The Dragon Quest Smash hero has finally been revealed today by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Director Masahiro Sakurai and he’s just a wee bit crazier than fans might have been expecting. The magic system has a lot of variety in it and that’s pretty cool, but he also has an RNG ability that will allow him to potentially instakill his opponent. Oof.
If you’re a fan of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you’ve probably just watched the Nintendo Direct hosted by Sakurai. Opening the video with a humorous comment about how they don’t have the budget for better production (and with other people in the room apparently laughing in the background), Mr. Sakurai jumped right into the breakdown of the game’s newest DLC fighter. We got to see their proper names, their voice actors, and then we finally got on to their movesets.
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There is a nice variety of magical spells available, but one in particular will be particularly troublesome for people fighting against the Dragon Quest Smash hero: Thwack. In short, it can instakill you if it activates properly.
“And then there’s ‘Thwack’,” Mr. Sakurai began via a translator. “This fearsome spell can potentially K.O. an opponent in one hit. However, the opponent’s damage percentage will ultimately determine the effect. So if they’re damage percentage is low, it’s less likely to activate.”
Community reaction to Hero and his abilities has been understandably energetic in the period immediately following the “low-budget” Nintendo Direct from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team.
so Hero just has like 5 RNG instakill things going on huh
— Miranda (@Goofzillers) July 30, 2019
Instakill, sleep, freeze, speed, extra damage, ridiculous recovery and health regen. Yep, seems like a balanced character to me#SmashBrosUltimate #hero
— Spicy 🌶️ (@SpicyGreninja) July 30, 2019
I still can't believe how crazy fun The Hero looks to play. He seems busted #SmashBrosUltimate #DragonQuest
— Amar (@itsamaryo) July 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/Weavile493/status/1156199716805324800
It’s entirely possible that the Dragon Quest Smash hero abilities will be toned down a bit in a post-launch patch. If not, he may well prove troublesome for inexperienced players to deal with (and likely be banned from casual tournaments for fear of making things too imbalanced). You can watch the Nintendo Direct in question below to see these moves in action for yourself, with the deadly thwack move being demonstrated at 9:07.