Lord HDL’s Link Guide!

HDL · May 15, 2005

Haha so I made one eh? I actually got started on this weeks ago, but I put it off due to laziness and recently finished it. I remember a long time ago someone asked me if I was ever going to make a guide or FAQ and I told them that I probably wasn’t since it was a lot of work. Well now, almost a year later, I decided to make one and I like how it turned out. In order to avoid the really long posts I’ll just post a link and you can read the guide elsewhere. There is now a plethora of Link trick videos for those that want to see him pull stuff out of nowhere. And of course all the other aspects about Link mainly in text. Everything from his move list, character matchups, counter stages, advanced techniques, and all that good jazz. Please read it and post here telling me what you thought of it, because I put a good amount of time into making it. Also please let me know if there are any mistakes or if I forgot to add something. I hope you enjoy. Just don’t bust your brain reading it all in one shot.

Lord HDL’s Link Guide

pwndj00n00b · May 15, 2005

I hope when i finish reading the guide Ill be a better player than before.

dark_dragon8 · May 16, 2005

I like the character match ups and the ratings (like Sheik vs Link is 3/10). Reading that really helped with choices, and the stage selection was done very well. Now I'm sorry if this does any offence, but the first part of the guide is a little boring, the % on each hit and stuff, maybe it's just because I have seen that too many times

Sorry but I felt a little bored just seeing that, overall the bottom part made up for it, that was a lot of reading, thanks for a good guide.

CaliburChamp · May 16, 2005

Great guide! The only 2 things I disagree on is that Fox is easy to predict cause he fast falls. I would think it would be the other way around, cause his speed is very unpredictable especially if he is a fast falling fiend.
And Corneria being a good stage for Link. I think Link gets countered on that stage overall. I consider that stage to be a Link counter stage as they can walltech from your spin attacks.

HDL · May 16, 2005

I fixed the guide a bit. I found some errors here and there, and I also converted it into pure html format instead of M$ Word format, with some color changes too. Yeah, the upper parts can be a little boring with the move list and all that, and trust me it was boring as hell to type up lol. But it’s part of Link and needs to be there.

And Calibur, that’s why you don’t spin people into walls, lol.

EdreesesPieces · May 17, 2005

Sweet job, the more of these the better

white peachy · May 17, 2005

i liked it too. lots of good info, i liked reverse grab section, i never fully understood that until now.

some of those character matchups seemed a little generous for link though. i don't know if he has a 7/10 advantage over CF....wouldn't that make him a counter because you said link's a 3/10 vs. sheik, and that's one of the biggest counter character matchups there is?

Fleur de Lis · May 18, 2005

Great guide, HDL. The character matchups were a badly needed bit of info to be floating around. However, perhaps I'm not understanding the ranking part clear enough. For players of equal skill, I'd say that most of the people in the Top, upper, and high tiers should have an advantage, because it would make sense with what you said about Link being a very difficult character to master (I wholeheartedly agree there, I think he's the hardest in the game to get good with).
However, I would agree that Link can match up with most characters due to his versatility, I'm just saying it's a lot harder for the Link player than the, say, Fox player or Marth player.

But overall, great guide. You and Garde ought to be commended just for putting all that freakin' time into those things...

HDL · May 30, 2005

Fleur about the rankings, there is something I should mention so that people don’t get the wrong idea. I will update the guide stating this, but I’ll also post it here as well.

The character rankings are just my view of how Link does against each character at best. One might say "judging by your rankings Link should be one of the best characters and should be at the top of the tier list." Not necessarily so, because they are just how I feel Link does against those characters at absolute maximum. An important factor to also take into account is the level of difficulty when using Link at best against those characters.

It’s so hard to do so, which is why Link is where he is on the tier list. If you were to take a character like Fox, he is where he is on the tier list because of how he does against the characters at his best. It is much easier with Fox. Even a character like Marth that has many bad matchups, like with Ganon, Peach, Doc, and others, he is where he is because of how he fares against those characters when played at his best. The metagame. This is called "ease of use," and it’s why Sheik is at the top instead of Fox. Likewise, it’s also why Link is in mid tier. It’s not that Link can’t take just about every character, it’s just that the level of difficulty to do so at maximum is way more difficult than the higher tiered characters. And once again, the rankings are how I feel Link generally does against that character at best. No one has to agree with them, although I would certainly like it if people saw where I’m coming from with that. :D

Oh and hopefully I should have some video references up soon regarding certain things. It will still take a while for the tricks, but that’s next on the list.

