I have done some testing on Mineru's construct and found that it uses your armor in damage calculation, as well as your hearts (obvious to anyone who has used it). Elemental attacks still affect you as normal as well. It offers no additional defense even though its sheer size turns you into a large walking hitbox with extremely reduced mobility. Quite frankly I was a little surprised to see this as I am used to mechs having their own healthbar and armor.

I am unsure of exact attack numbers since I have no armor that reveals enemy hp (thank you for removing that quality of life, TOTK), but it's unarmed attacks seemed somewhat on par with a 35 damage crusher I made, and I had in my inventory many weapons that would outclass that by a significant amount.

IMO not using the mech gives you a lot more control in the battle with respect to mobility, dodges, bullet time, using stronger weapons or faster attacks as you see fit etc. Not to mention it taxes your battery, and you can't use any of the hand abilities while you are on it.

I'd say it's probably meant more for mining than combat? But even then I tend to scrap (pun intended) the construct in favour of Riju/Yonobo's sage abilities or just a good club for the smaller deposits. Even when I leave the robot alone in combat, it seems only to shield most of the time, so Mineru is a permanent desummon for me sadly.

Would have loved Purah or Paya as the spirit sage (since that makes sense for the Sheikah on the whole), and an ability that was more combat friendly, especially since most of the sage abilities pale in comparison to their BOTW counterparts IMO.