Super Smash Bros Ultimate Byleth Moves and Attacks
After much speculation, the new Smash Bros. Ultimate character is Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. We'll show you how to play them here.
After months of anticipation, the final Super Smash Bros Ultimate character to be added to the game as part of the first fighter pack has been revealed as Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. We'll take you through the essentials of what you'll need to know to get to grips with this newest challenger.
Byleth Tips
Byleth is a fighter who switches between multiple weapons for various moves, and compensates for low mobility by being, in Sakurai's own words, a "distance demon," able to strike opponents with high-damage ranged attacks and throw them around with four separate weapons. We've listed some useful tips for playing as them below.
- Byleth's up-Smash attack launches enemies into the air.
- Byleth's up-air attack hits enemies above them multiple times and lasts for a while, an effective juggling tool.
- The up-special launches enemies upwards, until they've reached a certain percentage of damage. It doesn't do that afterwards.
- Forward and back air attacks have long reaches, allowing you to keep airborne enemies at bay.
- The side-Smash won't hit enemies lying down unless you tilt downwards to compensate.
- On top of this, the tip of the lance in your side-Smash is more powerful. If you can make sure they're on the very end of the blade, they'll take more damage, whereas hitting them with the rest of it doesn't do much.
- The side-special has huge reach and even allows you to charge forward, but it's easily blocked and leaves you vulnerable on landing.
- The down-special gives you some protection while performing it. You can get hit by a Falcon punch and it won't even stop Byleth from swinging the axe.
- Once charged, you can't cancel firing the bow in any way, and are committed to shooting it sooner or later.
Byleth’s Moveset and Controls
| Special Move Controls | Special Type | Special Move Description |
|---|---|---|
| B | Neutral Special | Charge and fire a powerful arrow for a long way. Hold to charge even more for greater damage. |
| Left Stick Forward + B | Side Special | An upward lance swing with extreme reach. |
| Left Stick Up + B | Up Special | Capture and reel in opponents using the whip sword. Can also be used to grab ledges and pull yourself up. |
| Left Stick Down + B | Down Special | A huge downwards strike that's hard to interrupt. |
| B when FS Meter is Full | Final Smash | "Progenitor God Ruptured Heaven." Byleth strikes all enemies ahead of him, then follows up with a wave of massive damage. |
How to Play Byleth
Byleth is focused on keeping enemies a certain distance away, juggling them with a variety of weapons or making large, drastic strikes that bowl people over. Their up-special is particularly devastating, allowing to throw opponents around the battlefield and even use them as platforms to jump off, meaning that Byleth can leap off the stage, pull an opponent with them, then kick off their head and land back at safety while they plummet to their death. It's a strategy that won't gain you many friends, but will win you matches.
Byleth's Weaknesses
Byleth's big weakness appears to be those fighters who can counter. Many of their moves are clearly telegraphed or force you to commit to them, such as the bow or downwards smash, meaning that it's not too hard for opponents to turn your attacks against you. However, leaping into a melee and striking at those who're already distracted can be devastating, with many specials that can hit multiple characters at once.
Byleth's Final Smash
Byleth's Final Smash has the rather wordy name of "Progenitor God Ruptured Heaven," which causes them to make a sword swipe at anything for a short direction in front of them. Enemies who are hit then take huge damage in a brief cinematic in which Byleth swings their whip, accompanied by Sothis, and creates a wave of energy.
Alternate Outfits
Like all other characters before them, Byleth has a full range of outfits and costumes to try when you take them into the arena, including male and female variants of the character. You can see all their outfits in the images below.
That’s everything you'll need as you take Byleth into the arenas of Super Smash Bros Ultimate. For more on the game, check out our guides for every character, or go here to see the best spirits in the game, how to use them, and how to get them.