I've read this before the only thing is that Crota can enrage at 14 hits. He does for me every time.
I think it's possible that either some people do more damage (possible distance or gear setup?) or lag (he enraged at 14 but didn't show till 14)
my strat is....Do as much damage as possible...if i dont get 4 hits on ANY sword hold I better use a super on the next one...
I take him down in 2 swords...
no time to count...
smack dat ho
it depends on how i feel and what kind of fire team i have. if its all good ill try the 2 sword most of the time i go with the safe 3 sword cuz ive seen a lot of things like sword disappearing and crota moving early, ect.
for me i like to go as many hits on the first sword as i can (in case something happens on the second i can recover easy) most of the time i can get a solid 8 smashes in easy (any class) if i have my hunter then i can get a good 8-10 hits then second sword depending on my first sword most of the time i hit 3 and 2. then the third sword i hit 3 and kill