Xenosaga Episode Two: Jenseits von Gut und Bose

[OblivionKnight]

THIS CONTAINS SOME MILD XENOSAGA III SPOILERS!!![/color]

Yay bloody yay!  This topic is probably only good for the people who allow Shion Erde Kaiser Fury or don't allow Jin's XS3 form (and won't until the game is ranked), but...well, I might as well make one or two people happy!

Also, all references to feces, infectious diseases, pain beyond imagination, and generally bad things refer to Shion Uzuki.  Should be fairly obvious, but it's there.

No one else was doing it, so I figured why the hell not?  It wasn't even as hard as I thought it would be.  Also, we needed this to avoid mass Shion hype, which is wrong.  Anyway, time for a large mechanics/other section.

Mechanics
Ok, this could take a while.  Stats are self-explanatory.  Other stuff isn't.  So...

Spirit Touch (BB): 190 Hit/Aura Physical damage

Using this tech as an example.  The (BB) notation means that these are the zones it can hit.  Zones basically correspond to height: A is high/flying, B is mid-range, C is low to the ground.  Of the characters, everyone can hit every zone except chaos and Ziggy.  Note that I am assuming, for damages, that enemies are being hit in the B zone, unless they are Aired or Downed by the character in a combo. 

After the damage listed, you'll see the attributes associated with the attack.  Most are self-explanatory: fire is fire, thunder is lightning, ice is ice, etc.  Hit/Slash/Pierce are physical, and beam is...beam.  >_>  Ether is magic, just under a different name.

Stocking is something every character can do.  The stock gauge has 3 slots - using Stock adds 1 slot to the gauge.  Attacking adds about 1/4 of a slot, so after 4 attacks, 1 stock would be accrued.  Some of the techs the characters have will require stock to be used in the DL, due to the poor conversion of the game's battle system to the DL.  These techs will be noted.  Note that stocking does slightly raises defense, guard and evasion.  In addition, stock will still accrue in a combo (so if, say, chaos was attacking with a full 3 stock gauge, he'd actually end up getting 5 attacks in, due to hitting 4 times through the whole combo).

chaos and Ziggy have elements attached to their attacks.  These cannot be removed, but do have a bonus in the DL - in a combo, as you use elemental attacks, damage rises about 1% per each elemental hit.  This has not been factored into either of their damages, but it's not a huge factor DL-wise.

The techs that indicate they Down or Air a target require breaking a target in-game.  This is something I'd ignore in the DL (the breaking aspect), but it's up to you.  Breaking requires you to hit the enemy's weak zone (which nearly all enemies have in-game) to break them, and then hit them with the Airing or Downing attack.  Enemies then enter Break Mode, which raises damage received by 50%.  Hitting enemies in the air or on the ground raises damage by 100%.  Note that some enemies are immune to Airing, Downing or both in-game.  Also, breaking an enemy sometimes gives a Break Bonus effect, which automatically adds 1 Stock to the fighter's gauge.

This only matters for Jin, but there are two types of status in the game: L and H.  For simple reference, L is "weak" and wears off in 5 turns, while H is "strong" and doesn't wear off unless cured.  Refresh L, which Jin starts with, does not heal H status.  However you take that in the DL is up to you.

All damage was tested on several enemies.  This wasn't ideal, but absolutely necessary.  The defensive stats are as follows:

Ziggy was tested on 24 VIT.
Jr., chaos, Jin and KOS-MOS were tested on 25 VIT.
MOMO and Superbitch were tested on 30 EDEF.

None of the enemies tested on have any attribute weaknesses to the characters used.  The defense differences are fairly minor, so adjustments could be made, but they likely wouldn't change much.

All characters can opt for the Swimsuit equip.  The swimsuit gives +1 AGL and +10% skill point accrual, but raises damage received by 15%.  I don't take this as standard, as the extra damage received is bad.

Erde Kaiser Fury can only be acquired after completing a clear save.  This requires finishing the game first.  In addition, it can have either the Slash, Pierce or Thunder attributes (though it will still deal ether-typed damage).  Slash is overall the best, so it's the one I'd default to.  Note that you cannot change the attribute once it's been chosen, so she's basically stuck with whatever one she chooses.  Allow it or not, it's up to you.

All levels were taken at 50.  This level was reached after completing the main game and going through the epilogue stuff.  Normal end-game is probably closer to 45, but considering that XS levels are very consistent (+1 to each stat, barring HP), this makes absolutely no difference.

That should be it.  Time for the fun to begin!       


chaos christ
"Poor lost souls...may you be reborn again anew!"
HP: 1623 
EP: 71   
STR: 62   
VIT: 59   
EATK: 69   
EDEF: 62   
DEX: 62   
EVA: 64   
AGL: 7

Spirit Touch (BB): 190 Hit/Aura Physical damage
Angel Blast (BC): 190 Hit/Aura Physical damage
Divine Seal (CC): 190 Hit/Aura Physical damage
Spirit Cross (CB): 190 Hit/Aura Physical damage
Spirit Strike (BC): 185 Hit/Aura Physical damage, Downs Target
Angel Shot (C): 240 Hit/Aura Physical damage, Target must be downed, Requies 1 stock (Down Effect damage bonus raises the attack to 480 damage; note that since it can only be used on a Downed opponent, it will always deal 480 damage)
Heaven's Wrath (CC): 300 Hit/Aura Physical damage, Target must be downed, Requies 2 stock (Down Effect damage bonus raises the attack to 600 damage; note that since it can only be used on a Downed opponent, it will always deal 600 damage)


Jin "I can't believe I'm related to that bitch" Uzuki
"Those who lack conviction, please stand aside!"
HP: 2068
EP: 63   
STR: 66   
VIT: 63   
EATK: 64   
EDEF: 59   
DEX: 67   
EVA: 61   
AGL: 7

Medica (2 EP): Heals 352 HP
Refresh L (4 EP): Cure L-type negative statuses

Tempest Blade (BB): 200 Slash Physical damage
Wind Blade (BC): 200 Slash Physical damage
Spinning Blade (CC): 200 Slash Physical damage
Rising Blade (CB): 200 Slash Physical damage
Tornado Strike (BC): 195 Hit Physical damage, Airs Target
Soaring Blade (A): 210 Slash Physical damage, Requies 1 stock (Air Effect damage bonus raises the attack to 420 damage)
Raptor (AA): 230 Slash Physical damage, Requies 2 stock (Air Effect damage bonus raises the attack to 460 damage)


Gaignun Kukai Jr.
"Sayonara, baby!"
HP: 1453
EP: 61   
STR: 67   
VIT: 57   
EATK: 65   
EDEF: 61   
DEX: 74   
EVA: 68   
AGL: 8

Quick Draw (BB): 200 Pierce Physical damage
Quick Turn (BC): 200 Pierce Physical damage
Quick Drop (CC): 200 Pierce Physical damage
Quick Shot (CB): 200 Pierce Physical damage
Cross Hand (BC): 195 Pierce Physical damage
Crossover (A): 210 Pierce Physical damage, Requies 1 stock
Killing Sky (AA): 230 Pierce Physical damage, Requires 2 stock


