Dark Samus (Smash Plus)

Dark Samus is a playable character in Super Smash Brothers Plus for the Nintendo Switch Plus. Representing the Metroid universe, she is listed as Fighter #24 in Smash's modified numbering system and is classified as a Middleweight Fighter. She is hidden at the start of the game, but can be unlocked through random encounters in versus mode or by defeating Classic Mode with Ridley.
At first glance it may appear that Dark Samus hasn't received much of a change from Smash Ultimate. She is no longer merely an Echo Fighter of Samus, but has retained much of her previous moveset (while Samus' received some changes to her overall moveset) but has also attained one major addition. Her Phazon Corruption ability increases the damage done to foes with certain attacks, similar to the Ink mechanics that the Inkling and Octoling use. Moreover, Dark Samus' Down Special and Final Smash make use of her Phazon Absorbtion to heal herself while also damaging foes, making her a very tricky fighter to deal with. In spite of this, she retains many of Samus' weaknesses, namely her overt reliance on projectiles to damage and finish off foes. She also is relatively weak on the ground, and has slightly worse defensive stats than Samus overall, making Dark Samus something of a glass cannon that can hit hard, but takes damage rather quickly. The focus should be on racking up damage with Phazon Corruption and then finding the right opportunity to strike, preferably from a distance. Dark Samus has two normal jumps, can crawl and can wall jump.
==Moveset==
===Basic Attacks===
*Special Gimmick: Phazon Corruption- Several of Dark Samus' moves will inflict "Phazon" damage onto opponents. Players who are "corrupted" are shown this effect by having a pulsing blue aura surround them and their damage icon on screen. There are four levels of corruption based on how much Phazon damage has been done to players, with damage multipliers added to Phazon attacks when they are corrupted. There is a 1.1x damage multiplier at 0-25%, 1.2x for 26-50%, 1.33x at 51-75%, and 1.5x at 76-100%. Phazon corruption fades over time, to the tune of 12% every 3 seconds, meaning it takes roughly 24 seconds for a player to be fully uncorrupted. Corruption can also be lost by suffering a KO, using a healing item, or if Dark Samus uses her Down Special or Final Smash on an opponent.
*Neutral Jab- Dark Samus performs a two hit combo consisting of a left handed jab and a sweeping club with her arm cannon.
*Side Tilt- Dark Samus performs a roundhouse kick at midrange in front of herself, an attack with decent knockback. The move can be angled up or down depending on directional input.
*Up Tilt- Dark Samus performs an axe kick, similar to Captain Falcon's, that pops opponents up into the air if the second downward hit connects.
*Down Tilt- Dark Samus crouches down and performs a small explosion of Phazon energy directly in front of herself. This attack deals 15% corruption to enemies.
*Dash Attack- Dark Samus slides forward with her arm cannon pointed out, detonating a small explosion of Phazon in front of her. This move deals 12% corruption to enemies.
*Grab & Pummel- Dark Samus grabs by extending her Grapple Beam, which also functions as a tether grab. She pummels by sending a small jolt of Phazon through the beam. This pummels deals 2% of corruption to enemies.
*Forward Throw- Dark Samus twirls the opponent over her head and then flings them forward.
*Back Throw- Dark Samus swings the opponent behind herself with her grapple beam.
*Up Throw- Dark Samus lifts the foe overhead and then launches them skyward with a blast of Phazon. Does 8% of Corruption Damage.
*Down Throw- Dark Samus lifts the opponent up and then slams them into the ground, popping them up for further attacks.
*Neutral Air- Dark Samus performs a roundhouse kick, covering both sides of herself.
*Forward Air- Dark Samus fires 5 blasts of Phazon energy directly in front of herself. Each explosion deals 6% of Corruption Damage.
*Back Air- Dark Samus detonates a powerful blast of Phazon Energy directly behind herself. This explosion deals 18% of Corruption Damage if it sweetspots, and 6% if it doesn't.
*Up Air- Dark Samus performs a diagonal corkscrew flying kick, striking opponents multiple times and launching on the final hit.
*Down Air- Dark Samus swings her arm cannon downward in an arcing motion, spiking foes if it connects at just the right time.
===Smash Attacks===
*Side Smash- Dark Samus thrusts her arm cannon forward and detonates a powerful explosion of Phazon at the end of it to launch foes. While some of the launch power for this attack has been lost, it is one of the more damaging Corruption attacks, dealing 20% of Damage if fully charged. The attack can be angled slightly up or down depending on directional input.
