With the release of Sora back in October, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster was finally complete, and now, the game’s balance tuning is also complete after a new update that’s now live.
First reported by Kotaku, Nintendo revealed on Twitter that the latest Ultimate balance update, Ver. 13.0.1 has been distributed and will be “the last update related to the balance adjustments of the game.” However, Nintendo said that other updates might happen to fix problems related to Ultimate. Director Masahiro Sakura also used this update to give thanks to everyone involved.
バランス調整もこれで完了です。調整関係者各位、おつかれさまでした。
— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) December 2, 2021
上位者戦の使用ファイター、オンライン平均勝率も含めてバラけており、おおむね望ましい配分だと思います。
いろんなゲームの主役（級？）が入り乱れる大乱闘を、今後もお楽しみください! https://t.co/10X7YREOnJ
“Balance adjustment is now complete,” Sakurai writes on Twitter. “Thank you to everyone involved in the coordination. The fighters used in the top-ranked battles and the average online win rate are all different, so I think this is a generally desirable distribution.”
The actual update features nearly 60 changes to character moves, spanning 24 different fighters. There are damage increases, speed boosts, animation length changes, and much more. You can check out the full update patch notes here. As noted by Kotaku, there are quite a handful of buffs – more buffs than nerfs, even – so many of your favorite fighters are probably feeling a touch stronger than usual.
For more about Ultimate, check out our thoughts on it in Game Informer’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review and then read about how Nintendo has partnered with Panda Global for new Ultimate and Melee tournaments. Check out this story about how Sakurai is not currently thinking about a sequel to Ultimate but won’t rule one out just yet.