Dark Pit Guide: Matchup Chart and Combos

This is a guide to Dark Pit in the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Everything about Dark Pit, including how to unlock them, bread and butter combos, frame data, alt costumes and skins, as well as Dark Pit matchups and counters, can be found here.

Dark Pit Tier and Overview

Stats and General Info

Dark Pit
Game Series	Kid Icarus
Smash Bros. Debut	Super Smash Bros. for WiiU/3DS
Fighter Number	28E
Unlock Order	54
Number of Jumps	4
Weight	96 Units (40/87)
Dash Speed	1.828 (33/87)
Air Speed	0.935 (72/87)
Fast Fall Speed	2.368 (60/87)
Special Attributes	None

Tier List Placement

Tier

An all-arounder with several useful tools

Like his non-echo fighter counterpart, Dark Pit is an all-arounder, with access to a good projectile in his Neutral Special (B), a reflector / shield in his Down Special (↓ + B), and several moves with good range (Dash Attack, Forward Tilt, Neutral Aerial, etc). This makes Dark Pit a rather easy character for almost anyone to pick up and play.

Dark Pit's main weakness lies in the fact that he doesn't have many moves that will take stocks early, which can make it difficult for him to KO. If you can get the hang of edgeguarding with him, through use of moves such as Nair and arrows (B), this problem can be somewhat remedied.

See Our Tier List Here!

Dark Pit's Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths	・Very good recovery (Multiple Jumps, Up Special, Side Special), allowing for edgeguards ・Good mobility (fast movement) ・Access to a projectile (B) ・Down Special can reflect projectiles and shield attacks
Weaknesses	・Somewhat low damage output ・Struggles to land after being put in disadvantage ・Struggles to take stocks early

Dark Pit Matchup Chart

Matchup Chart

-2
-1
0
+1
+2

Notes About Matchup Chart

1. -2 = Disadvantage. -1 = Slight Disadvantage or Even. 0 = Even. +1 = Slight Advantage or Even. +2 = Advantage.
2. The matchup chart was based around both the opinions of professional players of each character, as well as our own experience through playing Dark Pit.
3. Characters within each tier are unordered
4. Pokemon Trainer's individual Pokemon (Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard) as well as Echo fighters with no significant difference than their regular counterpart are not shown.
5. For other characters who are not shown here, we are still investigating the matchup.

Dark Pit Combos

Bread and Butter Combos
Down Tilt→Fair
Dair→Forward Smash
Throw Combos
Down Throw→Nair (Fair) (Can be connected even at higher %)
Down Throw→Step and Up Tilt→Nair (0%-40% only)
Down Throw→Nair→Step and Up Smash

Bread and Butter Combos Explanation

Throw Combos Explanation

Dark Pit Frame Data and Moveset

Best Out of Shield Options

Move	Frames
Up Smash	6 Frames
Neutral Air	7 Frames
Shield Grab	10 Frames
Down Air	13 Frames

Dark Pit has a couple of quick and useful out of shield options, making him pretty good at punish moves that hit his shield. Up smash is his fastest option, coming out in only 6 frames, and hitting the area above him, making it good as an anti-air. In most cases neutral air is your go-to out of shield punish option, since it is fast, and has a long lasting disjoint that can lead into combos.

Jab (Neutral Attack)

	1v1 Damage (%)	Startup Frames
Jab 1 (A)	2.4	5
Jab 2	2.4	5
Jab 3	4.8	3
Rapid Jab (Multi-Hit)	0.6	2/6/10 14/18/22 26/30
Rapid Jab (Finisher)	2.4	4

Jab

Dark Pit's jab comes out fast, so it can be used as a get-off-me attack for persistent opponents. Since there is a 3 hit and rapid jab variant, you can hit an opponent's shield once or twice with the jab, before dashing away and coming back in as a mixup.

Dash Attack / Tilts

	1v1 Damage (%)	Startup Frames
Dash Attack (Dash ＋ A)	13.2	7
Forward Tilt (← or → + A)	8.4/12	10
Up Tilt (Hit 1) (↑ + A)	4.8	6
Up Tilt (Hit 2) (↑ + A)	6.0	15
Down Tilt (↓ + A)	7.2	6

Dash Attack

Dark Pit's dash attack comes out fast and should be used at mid ranged distances to catch landings or whiff punish.

Forward Tilt

Dark Pit's forward tilt has great range, but noticeable end lag, so only use it against opponents who have shorter Dark Pit can outrange.

