Young Ike

Weapon: Sturdy War Sword

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Radiant Aether

Passive A: Distant Dart / Distant Storm / Distant Stance

Passive B: Null C-Disrupt / Special Spiral / Spd/Def Tempo 

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Joint Drive Spd / Atk/Spd Menace / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Darting Breath / Mystic Boost / Atk/Spd Form / Sorcery Blade

• This set emphasizes the generalist nature of Young Ike’s base kit to have him operate as a commendable all-purpose tank, functioning as the team’s main carry as he baits foes regardless of range. Increasing either of Ike’s Atk or Spd is recommended for improved combat capacity, with both coming as attractive four-point Assets.
• Of all his build options, this is likely the cheapest for those looking to invest minimally as Young Ike’s default skills are fantastic and synergize perfectly for the aforementioned purpose — however, as always, alternative considerations can always be made.
  • That being said, for Young Ike’s A skill, there’s typically very little reason to replace Distant Dart as it enables counterattacks regardless of distance while granting a nice +5 Spd bonus during the Enemy Phase; this appreciated to both secure and deny follow-up attacks with his PRF’s Null Follow-Up effect. Distant Storm or Distant Stance can be taken into account as replacements if truly desperate to amp up his damage or patch his weaker magical bulk, but their scarcity makes it hard to recommend considering the minimal benefits. 
  • Null C-Disrupt is hard to beat when it comes to maximizing Young Ike’s consistency in matchup selection, as it means he’s impervious to otherwise lethal counterattack negation effects (in addition to all enemy effects that manipulate follow-up attacks thanks to Sturdy War Sword). However, as the commonality of such effects has declined since the introduction of Ascended Fjorm, it may not be as strictly necessary for his performance. 
  • Spd/Def Tempo and Special Spiral are standout alternatives if such is the case, with both assisting Young Ike in maximizing Radiant Aether activations. Both essentially make him Guard-immune but come with their respective strings: 
    • Spd/Def Tempo arguably brings the most to the table by inflicting in-combat debuffs and adding to Young Ike’s survivability by also nullifying bonuses that accelerate enemy Specials, but it necessitates that either his Sacred Seal or ally support provide a Breath effect for Radiant Aether to always activate.
    • Meanwhile, Special Spiral requires nothing further to ensure Young Ike can always trigger Radiant Aether, which is helpful for greater flexibility in team composition and Sacred Seal selection, but does require slight ramp-up to become functional.
  • Joint Drive Atk is a great skill to amp Young Ike’s damage for essentially free; however, depending on personal preference, it can easily be switched as his C slot is ultimately quite flexible. Possible choices include Joint Drive Spd to alternatively elevate his follow-up consistency, Atk/Spd Menace for greater stat superiority, or a Smoke skill.
• Generally speaking, Young Ike should almost always be equipped with a Breath Sacred Seal to ensure Radiant Aether’s activation, as this accelerated trigger rate alongside Sturdy War Sword’s -2 Special cooldown lets him activate it on every counterattack. The only reason not to is using Special Spiral or if such an effect is already provided by an ally like Thorr, in which case he can choose between Mystic Boost, Sorcery Blade, or one’s preferred stat booster.

Weapon: Sturdy War Sword

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Radiant Aether

Passive A: Atk/Spd Unity / Kestrel Stance / Atk/Spd Solo

Passive B: Spd/Def Tempo / Special Spiral 

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Joint Drive Spd / Smoke Skills / Atk/Spd Menace / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Steady Breath / Atk/Spd Form / Atk/Spd Solo / Atk/Def Form

• This build retains Young Ike’s preferred defensive playstyle but purposely narrows the scope of his capacity to dealing with point-blank threats, as the advent of Far Save enables full specialization into melee combat without suffering further repercussions. Both +ATK and +SPD IVs remain his best choice for Assets.
• The primary difference here compared to using him as an all-purpose tank is that rather than being required to equip something like Distant Dart (which offers little in the way of stat improvements or accessory benefits besides enabling counterattacks), Young Ike may instead leverage an A skill that sways his actual combat performance much more.
  • Those that enhance both Atk and Spd are generally ideal to maximize the mercenary-to-be’s firepower and survivability, as Radiant Aether’s healing being based on damage dealt means that increasing Atk also leads to more recovery). Sturdy War Sword also provides a whopping 40% damage reduction and given that Deadeye effects are rather uncommon among melee threats, Young Ike should be fairly covered already when it comes to his longevity.
  • Among his available candidates, Atk/Spd Unity is incredibly powerful for its reversal of any penalties affecting said stats, carrying the greatest ceiling in the sheer amount of stat enhancements it can provide. For a more defensive lean, Kestrel Stance may be considered to prevent foes from accessing their Special, though it is a little redundant with his Duo Skill’s effect. If neither is available, something like Atk/Spd Solo is perfectly usable.
• Additionally, Young Ike’s base Null C-Disrupt becomes much less useful here as counterattack negation is even more uncommon in melee foes, being practically nonexistent besides specific units like Ingrid and Brave Alm post-refinement. This makes Spd/Def Tempo and Special Spiral much more compelling B skills than before to develop the usage of Radiant Aether, as Sturdy War Sword already carries all other effects he’d want from a B skill.

Weapon: Sturdy War Sword

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Radiant Aether 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Unity / Distant Dart / Kestrel Stance / Atk/Spd Solo

Passive B: Spurn / Frenzy / Close Call / Repel

Passive C: Joint Drive Spd / Spd Smoke / Joint Drive Atk / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Darting Breath / Atk/Spd Form / Atk/Spd Solo / Spd/Res Solo

• Young Ike also has the option of leaning into the damage mitigation aspect of his Sturdy War Sword and stacking it further with a B skill that enables Speed-based damage reduction, such as Spurn and Frenzy. Do keep in mind, however, that such effects combine multiplicatively (not additively) so the maximum possible damage reduction is only 64%, provided Ike possesses a +10 Spd advantage over his foe. A +SPD IV naturally is the optimal choice here to maintain this maximum as frequently as possible.
• Of all his choices for such B skills, Spurn shines the most as Young Ike welcomes any means of honing the power of Radiant Aether triggers. If unavailable, all his other options at the time of writing — Frenzy, Close Call, and Repel — are interchangeable as their supplementary effects beyond damage reduction have no bearing on his Enemy Phase combat. 
• Young Ike’s Distant Dart synergizes with the intent of this build via its +5 Spd enhancement while on the defensive and works decently if all-purpose tanking is the goal, but the increased frequency of Deadeye and other forms of reduction negation among ranged threats does make this approach rather dubious in competitive modes. 
  • If possible, it’s generally better to aid Young Ike with a Far Save ally and use a standard stat-boosting skill to focus on melee matchups (where relying wholly on damage reduction mechanics becomes much, much safer).