I must admit, Link is pretty good in this version. He's got nice, fast attacks that can be powerful and/or great for combos, loads of projectiles, and lotsa tricks. I'm pretty glad he's like this.

There are some things that need toned down though. Spin Attack, Clawshot, and Bommerang are the main abuseable problems. Leaning towards Spin Attack more. It's not crazy broken, I just don't like being launched from one end of FD to the other when it hasn't even been charged at low/mid%'s. Also, giving Zero Suit ending lag and not giving Link hardly any doesn't seem like really good justice.

Eh, still have to admit, he's shaping up nicely!

why would we make him bad (nerf everything that's good) when nothing is particularly abusable and he's not even a contender for a top position atm tho

Link's grounded uncharged spin attack just has high base knockback. It doesn't have really good knockback scaling. Comparing his grounded uncharged spin attack to his f-smash; spin attack initially does more knockback than f-smash but as percentages increase, the knockback decreases relative to f-smash. Mario dies on 180%+ with the spin attack when it is performed in the middle of Final Destination with DI. But he gets KOed much earlier by Link's f-smash at around 135% under the same conditions.

Plus, you can't really combo with spin attack anyway, it's just a good out-of-shield option as well as a good 'get away from me' move. It's also good at suprising your opponents as it is almost an instant start up move. Spin attack also has fairly high priority and can be used to out prioritise some moves such as Ichigo's side B or ZSS's side B (or even her f-smash o_O).

After playing a few matches with Link, I do feel like his boomerang is a bit 'wtf' if your on the receiving end (especially since if your coming in for a kill and suddenly you randomly get carried off the side of the stage or get carried into an attack if your not careful). But that can be avoided by jumping I guess.

I also feel the projection of his arrows are funky (what I mean by that is that it has shorter range than his boomerang and I have to jump once for it travel the same distance AND IT HAS SLIGHTLY MORE START UP LAG). Because of this, I don't even use his bow and arrows as much as his boomerang anymore...

Link is so much better.
Gotta take the time out to learn his changes haha
Maybe pick him up if I like his new changes.
(oh and btw some of you Link players online are pretty cheap :/)

Link is so much better.
Gotta take the time out to learn his changes haha
Maybe pick him up if I like his new changes.
(oh and btw some of you Link players online are pretty cheap :/)

Ok number 1, that's not everything good about Link (you can combo fsmash with both hits for 30%). 2, I was just saying.

I wasn't even complaining anyway, Link is still easy to get around and pressure. Really just pointing out it could get annoying if people abuse it.






Just saying, it's not exactly fun getting whipped around from wall to wall in Hidden Leaf Village.

You're right about it's base knockback, but it's more of the fact it sends ppls at a semispike that gets me.
Also, Bow does have it's uses. It's a powerful, semispiking, gimping tool. You can charge it, so u can camp in certain situations. It's not exactly ment for close range, so I wouldn't randomly throw it out.

I really like Link's down throw. At low percentages you can grab an opponent, use the down throw, hop and connect with both hits of his forward aerial or a neutral aerial. It's excellent.

The bow is okay, but I feel like that the boomerang should have less range than the bow. Also, it would be interesting to find a way to combine Link's bomb with the boomerang, like the bomb arrow. Or even implement the bomb for some of Link's throws. Back throw or forward throw, perhaps, for a bit more knockback. Of course, that might not be worth it since the bomb damages Link if he's too close...

Link's buffs give him better fighting abilities, though I will try to list any buffs and nerfs I do know of after playing him. He's always been on the low end of the community, but will his luck change and will he live up to the name of the Hero of Time? Let's find out:

