User blog:IsGamer13/Character Branches: Defensive

The Defensive character branch is oriented towards tanking and resisting attacks from enemies, be it physical or magic attacks, some of these characters can protect other party members as well and even parry (in other words, completely negate) damage. Their big downside is their lack of offensive skills and their very low damage. Some characters have Defensive as a secondary branch, meaning they can resist some attacks and deal damage back effectively.

Some characters are very focused on Defense and Resistance as well, making the rest of stats be very low, they also have a very considerable HP, most characters from the Defensive branch own a lot of it, much higher than the average. A good Offensive character is their bread and butter, since they protect them from damage and allows them to easily do damage at enemies, covering the Defensive character's main flaws.

The characters under the Defensive branch are:

Bowser: He is the only character that can be defensively offensive, you can make him resist quite a lot of physical attacks and deal considerable physical damage back, since his skills allow him to be heavily offensive and a really defensive tank, in exchange of a very poor Resistance and Speed, making him a bit fragile againist Magic users, thus why he is not completely Defensive. Party members that can cover his weakness againist Magic users are excellent, Healing characters like Peach are a good option as well.

Fi: She's the character with the highest Defense and Resistance in the game, she perfectly serves as a wall againist enemies, her inmunity towards status ailments reinforce her taking abilities even more, you can safely use Fi to absorb enemies' attacks, be it physical or magic attacks. On the other hand however, she has quite a low HP for a Defensive character, as well as very low Attack and Magic (probably among the lowest in the game), you can only use her as a wall for anything, but she will lack a lot of offensive capabilities. Fi goes well with any Offensive character, in case Paladin is not attractive for you, you can safely use her to tank attacks directed at the damage dealers, a Healing character is recommended to let Fi stay forever in a battle as well, otherwise, you can rely on her defensive stats.

King Dedede: He is not a character that tanks for others... entirely, but rather a very resisting character, his HP stat is inmense, among the highest in the game, he can even heal it continuously without a lot of penalties, making him kind of a ridiculous tank, his offensive skills allow him to hit enemies nicely, depending on how you want him to work, opposite to most Defensive characters. His drawbacks are that his Defense and Resistance are average, not very high for a Defensive character, also, preventing him from healing means a lot of trouble, because it makes him way less tanky. Any character that erases status ailments or buff his two defensive stats are good for him, as long as you try to protect them as well.

Paladin: They're focused in walling every attack incoming at them and protect the party from taking too much damage, they can also continuously protect other party members and parry the incoming damage (be it physical or magic damage), their HP, Defense and Resistance are quite high, allowing them to be the most effective and fitting tanks in the game. Of course, their offensive skills are just... one skill, that has high chances to stun, which is great in most cases. Other than that, Paladins may not be too attractive, their skills cost HP and if you overuse them, they won't tank anything in the end, play carefully with them if you want a powerful Defensive character. Healing characters are excellent back-ups for Paladins, because they heal their missing HP to let them cast skills, as well as tank of course. Offensive characters cover their poor damage and allows them to have a set character to protect.