IK or Animation Layer ?

I do have a 3rd person char unarmed at times and holding a pistol when asked to. He walks, runs and crouches and sometimes jumps. But doesnt prone or anything else.

So, before i go testing all possibilities, can anyone experienced tell me which is the better and easier way in the long run?

1. I have a top body layer to animate unarmed/with pistol seperately with all 8 directions motion. That makes 48 animations in total.

2. Setup ik for pistol and hope for the best in one full body layer.

EDIT: Using 2017.3 by the way, i dont know if 2018 versions have anything different or has any improvements on one over another.

 

for those who come across this thread somehow in the future, ik is slow and if you additionally rotate the spine as well, things get more complicated than needed.

Animations in seperate layers is the way to go.