Hm.......

[Tomatoes]

Hmm... I was always under the impression that +ATK had greater impact than what you've said. I was definitely able to feel the difference when I stacked about 20-25 +ATK when I was levelling one of my subs as THF/NIN. My sword and dagger each did as much damage as a light two-handed weapon, which greatly blew up my DoT. There were even a few instances where I would pull hate briefly, just from scoring regular hits.

I would agree that DMG:ATK isn't a 1:1 ratio, but it's gotta be better than 1:5. Or else I'm delusional (as well as tragically unfashionable in +ATK subligar T.T). Also, wouldn't +ATK from one weapon enhance the effectiveness of the other weapon also?

[Tomatoes]

From Apple Pie:

Originally posted by here
The highest damage possible with Woodvile's Axe:

(50 + int (50 / 9) + 8) * 3.0 = 189

Here's how you calculate it.

Damage = (D + fSTR) * PDIF

Note: We have a different formula for ranged attack.

D: Base Damage of your weapon (e.g., Woodvile's Axe = 50)

fSTR: 0 ~ int (D / 9) + 8 depending on the difference between your STR and target's VIT

PDIF: 0.0 ~ 2.4 (3.0 on criticals) depending on [Your attack / target's defence]

In your case, both fSTR and PDIF are high enough and thus capped against those creatures. Therefore, no matter how much STR you add, you won't get any more damage increase.

BTW, your axes may be able to do more (up to +12.5%) on dogs (= Hounds) since they're weak on slashing weapons.

EDIT: fSTR corrected.

I'm a fumbling amateur here, but let's try to play with these numbers a little.

Let's assume value of 300 base Attack (I'm estimating this is approximately correct for mid-level warrior, but I don't have game installed atm, so I can't be sure). Let's also assume 300 base Defense for the mob and a "normal hit."

----- Combo #1 -----
Main: Darksteel Axe +1
... 55 = (43 + 4 + 8) * 300/300
Sub: Viking Axe
... 48 = (36 + 4 + 8) * 300/300

557 Delay / 103 Damage:
= 5.408

----- Combo #2 -----
Main: Viking Axe
... 49 = (36 + 4 + 8) * 312/300 (dropped a .92 remainder, ahhh!)
Sub: Tactician Magician's Espadon +2
... 53 = (39 + 4 + 8) * 312/300

533 Delay / 102 Damage:
= 5.225

----- Combo #3 -----
Main: Darksteel Axe +1
... 57 = (43 + 4 + 8) * 312/300
Sub: Tactician Magician's Espadon +2
... 53 = (39 + 4 + 8) * 312/300

538 Delay / 110 Damage:
= 4.891

Conclusion
Combo #2 yields about 3-4% improvement in DoT compared to #1 theoretically. Is this enough to overcome the loss of maximum damage for the main weapon, especially considering Skillchain damage? I don't know. That problem can be alleviated by going with combo #3, at the expense of +10 ACC of course. Combo #3 yields about 9.5% and 6.5% improvement over #1 and #2 respectively.

More questions
Is combo #3 a big enough improvement to offset the loss of +10 ACC in actual situations? Also, would it be better just to equip a Swordbelt +1 instead of Life Belt to achieve the same effect as swapping Viking Axe for Espadon? Hmm...

Additional note
Don't trust me, because I have no idea what I'm talking about! :spin:

Hell, I'm sure this has already been considered before and calculated out, and people are still going with DS+1/Viking. Trust your elders, yadda yadda. Anyway, just my thoughts.