Samus (Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U)

This article is about Samus's appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. For other uses, see Samus Aran.

Samus (サムス, Samus) is a starter character and returning veteran in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. She is one of the "Original 12" characters that have appeared in every Smash Bros. installment. While her moveset has been kept pretty much the same, a notable difference is that she no longer can transform into Zero Suit Samus, who is now a separate character.

She currently ranks 38th on the tier list. This is because she is a heavyweight, possesses a tether, a good combo game, and multiple projectiles; however she is also easy to combo and juggle, has a poor recovery, slow falling speed, and a slow and punishable grab.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

Can wall jump.
Has a tether recovery.
Has the highest standing grab range in the game.
Sixth heaviest in the game alongside Bowser Jr.
Overall quite mobile, with good speed on both ground and air.
Great combo potential, with many multi-hit attacks and reliable follow ups.
Considerable floaty, which aids in her combos as well in her recovery.
Great vertical recovery with Screw Attack and decent horizontal with Grab Aerial (Grapple Beam).
Has the longest ranged grab in the game, which can also be used in the air as an attack.
Has a Meteor Smash: Down Aerial.
Second fastest pummel in the game alongside Lucas, after Lucario's.
Great spacing and zoning game with her various Special Attacks.
Charge Shot is fast and inflicts a good amount of hitstun and knockback, being one of the strongest chargeable projectiles in the game after Lucario's Aura Sphere with maximum aura and Mewtwo's Shadow Ball.
Missiles can be used as a diversion to the opponent, allowing Samus to charge in and score extra damage. They also inflict a good amount of hitstun that allow follow ups.
Bombs can aid in her recovery and also serve as further diversion and create openings for follow ups, as the explosion causes minor knockback and considerable hitstun.

Weaknesses[]

A bit too floaty, being an easy target to characters that can combo easily, as well decreasing her landing options.
Relies too much on defensive camping.
Close range attacks lack priority.
Lacks variety of reliable KO moves.

Summary[]

Samus is a relatively balanced character in terms of gameplay. While neither her melee combat and ranged arsenal gives her much advantage over opponents, she has solid moves that allows her to play both defensively and offensively. However, her moveset is oriented towards strong mid-range gameplay, combining powerful ranged attacks with combo-oriented melee attacks.

She is unique among the other heavyweights in the game, as she is very "floaty", with slow falling speed and average air and ground speeds. This actually plays in her favor, allowing her to chase aerial opponents and forcing air dodges; however, it also makes her an easy target for juggling, and more punishable to landing safely.

On the ground, Samus has many tools that are good for spacing and some can even be integrated into combos easily. Samus' jab is among her worst moves, but the first hit can set up for some combos and the second hit can be used for spacing an opponent from Samus. Samus' forward tilt is excellent for spacing and for ground combos, and can also jab lock. Samus' up tilt is useful on the edge and for starting aerial combos because it launches upwards when used on-stage. Samus' down tilt starts aerial combos as well and can also be used for attacking a recovering opponent. Samus' dash attack can combo into aerials at lower percentages and is among her best combo starters, making it an effective approach option.

Samus' Smash Attacks have decent speed and range; Up Smash is great for covering Samus from opponents approaching from above and also combos out of Down Aerial at lower percentages; it is also a viable kill move. Samus' Forward Smash has good range and spacing and good launch as well which can make it useful as a combo finisher and kill move; in addition, it has a sweetspot closer to tip, at the explosion, similar to Mario's Forward Smash. Down smash is good for covering rolls and attacking prone opponents, although its knockback is one of the lowest in the game; it can be used for launching opponents away from Samus to give her space to charge her Charge Shot.

