Defense & Dodge

The two defensive battle actions solve different problems.

Defend adds a shield instead of dealing damage. Its base shield is 20 + half of your Defense, adjusted by shield bonuses. Your total shield cannot grow forever: the normal cap is 35% of max HP (with a minimum cap of 20). Incoming damage is taken from the shield before HP.

Dodge prepares one dodge attempt for the next eligible incoming attack. A normal manual dodge starts from a 70% base chance, but the attacker's Precision lowers that chance. Bonuses/penalties can move it, and the final chance is clamped between 25% and 85%. A successful dodge prevents that attack's normal damage; a failed attempt is consumed and the hit continues.

Repeatedly choosing only defense becomes less efficient. On the third consecutive defend/dodge action, Defend is reduced to 85% effectiveness and Dodge receives a −10 percentage-point modifier. From the fourth consecutive defensive action, Defend falls to 70% and Dodge to −20 points. Attacking or using a jutsu resets the defensive streak.

That means defense is strongest as a tactical turn, not as an infinite stall strategy.