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


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

Shulk is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. He was confirmed in a Nintendo Direct on August 29. He was the last character to be officially confirmed before the release of the 3DS version.

Strengths

 * Can enhance his abilities with Monado Arts to improve his performance and adapt to different situations and opponents.
 * Shulk can move (walk, run, jump) while cycling between the Arts, and can continue to cycle between powers even when being attacked. He can even cancel the animation of the Art activation and reduce it's lag.
 * Monado Arts: Jump, can greatly increase his recovery potential.
 * Monado Arts: Shield, makes Shulk the heaviest character in the game.
 * All his attacks save for the first two hits of his Neutral Combo are disjointed hitboxes.
 * High range on most attacks, with the Monado's energy blade extending and retracting.
 * In fact, Shulk's Monado grants him more range than any other swordsmen in Smash Bros.
 * Powerful KO moves with good variety of uses.
 * Good combo potential, with some of his aerial attacks having low ending lag, being able to string together with his ground attacks.
 * Long duration of hitboxes on most attacks.
 * Has a Meteor Smash: Down Aerial.
 * Has a powerful counter-attack: Vision.

Weaknesses

 * Considerable hard to master due the micromanagement of his Monado Arts.
 * Using Monado Arts has drawbacks; while it increases a parameter, it decreases another one.
 * Additionally, Shulk becomes vulnerable and can't use his recovery moves while the power is being activated. He also cannot activate Monado Arts while on a revival platform.
 * Each Art also have a cooldown once the effect finishes.
 * It requires awareness from the player, as using an Art at the wrong moment can be dangerous for Shulk.
 * Many of his attacks require precise timing and accuracy, or require opponents to be on a specific position in order to hit effectively.
 * Considerable lag for some moves, mostly for his Smash Attacks and some Aerials.
 * Predictable recovery moves with big drawbacks; Air Slash doesn't sweetspot the ledge as much and Back Slash can't sweetspot the ledge at all.

Summary
Shulk is a character with a lot of versatility, being able to play on different roles during the fight. The core of his game is his standard special move, Monado Arts, which bestows upon him a massive degree of modularity. For example, Monado Arts: Smash raises his knockback but lowers the damage of his attacks, while Monado Arts: Shield makes it harder for Shulk to be launched but makes him very slow. While this move is great, it can leave Shulk wide open to attacks when he is selecting a different art so it is best used when he has some space from the opponent. His Back Slash (Side Special) and Air Slash (Up Special), are powerful, but leave him briefly vulnerable to punishes. His counter, Vision, is powerful and with very long reach.

Beyond his special moves, his Standard Attacks and Smash Attacks mix power and range, but require a degree of precision. His Side and Up Smash Attacks are potent, but possess extremely linear hit-boxes. He can scoot in and Side Smash an entire hairball of opponents on the ground, but it will completely whiff any behind or above him. This is especially evident with his Up Smash; it covers a lot of vertical ground but requires him to be directly below his opponent to land. This necessitates that he attack intelligently and precisely to minimize these vulnerabilities. Additionally, the Monado causes more damage and knockback if it hits from the middle of the energy blade rather than the tip. On the other hand, all his Smash Attacks have very long hitboxes in terms of duration, specially his Down Smash.

Shulk's combo potential is quite powerful, as his Aerial Attacks also have long hitboxes, specially his Neutral Aerial. With a very long duration, high range and little to no landing lag, it's the bread and butter of Shulk's combos, giving him a lot of options to follow ups. Paired with Monado Arts: Buster, which increases his damage but decreases his knockback, it gives him more guaranteed combos.

The key to excelling as Shulk is to play defensively and react to opponents as opposed to charging in. Use his Monado Arts to control the battlefield and apply the right tool for the situation at hand; and learn all the pros and cons of each Art. While his assets are powerful, failing to intelligently utilize them will result in a lot of frustration.

