S A R E N
I have two rules that I follow.
The first is that I never kill without a reason.
The second is that you can always find a reason to kill someone.
____________________
Saren has joined the Brawl! Packing powerful biotics, hardened combat skills, and expertise in battlefield engineering, Saren Arterius may be the most dangerous opponent you've faced yet! He's packing some heavy ordnance and has a vendetta against all humans, so watch out.
_______________
[OVERVIEW]
Saren is the main villain from Mass Effect, an RPG and Third Person Shooter by Bioware. He controls an army of Geth, synthetic AI soldiers, and has a personal grudge against the human race. Saren is brainwashed by Sovereign, a massive sentient warship as old as the universe, which is part of a vast army known as the Reapers, which wipe out all advanced civilizations in the galaxy every 50,000 years.
Saren can use an omni-tool like the one shown above to create mines, hack consoles, and disable enemies. Tech mines are thrown projectiles that have secondary effects, such as overheating weapons or shields. Saren is proficient in the use of all Tech abilities.
Saren can also use biotics. A biotic is someone who was exposed to Element Zero, a miracle substance that alters the mass of objects around it. Saren can manipulate Element Zero, and use it to generate force fields, throw enemies, and create spatial distubances. Whenever Saren uses a biotic attack, he glows blue as pictured above.
[STATS]
Movement Speed: 3/10
Saren has a very slow walk speed and a below average walk speed. All that heavy equipment he's carrying slows him down a lot!
Aerial Mobility: 1/10
Saren's heavy armor and body shape means he drops like a rock. Has an almost decent second jump, but can't move quickly in any direction but down. Terrible.
Size: 9/10
Saren is a Turian, even taller than Ganondorf, and the second heaviest character in the game. He's going to outsize pretty much everyone he meets.
Power: 6/10
Saren doens't have too much knockback or damage for a heavy. Still nothing to sneeze at though.
Priority: 9/10
Most of his moves have excellent priority. Combine this with awe-inspiring range to create something truly frightening.
Lag: 7/10
Saren doesn't suffer too much lag for his moves, especially for a heavy. Still bad enough that faster characters can approach him pretty easily.
Recovery: 4/10
Saren has one of the most interesting recoveries in the game. It is one of his best moves for setting up in the air, and has the potential to recover very well, but is also quite punishable. Gimpy characters make his recovery much worse, while characters with worse air game give him a much better recovery.
[Standard Attacks]
Neutral A: Pistol Doubleshot
Saren whips out his compact, heavily upgraded pistol. It unfolds for combat quickly, and he fires off two short bursts in less than a second. The shots travel about four stagebuilder blocks and do two damage each. They are small, medium priority projectile and travel very quickly, slightly slower than Fox's blaster.
~3%
Jab: Rapid Fire
Saren continues to fire for every press of the A button, increasing his firing rate and range at the cost of power and accuracy. The bolts go six stagebuilder blocks now, move faster than Fox's blaster, and can be aimed by tilt the control stick, but they are somewhat inaccurate now. The firing speed increases to a little less than three a second.
~2%
Dash Attack: Pistol Whip
Saren runs out and smashes the opponent with the pistol. Saren glides a good bit when using this move, but has a very small hitbox and mediocre priority. There's also a surprising amount of lag to it, making it one of Saren's worst options.
~4%
Forward Tilt: Shotgun Burst
"Greet the enemy with the kiss of a shotgun."
Saren pulls his shotgun from the back of his armor. It unfolds quickly, and he fires it. The shotgun has a range of a little less than three stagebuilder blocks, but the damage decreases the further away the enemy is. Great knockback, a very good KO move. This move is a little laggy, but has excellent priority, nothing short of a whorenado is getting through it.
~9% (point blank)
~5% (1.5 SB block away)
~2% (2.5 SB block away)
Up TIlt: Damping Field
"You can't do anything to me now!"
Saren holds out his right arm, which glows with a holographic interface. A quick beep goes off, and a blue aura surrounds the area above and in front of him. The glow itself is pretty small, but it has surprisingly good range, hitting enemies above and in front of him the length about two thirds of a stage builder block.
Enemies hit affected by this field take small damage and knockback, and are never knocked out by this move. This move does however, have the affect of damping the opponents attacks, preventing them from using any Special moves for four and a half seconds. Attempting to will just make them shimmer a bit as the glow of the field appears around them.
Due to being a tilt, this move really can't gimp an opponent unless they're acting incredibly stupid. It has fairly good priority, and the field itself will absorb most energy based projectiles like PK Thunder and Fox's blaster while its out.
~4%
Down Tilt: Overload
"I'll break through your defenses like they were nothing!"
