MDT vs MDB vs Resist setsFollow

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Building a resist build would result in the least damage taken because it goes beyond the cap of 50% magic damage taken. It is much easier to get to cap damage taken gear because your inventory will thank you, not to mention not everything uses only one element. Magic damage bonus is what it is, a bonus.

Everyone starts at base x/1, where x is the calculated magic att bonus. Keep in mind this is extremely generalized. Every 1 point of magic def bonus adds .01 to that base of 1. What this means is that the exact value will always be a little less than 1%. If you had +20 mag def bonus, the value is 1/1.2 = .8333, which becomes the multiplier of the damage being taken. +20 mag def bonus only equals a 16.666% less magic damage taken. Keep in mind that this depends on the caster not having their own mag att bonus, making x = 1.

If you take a look at the selection of mag def bonus gear, you'll see that it remains inferior to the magic damage taken gear choices, mainly because the max a PLD could actually add up is about 25, give or take a few points. With shell V on at 1 merit, it only takes +25 magic damage taken to cap. Mag def bonus would require +33 magic def bonus gaer to actually reach that -25% damage point.

Magic damage taken is the better choice for omega/ultima, and stuff that uses different elements.

MDT = A flat % reduction to magic damage taken, Caps at 50%

MDB = Adjust formula on how much damage is taken

Resist = Adds elemental resistance for a single element. The higher the resit the more resists you get and less dammage you take on average.




Depends on what gear you have and how serious you are.

Me? I cheat since I have Aegis and all my WHMs have merited Shell 5. That caps MDT right there so MDT- Is not needed and I go with MDB for general use.

MDB has no known cap and depend on on sub job and buffs is quite easy to get into the 50+ range which on most mobs is a good as a resist set.

MDT/MDB is best when you don't know what element you will be against, the element changes (for example JoL), or you can not build a sufficient resist set for (for example: Light/Dark aka: Proto-Ultima).

If you know what element you will be getting hit with then with a resist set look at how much resist you have with your setup. For example with BRD and WHM with merited BAR spells and proper gear for Earth and Fire I am at 320+. I actually ran into issues where I don't take enough damage in my resist sets to have HP to cure hold hate with out massive HP- -> HP+ cure cheat macros. If the mob is higher level then you then you need to aim for ~300 resist with buffs. If you don't have 250+ Then you are probably better off with MDT/MDB.

For MDB vs MDT a lot comes down to what you have for support.

If your WHM has full merits on Shellra V (They should) then the Magic Damage reduction is 27.34% to start. Can you get 23% more in gear? If you can then you can put MDB in the reset of the slots.

For MDB you want to aim for something in the 30+ range to start. My base gear is +38 MDB, +4 MD, +4M.Eva and I'm still missing some of the newer pieces that would raise that since NMs are being stingy. The Shamshir +1 sword is a must for this set. About the single best piece you can get.

If the mob does physical attacks also then you want a shield on which means things like the Iron Ram Lance are out and you'd want to keep AF+1 feet over Damage - feet. That tends to push the MDB over the MDT. If you can stand out of Melee range then MDT starts to move up.

Personally I carry a PDT, MDB, DD, and face tank set on me at all times. I keep resist sets on mules for fights that are planned for specific NMs or pop windows. I also keep a breath damage set for random NMs in storage (most is R/E).

The MDB+9 one.