What Determines Who The MVP is for Engage?

[Randoman]

What determines who the MVP is for Engage? I thought it was whoever got the most kills, or whoever deals the most damage, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I tried doing Marth's paralogue in 1 turn, making sure that Alear was the MVP by making sure he does the most damage, but Fogado strangely ended up becoming the MVP even though he just killed the Thief with the Secret Book. I tried again, but having Fogado not do anything. Despite Alear still getting the most damage, Rosado & Lyn was the MVP this time.

For reference:
-Fogado attacked the Thief (who had 39 HP) with a Wind God Longbow for 33+33 damage, killing him
-Alear attacked the Warrior (who had 62 HP) for 46+46 damage, killing him (I had to use Seadall's dance to get him in range)
-Rosado attacked Marth (who had 58 HP) with Astra Storm for 14x5 damage, removing one of the revival stones (I used Byleth's Goddess dance to get him in range)
-Veyle attacked Marth (who had 58 HP) with Warp Ragnarok doing 60 damage, killing him (I used Byleth's Goddess dance to get her in range, and I had to switch Veyle to a Sage and use a Magic Potion to get Warp Ragnarok to be powerful enough to 1 shot Marth)
-Alear, Fogado, and Rosado were all in Advanced Classes at Level 20, so they couldn't gain any experience

As for "it can't be whoever got the most kills", I don't have detailed specifics, but I do recall for chapter 7 of my current playthrough, Louis & Sigurd got the most kills, but Alear & Marth still was the MVP for that chapter, probably because Alear & Marth dealt a lot of damage to enemies overall, but didn't kill as many of them as Louis & Sigurd did for that chapter

I can't figure out the connection or the pattern that determines who the MVP is.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I don't know how it works. I agree it's definitely not just who gets the most kills. I've observed that sometimes units who see a lot of combat get MVP even without getting lots of kills or the most damage. My guess is several factors contribute to MVP, but I'm not sure which or in what proportion.

31 minutes ago, Randoman said:

For reference:
-Fogado attacked the Thief (who had 39 HP) with a Wind God Longbow for 33+33 damage, killing him
-Alear attacked the Warrior (who had 62 HP) for 46+46 damage, killing him (I had to use Seadall's dance to get him in range)
-Rosado attacked Marth (who had 58 HP) with Astra Storm for 14x5 damage, removing one of the revival stones (I used Byleth's Goddess dance to get him in range)
-Veyle attacked Marth (who had 58 HP) with Warp Ragnarok doing 60 damage, killing him (I used Byleth's Goddess dance to get her in range, and I had to switch Veyle to a Sage and use a Magic Potion to get Warp Ragnarok to be powerful enough to 1 shot Marth)
-Alear, Fogado, and Rosado were all in Advanced Classes at Level 20, so they couldn't gain any experience

Just idle thoughts here, since to emphasize, I don't know how MVP is calculated:

• presumably Marth is higher levelled than this enemy Warrior, so there's a good chance that a kill/revival stone break on Marth is valued more highly than one on the Warrior. I think we can rule out the Warrior's higher HP mattering. Similarly, it's possible that thief kills are also more highly valued (or perhaps obtaining a dropped item is)... in fact I'd say it seems quite likely that at least one of these is true, given your observations.
• Characters at Level 20 still gain experience, it just doen't count towards their next level. You can observe this in the fact that their SP still increases (which is based on the exp they would get).
• I'm not sure if gaining more exp matters, but if it does, and Rosado had a lower internal level Alear and Veyle, it's possible Rosado actually gained the most and that's why he's MVP.
• It's also possible that gaining bond exp counts toward MVP. Engage Attacks generate more bond exp than regular attacks (even if capped, I imagine the game would still calculate the number) which would advantage Rosado and Veyle in this situation.
• It's possible that each successful hit counts toward MVP in some way... Rosado had five, nobody else had more than two.

If you want Alear to get MVP (and you haven't just decided to proceed), have you considered trying to have Alear kill the thief instead?

[Randoman]

I gave your idea a try and killed the Thief with Alear, but Rosado & Lyn was still the MVP. I even tried Alfred & Lyn instead of Rosado & Lyn, but Alfred & Lyn became the MVP instead.

In regards to internal levels, they are as follows:

Alear - Level 20/20/20
Alfred - Level 20/20/20
Fogado - Level 20/20/20
Rosado - Level ??/20/20
Veyle - Level 40/40

[Dark Holy Elf]

 

20 hours ago, Randoman said:

I gave your idea a try and killed the Thief with Alear, but Rosado & Lyn was still the MVP. I even tried Alfred & Lyn instead of Rosado & Lyn, but Alfred & Lyn became the MVP instead.

In regards to internal levels, they are as follows:

Alear - Level 20/20/20
Alfred - Level 20/20/20
Fogado - Level 20/20/20
Rosado - Level ??/20/20
Veyle - Level 40/40

Rosado would have the lowest effective level then, since the ?? is 18 in his case. Not sure if that matters. Veyle would also have by far the highest, which is worth keeping in mind in case there's a bonus for using an engage attack and/or bond exp gained.

Your observation with Alfred does suggest that Astra Storm matters, whether it's due to being an engage attack or number of hits.