MOMO Mizrahi
"I feel more like a combat model these days."
HP: 1206
EP: 81   
STR: 26   
VIT: 33   
EATK: 70   
EDEF: 73   
DEX: 71   
EVA: 77   
AGL: 9

Robin (A/B/C): 240 Pierce Ether damage
Lark (A/B/C): 260 Pierce Ether damage, Requies 1 stock
Sparrow (A/B/C): 280 Pierce Ether damage, Requies 2 stock


Ziggurat 8
"I will show you what a real battle is like!"
HP: 3066
EP: 48   
STR: 71   
VIT: 70   
EATK: 38   
EDEF: 39   
DEX: 57   
EVA: 48   
AGL: 6

Combo One (BB): 225 Hit/Fire Physical damage
Combo Two (BC): 225 Hit/Fire Physical damage
Combo Three (CC): 225 Hit/Fire Physical damage
Combo Four (CB): 225 Hit/Fire Physical damage
Burst Blow (BC): 210 Hit/Fire Physical damage, Downs Target, Requies 1 stock
Burst Blade (C): 250 Hit/Fire Physical damage, Target must be downed, Requies 2 stock (Down Effect damage bonus raises the attack to 500 damage; note that since it can only be used on a Downed opponent, it will always deal 500 damage)


Worthless Whore
"Do you really think this is a good idea?"
HP: 1314
EP: 71   
STR: 36   
VIT: 48   
EATK: 65   
EDEF: 65   
DEX: 61   
EVA: 63   
AGL: 8

Erde Storm (8 EP): 220 Ether damage, MT
Erde Quake (8 EP): 220 Ether damage, MT
Erde Beam (8 EP): 220 Beam Ether damage, MT
Erde Kaiser Fury (50 EP): 4000 Slash (Pierce) (Thunder) Ether damage, MT, May only be used once per battle

Electro Shot (A/B/C): 200 Thunder Ether damage
Electro Ray (A/B/C): 230 Beam Ether damage, Requies 1 stock
Electro Blast (A/B/C): 220 Thunder Ether damage, Requies 2 stock


KOS-MOS Magdalene
"I will proceed to eliminate the enemy threat."
HP: 2528
EP: 64   
STR: 68   
VIT: 65   
EATK: 66   
EDEF: 65   
DEX: 67   
EVA: 64   
AGL: 6

T-ARTS 1 (BB): 205 Hit Physical damage
T-ARTS 2 (BC): 205 Hit Physical damage
T-ARTS 3 (CC): 205 Hit Physical damage
T-ARTS 4 (CB): 205 Hit Physical damage
T-ARTS 5 (BC): 200 Hit Physical damage, Airs Target
T-ARTS 6 (A): 225 Slash Physical damage, Requies 1 stock (Air Effect damage bonus raises the attack to 450 damage)
T-ARTS 7 (AA): 230 Slash Physical damage, Requies 2 stock (Air Effect damage bonus raises the attack to 460 damage)

MINIGUN: 410 Pierce Physical damage, Requies 1 stock
MICRO MISSILE: 205 Hit Physical damage, MT, Requies 2 stock
DRAGONBLADE: 500 Beam Ether damage, Requies 1 stock
X-BUSTER: 600 Beam Ether damage, MT, Requies 3 stock


Averages

HP: 1894
1) Ziggy - 3066
2) KOS-MOS - 2528
3) Jin - 2068
4) chaos - 1623
5) Jr. - 1453
6) Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset - 1314
7) MOMO - 1206

VIT: 56
1) Ziggy - 70
2) KOS-MOS - 65
3) Jin - 63
4) chaos - 59
5) Jr. - 57
6) Pile of Festering Venereal Diseases - 48
7) MOMO - 33

EDEF: 60
1) MOMO - 73
2t) KOS-MOS - 65
2t) Bane of All That is Sacred and Holy - 65
4) chaos - 62
5) Jr. - 61
6) Jin - 59
7) Ziggy - 39

AGL: 7
1) MOMO - 9
2t) Jr. - 8
2t) Crappy Fucking Stupid Goat-Raping Tard-Girl - 8
4t) chaos - 7
4t) Jin - 7
6t) KOS-MOS - 6
6t) Ziggy - 6

Damage: 211
1) MOMO - 240
2) Ziggy - 225
3) Stupid Pathetic Worthless No-Good Ungrateful Child That Should Have Been Drowned at Birth - 220
4) KOS-MOS - 205
5t) Jr. - 200
5t) Jin - 200
7) chaos - 190

Yeah, this doesn't look much like in-game.  Talk about a translation to the DL!

[OblivionKnight]

Bosses, all from ID.

Alright, I decided to get the relevant statistics for the bosses in the game (Excepting the ES battle bosses).  I was going to put this in Rob's topic...but it ended up being pretty damn big and I didn't want to clutter it up.  They are listed in chronological order, except two bosses who make second appearances.  Those two have their earlier forms listed next to their later forms for easier comparison.

Average damage against the boss is left out simply because its mostly up to personal interpretation on how you view it (You'll know what I'm talking about if you played the game). 

Oh, and a fair SPOILER warning for those who haven't played, some of the boss names can spoil the plot.  So here's your warning.

And a few preliminary notes to start with.

Status Effects
A number of bosses can induce status effects of one sort or another, so here's specific info on the status.  If a status connects a number of times, around 3-4 in my experience, the status 'upgrades' into an H-Status, which is far worse.

L Slow-  Target AGL -25% (Cannot perform actions as often)
L Poison-  Target takes 10% mHP in damage every action they take.
L Blind-  Target DEX and EVA -40%  (Lower Accuracy and Evade rates)
L Heavy-  Target STR -25%  (Less physical damage)
L Weak-  Target VIT -25%  (Less physical defense)
L Stun-  Target cannot take any actions.  50% chance of recovery anytime damage is taken.
L Ether PD-  Target EATK -25% (Less Ether/Magic damage)
L Ether DD-  Target EDEF -25%  (Less Ether/Magic damage)
L Poison EP-  Target loses 5 EP per action
L Resistance Down-  Status Resistance -20%
*An L-Status lasts for a max of 5 rounds

H Stop-  Target AGL = 0.  Doesn't wear off naturally (i.e. game over)
H Poison-  Target takes 25% mHP in damage for each action
H Blind-  Target DEX and EVA -80%
H Heavy-  Target STR -50%
H Weak-  Target VIT -50%
H Stun-  Target cannot take any actions.  10% chance of recovery anytime damage is taken
H Ether PD-  Target EATK -50%
H Ether DD-  Target EDEF -50%
H Poison EP-  All target's Ether/Spell costs are doubled
H Bind-  Target cannot attack.  Spells can still be cast, however.
H Lost-  Target cannot cast spells.
H Boost Lock-  Target cannot Boost (All but useless in the DL)
Curse-  Whenever the target deals damage, he is damaged for as much damage as he was dealt (Very nasty in the DL).
*An H-Status lasts permanently

Dual Attributes & Elemental Attacks
Some attacks have more than one attribute, such as Fire/Slash.  In the case of striking resistances or weaknesses, the combined bonus damage is summed, then added to the base damage.  For example, if X takes 200% damage from Fire and 150% damage from Slash, and Fire/Slash attack deals 100 damage, then X takes 250 damage (100 from bonus fire, 50 from bonus slash, 100 base). 

