Overview
A guide for upcoming and experienced Forsburn mains.
So you want to main Forsburn, eh?
Forsburn, a hyena, brother of Zetterburn, exiled and left to lurk the shadows. The “sword” character that is a necessary element in every smash-like game and a combo character as well as a killing machine. Harnessing the power of Smoke Forsburn is both quick and powerful. Arguably one of the harder characters to play due to his lack of a true projectile and that certain matchups just plain out suck. If you like to be aggressive and play the role of pressure cooker, then this is the guy for you. Many people say he is akin to Marth from Melee, however I find this to be false for being a Roy main in Melee, PM and Sm4sh, I can easily testify that much to how Zetterburn is more Wolf than Fox, Forsburn is more Roy than Marth.
Ladies, gents and everything in between, I’m That Guy In Pink, but you may just call me Ken, let’s get started.
Approaching
Forsburn has an excellent approach game, leading many to adopt an aggressive playstyle.
> FB is similar to Project M Roy in that his best approach options are going to be n-air, f-air, d-air & d-tilt.
> D-tilt sends opponents at an upward angle which is a great combo starter and setup tool, and thankfully, this can be activated out of dash, due to the sublime way that Rivals of Aether handles tilts and strong attacks.
> F-air launches opponents up as well but with a much more vertical distance than d-tilt. Personally I prefer d-tilt or n-air, but this is still a good apporach option for it’s not as expected (people expect you to use n-air or d-tilt) and is especially useful out of a SHFF (short hop fast fall).
> F-air also has the added advantage of being able to air-dodge out of it leading to an ability I like to call a “Shadow step” which I will explain a little bit later.
> N-air is FANTASTIC…. But I’m going to leave this alone until later on in the guide for there are some fun setups you can do with n-air. C;
> D-air comes out a lot later and has more end lag than F-air, but on the plus side it is a great edgetool and also good for combos, coupled with it’s sour spot which is good for KO-ing off the side and the sweet spot which is great for combos and killing from above. D-air is an excellent tool for almost everything, plus it also has the most reach (along with N-air) out of FB’s approach options.
> Wavedash anything and everything. Forsburn’s wavedash is pretty great, and can be used as a great approach option for you can do ANYTHING out of a wavedash, making for some great setups. I personally love Wavedash D-strong. ;D
Movement
* All characters in Rivals have EXCELLENT movement options, I’ll go over the basics and some stuff to do whilst performing movements.
> Wavedash: A classic, been around since Melee and technically not a glitch or exploit (Sakurai himself said they knew about it and kept it ‘cos it was fun/they didn’t care). Performed by doing a SHFF then airdodging diagonally downward. This is a quintessential movement option and one of the best in the game for multiple reasons:
# Wavedashing (depending on the character) can actually be faster then sprinting if you know how to use it well.
# You can do anything out of wavedash. Whether this be f-tilt, jab, parry, special, strong attack ANYTHING. One of the best apporaches in the game.
# There are a multitude of mixups and mindgames that can be done such as wavelanding and dashdancing (see below).
# It’s stylish. C;
> Waveland: The waveland is performed similar to a wavedash, but instead of performing the airdodge out of a jump, you perform the wavedash out of a fall. This makes you move slightly faster and farther than wavedashing and is great for confusing the opponent/looking stylish.
> Dashdance: Invented by Ken (no, not me, SephirothKen) way back in the early Melee days because he didn’t know how to wavedash. Dashdancing can be done in one of two ways:
a.) Moving the stick back and forth so your character moves back and forth either really fast or simply consistently to throw off your opponent/look for an opening.
b.) Although not technically a dashdance, wavedashing back and forth between two directions serves the exact same purpose and sometimes does a better job depending on what you want to do out of the dashdance.
Shadow Step: Something I came up with myself but is rather simple and applicable to every character, (I just called it that because when FB does it he looks like a Bleach or Naruto character. :P) done by performing an air-dodge right after an attack with low end-lag (this case being FB’s f-air). This can be used as a pretty good option select in which depending on what your opponent does, you have multiple options:
A.) Chase: The most obvious option would be to save your double jump then chase your opponent in the direction they DI’d in, great for long strings and making FB look like Jiggs with the right landings.
B.) Retreat: Air-dodge out of the way and find land ASAP, good for baiting out opponents or deciding to play a defensive game, quite good against say… Etalus. 😀
C.) Scarecrow: Don’t go anywhere, if your opponent catches on, you can bait there maneuver by stalling your air dodge and staying in the same place, can also be used as a followup against characters with moves that make them go up and/or fall down, or those who are fast fallers (Kragg, Etalus).
> Walljump: Forsburn’s main recovery. Many of you would disagree and say his up special is his main recovery but listen: Up special is SO PREDICTABLE. Which is why walljumping comes in handy. Most people recover by airdodging towards the stage, walljumping then using up special to get onto stage. This is bad for two reasons:
1.) It’s predictable.
2.) You’re helpless for a minute once you get on stage.