Ground Attacks

 * Neutral Attack: Does a punch, then a kick, and finally slashes the Monado in an upward arc.
 * Dash Attack: Slashes forward with the Monado.
 * Side Tilt: Does a stronger Monado slash.
 * Up Tilt: Slashes upwards with the Monado. Has considerable range.
 * Down Tilt: Sweeps the ground in front of him with the Monado.

Smash Attacks

 * Forward Smash - Powerfully thrusts the Monado forward, causing an initial attack before a second pulse of energy causes knockback. It can also be tilted. The blade gains extra range at the time of its sweet spot (when it appears).
 * Up Smash - Slams the Monado's hilt into the ground facing up, causing an initial attack before extending the laser blade to a considerable distance. As the slamming causes upward knockback, this is a good combo move.
 * Down Smash - Spins the Monado around, low to the ground, three times. Launch power decreases with every spin. The last spin will have a longer range.

Other attacks

 * Get-Up Attack - Swiftly swings the Monado at both his sides, then stands up.
 * Ledge Attack - Swings the Monado at the feet of his opponent as he is climbing up.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial: Slashes the Monado upwards with beam activated. It's a slow attack.
 * Forward Aerial: Slashes the Monado in front of him.
 * Back Aerial: Thrusts the Monado beam behind him. Decent launch potential at higher damage.
 * Up Aerial: Points the Monado upwards and activates the beam.
 * Down Aerial: Stabs downward with the Monado's beam. It is a Meteor Smash at the second hit, when the beam comes out, with the first hit dealing very low knockback. This is useful as it traps the enemy for the Meteor, since it is the center of the blow that meteors, with the sides of it dealing horizontal knockback.

Grabs and Throws

 * Pummel: Hits opponent with the brunt of the Monado.
 * Forward Throw: Slashes opponent with the Monado.
 * Back Throw: Hurls opponent behind him and stabs them with the Monado.
 * Up Throw: Hurls the opponent into the air and stabs them with the Monado beam.
 * Down Throw: Slams opponent into the ground.

Percentage Table
This is a table showing the damage percents each of Shulk's attacks deal when on each different Monado Art.

Taunts

 * Up Taunt: Holds out with his left arm half way from his body, saying "Now it's Shulk time!"
 * Side Taunt: Holds the Monado's hilt with his right hand, while holding his left hand out in front of him to get himself pumped up, saying "I'm really feeling it!"
 * Down Taunt: Holds the Monado and activates its beam, saying "This is the Monado's power!"

In competitive play
To be added

Shulk
''In Xenoblade Chronicles, this young lad's colony is attacked by the Mechon, so he and his friends set off to take them down. In Smash Bros., his Monado Arts let him change his specialization during battle. You can choose to boost a stat--his jump or attack, for example--but other stats will drop as a result, so choose wisely.''
 * Wii - Xenoblade Chronicles (04/2012)

Shulk (Alt)
''Shulk's up special Air Slash is an upward slash done during a jump. Press the button again quickly to launch opponents sideways. His side special Back Slash, on the other hand, is a downward swing with a very wide range, though using it leaves Shulk wide open. Try hitting foes from behind with this!''

Other features
To be added

Trivia

 * Shulk, alongside Pac-Man, are the only characters that don't have a green Palette Swap.
 * Depending on the position the enemy Shulk's final smash will be different, trapping them from the front will cause him to summon Dunban and trapping them from the back will cause him to summon Riki.
 * If Shulk's Monado Arts fade away while he is inside an egg, he will have the powers of all five at once.
 * Shulk's alternate costumes are based off of the color pattern of his friends from Xenoblade Chronicles. His last costume is based on his swimsuit armor or his looks when he is not wearing any armor at all.
 * Shulk's reveal trailer is titled "Looks Like We Don't Have A Choice!" referencing a quote from Xenoblade Chronicles that is said by Shulk when the party engages a red level enemy.
 * This phrase was thought to be a reference to when he, along with the entire roster, was leaked. Similar to how Lucas's introduction timeline "Lucas Comes Out of Nowhere!" was possibly both a pun on where he lives and how some players believed Lucas would not return for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS.