Mega Man is another fighter who’s had an interesting history in the world of competitive amiibo training. To start, he was the single worst Figure Player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. 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 similar 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 check his corresponding wiki page. Otherwise, let’s jump right into today’s training!
Spirits
It’s time to talk Spirits! If you’ve read our guides before, you know what’s coming next: the same tired old rant on how your Figure Player has to be 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.
- Banned bonuses: As a heavyweight fighter, Mega Man strongly benefits from Armor Knight plus either Move Speed ↑ or Trade-Off Ability ↑. Move Speed ↑ grants a flat move speed bonus, while Trade-Off Ability ↑ grants buffs to attack, defense, and speed — but it comes with the drawback of starting each stock with 30%. If you’d rather not take that risk, go with Move Speed ↑ as your third slot instead.
- Tournament-legal bonuses: Believe it or not, Physical Attack ↑ is the most cost-efficient stat booster you can use on Mega Man. It buffs his up tilt, down tilt, and dash attack, which we’ll be using in the competitive training section. You can stack up two Physical Attack ↑ bonuses, if you like! From there, you can fill the third slot with Toss & Meteor, Air Defense ↑, Critical-Health Stats ↑, or Critical Immunity. Critical Healing & Metal works too!
- Raid Boss bonuses: You could always go with the typical Super Armor or Great Autoheal — but with either of these bonuses equipped, your Raid Boss might be too tough to beat! A more balanced setup is any combination of Weapon Attack ↑, Shooting Attack ↑, Air Defense ↑, and Move Speed ↑. Pick three!
As far as stat distributions go, they don’t matter too much. We usually slap a balanced spread on (2100 / 2100) and leave it at that, though you’re free to invest further into attack or defense however you see fit. As long as your FP’s Spirit type is Neutral before you begin its training, you’re good to go!
Competitive Training
We’ve got a quick bullet-point list below that includes each and every move a tournament-ready Mega Man amiibo should have in its arsenal. If you’re an experienced amiibo trainer, you’re welcome to read the list and then bow out — otherwise, we’ll also include detailed explanations of each attack afterward. Let’s break it down!
- Down smash, up tilt, and grab at close range
- Dash attack, forward smash, and down tilt at mid-range
- Up air and up smash to juggle opponents
- Optionally, a tiny bit of Crash Bomber and Leaf Shield
- Forward air and back air off-stage
If you’re new to amiibo training, welcome! Let’s quickly recap some basic training concepts just in case: never run, stay grounded unless you’re juggling, and remember to balance shielding your FP’s attacks and letting yourself get hit by them. For more information, you can check out our general training guide and then come back to this one! When you’re ready to start training, scan in your Mega Man amiibo and then choose to play as Mega Man yourself.
Up close, your main moves are down smash and up tilt. They’re not just good damage-rackers — they’re great at scoring KOs, too. Both of these moves are equally important to Mega Man’s success, but up tilt is slightly more important and thus should see slightly more use. Mega Man’s grab game is fantastic as well — by the time he reaches Level 50, he’ll know to link a down throw into an aerial move to rack on damage. You can also use a back throw at the ledge for a quick KO at high percentages.
When you’re a few steps away from your FP, you’ll want to focus on dash attack, forward smash, and down tilt. Dash attack carries the highest priority here, being a multi-hit move with a solid damage output. Forward smash is easily parried, but packs quite the punch when it does connect. Down tilt is fast and launches the opponent at a diagonal upward angle, which is great at setting up juggling combos!
Mega Man’s up air and up smash are great for catching landings. Whenever your FP is above you, you should be using both of these moves to intercept its landing over and over again. It’s important to note that up smash can hit enemies standing above Mega Man on Battlefield’s platforms — this comes in handy in tournaments that use Battlefield-form stages.
Crash Bomber and Leaf Shield are completely optional — if you do opt to use them, you should only use them once or twice each during your entire training session. When you’re on the ground, you should definitely be prioritizing the moves listed above (down smash, up tilt, dash attack, forward smash, down tilt, and the like).
Thanks to his good recovery, Mega Man can afford to edgeguard opponents off-stage with his forward and back airs. Launch your FP off-stage with a dash attack, and then chase it down and smack it with a forward air. Recover to the ledge and then hang off it, and you can perform a dropdown back air to finish off your FP! Ledge-drop back airs are excellent finishers, and you’ll want to make sure your FP knows to do this. For those familiar with amiibo training values, you’ll want your Mega Man to have a high Cliffer value.
Unfortunately, there are a few ways in which training Mega Man can go wrong. These problems lie in his jab, forward tilt, and neutral air attacks, which all shoot little pellets. These pellet moves aren’t very good in the world of competitive amiibo training; the AI doesn’t use them properly and often winds up leaving itself vulnerable. Stick to his melee moves and you’ll be good to go! Special thanks to SandSSF2 for contributing Mega Man’s training information.
Raid Boss Training
Bad news: Mega Man isn’t the strongest Raid Boss out there. He’s definitely on the weaker end of them, to be honest, but he’s still workable! Since you’re training a Raid Boss, you’re free to dash and jump around as you like. That being said, quite a few moves have a high chance of ruining a Raid Boss Mega Man, so there’s not as much room for experimentation with this character. Let’s break down our recommendations!
- From a distance, stand completely still and fire off Metal Blades. You can aim the projectile directly at your FP or aim it downward and pick it up — be sure to do both. You can also mix in a bit of neutral air from a distance as long as you don’t connect the close hitbox of the move.
- It’s important to keep your distance from your FP. More specifically, never approach it — let it approach you. When your FP starts getting close and is at mid-range, you can switch from Metal Blades and neutral airs to down tilt and grab. Down throw links into forward air, up throw links into up air, and back throw just KOs at high percentages.
- You’ll also want to use a fair number of forward and back air attacks when your FP is close by. They’re also your edgeguarding options off-stage. When your FP is above you, remember to juggle it with up air and up smash!
- If your FP is right next to you, hit it with a powerful up tilt. Make sure you only use this move when he’s right in front of you.
As you can see, Mega Man’s Raid Boss training is quite involved! Generally, you’ll want to shield a lot, play defensively, and from a distance. If your FP hits your shield and you don’t parry, try to perform a shield grab. If a grab won’t reach, go for a forward air, back air, or up smash out of shield instead. Keep away from dash attack, jab, forward tilt, and grounded Leaf Shield. Any move not mentioned here is okay, but probably not worth going out of your way to teach.
Wrap-Up
Thanks so much for reading! If any of the explanations above confused you or don’t make sense, remember to read our general training guide. You can also join our Discord server if you have a specific question you’d like to ask! At any rate, we hope this guide helps you get your Mega Man amiibo off the ground. Until next time — happy training!
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