Combo Boosting
The majority of bosses have the ability to combo boost.  That is, they can boost as many times in succession as they have a Boost Gauge Count.  For every five attacks dealt, a character gains one Boost Gauge Count, up to a max of 3.  This is important as some bosses have the ability to Down or Air certain characters.  A character who has been Downed or Aired takes double damage for ALL successive Boost attacks.  Thus, a boost chain can rack up some insane damage...though for the most part, most bosses don't have the capability to get a high enough Boost Count.

Boosting also allows the creation of Elemental Chains.  That is, if two or more attacks are of the same element, subsequent element hits after the first gain roughly a cumulative 20% boost to damage.  Thus, the first hit will do 1x, second will do 1.2x, third will do 1.4x, etc...

Okay, enough boring preliminary stuff, onto the actual bosses.

The useful Key/Legend

Boss Name[/i]
(Party HP, Party Agility)

Stats
Relevant boss stats, the higher, the better.
*I believe the CTB based AGL values are already direct ratios already.  A 12 AGL character will get turns twice as often as a 6 AGL character.  If there is a modifier, its damned small.

Elemental/Attribute Resistances
Boss resistance to the 5 Elements (Beam, Aura [i.e Holy], Thunder, Fire, and Ice) and the 3 Attributes (Pierce, Slash, Hit).
*Number noted is the total percent modifier to an attack of that type.  Thus, 50 Fire and 150 Ice would mean that the boss takes only 50% damage from Fire attacks, and 150% from Ice.

Status Resistances
Boss resistance to the various status effects.  The number is the percent reduction of the base status accuracy value.  Thus, if an attack has a 50% base chance of causing the status, and the boss has 90% resistance to that status, then the attack is reduced to a 5% chance of hitting.

Skillset
Self explanatory.  What the boss can do to kill you and/or make your day miserable.

Notes:  Personal opinons on some of the bosses, or more indepth detail of some specific area.

XENOSAGA II BOSS STATISTICS[/u][/i]

*See Margulis below for Colonel Margulis' Stats*[/i]

Level 4[/i]
(853 HP, AGL 7)

Stats
HP:  5760 (Good)
STR:  43
VIT:  9
EATK:  33
EDEF:  29
DEX:  31
AGL:  9

Element/Attribute Resistances
Beam:  75
Aura:  150
Thunder:  200
Fire:  50
Ice:  50
Pierce:  150
Slash:  300 (Ouch)
Hit:  100

Status Resistance
Slow:  60
Blind:  60
Heavy:  75
Weak:  75
Ether PD:  75
Ether DD:  75
Resist Down:  25
Lost:  80
Curse:  15

Skillset
*Central Dogma Repair Program:  Recovers 25% mHP.  Once Level 4 has been reduced to 80% HP, he Counter Boosts and uses this.
System 40% Recovered:  STR+3, VIT+1, EATK+3, EDEF+3, DEX+3, AGL+1.
System 70% Recovered:  STR+3, VIT+1, EATK+3, EDEF+3, DEX+3. 
System 100% Recovered:  STR+3, VIT+1, EATK+3, EDEF+3, DEX+3, AGL+1. 
Unlimited Program:  STR+5, VIT+5, EATK+5, EDEF+5, DEX+5, AGL+1.

Armed Bug Now:  100 Hit Physical damage (200 after Unlimited Program)
ESW Output 20%:  100 Hit Ether damage, inflicts L-Heavy at 50% rate.
ESW Output 50%:  150 Hit Ether damage, inflicts L-Poison at 50% rate.
ESW Output 100%:  280 Hit Ether damage, MT, Downs target.  Usable at 50% HP.
Alchemy:  Summons an Infected URTV.
Cannibalism:  Kills an Infected URTV to recover 240 HP.  Usable at 50% HP.

FULL BOOST COMBO DAMAGE:  1960 [ESW Output x4] (VERY unlikely)

Notes:  Starts out rather slow, but once he takes 20% damage, he can fully restore that HP and then start the System Recovery boosts to boost his stats to high hell.  If he survives to that point, he can make good use of his insane speed (Almost 2x average) to abuse Alchemy/Cannibalism.  A full Boost Combo of ESW Output 100% hurts like hell too.  A solid Heavy, though winning a championship would be unlikely as he just starts off too slow and that weakness to Physical damage is abysmal (Especially Slashing physicals, swordsmen and the like scare Level 4).

*See Albedo below for his Winter SC Domain form*[/i]

Inquisitor Orgulla[/i]
(1300 HP, 7 AGL)

Note:  Orgulla switches between two forms, Eryu and Manes.  The first number is Eryu Mode's stats, and the second, bolded number is Manes Mode's stats.  Any stat buffs and/or status she may have in one form IS NOT carried over to the other.

She starts off in Eryu mode, and eventually shifts to Manes mode (~10 PC turns).  If constantly attacked with Piercing damage, or if she's the target of Ether, she'll switch forms sooner.  Likewise, in Mane's Mode, she'll return to Eryu form eventually, but hitting her with a Hit damage attack will speed the process up.

Stats
HP:  18,000 (Incredible)
STR:  72  -  86
VIT:  35 -  25
EATK:  80 - 60
EDEF:  25 - 35
DEX:  54
EVA:  50 - 42
AGL:  16 (!!!) - 8

Elemental/Attribute Resistances
Beam:  100
Aura:  100
Thunder:  150% - 100
Fire:  100 - 200
Ice:  100 - 50
Pierce:  70 - 135
Slash:  75
Hit:  135 - 50

Status Resistances
Slow:  85
Blind:  30 - 50
Heavy:  30 - 50
Weak:  30 - 50
Ether PD:  50 - 40
Ether DD:  50 - 40
Resistances Down:  50
Lost:  Immune
Curse:  Immune

Skillset
Eryu Mode
Sealed Throne:  All negative status resistances +10, PC Boost Gauge is fully drained and given to Orgulla.  Orgulla's opening move, never used afterwards.
Eve of the Assassination:  All negative status resistances +10, Poison odds of Byron's Cane and Byron's Cane Shot increased from 40% to 75%.  Replaces Sealed Throne as Orgulla's opening attack when she shifts back to Eryu Mode from Manes Mode.
Byron's Cane:  250 damage Slash Physical, 40%/75% chance of inflicting L-Poison.
Byron's Cane Shot:  350 damage Slash/Pierce Physical, 40%/75% chance of inflcting L-Poison.
Scattershot:  200 Pierce Physical damage, MT
Quick:  AGL +25%
Medica:  Recovers 25% mHP
Refresh L-  Recover from L Status effects
Refresh H-  Recover from H Status effects
Manes Awakens-  Shifts to Manes Mode

Manes Mode
Vigrid:  460 Slash/Ice Physical damage, Downs Target, 40% chance of inflicting L-Weak.
Valhalla:  460 Slash/Ice Physical damage, Airs Target
Einherjar:  *920 Slash/Ice Physical damage.  Only used when target is Downed.  Damage listed is already incorporating the 2x damage bonus.
Ice Blast:  200 Ice Ether
Blood Oath:  +5 Power (Stackable to 2x), Orgulla loses 500 HP.  This increases the base damage of her attacks by about 100, up to 200.
A Pound of Flesh: Maxes out Orgulla's Boost Gauge Counter (3 and a full bar), Orgulla loses 1000 HP.
Manes' Restraint- Second Virus:  Mane's Mode stats reduced as follows:  STR -65, VIT -20, EDEF -15, DEX -30, EVA -30.  Randomly happens when Orgulla shifts to Manes Mode (VERY VERY rarely, I had her revert over 20 times, and it only kicked in once).
Manes' Restraint-  Shifts to Eryu Mode.

