What's the most efficient amount of Defense Ups?

[_horiizon_]

I wanted to start this thread to see what are others squids' experience using defense up and if it would be worth investing three whole defense up mains into a set or specifically finding a niche where a good majority of weapons are affected or even your own personal preference.
And before anyone says it yes i do know it depends on every weapon but im pretty sure there are thresholds to be matched to defend against certain weapons such as the .52 gal and blaster weapons for example

 

[Anaru]

2 is probably what you should use, maybe 3 if that's what you want your kit to focus on. 1-2 defense ups makes it so that the .52 gal, (octo?)brushes, and splash-o-matic can take an extra hit to kill you. If you use 3, you can counter more attack ups, and block against N-zaps. However, a much better defense ability is just ink res

 

[SlimeTech]

I ran 3 mains for a while. It helped me once against a charger that was relying on damage ups to kill, but that is pretty much it. Every .52 I've faced has ran 1-2 damage up mains. After that I kind of abandoned defense up. It's so counterable, and the rewards are very little. If it ever became popular to run tons of defense up than people would just run damage up on basically every weapon. I think you are better off using other abilities, but that's just my opinion.

 

[NotAPerso]

9 subs of defense or any combination of sub/main that is around 3 main will let your weapon get within its effective range to challenge a charger. You'll also be relatively safe from burst bomb assaults. Sometimes you'll survive rollers and blasters if they aren't running damage up and you're in a good position. If a Tentatek is confident and doesn't run damage up then you'll survive an extra hit. Most smart .52 gal players run at least 1 main 3 sub damage so you're unlikely to affect them.

2 main 7 subs gives the above and more likely to survive rollers blasters Tentatek and .52 gal.

2 main 9 subs pretty much guarantees the extra hit with any .52 gal or Tentatek.

Most defense builds run ink resistance which greatly reduces damage taken while in enemy ink (but it's harder to get since defense with ink resistance is a shiny gear piece).

A full defense build is most effective on mid-long range weapons that can effectively challenge a charger since that is the primary benefit. Specifically the .96 gal Deco because it can afford the heavy defense investment and has range.

 

[Xano]

I ran two defense mains on a 52 gal build to see if it would help me win trade situations. The difference was negligible. Defense doesn't seem to "hard counter" anything except snipers that don't use any damage up, but a full charge will kill you anyway.

 

[Astral]

As a past blaster main, i can tell you that assuming the opponent does not have any damage ups, having just 1 sub of defense can make the normal blaster and custom blaster require 3 shots. This is only if you were hit by the weakest point of the blaster's shot. These 2 particular blasters deal 50.0 damage normally on the weakest point. otherwise i'd say having 1 main is your best bet (or 2 if the weapon you are using doesn't require damage ups, such as the .96, tri slosher, etc which all take at least 2 shots to kill at full health)