User blog comment:Linathan/Unit Spotlight: Eclipse Sibyl Madia/@comment-175.141.41.212-20150510213006/@comment-26140304-20150511001015

Yeah, I read that blog a long while ago. It explained the fundamentals of Atk buffs. Atk buffs don't add to BB damage modifiers but only to the Atk stat. If you're curious as to how damage calculation works, here is the formula, assuming that ignore-Def is active:

{[UnitATK] x (1+BaseMod+BBATK%)] + FlatATK} x (1.5 + SparkMod) x (1.5 + EleMod) x (1.5 + CritMod)

Taking a look at this, UnitATK is the unit's final Atk stat with all of the buffs applied, which means that Atk buffs have a smallest effect on damage calculation compared to BB Atk buffs (ex. Lava's SBB and UBB), Spark buffs (ex. Elza's SBB, Claire's SBB, etc.), etc.

Now, in terms of normal hit count modifiers, like Selena's UBB, Quaid's UBB, and Sefia's UBB, that's another topic. In this case, you actually deal more damage with the extra hits compared to BB and SBB. I definitely notice the difference in damage in my multiple runs of Trial 006 in my Japan version. You also produce more BC with modified hit counts as the Drop Checks are modified with higher hit counts.

As for Critical modifiers and Spark modifiers, these will always be multiplicative. This means that these will always be most effective because these are multiplying the overall damage.

I may do a Game Mechanic blog on damage calculation and explain it all there if you're interested. :)