GamePress

Valentine's Ike

Analysis by Adonyx
Valentine's Ike - Stalwart Heart

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
174
HP 45
ATK 37
SPD 38
DEF 35
RES 19

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 20 8 9 8 5
Middle 21 9 10 9 6
High 22 10 11 10 7

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 42 34 35 32 15
Middle 45 37 38 35 19
High 48 40 41 38 22

IV Sets

Key stats worth increasing through nature if possible.
Complementary stats that matter, but not to the point of picking them over key stats for nature increase.
Relatively worthless stat that can safely be decreased through nature.
HPATKSPDDEFRES

Assets

  • +SPD: Valentine’s Ike is one of the fastest units in the game; as an armor unit, this means that he is a fantastic user of his base Special Fighter. Increasing his Speed further will enhance this strength.

  • +ATK: Increasing Valentine’s Ike’s Attack will improve upon both his damage output and his sustain via Radiant Aether.

Neutral

  • DEF: A +DEF asset is decent, but Valentine’s Ike is much better off with a boost to his offensive stats due to a lot of his tankiness coming from his sustain with Radiant Aether.

  • RES: Valentine’s Ike’s Resistance is pretty poor, which would normally make it a clear dump state; however, he gets -4 to Resistance instead of -3 with a flaw, so he’s better off with a -HP flaw instead.

Flaws

  • -HP: This is the best stat for Valentine’s Ike to have a flaw in, as it will impact him the least. Since most of his tankiness comes from Radiant Aether, his Defense and Resistance are more important for mitigating damage so he can more easily heal it back. He can also compensate for this flaw with a refined weapon.

Skill Sets

King of Hearts (Defensive Tank)

Build by
Recommended
Heart's Blade+ (+Spd)
Alternate: Wo Dao+ (+Spd)
A Distant Counter
Swap B Special Fighter 3
Radiant Aether C Armor March 3
Alternate: Even Spd Wave 3
IVsSAtk/Spd Bond 3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK / -HP
  • Weapon: Heart’s Blade+ (+Spd) / Wo Dao+ (+Spd)
  • Assist: Swap
  • Special: Radiant Aether
  • Passive A: Distant Counter
  • Passive B: Special Fighter
  • Passive C: Armor March / Even Spd Wave / Flexible
  • Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Bond / Quick Riposte / Darting Stance

This build is almost entirely just Valentine’s Ike’s base kit, which just goes to show how powerful it is. Having access to Radiant Aether and Special Fighter means that Valentine’s Ike has no need for a Slaying Edge, and can opt to use his base Heart’s Blade. Wo Dao offers slightly more damage, but the net effect of Heart’s Blade is that Valentine’s Ike deals an extra 6 damage over two attacks in addition to the rest of the bonus stats compared to simply dealing an extra 10 damage with a Special with Wo Dao. However, this does require that he stay adjacent to an ally, so Wo Dao does offer a bit more flexibility in that regard.

The combination of Distant Counter and Special Fighter gives Valentine’s Ike full flexibility in dealing with both melee and ranged threats; he can counterattack at any range, shut down enemy Specials, and accelerate his own Special charge all at once. Because Special Fighter works on both phases, Valentine’s Ike can even initiate combat on Player Phase (thanks in part to his fantastic Speed). Armor March is recommended to help facilitate this (as well as support other armor allies), but isn’t strictly necessary; his base Even Spd Wave or any other skill to suit the team can work.

The Atk/Spd Bond Seal synergizes fantastically with Heart’s Blade since both will activate when Valentine’s Ike is standing adjacent to an ally. It works best with a +SPD asset though; otherwise, Quick Riposte may be a better option to ensure that Valentine’s Ike can double even the fastest enemies as well as those who would otherwise prevent doubles with skills like Wary Fighter or Sturdy Impact. If neither of those Seals is available, then Darting Stance can also work.

Bold Vanguard (Mixed Phase)

Build by
Slaying Edge+ (+Atk)
Alternate: Slaying Edge+ (+Spd)
A Distant Counter
Swap B Bold Fighter 3
Radiant Aether C Armor March 3
Alternate: Even Spd Wave 3
IVsSQuick Riposte 3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -HP
  • Weapon: Slaying Edge+ (+Atk/+Spd)
  • Assist: Swap
  • Special: Radiant Aether
  • Passive A: Distant Counter
  • Passive B: Bold Fighter
  • Passive C: Armor March / Even Spd Wave / Flexible
  • Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte

This is a standard mixed phase setup for armor units. Valentine’s Ike has more than enough Speed that he can easily double most opponents without the need for skills like Bold Fighter and Quick Riposte (in fact, this is what makes his base kit so good). However, one strong perk of these skills is that it gives him a way of breaking through enemies with skills that otherwise prevent doubles such as Wary Fighter (Surtr comes to mind with his base kit).