*Up Smash- Dark Samus detonates 5 Phazon blasts above her head in a front to back arcing motion. Each blast combos into the other, with the fifth blast having launch power. The 4 initial blasts each deal 5% of Corruption Damage, with the final blast dealing 10% of Corruption Damage, for a grand total of 30% if all hits connect, making this easy to rack of Corruption with.
*Down Smash- Dark Samus performs a 360 degree legsweep around herself, with both the front and back hits dealing decent knockback and damage. Still her least damaging Smash Attack overall.
===Special Moves===
*Neutral Special: Charge Shot- Dark Samus will fire a small blast of energy from her arm cannon if the button is pressed twice in quick succession. Holding the special button will charge the attack however, creating a powerful ball of energy than can be stored for later use. The charge can also be interrupted by dodging, and the charging motion can be started in midair as well. When fully charged, the Charge Shot does tremendous knockback and damage, and also a whopping 25% of Corruption Damage. However, it is very slow, particularly at full charge, making it easy to dodge.
*Side Special: Missile- Dark Samus fires a missile towards her opponents. The type of missile however depends on how the attack is fired. Inputting the command like a Tilt Attack will fire a normal missile that has limited homing capability, but does less damage and knockback overall and doesn't travel as far. Inputting the command as a Smash Attack will fire a Phazon missile instead, that does more damage and an addition 12% of Corruption Damage. However the Phazon Missile has higher endlag, leaving Dark Samus open to attack.
*Up Special: Screw Attack- Dark Samus somersaults through the air quickly, an electric current of Phazon energy running through her body. The attack hits multiple times, launching on the final hit, but does far less damage than Samus' Screw Attack (and has a slightly shorter range). As a trade off though, the Screw Attack deals 3% of Corruption damage per hit, meaning that if all hits connect in midair it can deal a whopping 36% of Corruption damage. The Corruption Multiplier will stay at the level it was at when the attack began, however (meaning, that the damage the Screw Attack deals is set when the move begins).
*Down Special: Phazon Absorbtion- Dark Samus will focus energy around herself and detonate a small burst of Phazon. Any uncorrupted enemy will be dealt a small amount of damage and knocked back slightly. However, if any enemy who has been corrupted is hit by the attack, then the Phazon Corruption will detonate in their body, dealing huge explosive damage that scales up depending on how corrupted they were (though without factoring in the Corruption Multiplier). In addition, Dark Samus will regain health equal to one quarter of the Corruption level per opponent. Using this attack will automatically remove all corruption from any enemy hit by it.
*Final Smash: Dark Echo Dance- Dark Samus will appear at the center of the stage, immune to all damage for the duration of the Final Smash. She will summon into existence up to 3 Dark Echoes of herself (1 for each opponent, though capped at 3 in matches with more than 3 opponents) who then dance across the field, dealing damage and Corruption to any player they come in contact with. After 6 seconds, Dark Samus detonates a powerful Phazon Absorbtion that covers the stage, dealing massive explosive damage to all corrupted opponents and regaining health equivalent to one third the combined total of Corruption Damage the opponents had. Opponents who somehow remain uncorrupted during the FS will take no damage.
===Miscellaneous===
*Entry Animation- Dark Samus enters the field through a dark Aether Portal, similar to the ones from Metroid Prime 2.
*Idle Animation 1- Dark Samus brings her arm cannon down and then brings it back up.
*Idle Animation 2- Dark Samus rubs her arm cannon with her free hand, briefly.
*Side Taunt- Dark Samus spins in place while glowing with Phazon Energy.
*Up Taunt- Dark Samus hovers in place, pointing her arm cannon forward while glowing with Phazon.
*Down Taunt- Dark Samus crouches down while holding her arm cannon up at a slight angle.
*Victory Animation 1- Dark Samus lifts her free arm up and then drops it in a fist pump motion, all while glowing with Phazon energy.
*Victory Animation 2- 2 Dark Samus Echoes dance around each other in a cartwheel, before returning to the center of the screen, merging back into Dark Samus who stands triumphant.
*Victory Animation 3- Dark Samus slowly turns towards the camera, which quickly zooms into her visor, staring into her cold blank eyes.
==How to Unlock==
Dark Samus can be unlocked any of the following ways:
*Playing Versus Matches until she randomly shows up as a "Challenger Approaching" fight. Defeat her to unlock her.
*Clear Classic Mode with Ridley on Starting Difficulty 3.0 or higher.
*Unlock her in the Finale of World of Light by defeating her.
*Pay 1,000 gold in a shop, where she can randomly appear (though rarely.)
Category:Super Smash Bros. Characters
Category:Super Smash Bros. (series)
Category:Smash Plus Characters