Halloween Ilyana

Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF or +RES / -SPD

Halloween Ilyana’s fantastic mixed bulk, innately high firepower, and access to Special Fighter allows her to quickly accumulate a tremendous amount of effective survivability, making her extremely well-suited for a defensive role. Her four-point +ATK IV is a particularly standout option here if utilizing healing Specials, as combining the two provides her with improved sustainability and damage output simultaneously; this also serves the purpose of increasing her likelihood of OHKOing incoming threats, which can prove useful in mitigating damage. Boosting one of her defensive stats with a +DEF or +RES IV is also a valid course of action to directly diminish the amount of damage she receives. 

Weapon:  Blárserpent+ (+DEF/RES) / Blárowl+ (+DEF/RES)

• Halloween Ilyana’s ideal choice of weapon will depend primarily on personal preference, as well as the resources that one has available and is willing to expend. Blárserpent is a strong option that offers her a +6/+6 defensive boost upon being attacked by another ranged foe, enhancing her survivability against such opponents considerably. 

• Should one wish for her weapon to have some functionality against melee units (which is a valid concern if she’s equipped with Close Counter), Halloween Ilyana can also make good use of a Blárowl tome to benefit from a boost to all of her stats boost concurrently, with this depending on the number of adjacent allies she has (as opposed to the type of opponent she is fighting against). However, this does come at the cost of requiring that her allies constantly maintain close proximity to her, a condition that may be unfavorable when deploying her in certain modes like Aether Raids. 

• Regardless of the weapon actually selected, one should take a Defense or Resistance refine to build upon her raw durability. 

Assist: Pivot / Flexible

Special: Noontime / Moonbow / Glacies 

• Noontime is a stellar (and her best) choice of Special if aiming to optimize Halloween Ilyana’s performance in Aether Raids, offering her incredible sustain by helping her recover any HP she may have lost; when paired with Special Fighter, this ensures that she will be able to activate Noontime on each counterattack. If healing is not a concern, Moonbow and Glacies can be considered instead to focus on heightening her damage output as much as possible. 

Passive A: Close Counter / Distant Def 4 / Atk/Res Bond 4

• Close Counter is Halloween Ilyana’s ideal A slot skill to bolster her versatility and allow her to function as a capable check to melee and ranged foes alike. However, do keep in mind that taking Close Counter instead of a standard stat-boosting skill will make the amount of team support she receives much more impactful in determining her success as a defensive tank. 

• In exchange for losing coverage against a significant portion of threats in the Enemy Phase, Distant Def 4 can make for an excellent addition to her kit by further developing Halloween Ilyana’s defensive stats against ranged opponents -- but more significantly, through its negation of enemy bonuses. Atk/Res Bond 4 is also a powerful choice (particularly so if she is equipped with an Owl tome), strengthening her key stats while making her immune to any Attack or Resistance debuffs upon having an adjacent ally. 

Passive B: Special Fighter

• Special Fighter constitutes a pivotal component of this build for its Breath-like effect of accelerated Special cooldown when at or above 50% HP, which can be incredibly impactful when combined with a healing Special like Noontime to maintain high levels of survivability. Furthermore, it’s worth noting that this effect will always remain active so long as Halloween Ilyana’s HP is above its threshold (regardless of who initiates combat), which gives her some leeway in comparison to other defensive tanks. 

• This skill also comes packed with a Guard-like effect and slows down the rate at which her opponent accumulates Special charges. This effect is quite useful in preventing her from receiving more damage than necessary, especially when taking her low Speed into account (as this could otherwise permit her opponent to charge up their Special by their second counterattack). 

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Atk Smoke / Res Smoke / Flexible

• Smoke skills benefit a defensive playstyle remarkably well, debilitating foes near the initial target in order to make them easier to take down in subsequent rounds of combat. If using her in Aether Raids, Pulse Smoke makes for a phenomenal choice due its effectiveness against enemy team compositions that revolve around the use of instant Special activations, which can prove to be some of the most challenging to face. Atk Smoke and Res Smoke may also be considered to augment Halloween Ilyana’s tankiness and damage output respectively. 

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Fierce Stance 

• Since her low Speed prevents her from being able to naturally perform follow-up attacks against a majority of foes, the Quick Riposte seal is recommended to bypass this weakness; however, this comes at the cost of making her highly vulnerable against any opponent equipped with skills like Null Follow-Up and Mirror Impact, as they will force her into a regular Speed contest. 

• Alternatively, Fierce Stance can be taken to encourage a more OHKO-dependent playstyle and bolster both her healing potential when utilizing Noontime and survivability by making it so that she can kill her opponent before they double her. 

Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD

Halloween Ilyana can also make use of her unique strengths as an armored mage to go for an all-out offensive approach and achieve devastating combat prowess in the Player Phase, simply requiring the proper support to do so. Since this build is centered upon heightening her damage output as much as possible, a +ATK IV (alongside accompanying team support to her Attack stat) is ideal here. 

Weapon: Blárblade+

• Blárblade’s insanely high damage ceiling makes it a natural fit here, granting her the unique ability to convert all field buffs affecting her into additional firepower. However, while this tome is certainly powerful, it comes at the cost of rendering her entirely reliant on team support to function properly and weak to any form of buff manipulation (such as through the Panic debuff or the effect of skills like Lull Atk/Spd); properly accounting for these demerits will prove crucial to her success. 

Assist: Pivot / Flexible

Special: Glimmer / Draconic Aura

• Thanks to Bold Fighter’s built-in +1 Special charge for each of its user’s individual attacks, Halloween Ilyana can make use of her Special much more frequently (and consistently) than many other Blade tome wielders. 

• Glimmer and Draconic Aura are both fantastic options that work beautifully with the additional damage granted by Blárblade’s effect, with the key difference resting in the time of their activation. Against opponents who can counterattack, Glimmer can potentially activate in a single round of combat, whereas Draconic Aura will always activate every other round of combat but offers a more consistent increase to her damage output than Glimmer. Thusly, the choice between which to equip will boil down to a matter of personal preference. 

Passive A: Death Blow / Atk/Res Solo / Atk/Res Bond

• Death Blow is Halloween Ilyana’s ideal A slot skill to further build upon her damage output, granting her a massive Attack in-combat boost upon initiation. Atk/Res Solo and Atk/Res Bond, while somewhat weaker in terms of the raw power they provide compared to Death Blow, are decent alternatives to simultaneously develop one of her other key stats. 

Passive B: Bold Fighter

• Halloween Ilyana’s native Bold Fighter is a vital component of this build as it allows the hungry mage to circumvent her low Speed stat, instead granting her guaranteed follow-up attacks upon initiation with no attached HP threshold. Combined with its +1 Special charge per attack, this skill transforms her into a formidable offensive threat when utilized properly. 

Passive C: Armor March / Odd Atk Wave / Even Atk Wave / Flexible

• While not entirely necessary, Armor March can do a great deal to circumvent the impact of Halloween Ilyana’s poor mobility in the Player Phase and expand upon her reach; this can help her fulfill her role as an offensive nuke with much more ease than otherwise possible. If another ally is already equipped with Armor March or if making use of skills like Ground Orders and Guidance, a Wave skill are good options as well to make her more self-sufficient in the way that she functions. 

Sacred Seal: Sturdy Blow / Attack +3 / Brazen Atk/Res

• Any seal that increases her Attack should be taken here. Sturdy Blow is by far her best option (and comes with a boost to her Defense stat to boot), but the standard Attack +3 seal or a Brazen skill remain notable as well.