FULL BOOST COMBO DAMAGE:  6110 [Vigrid -> Einherjarx3] (VERY VERY easy for her to pull off)

Notes:  Absolutely, bloody insane.  Eryu mode more than double-turns average speed (She's 2.3x average), which more than makes up for her lackluster damage.....and she has Haste.   Yeah, at 20 Agility, she's nearly triple-turns average speed, which means she can play hell with her opponent either by hitting them with Poison so often they hit H-Poison and quickly die, or she wins in a war of attrition with the unbelievably cheap Medica.  She can  take care of status either through Refresh, or by changing to Manes.

When she hits Manes Mode, she trades speed for raw damage.  An Ice Chain combined with the Down effect of Vigrid massively boosts taht damage.  Oh, and she can do this every other round, thanks to 'A Pound of Flesh'.  Status attacks aren't too problematic, as they will be removed when she shifts to Eryu Mode.  A very clear godlike, and a winning one at that, easily champion material.

Colonel Margulis
(337 HP, 7 AGL)

Stats
HP:  1000 (Bad)
STR:  24
VIT:  11
EATK:  34
EDEF:  18
DEX:  23
EVA:  0  (OMG!!!)
AGL:  10

Element/Attribute Resistances
Beam:  100%
Aura:  100%
Thunder:  75%
Fire:  75%
Ice:  150%
Pierce:  100%
Slash:  100%
Hit:  100%

Status Resistance
Slow:  50%
Blind:  50%
Heavy:  50%
Weak:  50%
Ether PD:  50%
Ether DD:  50%
Resistance Down:  25%
Lost:  80%
Curse:  Immune

Skillset
Dakshina Marg:  45 Slash Physical Damage
Avamasya:  70 Slash Physical Damage
Brahma:  DEX +2, usable at 90% HP
Matrika Shakti:  Sets elemental resistances as following-  Aura to 200%, Slash and Hit to 50%, Physical to Normal.  Usable at 50% HP
Coercion:  50 Hit Physical Damage, MT, Ignores Evade, used only as a final attack.

Notes:  Total scrub.  Damage is laughable, and that HP is pathetic (Ice Brand can OHKO him if it criticals...though to be fair, its hitting his weakness).  His speed and ability to halve most physical damage would let him survive in Middle, though he isn't winning any championships.

High Inquisitor Margulis[/i]
(1500 HP, 7 AGL)

Stats
HP:  20800 (Decent)
STR:  100
VIT:  27
EATK:  110
EDEF:  38
DEX:  60
EVA:  64
AGL:  10

Elemental/Attribute Resistances
Beam:  150
Aura:  75
Thunder:  50
Fire:  25
Ice:  100
Pierce:  150
Slash:  100
Hit:  100

Status Resistance
Slow:  90
Blind:  90
Heavy:  90
Weak:  90
Ether PD:  90
Ether DD:  90
Resistance Down:  80
Lost:  Immune
Curse:  Immune

Skillset
Shakti:  160 Slash/Pierce Physical damage
Shiva:  265 Slash/Pierce/Fire Physical damage
Rakta:  400 Fire Ether damage, Downs target
Syama:  100 Thunder Ether damage, MT, Downs targets
Kalagnirudra:  270 Hit Physical damage, MT, ignores Evade
Summon Chaaya-  Summons a shadow of himself.  The Shadow can use Shakta, Shiva, Rakta, and Medica (Restores 25% of Margulis' mHP).  Shadow also absorbs all damage dealt, at about 2.75x the damage you would have dealt, and Margulis' loses that much HP.  Can only be used twice.
Supress Chaaya-  Shadow is sent away.
Krita-Yuga:  First charge for Seal of Immobility
Treta-Yuga:  Second charge for Seal of Immobility
Dvapara-Yuga:  Third charge for Seal of Immobility
Kali-Yuga:  Final charge for Seal of Immobility.  Induces H-Stop at 100% rate and cannot be resisted/blocked, MT.  As previously mentioned, H-Stop cannot be recovered from, so its game over in-game or in the DL should Margulis get Seal of Immobility off.

FULL BOOST COMBO DAMAGE:  3760 [Rakta x4] (Unlikely to pull off)

Notes:  A fairly respectable boss.  Damage is somewhat lacking, especially after that ordeal with Orgulla.  The AI is retarded and likes to waste 2-5 turns between the Seal of Immobility charges, meaning he never pulls if off in-game (It also likes to use Shakti instead of Kalanirudra or Rakta).  In the DL, however, he can pull it out in 4 rounds, which is quite feasibly with that decent AGL.  Whether or not you let hit bosses/pure status immune is up to you.  I put it in the same boat as FF6 Charm, myself, in that it hits everything but those with absolute status immunity.  Without Seal of Immobility, he still has decent damage with a Shadow, being able to consistantly do a 2x Rakta combo (880 damage, 1360 with a boost in order to maintain the Down effect).  A solid Heavy who wins more often than he loses, and a possible champion if he gets a lucky pool (i.e. a status vulnerable pool).

Cathedral[/i]
(1650 HP, 7 AGL)

Like Orgulla, Cathedral shifts around between different modes.  This time, its based upon the gender of the opponent.  When Cathedral uses 'Wheel of Memory', the next attack will send it to Cry of the Rapture Mode if attacked by a female, Call to Arms if attacked by a Male, or White Robe if not attacked at all.  Cathedral's starting mode is White Robe.

The first set of numbers indicate White Robe, the second bolded numbers indicate Cry of the Rapture, and the third italicized set indicates Call to Arms.

Stats
HP:  32000 (Good)
STR:  70 - 50 - 100
VIT:  40 - 10 - 25
EATK:  65 - 100 - 50
EDEF:  30 - 45 - 10
DEX:  50 - 50 - 60
EVA:  30 - 50 - 60
AGL:  9 - 10 - 10

Elemental/Attribute Resistances
Beam:  250 - 50 - 150
Aura:  100 - 50 - 100
Thunder:  100 - 50 - 150
Fire:  100 - 50 - 150
Ice:  100 - 50 - 150
Pierce:  100 - 150 - 50
Slash:  100 - 150 - 50
Hit:  100 - 150 - 50

Status Resistance
Slow:  Immune
Blind:  40
Heavy:  40
Weak:  40
Ether PD:  40
Ether DD:  40
Resistance Down:  70
Lost:  Immune
Curse:  50

Skillset
All
Wheel of Memory-  Causes Cathedral to change forms based on the next attack.
Memories of Guadalupe-  Starts a countdown timer on a target, set for three rounds.
Purification of the Soul-  Attack used after the countdown is over.  Induces Instant Death, 100% rate, cannot be resisted/stopped.

