Wow, OoB stuff already? I probably won't touch that side of speedrunning.
Anywho, impending wall of observations & questionable wordsmithing ahoy.
Saying this now... some of this info isn't strictly regarding speedrun tech/tactics, or anywhere close to exact except regarding damage numbers. My method of attempting to figure out meter and ATB stuff is "double-slow the gold noodleghost and remember to run before killing it so i can refresh it by going to the other side of the room". I also can't really attest to how the combo system gauges how much extra meter you get.
Some important notes of how the ATB seems to work from what I've gathered...
- Each attack gives it's own multiplicative modifier to how slowly your ATB will build up, stacking (multiplicatively of course) with whatever other attacks you use. It costs more ATB time to use 3 attacks with large modifiers in the same attack than it does to use each pip individually after it recovers (though real-time is obviously a different story).
- The modifier lasts until a pip is filled, at which point it reverts to the character's baseline ATB speed.
- If you use a pip before all 3 pips are filled, you lose 50% of whatever ATB power was leftover in the pip before it. So using an attack at at 1.8 pip power will leave you with 0.4, not 0.8. However, the above rule still applies, which means you can abuse the system for a very slight benefit; using a super right *before* a pip fills gives you half a pip with the super's modifier and then another pip (or two) at your normal speed, which generally takes as long as an entire pip at the slow speed, for when you can't afford to let Razmi get an entire pip before healing.
Regarding supers with the system:
- As soon as you use a super attack, your ATB mod is set to a (large) static value regardless of what it was before. It takes exactly as long for a single pip to fill up after Tungar uses his super alone as it does for him to use 2 up attacks and *then* his super.
- However, this ATB modifier is further multiplied if you use other non-super attacks AFTER using the super. It is a very bad idea to use Razmi's heal and then 2 up attacks afterwards.
- If you use multiple supers from the same character in the same attack string, the ATB resetting property only seems to work once, until a pip is refilled. Using a super, an attack, and then another super causes you to still suffer the combined wait of having done a super and an attack afterwards, whereas 3 supers in a row (aka. L2 L1 L1) will not increase the wait outside of the super's baseline.
Ajna Axeless:
Up atk - Widest hitbox / strongest atk? / longest AB recovery? / longest animation recovery / IM gain??
Neutral atk - Average everything?
Down atk - Shortest AB recovery / weakest atk / shortest animation recovery / IM gain??
- Up is her *weakest* unarmed attack from a raw damage standpoint, doing only 300 damage instead of 350 on top of the long ATB multiplier. However, this one is also her best shoving tool, being a mini-launcher with high forward movement. And, y'know, AoE. Moves forward pretty far too, which seems to be a thing for Ajna's up attacks.
- Mid is indeed sort of average. it combines most of the horizontal range of Up with the speed (though not ATB mod) of Down.
- Down adds the least ATB modifier to your recovery and gives you more meter, but it's also easy to miss due to the tiny and low hitbox. You might even whiff just trying to chain 2 down attacks together! That's why i tend to go for Down to Mid when trying to one-round Ahps early, since 2 mids will cause more delay if one of Zebei's arrows miss and 2 lows can whiff on the second.
I feel the super is something of a tide-over until you get Razmi. The heal is quite weak, but unlike Razmi's super Ajna will revive any fallen Incarnations regardless of the meter spent. If there's some other niche aspect to it, I'm not seeing it.
Ajna Axe:
Up atk - Strongest atk / longest AB recovery? / IM gain??
Neutral atk - Widest hitbox / weakest atk / shortest animation recovery? / average everything else?
Down atk - can jump cancel directly out of at fight end / shortest AB recovery? / IM gain??
- The up attack gives the most meter of her attacks as well as the most damage, but with the ATB penalty it carries it seems you actually get more damage and meter out of a full set of pips by doing a mix of 2 ups and a down. Doesn't combo cleanly if spammed when the enemy is pinned or immobile, since she ends up needing to walk back to line up another, and if they aren't you may have trouble timing the rest of your party's attacks. Since it moves forward so far, you can get a lot of pushing out of this.
- I don't have much to say about the mid, since it's rather basic; easy to combo with, and a wide swing to hit multiple rows.
- Down not only has a tiny ATB mod, it also has a huge amount of hitstun. Rather difficult to combo with since it's also a giant launcher and as such can easily make other attacks whiff, but a great attack nonetheless.
Ajna's axe super seems to be the best in terms of raw damage output, being fantastic ST damage and solid AoE damage for it's wait (2450/3300/4550 total, 1050/1900/2450 is AoE). Ajna also seems to have the least efficient meterbuilding of the 4 characters, which makes her my choice for mauling a boss. 1 Up attack, then an L3 super, then another L1 super later in the same combo is the best damage-to-ATB efficiency i've found so far for a full 3 pips on all 3 characters.
Zebei:
Up atk - Strongest atk on single enemy / longest AB recovery? / IM gain??
Neutral atk - ??
Down atk - Can hit multiple targets / shortest AB recovery? / IM gain??
