How does enemy defense work?

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An enemy's Defense stat prevents a fixed amount of damage each time it's dealt damage, but that Defense value is reduced by the total damage already dealt to it during the same engage action. Each enemy chip lists a Defense value, which is "the amount of damage prevented each time an engage or ability deals damage to the enemy" [p.55 — Enemy Chip Anatomy]. This means whenever damage is dealt to that enemy, its Defense reduces the incoming damage before the remainder is applied to its HP. However, Defense isn't static within a single engage action. When resolving a roll, "the total amount of damage dealt to a unit during an engage... reduces that unit's defense, which does not reset until after this action ends" [p.60 — Resolving Skill Abilities]. In other words, as an adventurer deals multiple instances of damage to the same enemy in one engage, the enemy's remaining Defense gets worn down, so later hits in that same engage prevent less damage than the first hit did. This only resets after the engage action is fully resolved. Damage prevention follows the general rules for preventing damage: any amount prevented is subtracted from the damage dealt one point at a time, and the prevented damage still counts as "dealt" for triggering other abilities, even though it doesn't reduce HP [p.63 — Preventing Damage]. Note that True Damage is a special case — it cannot be prevented or reduced by Defense (or other prevention abilities) unless an effect specifically says otherwise [p.63 — Damage Language and Type]. Watch out: Because Defense depletes over the course of a single engage (not per hit permanently, and not per round), players should track cumulative damage dealt to an enemy during that one engage action carefully — dealing several smaller damage instances in the same engage can result in progressively less damage being prevented.

How does enemy defense work?

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