(goes on rant about "Well, since all powers are actively derived from the Will, in particular the Tiphareth, all effects it generates are subconscious exertions of Will over time rather than simply passive")
Okay, so as to not be pedantic and dumb, for the sake of argument let's go with "Yes, Ark Weapons do in fact shut off the Tiphareth for good if they land a killing blow", kinda in the vein of his battle with Ruin or Tessera's Requiem-
Running down each individual advantage, one at a time:
> Offense: Jay. On the whole, he has just, a lot more ways of generally attacking people, at least far as I can tell, what with his dozens of unique weapons, and slightly superior AP to boot.
> Defense: Probably also Jay, but by a smaller margin, and only really on account of being 6-C+ instead of (a high) mere 6-C. Zain has a lot of the same defense techniques or things like them- Attack Reflection in Justice, for example, various relevant Resistances, and so on.
> Mobility: Probably Zain. Hero's Path seems to make Teleportation and general transportation a lot easier than what Rynild has up his sleeves, and its very spammable.
> Range: Also Zain. Hundreds of Meters vs. Thousands of Meters is pretty cut and dry as a comparison point.
> Intelligence: ...Tie? Rynild doesn't have a descriptor as has been made popular on FC/OC in recent times, but the description at least sounds like the upper end of Gifted, which is also where Zain is at this point. I can see giving Rynild a slight edge here just because his entry is more detailed in how it can be applied.
> Experience: Zain's been actively fighting and studying for the better part of his life, on top of all of the actual events of the canon proper, the Accelerated Development that the attunement to the Kether has, etc. Rynild, meanwhile, is 13 (or 16? It's hard to tell at what key Vol. I ends and Vol. II begins) to his 20, and spent most of his life actively fleeing war, trying to live a peaceful life in Alice's manor to avoid it, instead of going to magical-super-soldier military college programs, explicitly for the purpose of making a career out of putting swords in people. I would be very surprised if he had more applicable combat experience.
> Strength: Zain to such an extent it's not even funny, really. Class 5 vs. Class T means that, if it comes to blows/CQC, the poor kid's going to get rag-dolled if he makes even one mistake. If he were more prepared/specialized in it, or had the right tools, I imagine he could add "Incap via Swole Wrestling skills" to the list of Win Conditions, but as is it just makes Melee a better prospect.
> Endurance: Zain's "can live & keep fighting as strong, if not stronger, than before with multiple blades embedded in his torso/limbs/neck, withstand poisons more painful than anything organic known to Mankind, etc." >>> Rynild's "'only' Above Average"
> Equipment: Rynild for certain. Which... sounds weird, given the Sephiroth exist and are among the few objectively smurfy elements of his kit, but they don't really apply here aside from blocking hax that Rynild isn't liable to use in the first place (or, in the case of Ark weapons, just gets over-run.) Exempting weapon variety, he just seems straight-up more prepared.
> Special: Notably, the arch-villain of Act II, in Hero's Path, is a geokineticist, with multiple moves very much in the vein of some of Rynild's nastier Earth/Crystal Magicks (and on top of that, coincidentally, calls on spiders/webs/poison for back-up.) That is, to say, he literally just got done, at this point in the story, getting a hardcore crash course on how to go up against earth-element specialists.
...I might be missing a key ability or haxxorz power somewhere, but as far as general capabilities that seems to be everything (I almost certainly am missing something or other for Ryn, but that comes with the territory.)