Up Tilt

Dark Pit's up tilt comes out fast, but it has short range, which makes it difficult to land. Generally, you should use up smash instead of this attack.

Down Tilt

Down tilt is a fast attack with few cooldown frames. Due to Dark Pit crouching during the attack and its short endlag, it can be hard to counter for your opponent, especially if followed with a buffered spotdodge, making it a good tool for poking.

Smash Attacks

	1v1 Damage (%)	Startup Frames
Forward Smash (Hit 1) (Smash ← or → + A）	6.0	10
Forward Smash (Hit 2) (Smash ← or → + A）	12	21
Up Smash 1 (Smash ↑ + A)	3.6	6
Up Smash 1 (Late Hit) (Smash ↑ + A)	3.6	7
Up Smash 2	2.4	10
Up Smash 3	9.6	18
Down Smash (Hit 1) (Smash ↓ + A)	14.4/14.4/12	5
Down Smash (Hit 2)	14.4/14.4/12	18

Forward Smash

Dark Pit's forward smash has high knockback power. It can send your opponent very far, so even if they do manage to survive, you can go for an edgeguard to prevent their recovery.

Up Smash

Up smash comes out extremely quickly. It is a fast attack despite it being a smash attack, and can be used to catch an opponent's air dodges and as an anti-aerial. Its fast startup makes it a great out of shield option.

Down Smash

Dark Pit's down smash also comes out fast. While the the first attack to the front comes out fast, its knockback power is mediocre and it sends opponents diagonally away, making it difficult to KO with. The second attack behind comes out later, but is more powerful, and can setup for an edgeguard.

Aerials

	1v1 Damage (%)	Startup Frames
Neutral Air (Hits 1-7) (A + no direction while airborne)	0.84	4/7/10/13/16/19/22
Neutral Air (Hit 8) (A + no direction while airborne)	5.4	25
Forward Air (Hits 1-2) (Hold ← or → in the direction you are facing + A while airborne)	3.0	11/14
Forward Air (Hit 3)	7.2	18
Back Air (← or → Opposite of the direction you are facing + A while airborne)	14.4/9.6	10
Up Air (Hits 1-4) (↑ + A While Airborne)	1.8	12/15/18/21
Up Air (Hit 5)	6.0	24
Down Air (↓ + A While Airborne)	12	10
Down Air (Late Hit)	12	11

Neutral Air

Dark Pit's neutral air comes out fast and can cover all around him, making it useful as a get-off-me attack. It also has a lingering hitbox, allowing you to use it to prevent recoveries. However, it has a short range, so it is easy for your opponent's attack to out-range nair.

Forward Air

Dark Pit's forward air has better range than nair, so use it in the air to keep your opponent in check. However, it has little knockback, and is a weaker aerial attack. It must be spaced properly or else an opponent will be able to punish it out of shield.

Back Air

Bair has great range and knockback power. It is also one of Dark Pit's few KO moves, so you can use this move when looking to KO. Bair is -8 on shield, making it a good attack to pressure shields with proper spacing.

Up Air

Dark Pit's up air has a very long active hitbox, which hits on both left and right sides, making it easy to catch your opponents. It can beused as a follow-up aerial attack in combos, or to juggle opponents in disadvantage.

Down Air

Dark Pit's down air can meteor smash opponents if the very bottom of the move connects with an opponent, so when your opponent is recovering, bait them with an arrow and go for a spike.

Specials

	1v1 Damage (%)	Startup Frames
Neutral Special (Side) (B)	6.6	16
Neutral Special (Up) (B)	6.6	18
Neutral Special (Side, Aerial) (B)	6.6	16
Neutral Special (Up, Aerial) (B)	6.6	18
Side Special (Grounded Startup Animation) (← or → + B)	0	16
Side Special (Grounded, Hitbox)	14.4	2
Side Special (Aerial Startup Animation)	0	19
Side Special (Aerial, Hitbox)	11.4	2
Up Special (↑ + B)	-	-
Down Special (↓ + B)	0	7

Neutral Special (Silver Bow)

Dark Pit's neutral special fires a fast purple arrow. Also, by using the control stick left or right, you can aim which direction that Dark Pit will fire it in. After firing, you can continue to use the control stick to change the trajectory of the arrow, to make it go up or down slightly.

The largest difference in Dark Pit and Pit is in this move. Dark Pit's arrow deals more damage and knockback, but it is harder to change the direction of, making it harder to use for edgeguarding, while Pit's is easier to control, and thus easier to hit opponents off stage with.

