Defense vs. Resistance

[Zechnophobe]

Defense and resistence are multiplicative reductions. So your defense can reduce the damage you take by up to 67% (2/3rds) if you have 60 more defense then the target has attack. Resistence can further resist up to 95% of that damage. Meaning the least damage you can take = damage*.33*.05 = .0165, or 1.65% of the original damage. This is pretty rare (Black dragon vs sprites maybe).

It is important to note that the more resistance you have, the greater the value of each % of resistance. Going from 85% to 95% cuts damage down to a third. Going from 0% to 10% cuts it down by a tenth.

Without going into the Formula, here's a few points on defense:

If DEF is greater than ATK by:

15, you take two third of full damage
30, you take half of full damage
45, you take 40% of full damage
60, you take a third of full damage

If ATK is greater than DEF by:

15, you take 50% more damage
30, you take 100% more damage
45, you take 150% more damage
60, you take 200% more damage

In general, you want to get more DEFENSE on low level units (That start with low defense, and little resistance) and more RESISTANCE on high level units (that start with high defense, and some existing resistance).