Palutena Guides

Palutena Guide

Being an all-rounder is both a blessing and a curse for a fighting game character. On the one hand, they are pretty good at all sorts of stuff, like the rushdown style, ranged attacks, and quick punishes. On the other hand, though, it’s hard for them to be excellent in something specific, to have that one dominating feature that destroys the opponents.

Palutena is one of the all-rounders in Smash Ultimate — and she is pretty good! With her, you have effective tools to express your favorite fighting style, being that offense or defense. In fact, Palutena is so nicely balanced (and even buffed in comparison to SSB4) that quite a lot of SSBU players choose her as their main character. Palutena is even on top in DashFight’s Tier List.

All-rounders are usually easy-to-learn. Still, some advice and help are hardly excessive. This guide on how to play Palutena in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate can save your time and significantly boost your progress (yep, everyone loves getting sweet, sweet victories).

Palutena? Pallas Athena?

It’s totally unnecessary to know the characters’ backgrounds to succeed with them in Smash (or other fighting games). But that makes playing them even funnier — if you know the fighter, it’s easier to build emotional connection and invest many hours in practice (and obviously, become a better SSBU player).

Palutena is a fascinating character. She is a Goddess, and her powers are spread far beyond the gaming world. Have you heard about Pallas Athena? This Greek Goddess is just another incarnation of Palutena (the gaming name is a shortened form of the mythological one).

In gaming, Palutena is a Goddess of Light that supports Pit in the Kid Icarus games. She entered the Smash Bros. series as a trophy and participated in Pit’s Final Smash — in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Palutena became a playable character in Smash for 3DS and Wii U. Not only is she available in SSBU fights, but also Palutena provides Pit with special guidance.

How to Unlock Palutena in Smash Ultimate?

She is among the latest characters players unlock in SSBU.

• Palutena appears last in the Smash mode;
• You can unlock her playing the Classic mode with Kirby or anyone he unlocks. Here, Palutena is the last one too;
• In the World of Light, Palutena can be awakened in the Final Battles area. She is one of four last characters to unlock during the adventure.

Palutena’s Playstyle

This character has lots of effective options, and it’s her strength. You have the power to get creative and confuse opponents with the variety of attacks and moves. You can express your best style with Palutena or chaotically mix everything. 

She is very good at aerial games. Her Specials are excellent for zoning. Her tilts are solid and damaging. 

Of course, weakness should be somewhere to keep the whole game balanced. Endlags of Palutena’s moves are long, and she is very vulnerable to punishment. However good her tools are, they are not too safe or too devastating. Unlike Mario and other SSBU characters for beginners, Palutena requires a bit more practice and attention to understand her properly and unleash her true strength.

Another weakness of Palutena is the lack of good out-of-shield options. It would be better to avoid ground pressure and try to take the game to the air.

Neutral Attacks and Tilts

Palutena is not the most effective on the ground, and still, she can be pretty threatening. Her tilts require a specific situation to shine with their full power. Her Dash Attack is one of the best moves.

• Jab is pretty solid, with a nice range. You can jab cancel it into other attacks.
• Dash Attack is very quick (6 frames of startup) and strong, with partial invincibility. It can be used as a KO option, starting from 160% of damage.
• Forward Tilt is suitable for attacking approaching opponents.
• Up Tilt has a very short startup (8 frames). It can be used to start the aerial fight.
• Down Tilt is effective during edgeguarding.

Aerials

Aerial game is the strongest for Palutena. These attacks are awesome for combos and have the potential to KO highly-damaged opponents.

• Neutral Air is very fast and can be easily followed by other aerials. It is punishable if the opponent has quick out-of-shield options. After a jump, N Air can catch the opponent and start a combo.
• Forward Air is often used as a combo finisher. 
• Back Air is a very strong attack, so you can use it as a KO tool.
• Up Air can be easily landed thanks to its big hitbox. This attack is effective for juggling. 

• Down Air is not as strong as other aerials, but you can find a good use for it offstage — to shoot the opponents downwards.

Throws

Palutena is surprisingly good as a grappler. Her throws can cause KO and can be used in combos.

• Grab is quick and works at a relatively big distance.
• Forward Throw can be followed by Side Special.
• Back Throw is super strong, can kill at 130%
• Up Throw is not that strong, but it starts the aerial game.
• Down Throw also starts combos. Link it into any air attack.

Palutena’s Specials

The set of Palutena’s Special Moves is good for zoning.

• Neutral Special — Autoreticle. It’s a quick projectile, effective from an impressive distance. 
• Side Special — Explosive Flame. This attack has a good range. Use it to provoke opponents to  jump and then start aerial pressure.
• Up Special — Warp. Palutena can recover with this move, having frames  16-32 invincibility. 
• Down Special — Counter. This move can reflect projectiles.

Smash Attacks

Palutena has strong smashes. Each of them is damaging, with a very good range.

• Forward Smash is a straightforward attack with the feature to push opponents away even if it doesn’t reach them.
• Up Smash creates a pillar of light that damages in a vertical direction. The light can penetrate platforms, but the horizontal range is poor and requires precise activation. The hitbox is long enough to give many opportunities — just get creative with this move.
• Down Smash is a bit similar to F Smash in its effects.
• Final Smash — Black Hole Laser. It has a Black Hole that pulls the victim inside and Mega Laser to shoot those impudent enough to fight Palutena. The attack is spectacular!

Best Moves for Palutena

The whole moveset of Palutens is well-rounded, so she doesn’t really have too bad or especially good options. We can still highlight some of her attacks.

Up Smash is a great move with a big and long-lasting hitbox. You should gain some experience with it, though, as the pillar of light covers only a small horizontal area. If you feel when and where to use Palutena’s Up Smash, it becomes destructive magic.

Dash Attack has remarkable speed to stop aggressive intentions of your opponents and to maintain the general pressure. The partial invincibility should motivate you to use Dash Attack a lot.

Neutral Aerial is a great combo tool that can be connected to itself and other aerials. You can use Palutena’s Up Aerial for juggling and even to KO opponents.

Down Throw is great to start combos. You can connect it to her aerial attacks — such as N and F Air that might lead to KO. Back Throw is a good killing tool.

Autoreticle is an excellent range option. Explosive Flame can be used as a kill confirm. Counter supports your pace in fights by reflecting projectiles.

Palutena is one of the best characters in Smash thanks to her general performance. Pick her if you like the aerial game but want other aspects to be strong as well. Also, she might be a good choice if you still haven’t decided what your favorite fighting style is. All-rounders allow players to feel their preferences and then (probably) take someone with special emphasis on this aspect.

DashFight has many other Smash guides, such as these ones on Lucina and Mewtwo. Just surf the pages of our fighting games platform, and you’ll find lots of interesting stuff.

For example, you can improve your defense thanks to advice from this article.