L1N3R1D3R
Smash Lord
TROPHY RUSH 101
I've seen too many people struggle with Trophy Rush because of how much is happening on the screen. Fear not, for recently I have experimented with different characters and tactics, and I have found a way to optimize your profit.
HOW IT WORKS
Firstly, with the basics. Trophy Rush costs 6G per second to play, with the minimum being 180G (30s) and the maximum being 900G (2min 30s). For this reason, it's impossible to get a profit, but on average you get 150-200G* with most characters (but with the advantageous characters I list below, you could get up to 350G*). Thus, I recommend getting loads of coins before starting your runs.
*these numbers based on playing for the full 2min 30s
Trophy Rush starts in Normal Rush, where assorted types of blocks fall from the ceiling. These are:
~Wood Blocks (very common), which destroy with any move and give you 200 points;
~Brick Blocks (somewhat common), which hurt you 4% if they land on you, require a 10% hit to be destroyed, and give you 600 points;
~Directional Explosives (somewhat rare), which hurt you 4% if they land on you, require a 15% hit to be destroyed, and after 5 quick flashes explode out of their opening for great knockback, then disappear; these give you 800 points;
~Gold Blocks (somewhat rare), which require a 10% hit to be destroyed and give you 3000 points; and
~Bomb Blocks (rare), which explode in every direction for great knockback, and can only be destroyed by being pushed off the edge or being hit by an electric ball or directional explosive.
Once the points bar on the top-left is full, which appears to start at 16,500 points and increase by about 10,000 each time, the game goes into Fever Rush for 8 seconds. In this rush, the blocks listed above stop falling, and instead pentagonal blocks of one of six types fall rapidly:
~Coin Blocks (very common), which give you 1G and 10 points, and appear everywhere;
~Trophy Blocks (somewhat common), which give you a trophy and 10 points, and appear among coin blocks;
~Custom Part Blocks (very rare), which give you a custom part and 10 points, and appear and the end of certain rushes (described further down);
~Wood Blocks (somewhat rare), which act as described above;
~Brick Blocks (rare), which also act as described above; and
~Bomb Blocks (rare), which also act as described above and appear at the end of each Fever Rush (NOT pentagonal).
Breaking any kind of block will add 1 to your combo. For each block you break, not only will you get its set point value, but you will also get a bonus which is worth 10 points times your current combo (max 1500 points for a 150-block combo). You lose the combo after 5 seconds of not breaking a block, so it is possible to die and continue a combo if you do it quickly; conversely, it's also possible to lose your combo while staying alive if you're too slow. Because of this combo system, it's much quicker to get Fever Rushes when you have a high combo; just make sure you don't lose it!
If you stand in the same general area for at least 3 seconds, a warning appears above you, but doesn't move once it appears. After two seconds, an electric ball drops from the top where the warning was, and if it hits you, you receive great knockback. Also worth noting is that electric balls and directional explosives will destroy any other blocks in the way of their explosions, but you only get half the points of the exploded block with no combo-bonus (you will get the prize that's inside if applicable).
If you let a stable set of blocks balance above the line at the top of the screen for 7 seconds, the platform below you will disappear, and you will eventually die; luckily, the screen flashes red after 5 seconds to let you know that the blocks are stacking up too high. Dying from this or in any other way will cause you to lose 15 seconds the first time, then 10 seconds, then 5 from there on out; if you're solo, the platform will momentarily go away and drop all blocks on it. (Any rushes will still be in play.)
An interesting thing to note is that on Wii U, you can play with custom characters and a second person, whereas on 3DS neither are allowed. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, though, considering you can accidentally attack each other.
STRATEGY & BEST CHARACTERS
To deal with Trophy Rush and its hazards, you obviously need to play differently than in a normal battle. Some general tips I've noted:
~If possible, use moves with high range. The platform you're on is pretty wide, and so to prevent stacks from popping up, you need to have moves that can cover the whole platform.
~If possible, use moves with higher-than-usual damage output. Since blocks break based on percentage and not on knockback, make sure your attacks do good percentage, and don't stale your moves too quickly.
~If possible, use slow projectiles. This will ensure that even if you don't normally have big active range, you can actively attack one side while passively attacking the other.
~Move back and forth constantly. This is to prevent electric balls from dropping, as they only drop if you've been standing still too long.