Instead, one should do something more akin to:
a.) Save double jump.
b.) Up special towards the wall of stage.
c.) Use double jump.
d.) Air dodge back on stage.
e.) Aerial of somesort or another up special.
This is the most effective use of Forsburn’s recovery.
Defense
* Forsburn is a rushdown character, great for offense with mediocre defense in my opinion.
That being said, your best forms of defense are your movement, parry and offense.
> Because Forsburn’s parry has been changed to a regular parry, he now has the same timings as everyone else, although this dramatically changes his range it also creates a new movement option previously unavailable/ineffective before: Dash Parry. The dash parry is when you perform a dash and release the stick just as you parry, this allows Forsburn to slide across the ground a bit while in the parry animation creating a good offensive-defense option.
> Movement! Wavedash and waveland and dashdance EVERYWHERE. But DON’T BE RANDOM. Plan everything out. This screws new players over immensely, they learn a technique and go ham with it not planning everything out.
> Offense: They can’t hurt you if you don’t let them. Rush them down and don’t give them the oppurtunity to attack.
* As a side note this is also the only viable way to play Roy in Melee cos the moment the
opponent does anything whether it be up-smash or up-taunt, you’re screwed.
Offense
* This is where Forsburn shines in my book. He’s fast, he’s strong enough and he has good combo game. Here are some basic setups:
# N-airplane: N-air to n-air to n-air to n-air to n-air to n-air…… Pretty self explanatory.
# D-airplane: D-air to d-air to d-air to d-air to d-air to d-air…… Yeah…..
# Roy front to back: F-air to b-air. It get’s some decent knockback and power, plus looks stylish as hell.
# D-tilt to aerial: This works like a charm, a small knock up then going ham with aerials.
# U-air juggles: U-air to u-air to u-air to u-air to u-air to u-air…… Sorry….
# Dash attack to aerial: See d-tilt to aerial.
# Jab cancels: This is actually an interesting combo option. In Rivals, one has the ability to cancel any sequence in their jab-combo to a tilt, special or strong attack, leading to a variety of combos.
1.) Jab -> jab -> f-tilt.
2.) Jab -> jab -> u-tilt.
3.) Jab -> jab -> d-tilt.
4.) Jab -> jab -> u-strong A -> u-strong B
5.) Jab -> jab -> u-strong A -> f-strong A -> f-strong B
6.) Jab -> jab -> u-strong A -> f-strong A -> d-strong
7.) Jab -> jab -> u-strong A -> d-strong
8.) Jab -> jab -> u-strong A -> jab -> jab (reset… sometimes)
9.) Jab -> d-stilt -> n-air -> n-air -> f-air -> f-air -> u-air -> u-air
There’re so many that can be done from these jab cancels it’s amazing. So feel free to experiment.
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Strong Attacks
*As you might have noticed, I put f-strong A and u-strong A. These are simply multi-hit attacks much in the same vein as Link from Smash. These first hits count as jabs, meaning they too can be canceled into (mostly) anything.
ex.) u-strong A -> d-strong.
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N-air
*The best part and the main reason why I wanted to write this guide in the first place to be honest. You see, Forsburn’s n-air is a multi hit move, which is a common thing in games of this nature. However, the first hit of his n-air has a set knockback. What does this mean? That no matter the percentage of the enemy, IT WILL ALWAYS DO THE SAME AMOUNT OF KNOCKBACK. Why is this useful one might ask? Cos it leads to some true combos that are quite amazing. To execute the following combos you MUST SHFF to ensure you ONLY get the first hit of the n-air.
1.) K-Combo: (n-air -> b-air ) My signature kill move. This has been able to kill around 80% and is very reliable, just as reliable as a Ken Combo… But from the ground that is.
2.) Tech spike: (n-air -> d-air) Great at forcing tech chases or racking up damage fast, possibly the closest thing to a grab this game is gonna get.
3.) Toss: (n-air -> u-air) A simple toss which is a great combo starter at any percent.
4.) Mini juggle: (n-air -> f-air OR n-air to n-air) A small juggle which leads to some potential combos.
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Specials
*Now I didn’t really touch on specials that much because honestly, I don’t use them. f-special is a nuisance for me and d-special takes too much time to collect the smoke in a match with the exception of doing so inbetween stocks. So… I don’t really use them. However, if you manage to collect the smoke and remain at a decent percentage you can do any of the combos above, just replace the second step with d-special. U-special is also really great for for continuing a combo if they get JUST out of range, however if you miss you can fail badly so be careful.
Conclusion
*Forsburn is a great character and my main, there are a variety of applicable tactics and stuff I haven’t discovered, so I’ll try to update this guide AMAP. But in general, if you plan on playing Solo Forsburn like myself keep these in mind:
a.) Offense & movement are the best defense.
b.) Don’t be random.
c.) Cancel jabs when possible.
d.) Use u-special as a last resort recovery.
e.) N-air is your favourite tool.
Thank you for taking the time to read this guide. I hope one day I’ll meet you on the Battlefield er… At the Tower of Heaven (this games equivilent of Battlefield)
Until then. I’ll catcha on the flip side.