Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Shulk



The star of Xenoblade Chronicles, Shulk joins the battle wielding the Monado, a blade unlike any other. Shulk is notable for having the greatest physical range owing to his Monado, which can extend its reach to unheard of lengths, letting Shulk do big sweeping attacks that cover a lot of area. More importantly, the Monado also gives Shulk access to his Monado Arts, special buffs that temporarily alter Shulk's attributes. With clever management of his arts, Shulk can be a very versatile character, quickly responding to any given situation with the suitable buff. Compared to other sword-wielders, Shulk does suffer from having mildly sluggish attacks, and his recovery is below average, with all variants covering poor horizontal distance. Despite these drawbacks, the heir to the Monado is one of the most interesting characters in the game, and a capable fighter in the hands of anyone who can master the Monado Arts.

Basic Attributes
Shulk has some pretty intermediate stats, probably due to the nature of his Monado Arts. As a human swordsman, he leans very slightly toward the heavy side. He has average dash speed, above average jump height and moderate movement speed in the air. His evasive options are nothing out of the ordinary either. Of course, Shulk's attributes will often change radically throughout the match, so don't get too used to his default statistics. As a general note, the Monado is slightly stronger if opponents are hit at the body of the sword, while hitting with the beam of light that extends from the sword usually results in slightly less damage and knockback. That doesn't mean you should try to strike with the blade itself, as the long range of the beam is more than a good tradeoff for reduced power.

Final Smash - Chain Attack
Shulk makes a ball of light appear in front of him. If any enemy players are struck by this light, Shulk summons his teammates Dunban and Riki in a cinematic cutscene while the surrounding action is paused. The three of them then attack the trapped foes together, with Shulk doing the finishing strike that launches his victims diagonally upward. This is a conventional trapping Final Smash that requires Shulk to hit at least one opponent with the initial ball of light for the rest of the attack to occur. The power of the Final Smash is average, capable of KOing from the center of most stages at around 30%-50%, provided that no Monado Arts are active. Try to hit multiple enemies with the ball of light by activating your Final Smash whenever you see many players clumped together. This will let you maximize the use of one Final Smash, and can even nab you several KOs.