Saren once again generates a holographic interface around his right arm as he prepares an overload mine. After a third of a second, he throws it into the ground immediately in front of him, about a stagebuilder block away. It instantly explodes into orange light, and does decent damage and good knockback.
The burst mostly stays to the ground, affecting the area a stagebuilder block in both directions from the source. Any enemy affected by the blast also takes a second penalty, their shield is instantly broken if it is up, and if the shield wasn't up its charge is still greatly depleted.
Enemies who have their shield broken by this move do not suffer the usual punishing hitstun.
~7%
[Smash Attacks]
Forward Smash: Singularity
"With biotics, a black hole becomes a completely feasible weapon of war."
Saren holds his arms out and his torso glows blue as he channels the biotic powers he has. A small almost black blue orb slowly begins to appear in front of him. While this orb is out, it automatically absorbs any projectiles and causes the charge to increase. When released, a blue energy ball begins to shake randomly about half a stagebuilder block in front of him, pulling enemies within a little less than a stagebuilder block away towards it.
Enemies once pulled in are then thrown around by attacks in a way similar to Pikachu's Down Smash, although it is almost impossible to DI out of Singularity, due to it being, well, a mini black hole. The black hole lasts for between one half and one and a half seconds, depending on the charge, doing between two and six hits. Once the attack finishes, the enemy is blown with rather strong knockback in any direction, making it a great damage racker but a very unreliable KO move.
Saren must control the Singularity as long as it is out. He cannot create it and walk away while someone gets trapped inside.
~3%, between two and six hits
Down Smash: Rocket Launcher
"A rocket impact is never pretty, but it always gets the job done."
Saren reaches over his back and pulls out a rocket launcher. He primes up a shot, and holds it, charging up power. When released, the rocket flies forward at a low angle, exploding about three stagebuilder blocks away. It flies fairly quickly, but has surprisingly low knockback and damage for a rocket, which means it still has good damage and knockback.
Priority is excellent, and the opening lag is slightly less than what you would expect, making this move entirely feasible in combat, especially after using your Up Special.
~11-22%
Up Smash: Sabotage
"If your enemy cannot harm you, what can he do? What can you do to me?"
Saren activates his holographic console once more and creates a small gray ball in the palm of his hand. As he charges this move, the ball starts to glow with a red light. Once finished charging, Saren suddenly tosses it up at a high angle, and it explodes, the kirby sized red explosion just inches from his face.
Enemies hit by this attack take moderate damage and knockback downwards. After being hit all of their moves are treated as fully decayed for eight seconds, or until he successfully attacks someone ten times, thus clearing the decay list.
~7-12%
[SPECIALS]
Neutral Special: Immunity Barrier
"I assure you, my shields are perfectly fine. I can't say the same about yours though."
Hold down the B button, and Saren glows with blue-white energy, charging up biotic power. When released, there is a flash of light that harms enemies around him with mild hitstun, and Saren gains temporary extra armor and has white energy lines flowing over him. The move takes between one and two seconds to charge, and lasts between four and eight seconds, depending on the charge.
While in this state, Saren is immune to attacks that do less damage than his shield can absorb, which is equal to the damage it inflicts. Furthermore, if an enemy attacks him with a jointed or unjointed hitbox move, they take damage and knockback of the same damage Saren charged.
~5-10%
Up Special: Battle Pad
I win my battles because I can fight where others cannot."
Saren takes a short little midair hop, and a gray hoverpad appears below him. The hoverpad moves rather slowly, about a stagebuilder block a second, but lasts for ten seconds. As long as Saren is on the pad though, Saren can be attacked, and if Saren takes damage he is knocked off and enters fallspecial. Saren can jump off of the pad, but he cannot use it again until he touches solid ground.
Saren is not defenseless while using this move though. In fact, Saren can use his Jab, Tilts, and Smash attacks all while on the platform! A well timed Damping Field or Rocket Launcher in midair can be absolutely brutal done right.
As an added bonus, when Saren uses his Rocket Launcher attack, the rocket fires directly from the Battle Pad, and has less lag. It is therefore incredibly useful to launch rockets from the air in this state.
If Saren uses Overload or Sabotage on the pad though, the pad malfunctions from the EMP of the weapon and crashes. Still though, a chance to pull off these two moves at the right time is sometimes worth it.
Side Special: Throw
"Its like fighting a ragdoll, really."
Saren charges up some biotic energy and releases it into a ball of biotic energy. The orb is a little smaller than Kirby and travels at about Falco's running speed. The ball can be aimed up or down during the third of a second charge up period.
The attack does decent damage and has set knockback, not increasing with higher percentages. An enemy is knocked about three stage builder blocks away and three stage builder blocks into the air after this attack.
~6%
Down Special: Warp
"You are vulnerable, like all organics are."
