Game:

Hyrule Warriors (2014)

Duration: 16:10

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10

I made this as another demonstration of what Zelda's Baton can do. Some play-by-play notes in the annotations. Though I imagine most people will pick this weapon to tear up Dinolfos, I ran Twilight Map F-3 as a "what if you don't automatically plaster 60% of the officers just by having Lightning element?" of sorts.

I've picked up a bit more on this weapon lately, enough to give a moveset analysis I guess. Many of the Baton's moves allow you to freely rotate Zelda in place so she can keep enemies attempting to flank her in check. But because she stays in place, it's possible for mooks to hit you from behind while you're attacking. It's usually better to find a way to the edge of an enemy group so you're not surrounded.

The jab string's got decent reach and speed, and combined with how you stay in place while jabbing you can often outpoke the jabs of enemy officers. As always though, watch out for superarmor and people with long range like Volga and Twili Midna. Jab #5 creates a circle of wind that persists for a second or so even if you dodge out of it, stopping enemies in their tracks if they run into it.

C1's an interesting crowd clear move. I didn't really use it in this run but recently I heard about a setup where you use C3 to launch enemies in front of you, then follow with C1 while they're recovering. I was surprised by the proc rate of the pink wind, it even works if you catch officers in the C3 at times... and when it doesn't, you can just dodge-cancel out. The damage of a full-power tornado rivals the damage from juggling into C6, though it takes some practice to get the tornado to explode on the targets you want to hit. Zelda herself is left without cover so you want to pick good moments to use this so you don't give the enemy free hits.

C2's mostly for breaking a named officer's Weak Point Gauge, by activating with them right in front of you. The electric ball discharges from Zelda while carrying the enemy away and launching them, doing 3 hits in the process. Dodge cancel the end and jab once more to break. The timing is a bit tight and if you don't start this right away, the enemy's gauge will disappear between the first and second hits. Some moves like Link C1 and Sheik playing the harp don't give you much time to react, and in those cases it's better to use the Special Attack to break. You can also do a quick launch with this, though not with the safety of C3.

C3... definitely the best move with its long reach, ability to launch anything it hits, and able to dodge-cancel any time. Anyone who doesn't block the whole thing gets launched, and on that note the maximum reach is farther than the point where enemies react by blocking so officers tend to run right into it. You can rotate it a little to stuff enemies that try to dodge to the side. It doesn't do much damage by itself so you want to follow up after confirming the launch. C3 launch into C6 is a legit combo even on officers that air recover, provided they get hit by 2 lightning bolts on jab #5 and they're not too high up. If you end up waiting for an enemy gauge to show up you can start C3 early to get a more consistent Weak Point Smash. You have to get the musical staff out before the gauge appears, otherwise there'll be too big of a gap between the first and second hits.

C4 is... I wasn't really sure where I should use it instead of C6, actually. I haven't had as much luck comboing this on named officers, but it's easier to see what you're doing than with C6 since it doesn't change the camera angle.

C5 is another move I don't use much; the AoE is not as big as it looks. It's safer than C4 and C6 but my reflexes are more hard-wired to use a Special if an officer gets too close, or things just get too confusing. It does seem to have more height tolerance than C6 so it can be a good combo finisher in place of C6 if the enemy officer is being juggled too high.

C6 is my second favorite move. It combines range and power, kind of reminiscent of Fi's C6. Yes, despite what the camera might suggest the last gust of wind actually reaches all the way around you, and is pretty strong! If it takes 4 C5s to clear a keep then C6 will probably do it in 2 uses. As mentioned before it combos off C3, and if using Focus Spirit on a commander I like to spam C6s back-to-back to wail on my target and use the AoE to extend the duration by catching mooks in the crossfire. It's not safe if you don't combo an officer properly though. Always keep a Special Attack on hand so you can escape from this one if something goes wrong.

The Special Attack hits a good area in front of you. Not much to say about it except that it does a little more damage than normal to Giant Bosses, which is helpful since Zelda's other moves don't do that much gauge damage to Giants. I usually save them for safer and more consistent officer dueling.

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