- Offensive Items

Mario Kart Wii Guide - Offensive Items

Banana Peel

Banana Peel

Effect:
Trap. Puts an opponent into a spin when run over.

Normal fire: Back
Firing range: Can be thrown forward
Drag: Yes
Time: Until it is hit

Strategy:
Utterly useless on its own. The odds of you actually hitting an opponent with this is slim-none. However, they are invaluable when used defensively. Press and hold the fire button and drag it behind you. It will fend off stray shells, and can slip up an opponent if they try to ram you. If you feel lucky, you can look behind you to line up your shot, and let it go like a precision mine. It takes a lot of practice and luck, though.

Defensive strategy:
If you see a banana peel in the road, DON’T HIT IT. It’s that simple. If someone is dragging a peel behind them, don’t get too close. Also, this is the computers favorite weapon when you are near them, so back off if your near an opposing car and you just went through some item boxes.

Bob-omb

Bob-omb

Effect:
Explosive. Throw it and wait for the boom.

Normal fire: Forward
Firing range: Can be dropped back.
Drag: Yes.
Time: 2 seconds before exploding.

Strategy:
Pretty useless. It can be drug, but if something hits it, it detonates and gets you in the blast. Throwing it, it’s almost impossible to hit the player you want, and even it you do they’ll be long past it before it explodes. Just drop it back and forget about it. It also makes opponents drop all their items.

Defensive strategy:
Odda are, you'll never even see one of these. But if you do, motor on past it and don’t worry.

Blooper

Blooper

Effect:
Hindering. Sprays ink on all opponents in front of you, blocking their vision.

Normal fire: Instant.
Firing range: Instant.
Drag: No.
Time: 10 seconds till ink wears off.

Strategy:
Not much of a strategy. Just use it. It coats them in ink, which doesn’t really hurt the computer, and honestly I can still see just fine when I’m hit with it.

Defensive strategy:
Nothing you can do. Just look through the small gaps in the ink and try to anticipate the track.

Uh...

...oh

Fake Item Box

Fake Item Box. AKA: Bomb

Effect:
Trap. Explodes when run over, sending opponents into the air.

Normal fire: Back
Firing range: Can be thrown
Drag: yes
Time: Until hit.

Strategy:
Even more useless then banana peels. I have yet so actually see someone fall for one of these (the computer does from time to time, but they are on rails, so it’s not hard to guess where they’ll go next lap). Unlike the peels, you cant even use it defensively: it wont block shells when being drug! I guess, if you really want to try to fool someone, lay it down in the mist of other real item boxes. They may not see it... if they’re blind and missing an eye...

Defensive strategy:
They’re red, with an upside down question mark. Seriously, not hard to spot. Just go around it.

Green Shell

Green Shell

Effect:
Projectile. Fires a shell that explodes on impact.

Normal fire: Forward
Firing range: Can be fired backward.
Drag: Yes.
Time: Until it is hit or bounces 10 times

Strategy:
A good all-purpose item. It can be drug to block incoming shells, or it can be thrown to hit enemy vehicles. There’s not much I can say, other then work on your aim. The shell always goes straight until it hits something. One thing to remember is that unlike in pervious games, the shell will not encircle you before firing off.

Defensive strategy:
You can hear them coming. If you look behind you, they are normally easily dodged. Though, a bit of luck never hurt. If you’re out of luck, make sure you’re dragging something behind you.

Lightning

Lightning

Effect:
Hindering. Zaps all opponents and shrinks them.

Normal fire: Instant.
Firing range: Instant.
Drag: No.
Time: 10 seconds till shrink wears off.

Strategy:
Just use it. Some say to save it, but really it’s better to use it immediately so you don’t lose it. It will shrink all opponents, slowing them down to half their normal speed. You can even run over them. It also makes them drop their items.

Defensive strategy:
Absolutely nothing you can do.

Red Shell

Red Shell

Effect:
Projectile. Locks on to an opponent and hones in, exploding on impact.

Normal fire: Forward.
Firing range: Can be fired backward.
Drag: Yes.
Time: Until hit.

