Epic Seven: Defense vs. Health (What Matters More?)

In E7, the difference between Defense and Health is that your character’s Health stat dictates how much HP you have during battle, while their Defense stat is a measure of damage mitigation.

If you raise a character’s Health, their maximum HP will grow and they will be able to take more damage in battle.

On the other hand, if you raise a character’s Defense then all of the damage (except attacks with elemental advantage) dealt to them will be reduced.

Focusing on these two stats is very important when it comes to improving a character’s survivability, which is an absolute must in most aspects of the game.

How Defense Works

The Defense stat is every frontline tank’s premiere stat. It’s also essential for characters whose skills scale according to their or their allies’ Defense.

Keeping a character’s Defense high is important because it’ll help them survive longer against most purely-offensive team comps.

For example, high-defense counter/bruiser teams are excellent matchups against high-speed cleave teams since they rely more on their survivability. This allows them to outlast fragile team comps.

There is a caveat when it comes to investing in Defense, though: you have to be wary of Defense Breaks when in battle.

How Health Works

For most healers and tanks, having a high Health stat is highly indispensable and should not be ignored.

After all, Health is generally better than Defense when it comes to allowing your units to tank more damage and survive insane damage bursts.

You also don’t have to worry much about Defense Breaks if you go all-in on the Health stat for your characters instead of Defense.

Finally, most healing skills also scale via HP, so there’s really no reason why you should not invest in it when it comes to your healers and tanks!

Possible Applications

Having high Defense and Health stats is integral for any tank, healer, or tank-healer hybrid unit out there.

But of course, having a high Health stat may be preferable to having a high Defense stat most of the time, as most game modes will often demand you to heal a lot.

Of course, your characters’ Defense should not be neglected — especially if they have Skills that scale with Defense.

Relevant Characters (Increase Defense & Heal)

There are several characters in the game that can boost their own or their allies’ Defense stats through buff-applying skills.

While there isn’t a buff that can increase max health during battle, there are tons of characters with skills that can heal themselves or other units.

To name a few, here are some of the most notable characters who can increase Defense and characters who can heal themselves or others.

Best Characters Who Can Increase Defense:

• Krau – One of the best tanks/bruisers for PVP. He can take a lot of punishment and also dish out enormous damage with his Skill 3.
• Tywin – Has a great kit for a tank/defense breaker hybrid. He can also increase an ally’s combat readiness and attack with his Skill 2.
• Alencia – She’s among the very few characters who can increase an entire team’s defense. She’s also a solid bruiser and utility unit.

Best Characters For Healing:

• Angelica – The most accessible top-tier healer because of Connections. Excellent for PVE content, especially Wyvern Hunts.
• Roana – One of the few reviver/healer hybrids in the game. She shines best in PVP where she can be used as a reviving machine as well as a counter for Counter-based team comps.
• Tamarinne – Easily one of the best units for PVE game modes. Her entire kit is more or less perfect for the healer role.