Ifrit-Egi has higher potency, but less damage...

[Tex_Mex]

I just had them attack mobs.
Garuda did about 280 per attack
Ifrit did about 190 per attack
My item lvl is 116.

The damage per attack does not matter. What matters is the total damage over time. Yes, ifrit's main ability only does around 190 per attack, but if you watch closely, there are multiple additional numbers showing up from his auto attack. When you add both the auto attack and his regular attack together, ifrit does about 20% more damage in the same amount of time because Garuda has no auto attack. This is why ifrit's damage output is higher.

Basically:
Garuda: 280 per attack
Ifrit: 190 per attack (ability) plus 145 per attack (auto attack) = 335 per attack

Numbers are not exact, but that is the main point

[Lilyarel]

The damage per attack does not matter. What matters is the total damage over time. Yes, ifrit's main ability only does around 190 per attack, but if you watch closely, there are multiple additional numbers showing up from his auto attack. When you add both the auto attack and his regular attack together, ifrit does about 20% more damage in the same amount of time. This is why his damage output is higher.

Even with his auto attack it did about 100 damage. That added up with his strike is about 290, the same amount of damage Garuda has.

[Tex_Mex]

Even with his auto attack it did about 100 damage. That added up with his strike is about 290, the same amount of damage Garuda has.

There is a little bit more to take into account, like cast times of abilities and such. You will have a hard time seeing it unless you can use a parsing tool. But trust me, the damage difference IS there

You also need to take rouse and spur into account, which both buff ifrit to a greater extent than they buff garuda (due to ifrit's naturally higher attack power)