Saren builds up biotic power in his arms and legs and releases it in a downward pulse. It spreads around to both sides of him, doing little knockback but good damage. Poor range though, enemies must be much closer to Saren than for most of his attacks. Enemies hit by this field are more vulnerable to damage for seven seconds, indicated by a slight blue mist around their heads. Attacks do 33% more damage and knockback during this state.
This move also has excellent priority, and little ending lag, although some considerable starting lag.
~10%
[AERIALS]
Neutral Aerial: Barrier Burst
"Defense is best when it can quickly be shifted into offense."
Biotic power glows inside Saren's entire body as he throws his arms into the air and clasps them together; his kintic barriers protecting him burst into a wave of energy all around him, pushing enemies away and doing a little damage.
The attack becomes truly dangerous when Saren is using his Immunity Barrier. The amount of damage stored in his immunity barrier is increased by 50% and added to the damage of his attack, also increasing knockback and length.
This move has excellent priority, but a bit of starting lag and a lot of ending lag.
~3%
~8-18% with Immunity Barrier
Up Aerial: Lift
"Get... out... of my face!"
Saren summons up some more of his biotic energy, and creates a wave of blue light around him that slowly rises about two and a half stagebuilder blocks. Enemies caught in this attack take no damage, but are completely vulnerable to attack for three seconds as they rise.
After using this attack, Saren falls slightly slower than Lucario for a little less than a second, but then accelerates back to his regular fall speed. Little ending lag, but some starting lag. Priority isn't really an issue with this move, seeing as its just a wave.
Forward Aerial: Kinetic Barrier
"Try breaking through this."
Throwing his arms forward, Saren creates a Hexagonal light blue shield in front of him. The shield lasts for about eight seconds and has stamina of 16%. The shield reflects all energy projectiles, but still takes damage from them. Touching the shield causes damage and mild hitstun.
The shield comes out very quickly and has little lag, making it a decent option out of a shorthop.
~4%
Down Aerial: Air Drop
"I make certain that I'm always in an advantageous position. Always."
Saren leans forward and dives down, his legs pointing down. Saren falls even faster than normal during this attack, and his arms glow with biotic energy. When Saren hits the ground, the biotic attack releases and bounces off the ground, causing any enemies in the area to float a little bit above the ground.
This move has a good bit of ending lag, low priority, but almost no starting lag. It is primarily used to get Saren out of the air where his attacks are weaker.
~4% midair
~7% on impact
Back Aerial: Grenade Backhand
"You can't sneak up on me like that. Not ever."
Saren quickly summons his tech power interface, and throws a grenade behind him. It explodes a little ways behind him, slightly smaller than a stagebuilder block. One of Saren's fastest moves, and his only attack with good damage and knockback in the air. Very little lag, almost no ending lag, and good priority.
~7%
[THROWS]
Grab
Saren reaches out and grabs his opponent. His towering height and long limbs give him the best grab range in the game, but his grab is rather slow coming out, but has little end lag if it misses. If Saren grabs an opponent he holds them up by one hand and raises them over his head.
Pummel: Throttle
Saren clamps his hand around the opponent's neck and chokes them. Its quick, and does poor damage with each hit though, making it actually slightly below average in overall damage during a grab.
~1%
Forward Throw: Biotic Hurl
Saren fills his right arm up with bluish biotic energy and slams his arm forward, releasing the enemy and knocking them away. Has rather strong knockback, and is a very good KO move.
~8%
Down Throw: Neural Surge
A green light filled with yellow sparks bursts from Saren's hand, and he drops his enemy, who falls down helpless from a short term paralysis agent. The enemy falls face up, and cannot move for a little over a second or until attacked. Saren cannot follow this move up with another grab, but can with a Overload.
~12%
Up Throw: Lift2
Saren brings the enemy down to his chest and knees him in the gut while his left arm builds up energy. He then pulls the enemy up and releases the blast, sending them slowly skyward. They float up for two seconds and cannot be damaged until they reach the top, about one and a half stagebuilder blocks up. Saren has difficult following up on this move, making it his worst throw. However, it gives him plenty of time to use Immunity Barrier as well, making it sometimes worth the action.
~6%
Back Throw: Overhead Toss
Saren takes the enemy, turns around and leans back, and slams them headfirst into the ground, where they bounce up. This move has low set knockback, and can be used to chaingrab Dedede, Bowser, and Donkey Kong, but only up to 25%.
~10%
[FINAL SMASH]
"No matter. I'll let Sovereign deal with you."
"That Ship, Sovereign? It's moving. I don't what you did down there, but that thing just pulled a turn that shear any of our ships in half. It's coming your way and it's coming hard! You need to wrap things up in there - fast!"
