"When you play Ness, your life is at constant risk... A small mistake could cost your life. Always stay focused and never hang in one idea. Ness will need to use everything he's got.

Just remember... Don't give up! And always fight back!"

- CronoNes

Keep this in mind; it will help you.

Ness is considered to be the 4th worst character in Melee, but there's always player skill that will take anyone to an entire new level. He has many tricks in his backpack to help him stand up against even his worst enemies, like Fox and Marth, so I'm gonna teach you how to use them! Welcome to my Melee Ness guide! This is my first blog, and it's dedicated to help struggling Ness players PSI Rock like top tier pros!

Table of Contents: 

1. Introduction

2. Ness' Moveset

3. Combos

4. Edgeguarding

5. Yoyo Glitch and Setups

1. Introduction

Ness is the 13 year old protagonist of Earthbound/Mother 2 making his second appearance in Smash. He has a great midair jump, slow falling speed, decent air speed and is the 8th heaviest character in the game (ignoring ties between others), making him harder to KO. He also retains his unique ability to cancel his midair jump called Double Jump Cancelling (DJC) to further help him with combos and landing finishing blows. His wavedash is also decent, being the 9th longest in the game.

2. Moveset

Ness may have terrible range, but that doesn't stop him from utilizing his moves properly. Here they are:

Neutral Attack - Ness punches twice then kicks. Don't use this too often unless you see your opponent miss their tech for a jab reset. Has a hitbox behind him on his right foot.

Up Tilt - Thrusts his hands upwards as if hitting a volleyball. This thing has a hitbox the size of Jigglypuff and is intangible on frames 5 and 6. Extremely good defensive option and comboing tool.

Forward Tilt - A fast kick with decent range. Can be angled up or down. 

Down Tilt - This one is a monster. It works like Pikachu and Pichu's rapid jab but with less endlag and a lower, smaller hitbox. These attributes make this attack an excellent shield pressure tool as it pokes at your opponent's feet and allow it to jab reset several times.

Dash Attack - A very good move of his, and one of his most important tools in neutral. Ness shoots 3 sparks in front of him, each one having different effects. The first one is like Fox's shine but with even MORE knockback, the second one is like an electric Falco laser, and the last one sends your opponent flying. Sounds simple? Well, since the first spark knocks them on the ground, and the second spark is a jab. You know what this means? It's a jab reset! One last thing, use this against characters that mostly stay grounded to get them in the air for combos. Additionally, this move can be used for tech traps by hitting with the last hit and then the first one; only works on fastfallers. 

Up Smash - Ness does the "Around the world" trick with his yoyo. Don't judge this move. It's REALLY devastating. First off, it's used for the Yoyo Glitch, which I'll talk about later. Second, the last hitbox (when Ness swings his yoyo) is disjointed, so no aerial move can stop it, and since it slightly pops his enemies up, you can follow up with a Forward Smash. And lastly, when used near the ledge, it will stop Fox/Falco's recovery and can be used repeatedly like Sheik's chain!

Forward Smash - Ness swings his baseball bat. This is his strongest edgeguard tool, since it can be used against almost any recovering character, and it has a tipper! It's impossible to shield grab since he doesn't move an inch while performing this, and because it causes massive shieldstun. It can even reflect projectiles, but the reflection bubble is located very close to Ness' hurtbox and is overall risky.

Down Smash - His least useful move, but worry not! Recently I discovered that Down Smash has amazing edgeguarding potential and for a good reason. One time I used it on Falco's side B and he popped up while my yoyo clanked. It also hits on both sides, the front one being the weakest, which knocks fastfallers in an edgeguard position. Can KO lightweights but it shall only be used for styling.

Neutral Air - Most people overlook this, even though it's REALLY useful. It comes out very early, you can use it out of shield,  or to stop incoming attackers, anything you can think of!  It can even KO at the far side of the ledge!

Forward Air - His most important move at spacing and in neutral. It's a multihit move with decent range. Also immune to being crouch cancelled if all hits connect and if spaced properly.

Down Air - A  meteor smash with high base knockback that autocancels while there is no hitbox. You can use it onstage to strike from above as it's an excellent combo starter. Don't be afraid to use it against characters with weak recoveries. Its autocancelling property allows for a lot of fake outs and movement options.

Back Air - Ness' strongest aerial and the 4th most powerful B-Air in the game. It shield pokes really well if DJC'd, can edgeguard and do a bit of pressure. Amazing attack.

Up Air - His best comboing tool when combined with DJC. Sets up guaranteed grabs on lighter, less gravity-effected characters. Can also reliably KO lightweights around 90%.

Grab - Horrible, horrible range. Don't even try do dash grab. Go for Jump Cancelled Grabs instead, unless your opponent is REALLY close to you.

Forward Throw - Very good base knockback, horrible knockback scaling. Best applied for throwing opponents offstage or against a wall for D-Tilt spam or wall tech reads.

Down Throw - A decent combo throw. D-Throw Dash Attack is true on Marth, Pikachu, G&W (though he only receives 4%) and Ness himself (?), otherwise use this a lot on Yoshi's against fastfallers as Up Throw breaks around 30% (they reach the middle platform at this % and Falco lands there by default).

Up Throw - Ness' second best throw. Amazing followups and chaingrabs on spacies and Falcon up to 30%. Usually used for DJC Up Air chains on the previously mentioned characters.

