Rivals of Aether is a fast 2D platform fighter by Aether Studios where elemental fighters win by launching opponents off-stage instead of draining a health bar. This guide is for the original Rivals of Aether, not the later 3D sequel, and it stays focused on habits that help in local play, online matches, tutorials, Abyss, Tetherball, and casual Workshop sessions.
This is not a combo list, matchup chart, or current tier list. Treat character strength, balance, and Workshop picks as changing topics. Your first goal is to build reliable movement, recovery, spacing, and character comfort.
Essential Tips
1. Learn Movement Before Flashy Punishes
Rivals is won through position first.
Movement is not a side skill here. Because Rivals does not play around a traditional hold-to-block shield, your spacing, dash dance, platform movement, air drift, and escape routes are a major part of defense. Spend early sessions moving around empty stages, then repeat the same routes while a CPU attacks.
Do not treat wavedashing as a trick for advanced players only. Learn the feel of jump plus dodge in a direction, then use it sparingly. It helps reposition quickly, but it also exposes you if you slide into an attack.
2. Pick One Main While You Learn the Cast
A smaller focus makes every system clearer.
Rivals characters have strong identity mechanics: puddles, smoke, rocks, ice, poison, clouds, fire, plants, bombs, crystals, sound, and more. Trying everyone is useful, but constantly switching slows down your understanding of recovery distance, fall speed, attack reach, and punish timing.
Start with one primary fighter for a week of play. Use the rest of the cast in short tests so you understand what they are trying to set up against you.
3. Choose by Game Plan, Not by Tier Talk
Comfort beats borrowed rankings early.
Zetterburn gives you direct fire pressure and clear launch goals. Kragg has durable tools, a rock, and a pillar recovery that teaches stage control. Clairen rewards spacing around sword tip hits. Ranno is flexible and relatively friendly for players who like fast buttons, needles, poison pressure, and bubble setups.
Those are role clues, not permanent rankings. If a character feels natural, use that as your first filter.
4. Practice Recovery as Its Own Drill
Most beginner stocks are lost before neutral resumes.
Every character returns differently. Kragg can create a pillar, Orcane can use puddle positioning, Wrastor has multiple jumps, and other fighters rely on more precise routes. In training or friendly matches, deliberately jump off-stage and return from different heights.
Save your double jump when possible. Mix your timing. Learn when to go straight to stage, when to drift toward a wall, and when to threaten an attack so the opponent cannot edgeguard for free.
5. Use Parry and Tech Timing Carefully
Defense is active, not passive.
Rivals asks you to defend with timing and movement. Practice teching as you hit the ground during hitstun so you do not bounce helplessly. Practice parry timing only after you know what the opponent is trying to hit, because a guessed defensive input can leave you open.
Once you can tech, add directional choices. Rolling after a tech can get you away from pressure, but repeated rolls become easy to chase.
6. Make Fast Fall and Drift Automatic
Air control decides whether openings continue.
Fast falling lets you return to the ground sooner after a jump or aerial action. Air drift lets you land where you want instead of where the opponent expects. Together, they make your offense safer and your defense harder to pin down.
Do short-hop aerials, fast fall afterward, then land outside the opponent’s immediate range. Repeat until the landing point matters as much as the attack.
7. Understand Your Stage-Control Tool
Each fighter changes space differently.
Many Rivals kits place something meaningful on the stage. Orcane’s puddle threatens teleport paths and powered attacks. Kragg’s rock can become a projectile or temporary obstacle. Maypul’s Lily changes where opponents want to stand. Etalus ice changes his movement. Forsburn smoke hides intentions.
When you pick a character, ask what space their tools control. Then build your neutral around that space instead of running straight at the opponent.
8. Use Abyss and Tetherball for Different Skills
Side modes can still teach real habits.
Abyss helps you practice survival, movement under pressure, and character tools against nonstandard threats. Tetherball is a sport-style mode, so it teaches positioning and quick decisions without playing exactly like a stock match.
Use these modes as variety, not as replacements for normal matches. After a mode session, play a few standard games and carry one habit back with you.
9. Treat Workshop as Casual Unless Rules Say Otherwise
Custom content needs context.
Steam Workshop can include custom characters, stages, buddies, scripts, hitboxes, and custom Abyss material. That is a strength of the PC version, but it also means quality and balance vary widely.
