Experienced both in commanding flotillas and battalions, Essik has spent much of his life directing troops in battle. Remaining among them both in and out of combat, he is typically found hunched over a holomap or pouring through reports on everything from the local environment to supplies. While it is a more mundane depiction of a leader than those who lead from the front, Essik's attention to detail is one of his greatest weapons. Through investigation and deduction, he can be relied upon to pick out enemy weaknesses, single out infiltrators, and lock down security risks without ever firing a shot. Yet while he might have once led his troops from the front, age has robbed Essik of his personal skill at arms. As such, he is frequently limited to having others carry out his orders rather than dealing with them personally.

A rare exception among his kind, Essik is one of the few officers to have served in both the Clone Wars and Rebellion yet lived to tell the tale. Having fought for the New Republic until being forcibly retired, he can call upon a considerable level of experience to support his plans in battle. Determined to serve an appropriate cause until his final days, he remains doggedly loyal to the Jedi and Clan Odan-Urr as a whole. This is as much the result of deeply ingrained respect for the Jedi as it is a yearning to leave behind a meaningful legacy. Having previously devoted his life to restoring the New Republic, he is haunted by the sense that his years of service were wasted because of its sudden loss.

It is better to be respected by your troops than feared by your enemies. Essik has seen many times how commanding through terror will fail in battle, and demanding unquestioning loyalty without having earned it will only foster rebellion. As such, he has always made a point of knowing the names, faces, and quirks of whoever is at his side. While ever ready to enforce discipline as needed, he uses his more personable qualities to cement loyalty with them. While this usually helps ensure they remain steadfast in the face of overwhelming odds, decades of losing subordinates due to his orders weighs heavily on Lyccane. This behavior has become almost an act he puts on for their benefit. Privately, he has distanced himself emotionally from anyone he serves with in order to cope with their inevitable loss.

Essik is unfailingly polite in all things. No matter the situation, whether he's ordering a bomber squadron to finish off a fleeing platoon or ordering dianogan tea, he always makes certain to remain discreet and respectful. While a natural part of his humble nature, Essik often exaggerates this quality. Playing towards the stereotype of an officer and a gentleman, he creates the impression of someone who will put honour before pragmatism. Often so that he can subvert it entirely when the time is right. Unfortunately, this often has the same impact upon his allies. Those unfamiliar with this tactic can misread him as detached from the realities of war or even see him as a senile blowhard who is completely out of his depth.

Essik finds the idea of only having a plan B to any given situation both insulting and utterly insane. To trust your life to a single backup plan when there are always so many possible threats is the sort of sloppiness which leads to an early grave. Instead, he constantly devises a large web of plans and countermeasures while on the move, taking note of anything nearby which might be used to harm the enemy. This makes Essik a competent and adaptable tactician, and a skilled strategist capable of quickly analyzing situations on a simultaneously small and large scale. Unfortunately, his desire to cover every possible eventuality - even those where they combat close allies - has led to some accusing him of callousness or outright paranoia.

Any war is based as much upon supplies as it is the number of victories by one side. Essik learned this the hard way during the Galactic Civil War, and the conflict shaped him to have a somewhat unconventional view of logistics. Rather than relying wholly upon supply lines for the right equipment, he has learned to barter, scrounge or steal what they need from nearby sources. Often while simultaneously depriving the enemy of their own resources and repurposing whatever he has to spare into weapons. From using transports as fireships to deploying scrap metal as anti-starfighter weaponry, he will typically find some way to make use of what little he has on hand. Yet Lyccane can rarely apply this creativity to single combat. Combined with his poor physical state and skill at arms, he is left wholly reliant upon others for protection when coming face to face with the enemy.