- Joker
Saren jumps onto his Battle Pad and flies away off screen. A giant spaceship can be seen approaching from the distance. It suddenly lets off a giant red laser, sweeping from the right side of the stage to the left. The laser moves at about the rate of Luigi's walk and takes up two stagebuilder blocks, but only hits the areas on the stage, meaning a smart player can go off the edge and avoid this attack fairly easily.
Getting hit inflicts devastating damage and knockback though, so being careless can mean an instant stock loss.
~33%
[PLAYSTYLE]
"Battle is about superiority. Completely devastate your opponent. Remove all of their strengths and prey on their weaknesses. That is how you fight, and win."
Saren has an interesting playstyle. He's a fairly aggressive character, with a good grab game, great ground combat, and fantastic range and priority. He also has terrible air game and practically zero moves for approaching. All but one of his aerials are used to try to maintain spacing and keep enemies away from him, and when he can Saren prefers to fight air combat on his Battle Pad, so he can use his stronger ranged land moves.
Saren also focuses on momentum in battle. Overload, Warp, Sabotage, and Damping are all move Saren uses to put pressure on the opponent by stripping them of one of their abilities or powers. Saren players must be aggressive to limit their opponents options, using their high priority moves to punish approaches. Lift, Kinetic Barrier, and Throw are part of Saren's spacing game. Saren doesn't like enemies too close to him, except when going for a grab.
Immunity Barrier seems an odd move, but it absolutely plays into Saren's style. By using this move, Saren discourages enemies from using jab attacks and weaker moves, and forces them to use slower, stronger attacks, where Saren can hit back with higher priority moves. Play this into the artificial decay from Sabotage, one of his quicker Smashes, and Saren becomes a very tough cookie to crack defensively. It is also a surprisingly easy to set up move, with Lift, Lift2, Neural Surge, and Throw giving him time, and the high spacing he likes to keep between himself and his enemies.
In a match, A Saren player either tries to start off with some grabs to get some good damage in, or uses his jab and Ftilt to try to enforce his spacing. Saren tries to keep pressure on until he can start debuffing the enemy with his moves. If Saren is a good distance away from his opponent, he may often get into the air and on a Battle Pad so he can shoot his rockets at long range and make approaching more difficult. Saren usually finishes off an opponent with a Rocket, Shotgun, Biotic Hurl, or rare Singularity.
When playing against Saren, it is imperative to play fast and aggressive. Saren is nigh untouchable when he gets his momentum going, so you don't let him do that. Characters with very strong approaches can break through his Shotgun that he uses to discourage approaching and start hitting him. Saren is also incredibly vulnerable in the air; playing a strong air game even with characters weaker in the air than average is a must. Saren can also be fairly easily gimped. In other words, he pisses himself at the sight of Meta Knight.
Victory Pose 1 -
Saren is approached by a few of his Geth and nods. All according to plan.
Victory Pose 2 -
Saren checks his omni-tool and a hologram of his Reaper ally, Sovereign appears.
Victory Pose 3 -
Saren looks contemplative. "We're one step closer to finding the Conduit," He says.
Defeat Pose -
Saren applauds the enemy in a slow manner, almost tauntingly.
Up Taunt -
Saren pulls out his omni-tool and checks it, modifying a few things for a second.
Side Taunt -
Saren pulls out his pistol and holds it at eye level. "Don't worry," he says. "I've got everything under control."
Down Taunt -
Saren bends his knees and slowly curls his hand into a fist. You can hear the glove stretching.
Codec Conversation -
Otacon: You're fighting Saren, aren't you?
Snake: This alien here? He's got a lot of firepower.
Otacon: Be careful. Saren hates all humans, you see.
Snake: All of us? I'd better take him out then.
Otacon: Saren has an army of robotic soldiers and can manipulate matter with his mind. He's a deadly soldier too.
Snake: Manipulate with his mind? After Psycho Mantis, that's nothing I can't handle.
Otacon: Good luck Snake.
Assist Trophy - Geth Hopper
The Geth Hopper is one of several types of Geth soldiers. The Geth hopper uses a built in sniper rifle to shoot down enemies, and leaps away from damage whenever shot at. It can crawl along the floor, stick to walls, and even the ceiling.
In Brawl, a Geth Hopper when activated will jump to a closeby wall or floor, and a laser will shoot out towards the nearest enemy. The laser dot will follow the enemy wherever it goes and fires in three seconds, doing
12% damage and decent knockback.
If the Geth Hopper is attacked while charging though, it will instantly jump out of the way to another wall and begin again. If it is attacked three times though, it runs away and escapes. It also leaves if it successfully fires against an enemy.
But it's cool to have a sensible moveset too.
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