Roy Character Guide for Smash Ultimate

Character overview

Roy is an aggressive sword rushdown character with explosive close-range sweetspot reward.

Difficulty level

Beginner-friendly

Playstyle identity

Win space quickly, pressure shield with speed, and finish stocks through close-range confirms.

Strengths

• Strong burst and shield pressure
• Reliable kill power from sweetspot hits
• Fast tempo that overwhelms hesitant defense

Weaknesses

• Unsweetspotted hits are less rewarding
• Can be punished for overaggression
• Recovery can be edgeguarded if linear

Best beginner gameplan

• Close space with safe dash pressure
• Condition shield then mix grab and aerials
• Convert corner wins into quick kill threats

Neutral strategy

• Play at sweetspot burst distance
• Avoid mindless full-hop fair entries
• Use grounded pressure to bait panic options

Advantage state

• Maintain corner pressure with low-commit swings
• Juggle with up air while tracking escapes
• At ledge, rotate between jump callout and roll trap

Disadvantage state

• Do not panic side-B in escape
• Mix landing drift and delayed aerials
• Preserve jump for safer recovery routing

Recovery tips

• Vary up-B timing and side drift
• Recover low when anti-air edgeguard is waiting
• Avoid repeated air dodge patterns

Common beginner mistakes

• Overreliance on side-B in neutral
• Spacing too far and losing sweetspot value
• Forcing kill options when stage is already won

Key moves

• Jab: close pressure starter
• Nair: burst neutral tool
• Side-B: confirm finisher
• Back air: ledge kill option

Out of shield options

• Up-B out of shield on unsafe pressure
• Nair out of shield scramble answer
• Shield grab when opponents land too close

Basic combos

• Jab into side-B routes
• Nair starter into aerial follow-up
• Down throw into pressure reset

Kill confirms

• Jab confirms into side-B at high percent
• Back air at ledge jump
• F-smash hard read in corner

Matchup considerations

• Against zoners, use burst entries after shield walks
• Against swordies, play inside their preferred range
• Against heavies, pressure shield and trap corner

Practical gameplay advice

• Roy wins through tempo and confidence
• Do not surrender spacing discipline for speed
• Adapt side-B usage per opponent habits

Training priorities

• Sweetspot spacing drills
• Jab confirm consistency
• Ledge trap sequencing

Related guides

• What is neutral
• How to keep advantage
• Landing safely
• Best training mode drills