Variant/Criterion's direction is worrying

[Nicola_Kunu]

But trying those different things is painful because it requires going through a bunch of boring bosses just for your theory not to work.

That's an issue with all difficult content in this game if you do it blind, unfortunately.
If you're trying to figure out a mechanic 10 minutes into a fight and you want to test your solution, you have to slog through the previous 10 minutes again. (cough cough P7S)