White Robe
Love of the Virgin-  100 Beam Ether damage, MT
Four Shining Wheels-  Inflicts L-Poison at a 50% rate, MT
Heart Rending Despair-  Inflicts L-Ether DD at 50% rate, MT
A Lily Bathed in Deception-  Inflicts L-Weak at 50% rate, MT
Advent of Sweet Whispers-  Induces L-Stun at 50% rate, MT
Assumption of the Virgin-  Recovers 25% mHP
Oracle of Healing-  Doubles the effects of next healing.
Refresh H-  Removes H-Status effects

Cry of the Rapture
Flame Blast-  380 Fire Ether damage
Gehenna-  380 Fire Ether damage, MT
Thunder Blast-  380 Thunder Ether damage
Lament of Babel-  380 Thunder Ether damage, MT
Look of Rapture-  EATK +25%, EDEF -25%

Call to Arms
Sodom Quake-  330 Hit Physical damage, MT
Roar of Lucifer-  550 Hit, Physical damage, MT
Instigate Massacre-  STR +25%, VIT -25%

FULL COMBO BOOST DAMAGE:  3850 [Roar of Lucifer x4] (Fairly unlikely he can pull it off)

Notes:  The names of its spells alone are worthy of godlike!  In all seriousness, its an interesting boss.  Against females, whom tend to be mages, he gets insane elemental resistance and ether defense...but also uses magic (Which mages tend to resist better).  Against males, he's got great physical defense, but dishes out physical damage as well.  White Robe form is just a complete status whore.  How he does...depends entirely on who he faces.  Probably a Heavy with that Status and healing, and general tankishness.

Patriarch[/i]
(1650 HP, 7 AGL)

After taking out the first 21600 HP, Patriarch says some crap, then comes back to life with 32400 HP.  All in-battle effects such as current Stock are preserved, so its effectively an in-battle form change.  The first 'form' can only use the first three attacks listed.  He also calls on Proto Omega for help (An enemy you cannot target), take that as you will.

Stats
HP:  21600 + 32400 (Excellent)
STR:  75
VIT:  20
EATK:  100
EDEF:  50
DEX:  50
EVA:  55
AGL:  8

Elemental/Attribute Resistances
Beam:  50
Aura:  100
Thunder:  50
Fire:  50
Ice:  50
Pierce:  200
Slash:  175
Hit:  150

Status Resistances
Slow:  Immune
Blind:  50
Heavy:  40
Weak:  40
Ether PD:  60
Ether DD:  60
Resistance Down:  90
Lost:  Immune
Curse:  Immune

Skill Set
*Indicates the attacks which Patriarch can use during his first 21600 HP
*Death to the Wicked-  500 Aura Ether damage, inflicts L Blind at a 25% rate
*Invitation to Death-  500 Aura Ether damage, inflicts L Slow at a 25% rate
*Sublime Blast-  350 Aura Ether damage, hits a group of two
Crossroads of Dimensions-  350 Aura/Hit Ether damage, Airs target
Fool's Punishment-  350 Aura Ether damage, inflicts L Blind at a 50% rate
Rite of Initiation-  550 Aura Ether damage, Downs target, Induce L Slow at a 25% rate
Gravestone Lock-  Induces H Boost Lock at a 75% rate
Curse of Gartes-  Induces Curse at a 100% rate
Quick-  AGL +25%
Refresh L-  Recover from L-Status
Refresh H-  Recover from H-Status
---------
UMN Phase Transfer Cannon- Scatter:  900 Beam Ether damage, MT (Used by Proto Omega)
UMN Phase Transfer Cannon- Direct:  400 Beam Ether damage, MT (Used by Proto Omega)

FULL COMBO BOOST DAMAGE:  5170 [Rite of Initiation x4] (Highly unlikely he can pull it off)

Notes:  His tech names suck compared to Cathedral's....but he's better in every other way.  Good elemental resistance and HP....horrendous weakness to the typical physical attack though.  His status is tame for the most part, except for Curse...which doesn't bypass resistance unlike some of the status of other bosses.  He can do good damage with a full Boost Combo of Rite of Initation, but that requires he makes 15 attacks before hand, and with Agility barely above average, he's going to have a hard time surviving that long.  His other big damage, the UMN Phase Transfer Cannon, isn't even DL-legal by most people's standards, so he's left with decent general damage and lackluster status.  Still a High Heavy, probably not good enough for low Godlike.

Albedo[/i]
(1000 HP, 7 AGL)

Stats
HP:  7680 (Very good)
STR:  65
VIT:  50
EATK:  53
EDEF:  48
DEX:  40
EVA:  99 (!!)
AGL:  12

Elemental/Attribute Resistances
Beam:  75
Aura:  50
Thunder:  50
Fire:  125
Ice:  50
Pierce:  175
Slash:  150
Hit:  100

Status Resistances
Slow:  75
Blind:  75
Heavy:  85
Weak:  85
Ether PD:  90
Ether DD:  90
Resistance Down:  50
Lost:  Immune
Curse:  Immune

Skill Set
Break Block:  Albedo takes minimal damage from attacks all attacks by blocking with his arms.  In order to break through this, you need to hit him with an attack that he's weak to (Fire or Piercing) ~6 times to destroy those arms.  However, he can cast Regeneration to bring those arms back immediately (The AI doesn't like to do this, though it will occasionally), though the number of hits needed drops to ~4/5.  Albedo can do this cycle until he's regenerated his arms 4 times, in which case he no longer Blocks.
Regeneration:  Albedo recreates his arms and can Break Block again.  After 4 uses, Break Block is disabled.
Release of Desire:  200 Pierce/Thunder Physical damage, increases the power of Release of Desire (II).
Carrion of Souls I:  190 Hit Ether damage, Inflicts L Ether DD at 50% rate MT
Carrion of Souls II-  Drains 10% mHP of each character, 50% chance of absorbing a Boost Gauge to his own, MT
Carrion of Souls III:  Deals ~7 EP damage, destroys one of the target's Stock, MT
Ice Blast:  130 Ice Ether Damage
Thunder Blast:  130 Thunder Ether Damage
Release of Desire (II):  350 Pierce/Thunder Physical damage, Downs Target, Ignores Evade.  Usable at 50% HP OR when Regeneration used 4 times
Soul Blast:  400 Aura Ether damage, MT
Ether Spear:  EATK +25%, EDEF -25%

FULL COMBO BOOST DAMAGE:  3950 [Release of Desire (II) -> Soul Blast x3] (Fairly easy for Albedo to use once or twice)

Notes:  Probably in the running with Orgulla for the best boss in the game.  Break Block is stupidly cheap, as you automatically lose to Albedo if you don't have Fire, Slash, or Piercing damage.  Even then, you have to average ~15 very weak hits before his Break Block is gone, which is a good 25 attacks or so for Albedo thanks to that Agility.  This in turn means more Boost Gauge for him is filled.  He should easily pull off one Release of Desire (II) -> Soul Blast x3 combo in a fight, which is enough to overkill most PCs nearly 4 times.  Extremely good defenses help cover his already fairly impressive HP (Level 4 is fought only 3-4 levels beforehand, for reference, and dies more than twice as quickly), and insane Evade helps to negate that Pierce/Slash weakness.  A solid Godlike, who wins more than he loses, possible champion material. 

