you should't have to be an expert to land a simple f-smash
![Stick Out Tongue :p :p](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
...i also even wondered if his n64 smash would work better.. but that being said, i still really like the jumping strike.. the animation (form the "buggy version", idk about the newer one) looks kinda choppy still though... the main reason is because link only winds the sword back to his directly in front of his chest as he turns his body, instead of from his other side (player wise, it should be coming from behind you to look like it has a more even flow..).. look at baseball players or the ways characters swing bats, beam swords, etc. and the wind up before the swing looks more natural... the way it is, it looks really restrained... and the overhead swing part of releasing a in the animation should make his chest pushed a little more forward, like he's arching his back to swing downward with more force... this part looks a lot more consistently smooth, but i could see a few touch-ups in the future being needed... ...i like this move a lot, but i wish the input could be different... and i'm not really a fan of the new back throw either
![Stick Out Tongue :p :p](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
i love the helm splitter in the games, but i just don't feel like it fits over a throw, and the motion of him needing to jump forward during a back throw also makes it look a little strange... ... i thought of a way that the sword skills from twilight princess could all go over one move and still have separate inputs. for anyone who may not have heard it (i think it was deleted), :in my idea:
his f air is the jump attack (not strike, the one where you tap A while targeting in Zelda games)... he swings overhead and goes into a kind of fast fall with his sword leading down, like in Ike and Kirby's up B's, but a bit longer range, more horizontal momentum, and not as fast of a fall...
his f air, hold A is the helm splitter flip... since his down air is the "finishing blow" (in vBrawl, and still the same in this), it would make sense that the other sword art he uses in the air should be and air attack here... when you hold A, you gain some more horizontal momentum than the jump attack (like in max Samus's f air screw atack), but you can't spam it because the end lag forces you to fall more before being able to use it again... this attack would have a meteor sweet spot (/"spike" sweet spot?) at the bottom of the swing and spike foes downward, while bouncing upwards if you connect to help recover a little... can also gain a bounce if you hit a projectile (with the sword, not your face), and could really help link get alternative recoveries (i know his current recovery is really good, but he could get some kinds of nerfs elsewhere...? also, it could be made in a way so that it turns you around, preventing you from using it twice in a row (in the same direction)
his down air would still be the finishing blow, but in the air it would have the current "finishing blow" function over his f smash that makes grounded foes (i guess) fall and spike, and when grounded foes are hit when Link lands, they'll be sent upwards.. a little like how Bowser's current butt bomb works... this way you can use it while jumping at your foe and it will still have the same use as it does in the jumping strike...
finally, his f smash: it would normally work as the jumping strike... pressing b during it doesn't change it (or maybe makes you pull out arrows)... instead, if released normally, you'll use the normal jumping strike, while if tilted, you'll activate one of the two "hero's skills" sword attacks...
--if you tilt up when you release A, then he'll jump a bit higher than the normal jumping strike and go into his motion for the helm splitter, knocking his foes to the ground, or maybe off the ground, but not upwards or horizontally. however this could either be cancellable after it connects (for instance into the finishing blow), or the idea above to make it force you to turn around could set you up for a follow up attack, assuming your foes don't tech out of the way when you spike them to the ground...
--if you tilt down when you release A, then he'll jump more horizontally, going into the finishing blow currently in the game that's activated by pressing B... it'll still have the same function and use, but this input would help prevent the weird glitch (or maybe it's intentional) where you occasionally pull out arrows while trying to use this move... (i'm aware that in the new version you can do this intentionally by letting go of A during the jump and/or trying to press B more than once... already forgot how i did it three times in a row)
i would prefer (and i think a dev has said this too) if less moves had an input requiring pressing both A and B simultaneously
![Stick Out Tongue :p :p](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
...tilts would make more sense (seeing as you shouldn't really be able to tilt an over head smash anyway and [the input it holds] would go to waste otherwise) for variations on a smash attack... and i could see these two (tilt) inputs being switched with one another since finishing blow could make sense to go further and could be on up tilt smash instead, whereas helm splitter would go much shorter, but this was my original idea, and i guess taking the height of the jump as the factor, i would use up for the one that goes higher, etc....
...god that was annoying to write...(( please don't delete this Dx ))