Testing, testing...

The Ancient Dragon fight only increased my BR EXP from 43 to 70. Was at BR16 when I fought it. After dealing with the first part of the Melphina quest chain and Blocter's quest, finally shifted up to BR17. So I'm still on course to completing the first part at lower than BR20.

I should probably still continue gathering data for a few other things. I managed to grab a bunch of numbers for different WS damage differences. The only relevant one is Emma's tests with the Superlative Bluesteel x2, since Emmy was equipped with the Nightbloom Virtutis/Superlative Bluesteel combo. DW isn't a straight 2.0x damage over OH. It's probably 1.0MS + 0.5SS. It seems that OH is the weakest, but most versatile. PG deals about 1.3xOH, and DW deals 1.5xOH if weapons are identical. This applies to normal attacks and Arts. Of course, my data isn't quite right (just preliminary stuff), so I need to run quite a few more tests.

So the tests... I should also check out the power difference between Power and Speed modifiers. So guess my set up will be like this...

STR255, ATK255 (or through strengthening + Zodiac Fall), Zodiac Fall Lv.3.
Weapons used: Remnants, Superlative/Shielding/Power variations (Power/Speed modifiers)
* Weapon effects and modifiers will be removed for the purpose of testing.
Accessories used: Damascene Anklet (Physical Extra Hit +4) (maybe)
Arts: Rank S/SS Only, normal attacks.

So I think the data gathered will look like this:
Peerless/Swift Requiem (20x5) (Emma vs. Yugo)
Peerless/Swift Snowfall ([Frost] +5/area) (Rush/Emmy vs. Jorgen/Cass/Ynfry)
Peerless/Swift Log Splitter (1 hit) (Faye vs. Laverne)
Peerless/Swift Rock Crusher (50x2) (Seales vs. Seales, change arts modifier)
Peerless/Swift Victory Sweep (50x2) (Emma vs. Yugo)
Peerless/Swift Moonshadow (50x2) (Rush/Emmy vs. Jorgen/Cass/Ynfry)
Peerless/Swift Rift Cleaver (30/30/40) (Faye vs. Laverne)
Peerless/Swift Dragon's Roar (1 hit/union) (Seales vs. Seales, change arts modifier)
Peerless/Swift Blood Cyclone (20x5) (Emma vs. Yugo)
Peerless/Swift Spring Squall (25x4) (Rush/Emmy vs. Jorgen/Cass/Ynfry)
Peerless/Swift Topspin (1 hit/area) (Faye vs. Laverne)
Peerless/Swift Final Toll ([Flame] +5/union) (Seales vs. Seales, change arts modifier)
Peerless/Swift Heaven's Pierce ([Thunder] +5/1 hit) (Jager vs. Haruko, compare weapon sizes too)
Peerless/Swift Temblor (1 hit/area) (Violet vs. Sheryl, compare weapon sizes too)
Peerless/Swift Quadrille (25x4) (Torgal vs. Wyngale)
Peerless/Swift Sanction (1 hit/area) (Allan vs. Leucetius)
Peerless/Swift Scattered Petals (30/30/40) (Caedmon vs. Snievan)
* Snowfall/Dragon's Roar/Topspin/Final Toll/Crush/Temblor/Sanction -> Need to test a certain claim that area/union arts are unblockable. Shouldn't be true, or else area/union MAs would not miss either, and I've had them miss multiple times.
OH Normal
PG Normal
DW Normal
TH Normal
QW Normal
DPG Normal
DTH Normal
Repeat 20 for the arts, 10 for the normal attacks, only noting non-crits. Record full damage dealt since the Anklets will add +28% (+4 hits) to all attacks except Snowfall. Or change everyone's SPD to 1 to try limiting the number of hits and record the base damage.

Then there's also the various accessories and classes that add bonus damage. Need to check if WS/WT bonuses are added to CAs. So using a similar set up...
Comparing Emmy (Ranger) and Rush (Ninja). Ninja for [Dual Wield] +5 (+15%). Cloistral Belt for [Katana] +4 (+12%). Adding 1 or 2 Black Belts ([Dual Wield] +5). Then there's also Milton's Kerchief for [Combat Arts] +5. This should also help answer if the [Combat Arts] +5 and [Power Grip] +5 effects stack for the Gladiator class. If it does, that's a +30% boost right there.
So, combinations are:
Nothing
Cloistral
Black Belt
Milton's Kerchief
Ninja
2Cloistral/2Black Belt/2Milton's Kerchief
Cloistral+Black/Cloistral+Milton's/Black+Milton's
Ninja + Cloistral/Black Belt/Milton's Kerchief
Ninja + 2Cloistral/2Black Belt/2Milton's Kerchief
Ninja + Cloistral+Black/Cloistral+Milton's/Black+Milton's
That's going to be a lot of testing... Of course, she also has a Sword in her off-hand... So what would happen if I included an accessory that boosts Swords? Or even, what's the difference between having Katana+Sword and Katana+Katana? Is there going to be a difference? Maybe I'll save it for later.


Making a note of DWers.
Unique: Emma/Emmy, Jorgen (Warrior), Rush.
Generic: Faye, Acokus, Laverne, Ynfry, Seales, Cass, Yugo, Chivrey.
Hm. Guess it'd be kinda like doing the Sovani Only run. Very limited at the beginning of the game, mostly reliant on union-target MAs for maximizing damage.

EDIT: What. Swift arts Girls hit harder than Peerless arts guys? Am I missing something here?

EDITX2: Ah. That's why. The Superlative Bluesteel's [Slash] +5 just happens to have an effect. Didn't see that coming. Will be a little more careful about this now. Best to remove all the modifiers through the trainer.