Description¶

Defense Gems are all about changing the way your character’s Defense can be modified such as adding resistances to Debuffs or elemental damage. It’s a category with a wide range of useful Gems and some of them will be crucial for tackling some of the toughest enemies in the game but outside of that, you’ll want to avoid setting most of them. Other than 2 Gems, the rest are all for your armor slots.

• Uses: Arts Seal is a Debuff that will prevent your characters from using any of their Arts and this Gem will help you to resist it. As far as Debuffs go, this is one that is used little in the game making the Gem rather useless.

• Best Characters: You shouldn’t have a need for this Gem but if you do decide to use it, set it to one of the Ether based characters such as Melia as your Physical based characters will be fine with auto-attacks if they suffer Arts Seal.

• Uses: This is a Gem that sounds far more useful on paper than it is. When set, this Gem will allow Arts to generate less Aggro, useful for any characters that have high burst damage. The issue here is there is another Gem which does everything this Gem does and more making it rather redundant.

• Best Characters: It’s hard to suggest a character for this Gem, you should avoid using it over the more useful Aggro Down Gem however if you do, Shulk and Seven are prime candidates.

• Uses: This Gem suffers the same problems as Arts Stealth. When set, this Gem will allow auto-attacks to generate less Aggro, useful for any characters that have high dps. The issue yet again is there is another Gem which does everything this Gem does and more making it rather redundant like Arts Stealth.

• Best Characters: It’s hard to suggest a character for this Gem, you should avoid using it over the more useful Aggro Down Gem however if you do, Seven is a prime candidate.

• Uses: Bind Resist is arguably the worst of the Resist Gems (and that’s saying something) purely down to Bind as a Debuff. Bind will prevent your character from moving, a minor annoyance for Physical based characters but nothing more than that so you shouldn’t worry about preventing it.

• Best Characters: There are no best characters for this Gem, it’s a Gem you should avoid setting at all costs.

• Uses: Like most of the elemental Defence Gems, they’re highly situational based on the enemies you’re fighting. When set, Blaze Defence will lower the damage taken from Blaze so unless you’re up against an enemy using that, avoid this Gem.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem. If you’re up against an enemy using Blaze often, consider equipping it then.

• Uses: Like most of the Debuff Defence Gems, they’re highly situational based on the enemies you’re fighting. When set, Bleed Defence will lower the damage taken from Bleed so unless you’re up against an enemy using that, avoid this Gem.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem. If you’re up against an enemy using Bleed often, consider equipping it then.

• Uses: Like most of the elemental Defence Gems, they’re highly situational based on the enemies you’re fighting. When set, Chill Defence will lower the damage taken from Chill so unless you’re up against an enemy using that, avoid this Gem.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem. If you’re up against an enemy using Chill often, consider equipping it then.

• Uses: As with most of the Resist Gems, Debuff Resist does everything this can do and more. Confuse will stop your character from attacking and cause them to run around until it wears off.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem. As previously mentioned, Debuff Resist does everything this Gem can do and more.

• Uses: This is one of two Debuffs that the ever useful Debuff Resist Gem doesn’t cover. Daze Resist will increase the chances of Daze not landing on your character, useful for tricky enemies that may have a Counter Daze Spike Aura.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem. If you do decide to set this Gem, consider putting it on your party leader, that way they can help recover others suffering from Daze easily.

• Uses: This is the Gem that makes all (except Topple and Daze) Resist Gems obsolete. With this set, you’ll resist all debuffs making it an incredibly useful Gem to keep slotted.

• Best Characters: There isn’t a best character for this Gem however consider putting it on your party leader, that way they can help recover others suffering from certain Debuffs easily.

• Uses: Another Gem that has a Debuff not covered by Debuff Resist, this Gem will stop Arts that can cause Instant Death from happening. It’s a highly situational Gem but vital on those specific battles.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem however consider putting it on your party leader, that way they can help recover others suffering from this Debuff easier.

• Uses: The Protect Gems are useful Gems on paper that are less useful due to needing the Buff Plus Time Gem to make it last longer than 30 seconds. Additionally, like Ether Down, there’s not enough enemies using Ether Arts in the game to make this viable.

• Best Characters: There are no best characters for this Gem, it’s a Gem you should avoid setting at all costs.

• Uses: Like most of the Defence class Gems, this is a highly situational Gem. This will increase your resistance to Blow-Down that some bosses can cause with their Arts. Once again, this is not used often enough to keep it on full time, only changing when the time calls for it.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem however consider putting it on your party leader, that way they can help recover others suffering from this Debuff easier.

• Uses: Strong contender for one of the worst Gems, Lock-On is a Debuff that should rarely cause any bother. There are very few enemies that will use Lock-On in the game (locks you target to the enemy) and those that do tend to be lesser enemies that go down quickly in boss battles.

• Best Characters: There are no best characters for this Gem, it’s a Gem you should avoid setting at all costs.

• Uses: Like the majority of the other Resist Gems, this is a Gem that is outclassed by Debuff Resist. Paralysis is a nasty Debuff but yet again, there’s not too many enemies that will make use of it. Still, Debuff Resist will keep you covered there, making this obsolete.

• Best Characters: There are no best characters for this Gem, it’s a Gem you should avoid setting at all costs.

• Uses: The Physical counterpart to Ether Protect that are less useful due to needing the Buff Plus Time Gem to make them last longer than 30 seconds. This is slightly more useful than Ether Protect mainly down to Physical Arts being more prominent however that alone doesn’t save it.

• Best Characters: There are no best characters for this Gem, it’s a Gem you should avoid setting at all costs.

• Uses: Like the majority of the other Resist Gems, this is a Gem that is outclassed by Debuff Resist. Pierce is a deadly Debuff, lowering all of your defences to zero but yet again, there’s only a handful of enemies (most coming towards the end of the game) that will make use of it. Still, Debuff Resist will keep you covered there, making this obsolete.

• Best Characters: There are no best characters for this Gem, it’s a Gem you should avoid setting at all costs.

• Uses: Like most of the elemental Defence Gems, they’re highly situational based on the enemies you’re fighting. When set, Poison Defence will lower the damage taken from Poison so unless you’re up against an enemy using that, avoid this Gem.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem. If you’re up against an enemy using Poison often, consider equipping it then.

• Uses: Like the majority of the other Resist Gems, this is a Gem that is outclassed by Debuff Resist. Sleep can be a deadly Debuff in certain situations, especially if the entire party are hit with it. Still, Debuff Resist will keep you covered there, making this obsolete.

• Best Characters: There are no best characters for this Gem, it’s a Gem you should avoid setting at all costs.

• Uses: Like the majority of the other Resist Gems, this is a Gem that is outclassed by Debuff Resist.

• Best Characters: There are no best characters for this Gem, it’s a Gem you should avoid setting at all costs.

• Uses: This is the one Defence Gem that is worth setting and indeed vital, for certain encounters, especially the higher level Unique Monsters and the Super Bosses. With this set, it will decrease the damage taken from Spike Auras and with the nastiest enemies in the game having these in abundance, this is vital to survive them.

• Best Characters: Any character that is physically attacking your enemy is a prime candidate here but especially your tanks. Additionally, it’s vital that Seven reaches the cap of Spike Defence due to how quickly she attacks.

• Uses: This is one of two Debuffs that the ever useful Debuff Resist Gem doesn’t cover. Topple Resist will increase the chances of Topple not landing on your character, useful for tricky enemies that may have a Counter Topple Spike Aura.

• Best Characters: Like most situational Gems, there isn’t a best character for this Gem. If you do decide to set this Gem, consider putting it on your party leader, that way they can help recover others suffering from Daze easily.