You can get slightly more damage on regular starters in Risen Emperor than the combo paths above. If you use:
STARTERxxb,f3, b3, j2, b2xxdb3
and
b3, dash, 4xxb,f3EX, dash, 4xxb,f3EX, microdash, d2
Off the f3,4 starter you get 354.75 versus 345.18 and it's also slightly easier to do, you...