Super Smash Bros. Brawl/Character strategies

This is where you can find out which character best suits you, and how to use them in the best possible way to make you own every one you face. For character-specific strategies, see the individual character pages.

Characters are supposed to fight the way they were meant to. Meaning that light characters aren't supposed to use the tactics of a heavy character. There is no ultimate strategy for all characters, or that any type of character is any better than any other. The strategies of characters are completely dependent on the weight class of the character. And that all characters are to be treated not only evenly, but differently, they all have different characteristics and fighting styles.

This page unfolds each and every character; their ideal strategy, their fighting style, and other things that are helpful for those of you who are unsure about their playing style and which character they should use.

Picking the perfect Character
This is the most important part of the game. After unlocking all the characters; there are 35 in total, not including the ones that transform. (Samus into Zero Suit and back to Power suit, Pokémon Trainer's three different Pokémon, and Zelda/Sheik) So picking one or two that are just perfect for you can sometimes be a challenge.

The first question to ask yourself is what fighting style do you like? There are many types. Fast combos, projectiles, slow but strong smash attacks, and a few more. But if you're not sure as to which type you prefer, you should probably experiment with them all, an easy way to do this is by going to training mode and just looking at all their attacks, but there's no telling what situation you'll be put in during a brawl, and the training isn't the best for exploring all of those. It's recommended by many that when you first start playing the game; you go into The Subspace Emissary. That way you can use almost any character. The only downside is that to use some characters; you have to nearly finish the game. So it's really up to you.

But you can also do a multi-man Brawl, as that way, you can see how all the character's moves affect your opponents. But there's a downside to this too: the Alloys you fight in the Multi-man Brawls go flying so much further than normal. But you can still see how much damage they inflict.

The final option is arguably the best: Just brawl! Pick a character and use them in a 2 or 3 minute brawl with the easiest possible Computer controlled character.

The point is; just experiment with every possible situation, then start making the Computer harder and harder but continue to experiment. Doing a Solo Classic Mode with all the characters not only allows you to unlock stuff but it also allows you to experiment. And whenever you unlock a character; go and use them a few times; see if you like them.

Strategies for Specific Classes
This is to help you find the perfect strategy for your character...

Light
Light characters are all about Speed and Combos. These two aspects of a characters attacks are vital and are your biggest asset when fighting. Even more are combos you design yourself, such as throwing someone up and hitting them whilst in the air, jumping up again and hitting them higher, and higher, and higher! This is known as juggling. Combos are important to light characters but speed is also important. In terms of light characters: the faster, the better.

Because light characters are light; they generally go flying further than heavy characters when hit. So they tend to have very good recovery moves. For example: Mr. game & watch is one of, (If not the lightest) characters in the game. So he obviously goes flying the furthest, but he also has a terrific recovery move! Not only does it send him flying high up into the sky; but he can glide back down slowly afterwards, and not only that; but it's one of the few recovery moves in the game that doesn't leave him vulnerable after use.

Anyway; Speed and Combos: very helpful.

A lot of light characters go flying far when hit. So shielding is another useful strategy you can't live without: Get into the hang of shielding, then rolling or dodging, and repeating the process. This is a good strategy for most characters but Light ones more than others.

Medium
Obviously Medium weighted characters are in the middle, they can have powerful attacks that take a while to charge and then leave them slightly vulnerable, but they often have fast combos that build up damage slowly, so the question people ask a lot is; "When I use a Medium character, should I use a strong attack, or a fast one?" And this really depends on not only YOUR playing style, but the weight of your character. All medium characters are about the same in terms of weight; but there are also sub classes: Very Light, Medium-light, Medium-Heavy, and very Heavy. So if your medium character is more of a light character than they are a heavy character; treat them like a light character; with fast combos and other speedy attacks. And vice versa: If your medium character is heavier than usual, treat them like a heavy character. Remember, treat your character at the absolute extreme!

But for a character like Mario or Luigi Who are almost exactly in the Middle, what do you do? Well Luigi does have a combo. (Down Special) But he has no extremely strong attacks that follow the characteristics of a heavy character so the point is:

If you can't decide judging on the weight of the characters, look at their moves. Which brings up the next point: Samus Aran... (With Power Suit) OK, her Standard Special move is a strong attack, and her Up special move is a fast combo... Wrong!! Don't assume her standard Special move is a strong one. Just because it's strong when you charge it up, doesn't mean it's strong when you don't. Donkey Kong on the other hand, his Standard Special Move is also a chargeable one, but when you don't charge it up a lot, it still deals a lot of damage, and It's slow as well. DING-DING-DING! Heavy move alert! So the final thing to remember is... When you're deciding if your character is best as a light or a Heavy; don't think too much about the actual damage of the attacks, think of the speed they execute at, Donkey Kong's punch takes a long time to execute but Samus' power shot is very fast to execute for such a powerful move.

Heavy
There is a very popular strategy for heavy characters; and most people rely on it every time they use a heavy character: The three Ps:
 * Patience
 * Precision
 * Power

Patience is all about waiting for the right moment to strike; many heavy character moves leave the character vulnerable for some time, so don't go attacking all the time, wait for the time to strike.

Precision is the next most important thing to be careful of. When you do get a chance to attack, (Which isn't all that often) make sure you actually hit your opponent! Too many times people wait for ages to get the right chance to strike, and then they completely miss their opponent which is very sad because they immediately lose the game, they needed to attack so badly but they wasted it when they got the chance.

And finally: Power: As said before, you don't get that many chances to strike, so if you get a perfect opportunity; don't waste it by using a weak attack, You're a heavy character, you're renowned for having the strongest attacks in the game! If you're going to attack, do it properly and unleash your most powerful asset!

Summary

 * Light — Speed and combos (don't forget to shield every now and then)
 * Medium — Follow the sub weight class of your character, and if not, look at your moves and the speed at which they execute.
 * Heavy — Patience, Precision, Power (in order of importance)