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★Pyra / Mythra from Xenoblade 2 Confirmed For Smash
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This guide will show you the fastest way to unlock all characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate (SSBU) on the Nintendo Switch. Learn the most efficient way to unlock characters fast, the character unlock order, and obtain the full roster to get smashing as fast as you can!
List of Contents
Time to Unlock All Characters | 4 Hours |
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Competing in Smash mode or Spirits mode will make a hidden timer start. Once this hidden timer goes to zero, the next challenger will appear. Play a lot of Smash mode or Spirits mode to unlock challengers, once the challenger appears, defeat the challenger to unlock them as a playable character. Generally speaking, these modes are the fastest for unlocking characters.
Time to Unlock All Characters | 10 Hours |
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Fight and clear the Classic mode to unlock specific fighters. The characters that gets unlocked depends on the character you used. Please refer to our chart further down below to see which characters you unlock per character.
Time to Unlock All Characters | 20 Hours or more (for main roster) |
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After unlocking characters in World of Light (Adventure Mode), you will be able to use them in other modes as well. In World of Light, you can only use the characters you have unlocked there, so if you want to enjoy the Adventure mode first, start here and play through to unlock everyone.
The DLC fighters become an immediate playable character upon purchasing them. There is no way to unlock these characters aside from purchasing them, so if you wish to use these fighters, purchase them individually in the eShop, or purchase the fighter pass bundle to unlock the whole character set for that pass.
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After unlocking 6 characters, it becomes possible to reset the hidden timer after unlocking a challenger by resetting the software. This allows you to skip waiting and be able to unlock the next challenger immediately. This is currently the fastest way to unlock characters in SSBU.
The timer that's needed to unlock characters also varies depending on the difficulty. Play with many people or high difficulty CPUs to speed up the timer and unlock the characters faster.
During the match, the timer will not initiate its countdown if you stay idle during the match or fight will only inputting one button continuously. Play an active role in the fight or the process will be slower.
1st to-5th Characters |
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6th to-30th Characters |
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31st to-50th Characters |
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51st to-63rd Characters |
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By playing Smash Mode (free for all), characters get unlocked in the following order.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
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9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
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17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
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21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
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25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
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29 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
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33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
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37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
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41 | 42 | 43 | 44 |
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45 | 46 | 47 | 48 |
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49 | 50 | 51 | 52 |
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53 | 54 | 55 | 56 |
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57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
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61 | 62 | 63 | 64 |
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As mentioned above, clearing Classic mode allows you to unlock specific characters. The characters you unlock depends on the character you used in Classic Mode, This allows you to target unlock certain characters if you're a returning player and only wishes to play certain characters or if you want to immediately try a certain character.
Mario Route |
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Sonic → Bayonetta → Little Mac → Ike → Luigi → Roy → Dr. Mario → Olimar → Bowser |
Donkey Kong Route |
Bowser → Pokemon Trainer → Rosalina & Luma → King Dedede → Sheik → Greninja → Diddy Kong → Duck Hunt → Sonic |
Link Route |
King K. Rool → Ice Climbers → Simon → Meta Knight → Snake → Young Link → Richter → Toon Link → Sonic |
Samus |
Inkling → Wii Fit Trainer → Pit → Incineroar → Dark Samus → Cloud → Wario → Dark Pit → Sonic |
Yoshi |
Lucario → Marth → Ryu → Ganondorf → Lucina → Ridley → Chrom → Ken → Sonic |
Kirby |
Ness → Jigglypuff → Pac-Man → Zelda → Robin → Corrin → Lucas → Palutena → Sonic |
Fox |
Captain Falcon → Zero Suit Samus → Peach → Falco → Daisy → Bowser Jr. → Wolf → Mewtwo → Sonic |
Pikachu |
Villager → Shulk → R.O.B → Megaman → Isabelle → Mr. Game and Watch → Pichu → Sonic → Bayonetta |
![]() Unlocking Characters Fast |
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>>[2]
That's tough because there's so many good ones. Plus, some neutral specials are really good when combined with that character's kit (Sheik needles), but wouldn't be as good on other characters.
I think if you were to put in in a tier list though, of neutral specials that would work well on anyone, the top tiers would be something like this:
WOLF, Shulk, Samus, Pikachu, Little Mac (KO Punch), Snake
Yoooo, I'm always down for a game. I live in Japan, so my timezone is UTC/GMT +9 hours. Feel free to add me.
Friend code: 4647-2729-6289
I main Young Link, but also have a Sheik/Link secondary (yes I like Zelda characters :P ). Always looking for matchup experience on any character, but would really like to get better at the Joker, Lucario, and Samus matchups
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Original Game: © Nintendo / HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Characters: © Nintendo / HAL Laboratory, Inc. / Pokémon. / Creatures Inc. / GAME FREAK inc. / SHIGESATO ITOI / APE inc. / INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS /
SEGA / CAPCOM CO., LTD. / BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc. / MONOLITHSOFT / CAPCOM U.S.A., INC. / SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
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