Any MT's here?

Been MTing in Molten Core and ZG lately and my question is about achieving that magic number of 425 defense. Right now I can get to that number by using several green "of defense" pieces that have only defense and no hp or anything else on them. Is 425 defense my number one priority? To get there right now I must sacrifice a lot of hp but I mean if it is going to block out all criticals(except the 0.001% chance) then it definitely seems worth it. Any advice?

No, you need enough HP to take the hits.

Before the Defense nerf you could get 425 pretty easily but now it's pretty much impossible without sacrificing a lot of stats.

my warrior only has 300+10 defense and i have no problems MTing in ZG

really...I mean the difference between magmadar critting me during a fight or him not is...HUGE. And if you have such low defense during a long boss fight a double critical will drop you and your healers can do nothing. I don't imagine I'll go below 400 defense ever but yes the jump from 400 to 425 right now is sacrificing some serious hp.

I mean mobs in MC hitting regular for round 800-1000 and critting for 2500ish what do I give a crap about an extra 500hp for the whole fight compared to the chance to never being criticaled and taking maybe 10k less damage over the course of a fight.

the magic number is actually 440 defense (for level 63s). sacrificing everything to max your defense isn't a good idea - defense skill should supplement your HP and armor, not be the sole deciding factor of what you wear.

your target gear should include a mix of defense, stamina, and AC. good examples include enchanted thorium helm/golem skull helm, medallion of grand marshal morris, ornate adamantium breastplate/kromcrush chestplate, stalwart clutch/unmelting ice girdle, enchanted thorium legplates, and the redoubt cloak, to name a few.

once you have access to might gear, GET IT. don't listen to all the fucktards out there crying that might_piece_03 has less defense than equivalent blue_piece_05 which has no other stats. might and wrath are pretty much the best you can get for tanking, with a small handful of exceptions (and not even getting into fire resist, which is another story).