Does Pawni's ultimate do extra break damage?

The figure is 30%, and it applies for a window rather than on a single hit. Ironclad Armament runs for 15 seconds, and over those 15 seconds it also raises Pawni's EP recovery rate by 10%. So the ultimate is not something you fire at a broken enemy and forget. It is a stretch of time you want to spend with the target already broken.

The payoff inside that window is Dragon Slayer Strike. Press Ironclad Armament again while the effect is still up and Pawni unleashes a 220 Power attack. That is the hit you are buying with the break state, so the order matters. Break first, ultimate second, re-press third.

Pawni's trait, Pursuit, covers similar ground from a different angle. It grants up to 30% bonus damage against enemies that are broken or under a control effect, which means Pawni is already being paid for crowd control before the ultimate is involved at all.

Getting the target broken first

Shadow Cut is the line's tool for depleting an enemy's break health directly. Around it, Pawni has a kit built for making that easier. Grappling pulls an enemy toward you and inflicts a control state, and enemies under a control state are easier to break with skills. The smash combo chains up to three consecutive hits, and the third stuns: Weakening Smash's third consecutive hit locks the target for 1 second.

None of this is long. One second of stun is a setup window, not a rest.

Where the extra break damage actually matters

Pawni, also spelled Pawney, is a melee physical DPS with a base attack of 128, so all of these bonuses multiply damage you have to walk into close range to deal. The places it pays best are Alpha boss dungeon battles, where break states are the fight, plus Egg Heist and PvP.

Hookshot is what gets you there. It stretches Pawni's arm toward the centre of the view and pulls Pawni to whatever it hits, either a wall or an enemy, and the line can grapple onto terrain like walls and trees as well.

Not settled: Whether the ultimate's 30% break bonus and the Pursuit trait's 30% stack on the same broken target is not settled.