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This article is about Palutena's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Palutena.
โ€œ With her wings and staff, this goddess's attacks cover a wide range. With her up smash, neutral special and side special, she can create a ranged attack in almost every direction except for directly beneath her! Keep the pressure on your opponents from a distance with ranged attacks! โ€
โ€”Description from the Super Smash Blog.

Palutena is a veteran fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, first playable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Her return was confirmed at the E3 2018 Conference on June 12th, 2018.

How to Unlock[]

  • Play VS matches, with Palutena being the final character unlocked.
  • Clear Classic Mode with Kirby or any character in his character tree, with Palutena being unlocked after Lucas.
  • Have Palutena join the party in World of Light

In the first two methods, the player must fight and defeat Palutena on Palutena's Temple.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Very powerful attacks that often have high range or affect a large radius, as well high priority, and hitting multiple times.
  • Fast Aerial Attacks with little ending and landing lag.
  • Fast dash and air speed.
  • Has many attacks with disjointed hitboxes, ranging from Tilts to Smash Attacks.
  • Has a counter attack.
  • Can reflect projectiles with Reflect Barrier, which can also flip opponents when used in close range, much like Mario's Cape.
  • Good zoning with her Neutral Special, Autoreticle.
  • Dash Attack and Back Aerial can block some projectiles.
  • Very strong pummel.
  • Down Aerial can Meteor Smash. Additionally, it is one of the few Meteor Smashes with no sourspot, meaning it will always send opponents downwards.
  • Forward and Down Smashes have windboxes, being able to push opponents, although it's not a strong effect.
  • Up Smash has very high range, and has transcendent priority.
  • Can edge-cancel her Warp, much like Zelda with Farore's Wind.

Weaknesses[]

  • Lightweight, tall, and has a high gravity, being easy to juggle and KO.
  • High lag on most attacks, mostly for ground attacks and Smash Attacks, leaving her vulnerable.
  • Lack of range on many moves, requiring her to be very close in order to hit effectively.
  • Up Smash's hitboxes fade after reaching maximum height, meaning the attack will not hit when the beam starts to disappear.
  • Cannot take pressure from faster characters.
  • Autoreticle will not fire if the enemy's not in range or something is blocking the way, such as a wall. It will also not fire if the enemy has invincibility.
  • Counter has low range compared to other characters with counter attacks.
  • Unlike Link, Young Link, Toon Link, and Hero, her shield does not protect her when standing idle.

Summary[]

To be added.

Changes from 3DS/Wii U[]

Palutena was heavily buffed in the transition from 3DS/Wii U. In addition to the universal changes, the majority of Palutena's ground moves have less startup and end lag, more reliable hitboxes, and deal more damage. Her zoning game also significantly improved with Autoreticle's buffs and the addition of a new ranged option in Explosive Flame for ledge-traps, mixups, and other options. Her Down Special also combines her Counter and previous Side Special Reflect Barrier and received buffs to make them viable options in defensive play.

Aesthetically, Palutena has a subdued color scheme, with simpler detail in her armor and chiton, as well as more realistic and expressive facial expressions. Palutena's design also incorporates her chiton covering more of her thigh due to age restrictions, which was first present in the Japanese version of 3DS/Wii U following the 1.0.6 update.

Attributes[]

  • Jumpsquat is faster.
  • Walk and dash is faster
  • Airspeed and acceleration are faster.
  • Fast falling speed and falling speed is higher.
  • Gravity is higher.

Ground Attacks[]

  • First hit of Neutral Attack has less end lag, but shorter duration.
  • Forward and Up Tilt have a faster startup, and less end lag
  • Down Tilt lasts longer.
  • Dash Attack has less end lag and deals more damage, but travels a shorter distance and later invincibility.
  • Forward Smash has less end lag and deals more damage. Clean Forward Smash has a longer duration.
  • Up Smash has less end lag. Clean Up Smash has a longer duration.
  • Clean Down Smash has less startup with more active frames and less end lag.

Aerial Attacks[]

  • All aerials have less landing lag.
  • Neutral Aerial's final hit comes out faster.
  • Forward Aerial deals more damage.
  • Up Aerial deals more damage, hits six times, and its final hit has less startup lag, but has a shorter duration and longer startup.
  • Back Aerial starts its invincibility frame later.
  • Down Aerial deals more damage and a longer duration

Grabs and Throws[]

  • All grabs have more end lag
  • Dash and pivot grab is slower

Special Attacks[]

  • Explosive Flame is her Side Special, giving Palutena an additional projectile.
  • Warp possesses an additional frame of invincibility
  • Counter and Reflect Barrier are combined into her Down Special, with either activating depending on the attack Palutena is intercepting.

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]

  • Neutral Attack: Thrusts her staff forward. If it connects, traps opponents in a multi-hit burst before launching them with a stronger burst.
  • Forward Tilt: Levitates her staff forward to spin in place, hitting opponents twice.
  • Up Tilt: Levitate staff into the air and spins it, trapping opponents in a series of hits before launching them upwards
  • Down Tilt: Levitates her staff parallel to the ground at ground level and spins it.
  • Dash Attack: Rushes forward with shield outstretched

Smash Attacks[]

  • Forward Smash: Slams her wings forward in front.
  • Up Smash: Summon pillar of light in front of her
  • Down Smash: Slams her wings on both sides of her.