Back Throw - This is freaking awesome. It's the most powerful Back Throw in the game, KOing around 90% depending on DI and position. Gotta love it. Oh and one more thing, at low % this move can be spammed against walls, allowing for regrabs.

Neutral Special - PK Flash; a really, REALLY laggy edgeguard move, but when you land it, it's the most satisfying thing ever. Landing it, however, is the problem. This only works on characters with slow recoveries, like Ganondorf, Ice Climbers and Marth, sometimes even Sheik. Don't use it too often, Ness has better edgeguarding tools.

Side Special - PK Fire; an average projectile. It consists of two parts; a hitbox (red bubble, deals 2%) and a hurtbox (yellow bubble, can be hit). Can be used for shield pokes but due to being easy to mash out of it and its awful lag, it's best done ledge cancelled.

Down Special - PSI Magnet; absorbs energy projectiles and heals by 2X its damage rounded up (rounded down in v1.00). It doesn't do anything else and it's kinda laggy.

Up Special - PK Thunder; At first it may seem pretty boring, but trust me, having a controllable projectile that is (almost) indestructible is great. It's his main method of recovery, but it takes a VERY long time to master. This move was better in v1.00 and 1.01 because it didn't despawn when Ness got hit, saving his life. If you learn to use and space this move, and to sweetspot any ledge, there's basically no stopping you. Check out Simna's guide to PK Thunder for more information. 

Note: PK Thunder dissappears upon interaction with hurtboxes/yellow bubbles, even if that happens to be a projectile, so watch out for bombs, arrows and needles!

3. Combos

Ness can do different combos depending on which stage he's on and what character he's facing, so I'll do a list of combos for each stage, as well as setups for grab combos.

I. Final Destination/Dreamland

2x Up Throw > DJC Up Air > Regrab > 1x Pummel > DJC Up Air string > B-Air 

or

Up Air > Up Throw > DJC Up Air > Regrab > 1x Pummel > DJC Up Air string > B-Air

II. Yoshi's Story/Battlefield/Fountain of Dreams/Dreamland/PS

Up Throw -> Forward Air -> 3-4 DJC Up Airs -> Back Air (or Neutral Air on Yoshi's Story/Fountain of Dreams); I discovered this but I can't really show footage of it since I don't have anything to record with, but after the second Forward Air you should have your opponent on a platform and you should be able to do a DJC Up Air just before you land on it.

III. Any Stage

Up Throw -> F-Air -> Fast Fall N-Air -> F-Tilt; Can knock them offstage if done close at the edge, so get ready to edgeguard!

Up Throw -> 2-3 B-Airs; Use this if your opponent DI's behind.

Rapid D-Tilts -> F-Smash; Only for missed techs.

Spike Jacket -> PK Flash; Super risky but if you do it you'll get all the fangirls you want.

4. Edgeguarding with Ness

Ness doesn't really stand out at edgeguarding though he is one annoying character to deal with on the edge. He can use all of his smash attacks, spam D-Tilt, angle his F-Tilt and use PK Fire against a recovering opponent. PK Thunder, however, is probably his actual key tool here. Since PK Thunder cannot collide with hitboxes, it means you can maneuver it around the opposing character without worrying about their projectile destroying it. Hitting with the head and the tail each have different effects and outcomes. It also pulls them in the direction it came from, so use that to your advantage.

5. Yoyo Glitch

This glitch is the most useful and the only glitch allowed in tournaments. To do it, you must release Ness' Up Smash after he flashes yellow once. From this point you can:

1. Perform a deadline: If your opponent is between you and where you did the Up Smash, you can use any non-projectile move to hit them from far away, or drag them back to you in ONE frame using your grab. Uh, why was I insulting his grab range, I don't know.

2. Equip a jacket: You can attach the hitbox of a move to Ness' body by cancelling it. There are 6 jackets in total, but I'm only going to list the most useful ones. These can be switched by cancelling another one of the moves that work. They are:

- the Spike Jacket (Down Air): not many people find it useful, but it can be used for ledge stalling.

- the Star Jacket (Up Air): not really worth equipping unless your opponent is at a very high percent.

- the Thunder Jacket (PK Thunder 2): now THIS is what we're talking about. PK Thunder 2 (when Ness hits himself with PK Thunder) can be cancelled by either shooting yourself against the floor or against the ledge. Since Ness is invincible during the startup frames, and that is the hitbox attached to him, he can block projectiles, and if someone hits you, they just get KO'd if they're around 70%. This makes PSI Magnet great against laser/missile camping!

- and finally, the Kirby Jacket: not many people use Kirby, but if they inhale you and spit you out, the star's hitbox will now be yours, though it's only useful for edgeguarding in doubles, and like I said, almost nobody plays Kirby, so you won't be wearing this jacket too much.

The Yoyo Glitch is tournament viable; all you really have to do is get a jab reset (dash attack, down tilt or neutral attack) and they'll be wide open. Forward Air should work too. It's even better in doubles since you can just hit your teammate and bam, instant YYG setup. Just makes sure you hit them with PK Thunder if you equipped the thunder jacket, since it doesn't wear off for your teammate if you don't hit them.

Well, looks like you reached the bottom. There's nothing down here; you reached the end of this guide. If I forgot something, I'll just come back and update it. Anyway, hope I helped you with this, now you should be ready to PK Wreck those top tiers!