I couldn't find any concrete evidence on which would be better, so I went ahead and did hypothetical math on determining averages using data from six different merit parties I had,
All parties I used the same equipment, but I did have a combo of various supporting jobs (BRD,Cor); so I went ahead and averaged everything else.
Note: The following calculations do not include WS Damage. This is something I'm still pondering about:
Is a weaponskill considered as a melee swing?
No parser out there parses doubles in your WS to my knowledge. You can only do it eyeballing.
If they were separate, I would think that it is a huge variable to consider but ignoring this for now.
So anyways I went ahead and did vis-a-vis DA Melee Hits vs +x% Critical Bonus to Melee hits
Pole Grip vs: Brave Grip
2% DA vs 5% Critical Increase.
Pole
+ Benefits WS, faster to hit 100%
Brave
+ Applies every time you critical, and to WS(?)
Greater Colibri - Polearm SAM/NIN, no DA except Pole Grip
793 Hits, 148 Misses, 83 Criticals, 190 Low 326 High, Melee Average 142.18 - Chaos Hunters
742 Hits, 187 Misses, 62 Criticals, 176 Low 295 High, Melee Average 113.77 - Min4 Mad2
596 Hits, 79 Misses, 78 Criticals, 157 Low 301 High, Melee Average 109.36 - Min4 Mad2
403 Hits, 43 Misses, 46 Criticals, 210 Low 388 High, Melee Average 165.83 - Min4 Mad2 Chaos
196 Hits, 50 Misses, 32 Criticals, 138 Low 310 High, Melee Average 121.65 - Mar2&1 Chaos
161 Hits, 53 Misses, 22 Criticals, 193 Low 356 High, Melee Average 130.13 - Min4 Mar2
=============
2891 Hits, 560 Misses, 323 Criticals, Avg: 177 Low 329 High, Melee Average 130.48
Avg Accuracy = 80.63%; 19.37% Miss ratio
Crit rate = 11.17%
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Subtract 2% Pole grip from hits, misses, criticals:
2891 - 57.82 hits
2833.18 Hits, 548.78 Misses, 316.46 Criticals, Avg 177Low 329High (253 average), Melee Average 130.48
-- Above is with No Grip equipped at all (Hypothetical math, I know) --
Pole Grip @ 2% Double Attack:
Based on previously given data:
57.82 Extra hits * 130.48 Average Melee
= +7,544.35 Damage
Brave Grip @ 2% Critical Damage Bonus; 11.17% Crit Hit Ratio
Before Grip= 316.46 Critical Hits * 253 Critical Average = 80,064.38
After Grip = 316.46 Critical Hits * 258.06 Critical Average = 81,665.66
= +1601.28 Damage
Brave Grip @ 5% Critical Damage Bonus: 11.17% Crit Hit Ratio
Before Grip= 316.46 Critical Hits * 253 Critical Average = 80,064.38
After Grip= 316.46 Critical Hits * 265.65 Critical Average = 84,067.59
= +4003.21 Damage
Brave Grip @ 10% Critical Damage Bonus: 11.17% Crit Hit Ratio (Just for the math, probably can't be this high)
Before Grip= 316.46 Critical Hits * 253 Critical Average = 80,064.38
After Grip=316.46 Critical Hits * 278.30 Critical Average = 88,070.81
= +8006.43 Damage
Here we can conclude that Pole is going to a better choice over Brave, unless Brave's effect is 10% or higher OR you up your critical hit rate. These results were given at 11.67% Critical Hit ratio.
Upping the 11.17% Crit values to 13% and 15% I was able to get the following numbers, it gets a bit interesting here once you have a higher crit ratio, the damage scales upward.
Brave Grip @ 2% Critical Damage Bonus:13.00% Crit Hit Ratio
368.31 * 258.06 = 95,046.07 (+14,981.69 Damage)
Brave Grip @ 2% Critical Damage Bonus:15.00% Crit Hit Ratio
424.97 * 258.06 = 109,449.54 (+29,605.18 Damage)
Brave Grip @ 5% Critical Damage Bonus:13.00% Crit Hit Ratio
368.31 * 265.65 = 97,841.55 (+17,777.17 Damage)
Brave Grip @ 5% Critical Damage Bonus:15.00% Crit Hit Ratio
424.97 * 265.65 = 112,893.28 (+32,828.90 Damage)
Brave Grip @ 10% CDB: 15.00% Crit H%
433.65 * 278.30 = 120,684.79 (+40,620.41 Damage)
Double checked the math for all scenarios this time, there should be no mistakes, I hope.
Any comments and suggestions?