Hidden stats are among the worst things to test in FFXI. You can only try to give a rough boundary for each of the test that you want to do, and gradually narrow that boundary. I have always wondered if Archer’s Prelude can give the same effect as Sushi at 75 or not. Personally, from what I have experienced, I believe it does, at least to some extent. All the parses that I have had on Kirin with Prelude and with Sushi give approximately the same average Ranged Accuracy, but more tests need to be done in order to firmly confirm that finding.
The reason I want to test Prelude comes from the lack of Prelude song for many Rangers when Party is using Minuet/Madrigal (March) songs. Ranger will not benefit from the later songs unless they melee with Kraken Club. As many BRDs have told me, Prelude does not take long to cast, and any BRD can do that after running back from pulling monster. Not all BRDs have ever played Ranger though, so they may not understand how important Prelude can be to Ranger. It can mean an increase in 10-15% hit rate on Sidewinders at 100-110% TP in full STR gears, and almost a guaranteed 96% hit rate on Sidewinders at 140-150% TP in full STR gears.
Without Prelude, normally I will restrain myself to only Weapon Skill at 130% TP in STR/acc set, which includes:
Wyvern Helm
Kirin’s Osode
Behemoth Ring
Rajas Ring (I tend to use Behemoth Ring here now)
Triumph Earring x2
Seiryu’s Kote (Crimson gaunlets)
Scout’s belt
Scout’s braccae
Scout’s socks …
With Prelude, in full STR gears, switch a few STR pieces in: Scout’s braccae -> Paluwahn Legs; Behemoth Rings x2 -> Rajas + Flame Rings. That is a pure increase of 13 STR, which means 6 ranged attack, 6 fSTR2.
Ignoring the ranged attack increase, assuming 2.5pDiF, that is an increase of 6 x 5 x 2.5 = 75 damage. Overtime, it will add up to a lot of damage.
In facts, since Sidewinders is already a very strong Weapon Skill, the increase will be marginal. But if you want to marginally increase the potential of your PT to its best, then it would not hurt to include Prelude in your casting routine for a Ranger.