Sexy Shirtless Albedo[/i]
(1250 HP, 8 AGL)

Stats
HP:  5300 (Good)
STR:  10   -_-
VIT:  20
EATK:  100
EDEF:  34
DEX:  60
EVA:  60
AGL:  10

Elemental/Attribute Resistances
Beam:  100
Aura:  150
Thunder:  100
Fire:  100
Ice:  100
Pierce:  100
Slash:  100
Hit:  100

Status Resistance
*Immune to all status

Skillset
Eternal Chain-  1800 Aura Ether damage, Ignores Ether Defense and Evade.  Used only as a final attack.
Regenerate Consciousness-  Restore 50% mHP.  Used automatically when Albedo's HP drops to 0.
Regenerate Time-Space:  Restore 50% mHP.
Safety Level:  If target takes fatal damage, reduced to 1 HP instead of 0.
Miracle Star:  600 Non-Elemental Ether damage
Ice Blast:  600 Ice Ether damage

Notes:  The token plot fight of the game, you cannot lose this fight as he will always maintain a Safety Level spell on you.  That said, if for some reason you do allow this form, then he has good 2HKO spell damage, and an incredibly overpowered final attack.  If you remove all restrictions on AI and let him cast Eternal Chain at will, he's a damn solid character >_>

But yes, anyone who allows this form needs to be shot.

[SnowFire]

Some notes and questions on Marguilis's second form.  I was looking at Split Infinity's FAQ, and it has some new information as well as some information that varies rather strongly from what's there currently.  No one happens to have a save before the fight, do they?

* The Shadow's Medica can definitely be used more than once.  Judgment call if in the DL it can be spammed all the time (most people would say yes, probably), but I can attest from my own fight that they used it at least twice, possibly thrice.

* As another note from me, calculating boss HP in XS2 is tricky since most of your damage is done by huge flying combos, and those are of varying nastiness depending on how well you exploit the system and the party you have.  Marguilis is even more complicated than normal because it's a side attack on him, so some of your characters will randomly do more damage thanks to the pincer attack.  But Margulis still has tons of HP to make up for the extra damage from the side.  My rough estimate of the number of combos it takes to defeat Marguilis is about 3-4...  but those are fully stocked combos that involve character spending 2-3 turns stocking up, so 3-4 PC turns to prepare each, so 9-16 general PC rounds total to beat him ignoring healing.  So yeah, I personally would give Margulis fairly ridiculous HP (In the 3x PCHP-4x PCHP range).  If you abuse elemental chains, it's possible that Marguilis would fall faster; I didn't, myself, but I could see taking him down in 2 chains if sufficiently twinked up, I guess?  That would imply something more in the 2-3x PCHP range.

* The Shadows work a bit differently according to Split Infinity than here; Dark Holy Elf clarified in a later post in the old topic with this:

The clones absorb 2.75x damage to physicals and Ice, 1.75x-2.25x to other elements, and are DAMAGED by Holy (for 1.5x). Presumably this means anyone with Holy damage can just OHKO them and get them out of the picture. Otherwise, they should still beat on the clones (unless they use Fire/Lightning... in which case they still should since Margulis himself resists those elements) since Margulis loses half the HP they heal for.

So, to recap, the Shadows only have 650 HP, but they'll only die from Aura elemental attacks.  Aura attacks will also turn off the HP-sharing, so only the Shadow will die.  A basic physical against a Shadow would do 275% damage, but Margulis would only actually take 138% damage because Margulis only shares that much.

It's not clear if Marguilis can die from a Shadow hit - my suspicion is no, but that'd be more due to the "Jin must deal the finishing blow" aspect which is generally ignored in the DL.  This would be hard to test anyway since I seem to recall him dismissing his Shadows before starting Acala Seal, but I suspect not due to the "Jin must get the finishing blow thing," but that might get ignored anyway in the DL.

* Split Infinity's FAQ mentions some triggers that sound reasonable enough.  Margulis will only use Summon Chaaya, Shiva, and Kalagnirudra after he's less than 16640 HP (80% HP).  Not being able to summon at the start of the battle strikes me as somewhat relevant, and not being able to use Kalagnirudra is important against Fire-immune characters.  No idea on if he can keep on using it if he gets healed back above this HP amount.  He will also only start making the Acala Seal at 7000 HP (34% HP) or less.

* SI also has rather more respect for the damage of Marguilis's ethers (he estimated 200 for Syama rather than 100, and 500 for Rakta rather than 400).  Obviously, if they can be boost-chained together, they're even better.  He also claims that Shiva ignores Evade like Kalagnirudra.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Mechanics stuff

Basic damage formula

XS2 uses a couple pretty simple damage algorithms:

Physical damage = STR * Power / 5 - VIT * 3
Magical damage = EATK * Powre / 4 - EDEF * 4

Magical damage includes both attack ethers (such as Fire Blast and the Erde Kaiser series) and the regular attacks of MOMO and Shion.

The statuses Heavy, Weak, Ether PD, and Ether DD, as well as Attacker, Defender, Ether Spear, and Ether Shield all modify these stats directly, albeit temporarily.

Most normal attacks, as well as the basic attack ethers, have 20 power. Some exceptions:

-chaos' Heaven's Wrath (CC vs. downed enemy) has power 22.
-Jin's Soaring Blade (A) = 21
-Jin's Raptor (AA) = 22
-KOS-MOS' T-ARTS 6 (A) = 21
-KOS-MOS' T-ARTS 7 (AA) = 22
-MOMO's Lark (AA) = 21
-MOMO's Sparrow (AAA) = 22
-Ziggy's Burst Blade (C vs. downed enemy) = 21
-Shion's Electro Ray (AA) = 21
-Shion's Electro Blast (AAA) = 22

Note that, with the exception of enemies who initially occupy the A (high) zone, KOS-MOS and Jin need to air a target before using their stronger attacks. chaos and Ziggy need to down an enemy before using theirs (and chaos additionally needs to get to the second hit in a chain after downing his foe). MOMO and Shion just need to stock up and attack normally. Jr. has no attacks which are more powerful than any other.

A couple other attacks of note: KOS-MOS' Dragon Blade has power 36, and Shion's Erde Kaiser Fury has a power of about 240. Hard to be sure exactly.

Enemy attacks vary considerably in power (though typically are near 20, with a few notable exceptions) and their powers can be found in certain FAQs on GameFAQs, such as the one authored by Split Infinity.


Modifiers to damage

XS2 has a large number of damage modifiers. All act as multipliers to damage, which as such makes the order in which they are applied irrelevant.

RANDOM VARIANCE: Damage is multiplied by a random number from 1 to about 1.16. For some reason it seems to bias towards the lower side of this range, though.