Samus' aerials are all effective moves. Up aerial is excellent for juggling and can combo out of down throw and dash attack and at mid-high percentages combo into Screw Attack for extra damage or even a kill off the ceiling; up aerial is an extremely valuable combo tool for Samus and her best aerial for combos. Down aerial is a meteor smash and is also great for attacking enemies from above since it combos into up smash, which is a great kill combo. Back air is a viable kill move and edge-guarding tool because of its high launch; it can combo out of dash attack at mid-high percentages. Neutral aerial is good for aerial coverage since it hits on both sides and can be integrated into combos. Forward aerial is another excellent combo move and can combo into most aerial attacks. Forward air is a useful off-stage move as well as its wide range and multiple hits make it good for edge-guarding; it also kills off-stage with the last hit.

As for her grab game, while none of her throws have reliable KO power, they all have decent utility in follow ups. Boasting from having the highest ranged grab in the game and the second fastest pummel, Samus can approach and punish enemies from considerable distance. Her Up Throw combos into Up Aerial, Screw Attack, Forward Aerial, Charge Shot, and Neutral Aerial at low percentages. Samus' Forward Throw can combo into a fully charged Charge Shot if the opponent doesn't jump out of the move, however even then Samus can jump upwards and fire the Charge Shot to try and hit them this way. Samus' Down Throw is among the most useful of her throws; it combos into Forward Aerial at lower percentages, Up Aerial, Neutral Aerial and Screw Attack at mid-high percentages, and it combos into Charge Shot at nearly point-blank range if Samus jumps right after throwing the opponent; the Charge Shot gets harder to land on an opponent the higher their damage is, but Samus can jump to bait out an airdodge or reflector, fast fall to the ground, and then fire the Charge Shot to hit the opponent as they land on the ground; if they jump out of the throw, hold onto the Charge Shot and wait for another opportunity. Her Down Throw is a great combo starter, and depending on the opponents actions and DI, it is even possible to hit with her Up Smash should the opponent fast fall after the Down Throw. Back Throw can combo into Charge Shot as well, as long as the opponent doesn't jump out of it; if they do, Samus can turn around and jump to fire the Charge Shot at them with greater success.

Charge Shot is a very powerful projectile, being one of Samus' best kill moves. The Charge Shot should try to be fully charged up when it is used in order to get maximum damage and knockback from it. The Charge Shot can be used as a projectile to hit opponents from afar, but it should never be used immediately after it is completely charged up; this is often very predictable and an opponent like Fox with a reflector or Ness with PSI Magnet will instantly put up these moves to counter the Charge Shot...which is why holding onto it works so well against these characters. If a Fox holds up their reflector, dash in and attack or grab them; use one of the throw combos to hit them with the Charge Shot so that they will have less time to dodge it or react. If Ness holds out PSI Magnet, punish with a grab or even fire a Missile at him to bait it out only for him to be hit with the projectile since the missile is not energy-based. If an opponent keeps rolling to dodge missiles, Samus can throw a Charge Shot out to surprise them; if an opponent keeps jumping over her missiles, continue firing the missiles until they get to a reasonably close distance to Samus; fire out another missile to bait the jump and then jump up with the opponent and fire the Charge Shot at them; this is often a deadly maneuver. Charge Shot can also break shields and punish edge-guarders; if Samus is above the edge and will be able to recover, fire the Charge Shot at the enemy to damage and launch them away from the edge and then recover. There is, however, a use in an uncharged or partially charged Charge Shot; uncharged, the Charge Shot can jab lock opponents, and partially charged still puts on a good amount of damage.

The Missiles are excellent for punishing attempts at countering a Charge Shot and baiting out opportunities for a Charge Shot; however, the Missiles can also be helpful for zoning opponents, dealing some damage, and for harassing an opponent from afar. Homing Missiles can even jab lock and bait out reflectors for a grab punish.

Samus' recovery is also very good. Screw Attack has very high priority, thus preventing opponents from trying to intercept her recovery, and has great ledge sweetspot range. She also has the longest tether recovery in the game, as well being able to wall jump, which further increases her recovery. Because of this, Samus is capable of gimping opponents and following them offstage to land Meteor Smashes and other attacks, and the safely returning to the platform. Screw Attack is also great for killing off the ceiling and as a combo finisher.

