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Ike (SSB4)

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This article is about Ike's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see Ike.
Ike
in Super Smash Bros. 4
Ike
FireEmblemSymbol.svg
Universe Fire Emblem
Other playable appearance in Brawl


Availability Starter
Final Smash Great Aether
Tier E (26)
IkeHeadSSB4-U.png

Ike (アイク, Ike) returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was announced on May 23rd, 2014, in a Director's Room Miiverse post, which was the same day that Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones was released in North America back in 2005. Ike is once again voiced by Michihiko Hagi in the Japanese version, and by Jason Adkins in non-Japanese versions, using the same voice clips from Brawl.

Ike is currently ranked 26th on the tier list, placing him in the E tier. This a slight drop from his position in Brawl, where he ranked 23rd out of 38 in Brawl. Ike largely retains his high power and impressive range, but now boasts improved speed in regards to mobility and frame data. He also now has an effective combo game, which aids his ability to space out his opponents. However, Ike retained his weaknesses in Brawl, albeit not as severely: his hurtbox size has increased, his mobility is only average despite its improvements due to his heavy weight, his lack of fast options on the ground give him a hard time against rushdown-oriented characters, combos, and projectile camping, while his recovery is still linear and easily predictable despite being long-distanced and benefiting from the new ledge mechanic. His attacks also have less range and deal less knockback then they did in Brawl, and he no longer has his jab cancel. However, Ike has had above average tournament results, largely thanks to Ryo.

Attributes

Ike is no longer one of the slowest characters in the game, although much of his playstyle remains unchanged: a heavyweight with slow, but incredibly powerful attacks. Ike possesses average mobility. He has a slow walking speed, average dashing speed, above average air speed, low air acceleration, above average falling speed and gravity, and relatively low jumps. He is also tied for the 8th heaviest character in the game.

For a heavyweight, Ike has a good approach. His sword, Ragnell, grants him a very long, disjointed reach, being surpassed only by Shulk's Monado blade and Cloud's Buster Sword. Ike's neutral, forward, and back aerials are good approach tools, as the former has low landing lag, and the latter two deal high shield-stun due to their damage and auto-cancel in a short hop, making them safe on block. His forward aerial stands out the most, for it has decently fast start-up, moderate landing lag if not auto-cancelled, and covers a huge area in front of Ike. It is his most reliable approach option thanks to these attributes, and when spaced properly, it can make him a surprisingly difficult character to punish. His aerials' speed and range grant him the ability to pressure his foes, something that other heavyweights lack.

Also unusual for a character of his class, Ike has a strong combo game. His neutral aerial, down tilt, up throw, and down throw all send opponents into the air, leaving them vulnerable to his strong aerials, allowing him to perform short but damaging combos. Due to up throw's low knockback scaling, it can lead into his forward or up aerials even at high percentages, providing him with a few invaluable KO set-ups. Forward aerial is also a good combo tool; if auto-cancelled properly, it can chain into itself up to three times at mid-percents, racking up roughly 35% damage.

Ike's KO power is fearsome. His smash attacks are among the strongest of their kinds, and he boasts the fifth strongest forward smash in the game. Both forward and up smashes have long reach, having utility against both grounded and aerial opponents. Up smash covers a wide arc around Ike and has a large amount of active frames, making it a deadly option at the ledge and a good option for punishing rolls. While these moves suffer from large amounts of start-up and ending lag, Ike is not reliant on them to KO. His forward and back aerials are quick and strong, giving him safe KOing options in neutral, unlike other heavyweights, and he also has his aforementioned KO set-ups off of his up throw. Ike has an effective edge-guarding game, both due to his powerful forward and back aerials with their range and power, a powerful spike in down air, and his neutral special, Eruption, which is chargeable, powerful, and has a huge hitbox, making it terrifying against opponents aiming their recoveries to the ledge. Furthermore, with his excellent endurance, he can make great use of the rage mechanic, boosting his already strong power.

