In terms of the Base Damage having a relationship to the stat caps, I saw an increase in damage with a Hart Guisarme (post) with 339/394/549 (STR/PIE/Attack Power) vs 324/279/549. It was on lower-level mobs, and only 30 trials, but that seems awfully close to the 350/300 caps on Ifrit's Harpoon...I know the Ifrit will obviously do much more damage with the higher base damage, but just thought I'd post (some-what) relevant information.