By crouching before getting hit by an attack, some aspects of the attack will be weakened. Both knockback and hitstun will be lessened.

Ness is a character that has a few good pokes, but no reliable kill moves. Ness is a very limiting character on-stage and off-stage, as his ground game has short range and his combos often lack a finisher. As well as his bad on-stage, his recovery takes the longest to start up out of any character, and he is vulnerable for all of it.