Damage calculation?

I think the answer to that is unless the Defense skill gets canceled by the skill, the Defense skill will not help

But it does help on other skills, even if it isn't cancelled. Like with red dragon's meteors and lightning with a shield the damage is greatly reduced while the skill itself isn't triggered and cancelled. Fireball from shyllien plants goes from 1400 damage to about 400. The defense page seems to say it has no effect on magic type skills, and then goes to say it does affect the damage of magic skills, but it doesn't mention that a shield is needed to decrease the damage, and it also says using a shield with defense just increases melee and ranged defense. Well that aside... I did a very, very small test, and it seems it doesn't anyway.

Enlightenment did some really really weird things to Defense skill. Doesn't look like anyone bothered to examine it.

• Equipping a shield boosts the skill greatly, even affecting magic stuff, but by how much we don't know (Keep in mind that Vales Shield's value is a glitch).
  • "Not effecting magic type skills" is probably because the skill only lists physical defense stat and physical protection. If it affected magic defense/protection, I'm pretty sure it would have been mentioned as with all other skills.
  • Did you even test the shyllien plant fireball without a shield?
• Like I said before, Defense Skill not cancelling from things that bypass it is a glitch.

I did test without a shield, and it did nothing. I know its a glitch, but still, I think it should be mentioned as part of this topic, since it was said that if it doesn't trigger the skill it doesn't affect damage.

Figures. All I can say is that the Defense skill now is really weird.