However, Ike is not without flaws. Though not particularly slow, Ike is still susceptible to rush-down characters, notably Sheik and Sonic. His size, weight, and falling speed leave him vulnerable to combos, and he lacks any moves that can reliably break them. As he is a melee-fighter, Ike has no projectile, putting him at a disadvantage against camping tactics. Aside from shield-grabbing, Ike has no effective out of shield options due to the start-up of his moves, and so he has difficulty relieving pressure at times. While Ike's aerials give him a decent approach in the air, his grounded approach is comparatively poor, as none of his grounded attacks are particularly fast, making his approach overall predictable. His aerials also require proper spacing and timing to be effective, as they can be punished if misused since they have noticeable ending lag.

Ike's recovery also poses an issue. Though long-distanced, it is highly predictable. Quick Draw must be charged to travel farther, making it highly telegraphed, as it is completely linear. Aether covers good vertical height, but very little horizontal distance, and because it is invariable suicide if Ike performs it too far from the ledge, it is also telegraphed. Unless Quick Draw hits an opponent, it leaves him helpless, and so by default, Ike cannot use his two recovery options in tandem. Since Ike completely lacks a diagonal recovery method, he is vulnerable to semi-spikes.

With custom moves on, Ike does gain some benefits. Furious Eruption and Tempest improve his already good edge-guarding ability. Furious Eruption is stronger, has more vertical distance and launches foes upwards, making it very good on stages with low ceilings. Tempest charges faster and generates a windbox that pushes opponents far and is able to gimp recoveries. Tempest also stalls Ike in the air which can aid Ike's recovery if used correctly. Close Combat has Priority allowing it to ignore projectiles and shields which helps Ike when recovering. Aether Drive grants him a diagonal recovery that he previously lacked at the the cost of losing his only means of vertical recovery. Paralyzing Counter allows Ike to stun the opponent allowing for a follow-up attack, at the cost of his counter being significantly weaker.

Overall, Ike's strengths allow him to overcome his weaknesses. With range, power, and effective combos, Ike is a viable character, and while his predictable recovery and susceptibility to combos, juggles, and camping are noticeable, these can be worked around with careful play, as shown by players such as Ryo.

Changes from Brawl

Ike received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4, but is considered to be heavily buffed after game updates. His attack speed is noticeably faster; in particular, his forward aerial has decreased start-up and auto-cancels in a short-hop, and, combined with its range, gives Ike a very reliable approach option. Most of his aerials have significantly reduced landing lag as well. His mobility has been improved, with a quicker dash speed and considerably faster air speed. As such, Ike has a better neutral game than in Brawl. He also benefits from universal gameplay changes. The removal of hitstun cancelling gives him a more effective combo game, with his down tilt, up throw, and down throw easily comboing into aerials at a variety of percentages. The new ledge mechanics aid his recovery greatly, as Aether was very susceptible to edge-hogging in Brawl. Lastly, the introduction to rage boosts Ike's already high power, and his strong endurance allows him to make great use of the mechanic.

However, Ike has received a few notable nerfs. His incredible range has been toned down, though it remains among the longest in the game. To compensate for his increased attack speed, many of his moves deal less damage and weaker knockback, with his down tilt dealing 8%, down from 14%. Ike no longer has an effective jab cancel, which he made extensive use of in Brawl. Aside from Counter, his specials have been nerfed, with Eruption being the most notable, as it deals less damage and knockback, and only gives super armor when fully charged. His aerials have lost their transcendent priority, and this is a double-edged sword: while Ike can clash and cancel out other moves, his aerials are less effective approach options, aside from forward aerial.

Though Ike's initial tournament representation was poor, it has improved over time as he received many buffs in game patches, though he still has a relatively small playerbase. With the efforts of dedicated mains like Ryo, Ike currently has average representation and above average results.

