Bayonetta is a complex character, although she is way less powerful than in Smash 4. Despite that, the character still possesses really good combos, along with great juggling options, even though Bayonetta suffers from a huge global nerf from the previous Smash. However, she still is an atypical character in the way she plays.
Bayonetta is a character that has a lot of particularities: she can fire bullets by holding down the attack button; she has another airdodge which nullifies the knockback taken while still receiving half of the avoided damage, and an aerial game differing from other fighters. Indeed, the more special moves you do in the air, the greater the landing lag will be, so it will be required not to get too greedy. Finally, Bayonetta can also get a third jump by jumping and using her up B almost simultaneously.
It’s a great move in the air and on the ground to punish landings, jumps and airdodges. Grounded, this move possesses two hits if you hold down B and this allows getting out of a delicate situation or approach, even if it’s risky, your opponent and start a combo. You can also input this move in the air by doing a quarter-circle forward or backward, which allows getting back on stage, to get away from the opponent or to start a shorter combo.
It is a really good option out of Shield, because this move comes out frame 6. You also use it twice in the air, which gives Bayonetta a great recover if we had to that the triple jump technique In addition to this, this move allows to start quite a lot of combos.
It is Bayonetta’s best kill move, which proves itself to be quite dangerous, especially in edgeguarding phases. It is also an excellent tool for ending a combo, especially after an uptilt in order to kill your opponent at high percents. However, beware of not being too predictable when you want to kill with back-air, change your timing or a good opportunity to surprise your opponent.
This counter is quite slow compared to the others, but this one allows Bayonetta to slow time. It is a counter that allows to punish with almost everything you want, may it be a smash, a kill confirm, or starting a combo in order to deal as much damage as possible. However, be careful as the more you use it, the less the slowed time duration will last.