Samus' down special, Bomb, has little offensive use because of its small size, though it can be used on the edge to deter opponents from the edge when they are recovering or cause opponents on the edge to do a ledge roll or ledge hop, which can be easily punished with an aerial and grab or smash attack respectively. They are also excellent for extending recovery, suspending Samus in the air for just a moment and allowing her to move a bit closer to the stage while recovering so that she can use Screw Attack when she gets close enough to the stage. It should be mentioned that the Grapple Beam can tether the edge and help with recovery as well. It should be mentioned that the Bomb's mobility can help in maneuvering around the stage as well; Samus can use a Bomb and then quickly change direction in the air to throw off opponents, use bombs to escape an enemy combo, or use it on the edge and then slide off the edge and into a ledge grab; she can even slide off of platforms using bombs and platform cancel certain attacks.

Her flaws lie in her lack of good finishing moves, as many of them require sweetspotting and/or lack enough knockback to reliably KO even at percentages above 150%. Her Down Smash has one of the worst knockbacks in the game, although it sends opponents horizontally, while her Down Tilt can only KO at percentages above 180%. This combined with considerable low range and poor hitboxes for some moves makes KO'ing very hard for Samus, especially against characters that can react faster to her attacks.

On the other hand, Samus can control her space very well with various tools at her disposal, which not necessarily allows her to win the game, but gives her considerably higher chances of landing her few KO moves. Her Missiles and Bombs can both serve as obstacles in the battlefield, while her Grab Aerial is a move with transcending priority that is fast enough to be a surprise attack, allowing her to inflict considerable hitstun from safe distance to string combos and even score some gimp kills. This allied with her Missiles and Bombs makes her combo potential very versatile. The Grapple Beam also grants her a very long grab range, and though easy to punish because of its ending lag if it misses, it can set up a multitude of combos that can easily rack up damage; all of these tools used in tandem with her powerful Charge Shot can make her a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

A good Samus player must know when to charge in and when to retreat, zoning the opponent until a window of opportunity appears to land combos and powerful attacks. Since in Smash Bros. the knockback of projectiles is higher the closer the character is to the opponent, using Super Missiles and Charge Shots at close range can even score early KOs. Using Samus' missiles and other moves to set up for Charge Shots is an excellent strategy because of the move's high damage and knockback as well as kill potential.

Differences from Brawl[]

Samus received a balance of buffs and nerfs to both ranged and melee attacks. Her KO power has increased significantly for some moves, as well improved hitboxes for her moves that allows for better combos. However, the KO power for other moves has been reduced to compensate. She is also no longer capable of transforming into Zero Suit Samus, who is now a separate character.

Appearance-wise, Samus' Power Suit is now based on her design from Metroid: The Other M, with a more round silhouette, smaller shoulderpads and a slightly feminine build. Some of her animations have been tweaked or completely changed to reflect her animations in The Other M. Her missiles and bombs also have different designs. Her sound effects are based on her sounds in Super Metroid, which is mostly noticeable in her walking, dashing and jumping.

Attributes[]

Base and double jumps are higher.
Walk and dash speed are slightly faster. Also, her dash has less ending lag, and has a different animation similar to the one Samus has in The Other M.
Slightly slower air speed.
Her Arm Cannon is slightly longer, increasing her reach with all related attacks.
Can no longer transform into Zero Suit Samus through her Final Smash and Taunt Input.

