Performance: Should I use additive over translucent blend mode?

The different blend modes have different calculations performed in the backend too, so the math referenced isn’t the only aspect of how those are calculated and rendered too. What’s to worry about? It’s usually a difference of milliseconds that is not enough to cause lag, hitching, or major graphics problems. If that’s a problem, then there’s more learning you need to do to about the processing and render pipeline or other features to get it to as fast as possible in rendering.