There are a lot of underrepresented characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In fact, if you’ve read many of our training guides, you might have noticed that the word “underrepresented” is kind of a synonym for “a bad character”. That’s not the case with Robin, though: of all the underrepresented fighters in Ultimate, Robin might just have the most potential. If you’d like to learn more about their metagame history, feel free to do so over at their corresponding wiki page. Otherwise, let’s jump right into today’s training!

Special thanks to ccactuss for contributing Robin’s training information!

Spirits

Robin benefits from a whole bunch of potential Spirit effects, so let’s go over some of those! If you’d rather not give your Robin FP a Spirit team, that’s fine too: in that case, go ahead and skip to one of our training sections. For now, keep in mind that we have a full guide on Spirits if you want to learn more about how they work in this game! Here are some specific Support skills that work well on Robin, then:

• Banned bonuses: Autoheal, Great Autoheal, and Armor Knight are all solid choices here — and the former two are especially strong on a Raid Boss-type Robin FP. When using Armor Knight, be sure to fill the third slot with Trade-Off Ability ↑ for maximum power!
• Tournament-legal bonuses: If the tournament you wish to enter follows our ban list, there are still plenty of options available to you! Weapon Attack ↑ boosts a majority of Robin’s moveset; if you plan to teach your FP to use its neutral special, you can also tack on Electric Attack ↑ (which buffs this move in addition to the Levin Sword). If you plan on steering clear of Thunder, then you can replace Electric Attack ↑ with a second Weapon Attack ↑. Some other options include Air Defense ↑, Critical-Health Stats ↑, Shield Damage ↑, and Move Speed ↑. The best possible option, however, is almost certainly Critical Healing & Metal. It occupies two slots and doesn’t cause Robin’s AI to self-destruct, making it an excellent choice. Pair it with Weapon Attack ↑ or Trade-Off Ability ↑ for the best results!
  
• Raid Boss bonuses: Each and every one of the Spirit effects listed above applies to a Raid Boss, too! A setup including Weapon Attack ↑, Move Speed ↑, and Shield Damage ↑ is particularly powerful; pair that with a full-fledged stat spread and you’ll have a fearsome contender on your hands!

Regarding stat distribution, there’s no need to dive to deep into the particulars of which exact setup works best. A simple balanced spread (2100 / 2100) will serve Robin well enough, so go with that one and make any slight investment changes you see fit. As always, make sure the FP’s Spirit-type is Neutral before you start its training routine!

Competitive Training

There’s an important note here: Robin’s AI can’t detect if its Levin Sword is active or not. Regardless, once the sword loses its charge, it recovers quickly enough to make moves involving it worth using. Not to mention that Robin often has trouble securing a KO without smash attacks! Here’s what this fighter’s optimal moveset looks like:

• Down smash is Robin’s best move, full stop. It KOs at about 100%, breaks parries, and covers both sides. When you’re up close to your FP, you should use this move about 50% of the time. It should also be used against your FP when it tries to perform a get-up roll from the ledge.
• Forward tilt, down tilt, and grabs are all viable up close. Of these, you’ll want to use forward tilt most often. It doesn’t use the Levin Sword, which makes it more consistent. Keep your usage of down tilt and grabs comparatively low, but be sure to mix them in every so often.
• Shoot off an Arcfire at mid-range. This move does include a few hard-coded combos, but they won’t activate until your FP reaches Level 43. Fortunately, all you have to do is make sure your amiibo uses Arcfire at all. That ought to be easy enough!
• From a distance, charge Thunder into Elthunder (the second version of the move). When you think the projectile will connect, fire it! If possible, you should try your best to keep Elthunder charged at all times.
• Up smash and up air are your go-to anti-airs. You should use both of these moves about equally as often as each other. For landing, your best move is forward air, but you can occasionally go for a down air instead.

With Robin, you’re better off training the AI to stay on-stage and wait at the ledge instead of going off it to edgeguard. Here’s a helpful tip: Robin’s AI won’t leave the ledge unless its up special has a charge remaining. That being said, it will leave the stage if Elwind only has one charge remaining, so there’s a small possibility that it self-destructs. Be careful! Avoid up tilt at all costs; it freezes Robin’s AI for a moment after use, which leaves it highly vulnerable.

Raid Boss Training

Robin’s optimal training is slightly different if you’re raising them as a Raid Boss. In comparison, a Raid Boss Robin FP should use more of its aerial moves, plus it should refrain from going off-stage to edgeguard at all costs. Ultimate’s AI has its recovery patterns hard-coded; this means it will recover back to the stage at the exact same angle every time. Human players will have no trouble predicting this and striking with a meteor smash, potentially ending the stock far too soon. Here’s a complete list of every move you should teach to your FP:

• Your main neutral tools include Arcfire, grab, and forward tilt. Arcfire can combo into an aerial or Nosferatu, while down throw combos into an up tilt or neutral air at low- and mid-percents, respectively. Be sure to mix in some back throws for KOs!
• Robin should also use lots of aerial moves, including neutral air, forward air, and back air. Each of these (bar neutral aerial) is incredibly strong, specifically with the Levin Sword active. As a reminder, you have to use your air attacks while you’re falling — if you use them while rising, the FP will only detect that you made a jump input. Weird, right?
• Use a combination of up tilt and up air for juggling. When your FP is launched off-stage, wait at the ledge and then intercept its recovery with a well-timed down smash.

You know how Robin drops their tomes and Levin Sword as items after they wear out? It’s unfortunately very difficult (if not flat-out impossible) to teach an FP to pick up the item afterward. On some occasions it might happen, but it’s certainly not something to rely on. We don’t recommend going out of your way to teach your Robin FP to use its dropped items offensively; it’s just too inconsistent to be worth the effort.

Wrap-Up

Thanks so much for reading! Robin’s definitely got lots of potential left to uncover, so if you have a Robin amiibo sitting around that needs to be trained, you should spend an hour or so to level it up! You can join our Discord community for information on all the latest tournaments, and if you’d like to learn how to enter those tournaments, you can check out our tour entry guide. We’ve also got a Patreon page plus a donation box to anyone who wants to help support the site. Until next time — happy training!

If you would like to read more amiibo training guides, please follow this link.

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