Quote Originally Posted by Viridiana View Post
As much as I respect your contributions to theorycrafting in this game, I'm going to consider stats "broken" until the day Santa runs become impossible. I mean, Ifrit and Moogle are both allegedly balanced around single-materia gear, yet Ifrit was completable in Santa suits, and I have no doubt that a Moogle version will be up before too long. If the stats matter so little that you can complete current end-game while effectively naked, something is broken. . .
Some stats are more potent than others for their effects. For example, stats for each class that give AA and damage bonuses are very effective and noticeable.

As for Ifrit in Santa suits, it would only ever matter for the physical hits Ifrit lands on the tank. Everything else is Fire magic based, and thus completely ignored the defense value of your gear. So while it means absolutely nothing in terms of survival when the DPS and healers in Ifrit wear full Santa, it makes the difference of higher damage taken on Ifrit's AA for the tank. Considering Ifrit's slow AA and leniency towards spamming Fire-based attacks, a skilled pair of healers can easily get you through it.

It sounds more impressive than it actually is.