Accepted answer
In practice, gradient slope is the most powerful parameter and almost nobody mentions it, which is why two reports on the same material disagree by a point.
Sample solvent strength affects peak shape — if you inject in strong solvent on a gradient starting in weak solvent, the solvent peak can distort your main peak or create a false shoulder.
It helps to be literal here: gradient slope controls resolution, and gentler slopes resolve co-eluting impurities into separate peaks — so the better method reports the worse purity number.
Published side-by-side method comparisons show that a two-point difference in purity on the same vial is easily explained by method choice alone.
Compare purity within a single laboratory on the same method, never across laboratories.