When it comes to amiibo training, Link has truly stood the test of time. He’s been a great Figure Player ever since the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U days in 2014, as a matter of fact! It’s easy to see why, too: his amiibo figures are common and easy to find, he’s a popular and well-liked gaming icon, and he’s a powerful and versatile fighter in competitive tournaments. Without further ado, let’s jump right into today’s training!

Spirits

As mentioned earlier, Link’s amiibo figures are quite common — which means many new trainers start out with this character. If that’s the case for you too, then you might want to check out our full-fledged Spirits guide before you continue. When you’ve finished reading it, remember to come back and read up on Link’s best Spirit builds!

• Banned bonuses: The absolute best Spirit setup you can run on Link is Armor Knight plus Move Speed ↑. With this build, your amiibo will enjoy a 1.15x attack boost plus an incredible 1.8x defense boost! Armor Knight does incur a slight speed penalty, and that’s where Move Speed ↑ comes in — it patches up that penalty and restores Link’s speed to its normal value.
• Tournament-legal bonuses: Weapon Attack ↑ is Link’s best friend! Almost all of his attacks involve his sword, and they’ll each be boosted by 1.1x — that adds up over time! You can even use two Weapon Attack ↑ Spirits for extra power. Air Defense ↑ is another great choice that decreases the damage Link takes while airborne. It’s a great way to counter juggling! Critical-Health Stats ↑, Trade-Off Ability ↑, Critical Healing & Metal, Toss & Meteor, and the two-slot Weapon Attack & Move Speed ↑ Spirit effect are all worth considering here too.
• Raid Boss bonuses: Training a Raid Boss? You’re in luck — we’ve made a separate Link amiibo training guide down below! First, though, you’ll need some Spirits. Many of the ones mentioned above work great! Super Armor and Great Autoheal are excellent options too, though they might make your Link amiibo a bit too strong for your friends. If you’d rather go with a more fair setup, try a Spirit loadout including Weapon Attack ↑, Air Defense ↑, and Move Speed ↑.

There’s no best stat spread for any given Figure Player, and Link is no exception. A nice, even 2100 / 2100 in both Attack and Defense works just fine here! It’s okay if you can’t get the numbers exact — as long as they’re within that range, you’re good to go. Make sure your FP’s Spirit type is Neutral before you start training it!

Competitive Training

Link’s AI can’t use all of its projectiles to their fullest extent. It can use its Boomerang quite well, though, so we’re forming a game plan that revolves around that fact. Generally speaking, Link wants to rack on damage with Boomerang and then close in to attack with a forward smash or jab. As per our general training guide, make sure you avoid dashing at all costs! Feel free to check out that link if you want to know why. Let’s go into more detail real quick:

• Forward smash is Link’s most important move. It strikes twice, and each hit deals great damage! Try your best to hit with both parts of the attack. Three-hit jab attacks are excellent up close — they keep the opponent away so that Link can then follow up with a projectile. Forward tilt is okay once in a blue moon, but it’s rather outclassed by the other two moves mentioned here.
• Boomerang is the projectile in question! Toss one toward your amiibo at mid-range to rack on some extra damage. When your FP eventually approaches you, you can switch to a mix of forward smash, jab, and forward tilt.
• You’ll also want your Link amiibo to use its forward air, back air, and neutral air as landing options (in descending order of priority). To accomplish this, you’ll need to use these attacks off the respawn platform after you’re KO’d or play on Battlefield and use them as you drop off a platform. This will become easier to do as your amiibo levels up, so don’t worry!
• Link’s forward air is excellent off-stage! During your training, you’ll no doubt knock your amiibo off-stage with a forward smash or forward tilt. When that happens, drop off the stage and smack it with a forward air! Ledge-dropped back airs work really well here too.

When your amiibo reaches Level 15 (give or take), you’ll want to start letting it hit you with the attacks listed above. That’ll increase its attack frequency and stop it from becoming overly defensive. As always, you’ll want to keep running and jumping to a minimum while making sure to incorporate a little bit of your own shielding! Any move we didn’t mention here isn’t necessary for a competitive Link amiibo — and a few of them (we’re looking at you, Remote Bomb) might actually slow him down. Special thanks to GamerJohn for contributing Link’s training information!

Raid Boss Training

Training a Raid Boss is much different than raising an amiibo for tournaments. For one, you’re welcome to run and jump as often as you’d like! You’ll want to be careful with edgeguarding, though — generally speaking, human players are much better at it than other amiibo are. Link’s recovery isn’t so great, so he’s left quite vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. Let’s discuss every move that makes this character tick, then:

• Forward tilt and three-hit jabs are viable for close combat! Neither move really leads into any follow-ups, but they’re good for racking on damage — especially with Spirits equipped. Forward smash works too, but only once in a blue moon.
• Up tilt, up air, and a bit of up smash should be used to juggle airborne opponents. Don’t go too crazy with up smash, as Link might learn to rely on it too heavily even against grounded enemies.
• At mid-range, fire off a Boomerang or two for good measure. You can change its angle, too! It’s also great for harassing opponents off-stage. The AI occasionally combos a Boomerang into an arrow and then an aerial move, which is cool to see!
• Neutral air is Link’s favorite aerial move! It’s infamous for its high priority, and it beats out a surprising number of incoming projectiles. Use it after a short hop and to land! Forward air works best above-stage to score KOs, while back air can initiate neat dragdown combos.
• Mix in some grabs as well! Don’t worry about combos, either — just toss your amiibo towards the nearest ledge. Nice and simple!

Just like in the competitive section, you’ll want to avoid using arrows and bombs. Figure Players aren’t very good with items — they often get distracted by items on the ground, and when they do pick them up they just toss them around aimlessly. If your Link amiibo does fire off a Remote Bomb, do your best to avoid its blast radius. Even with the minimum possible down special value, Link’s AI will still pull out bombs every once in a while. Try to minimize the number of times they hit you!

Wrap-Up

Link is one of the most popular Figure Players for a reason: his strength, utility, and versatility are nearly unrivaled. If you still have amiibo training questions even after reading this guide, feel free to drop by our Discord server. We’ll be happy to help you out! You can also check out our tournament startup guide if you’re looking to start competing. Thanks so much for reading! Make sure to check out the rest of our character guides while you’re here.

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