Magic Defense ( stat ) Magic Defense , also known as Magic Resistance , Resistance , M . Def . , Mag . Def , and Magic def , is a recurring stat that is used to determine how resistant a character is to Magic attacks . The higher the Magic Defense , the less Magical damage a character will take . Magic Defense can be increased by the positive status effect , Shell . Some magical attacks are piercing attacks and ignore Magic Defense . Magic Defense seems to tie in with the Magic stat . For example , Black and White Mages , with their high Magic stat , often have an excelling Magic Defense stat while physical attackers have poor Magic Defense . Magic Defense can be interchanged with Spirit in some games . Appearances . " Final Fantasy " . Magic Defense is an invisible stat that depends on characters ' armor and level . " Final Fantasy II " . Magic Defense allows a character to reduce or avoid being afflicted by negative status effects or being affected by stat - affecting spells . It does not reduce damage inflicted by magic or enemy abilities . Magic Defense is split into a number and a percentage value . The Magic Defense number determines how many attempts to inflict status or reduce stats may be avoided and the percentage indicates the chance of negating each attempt to apply a status effect or stat reduction . Magic Defense level can be increased by being targeted by enemy spells . The formula for Magic Defense percentage is : " Final Fantasy IV " . The base Magic Defense equals to the sum of all armor equipped . The Unequipped sections which includes armor , helmet , armlets , have a magic defense value of 0 . " Final Fantasy IV - Interlude - " . Magic Defense returns in the sequel to " Final Fantasy IV " , and works the same way as it did in that game . Magic Defense is calculated the same way as has its predecessors , meaning that magic defense is determined by the armor the character has equipped . " Final Fantasy V " . Resistance , formerly known as Magic Defense , is an equipment statistic and represents the character ' s resistance to magical damage . Magic Defense is ignored if the target is weak against the attacking element , or when the spell cures the target . Robes have the best Magic Defense , with the Robe of Lords and Black Robe being the best . Most shields don ' t have any Magic Defense , apart from the Genji Shield and the elemental shields . " Final Fantasy VI " . Also called Mag . Def in the older translations . Magic Defense is an equipment statistic and represents the character or enemies ' resistance to magical damage . It operates identically to defense for a different type of damage , factoring in negatively into the ultimate total damage in the damage modification of the calculation at the end . formula _ 2 The + 1 at the end ensures that an attack never deals 0 damage , and can always only deal 1 . Many magic attacks , such as Ultima , are set to ignore Magic Defense and will deal full damage , skipping the above modification . Special equipment pieces have the best Magic Defense , the best being the Reed Cloak , which only works if the character wearing it is an Imp . Other equipment that offer high Magic Defense are Snow Scarf ( Umaro ' s equipment , but Gau and Mog can use it as well ) , the Force Shield , the Minerva Bustier , the creature suits for Strago and Relm , and the Genji Armor . " Final Fantasy VII " . Magic def is an equipment statistic . This , coupled with the Spirit stat , is meant to reduce damage by magic attacks suffered by the wearer . However , due to a bug , this stat is ineffective . As such , the only way to reduce magic damage is to increase the Spirit stat . At 255 Magic Defense , all damage from magical attacks is nearly halved . Formula for Magic def : " Final Fantasy IX " . Magic Defense is an equipment statistic and represents the target ' s resistance against magical attacks . If the attack heals the target ( absorbs the damage due to absorbing the element or because it is a curative spell ) , or deals random damage ( Comet and Meteor ) Magic Defense is ignored . Gravity spells use a different damage formula that don ' t factor in Magic Defense . Steiner ' s Mental Break can halve a target ' s Magic Defense and can be used repeatedly . Hats and armlets give the most Magic Defense . The Tin Armor is the only heavy armor with good Magic Defense . " Final Fantasy X " . Magic Defense determines resistance to magical attacks . The party members gain Magic Defense by activating Magic Defense nodes on the Sphere Grid . Lulu gets the best Magic Defense from her path on the grid , but eventually , every character is able to traverse any path . The player can use Magic Def Spheres to attain higher stats ; the spheres can be obtained by fighting One - Eye on the Monster Arena . The Magic Defense + ? ? % auto - abilities on a character ' s armor do not affect their Magic Defense stat . Rather , they directly reduce the magical damage taken from attacks . Auron ' s Mental Break ability reduces Magic Defense to zero , and some enemies can also use it against the player party . Lulu ' s Focus ability cuts damage that Magic Defense is considered in by 1 / 15th each time , and can be stacked up to five times . The aeons have their separate stats that increase in conjunction with Yuna ' s , but the player can also boost them manually , and the stats also gradually increase when the player fights battles ( any battles count ) . Of all the aeons , Ixion has the highest base Magic Defense , whereas Ifrit has the lowest . " Final Fantasy X - 2 " . The characters ' Magic Defense acts as defense to magical attacks and depends on which dressphere the character is equipping . White Mage has the highest Magic Defense , whereas Berserker has the lowest . Magic Defense can also be boosted by equipping accessories and using Garment Grid s that grant stat boosts . The color for the Magic Defense gauge in the menu is pink . " Final Fantasy XII " . Magick Resist determines the rate of resisting damage from offensive spells and physical attacks from pole s . It is determined by the headgear the character is wearing . Light Armor headgear have slightly better Magick Resist than Heavy Armor helms . The Technick Shear lowers the target ' s Magick Resist by 10 % and it can be used repeatedly . No opponent is immune to it , but its base accuracy is only 33 % . Magick Defense is an equipment statistic and determines the rate of resisting damage from magickal attacks . Kytes and Ashe get the best Magick Defense in their armors , whereas Balthier ' s Magick Defense is the lowest . The Espers have their own MDef stats . Zodiark has the best MDef of all the Espers . " Final Fantasy XIII " . By combining equipment , the characters can activate the Magic Wall synthesis effect that allows the character to take X less damage from magical attacks . For example 5 Magic Wall means it ' ll shave off the first 5 points of Magic damage the character takes , each hit . The highest Magic Wall is 30 . " Final Fantasy XIV " . Magic defense reduces damage taken by magical attacks . While mages tend to have more than physical DPS classes , tank classes exceed them both . " Final Fantasy Tactics " . The characters do not have a Magic Defense stat . Damage is calculated based on a formula for each attack . When armor is equipped , it increases the character ' s max HP , and possibly how often they evade attacks , but not a stat that reduces damage like a " Magic Defense " stat would . However , there are effects that increase a character ' s resistance to attacks and thus increase their " Magic Defense " . An example is the Shell spell , and damage can be greatly reduced based on the character ' s Zodiac Compatibility . " Final Fantasy Legend III " . The higher the number for M . Def . , the greater the ability of the character to defend itself against damage by magic attacks .