Separate the health model from the fight
The reference describes Alpha health as an additional 20 percentage points in a shared HP-bonus pool. That is a community-tested model, not a published Pocketpair formula. With other bonuses totaling B, its predicted relative advantage is 0.20 / (1 + B). Equalize level, talents, passives, souls, condensation and Trust before comparing two specimens.
| Other HP bonus | Modeled Alpha advantage |
|---|---|
| 0% | 20.0% |
| 50% | 13.3% |
| 90% | 10.5% |
| 180% | 7.1% |
Evaluate four kinds of size cost
- Incoming attacks: count additional projectiles or multi-hit ticks that connect with the larger body.
- Movement: time how long the Pal spends turning, pathing or recovering its attack position.
- Outgoing contact: a larger charge or body-contact attack may connect more reliably; do not assume size only hurts.
- Visibility: test the mounted camera and your own line of sight. Recall before heavy attacks when the encounter allows it.
Choose a role before choosing a specimen
For expedition scoring, the reference model rewards extra HP without a battlefield hitbox; for actual combat, measure damage delivered and survival together. Community examples favor Alpha Dupin, Knocklem and Frostallion Noct, while preferring smaller Herbil, Moldron, Jormuntide, Ghangler Ignis and Aegidron. These are encounter-dependent recommendations, not a universal tier list. Trust affects both specimens and must be held equal. Keep both versions when one works better in combat and the other in noncombat duty.
Run a repeatable comparison
- Use the same opponent, skills, player involvement and start position.
- Record clear time, recalls, healing and failed attacks for several runs per specimen.
- Test partner-skill specialists separately: Sekhmet reports do not establish a general Alpha work bonus.
- Use the compare page for base species values; Alpha behavior and the expedition formula have not been independently validated on v1.0.5.