Fleur de Lis · May 30, 2005

I agree wholeheartedly with what you just posted, HDL, which is why I said that. I think to any advanced Link player, you should be able to take most characters just fine. I just think that for a guide, you should also keep in mind how HARD it is for Link to take certain characters. Fox is a hard matchup, but, if you know how to handle him, he's not much of a counter. But, say theoretically a Fox player had never played a Link before, and vice versa, then the Fox player would probably win the matchup because he has an easier time of it, so in the ratings, a disclaimer should at least be present (in my opinion) saying that some extra work is needed, but here is how you win every time: etc, etc.
But overall, the character matchups are still very useful.

Great guide.

CaliburChamp · May 31, 2005

Even a character like Marth that has many bad matchups, like with Ganon, Peach, Doc, and others, he is where he is because of how he fares against those characters when played at his best.

To me, Marth seems to counter Doc and Peach quite easily. I heard Mario and Doc players to take up secondary's character that could take on Marth, cause Marth ***** the Marios Bros. Ganon, Fox, Sheik, and Captain Falcon counter him.

HDL · May 31, 2005

I once saw Ken post a number of characters that give Marth trouble, including some of the ones I mentioned. I’d believe him on that, since I also have had a bit of trouble against said characters when playing Marth, and Marth is one of my main characters. I also have found fighting Marth particularly easier using Peach than with most other characters.

Edit: Actually I believe he posted that in the last MBR Tier List thread that died a while back, but I don’t recall what page.

PolyCabeza · Jun 1, 2005

sorry for being a ****, I just really didn't see too many new "tricks" on this guide...

indeed, seems like a great guide for newbies and such... seeing as how there is plenty of good information regarding character matchup

anyhow, HDL, I read somewhere that you have plenty of tricks with link that no one has even shown in a video before... and I was really looking forward to that in your guide. I suppose that's why I'm a little upset at that you didn't mention any new tricks.

HDL · Jun 1, 2005

Are you kidding me? I have a lot more trick videos that I didn’t even put up yet. There’s only like 7 now, but at the bottom of that section in the guide I mention that I’ll put more later, just not now. You can expect 15+ more trick videos soon. The guide is not done yet. I still have more video references to use, so I will keep updating as time passes by. It won’t be complete until I say it is, but for now I’m leaving it like this.

Syde7 · Jun 1, 2005

The 'trick' videos are pretty cool. The only one I can't get seem to get the knack of doing is that latched spin trick. I did everything in the vid, but still couldn't get it to go. I was wondering if you could explain that a little better, unless its one of your own little private tricks. Well, anyway, thanks in advance.

Razer

PolyCabeza · Jun 2, 2005

wow.... i was pretty positive I didn't see the vids up before.. i musta totally not seen it or something. but yes, i apologize for that rude comment i made earlier.

on topic, those are some pretty neat tricks and some pretty cool vids. I think my fave trick vid was the latched spin. concerning the versus videos, your link was pretty quick. I realized a while back that playing other as characters and then going back to link... i couldn't make him move as fast as I was capable of previously.

anyhow, about your vids, I think I really liked the free hit on ganon... forget the move you used after the bomb drop, but it looked pretty sweet. the only gripe i have is that peach you were fighting against.

my buddy plays a pretty mean peach and I find it extremely hard to projectile span against her. I know it's not fair for me to say you should post videos of better peaches (i think i read somewhere that you live far away from competition), but link's projectiles really don't kill peaches movement as much as one would think.

on a final note, projectile usage works wonders against ganon. i like the entire smash boomerang up and arrow approach... gotta get hit by something.

can't wait to see more of those trick vids.

Kubuu · Jun 2, 2005

Originally posted by DuLL_RaZer
The 'trick' videos are pretty cool. The only one I can't get seem to get the knack of doing is that latched spin trick. I did everything in the vid, but still couldn't get it to go. I was wondering if you could explain that a little better, unless its one of your own little private tricks. Well, anyway, thanks in advance.

Razer

Press Up+B as soon as you get hit with the returning boomerang...Also make sure you have the proper version of the game...

n00b · Jun 4, 2005

Wow, I just came back here after my melee retirement just to look.. I saw this, and it made me wanna pick up Link.. Excellent guide, excellent vids.. Do you think you could upload other Link vids, like Linkology, etc?

pronstarpwnzor · Jun 9, 2005

Hottt!!!

Guide is really in depth, yet I think you give too much credit on the character matchups. The vids were really nice to see actual examples in battle, and the trick vids were wicked.

