SSBU/Dark Pit/Setplay

About Pit & Dark Pit

Dark Pit is an echo fighter of none other than

Pit. The only gameplay differences at all between the two characters are their Neutral B and Side-B specials. Aside from those two moves, their moveset and technical data is completely identical.

The Neutral B difference makes some parts of Dark Pit's advantage different than Pit's. Those differences will be documented on this page.

Juggling

Outside of combos, juggles are Dark Pit's best source of damage. While his tools can be unassuming at first, they allow Dark Pit to keep opponents above him until they either die or retreat offstage. This doesn't mean that Dark Pit's are infallible, given the read-heavy nature of juggles in Smash, so don't get the wrong idea. Hovewer, they remain more reliable than most of the cast's

Juggling tools

Dash Attack

In juggles, Dash Attack is used as a last resort, when the opponent is close to the ground. Resets the situation on hit (it also sends opponents offstage)

Uair _{Also known as "The Wall"}

Dark Pit's best juggling move. It is active for 13 frames, mostly due to its multi hit nature. Despite that, it has very little endlag, meaning that if opponents were to airdodge through it, Dark Pit can recover in time to punish their airdodge's endlag with another move, such as Dair. If the opponent used their double jump to avoid it, Dark Pit can stay in the same spot and just throw another Uair. Outside of that, this move has some synergy with Dark Pit's neutral-B

This tactic loses to fastfall airdodge

Arrow _{Aerial version is prefered}

Because his arrows are way stiffer, Dark Pit isn't as strong as Pit for juggles. However, this doesn't mean that they should be discarded entirely, since throwing a projectile to force a reaction is always a good idea. It is only inferior to Pit's due to being able to cover less space than a regular arrow

Edgeguard

Edgeguards are Dark Pit's main way of taking the opponent's stock. Fortunately for him, his edgeguarding and gimpingA type of edgeguard that aims to stop the opponent's momentum during recovery in order to kill way earlier than usual tools are some of the best in the game. This is only further enhanced by Dark Pit's multiple air jumps, allowing him to stay offstage way longer than other characters.

Edgeguarding tools

Nair

Due to being active for a very long time, Dark Pit can abuse of his Nair to mow through recoveries without hitboxes or invincibility (also catches airdodge attemps). It also works wonders against tethersThings such as Samus' Zair or Byleth's up-B, when properly timed. However, it is rather stubby, losing to recovery moves with longer reach

However, as good as it is, the very long endlag frames makes it pretty punishing if Dark Pit ever misses, since the opponent can recover, or even reverse edgeguardEdgeguard an opponent that is trying to edgeguard you him for free. So make sure you don't miss when you use it.

Fair

As a multi-hit, Fair allows Dark Pit to cover a lot of space at once, especially when fastfalling. The disjoint on it makes Fair safer to use against recoveries with a hitbox attached to it, while also killing earlier than Nair, while having a shorter animation. It doesn't last nearly as long as Nair, though

Bair

Mostly used against predictable recoveries, such as Donkey Kong's up-B. It is most effective when used while holding to the ledge

Dair

It's a spike, so of course it'll have some uses in edgeguard. However, said spike is notoriously weak, so Dark Pit will need to land it several times in a row if he's dead set on killing with it. Not optimal, and will help your opponent recover most of the time, but still a good option (on virtue of being a spike)

Arrow _{Meet The Sniper}

Dark Pit's arrow is a very potent way to force the opponent to burn a mobility option offstage. Since Dark Pit's arrow does more hitstun and damage, he can more easily chain arrows together, which can quickly kill the opponent. This works best when Dark Pit is airborne, since arrow has less endlag in the air. However, the stiffness of Dark Pit's arrow makes it a more commital strategy, especially when trying to cover low recoveries

If the opponent knows about that (whether they learned the hard way or via an external sourceSuch as what you're currently reading), chances are they'll do whatever they can to avoid the arrow. This is Dark Pit's cue to get closer and hit them with one of the previously mentioned tools. Repeat until the opponent either dies or gets back to the stage

It is very difficult to say which Pit has the better arrow for edgeguards, given how differently they are used. Experiment with both Pits and come to your own conclusions!