The variants in the All Star class have varied weaponry with different characteristics so how you use your weapon may need to be tuned to what kind of All Star you are playing.
Generally speaking the faster the rate of fire that your primary weapon has, the less damage each projectile will actually do to your target but you'll have a little less damage fall-off and generally speaking the farther away your target the less accurate you'll be.
The key to successful use of an All Star will be in how you use your primary weapon and your abilities.
For your primary weapon, regardless of which variant you are using, pay attention to the noise and be aware of how it changes as you reach overheat; use that audio cue to time your burst fire- when you hear the weapon tone indicate that it's going to overheat release the trigger for just a second or two before resuming. Burst firing in this manner will allow your overheat timer to cool a bit and your voluntary pauses are definitely shorter than the overheat penalty so get in the habit of not constantly firing until overheat occurs.
You should also get in the habit of "Priming" when you expect to encounter Plants within the next couple of seconds. "Priming" is what occurs when you use your Zoom; your movement will slow down but your weapon's engine will rev up and that revving up allows you instantly start firing when you pull the trigger as opposed to having that short pause before firing that you experience from a 'cold" start.
Other than that take notice of the more "specialty" weapons available and the effects that they grant you; Fire, Ice, Explosions and Mud all do a little something extra for you.
The Tackle Dummy is also your Best Friend. Don't frivolously toss them around to just block the advance of the Plants; save them for strategic use.
Their primary focus is to provide cover and you should use them for this purpose when you find yourself at about half Health and unable to take cover behind a map terrain feature. I seldom put one down immediately when I see the Plants advancing because you usually won't know if you'll need to maneuver or abandon your position but once I've exchanged enough fire to lose about half my Health then I'll drop one and then fire around the side of it or use it to shield a retreat.
The Tackle Dummy can also protect you from other damage. My favorite tactics are to watch for when a Citron in Ball form revs up for a Spin Dash, a Corn begins to fire their Shuck Shot or when a Peashooter drops a Chili Bean Bomb. In all of those cases you have short couple of seconds to react and what you'll want to do is drop your Tackle Dummy between you and the threat; the Tackle Dummy will block the Citron Spin Dash (and probably survive) , will take the hit of the Shuck Shot for you (and be destroyed) and if you have a Dummy directly between you and the Bean Bomb explosion you'll be protected from damage.
Your Sprint Tackle and Ultra Tackle are useful not only for close quarters attacks but also for emergency movement to dash behind cover, counter a Chomper Burrow, or to get out of range of a Bean Bomb before it goes off.
When using it as an attack bear in mind that a normal Sprint Tackle may not be enough to vanquish a Plant which is at full Health so it's sometimes better to rely on your primary weapon to start damaging your opponent as you close with him or he closes with you and then use it as a finishing move when you are in range or a last ditch effort to survive if you're taking a lot of damage from them. It's also useful if you can flank or come up from the rear of a group of Plants who are engaged with your teammates.
When using a Sprint Tackle for Burrowed Chomper evasion it is best to wait until the Chomper seems committed to its charge at you so don't immediately Sprint Tackle unless he's close and you know that you can hit him before he's completely Burrowed and knock him out of it. When faced with a Chomper Burrowing at a distance you should wait until he commits to his charge before flashing past him in the opposite direction with your Sprint Tackle, but don't wait too long because there is a pause before your Sprint Tackle launches and any "tie" will generally go the the Chomper and you'll be lunch.
The only real tricks for Imp Punt are to just send it at the Plants, the more the merrier, and don't be afraid to use it if you have a target within range and your Health is about to run out- getting vanquished is made a little more enjoyable by a From the Grave counter-vanquish. If you are positioned near a wall, Tackle Dummy or other terrain feature and you have an incoming Chomper that you can't avoid kicking an Imp Punt into the wall or obstacle so that it doesn't really go anywhere is a great way to try to save yourself during that second or two "grab and swallow" animation as the Chomper tries to eat you, or to get a revenge From the Grave vanquish.