~Save gold blocks. If you're near the top of the point bar and you see a gold block fall, try to destroy the other blocks. It's not worth filling the meter with your most valuable block if it only fills a tiny amount, especially since the point bar doesn't go up at all during a Fever Rush. Save it for after to fill as much of the bar as possible.
With this in mind, here are the three best characters (in my opinion) to tackle Trophy Rush:
1. (custom--Wii U only) Heavenly Light. Yes, that's right, the otherwise awful move is the way to go here, as it has great horizontal range on both sides and fantastic vertical range, as well as the ability to use it in the air. Even without customs, Palutena's still pretty good as she has huge range on her smash attacks, but the characters below are much better without customs.
2. Held up-air. That is all. No, but seriously, her Bullet Arts are fantastic in that they send a bunch of small hitboxes out, and even though they don't flinch, they don't need to. Just double jump into an up- or N-air and keep holding A down, and you'll see those blocks quickly get destroyed. However, Bullet Arts aren't great for destroying blocks that require high damage to be destroyed, which is why she's not #1.
3. Down-B is fantastic in this mode, as it covers a wider horizontal range than any non-custom, non-DLC move and you can hold it as long as you want. However, you can only use it on the ground, so if you're forced into the air, use up-B, B-air, or N-air instead. Donkey Kong has a bit more trouble than custom Palutena and Bayonetta because he doesn't have a reliable vertical option, but he's still a solid choice, and your best without custom moves or DLC. He's also the only character of the top three who undergoes custom move polarization (which I've explained in the section below), which could be a good or a bad thing.
Others: (range+buster), (tipper), (thunder), (quick aerials), (boomerang), (long-lasting aerials)
CUSTOM PARTS/MOVES
For those of you seeking custom moves with this mode, I've found some discoveries on when a custom part shows up at the end of the Fever Rush based on my experience:
1st rush: always
2nd rush: never (unless you missed the part from the first rush, in which case sometimes)
3rd rush: sometimes
4th rush: always (unless the game dropped a part in the third rush, in which case sometimes)
5th rush: sometimes
From then on, you won't get any custom parts unless you get a rush in the last 15 seconds, where there is a small chance of one popping up either at the beginning or the end of the rush.
Getting 3 custom parts is the most common, with 2 or 4 parts being somewhat common, and 5 parts being rare. (This is assuming you're getting every custom part the game drops.) As with other modes, these parts are random whether or not they're new custom moves, and it may still take awhile to get moves later in your journey to 100%.
If you want custom moves, while the characters mentioned above are good, they might polarize whose custom moves you get. So if you're struggling to get a specific move, play as the character with the move that you want, and you'll have a higher chance of getting it. If you just want an array of various characters' moves, Palutena, the Miis, and the DLC characters are good in that they have no unlockable custom moves, so no polarization occurs.
SPECIFIC CHALLENGES
Wii U: Some of them are straightforward, whereas others involve some special strategy. For most of them, playing for the full 2:30 is recommended for the best chance.
~Dr. Mario: Down smash, up air, neutral air, back air, Doc Tornado, and occasionally up smash are good for range without much lag. The custom move Fast Capsule can also be useful.
~50000 blocks total: Just play the mode a LOT, and it will come eventually.
~Samus: Really watch out for the blocks that hurt you, and use your aerials (including Z-air) for range without much lag. The custom move Relentless Missile can help, as it's a slow, long-lasting projectile.
~300 chain: Just use one of the recommended characters, and it should be a breeze.
~Fox: Neutral air, down smash, forward smash, and the occasional Fire Fox and lasers will be most efficient.
~200 chain w/DK: Just follow the guide that I made above for DK, and it should be easy.
~250 blocks, 1 game: Get this at the same time as "300 chain".
~Robin: Arcfire and your aerials (besides down air) are best in this mode, though up tilt and Arcthunder can also help. The custom moves Fire Wall /Arcfire+ and Speed Thunder can greatly help, too.
~Pikachu: Thunder, Quick Attack, and forward air are great, though down air, down smash, and Thunder Jolt can also help.
~Falco: Forward air, back air, down smash, and the occasional laser will be best.
~Game & Watch: Back air, neutral air, up B, and the custom move Short-Order Chef will help the most.
~100 chain: Also get this at the same time as "300 chain".
~Wii Fit Trainer: Soccer ball, back air, neutral air, and forward smash are good, though this challenge is easy anyways.
3DS: All 4 of them will come naturally from playing it multiple times (play for the first time, destroy 300/100/3000 blocks).
CONCLUSION
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