Mega Man is another fighter who’s had an interesting history as a Figure Player. To start, he was arguably the worst FP in Super Smash Bros. 4. His AI couldn’t do anything properly: it used projectiles at close range, refused to camp, and often failed to score KOs. Mega Man struggles with many of the same issues in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but he’s actually considered mid-tier in this game by virtue of his melee attacks alone! If you’d like to learn more about Mega Man’s metagame history, feel free to read his corresponding wiki page. Otherwise, let’s jump right into today’s training!
Special thanks to Riparo for contributing Mega Man’s training information!
Spirits
It’s time to talk Spirits! Which means – if you’ve read our guides before, you know this – it’s time for the same tired old rant on making sure your Figure Player is Level 1 when it inherits its Spirit team. We definitely don’t need to talk about how badly Spirits shuffle training data, and we definitely don’t need to link our full Spirits guide in case you want to learn more. And this definitely isn’t a complete list of Mega Man’s best Spirit builds:
- Banned bonuses: As a heavyweight fighter, Mega Man greatly benefits from the Super Armor Support Spirit. You can obtain it via the summon-exclusive Gold Mario Spirit! You could also try out Armor Knight, which works incredibly well when paired with Trade-Off Ability ↑. Feel free to pick your favorite of the two!
- Tournament-legal bonuses: Much of Mega Man’s moveset involves weapons, so naturally, Weapon Attack ↑ is the perfect fit! You can use this bonus either once or twice to tack on additional power. You could also add Air Defense ↑, Critical-Health Stats ↑, Critical Immunity, or Critical Healing & Metal.
- Raid Boss bonuses: Each of the Spirit builds listed above works well for a Raid Boss, but if you like, you can use a setup including Move Speed ↑, Weapon Attack ↑, and Air Defense ↑ instead. Mega Man really benefits from that extra mobility!
Quick note here: don’t use Shooting Attack ↑, because an optimal Mega Man FP doesn’t really use its shooting attacks. Stick to the recommendations we’ve listed here and you should be good to go! In terms of stat points, don’t pay them too much mind. Go with a balanced setup (2100 / 2100) and – once again – you should be good to go. Make sure your FP’s Spirit type is Neutral before you begin its training routine!
Competitive Training
Mega Man’s kind of a sad character – given that he can’t use most of his projectiles – but somehow, he winds up working well enough with just his melee attacks. If you’re a Mega Man main, this training strategy is going to feel wrong, but trust us — the super fighting robot only achieves his true potential when taught to ignore most of his projectiles. If you’d like to learn more about amiibo training before you start, check out our general guide — otherwise, here’s a full list of every move you should teach to your FP:
- Down tilt and dash attack are your best approach options. They’re both moving hitboxes, plus dash attack strikes multiple times! Use both of these moves sparingly up close, and make sure you give Mega Man’s kill moves a slightly higher priority during your FP’s training sessions.
- Up smash is a powerful multi-hit attack that works great for catching landings! Use this anytime your FP is above you, and then follow up with some up air juggling. Up tilt is Mega Man’s premier grounded KO option — use it frequently!
- Forward smash and down smash serve as secondary kill moves; as such, they shouldn’t be prioritized over up smash and up tilt. Mix in just a little bit of each.
- Mega Man gets a ton of mileage out of grabs, which help him rack up damage fast. He can pull off a down throw to forward air string or an up throw to up air string, so be sure to teach him to do both!
- Generally speaking, this character’s AI isn’t very good with its projectiles — but Crash Bomber is the exception. Use it from a great distance so that your FP doesn’t start firing it when standing directly next to the opponent.
- You’re all clear to go off-stage and edgeguard as Mega Man! Your best options are forward air and back air. Ledge-dropped back airs, in particular, are excellent finishers. They hit multiple times, so they’ll often beat out an opponent’s air dodge.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of ways in which training Mega Man can go wrong. An optimized FP shouldn’t use too much of its neutral special, down special, neutral attack, forward tilt, or neutral air moves. This fighter’s AI will naturally mix in its pellets no matter how often you avoid them, but if it shoots you too many times you’ll want to quit the match and restart. We don’t want Mega Man spamming pellets at later levels!
Raid Boss Training
Bad news: Mega Man’s a pretty sad Raid Boss, too. He’s got to stay far, far away from his projectiles to have any kind of a chance. He’s also got to go off-stage to stand a chance against skilled human players, but we’ll talk more about that in just a moment. For now, remember to keep taunting and charged smash attacks to an absolute minimum, and teach your FP each of the following moves as it levels up:
- Your neutral tools – other than occasional grabs – are mostly going to be aerial moves. Mix in forward air, back air, up air, and some light neutral air usage. Then there’s down tilt, which you can use from a distance to approach.
- When your FP is launched upward, attack it with a mixture of up smash and up air. Of these two moves, you’re going to want to give a bit more focus to up smash. Its electrifying properties make it really strong!
- Up tilt, forward smash, and down smash can all be used for grounded KOs. When using your smash attacks, always use them uncharged. If you charge them up, your FP has a chance of overcharging all of its smash attacks and leaving itself vulnerable to incoming danger.
- You’re welcome to go off-stage to edgeguard, and when you do, attack with forward air or back air depending on the direction you’re facing. Do not use down air — Mega Man’s AI is prone to spamming it.
Kind of crazy, right? It’s safe to say that an optimal Mega Man FP – regardless of whether it’s trained for competitive or as a Raid Boss – doesn’t really act like Mega Man. Normally, you’d see players set up complex projectile traps, but that’s completely impossible here; instead, you’re left with a melee fighter that works surprisingly well. Your Raid Boss will probably catch anybody who fights it off-guard, too!
Wrap-Up
Mega Man’s training routine is definitely a bit disappointing. We’d really like it if the AI could properly use its projectiles, but we have to work with what we can get. We hope this guide helps you start off strong, though! As always, please check out our Discord server, our Patreon, and our donation box if you have a moment. At any rate, thanks so much for reading! Until next time — happy training!
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