UV max dmg on Undead: Elemental vs normal sword: same?

I have a venom (normal) 5 star with max dmg on undead, but my glacius (elemental) high dmg on undead seems better. I know undead are weak to elemental, but max dmg should mean max dmg.
In other words--
So, max dmg on undead with a normal sword IS NOT max dmg on undead; max dmg on undead is with an elemental sword--so the " max dmg" title is misleading.
Also, thx---but I have a swiftstrike buckler shield which gives HIGH attack speed, I thought my venom 5 star sword, which is speed high, would combine to give me at least ultra on speed, but it remains at just high; that doesn't seem right. What do you think. Thx.

It should be interpreted as "maximun increase of damage" instead of "max damage".

Again, clear explanation about sword damage. Thanks. So I DON'T have max dmg on undead, just max dmg relative to my sword--which means the DVS isn't as good as a glacius w/o any UV. ok....
As for my question about my attack speed of DVS with Swiftstrike buckler: yes, the DVS has no UV of ASI, but the "bar" indicating speed is high, so I just thought with the swiftstrike buck that I would get something through combination. Is that reasonable? I mean if a sword has a high "bar" of ASI then adding a swiftstrike buck would make it even faster, yes?
Thanks for the kind responses to (perhaps) silly questions; I do look for info on wiki, but sometimes I can' t find such details. And I think my two questions were not clearly addressed on wiki. (If I am wrong, then my apologies.)

Little-Juances' explanation is concise and basically complete. These abilities (damage bonus, attack speed increase, charge time reduction) are enhancements to your weapon's base statistics, as shown in its statistics bars.
the "bar" indicating speed is high, so I just thought with the swiftstrike buck that I would get something through combination.
Yes, DVS' base speed is extremely fast. And so far you've added ASI+3 (High), making it even faster than its base speed. The good news is that you can make your DVS even faster, if you want. You still have three more ticks of "room" to add speed, before you reach ASI+6 (Maximum!).
By the way, if you want to get an idea of how ASI affects swords, see the data here.
I have a venom (normal) 5 star with max dmg on undead, but my glacius (elemental) high dmg on undead seems better. I know undead are weak to elemental, but max dmg should mean max dmg.
Damage bonus (Low, Medium, etc.) and damage type (Normal, Elemental, etc.) are two completely separate rules of Spiral Knights. Read the wiki pages "Abilities" and "Damage" to learn more. When a damage bonus is "Maximum!", you should take that to mean that the damage of that particular weapon cannot get any larger. It does not mean that other weapons don't do more damage. For example, if you use an Umbra Driver with Maximum! damage bonus on an undead monster, you will find that it does hardly any damage at all, because its damage type is shadow. You can compare the swords' damage against undead in extreme detail here:
* http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Lancer_Knightz_(Guild)/Sword_Damage_(Depth_19)
* http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Lancer_Knightz_(Guild)/Sword_Damage_(Depth_24)
I have a swiftstrike buckler shield which gives HIGH attack speed, I thought my venom 5 star sword, which is speed high, would combine to give me at least ultra on speed, but it remains at just high
In your character window (that shows what items you have equipped), your Dread Venom Striker shows up in two places. On the right side of the character window, you can inspect your DVS in isolation, without any bonuses from armor, shield, trinkets. I'm guessing that your DVS has no Attack Speed Increase unique variant. At the bottom of your character window, you can inspect your DVS with armor, shield, and trinkets taken into account. I'm guessing that this shows ASI: High, because of your shield. Am I right? Does it make sense now?