Aesthetics

  • Change Rather than using his design from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance as was the case in Brawl, his design is now based on his appearance in Path of Radiance's sequel, Radiant Dawn. His eyes are also smaller and less anime-esque.
  • Change Due to his new design, Ike is much taller than he was in Brawl, increasing his hurtbox. Previously, Marth was only slightly taller than him.
  • Change Moves that involve the use of flames (Eruption and Great Aether) have changed to be a blue color, which matches his Japanese title as the "Hero of the Blue Flames" as well as his empowerment by the goddess Yune during the climax of Radiant Dawn.
  • Change If Eruption is charged to the point where Ike takes recoil damage, he will remain silent during the attack.

Attributes

  • Change Ike is heavier improving his endurance but making him easier to combo (105 → 107).
  • Nerf Ike walks slower (0.88 → 0.869).
  • Buff Ike dashes faster (1.371 → 1.5).
  • Buff Ike's air speed was increased (0.9212 → 1.08).
  • Buff Ike's double jump has greater vertical height.
  • Nerf Ike's jumpsquat is 1 frame slower (6 frames → 7).
  • Nerf The majority of Ike's attacks have less reach because of reduced hitbox sizes and altered placements.

Ground attacks

  • Buff Neutral attack transitions into its later hits faster.
  • Nerf Neutral attack deals 5% less damage (16% → 11%) and hits 1 and 2 have increased cooldown (interruptibility frame 17 → 24 (hit 1), interruptibility frame 20 → 28 (hit 2)), the latter of which takes away his effective jab cancel. Hit 1 has slightly slower start-up (frame 3 → 4), and hit 3 has lost all of its KOing potential.
  • Buff Dash attack deals 6% more damage (8% → 14%), has reduced start-up (frame 18 → 15) and increased knockback growth (70 → 78). The attack has a new 9% late hitbox, which lasts 3 extra frames with strength that still overtakes the previous dash attack's knockback (70 base/70 growth → 60/100).
  • Buff Forward tilt has reduced start-up (frame 17 → 13) with significantly less cooldown (interruptibility frame 56 → 42).
  • Nerf Forward tilt deals 2.5% less damage (15% → 12.5%) and decreased knockback (38 base/100 growth → 30/97).
  • Buff Up tilt deals 2% more damage (12% → 14%), has reduced start-up (frame 13 → 11) and slightly less cooldown (interruptibility fram 50 → 48).
  • Nerf Up tilt has decreased base knockback (70 → 50), KOing 20% later. The weak hit also has reduced active frames (14 frames → 8).
  • Buff Down tilt has significantly reduced start-up (frame 16 → 7) with drastically less cooldown (interruptibility frame 55 → 29). All hitboxes have a consistent 80° trajectory, which grants Ike reliable follow-ups at low to medium percents.
  • Nerf Down tilt deals 6% less damage (14% → 8%) and can no longer meteor smash.
  • Buff Forward smash has an additional active frame, increasing its reliability against aerial opponents.
  • Nerf Forward smash is weaker (50 base/100 growth → 40/90), going from the second strongest forward smash in Brawl to the fifth strongest forward smash in SSB4. It also has increased cooldown (interruptibility frame 80 → 84).
  • Nerf Down smash and Up smash no longer have transcendent priority, and combined with Ike's reduced range, makes these moves overall less useful.
  • Buff Down smash deals 1% more damage (13%/16% → 14%/17%) with increased base knockback (30 → 40). It also sends opponents at a more horizontal angle.
  • Nerf The late hit of down smash's second swing has reduced active frames (9 frames → 3).
  • Buff Up smash has more knockback growth (85 → 86).