Side Special (Electroshock Arm)

Dark Pit's side special will dash towards the opponent. During the dash, Dark Pit has super armor, and can reflect projectiles. However, this move has a lot of endlag, and can be punished with a counter attack if shielded. If used in the air, the knockback is weakened, but it will have less endlag.

Dark Pit's side special deals more damage than Pit's does, and sends opponents horizontally rather than vertically, making it better for KOing close to the edge of the stage.

Up Special (Power of Flight)

Dark Pit's up special allows him to fly upward towards the direction input. This is one of the highest recoveries in the game, but you cannot attack while flying.

Down Special (Guardian Orbitars)

Down special will put up a shield on both sides of Dark Pit that can block attacks and reflect projectiles. However, the areas above and below Dark Pit are not guarded, and are open to an attack. If he gets damaged while the move is active, the shield will break, at which point it will be unusable for around 10 seconds.

Grabs and Throws

	1v1 Damage (%)	Startup Frames
Pummel	1.56	1
Grab (Normal)	-	6
Dash Grab	-	9
Pivot Grab	-	10
Forward Throw (Hitbox) (← or → While Grabbing)	7.2	12
Forward Throw (Throw)	4.8	14
Back Throw (Hitbox) (← or → While Grabbing)	9.6	18
Up Throw (Hitbox) (↑ While Grabbing)	4.8	13
Up Throw (Throw)	8.4	15
Down Throw (Hitbox) (↓ While Grabbing)	2.4	13
Down Throw (Throw)	4.8	16

Forward Throw

Dark Pit's forward throw will send your opponent flying forward. You can combo into a dash attack after this, but only at low percents. Use this throw to send your opponent off stage.

Back Throw

Dark Pit's back throw will send his opponent flying behind him. Once again, a dash attack can be connected, but only at lower percents.

Up Throw

Up throw will send you opponent straight up into the air. It doesn't combo, but it will open up a chance to follow up with an aerial attack.

Down Throw

Down throw will send the enemy up slightly. After throwing, use nair, fair, or up air to land a combo. Typically, down throw is the go-to throw when looking to rack up damage.

Final Smash

Attack	How to Use	Effect
Dark Pit Staff	Press B after obtaining the Smash Ball	Dark Pit aims his staff straight ahead and fires it at an opponent to deal damage. The blast will go through opponents or obstacles, which can hit multiple targets and deal knockback. It is most powerful on the first target hit.

Dark Pit Balance Changes

Version 8.0.0 Balance Patch

	Change
Down Tilt Attack	Adjusted launch angle. Shortened launch distance.
Up Smash Attack	Extended launch distance of the final attack.
Down Smash Attack	Adjusted launch angle of the first attack.
Up Air Attack	Increased attack speed. Adjusted launch angle. Extended launch distance of the last attack. Reduced vulnerability.
Attack when Getting Up	The vulnerability for attacking when getting up now aligns with other fighters.
Down Special	Reduced vulnerability.

Version 7.0.0 Balance Patch

	Change
Other	Increased shield size.

Version 4.0.0 Balance Patch

	Change
Neutral Attack 1	Increased attack speed.
Up Tilt Attack	Reduced vulnerability.
Down Smash Attack	Extended launch distance when hit with the first attack.
Back Air Attack	Reduced vulnerability when landing after using the move.
Down Air Attack	Extended launch distance when hitting an opponent in the air with a meteor effect.

Version 3.1.0 Balance Patch

	Change
Up Smash Attack	Made it easier to hit multiple times.

Version 3.0.0 Balance Patch

	Change
Neutral Special	Reduced the power against shields.

How to Unlock Dark Pit

Unlocking Via Smash Mode
*54th Fighter Unlocked** After unlocking the Robin, let 10 minutes pass OR play another battle in smash after soft-resetting OR return to the menu from World of Light
Unlocking via Classic Mode
Clear Classic Mode 5 times using Samus.
Unlocking via World of Light
Dracula's Castle

There are three ways to unlock Dark Pit. Completing any of these, then defeating Dark Pit when they appear in the “a New Challenger Appears” screen will allow you to use them afterward.

How to Unlock Characters Fast

Dark Pit Alt Costumes and Skins

Dark Pit Reveal Trailer

Smash Ultimate Character Guides

List of Fighters
Tier List	Unlocking Fighters

Character Stat Lists

Character Stats
Weights of All Characters	Run Speeds of All Characters
Air Speeds of All Characters	Fast Fall Speeds of All Characters