While I'm generally against Ace on his VIT stance, I do agree with him that a little DEF can go a long ways. And you don't have to go full turtle tank style to get a decent DEF rating. Start by getting HQ of all your gear. That alone can add anywhere from 1-10 def per piece. I also rock a double def meld on my kite shield+1. That coupled with a full set of militia gear gives me rough 700 def rating. The militia setup also puts me at a decent VIT rating (I call 270 decent) for those fights like myrmidion princess, a capped MND, and puts me at 4k HP. I'm free to stack STR rings. With this setup, all I have to do is swap in a piece or two if I want to go dd tank or turtle or hp/enm depending on what the situation calls for.