Ground Attacks[]

Neutral Attack combo has slightly less lag between attacks, and the second hit has higher vertical range and deals more damage and knockback. However, the first hit deals less hitstun and has increased knockback scaling. This means the opponent may shield between the first and second hits, or the first hit knocking the opponent too far away, failing to link to the second hit. It appears that this move is intentionally designed this way, as mentioned by an in-game tip.
Forward Tilt is faster, has higher range and less ending lag. However, it deals slightly less damage.
Up Tilt now has a Meteor Smash effect that only works against ground opponents, causing them to bounce off the ground, with pure horizontal knockback, which allows for better combo setups. Additionally, it has increased knockback scaling against airborne opponents.
Down Tilt has slightly more range, with a larger explosion radius by the end of the cannon. However, it deals less damage and has much lower knockback scaling, no longer able to KO at high percentages.
Forward Smash has a slightly different animation, with Samus extending her entire torso in order to increase the move's range. The move is faster, and now has a sweetspot that causes a small explosion by the end of the cannon, similar to Mario's Forward Smash. The sweetspot deals very knockback, enough to KO opponents above 70%. However, it has more ending lag, and deals lower knockback if it hits with the cannon (now the sourspot) rather than the explosion.
Up Smash is much faster and deals much more knockback, now being able to reliable KO opponents above 100%. The hits now connect better, trapping opponents to lead them to the knockback hitbox.
Down Smash is faster, but deals much less damage and knockback, now being considered the weakest Down Smash in the game, only able to KO opponents around 180%. However, it deals horizontal knockback, which can be useful against characters with poor recovery if used near the ledge.
Dash Attack's sweetspot (the initial frames) deals slightly more damage and knockback. It is also faster, covers slightly more distance and has less ending lag, however has slightly higher startup.

Aerial Attacks[]

Neutral Aerial has a different animation, now with Samus kicking twice in the air, in front and behind her. It is no longer a Sex Kick, deals less damage, has more startup and ending lag, and smaller hitboxes. However, it deals much more knockback, enough to KO reliably.
Forward Aerial has slightly lower ending lag and locks opponents more easily between hits, with the last one dealing more knockback. However, it has more landing lag.
Back Aerial's sweetspot deals more damage and knockback. However, its sourspot causes slightly less damage and has higher ending and landing lag, no longer being able to be used twice in one short hop. It also has more range and less startup lag.
Up Aerial is less effective to lock opponents, much like it was in Melee, meaning opponents can now DI more easily. However, it has a larger hitbox at Samus upper half, near her torso, and the last hit can KO opponents at higher percentages near the upper blast line.
Down Aerial has faster startup lag and has a higher range, as well a larger hitbox that covers more of Samus' arm and body. However, it deals slightly less damage and now has a sourspot at the tip of the cannon if it hits by the end of the move, that causes horizontal knockback, meaning no longer Meteor Smashes regardless of where it hits.
Grab Aerial now causes two hits instead of one, and deals slightly more damage when sweetspotted (at the tip). However, it has higher landing lag.

Grabs and Throws[]

Grapple Beam is longer for grab, tether recovery and Grab Aerial.
Grab is faster and has much less less ending lag.
Pummel is much faster, now being the second fastest in the game (after Lucario's).

Special Attacks[]

Charge Shot travels faster when fully charged and has much higher knockback scaling. It also charges slightly faster.
Missile (normal) travels faster, but covers less distance, while the Super Missile travels farther and has a larger blast radius. However, it has higher ending and landing lag, meaning Samus can no longer perform the Missile Cancel technique. Also, Samus can now only have two normal Missiles and one Super Missile on screen at the same time. If she attempts to shoot a Super Missile while one is already onscreen, she will still perform the firing pose, but no Missiles will be fired.
Screw Attack travels more vertical distance, and its final hit causes much higher knockback. Now a reliable KO at about 145% normally, and below 100% near the upper blast line.
Bomb, when used in midair, don't stop Samus' falling speed as much as in Brawl.
Zero Laser is wider, with additional hitboxes at the core of the blast that suck opponents more easily, as well a vacuum attribute at the start of the charging. Also, has less startup and ending lag, but deals less much less damage. Additionally, it no longer breaks the Power Suit to transforms Samus into Zero Suit Samus.

