It's time we ask the devs once again. How exactly DOES Treasure Hunter work?

[Melphina]

There are certain things we do know about drop rates. Some item drops are classified into "groups", and some of these "groups" have a 100% chance to load but because there are X items in that group the game will random a second time to pick which of the items loads. Pixie Earring vs. Defending Ring and O-Kotes vs. Impact Knuckles are examples of this because the "slot" these items share loads 100%. Treasure Hunter has no effect on which of the items loads because they have their own drop percent within the pool. Statistically D ring and O kotes percent is very low (in the 5% range), whereas Pixie and Impact knuckles are close to 95%. Thus Treasure Hunter's effect raises the chance of item slots loading which are less than 100%, but has no effect on choosing which item loads when there are multiple items in a "group". In a majority of cases desirable items are less than 100% drop rate and not grouped with other items, so if the slot loads it will always be that item. In these cases the drop rate is typically much lower than 100%. Some notable examples are Loki's Khaftan or Goetia Chain, the second empyrean weapon upgrade item on each mob, and Linen Coinpurses in salvage. Finally in some cases BOTH scenario's are true. An item "slot" has less than 100% chance to load, and comprises a group of several items. Nidhogg's second abjuration is an example of this.

This is the end of our knowledge and from here on everything else is hearsay. As several others have said I am not expecting a straight answer from S-E either, but I believe we have the right to ask so I brought it up. This is something we obviously can't figure out ourselves because the random number generator is too random, and statistical testing requires a vast sample size with no errors in collection (which people will be biased towards even if such a size were collected because it's impossible to prove there were no errors by the individual). If S-E at the very least could throw us a bone I would be happy to have the answers to the following questions.

1: Do item drop rates which are not already 100% have a cap whereupon Treasure Hunter can no longer increase the chance of it dropping? (I have a feeling the answer is yes, but it would be really good to know).

2: Does "Treasure Hunter" work in such a way that it increases the actual PERCENTAGE of an item dropping but the item is only rolled for once, or does Treasure Hunter increase the number of times an item is randomed for but the drop percentage remains unaffected with each successive roll of the die?

At this point even if they don't explain the difference between each tier of treasure hunter I'd be happy if they just answered those two questions. It's kind of sad because these are pretty basic things to want to know, and we will never be able to figure them out without a direct answer from S-E themselves. It's been eight years and S-E has changed their stance on so many things (including raising the level cap). I believe it's time they throw us a bone and change their stance on requiring EVERY aspect of Treasure Hunter's workings to remain a mystery as well. At least tell us SOMETHING more than "increases drop rates".... that's so ambiguous it's mind numbing.