For casual nights, Workshop is excellent. For practice aimed at tournaments or ranked improvement, confirm the exact rules first. Do not assume a custom fighter, stage, or buddy is legal just because it is popular.
10. Refresh Balance Assumptions by Platform
PC and Switch are not always identical.
Rivals has had balance changes, stage variant updates, bug fixes, and platform-specific feature differences. Steam Workshop and rollback are PC-oriented topics, while Switch has had catch-up patches with feature caveats.
If you are giving advice to friends, keep it broad: learn movement, learn recovery, learn the character’s tool, and check the platform before claiming a feature or balance detail.
11. Play Online After You Can Beat Simple Habits
Random matchmaking can be a rough teacher.
Before jumping into online sets, make sure you can recover consistently, punish obvious missed attacks, tech common knockdowns, and move across platforms without panicking. AI matches and friendlies are useful because you can isolate one skill at a time.
Once online, measure progress by decisions rather than wins. Did you recover better? Did you stop drifting into the same edgeguard? Did you use your stage tool before swinging?
12. Keep Notes on Situations, Not Combos
Reliable recognition beats memorized routes.
Instead of writing down long strings, track simple moments: what hits you at ledge, what attack you miss most, where your recovery gets intercepted, and which tool creates openings. Those notes stay useful even when balance patches or character choices shift.
When a setup works, ask why the opponent got hit. If the answer is spacing, panic, or a bad landing, you are learning the game. If the answer is only that they did not know the matchup, keep testing.
Character Choice
| Style | Good First Question | Examples to Try |
|---|---|---|
| Direct brawler | Do you want simple pressure and clear KO goals? | Zetterburn, Olympia |
| Space controller | Do you like placing objects or hazards first? | Kragg, Orcane, Maypul |
| Air specialist | Do you prefer jumps, drift, and aerial pressure? | Wrastor, Pomme |
| Trickster | Do you like hiding intent or forcing guesses? | Forsburn, Absa |
| Technical pressure | Do you enjoy resource or status management? | Etalus, Ranno, Mollo, Hodan |
Practice Routine
| Drill | What to Do | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Movement lap | Dash, jump, fast fall, waveland, and turn around on each platform | Builds control without match stress |
| Recovery set | Start off-stage from several heights and return safely | Reduces easy self-destructs |
| Tech check | Let a CPU knock you down and practice grounded tech timing | Prevents long punish chains |
| Tool setup | Place your character’s main stage tool before attacking | Teaches neutral around your kit |
| One-habit match | Play a full match focusing on one weakness | Makes improvement measurable |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Do not chase tier lists before learning movement - a strong character will not save weak recovery, bad landings, or panic options.
- Do not switch mains after every loss - give one fighter enough time for recovery routes and spacing to become familiar.
- Do not wavedash into attacks on autopilot - the slide is useful, but it is punishable when your route is obvious.
- Do not spend your double jump immediately off-stage - saving it gives you more recovery timing and mixup options.
- Do not ignore teching - missed techs let opponents continue pressure that you could have escaped.
- Do not fight without using your character’s space tool - puddles, rocks, smoke, plants, ice, poison, and similar tools shape the match.
- Do not treat Workshop picks as automatically balanced - confirm the rule set before using custom content for serious practice.
- Do not assume PC and Switch features are identical - platform differences matter for Workshop, rollback, and some update wording.
- Do not memorize unsourced combos as your foundation - learn why openings happen before copying long routes.
- Do not jump online with no recovery plan - practice returning to stage first so early matches teach decisions, not panic.
Summary
| Category | Top Tip |
|---|---|
| Movement | Make dash dance, fast fall, drift, and basic wavedash comfortable before chasing advanced punish routes |
| Character | Pick one main by playstyle and test the rest of the cast in short sessions |
| Recovery | Drill off-stage routes until saving your double jump becomes normal |
| Defense | Use movement, tech timing, and parry reads instead of waiting behind a passive block |
| Stage control | Build neutral around your fighter’s unique space-changing tool |
| Modes | Use Abyss and Tetherball for variety, then bring one habit back to standard matches |
| Workshop | Keep custom content casual unless the exact rules allow it |
| Updates | Refresh balance, platform, and meta assumptions before making firm claims |
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8 checked for this guideEvery factual claim in this guide was checked against at least two independent sources before publication. These are the references used for Rivals of Aether.
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