Items, starting at full dragoon gauge, MP/SP restoration, accessories which improve damage a bunch... there are lots of reasons to use a higher average than the stat topic one.
Incidentally, does anyone have that FAQ/guide with complete enemy stats which circulated around the DL a while back? I can't seem to find my copy any more. For now I'm assuming Zieg is fairly averagish in ways not listed. EDIT: Thanks Random!
Rahal (S5) vs True Wetall (XG): Well.. the turnsplit makes this interesting. True Weltall has a 10HKO here, and first strike of course. Rahal has a 5HKO. How many turns does Grahf get before Rahal gets 5? Hmm... he has a 7:5, so with the first strike turn he gets... 8. Close, but not enough.
Rahal vs Zieg (LoD): Zieg has a 4HKO here, which... I think is enough. Two Rahal attacks aren't killing him, and he has a 4-3. Don't think Sword of Flowing helps. And yeah, my opinion of Zieg's HP is close to Snow's, but Rahal is THAT BAD.
Rahal vs Gobi (BoF1): Holy crap, Gobi outspeeds someone! Anyway, he 4HKOs... but Rahal 3HKOs. Man Gobi sucks.
Rahal vs Mustadio (FFT): Rahal has a 4HKO, Mustadio has a 7HKO. Mustadio doesn't have a 7-4, so he loses... mm. Unless, of course, he opts for an Arm Aim strategy, which... I normally don't respect too much, but it probably works here? If he tries for it only on turns that it will remove two Rahal turns, he can essentially trade two of his turns for two of Rahal's, which means Rahal needs 6 turns to win, and Mustadio needs 9, a turnsplit he DOES have. Rahal can block paralysis, but only at the cost of even more speed, to the point where I view the 7:4 happening. Wow.
Rahal vs Axem Pink (SMRPG): Nope.
Rahal vs Olivia (FE13): Uh yeah, Olivia gets to look like a swordmaster here as she chipper-shreds Rahal and avoids being 2HKOed.
Rahal vs Lickitung (RBY): Both 5HKO each other, but Rahal is faster! Except... wait, Lickitung uses Screech then 4HKOs.
Rahal vs Gogo (FF6): It's possible he misses the 4HKO, but I don't think so.
Rahal vs Rufus (FF7): Rufus is pretty similar to True Weltall (sigh), so think he loses this.
Rahal vs Kogoro (S3): Rahal has a 2HKO here, while Kogoro has a 9HKO. FREEZE though, and of course the turnsplit. I... don't think Kogoro can pull this off though. Oh wait Rahal can block paralysis anyway, and he doesn't mind making the turnsplit even worse with that 2HKO.
Rahal vs Ramus (Lunar): They both 5HKO each other, but my kneejerk is that Ramus is faster... only so slow you can when compared to just three other PCs.
Cathe (FE6) vs True Wetall (XG): Cathe 3HKOs with a Light Brand even before considering any (weak) melee counters, True Weltall will need more than four attacks to win himself... although it's close.
Cathe vs Zieg (LoD): Zieg has a 2HKO with MT magic, that should be enough.
Cathe vs Gobi (BoF1): Gobi 2HKOs, Cathe 4HKOs.
Cathe vs Mustadio (FFT): Mustadio has longbow range to me, so no counters and he 4HKOs. And doubles if Cathe has a Light Btand out, not that he needs to since she doesn't 3HKO him or even close.
Cathe vs Axem Pink (SMRPG): Isn't OHKOed by Petal Blast, uses physicals.
Cathe vs Olivia (FE13): Olivia doubles... Cathe should go first. Still, Olivia kills in two turns before the counter kicks in so uh yeah this isn't close.
Cathe vs Lickitung (RBY): Cathe 5HKOs... does she double? ... yes she does, good lord Lickitung you suck. Lickitung also just misses a 2HKO, so yeah Cathe is going to take this.
Cathe vs Gogo (FF6): 2HKOs.
Cathe vs Rufus (FF7): Kneejerk Rufus doubling Light Brand Cathe, and I'd let him attack from either range probably. So.. think she goes with Silver. But that gets her outslugged. She can go with a Light Brand as a finisher, but it's still not enough. Close certainly.
Cathe vs Kogoro (S3): Kogoro doubles Light Brand Cathe, similar to Rufus. But whatever, he's melee anyway, stick with Silver. Cathe... 3HKOs Kogoro to boot. Still, he has turn 2 freeze aginst her, and a 4HKO. So... Kogoro, Cathe counter, Cathe, Kogoro (freeze), Kogoro (Cathe still recovering), Kogoro. -Amazing-.
Cathe vs Ramus (Lunar): I'm assuming Cathe doesn't double, although it's possible she does. Uh... Ramus having a bow is really bad news since he rams into Light Brand's nasty counters. And he just misses a 2HKO, which would probably let him take this.
Trying to switch to DQ4r generally since no AI shenanigans. For my own reference... Taloon is 90% speed, 15% damage, 120% HP, 128% pdur.
Taloon (DQ4) vs True Wetall (XG): Taloon 8HKOs, True Weltall... 13HKOs at best, and he has at most one doubleturn plus first strike.
Taloon vs Zieg (LoD): Don't think Zieg is 112.5% speed myself, and Taloon... kills in either 4 or 5, while Zieg kills in 5. ... I guess that "4 or 5" part matters a lot, then, doesn't it. Mmm Zieg apparently has below average pdur, think that tilts it.
Taloon vs Gobi (BoF1): Gobi 5HKOs, Taloon also 5HKOs, and is faster.
Taloon vs Mustadio (FFT): Taloon 7HKOs, Mustadio borderline 9-10HKOs. Don't think Mustadio has a 9-7. Mustadio can do that trade he did with Rahal and try for a 11-9 instead... which he might have, but again he might miss the 9HKO anyway. So think Taloon barely takes this.
Taloon vs Axem Pink (SMRPG): Nope.
Taloon vs Olivia (FE13): Taloon 4HKOs, but triggers counters, and each Olivia attack or counter also 4HKOs. Hell, she doesn't need counters for this. Olivia too strong.
Taloon vs Lickitung (RBY): Well both 7HKO each other. Okay, with Screech, Lickitung has an effective 5HKO. But yeah that speed difference, I see Taloon pulling this one out as Lickitung hits the TB floor to me (62.5% being what I currently use).
Taloon vs Gogo (FF6): Taloon is faster, and 5HKOs while Gogo 6HKOs. Gogo has some evade but I don't think it will kick in twice in six shots. Could be argued.
Taloon vs Rufus (FF7): Taloon slugging respectable enough.
Taloon vs Kogoro (S3): Taloon 3HKOs but of course is slower and fears stun some... okay, a lot. Yeah, he needs 12 hits to win, but "44% chance to remove two turns" adds up really fast especially with a natural double in there. Each Kogoro attack nulls about 0.69 Taloon attacks on average, Taloon thus needs to get around 8 turns before I'd see him winning. Which... I think he'll get. Close fight.
Taloon vs Ramus (Lunar): Both 7HKO each other, Taloon does it faster.
Taloon meets my definition for Puny, i.e. he loses a slugfest to someone who has half average damage and is purely average otherwise, and has no other tricks. But he only barely loses such a slugfest (basically, they 7HKO him first), and most of this field is more clearly Puny, and several of his wins (Zieg, Mustadio, Gogo, Kogoro) were extremely close. Still, uh yeah, funny to see him dominate like this, and he is the best of the three challengers I'm pretty certain.
Taloon 10-1 (merchant power!)
Rahal 5-6
Cathe 4-7
