Protect and Shell!

[Edyn]

only problem i have is the differance btween tier 1 and tier 2 spells are negligable.

This seems to be true for every single spell with multiple tiers. There's really no point in using the higher tier spells unless you don't mind using the extra MP.

As for Protect and Shell specifically, they were working nicely til that November patch and Shell got a massive nerf. Protect feels the same, but Shell is definitely not what it once was. It was pretty powerful before but personally I feel like it was nerfed just a little too much.