Recently Im about to get a set to reduce (M)agic (D)amage (T)aken for my PLD; mainly for tanking JoL and in the future tanking Proto-Ultima (Citadel Buster). I spend hours of reading different forums to get the knowledge I have now ^^. So I decided to write a "guide" to save my fellow PLD's some time. ;)
The main aim for a MDT set is to reach the -50% MDT cap.
After you reached the cap you may want to focus on (M)agic (D)efense (B)onus to reduce damage taken even more.
Shellra V with only one merit will give you -24% MDT, while Shellra V fully merited will give you -27%MDT.
So you have to fill the gap to -50% MDT; thats 26% with one merit, 23% with fully merited Shellra V.
I want to present you a set for PLD on budget (like me ^^):
Main:
Iron Ram Lance (-10% damage taken, 10HP and MP) - 30K or 20k allied notes, -10% is a really nice amount to reach the cap, HP and MP helps always.
Sub:
Raptor Leather Strap +1 (HP+15, MP+10, MND+2) - 18k, mainly for HP to reduce enmity loss when taking dmg and some extra MP.
Range:
Lamian Kaman (MDB+1, MP+10) - 9k, cheap MDB and some MP.
Head:
Iron Ram Sallet (enm +5, HP+20, MDB+3) - for free (in exchange for 40k allied notes), nice amount of enm. as well as HP and MDB. A really good all around piece!
Neck:
Parade Gorget (refresh 1MP/tick) - for free (NM drop), refresh helps to keep your MP high.
Ear1:
Coral Earring (MDT -1%) - 9k, 11%
Ear2:
Coral Earring (MDT -1%) - 9k, 12%
Body:
Coral Scale Mail (MDT-3%) - 55k, 3% that puts you to 15%.
Hands:
Iron Ram Dastanas (HP+20, enm. +4, MDB+2) - for free (40k allied notes), HP, enm. and MDB really nice!
Ring1:
Merman's Ring (MDT -4%) - 180k, not that cheap, puts you to 19%.
Ring2:
Merman's Ring (MDT -4%) - 180k ... 23%
Back:
Lamia Mantle +1 (MP+26, MDB+4) - 50k, MP and 4 MDB!
Waist:
Resolute Belt (MDB+2) - 170k
Legs:
Iron Ram Hose (HP+28, enm.+4, MDB+4) - for free (50k allied notes), has almost everything a PLD wants. :)
Feet:
Iron Ram Greaves (HP+19, enm.+3, MDB+3) - for free (50k allied notes), see above ^^
Set summary:
HP+ 112
MP+ 56
magic damage taken -23%
magic defense bonus +19
enmity +18
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for a total of 710k
So you have a solid Magic Defense set for a fair amount of gil.
Things you may want to update to make this set better/ reach the cap for Shellra V with only 1 merit:
Sub: Shark Strap (HP+10, enm. +3) - 400k, more enm. for better hate managment
range: Lamian Kaman+1 (MP+12, MDB+2) - 900k, 2 more MP, 1 more MDB you have to decide if its worth the gil ;)
Earrings: Mermans Earringx2 (MDT-2%) - 330k, -2% more MDT to reach the cap for Shellra V with 1 merit.
Body: Avalon Breastplate (Vit+7, Acc.+13, enm. +3, MDT-5%) - 3,2-4M really worth the gil even though you look like a crab ^^
Back: Resentment Cape (enm. +2, MDT-5%) - not easy to get 21h spawn NM. Will work in Sea for JoL and Ultima
Waist: Lieutenant's Sash (HP+15, MP+15, MDT-2%) - 56k ISP First Lieutenant Rank required
Im sure there is other stuff out there that will benefit you too like Odin drops, or Defending Ring, but they are not easy to get.
With these updates you are able to switch out rings or earrings for more useful stuff like Cassie Earring, Hades Earring+1, BBQ ring, Sattva ring ect.
I hope this guide will help everybody, who is looking for a cheap MDT set. Remember thats only my Opinion; others may have different thoughts.
/Ati
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Copy and Paste the "guide" I wrote long time ago :)