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]

Standard Combo: Throws a punch, then swings her arm cannon. 3%, then 8%. Total 11%.
Side Tilt: Performs a roundhouse kick. Can be tilted. Gains power with range. 6% closest, 8% farthest.
Up Tilt: Lifts her leg greatly, then slams it to the ground in front of her. 13% also has Meteor effect, if enemy is hit in the air 12%.
Down Tilt: Causes an explosion on the ground in front of her using her arm cannon. 12%.
Dash Attack: As she runs her booster goes off and she rams into the enemy. 10% if hit at the beginning if not 6%.

Smash Attacks[]

Side Smash: Thrusts her arm cannon forward. In this version of Smash, there is an explosion at the end of the attack. Does more damage at the tip, where the explosion happens. Can be tilted.

Down Tilt Side Smash:

Uncharged: 11% - 13%

Fully Charged: 15% - 18%

Regular:

Uncharged: 12% - 14%.

Fully Charged: 16% - 19%.

Up Tilt Side Smash:

Uncharged: 13% - 15%

Fully Charged: 18% - 21%

Up Smash: Causes five explosions above her in an arch.

Uncharged: Each explosion deals 3% and the final one, 6%. Max 18%.

Fully charged: Each explosion deals 4% and the final one, 8%. Hit all of them for 25%.

Down Smash: Spins around, leg outstretched.

Uncharged: 10% in front of her, 12% at her back.

Fully charged: 14% in front of her, 16% at her back.

Other attacks[]

Edge Attack: Climbs the edge and does a sweeping kick. 7%.
Rise Attack: She gets up, shooting on both sides of her. 7%.
Tether(as attack in the air): Shoots Grapple Beam forward: 1% then 3%, total 4% if sweet spotted, if not 1%.

Aerial Attacks[]

Neutral Air: She spins horizontally once while kicking with one leg. Hitting opponents at her back in not easy, as it requires the opponent to be really close to her. 8% in front of her, 6% - 7% at her back.
Frontal Air: Causes five explosions in font of her. Similar to her up smash. Damage of each is respectively: 3%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 5%. Total 11%.
Up Air: Spins in a drill-like fashion with her legs pointed upwards. Similar to Sheik's and Greninja's Up-Air. Capable of KOing at around 120%. 3%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 4%. Total 11% if all hits land.
Back Air: Kicks backwards. 14% if sweet spotted, 12% if not.
Down Air: Swings her arm cannon in a downwards arc. Is a meteor smash. 14% if sweet spotted, 10% - 11% if not.

Grabs and Throws[]

Samus uses her Grapple Beam to grab opponents from a distance and can also use it for tether recoveries.

Pummel: Smacks the opponent in the face. 1%.
Forward Throw: Hurls opponent forward. 9%.
Back Throw: Hurls opponent backwards. 8%.
Down Throw: Slams opponent on the ground. 6%.
Up Throw: Throws opponent upwards and shocks them with the grapple beam. 9%.

Special Moves[]

Samus' Special Moves
	64	Melee	Brawl	3DS/Wii U	Ultimate
Standard Special	Charge Shot
Side Special	—	Missile
Up Special	Screw Attack
Down Special	Bomb
Final Smash	—		Zero Laser

Samus' Custom Special Moves
	Custom 1	Custom 2
Standard Special	Dense Charge Shot	Melee Charge Shot
Side Special	Relentless Missile	Turbo Missile
Up Special	Screw Rush	Apex Screw Attack
Down Special	Slip Bomb	Mega Bomb

Taunts[]

Up Taunt: Puts her hand close to her head, then abruptly salutes as her booster goes off.
Side Taunt: Opens a compartment in her arm cannon, which spins and emits electricity, then goes back to normal. The way the cannon looks when she does this taunt also likes like the Zero Laser configuration
Down Taunt: Points her arm cannon at her back, then in front of her, as if scouting an area.