A Slaying Edge will reduce Radiant Aether’s cooldown to 3, allowing Valentine’s Ike to activate it on either phase; note that he will not be able to activate it on Enemy Phase unless he gets doubled, which is fairly unlikely with his high base Speed (and even more unlikely if adding a +SPD asset or +Spd refine on his weapon). However, it can be worthwhile to prevent the double as Valentine Ike’s defenses aren’t quite at insane levels; this results not only in less incoming damage, but also allows him to have Radiant Aether prepared for immediate activation in his next combat allowing for maximum healing and sustain.

Armor March is fairly important for this build as otherwise, it’ll be pretty difficult for Valentine’s Ike to engage on Player Phase due to his poor mobility. It’s not strictly necessary, however (particularly if an ally is running it), and can be replaced by his base Even Spd Wave or any other skill to suit the team.

Introduction

Ike finally got a seasonal version, and he does not disappoint: featuring an incredible base kit that synergizes with his outstanding statline, Valentine’s Ike is an extremely potent unit. He even has access to Radiant Aether, something that used to be unique to his Legendary version. While he lacks access to Ragnell and therefore can’t pull off all the same builds that his Legendary version can, he does have access to unique armor skills like Special Fighter and Bold Fighter that can allow him to be quite a fearsome threat.

With 37/38 Attack/Speed, Valentine’s Ike has easily one of the best offensive statlines in the game. This also makes him a fantastic candidate for Special Fighter, which he was kind enough to have in his base kit. As a result, Valentine’s Ike is quite tanky due to the combination of his decent bulk, ability to shut down enemy Specials, and accelerating his own Special. Radiant Aether also offers fantastic sustain due to the reduced cooldown making it easy for Valentine’s Ike to activate it repeatedly.

While Valentine’s Ike does have a couple of weak points, namely his lack of unique weapon (where’s Ragnell?), poor Resistance, and weakness to anti-armor weapons, he is still a fantastic unit that will greatly benefit any team he’s on.

Strengths

Radiant Aether

Taking a cue from his legendary incarnation, Valentine’s Ike also has access to Radiant Aether. Its reduced cooldown allows him to easily activate his Special every combat without having to rely on being doubled as well as not forcing him to use a Slaying Edge (thanks to Special Fighter). Combining this with his fantastic offensive stats allows Valentine’s Ike to simultaneously output strong damage while maintaining excellent sustain.

Excellent Offenses

With 37/38 Attack/Speed, Valentine’s Ike has easily one of the best offensive statlines in the game, which is a far cry from his previous incarnations. This allows him to make excellent use of his base Special Fighter skill since he doesn’t need skills like Bold Fighter to secure doubles.

Strong Bulk

Valentine’s Ike is deceptively bulky - while 80 physical and 64 magical bulk (before applying any skills or asset/flaw) is already pretty impressive, the majority of his tankiness actually comes from his ability to sustain with Radiant Aether.

Fantastic Base Kit

One of the major issues that most players face when trying to build armor units is the incredibly high investment cost they require for an optimal setup; Valentine’s Ike is courteous enough to arrive fully kitted out with an incredible setup and needs only basic additions to be fully operational.

Armor Unit

As an armor unit, Valentine’s Ike enjoys access to armor-exclusive skills like Special Fighter and Bold Fighter, armor buffs, and a boosted BST.

Weaknesses

Poor Resistance

While Valentine’s Ike has enough magical bulk that he typically won’t get KO’d in a single hit from most non-blue mages (outside of buffed blade tome wielders), he still has very poor matchups against them. This also extends to other units that can deal magical damage such as dragons.

Anti-Armor Weapons

As an armor unit, Valentine’s Ike has a natural weakness against anti-armor weapons. He could run Svalinn Shield to eliminate this, but this would be pretty detrimental to his overall performance.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Sword
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
50 1 6
Steel Sword
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
100 1 8
Heart's Blade

If unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+3 during combat.

Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
200 1 10
Heart's Blade+

If unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+3 during combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
300 1 14
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Daylight

Restores HP = 30% of damage dealt.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 3
Sol

Restores HP = 50% of damage dealt.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 3
Radiant Aether

During combat, treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 50%. Restores HP = 50% of damage dealt.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
500 4

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Distant Counter

Unit can counterattack regardless of foe's range.

Restricted to melee units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
A
Special Fighter 1

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 90%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Only inheritable by armor units.
60
B
Special Fighter 2

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 70%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Only inheritable by armor units.
120
B
Special Fighter 3

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 50%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Only inheritable by armor units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
B
Even Spd Wave 1

At start of even-numbered turns, grants Spd+2 to unit and adjacent allies for 1 turn.
(Bonus granted to unit even if no allies are adjacent.)

Inheritable by all units.
60
C
Even Spd Wave 2

At start of even-numbered turns, grants Spd+4 to unit and adjacent allies for 1 turn.
(Bonus granted to unit even if no allies are adjacent.)

Inheritable by all units.
120
C
Even Spd Wave 3

At start of even-numbered turns, grants Spd+6 to unit and adjacent allies for 1 turn. (Bonus granted to unit even if no allies are adjacent.)

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Banners Featured In