Thread: Mono vs. Rainbow Grid

I've been wondering for a while now about people arguing here & there about rainbow & monogrids, but never seen an example presenting actual values on it. So when I was asked someone which to choose, I thought I might as well be the one to overview an example.
I used my current dark monogrid for it & built a rainbow grid focusing on maximizing atk value while keeping dark SSRs.
I'm going to calculate with SL10 monogrids compared to SL20 rainbow grids, as making a monogrid for each element is much more costly than keeping one rainbow grid that might alternate only a little bit for each element.
It should be noted that this is just a calculation of my own grid. There might be rainbow grids with better values or monogridders might prefer less defender weapon on their grid.

Also it should be mentioned that mono & rainbow grid are just 2 different paths with the same destination: full on-element SSR grid. As time passes monogrid will swap SR weapons to SSR, and rainbow grid will swap off-element SSRs to on-element. You shouldn't forget about that part.

I attached the picture showing my team with mono(left side) and rainbow(right side) grid
I've been playing for 6 months, starting from Phoenix/Apocalypse rematch. This grid was built during that time.

Introduction done. Onto the main part: (and yes, it's going to be long)


Applied DMG-calculation:
Displayed attack value
　　× (1+ assault value + character eidolon effect + attack buff + assist)
　　× (1+ elemental advantage + elemental eidolon effect + elemental buff)
　　× (1+ ally attack debuff)
　　× (1+ union buff)
　　× (1+ other buff correction)
　　÷ {enemy defense × (1 + enemy defense debuff)}

This calculation will only consider unbuffed version of the DMG & disregard the defense of the enemy:
Displayed attack value
　　× (1+ assault value + character eidolon effect)
　　× (1+ elemental advantage + elemental eidolon effect)

HP in battle:
Displayed HP × (1 + defender value + eidolon effect)

Assumptions:
Monogrid is SL10
Rainbow grid is SL20
Pride skill counted as assault
+1k correction to displayed atk value as Apocalypse lance is 0* instead of MLB
+90 correction to displayed HP value for the reason above
Using 40/20 character eidolon + 40% elemental eidolon
Elemental advantage on both cases

Grid:
No dual skill weapons, hope it won't cause misunderstanding that I use "SSR assault" instead of "large assault" and so on.
2 assault SSR + 1 pride SSR -> calculating with 3 assault SSR
2 defender SSR
5 assault SR(monogrid) / 5 off-element SSR(rainbow grid)

Monogrid(left side):
Attack
37676+1000=38676 base attack on Mordred(Apo lance correction)
3x SSR assault weapon(3x11% bonus)
5x SR assault weapon(5x8% bonus)
38676x(1+3x0.11+5x0.08+0.4)x(1+0.45+0.4)=152402

HP
6241+90=6331 base HP on Mordred(Apo lance correction)
2 SSR defender weapon(2x11% bonus)
6331x(1+2x0.11+0.2)=8990

Rainbow grid(right side):
Attack
42125+1000=43125 base attack on Mordred (Apo lance correction)
3x SSR assault weapon(3x16% bonus)
43125x(1+3x0.16+0.4)x(1+0.45+0.4)=149988

HP
6362+90=6452 base hp on Mordred(Apo lance correction)
2x SSR defender weapon(2x16% bonus)
6452x(1+2x0,16+0,2)=9807

So what happens if we say that you use only one monogrid, which you can SL20, but in exchange lose elemental advantage most of the time?
It shouldn't be forgotten that elemental advantage has other benefits: higher debuff stickrate & lower incoming damage.

Advanced(SL20) monogrid:
Attack
37676+1000=38676 base attack on Mordred(Apo lance correction)
3x SSR assault weapon(3x16% bonus)
5x SR assault weapon(5x13% bonus)
2x 40% elemental eidolon, instead of 1 character+1 elemental

No elemental advantage:
38676x(1+3x0.16+5x0.13)x(1+2x0,4)=148283
Elemental advantage:
38676x(1+3x0.16+5x0.13)x(1+0.45+2x0.4)=185354

HP
6241+90=6331 base HP on Mordred(Apo lance correction)
2 SSR defender wep(2x16% bonus)
No eidolon bonus
6331x(1+2x0.16)=8356

Finally, it might be interesting to see what happens if you stick with 40/20 eidolon + elemental eidolon combo with the advanced monogrid:
Attack
37676+1000=38676 base attack on Mordred(Apo lance correction)
3x SSR assault weapon(3x16% bonus)
5x SR assault weapon(5x13% bonus)
40% character + 40% elemental bonus from eidolons

No elemental advantage:
38676x(1+3x0.16+5x0.13+0.4)x(1+0,4)=136990
Elemental advantage:
38676x(1+3x0.16+5x0.13+0.4)x(1+0.45+0.4)=181023

Footnote: the difference is way lower between 2x elemental & 1 character + 1 elemental eidolon if you have elemental advantage. Thought it might be worth mentioning.

HP
6241+90=6331 base HP on Mordred(Apo lance correction)
2 SSR defender wep(2x16% bonus)
20% eido bonus
6331x(1+2x0.16+0.2)=9623


Keep in mind that this calculation only considers the HP & DMG without actually considering team setup. This means that buffs & debuffs coming with each setup is disregarded, so you might want to have a look at your own setup before making your pick.

A final footnote: depending on how many on-element SSR assault you have in a rainbow grid, the applied DMG might change quite alot. Having 1-2 less or more of them will make quite a difference. Feel free to play with the numbers if you're curious what happens if you change this or that.
Here is the tool to do that: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=848984711
All credits for the tool goes to Sanahtlig.