CRITICAL HITS: Damage multipled by 1.5. Have a small chance to occur on any attack, +50% during the crit phase, +50% if the attack is a back hit

HI-CRITICAL HITS: Damage multipled by 2. Replace normal critical hits in certain circumstances. Appear rarely during the Critical phase of the event slot.

ELEMENTAL ATTRIBUTES: If the attack has an element, damage is multiplied by target's elemental attribute divided by 100. So an enemy listed as taking 250% to fire multiplies oncoming damage by 2.5. If multiple elements are present, then before the elemental modifier is calculated, the target's appropriate resistances are added up, and 100 is subtracted for each attribute beyond the first. Thus, if an enemy takes 250% to fire and 50% to slashing, and is hit by a Fire/Slashing attack, the damage is multiplied by (250 + 50 - 100)/100 = 2.

ELEMENTAL CHAINS: If multiple attacks of the same element (physical elements are excluded) are used in the same turn, or in a chain of turns by the same side connected by boosts, each attack beyond the first is multiplied by (1 + 0.1 * (the number of previous attacks of that element in the chain). So if Ziggy has 3 stock and unleashes 4 consecutive fire elemental attacks, they will in turn be multiplied by 1, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3.

GUARD: If an attack is guarded, its damage is multiplied by 0.5.

BREAK: Damage multiplied by 1.5. Also, enemies who have been broken can not guard or evade attacks. Attacks that attempt to inflict Break will fail to do so if evaded.

AIR/DOWN: Damage multipled by 2. Replaces the Break status (does not stack with it), also disables guarding and evasion. Attacks that attempt to inflict Air/Down will fail to do so if evaded or guarded (although as only enemy attacks can air/down directly without breaking first, this caveat applies to enemy attacks only).

Note: Break, Air, and Down effects all end immediately at the end of any turn, UNLESS the side that inflicted the Break/Air/Down effect boosts to get another turn. When Air ends on a target, Down is automatically inflicted on that target at the start of the next turn, unless that turn belongs to the target in which case Down is also cancelled. Finally, note that some enemies can not be subject to Break (and hence Air/Down), and that some additional enemies immune Air specifically.

Some enemies are listed as weak to ether or physicals. This listing is present simply to act as an indication of their defences (in rare cases, it is even misleading) and does not actually affect damage itself.

Also, back hits are commonly listed as boosting damage. They do not. However, they do make the target unable to evade or guard, and raise critical rate by 50%.


Evade and guard

As of yet, I still don't know how these work. My best guess is that raw evade rate is calculated as 10% + EVA - AIM. Guard is the one that is really throwing me for a loop, but it seems to happen on something like 20-40% of attacks that aren't evaded. More testing is needed here.

Guarded attacks can critical, but the game will not inform you that they have besides showing the higher damage. A guarded attack that is also a critical hit does 75% normal damage.

The stock command raises evade rate (and possibly guard rate; however it does NOT reduce damage taken unless the Guard skill is learned), although the amount doesn't seem to be that large (would guess 10% but the amount of testing backing this is minimal). The Inner Peace skill makes this bonus large indeed, on the other hand.


Miscellaneous

When using singletarget attacks, enemies have a bias for attacking targets with lower current HP.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Miscellaneous boss notes and such:

Albedo

Soul Blast is a 20% HP limit. However, if he survives the chain that crosses him over this threshold, he will counterboost (interrupting your own boost) and use it for free. Release of Desire (II) is also only unlocked at this threshold I think, OR after the final arm regeneration (the one that doesn't restore his stats, see below) has occured. Carrion of Souls III is a limit as well but this isn't likely to matter much. Also, when Albedo has no arms, the only attacks he can use are Blasts, which aren't exactly very good. Fortunately for him he can use Regeneration right away instead.

Albedo's listed Vit/EDef/Eva are for the start of the battle. When his arms are broken, his EVA drops to something reasonable (no clue what), his Vit drops by 25, and his EDef drops by 13. When he regenerates his arms, his Vit rises by 25 and his EVA rises (presumably to 99 again, though not certain), but his EDef stays where it is. So every time you break his arms his EDef falls, if you break his arms 3 times (the max) he'll have only 9 Ether Def which is pitiful. I suspect this is a glitch, because when Albedo regenerates his arms for the final time his defences are set to 25/35, i.e. where they are after the first break.

Albedo can not evade while his arms are present, so his EVA stat is manifested only in his impressive guard rate. Or I -assume- this is due to his EVA stat anyway. I can't recall seeing him evade even with his arms gone, but I haven't tested extensively using Ziggy or any other low accuracy PCs so it's possible he can.

This last one only matters for me, but Albedo's EAtk stat is almost certainly a misprint in various guides; I think it is 50 and not 53. (53 never made much sense anyway!) Also, SI lists the power of his Blast spells as 30; this is incorrect and they should be what they are for everyone else, 20.


Margulis

Rakta is a limit, probably 50% HP.

He has a pretty good evade/guard rate when not caught in a back hit. My testing so far has 30% guard + 33% evade but this needs more testing, it's possible I have weird luck (these numbers are higher than his EVA stat suggests they should be from my PC evasion testing). It'd be very reasonable to considerably disrespect the guard rate because it doesn't stop you from breaking him and once you break him he can't guard any more. Evade does cut your entire combo short, though, so the only reason to disrespect it is if you scale him against some back hits (which is totally reasonable).

Margulis' shadows will disappear after a large number of turns without him sending them away. Seemed to be about 8-10. Not likely to be relevant too often, but you never know.

Margulis is listed as weak to ether when EDef is notably his higher defensive stat. Is he being a sneaky misdirecting bastard, or do the game designers just hate us? Who knows! Unfortunately for him your main mage deals piercing damage which he's weak to, so he may -feel- weak to ether as a result (his higher EDef only lowers her damage to be equal to Jr.'s, and far ahead of anyone else's).


Patriarch

SI lists a few limits here and they seem correct. Remember, his 50% Blind move, and his moves that inflict Air/Down are only gained in the second half of the battle, i.e. under 60% HP. Beyond that...

Patriarch needs to be below 48% HP To use Quick and Gravestone Lock (boost seal)
Patriarch needs to be below 30% HP to use Curse of Gartes (damage reflector status)
Patriarch needs to be below 12% HP to command Proto Omega to attack, if you consider that


Still to come: average damage vs. each boss and the practical effect of their defences

[Dark Holy Elf]

More DL boss stuff

Average defensive stats of enemies throughout Disc 2 is largely constant at 25, the actual variances are statistically insignificant, and 25 is more or less always the median. As such, this is the defensive stat I will assume for PC damage and when comparing bosses. The exception is Albedo (disc 1), who exists in a relatively low-Vit/high-EDef dungeon, so I'll use enemy defences of 15 Vit, 25 EDef.

I'm assuming an average endgame level of 41, since that's what I arrived at after fighting every enemy formation in the game once. You'll get lower if you skip encounters, higher if you refight them.

