Partner Machinery Question

[tihoa]

What determines how strong your Partner Machinery is? They don't seem to have a level like normal characters. I know you can give them items to increase their stats but how does it compare to a normal character's stats?

[Laranas]

I know the stats on the PM affect how good it is at synthesizing rates (melee/balistic/technique/guard items) and the PM type determines its AI in combat, but I don't see either having a direct effect on its stats. Though I can say that my Lv35 PM was dishing out almost as much damage as the Lv46 Tonnio I was grouped with.