He is much faster on ground and in air, along with better jumping and less falling speed, and faster ground speed.
Jab Combo comes out much faster; even faster than Sora's jab combo. It also gives more combo ability for power.
D-Tilt has been changed ant given better knockback, and can meteor smash better.
U-Tilt is now a more reliable combo and KO move than it ever was.
Dash attack can be able to start up combos better or even semi-spike the opponent (however, semi-spikes are under unusual circumstances).
Forward Smash comes out much faster and can combo better into itself, along with much less start, end and transition lag.
Down Smash comes out faster and has much more knockback, giving it either better KO ability or a good combo starter.
Up Smash has been sped up and is capable of starting up combos; however, to compensate, Up Smash's KO power was reduced.
Neutral aerial is a good combo starter and combo finisher, along with its much better knockback.
Forward aerial comes out faster and is a better finisher due to its increased KO power.
Up aerial has better range and has much faster end lag.
Down aerial, despite its range, has a dramatic speed, power, knockback and efficiency buff.
Neutral Special comes out faster and charges quickly, and its Bomb Arrow variant, while shorter range, does provide a viable tool for spacing.
Side Special has seen a tremendous buff to where it's able to drag your opponents in to let you either combo them or even KO them off the stage under certain circumstances.
Up Special (grounded) has received a buff to where it can now semi-spike opponents, and also has tremendous knockback to compliment its speed, making it a better edge-guarding tool.
Up Special (aerial) is a much better recovery and attack overall. His recovery is also far better now.
Z-air comes out faster and has more range.
Grab comes out faster.
Forward and Back throws have been buffed, though the latter has had its KO power increased, KOing opponents to as little as 75% damage.

Now for the nerfs I can see:
F-Tilt comes out much more slowly, despite its knockback increase.
Back aerial also comes out more slowly and doesn't link the hits or even have its combo ability.
Bomb arrows have far less range and power.
Bombs have less range and power, decreasing their usability.
Z-air comes out too fast, so the window of timing on grabbing the ledge with it is very small.
Link's sword has shorter range overall, has a larger hitbox and is much more floaty and can be sent off more easily.

What I think of him in this demo is now that since he has a tremendous amount of buffs and little nerfs, he's a much more viable character in the demo. Granted, his F-Tilt, B-Air and Bombs are much less effective now, but his recovery and attack power and speed buffs compensate greatly for it, especially with his Semi-spiking properties on Dash and U-Spec. He is also better at combos than ever before thanks to his faster air speed, better jumping and more. He's a tougher opponent than ever and he could really find a way against your defenses.

However, I may not be 100% accurate, nor may I be able to have all listed buffs or nerfs, but these are all I can truly find for now; if you have a buff or nerf of him, tell me.

I have like 3 main problems with link

God i hate the gale on boomerang so much, it feels like such bull and its actually whats keeping me from actually using Link myself.

Also bombs loving to completely ignore shields half the time absolutely needs to go

And that semi spike on up b, oh jesus. Its not even that hard to punish too cuz of the very little end lag. (although that might just be kirby salt talking)

The boomerang is really not hard to SDI out of. If you get hit with it in the middle of FD, you should not leave the stage. It's a CPU killer because they can't do proper DI, but against humans it's an added effect. You can use it to set up hits, but not as a kill move in its own right. The bombs are good as shield pokes, but not really OP or anything: just sidestep if you're in a pinch, but otherwise just don't let Link get pressure going. There's a fair amount of ending lag on uspec, plus it is vulnerable to various attacks during the move.

Boomerang's wind box even if its not going to kill me by itself can set up a kill, and has a really large area of effect. So yeah i can dodge it but i gotta go way out of the way to do so, and even moving away puts me in a vulnerable postion or at the very least a position where i cant really pressure link.

And link really does not need shield poking bombs. If I properly guard something, it should result in me guarding the attack. Its not like the bomb is hitting a part of me unprotected by a shield, and as a kirby player litterally half my shield doesnt protect me from bomb. I shouldnt absolutely have to get out of the way of an attack like bomb, no attack (besides cape and grabs) should be unblockable.

Bomb is a bug. You're going to have to work with other SSF2 players and figure out a way to get around boomerang, we can't nerf everything that's good just because some people find it annoying. Think a bit and you'll be able to adapt to it I promise.

Even with the good Link has, he still has some bad things that don't make him top.

Very true, his slow mobility really get hims most of the time. He's easily outclassed by Falcon and Sonic is this regard.

Having slow mobility isn't that bad. And he out-ranges and out-prioritizes Sonic and Falcon. He has no problem dealing with Speeders.

Link is still a strong contender for Top-5. He's one of the only character with the potential to counter or have an even match-up with Ichigo, Lloyd, and Sora; the three characters with the high possibility of being Top-3.