Aerial attacks

  • Change All aerials no longer have transcendent priority, which allows them to cancel out non-transcendent projectiles, but overall hurts his approaching options.
  • Buff Forward, back, up, and down aerials have reduced landing lag (22 frames → 18 (forward), 22 frames → 19 (back), 19 frames → 16 (up), 29 frames → 23 (down)).
  • Buff Neutral aerial deals 1% more damage (9% → 10%) and sends at a more vertical trajectory for easier follow-ups (70° → 80°). It additionally has reduced start-up (frame 15 → 12) and less cool-down in the air (interruptibility frame 76 → 60). This allows Ike to successfully recover if a player accidentally presses the attack button while being pushed off stage.
  • Nerf Neutral aerial has a sourspot at the end that deals 7% damage. It also has 1 frame of extra landing lag (13 frames → 14).
  • Change Forward aerial has a new animation with increased range above Ike, but decreased range below him.
  • Buff Forward aerial has significantly reduced start-up (frame 18 → 12), less aerial cool-down (interruptibility frame 60 → 55) and can now auto-cancel from a short hop. It also has greater KO potential due to an increase in base knockback (20 → 30).
  • Buff Up aerial has reduced start-up (frame 15 → 13).
  • Nerf Up aerial deals 3% less damage (14% → 11%), which notably reduces its KOing potential. Its knockback was not compensated enough (40 base/100 growth → 55/94), though it still remains one of the strongest up aerials in SSB4.
  • Nerf Down aerial deals 1% less damage (16% → 15%) with reduced based knockback (40 → 30), has a non-meteor sourspot, and has lost its lingering hitbox.

Throws/other attacks

  • Nerf Ike's grabs have increased cooldown (30 frames → 32 (standing), 40 frames → 41 (dash), 36 frames → 39 (pivot)).
  • Buff Dash grab comes out 2 frames faster.
  • Nerf Pivot grab comes out 2 frames slower.
  • Buff All throws deal 1% more damage (6% → 7%).
  • Change Forward throw has increased knockback.
  • Nerf Back throw has increased knockback, which no longer allows Ike to follow up with a dash attack.
  • Buff Up throw has reduced cooldown, making it an effective combo starter.
  • Buff The removal of hitstun cancelling increases down throw and up throw's follow-up capabilities from zero to medium percents.

Special moves

  • Buff An uncharged Eruption deals 1% more damage (9% → 10%). Ike is also able to release a fully charged Eruption without taking any recoil damage and Eruption reaches the fully charged stage faster.
  • Nerf The first eight stages of Eruption deal much less damage and a fully charged one deals 2% less damage (37% → 35%) at the bottom. Eruption deals significantly less knockback overall, resulting in it no longer scoring one-hit KOs and now KOing around 50%-100%. An uncharged Eruption has also lost its super armor frames.
  • Buff Quick Draw has less start-up and landing lag, increased knockback (50 base/88 growth → 70/88), covers more distance and no longer leaves Ike in a helpless state for a short amount of time when it hits an opponent.
  • Nerf Quick Draw deals 3% less damage (9%/16% → 6%/13%) and its ending lag without hitting anyone is significantly increased, no longer allowing Ike to follow up with an attack immediately after dashing.
  • Nerf Aether deals 5% less damage (25% → 20%) and has less super armor frames (frames 18-38 → 18-21). It can now only meteor smash at the start of the descent and can no longer grab edges from behind.
  • Change Aether no longer sends Ike forwards without player input. In Brawl, it would send him a short distance forwards.
  • Buff Counter comes out faster.
  • Change Counter has new sound effects.
  • Nerf Great Aether deals 18% less damage (78% → 60%).

Update history

Ike has been heavily buffed via game updates. The most notable buffs were brought about by update 1.0.8, which gave some of his ground attacks and aerial attacks reduced lag, and in some cases, more power. This has lead to many players such as ZeRo to say he is either the best mid-tier character or the worst high-tier character. The increased shieldstun in update 1.1.1 also helps Ike's sluggish attacks by making them safer on shield, though this comes at the slight price of his out of shield options becoming slightly more situational.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS 1.0.4

