This I never understood.
How can you possibly compare two people who never fought each other, never came across the same opponent. How could you compare their attack power or durability or speed?
Yeah, I see your point. This is exactly the reason why I try not to compare characters from different timeskips. And if I do, then the pre-timeskip character
usually loses to the current timeskip character.
But if we're comparing two characters from the same timeskip, I think this method works well. As for hype, it cannot be completely ignored otherwise it would be impossible to compare. But as long as the hype is legitimate, it should be fine. Basically, if two characters never fought, you would compare them to the characters that they have fought. In doing so, try comparing those specific characters to the ones that the other character has fought. Let me reply to your examples so that it seems a little clearer.
For example gray long sword did reasonable damage to invel
All goi attacks combined barely fazed Serena at all
Ezra water sword did alot of damage to ajeel
How could you possibly compare these attacks, especially if you are ignoring the hype of them being around each other level
Well, I usually don't compare specific spells because that doesn't tell us a character's overall power (to a certain extent) but I will for the sake of this discussion.
Starting off with God Serena. His durability is pretty high considering he was able to tank 4 consecutive attacks with minimal damage. You can call the Gods of Ishgar fodders but there is no reason to believe this especially since Jura (who is the weakest among them) was a top-tier wizard in the past arc. Besides, Levy was nervous by their mere presence which is notable considering she didn't react like this in front of the other Fairy Tail top-tier mages. Anyways, because the Gods of Ishgar barely affected God Serena, we can assume that their attacks were average. But keep mind that we've only seen one spell from each of them. Plus, the majority of the fight was off-paneled so we don't exactly know what happened.
Erza's water sword attack isn't that powerful considering Ajeel (who doesn't have withstood it pretty easily. But that doesn't mean Erza is weak because she has other attacks that are a lot more powerful.
As for Gray, I have to wait for the full fight to end. I can't speculate Invel's durability as of right now, so it is impossible to tell whether Gray's has high attack power or not.
And what if there is no cannon comparison, no feat or hype
Like in gmg
Isd gajeel roar compared to Minerva yade rabda (that yakeeno god magic) compared with maybe jura Mt fugti
Minerva and jura attacks were featless but they had alot of hype
Rouge was very weak, though where shadow rouge was, no one knows
So how would you compare these attacks.
Same way how could you possibly compare speed or any other stat.
This one is sort off-topic considering this is a
Alvarez Arc Power Ranking Thread, but I'll still try to explain it, nonetheless. It's pretty much the same process as the one above.
So let's start off with Jura.
Mt. Fuji is a defensive spell so it's not easy to compare. But since it was able to block Jellal's
Grand Chariot (which is a formidable spell in itself), I would say Jura has the highest defensive feats.
As for Minerva's
Yagdo Rigora, it was
tanked by Erza and Kagura. So if we take Erza and Kagura's durability into account, I can say that the spell is somewhat strong but definitely not one that would put Minerva above everyone else when it comes to attack power.
Now with Gajeel, his
ISD roar was capable of
defeating Shadow-Possessed Rogue. In terms of where Shadow-Possessed Rogue is, I would say he is on the same level as Gajeel but not ISD Gajeel (who is on Erza's level). Therefore, Gajeel's
ISD Roar should be comparable to
Yagdo Rigora. This doesn't mean that ISD Gajeel and Minerva are equal though because you have to factor in all the other stats. As for how you determine the other stats, it should be done the same way.
Basically, when you compare...
- Attack → Take Opponent's Durability into Account
- Defense → Take Opponent's Attack Power into Account
For the other stats, you compare them to the opponent's respective stats.
Well we can agree to disagree. I tend to think that energy can't be made out of nowhere. I'm willing to speculate that a dragons physiology is better at drawing in ethernano than a human's, but it's speculation. The amount of MP in ones' container is their MP, imo. Tenrou LFD Natsu for example was able to consume all of the MP Laxus gave him. Tenrou LFD's total MP in his container would have been around the same as Laxus' before he started fighting (maybe a little more). However Natsu could burn through it quite quickly - performing at a higher level than Laxus. The same goes for ISD Gajeel at the GMG... he was able to stomp an opponent by taking in some of his shadows.
On the DF needing a certain level of MP, I can agree to that, to some extent. Natsu probably got a brief surge of MP thru PoF vs EF Mard. However you only need to be current Wendy level for MP to trigger Dragon Force. She can do so freely.
Okay, we'll just disagree then. I think MP is dynamic, not static.
As for Wendy, her power level is much weaker, so for her to access Dragon Force, she would need a lot less MP than Natsu. At least that is how i see it. In my opinion, not all dragon slayers need to achieve the same amount of MP to activate Dragon Force. Otherwise, why couldn't Gajeel go DF against Bradman? After all, he is stronger than Wendy and has more MP than her.
I am talking strictly about performance. If everything was about how much MP someone has, then people like Natsu or Gray would just run from a Spriggan. Yet their attitude is "we won't know until we try" << Gray's words when Makarov told him to back off from Ajeel. Natsu or Gray are not packing the MP of a Spriggan, well not at that point of the arc anyway.
I might be underrating Gray... but I'm applying the same degree of assessment with him as I would anyone else. MP is important, but the absolute most important thing is performance, in a battle manga.
I'm not saying everything is about MP, but magic power is probably one of the most important stats. Technically, magic power helps define attack power and defense/endurance. A character with more MP will be able to survive in a battle longer due to having higher stamina. Similarly, a character with more MP will be able to use stronger attacks because they can channel more magic energy into their attacks. In my opinion, Gray and Natsu (at full-power) aren't that far behind the Spriggans when it comes to MP.
I agree performance is important. But a large part of performance is determined by magic power (as well as other stats like attack and durability).
I tend to believe DF Natsu can outfight Gildarts for the limited time he had it activated. He can overwhelm Mard, so he could overwhelm Gildarts or Hades. Silver isn't someone who has a chance against Hades or Gildarts.
I agree MP is important... I just think performance is basically the product of all stats. Someone's MP will drive their performance, but MP doesn't decide every battle. However I can understand that line of thinking of yours, and I am not saying it's incorrect (I disagree, that's all).
I disagree. DF Natsu won't outfight Gildarts who I put on a higher level than Hades and Mard Geer. Also, DF Natsu barely overwhelmed Mard Geer... He just landed one good hit but Mard Geer was able to compose himself rather quickly afterwards.
