Super Smash Bros Ultimate is reaching its Final Destination with its last balance patch in 13.01.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate's final DLC released with Sora, and now that he's been in the wild for a few weeks and Sakurai's team has had a chance to see how he's interacting with the cast, a balance patch is being readied for the game. While this is normal for any DLC in Smash, Nintendo has confirmed that this one will be the final balance pass on Smash Ultimate.
This is significant for a number of reasons. First of all, Smash Ultimate has been affected drastically by the patches as numerous DLC have come out which has had a huge effect on the game's meta. With this being the final patch, the meta can settle and we can have a clear picture of what state the game will be in for years to come. Secondly, the Ultimate community will now have to support the game on their own terms, relying on its esports scene to continue to drive hype.
This will be buoyed by the support from Nintendo and Panda with their official esports circuit in 2022, the presumed return of the Smash World Tour, and the return of in-person events. It remains to be seen if the community can keep up this support in the wake of other titles like Multiversus and Nick All-Star Brawl picking up steam.
Smash 4's final patch did not much address issues in its metagame, namely that Bayonetta was a tad overpowered. Smash Ultimate seems a lot more balanced, but this will be the final chance for Sakurai to have his say on where the characters fall, and if characters like Sora will get the nerf bat.
When will the Smash Ultimate patch release?
While it's unknown exactly when Smash Ultimate Patch 13.01 will release, Nintendo has warned to save replays. Typically, this happens the day before the patch releases, so it's quite possible we will be looking at a November 30 release for the new patch. We will have the patch notes as soon as they release.
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