Ves did not choose to optimize the design as of yet. Instead, he put the current iteration of the Enduring Protector through its paces by subjecting it to several extreme simulations.
He skipped out on most simulations that a mech designer normally subjected their designs to because there was no point. "It's not like we're going to deploy the Enduring Protector on a low gravity moon or in an arctic environment or anything."
With the Blackbeak and the Crystal Lord designs, Ves needed to account to a wide variety of environments where they could be deployed. Short of extreme environments such as volcano planets and Super Earths, Ves simulated their performance in many different locales, each of which different in terms of temperature, climate, air pressure, corrosive elements and more.