Strategy:
Red shells are different, in that they will lock on to the opponent directly in front of you and chase them down. They are almost impossible to dodge, so said opponent is toast unless they are dragging an item. They don’t go straight for the opponent, they will follow the center of the track and go around corners on the way to the opponent. Truly a great weapon. It can be drug and will block other shells, though it seems like a waist.

Be careful when firing, though. If you are in second and fire the shell just as you pass into first, the shell will backfire and come back to hit you. Also, if you’re in first, the shell wont hone in at all and will just go off and hit a wall.

Defensive strategy:
If you see someone dragging a red shell, DON’T PASS THEM. Simple, right? Otherwise, if the shell warning comes up and it’s red, if you don’t have an item that you can drag real fast, you’re toast. Start looking for a good place to wreck.

Spiny Shell (AKA Blue Shell)

Spiny Shell

Effect:
Projectile explosive. Hones in on first place, then explodes.

Normal fire: Automatic.
Firing range: Automatic.
Drag: No.
Time: Until hit.

Strategy:
What strategy? You fire it off and it is guaranteed to take out whoever is in first. It does create a large orb-like blue explosion, so don’t get caught in the blast radius!  It also makes opponents drop all their items.

Defensive strategy:
Almost impossible. You can, possibly, rarely, use a mushroom JUST before the shell is about to hit to boost out of the blast before it engulfs you like some action movie.

Triple Bananas

Triple Bananas

Effect:
Trap. Puts an opponent into a spin when run over.

Normal fire: Back
Firing range: Can be thrown forward
Drag: Yes, automatically on use.
Time: Until it is hit

Strategy:
Utterly useless on its own. The odds of you actually hitting an opponent with this is slim-none. However, they are invaluable when used defensively. Press and hold the fire button and drag it behind you. It will fend off stray shells, and can slip up an opponent if they try to ram you. If you feel lucky, you can look behind you to line up your shot, and let it go like a precision mine. It takes a lot of practice and luck, though.

Yeah, I did just copy that from the Banana Peel section. This only differs in that you have three of them. You don’t need to drag them, rather as soon as you press use they are automatically drug behind you. When being drug, they can protect you from THREE shells, instead of just one.

Defensive strategy:
If you see a banana peel in the road, DON’T HIT IT. It’s that simple. If someone is dragging a peel behind them, don’t get too close.

Triple Green Shells

Triple Green Shells

Effect:
Projectile. Fires a shell that explodes on impact.

Normal fire: Forward
Firing range: Can be fired backward.
Drag: Yes.
Time: Until it is hit or bounces 10 times

Strategy:
Same as the green shell, only it automatically creates a circling wall of shells around you when used, so no need to drag them. While they are circling around you, you can ram opponents to hit them with a shell. The wall is not impenetrable, however. After you lose even just one of the three, there is a gap where projectiles can get through. Other then that, they still fire off in a straight line.

Defensive strategy:
If someone is encircled with shells, common sense should tell you to get as far away from them as possible. The computer will generally fire off all the shells pretty quickly, so don’t worry about having to eat through their shield. Otherwise, just watch your back and listen for the sound effect of a whooshing shell.

Triple Red Shells

Triple Red Shells

Effect:
Projectile. Fires a honing shell that explodes on impact.

Normal fire: Forward
Firing range: Can be fired backward.
Drag: Yes.
Time: Until hit.

Strategy:
Same as the red shell, only it automatically creates a circling wall of shells around you when used, so no need to drag them. While they are circling around you, you can ram opponents to hit them with a shell. The wall is not impenetrable, however. After you lose even just one of the three, there is a gap where projectiles can get through. Other then that, they still fire off and hone in.

Don’t fire them off as fast as possible! Time your firing, as if all three shells hit only a second apart, the opponent will only be damaged once. Rather, fire them off a few seconds apart, so as soon as he lands from the first one, the second one hits and so on.

Defensive strategy:
If someone is encircled with shells, common sense should tell you to get as far away from them as possible. The computer will generally fire off all the shells pretty quickly, so don’t worry about having to eat through their shield. Otherwise, hope you’re dragging something... a lot of something....