Other attacks[]

  • Floor Attack (Front):
  • Floor Attack (Back):
  • Floor Attack (Trip):
  • Ledge Attack:

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral aerial: Spins her staff in place to trap opponents in multiple hits before launching them.
  • Forward aerial: Kicks forward
  • Back aerial: Slams her shield behind her.
  • Up aerial: Raise staff to emit an aura of light that hits foes multiple times before launching them into the air.
  • Down aerial: Downward light strike, very fast but only briefly active. Grounded foes are launches enemies behind her.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Grab: Long-reaching.
  • Forward Throw:
  • Back Throw:
  • Up Throw:
  • Down Throw:

Special Moves[]

Palutena's Special Moves
3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Autoreticle
Side Special Reflect Barrier Explosive Flame
Up Special Warp
Down Special Counter Counter/Reflect Barrier
Final Smash Black Hole Laser

Taunts[]

  • Up Taunt: Emits her halo and summons her wings while saying "You shall be purified."
  • Side Taunt: Laughs while twirling in place around her staff
  • Down Taunt: Levitates her staff in the air and brushes her green hair while saying "Ready when you are."

On-Screen Appearance[]

  • Emerges from a golden door from the background

Idle Poses[]

Victory Poses[]

To be added

In competitive play[]

Since the beginning of Ultimate, Palutena has always had a very positive reception among the Smash community, as many top players noticed her considerable buffs from 3DS/Wii U early on and was agreed on as a high tier for much of 2019. However, after Nairo won Mainstage and Let's Make Big Moves, her already strong reception and results have further increased, with strengths such as her notorious neutral aerial, KO confirms from her down throw, and her relatively low learning curve becoming even more apparent, while her few weaknesses are relatively minor. This has to led to nearly all top players to believe she is a top tier, with many claiming she is among the best in the game, alongside Pikachu, Joker, and Peach.

While she has been nerfed in updates 7.0.0 and 11.0.0, these nerfs have had a relatively minor effect on her viability and she remains an excellent choice in competitive play.

However, Palutena's metagame has suffered from a brief period of stagnation due to the ban of her best player, Nairo. Although this ban has been overturned since, he has yet to make an active return to the competitive scene, partly because he was also banned by Twitch and any attempt to stream tournament matches featuring him is considered ban evading by the streaming site. In his absence, Palutena is now currently represented by players such as Abadango, Jagaimo, Gen, Chag, Compact, and many more.

Classic Mode: A Little Divine Intervention[]

Referring to being a goddess herself, Palutena's opponents all come from series where religion and mythology play a key role. The title is the same as a phrase she says in her debut character trailer for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Role in World of Light[]

Palutena was among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Palutena was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. She attempted to block a beam with Reflect Barrier, which the beam completely pierced, disintegrating her. Her defeat causes Pit and Dark Pit to lose their Power of Flight, making the duo fall victim to the beams as well. They were all placed under Galeem's imprisonment alongside the rest of the fighters, excluding Kirby. A puppet fighter cloned from her is later seen alongside ones cloned from Greninja, King Dedede, Pokรฉmon Trainer and other fighters.

Palutena is the last fighter to be found to be imprisoned by Galeem. In The Final Battle, she is called by Galeem as part of reinforcements after Dark Samus is awakened and Crazy Hand is beaten. She is an obligatory unlock for the true ending, as awaking her leads to a battle with Master Hand that frees him from Galeem's control (both of whom's defeats greatly shifts the balance of power in Dharkon's favor).

Palette Swaps[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Regardless of the option chosen, Palutena is one of the very last characters unlocked in the game.
    • The earliest method to unlock Palutena is to be challenged by Ness and Zelda first, then clear Classic Mode using only Kirby or anyone unlocked in his unlock tree.
  • Palutena's artwork was one of the three updated alongside Falco and Shulk before Ultimate's release, in her case incorporating her halo and altering her chiton.
  • Palutena is the only character who had one of her custom special moves become one of her default special moves in a later game.

External links[]

Smash Ultimate logo glow  ยท Fighters
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KidIcarusSymbol Kid Icarus universe
Characters Pit (Brawl  ยท 3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Palutena (3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Dark Pit (3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Side Characters Assist Trophies Phosphora  ยท Magnus
Mii Fighter Costume Viridi
Background characters Viridi  ยท Palutena
Enemies Boom Stomper  ยท Bumpety Bomb  ยท Clubberskull  ยท Daphne  ยท Flage  ยท Lethinium  ยท Lurchthorn  ยท Mahva  ยท Megonta  ยท Mimicutie  ยท Monoeye  ยท Nutski  ยท Orne  ยท Reaper / Reapette  ยท Skuttler  ยท Souflee  ยท Zuree
Stages Skyworld  ยท Reset Bomb Forest  ยท Palutena's Temple
Items Back Shield  ยท Daybreak  ยท Killer Eye  ยท Ore Club  ยท X Bomb  ยท Staff
Music List of Music (Kid Icarus series)
Collectibles Trophies Brawl Trophies  ยท 3DS Trophies  ยท Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of Stickers (Kid Icarus series)
Spirits List of spirits (Kid Icarus series)
Masterpieces Kid Icarus
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