Courtesy photo: Nintendo
A new Fire Emblem character has been added to Super Smash Bros Ultimate. The new character is Byleth and s/he isn't your ordinary Fire Emblem character which is very exciting because that's what I was worried about the most. I thought Byleth was just going to be another sword character with similar moves to the rest of the Fire Emblem characters. But to my surprise, she actually has four different weapons.
Courtesy photo: Nintendo
Byleth's four weapons are a bow & arrow, a sword-whip hybrid, a staff, and an ax. The multiple weapons that Byleth wields, makes a versatile character with the potential for many combo attacks.
All of their Jabs, Tilt Attacks, and Dash Attacks use the sword-whip hybrid. These moves have big, disjointed hitboxes in front, behind, or above Byleth. Mastering them will require getting comfortable with spacing out your enemies.
Byleth's real power shows in her side smash and side special attacks. Their side smash can be angled up or down and is extremely useful when executed correctly, an upward-tiled Side Smash is the move’s strongest variation, while a downward-tiled Side Smash is the only way to land the move opponents that have been knocked on the ground. Byleth’s Side Special is a massive, sweeping strike with Areadbhar. It propels them forward when done on the ground and can cover platforms. When done in the air, it doesn’t move Byleth forward much but is still a powerful spacing tool. The move has a ton of reach but leaves Byleth vulnerable if it’s shielded or whiffed.
Another move with immense power is Byleth's down special. The incredibly powerful strike has a lengthy wind-up but deals massive damage if it connects. It also grants Byleth super armor when they’re mid-swing, making the move uninterruptible unless they’re grabbed out of it.
Something I realized when playing with Byleth is her speed of attacks. In order to play Byleth well, you need to understand their timing. Byleth's attacks are slower than most sword characters, so expect to get beat to the punch when you first start learning how to use Byleth. Understanding their timing and knowing the speed of the character you are playing against will be the difference between winning and losing the game. S/he is slow but strong and that's their biggest and worst aspect of this new DLC character.