- Up isn't necessarily your strongest attack, since it's entirely dependant on how many hits you land. Every arrow Zebei fires does the same 235 damage and (seemingly) the same meter, it's just a matter of firing pattern... and the ATB multiplier on this means you really only want to use it if you'll hit at least 5 arrows, preferably all 6. Smaller enemies tend to only get hit by 4, if not 3. Only do a full set of 3 high attacks if yer absolutely sure you'll land all 18 arrows, and have a combo planned to fill in the huge gap between shots.
- Mid has the shortest (almost non-existant) ATB mod, is the best at comboing staggered firing, and is also his best pusher. It takes exactly as much time for Zebei to recover from an MMM attack as it does for Ajna to recover from an LLL. It's also (very slightly) more ATB efficient than a full up attack at getting meter if spammed.
- For Down, it seems a safe bet that he'll hit the target enemy with 3 arrows and enemies to both sides with 1 each... unless you catch them moving towards Zebei due to the enemy having been pushed out of position. With the lowish ATB mod, It's just as damage-efficient as high attacks if you land 4 arrows, and noticably superior if you land all 5. It's also more meter efficient even at 4 hits.
Zebei's super feels a bit situational. It's your best damage super until you get the axe, and if you can somehow manage to stuff the enemy with all the arrows it's actually the strongest super in the game (2/3/4 waves of 200x5, then 1 wave of 235x5, totals 3175/4175/5175). Actually pulling that off is harder than it sounds, due to being multiple waves and causing pushback. Even against the guardian boss, where it tends to hit 4 arrows from each wave, i get more damage out of Ajna's super. Still, it's your best super overall for wide AoE damage since Ajna needs lots of meter plus enemies near eachother, and Tungar's super has no width.
Tungar:
Up atk - Wide AoE attack / strongest atk? / longest AB recovery / high IM gain??
Neutral atk - Hits multiple enemies in a line / weakest atk / shortest AB recovery? / IM gain??
Down atk - average everything??
- Up is definitely his strongest attack by a large lead (1300 vs 750 vs 825), but the giant ATB mod makes it a terrible idea to spam against solo targets. It also gives the least meter of all attacks. Still, it's useful to trying to sync ATBs with Razmi and an amazing AoE either way.
- Mid is the weakest damagewise, but it has a fantastically low ATB modifier and is far and away his best meterbuilder which makes it quite efficient. However, against enemies who *aren't* pinned, it doesn't combo into itself due to Tungar needing to move between swings.
- Down doesn't do enough extra damage over the mid for it's ATB modifier (and grants less meter), but the second hit has the unique ability of launching enemies *towards* you, potentially even behind the party if chaincast, with the same gigantic hitstun that being a launcher entails. This opens up some interesting punting options as well as reducing how far your team will have to run to catch up with an enemy to land their attacks, if you really need that.
Tungar's super has a larger ATB multiplier than Ajni's or Zebei's supers, and it doesn't do quite as much damage as either (2000/3000/4250)... but it hits basically an entire row of targets with it's full power, and has a hilariously large knockback, especially if you catch something in the air with it. Niche, but still very useful.
Razmi:
Up atk - Widest hitbox / longest AB recovery? / weakest or strongest atk?? / IM gain??
Neutral atk - weakest or strongest atk?? / IM gain??
Down atk - inflicts "slowness" / fastest AB recovery / lowest IM gain?
- Up is technically the weakest attack, if you don't count the down attack's paltry 200 damage as even being damage (up is 1300 vs mid's 1800). It also as a gigantic ATB multiplier on it, which makes spamming it take about as long to recover as some supers. However, it's got an equally gigantic area; It's got a deceptively large horizontal reach, and it seems to have comparatively infinite width; not even Tungar's up attack can target an enemy on the lowest of 3 rows while still hitting the top row. It also gives a whole lot of meter, though the sheer ATB cost dilutes it significantly.
- Mid is the go-to mauler for Razmi. Highest raw damage of your party's normal attacks, fantastic metergain efficiency even with Razmi's poor ATB speed (and the mid's mild multiplier), and a strong pushing tool as the cherry on top. Do note it doesn't reach quite as far horizontally as it looks like it might.
- The down attack doesn't give much meter, but it's importance for big fights can't really be understated. The ATB recovery is indeed fast (for Razmi), and it increases how long the enemy has to wait until they can do their next attack, at which point it is removed. What makes it fantastic is that casting it a 2nd time stacks the effect, though not a 3rd. If you wait until immediately after a beefy opponent makes their move, you can potentially get up to 3 full party combos (including the starter that slows) before the enemy gets to retaliate. Not all enemies have the same level of vulnerability to the slow, but this move can singlehandedly prevent you from needing to heal against the guardian boss if you went in healthy already.
One thing i've noticed with Razmi's super is that it's actually more effective at healing you than the natural transfer of meter to health after combat.. A full stock of 3 iddhi levels seems to translate to about 1500 healing for the party, which is as much as Razmi's first-level heal (1500/2250/Rez+3000). If a fight is about to end and you really need more health between fights, use Razmi first.