  • Buff Neutral attack's last hit comes out one frame earlier: frame 9 → 8. This makes all three hits connect more reliably.
  • Buff Forward tilt's ending lag decreased.
  • Buff Down tilt deals 1% more damage: 7% → 8%.
  • Buff Down tilt's ending lag decreased.
  • Buff Down tilt now launches the opponent vertically instead of horizontally, allowing for additional follow-ups.
  • Nerf Down tilt's range decreased.
  • Buff Down smash's horizontal knockback increased.
  • Buff Forward aerial's animation speed increased.
  • Buff Forward aerial's hitboxes' sizes increased by about 10%.
  • Buff Down aerial's hitbox size increased.
  • Buff Back aerial deals 1% more damage: 13% → 14%.
  • Change Some of Great Aether's hitboxes are now 24% further away from Ike.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.6

  • Bug fix Fixed a glitch where Aether Drive behaved erratically while performed in slow motion.
  • Buff Counter's knockback growth increased: 74 → 100.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.8

  • Buff Neutral attack has been improved. It now transitions faster and the last hit now hits above Ike, matching its animation.
  • Change Forward tilt's damage outputs altered due to now having one hitbox instead of three: 14% → 12.5% (sweetspot), 12% → 12.5% (sourspot).
  • Buff Forward tilt's start-up decreased: 15 frames → 12.
  • Buff Up tilt's hitbox lasts longer and its vertical reach increased.
  • Buff Dash attack deals 4% more damage : 10% → 14% (sweetspot), 7% → 11% (sourspot), 5% → 9% (late).
  • Buff Dash attack's knockback increased, sweetspot's reach increased and it launches opponents at a more horizontal angle, making it a reliable KOing option.
  • Buff Dash attack's start-up decreased: 18 frames → 15.
  • Buff Neutral aerial's landing lag decreased: 16 frames → 14.
  • Buff Up aerial's landing lag decreased: 18 frames → 15.
  • Buff Forward aerial's hitbox placements have been improved. It hits better above and below Ike and has 2 less frames of start-up.
  • Buff Forward aerial's landing lag decreased: 20 frames → 18.
  • Buff Down aerial's landing lag decreased: 26 frames → 23.
  • Buff All variations of Quick Draw have 3 frames less of start-up: 19 frames → 16.
  • Change Aether's suction properties have been altered in some way.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.0

  • Change Up aerial's knockback altered: 40 (base)/100 (growth) → 55/94.
  • Change Down throw's collateral hitbox moved forward: -7.0u → -5.0u.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.1

  • Change Smash Counter's knockback altered: 48 (base)/100 (growth) → 90/70.
  • Buff Uncharged Tempest deals 4% more damage: 1% → 5%. Its hitboxes also last 2 more frames and the move ends 4 frames faster.
  • Buff Charged and fully charged Tempest's initial windboxes last 2 frames longer and are adjusted slightly backward. Later ones last 3 frames longer and the move ends 4 and 2 frames sooner, respectively.
  • Buff Furious Eruption's sweetspot size increased: 7.0u → 8.5u (uncharged), 8.0u → 10.0u (charged), 10u → 12.5u (fully charged). It has also been adjusted upward.
  • Buff Furious Eruption's other hitboxes' durations have been adjusted: 12 frames → 15 (uncharged second), 16 frames → 19 (charged second), 16 frames → 19 (fully charged second).
  • Nerf Furious Eruption's first hitbox's duration decreased: 12 → 10 (uncharged), 16 → 14 (fully charged).
  • Buff Fully charged Furious Eruption's sourspot size increased: 15u → 16u. It has also been adjusted upward.
  • Change Third victory animation has slightly changed. Ragnell's blade now glows briefly at the end of the animation.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.4

  • Buff Forward smash's sourspot hitbox deal 2% more damage.
  • Change Forward smash's sourspot hitbox sends opponents at an different angle and makes a different sound effect.
  • Buff Neutral aerial's clean and late hit deal 1% more damage and sends opponents at a better angle allowing for better follow-ups.
  • Buff Forward aerial deals 1% more damage and has more range.
  • Buff Eruption's hitbox lasts 2 frames longer.

Technical changelist 1.1.4