Please rework Slade#342

This character is very unfun to play against; at minimum, make this character a combo doll so that when you do get in on him, he isn’t just tanking you into dtilt or getting a FH grab into a tech chase started. Melee link could do some tilting dhit, but he was at least easily combo’d by the entire cast. We don’t need to make an ultimate character; none of us came hear to play ultimate.

I’m not against zoners in the game, but this character feels tailor made to suck the fun out of the game and make the other player miserable. I’m not convinced the Slade players are having fun either; his recovery is god awful and not dynamic to edgeguard.

I don’t know what to suggest because I’ve never liked playing as or against this archetype at all, but please god don’t leave this character like this. When the Slades finally get good at the game, we’ll all be miserable. Like, god forbid someone like Aklo take an interest in really pushing the character and make everyone hate their lives.

I have said for a while that I think they made Slade too complicated, and therefore too hard to balance. The core issue is the permanent purchasable upgrades. Base Slade has to be bad so the upgrades can make him good.

Here’s how I would change Slade:

• Reduce his weight to 92
• Remove the permanent upgrade purchases from the chest all together. Keep the chests item holding ability.
• Make Slade’s base friction closer to that of wingboots friction. He is a water character, he should be slippery. His wavedash should be good.
• Drop of nourishment no longer heals you when you pick it up. While holding it, you move faster on the ground and in the air. It’s a movement buff while holding the item. It would have a unique interaction with Slade by making his upB travel further in the air.
• Remove shuriken completely. Drop of nourishment will be Slade’s primary item/neutral tool. He will still have to pay for it. His playstyle is around fighting you while holding drop of nourishment still, so all of the annoying stuff Ultimate Link does with Bomb and MORE.
• Hookshot always enabled. (He has a slow grab out of shield, but the zair is now useful for attacking while holding drop of nourishment). This means Slade is reliant on throwing the drop of nourishment out of shield as he cant grab well.
• Feather, Wingboots (outside of friction) and Earring are gone.

With this, Slade generally wants to be holding drop of nourishment even while fighting, until he wants boomerang or bomb for a kill setup. There would need to be some balancing/tweaking to the rest of his kit to bring things in line, but i think this would be more true to his core character as well as more fun to play as and against.

Can you use zair while holding an item or would you just z-drop the item