Made come back to Link as my main, he was getting a little rusty so I'm gonna bring him back up to speed.

Good Stuff Hdl

Mr.C · Jun 29, 2005

Good guide, But.

Fox > Link no jon's kills at 90%, i play people that never let u out of shine's, everything else

Falco > Link no jon's when u play Rob$ everyweek and get spiked within 20 seconds you'll understand.

HDL · Jul 1, 2005

Right.

JesusFreak · Jul 15, 2005

Mr.C said:
Good guide, But.

Fox > Link no jon's kills at 90%, i play people that never let u out of shine's, everything else

Falco > Link no jon's when u play Rob$ everyweek and get spiked within 20 seconds you'll understand.

It's true. The only character I can beat his Link with (I think) is Fox cuz I shine him foeva. :lick:

My Falco sux tho so don't judge that.

kirbstir · Jul 16, 2005

If you're below 32% you can quickly pull off two up+b's by shdropping a bomb, ff, up+B, CC the bomb, up+B.

Don't know if I missed that in the guide or if it's on your videos (56k), but just in case...

reminis16 · Jul 17, 2005

How you know what version of game u got?
Sry for offtopic!!
but I loved your GUIDE!

HDL · Jul 26, 2005

kirbstir, I have it in there. It’s listed under Advanced Techniques as Spin Teching.

reminis16, if you check the back of your disc you will see the version there. I’m unsure, but I think it should say something similar to Dol-Gale-0-00 or something. Just check around there and you’ll find the version number.

Crap, I just noticed that I never uploaded the majority of my Link tricks. I apologize for that. I’ve just been busy with a lot of other uploads and stuff regarding other forums so I completely forgot all about getting all the other tricks up. I will try to get more up soon if I get the chance.

kirbstir · Jul 27, 2005

You have spin teching down, but the way it is described you need at least 34% damage to be able to do it.

From 0% to 34% you can just sh, drop bomb, ff, spin, crouch cancel the bomb, spin again.

HDL · Jul 27, 2005

Oh yeah CCing the bomb. I thought I remembered putting that in there under spin teching since I do both when edge guarding. I’ll add it later.

IceDrake · Aug 1, 2005

I don't know if it was mentioned, but your tricks links in your guide don't work.

HDL · Aug 2, 2005

I disabled certain videos in order to conserve bandwidth for the previous month. I’ll be enabling it again soon. I just need to see how the bandwidth flows after people download my newer videos.

IceDrake · Aug 2, 2005

I'm having trouble wavedashing. How exactly do you do it?

IceDrake · Aug 8, 2005

IceDrake said:
I'm having trouble wavedashing. How exactly do you do it?

Can anyone help me?

HDL · Aug 8, 2005

Sorry man. There were so many other posts and new threads so this thread dropped down and I don’t think anyone saw your post.

Anyway to wavedash you air dodge diagonally downward right after jumping. The point is to time it so that your air dodge goes into the floor before you become air borne, and you will slide across the floor. It’s a better form of retreat and movement than rolling and can be used for other things like positioning, traversing stages and platforms, etc. If you take a look at any of my match videos you would see how it should look like.

IceDrake · Aug 10, 2005

Lord HDL said:
Sorry man. There were so many other posts and new threads so this thread dropped down and I don’t think anyone saw your post.

Anyway to wavedash you air dodge diagonally downward right after jumping. The point is to time it so that your air dodge goes into the floor before you become air borne, and you will slide across the floor. It’s a better form of retreat and movement than rolling and can be used for other things like positioning, traversing stages and platforms, etc. If you take a look at any of my match videos you would see how it should look like.

I still can't seem to be getting it down

. What buttons do you use? I always use Y to jump and R to dodge. I'm just wondering if it's easier to do jumping with the control stick and using L.

SonicZeroX · Aug 10, 2005

IceDrake said:
I still can't seem to be getting it down. What buttons do you use? I always use Y to jump and R to dodge. I'm just wondering if it's easier to do jumping with the control stick and using L.

Easiest I would think is to jump with X/Y and airdodge with L. I find it eaiser to wavedash using both hands rather than one so it allows you to vary the timing easier.
If you can't seem to wavedash even after many tries, you might be getting the timing wrong. If you try to wavedash and you just jump, then you hit L too early. If you just jump then airdodge, then you've hit L too late.
Also, easiest way of getting wavedash down when you have never done it before is to just hold diagonally downwards with the control stick so that you can focus on the X/L timing.

