The Strongest Spirits in Competitive Amiibo

by FrosD, Guest Contributor

It is commonly known throughout the amiibo scene that there are 5 spirits commonly regarded as the best spirits. These spirits are known as the Big 5, and for good reason too. The Big Five in order from best to worst are:

Armor Knight:

Armor Knight is the best spirit despite arguments saying that Super Armor is better I am choosing to rank Armor Knight higher. Armor Knight provides a whopping 1.8x defense boost and a 1.15x attack boost. It does this while sacrificing some move speed by a 0.7x multiplier or roughly a third less speed, however this means nothing as Armor Knight only takes 2 slots so you can easily combine Armor Knight with spirits like Trade Off Ability, Lightweight, or Move Speed Up. Trade-off Speed would also work although I don’t recommend it as the spirit is hardly worth the 30% damage you take each stock.

Super Armor

Super Armor is a great spirit and a contender for being the best spirit. What Super Armor does is reduce knockback to the point it is non existent at low damage. However at ~65% you will begin to take normal knock back. Super Armor is definitely good but taking into account most moves don’t kill until after 65% and it is still possible to gimp a Super Armor opponent (however it is extremely hard to do so); however I don’t mean to undersell Super Armor as it is definitely deserving of it’s spot in the Big 5.

Greater Autoheal

Greater Autoheal is a very good spirit and certainly has its uses however whenever it is unbanned the rest of the Big Five will also likely and there is no reason not to go with it over Armor Knight or Super Armor. Not to say it can’t be a gimmick for a raid boss. All the same greater Autoheal is very good as it heals the user by 5% every 5 seconds.

Slow Super Armor

Slow Super Armor is identical to Super Armor other than the fact that it only take two support slots and slows the users speed. I could make the argument that Slow Super Armor is better than Super Armor as you can add a Trade-off Ability spirit and end up with similar speed but have more attack and defense at the expense of 30% damage at the start of each stock. Or with a movement spirit you can end up with more speed.

Autoheal (a.k.a. Lesser auto heal)

Autoheal is very similar to greater Autoheal accept it heals less. The only difference is that rather than healing 5% every 5 seconds it heals 3% every 5 seconds.

There is no question that the Big 5 are the best spirits; however that is not to say they are the only good spirits. Here are a few other good spirits to put on your amiibo.

Instadrop

Instadrop is by far one of the most interesting spirits in the game. And is definitely very unique. What Instadrop does is essentially give the user a new move, and a really good move at that. It work like a stall and fall move without the stall. It launches the user to the ground almost instantaneously and turns the user into a big hit box dealing 9% per hit. Instadrop is especially good on Falco, Luigi, Jigglypuff, Pikachu, and Sheik.

Trade-off ability

Trade-off ability is a really good spirit and works for most characters. It gives a noticeable buff to attack, defense, and move speed at the expense of 30% of your health each stock. The attack buff is by a multiplier of 1.18x, the defense buff is by a multiplier of 1.2x, and the horizontal movement is buffed by a multiplier of 1.2x. Yes this is an undoubtedly good spirit and the only reason it isn’t ranked above Instadrop is because it has been known to make amiibo inconsistent.

Toss and meteor

Toss and meteor is a phenomenal spirit. I would go as far to say as it is tied with trade off ability. The way it works is it increases damage and launch distance on moves that launch straight up or down. To be more specific it boosts moves that launch at angles (refer to angle chart below) from 120°-60° and angles from 240°-300°. That means the spirit boosts moves that launch up, such as most uptilts, up airs, up smashes, and more, as well as boosting all spikes.

Honorable Mentions

1. Physical attack up

In spirits tournaments you will see this spirit more than any other spirit. It is not broken or busted but it is decent and has its uses. It is somewhat of a Swiss Army knife of spirits. It is not going to win you any battles. It boosts attacks that use punches, elbow strikes, foot attacks, knee attacks, etc.

2. Greater critical health healing

This spirit is insane in 1 stock matches or in stamina matches however in any other situation it just isn’t worth the slots. The way it work is it heals the user by 100% when the user hits 100%.

3. Critical immunity

An okay spirit that grants temporary invincibility for 8 seconds after reaching 100%. In general it isn’t bad but it is especially good against Link and decent against multi hit based moves.

4. Giant

It is a decent spirit that gives the user the giant effect. The only thing holding this spirit back is that it only lasts for a measly 8 seconds at the start of the match. It is barely worth the slots it takes up.

5. Metal

Makes the user take less damage, have less knock back, and fall faster for 12 sec at the start of the match. It does have the drawbacks of making it harder to recover.

This list is my no means a complete list of every useful spirit. The list is only a few of the better spirits. I strongly encourage everyone to experiment with different spirits and training methods.

By FrosD19~ with the help from Bones Malone, LML123, and Schmorca