So BLM on FFXIV.

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Originally Posted by Teia

This is basically just an unfortunate result of how the two spells' combo bonuses work. Thundara's bonus is a ridiculous amount of added magic attack potency, which is why it does so much damage versus things like Ifrit. Thundaga's is contingent on it critting and even then it seems to work differently than Thundara (like a straight damage bonus or something). Personally, I think they should redo Thundaga's combo bonus into being something more reliable.

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Now, who was it again... Kaeko? Yep, he did a lot of research on that sort of thing.
Essentially his work has shown that Thundaga in particular has +175 crit potency when comboed, and different from everything else in the entire game, it's critical damage is not capped by the 175% multiplier, it can go as high as it actually gets.

To piggy-back on some of the math already hinted at in this thread (it mostly comes from posts I make on BG)...

Thundara is very consistent on high level targets because you receive a straight +700 MATK bonus when you combo with it. There is a MATK vs. Ele-Resist check involved in the magic damage formula. So for high level targets, your check will come out in the mob's favor; however, with the +700 MATK bonus on Thundara, it makes this check much, much more favorable for you. This is why on nearly all high resist targets like Chimera and Ifrit, Thundara damage actually exceeds Thundaga damage (possibly even on Crit) for players who do not min/max their gear with knowledge of the formulae.

Thundaga's crit bonus is indeed +175 'crit potency' and it will allow you to break the normal +175% critical damage bonus cap. Actus's screenshot is impressive and I think likely accentuates this point. While I do not know his gear set, I would venture to say he has correctly matched his gear set to optimize Excruciate . I hope he comes back and post his gear set, but based on my knowledge of the formula, it is likely close to...

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Aubriest's Whisper
AF Head
AF Body
Boarskin Ringband of Storms with strong Sagacious Might meld
AF Legs
Mahogany Pattents with strong MATK or Lit. Meld
Serpent Ser. Belt
Mage's Earring
Spinel Choker +1
Mage's Ring
Zircon Ring +1

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If I had to go out on a limb and guess, his +potency from gear it would be around 275 using a triple Saga Might hand. Even with all this and the +175 bonus from the combo, you still don't break the 175% bonus even though you're allowed to. You can debate on whether damage output is actually stronger with normal damage gear on the head and legs also.

I think the battle mechanics portion of the dev team has done a very stellar job with stat adjustments despite the majority of the official forum community complaining incessantly about it. BLM damage sets are a very obvious example of this as I promise you a "normal" BLM probably does literally 1/2 the damage on a Thundaga as Actus did in the screenshot.

The SS was from testing with gear swap macros and a MCP build. Not a highly DPS efficient means for instant fights such as Coincounter, but might prove useful in future fights.

I've been trying to get a maximal attempt w/ a Burst combo. It should top 3k easily if I can pull it off right.