The issue with everything besides Vitality and Mnd is the way the Stat Equations are setup. Atm the level difference part of the equation plays way way to big of a part of all the calculations.

So the difference between like 80str and having say 140 str might be like 2-5% dmg difference. Where the same in Vitality will be like 800hp and 2-5% less dmg taken... That 800 hp is a huge chunck and will help you tank where other stats will not really.

So Stacking Vitality does little for dmg negation but gives you alot of HP. Which is why you see people saying only get vit and Mnd... they give MP and Hp which is noticeable. The stats atm just are too negligable to matter much. SE says they are adjusting it do it might change in the future.

Protect and Shell are ok, issue is that is 4 ability points, so you will have to sacrifice something else ability wise... and they don't last very long. I would let mages cast it on you if you can if mages can't they are decent to equip.

Macro wise, I guess it depends on what you are doing. I use keyboard only so everything I do is with 1 button press more or less... outside gear/ability swaps when changing jobs, marking mobs, and a /targer npc macro I do not use macros at all honestly. Controler wise macros might be more beneficial.