How you take bosses varies a little on what skills you have. First of all, you need the Sword Ethers to attain maximum damage potential, but there's really no reason you wouldn't have them by the time you fight the first DL relevant boss, Albedo, who is at the end of Disc 1. Secondly, you have access to STAT+2 skills, which are generally fairly inexpensive, but you can only have 3-4 skills set. I'd assume, though, that characters have STR+2 or EATK+2, whichever is appropriate to their normal attacks. VIT+2 and EDEF+2, on the other hand, are not effective enough to be worth noting. For Margulis onwards, the Limiter Up skill is fairly cool, as it raises HP by 10% (as well as MP). At a certain point it should probably be assumed. The First Combo skill, obtained at the same time, is also important, as a free stock certainly raises your damage vs. time potential. Finally, there is the permanently available (except Jin) Swimsuit skill, which raises AGL by 1, but also raises damage received in some manner I'm not yet certain on. Game says 10-15%, so we'll call it a 12.5% boost. Overall, this is worth it (and you're additionally likely to use it in-game because it boosts skill points gained), so I may redo boss stats to reflect this.

Pincer attacks raise your damage by 12.5% (+50% damage 50% of the time in 50% of positions) and reduce enemy evade by one half, in practice. Albedo and Orgulla can not be pincered, Margulis fights you auto-pincered, and Patriarch can be pincered by sacrificing one turn from one PC at the start of the battle.

The optimum damage I am assuming is dealt over 13 turns as follows. I am assuming that the enemy in question requires two turns to break, which is the case for most bosses:

Actions 1-9: Everyone stocks to 3.
Actions 10-12: Everyone casts Sword ethers on themselves
Action 13: One character attacks
1st boost: Second character attacks to finish break, inflicts air/down, then does 2 more attacks
2nd boost: First or third character uses 4 attacks on aired/downed enemy
3rd boost: Remaining character uses 4 attacks on aired/downed enemy
4th boost: One last attack

Total is 14 attacks, which generate an average of 4.2 boost gauges, cancelling out the use of 4 boosts. 13 turns are used to generate this offence.

The average damage could be taken as higher or lower. Reasons to take it higher:
-I am not factoring in Attacker or Ether Spear, buffs which add 35-40% to damage at a small defence penalty.
-Parties with chaos or Ziggy save a turn of not having to cast the appropriate sword ether
-You can reasonably add in an extra boosted attack or two if you're willing to lose boost overall, which isn't necessarily unreasonable for a boss fight

Reasons to take it lower:
-In shorter fights, you don't get this much damage output per turn. Alternatively, in fights where you need this much damage plus a bit more, the same applies.
-Certain parties cripple this basic strategy, although it's pretty reasonable to assume the player avoids them. Notably, having both chaos and Ziggy is bad, and having both Shion and MOMO is bad. Actually, having Shion is pretty bad in general, and pretty much necessitates lowering your damage because she can't use her stock in a chain without disrupting the element.

I kinda feel it balances out.

Anyway, overall multiplier to damage is
1
+1.1+1.8+2.86+3.08
+3.3+3.52+3.74+3.96
+4.18+4.4+4.62+4.84
+4.83
= 47.23

This assumes a 1.1 multiplier on attacks 4 through 13 due to the fact that many attacks in such position have a higher base power (21 or 22) than normal and a 1.05 multiplier on the 14th attack for similar reasons. I could justify these numbers but I'm lazy; they're approximations to the reality but pretty close ones.

Random variance (1.05) and damage modifications due to crits (1.1) will be multiplied in at the end, for each boss. You can take this number as you will. Personally, I calculate PCHP as the amount of damage the PCs can do with 8.75 actions, and since this is 13, I'll set PCHP at the average figure I come up with times 8.75/13 = 67.3%. Once you get First Combo, you can do this same damage in 10 actions, so the multiplier becomes 8.75/10 = 87.5%. And, one final reminder: bosses themselves react to elements, so if you use the right ones they of course fall faster than these numbers might suggest.


Albedo

Party base damage in Subconscious Domain

Level 23
Ziggy: 139
KOS-MOS: 127
MOMO: 125
Jr: 123
chaos: 103
Shion: 100
Average: 120

Total damage over 13 actions: 120*47.23*1.05*1.1 = 6546
Boss PCHP at this point: 4405
Albedo's HP: 7680 -> 1.74x PC

With his arms up, Albedo reduces physicals by 88% and magic by 77%
With his arms broken or after their final regeneration, Albedo reduces physicals by 25%
With his arms broken once or after their final regeneration, Albedo reduces magic by 33%
With his arms broken twice, Albedo takes 10% extra from magic
With his arms broken thrice, Albedo takes 53% extra from magic

Albedo's overall durability, assuming the arms in their final state, or broken once: 2.32 physical, 2.60 magical


Orgulla

Party base damage in Ormus

Level 30
MOMO: 160
Ziggy: 137
Shion: 135
KOS-MOS: 125
Jr: 121
Jin: 117
chaos: 101
Average: 128

Total damage over 13 actions: 128*47.23*1.05*1.1 = 6982
Boss PCHP at this point: 4700
Orgulla's HP: 18000 -> 3.83x PC

In her Eryu form, Orgulla reduces physicals by 25% and is neutral to magic
In her Manes form, Orgulla reduces magic by 27% and is neutral to physicals

Orgulla (Eryu)'s overall durability: 5.11 physical, 3.83 magical
Orgulla (Manes)'s overall durability: 3.83 physical, 5.25 magical


Margulis

Party base damage in Labyrinthos

Level 35
MOMO: 185
Shion: 160
Ziggy: 157
KOS-MOS: 145
Jr: 141
Jin: 137
chaos: 121
Average: 149

Total damage over 10 actions: 149*47.23*1.05*1.225 = 9052
Boss PCHP at this point: 7921
Margulis' HP: 20800 -> 2.63x PC

Margulis reduces physicals by 4% and magic by 38%

Margulis' overall durability: 2.74 physical, 4.24 magical


Cathedral and Patriarch

Party base damage in Omega System

Level 41
MOMO: 215
Shion: 190
Ziggy: 181
KOS-MOS: 169
Jr: 165
Jin: 161
chaos: 145
Average: 175

Total damage over 10 actions: 175*47.23*1.05*1.225 = 10631
Boss PCHP at this point: 9302

Cathedral's HP: 32000 -> 3.44x PC
Cathedral reduces physicals by 27% and magic by 10%
Cathedral's overall durability: 4.71 physical, 3.82 magical

Patriarch's HP: 54000 -> 5.81x PC
Patriarch takes 12% extra from physicals and reduces magic by 49%
Patriarch's overall durability: 5.19* physical, 11.39 magical

*As Patriarch is weak to all three physical elements, this will tend to be much lower in practice... e.g. his slashing pdur is 2.97.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Minor update for the boss notes: the average listed of 7 AGL is incorrect; for most bosses it is in fact 7.29, with no swimsuits (the numbers are small enough that the rounding is a big deal). I'd argue swimsuits should be assumed for all PCs but Jin (since his is insanely hard to get), as not only is the raw stat trade a good one, but it's hard to say no to the skill point boost. Average with six swimsuits if 8.14, and raises damage done by the boss by 10.7%. If you want to take a different number of swimsuits you can easily interpolate these numbers as you will.

Also editting in Cathedral's durability now, Snow why you make me do this.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Also editting in Cathedral's durability now, Snow why you make me do this.

On my end, I'd argue it should have never not been in. Make of this what you will.