Though I'm half-blind so I need a bigger image and more time to watch it, but... for the first weapon after the sword, it was slower than the sword. For the second weapon post-sword, it seems like the initial cast was slow, but then the subsequent casts were faster. The final cast, though, seems to be the slowest since it required an exaggerated animation. And it's not just for staves, but also for swords.
Also seems class-based. For the most part... I think it's L'ange noir? I can't read that, but it makes sense to me in terms of naming. Anyway, that class seems to be the fastest in terms of hand casts. Doing some extra reading says it enhances magic powers, so I'm not surprised. Seems like the weapon she uses is more lightweight than the one she uses in... uh... that default outfit whose name I can't see. Equilibrium?
Wonder how that Dark Muse costume works in terms of speed. And with that said, I wonder if the Cloud SOLDIER outfit will be slower than normal in terms of attack and cast speeds (ie: will that sword have weight or no). Lightweight outfits, though, might be a boon for speedrunners if that's the case.
Again, I really wish the picture were bigger because then I could see better.
Just rewatched the battle portions; here are some observations from me:
- I now think the staff casts are probably faster than the sword casts. The part where he casts Poison is much slower than when he's chain casting Fire or Lightning. Either Poison casts slower than Fire or, more likely, the guy was just slow at hitting buttons.
- The "combo finisher" animation is slower, but those hits seem to do more damage. Other hits randomly seem to do more damage too, (8:30) so maybe there's a crit system?
- In general, damage seems to randomly spike up and down. I can't find any obvious pattern...
- Lightning appears to do much less damage when she activates Overclock (the time slow). Of course, the enemies are helpless and she's attacking super quick, so this is probably balanced.
- I hadn't noticed this before, but when in Overclock mode there's a new option called Transformation. It costs 1 EP (Overclock costs 2 EP) and goes away once Overclock ends. Perhaps this is the Army of One-style attack that was in some of the trailers? Seems like kind of a weird name, but it could refer to her costume swapping during the attack...
- Around 3:35, he seems to Stagger a monster with a last second Block. There might be rewards for last second Blocking, similar to the parrying they've talked about. (Also, you can Block pretty quickly out of other animations, it looks like)
- Around 4:00, Lightning's wielding a much larger sword than normal. It looks to me like the animations are about the same speed as her normal sword, though.
- Defensive actions cost ATB, so you'll have to strike a balance between offense and defense (similar to Dark Souls stamina). That said, he's able to hit Evade the moment he swaps outfits, so in a pinch you can presumably swap clothes, cancel your animation, and perform a defensive action.
And just for fun, here's a screen grab of the spear from the video I posted on the last page. It's probably easier to get a clear view of it by watching the video.
