I know this is hard headed, but just bear with me.

I don't want to use Extra mode, so this is a bit of an ask for advice (not just "lol, use extra mode").

I started on Hard mode and had no trouble with anything throughout the game. Played a bit of Chaos, unlocking a 130 level, then a 135, 140 and so on, til I just jumped to 300.

I think my average equipment level is 296 now, and I can handle the actual stages fine but I can't beat the bosses - their health and break gauges just don't seem to move all that much.

Most guides that don't mention Extra mode just say to get a set of level 300-ish gear but that the stats and affinities don't matter until you start making builds in DLC3 but that just doesn't seem to be true for me?

I've got Dark Knight at 400% and Berserker at 300%, and without using Extra mode to push into Bahamut, I'm not sure what else I can do at this point to get stronger?

Do other jobs mastery points count if I don't have them equipped? I don't think they do as I picked stats but didn't see my Dark Knight stats change at all.