MDEF

Magic Defense is the total magical defense that is factored upon magic damage, which is generally based on MATK as whole or partially. However, there are exceptions.

The descriptions used here refer to Hard and Soft MDEF. These names are used for clarity. The vast majority of players do not use these terms in general conversation, and instead refer Armor Mdef (hard) and INT Mdef (soft). Hard MDEF works as a relative reduction, whereas Soft MDEF is a subtractive reduction.

Hard MDEF

Effects of Hard MDEF on incoming damage

Hard m. defense, also known as "armor" or "equipment" m. defense reduces, incoming magic damage multiplicatively.

• Damage after Hard MDEF = Damage × [(1000 + HardMDEF) ÷ (1000 + HardMDEF × 10)]

For example, a player with a Hard MDEF of 60 will have incoming m. damage reduced by about ⅓, and a player with a Hard MDEF of 125 will have incoming damage reduced by half.

Hard m. defense has a base value of 0, and is increased by equipment, some skills, and items.

Additive Bonuses

Item/Skill	Max Modifier	Additional notes
Arclouze Card	+3	Shield. Only if refined to +5 or lower.
Cat O' Nine Tails Card	+3	Footgear. May reflect magic back to the caster.
Detardeurus Card	+1	Armor. Gives immunity to Frozen.
Frus Card	+3	Armor. Mage class only. May reflect magic back to the caster.
Gibbet Card	+5	Headgear. Only if refined to +5 or lower.
Goat Card	+5	Armor. Only if refined to +5 or lower.
Kapha Card	+8	Garment. Only if refined to +5 or lower.
La'cryma Stick	Var	+UpgradeLv
Megalith Card	+7	Footgear. Only if refined to +5 or lower.
Mental Destroyer	+20
Rideword Card	+1	Headgear. Acolyte class only.
Seeker Card	+10	Shield.
Solider Card	+2	Armor.
Sting Card	+5	Shield. Only if refined to +9 or higher.
Tao Gunka Card	-50	Armor. Doubles Max HP.
Vocal Card	+3	Garment.

Multiplicative Bonuses

Item/Skill	Max Modifier	Additional notes
Assumptio	+100%

Soft MDEF

Soft m. defense, also known as "INT" m. defense, reduces incoming magic damage directly.

SoftMDEF      = INT + VIT ÷ 5 + DEX ÷ 5 + BaseLv ÷ 4
TotalSoftMDEF = [(SoftMDEF + BonusA) × (1 + BonusB ÷ 100)]

• BonusA is the sum of additive bonuses.
• BonusB is the sum of multiplicative bonuses.

Bypassing MDEF

The equipment below are known to bypass MDEF.

Weapons

Weapon	Notes
Piercing Staff [2]	Bypass 10% of Mdef of Normal, Boss targets when performing a magical attack. Bypass an additional 1% of Mdef of Normal, Boss targets when performing a magical attack per upgrade level of the item.
Thorn Staff of Darkness	Bypass 1% of Mdef of Normal, Boss, Player targets when performing a magical attack per upgrade level of the item.
Thorn Staff of Darkness [1]	Bypass 1% of Mdef of Normal, Boss, Player targets when performing a magical attack per upgrade level of the item.

Armor

Weapon	Notes
Magician's Gloves [1]	Bypass 50% of Mdef of Normal and Boss targets when performing a magical attack
Ordinary Black Magician Hat [1]	Bypass the magic defense of normal monsters by 10%. Each refinement rate increases the magic defense bypass by an additional 2%
Pororoca Shoes	Set Bonus with La'cryma Stick [2]: Bypass 5% of Mdef of Normal, Boss targets when performing a magical attack per level of Frost Nova known.
Wickebine's Black Cat Ears	Adds a 5% chance to bypass 25% of magical defense on normal monsters and players for 5 seconds when performing a magical attack.

See Also

• DEF