Primary weapon: Rigor Baghnakhs
Target: Level 100 Chapuli, so that accuracy won't come into play at all. No def down.
Food: RCB
Hume mnk/war, Berserk active, Impetus active
Note that even with this, cRatio is only ~1.75, so not hitting attack cap.
Gear selection: Any AH gear is fine; one set excluding higher end gear (eg: NNI/Salvage+1/Toci's/rare Meebles drops (buyable is fine)/Legion), one that includes them. All Bayld and Delve gear is on the table, except for drops from the top bosses. No augmented gear in the restricted gear sets; will allow full augmentation in the unrestricted gear sets.
Note: TP sets were identical, but not optimized. Since TP doesn't affect damage for either weaponskill, not concerned with that.
No NNI/Salvage+1/Toci/Meeble
Code
Shijin: Asuran: Potestas Potestas Thurandaut Nemetona Justiciar's Justiciar's Bladeborn Bladeborn Steelflash Ghillie +1 Manibozho Tantra +2 Thurandaut Melee +2 Rajas Pyrosoul Epona Pyrosoul Atheling Vimukti Caudata Caudata Manibozho Manibozho Melee +2 Tantra +2 Damage: 3359 Damage: 3109 DPS: 417.434 DPS: 406.771 @1/5 merits: Damage: 3141 Damage: 3109 DPS: 408.145 DPS: 406.771 Oatixur and 5/5: Damage: 3968 Damage: 3943 DPS: 480.203 DPS: 483.130
So at the lower end of the gear scale, things are very close. For someone contemplating just opening up Shijin with 1/5, Asuran provides nearly identical DPS. By the time you factor in Oatixur, Asuran matches or beats Shijin, even at 5/5.
Gear unrestricted, but no Delve augments
Code
Shijin: Asuran: Potestas Potestas Thurandaut Nemetona Justiciar's Justiciar's Bladeborn Bladeborn Steelflash Ghillie +1 Toci's Harness Thurandaut Thurandaut Melee +2 Rajas Pyrosoul Epona Pyrosoul Atheling Vimukti Wanion Caudata Manibozho Manibozho Omodaka Tenryu +1 Aug Damage: 3441 Damage: 3159 DPS: 420.940 DPS: 408.919 Oatixur and 5/5: Damage: 4064 Damage: 4001 DPS: 484.920 DPS: 485.515
At the higher end, Shijin has a few options for improvement, while Asuran really doesn't. Basically, Asuran doesn't really get better beyond what you can get at the basic gear level, other than Omodaka feet or the Tenryu+1 augmented feet.
On the other hand, it still scales up very well when you switch to Oatixur, putting it right on par with 5/5 Shijin.
Gear unrestricted, full augments
Code
Shijin: Asuran: Potestas Potestas Manibozho Rank15 Manibozho Rank15 Justiciar's Justiciar's Bladeborn Bladeborn Steelflash Ghillie +1 Manibozho Rank15 Manibozho Rank15 Thurandaut Melee +2 Rajas Pyrosoul Epona Pyrosoul Atheling Vimukti Prosilio Caudata Manibozho Rank15 Manibozho Rank15 Manibozho Rank15 Manibozho Rank15 Damage: 3643 Damage: 3307 DPS: 429.568 DPS: 415.238 Oatixur and 5/5 (note: had to bump up to level 102 Chapuli, as this hits the attack cap on the level 100's): Damage: 4008 Damage: 3902 DPS: 461.331 DPS: 460.853
In this case, the obvious upgrades are the full rank 15 augmented versions of all the Manibozho pieces aside from the hands. At 60 million per piece, quite an investment.
For Rigors, the gap widens ever so slightly with this change, in favor of Shijin. Oatixur narrows it again, though this time Shijin holds onto a tiny edge over Asuran.
So overall there are several points where Asuran matches Shijin, and several points where Shijin maintains a small lead. If you get ahold of Oatixur, the difference between them is negligible regardless of the gear level. With Rigor, the higher your gear level, the more Shijin will tend to edge Asuran out.
And obviously, if a skillchain is available, use whichever is appropriate.