In competitive play[]

Samus was initially considered to have improved from Brawl, due to the improvements to her KO potential, a trait she previously lacked in tournament play. However, it soon became clear the buffs to other bottom-tier characters, such as Mario, Captain Falcon and Link, had made them significantly better than her. When combined with glaring blind spots on her hitboxes, extended hurtboxes, and continued struggle to KO, Samus would later be considered one of the worst characters in the game. Despite the buffs gained in game updates, notably update 1.1.1, her poorly regarded status remained intact, with only a handful of dedicated mains, such as IcyMist, KayJay, Afro Smash and Jonny Westside, having a notable tournament impact. As such, she was ranked 51st on the first 4BR tier list, becoming a bottom-tier character.

It was not until update 1.1.5 when Samus gained her most efficient buffs, which allowed her moveset to flow significantly better, improving her offense and eliminating the majority of her blindspots. This resulted in her achieving significantly better placements at tournaments, and benefiting from nerfs given to characters with preferable matchups against her, such as Bayonetta, Diddy Kong, Sheik and Zero Suit Samus. These traits saw Samus ranked 45th on the second tier list and placed in the low tier, eventually rising to 41st on the third tier list, at the top of the low tier. Samus' somewhat more successful tournament placings have improved competitive perception of her, as she rose to 37th on the fourth and current tier list, now a mid-tier character, sharing the spot with Robin. As such, she is considered a far more viable character after game updates, and significantly better than how she was in Brawl, with some smashers, such as ESAM and Dabuz, claim that a higher placement in the tier list is needed, despite her relatively below-average representation.

Trophy Description[]

Samus[]

Samus Aran is known for her numerous battle across alien planets in the Metroid series. She wears a Power Suit designed by the Chozo, giving her incredible versatility in a fight. She can wade in with kicks and punches, but she favors beams and missiles. A fully charged Charge Shot packs a serious punch!

NES - Metroid (08/1987)
SNES - Super Metroid (04/1994)

Samus (Alt)[]

Samus protects herself from overhead enemies with her up smash, Cover Fire, which can land multiple hits on anyone it connects with. Samus also fires a homing missile by holding sideways and pressing the special- attack button or launches a Super Missile by quickly tapping sideways instead.

Samus (Varia Suit)[]

When most people think of Samus, they think of her wearing the Varia Suit. It not only grants her power far beyond her own physical strength but also can unleash a deadly array of beams from the Arm Cannon. And, in a feature quite unique to the Metroid series, it lets her morph into a ball instead of having to crawl!

Samus (Gravity Suit)[]

Power Suits aren't known for being good in water, so if you're the aquatic type, what you need is a Gravity Suit. This stylish, glowing suit upgrade not only completely nullifies fluid resistance--making moving underwater a breeze--but also reduces damage and improves your underwater vision. What more could you ask for?

Other features[]

The Zero Laser returns as her Final Smash, although she no longer transforms into Zero Suit Samus.
Samus is one of the few characters who has a Tether recovery, using her grapple beam to latch onto the edge.

Costume Gallery[]

Gallery[]

External links[]

Metroid universe
Characters	Samus Aran (64 · Melee · Brawl · 3DS/Wii U · Ultimate) Zero Suit Samus (Brawl · 3DS/Wii U · Ultimate) Ridley (Ultimate) Dark Samus (Ultimate)
Side Characters	Bosses	Ridley · Meta Ridley
	Assist Trophies	Metroid · Dark Samus · Mother Brain
	Mii Fighter Costume	Samus Aran
	Background characters	Ridley · Kraid · Parasite Queen
	Stage Hazards	FG II-Graham · Joulion · Zero · Ridley
	Enemies	Geemer · Kihunter · Metroid · Reo
Stages	Planet Zebes · Brinstar · Brinstar Depths · Norfair · Frigate Orpheon · Pyrosphere Brinstar Escape Shaft
Item	Screw Attack
Music	List of Music (Metroid series)
Collectibles	Trophies	Melee Trophies · Brawl Trophies · 3DS Trophies · Wii U Trophies
	Stickers	List of Stickers (Metroid series)
	Spirits	List of spirits (Metroid series)
	Masterpieces	Metroid · Super Metroid