8000 · Sep 23, 2005

Link is one of the hardest characters to WD with. It's tricky but if you practice you'll get the hang of it. His WD takes about a 30 frames to perform. (not sure of this but it seems like 1/2 a second after you finish a WD to do another one)

Try to make the jumps Short Hop because they seem to work easier and X or Y is much easier than the control stick so maybe you should think of using them instead. Whatever feels comfortable is always better but it's also easier for the majority of players to WD with X or Y rather than the control stick.

nitro-blazer · Sep 23, 2005

Link, like other slow jumpers has an odd wavedash, try wiating a half a second before Airdodging, if you do it to early all you do is jump.

If your used to fast Wavedashes, its even harder, but you'll get it. Just wait like, 1/5 of a second.

Sizzle · Sep 24, 2005

HDL, on one of your video matches I saw recently, You pulled off a ledge hang to boomerang throw. Is this just a SH to boomerang once you are hanging on the ledge?

HDL · Sep 24, 2005

It’s a ledge hopped boomerang. I pressed back to let go of the ledge, then midair jump on the stage while throwing the boomerang. Not good to do if they’re very close but if they’re a good distance away from the ledge (or very far) you can use it to attack or slow them down if they’re looking to approach.

Edit: Yeah yeah. I still got those trick videos that I haven’t got around to putting up. It’s mainly because I have this dumb uploading problem that occurs. However what I will do is recapture all my trick videos with a lower quality in order to make it easier for me to upload them (I hope so). That way they’ll still be perfectly viewable but won’t give me a headache trying to upload. The current trick videos will likely stay but the rest will all be recaptured. I’m unsure when I’ll do that but hopefully I’ll get around to that soon.

Second Edit: Well it looks like I got around to doing it today. Before I updated the guide I believe there were about 12 trick videos or so. Now there are 39. Added 15+ videos? You know it. It was easy for me to upload them which means it should be easier for people with 56k to download them. Those with high speed will laugh at how many Link tricks they’ll be able to have within a minute or so.... Unless you suck at clicking...

VilNess · Sep 25, 2005

I watched your trick clips and read many parts of your guide and it is really good work.
I think maybe you should drop some character matchup-numbers down a little not to make Link shine too much. We´ll I really haven´t played any really Good links (average-good yes) but (from the perspective of Ness/Luigi, my mains) seems to me that against Ness it´s either 5/5 or 4/6 for the advantage of Link. same numbers for Luigi.
You play all chars, right? I know how hard it can be to approach a Link with Luigi, but one connected sex kick at lower % connects to uptilts and bunch of aerials. In other words, one mistake and Link takes 50%
Note I´m talkin on Luigis perspective. I´ve seen some japanese vids where Link player did really well against luigi.

Also I think Ness does evenly with Link. You mentioned about his deadly dair, which I agree. it can be pretty hard to punish since when used correctly, Ness doesn´t have landing lag with it.
YYG to jackets work pretty good for me at least against Links. Link doesn´t have long WD to disarm jackets. Luckily his projectiles work but you still can´t jump/retreat and shoot proj.s because you risk eating his thunderjacket.
oh btw. Ledge spin seems to be perfect edgeguard against Ness if you can do it consistently

anyway: thanks for your guide. I loved the bomb techs!

HDL · Sep 25, 2005

VilNess said:
I think maybe you should drop some character matchup-numbers down a little not to make Link shine too much.

Read the first few paragraphs at the very beginning of the Character Matchups section.

VilNess said:
In other words, one mistake and Link takes 50%
Note I´m talkin on Luigis perspective. I´ve seen some japanese vids where Link player did really well against luigi.

Possibly if you don’t DI you’d take 50%, but it would have to be some really wicked Luigi combo to take 50% while the Link is DIing properly. Consecutive up tilts alone won’t do it. I’ve had some Luigi players attempt to catch me in the up tilt storms and they usually never work unless you fail to DI. Although sometimes it winds up slipping your mind and you get caught with a few. Kind of reminds me of Fox’s up tilts.

VilNess said:
anyway: thanks for your guide. I loved the bomb techs!

Glad you liked it. Bomb techs are fun, yes. Too bad they don’t serve any real practical use besides spin techs.

Oh yeah, there are 40 videos actually. It seems there was one video I forgot to capture and upload. I put it up so check it out. It’s the only one that starts with "C," heh. There are a few other dumb and near pointless Link tricks I know of but they’re not really worth recording or watching, so I tried to focus mainly on the ones that would be the most entertaining.

Lord HDL’s Link Guide!

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