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by Vulkysaur
Doc note: Typically we label our training guides as Beginner’s Guides. This is to reflect that there are no real experts in amiibo training: we’ve all got a lot to learn. However, Vulkysaur has gone above and beyond the level of expertise that other Samus trainers have achieved in a very short time, so I’ve used the term “Expert” in this guide to commemorate his success.
Hello, I’m Vulkyz and this is the Definitive Edition of the Samus guide where I will go in-depth on how to train the character, and teach things you should know about Samus before training her.
All references to Samus also apply to Dark Samus.
The History of Samus
Samus in Sm4sh was bad. Like, really bad – that’s back when they were top of the D tier alongside R.O.B and Mega Man. But in Smash Ultimate, Samus/Dark Samus used to be at the bottom of the B tier until they got clobbered down to the middle near the top of C + due to not being able to kill well at all. At that point they couldn’t even use Charge Shot which was vital to her kit in the scene nowadays.
Amiibo Doctor (Doc note: Hi) came out and trained an Up-Tilt spam Dark Samus. It did well in tournaments. That’s when people thought that Up Tilt was good on Samus, and they all started using it. Then LittleFang came along with his phenomenal Samuses, and they also did well in tournaments so people started having more faith in the character. Currently, in 2022, I’m spending my summer researching this amiibo. Right now, I have the #1 Dark Samus on Amiibots with a rating of 30.87 with 28 wins and 22 losses. I’m currently putting a lot of effort into Samus and innovating in a lot of ways.
Overall Playstyle
Most Samus amiibo should be 70% aggressive and 30% defense, and be mostly on the ground. Focus a bit more on shielding than parrying when attacked by multi-hits, so the amiibo doesn’t try to parry everything.
Samuses Charge shot is one of her best moves that can be able to zone out the opponent. She can also use an uncharged Charge shot into a Dash attack, which is a good follow-up.
Down Smash is also one of Samus’s best moves: the contest is between Charge Shot and Down Smash. Down smash is a great out-of-shield/parry option and overall a fast get-off-me tool: the back hit of Down Smash launches a pretty disgusting distance that could lead into an edge guard.
Neutral Air has always been a great move for Samus. She’s able to gimp opponents with easily punishable recoveries and the front hit is stronger than the back hit, so she’s able to gimp easily. Despite the look, Samus is a heavyweight – heavier than Ridley – so she can survive being launched for a long time.
How to Train the Samus and Dark Samus amiibo
I recommend that you go Slow Smash for training Samus. It’s easier overall to not mess up mis-inputs and to shield bad behavior from the amiibo. Most Samus amiibo should be 70% aggressive and 30% defense, so focus a bit more on shielding than parrying for multi-hits.
When you start the training you need to have a balance between Down tilt and Down smash. Use Down Tilt 55% and Down Smash 45% of the time. You can use Dash attack once in a while; it’s a good kill move at 100%, and helps with the kill problem Samus has.
Up tilt can be used as her main anti-air due to Up Smash not being a reliable move. Samus can combo Up Tilt into Down Air at low percents.
Samus’ tether grab is okay, but you should only use it a bit. Use Down Throw, and don’t follow up into it: the amiibo will eventually learn how to use Down Throw into Forward Air and Up Throw to kill.
Now for the hard part: for Samus to use the Charge Shot, you have to use the middle charged variation of the charge shot (the one that’s not small, but also not the largest) and use another attack afterward so it doesn’t jump. If you do another mid Charge Shot after you did one, it will jump over it: you need to keep it as grounded as possible so it doesn’t become jumpy. Shield all the charge shots that weren’t charged so it won’t spam the uncharged ones, and only get hit by the middle charged ones. If you accidentally fully charge it instantly, shoot it out and it’ll learn to do that.
Also, be aware that the more you shield, the fewer chances it will get to use Charge Shot. so it’ll end up using a defensive option instead. Be sure to not shield too much, and don’t use Charge Shot too much so Samus can balance all her moves together. It’s not exactly clear what “too much” is, so you may need to train two or three Samuses before getting the hang of it.
Use Down Air only for landing, and not to spike offstage. The amiibo will Down Air spike offstage regardless, so we limit its usage to keep it from spamming it.
Your main priority offstage is to safeguard with Neutral Air. Offstage, the front or back hit doesn’t matter as long as it hits offstage. Samus will use it as an edge guard if it does.
When you’re at ledge, use ledge drop Back Air as an edge guard. It’s good to edgeguard easily punishable recoveries.
On the off-chance that you self destruct, you can also use her fast fall to help it fast fall more consistently. Fast falling is useful because it keeps Samus closer to the ground, but she won’t mistime an aerial so
You can use F-Smash out of parry, but remember that Samus cannot know if it’s a sweet spot or not. Understand that there’s a risk with Forward Smash, but it’ll pay off on average.
After a few levels in the 20s, if you like how it’s behaving then turn off learning, turn on Fast Smash and put it up against another amiibo for a few stocks to level up. She gets her final AI at level 43, but you should take it to 50.
If the Samus is jumping a lot at 50, then turn learning on and do a 3-stock match. Do not jump at all until you iron out its jump values. If the Samus isn’t doing as well, you can restart the training or do more post-50 matches. Just have some care when retraining her, and don’t be afraid to start over. If you successfully trained her well she can be a killer Samus if you put some hard work into her.
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