Neutral air, forward air, and back air should all be used for air-to-air combat. Neutral air, in particular, is excellent at securing landings; it creates the opportunity for dragdown combos that the AI will automatically learn at later levels.
- Banjo & Kazooie need a sprinkle of forward smash and down smash to consistently KO their opponents. Generally speaking, you’ll want to use more tilts and aerials than you do smash attacks.
- Wonderwing comes in clutch against AI opponents every so often, and the same is true against human players. Use Wonderwing extremely infrequently — we’re talking once per stock at most.
Other moves, including Egg Firing, Rear Egg, and Banjo’s other throws can be mixed in as well. Do note, though, that Banjo’s AI has something of a “King K. Rool situation” regarding its down throw. In other words, it’ll try to attack the buried opponent with a move that won’t connect in time, and it’ll leave itself vulnerable instead. You’re welcome to use Banjo’s forward and back throws in addition to his up throw, but be careful when teaching him to use his down throw. It’s risky! One last note — don’t use any down airs, as that’s essentially a free punish for human opponents.
Wrap-Up
Thanks so much for reading! If you’d like to enter your newly-trained Banjo & Kazooie amiibo into a competitive tournament – or if you just want to test it out in a Battle Arena – then feel free to join our Discord server, where you can do both of those things! Most of our tournaments require file submissions, and fortunately, we’ve got a guide available on how to do that. We also appreciate donations if you like what you read today, plus we also have a Patreon that helps support the site! Until next time — happy training!
If you would like to read more amiibo training guides, please follow this link.
