| I hate to say this but, don't listen to Mephisto. As quoted by Darzog, the chance to block (and this only applies, like defence to physical attacks) is dependant on Dexterity investment and the chance to block stat on the shield.
Likewise, in general, it is unwise to 'pump' stats for defence/AR/damage. Most good players will recommend all spare stats going into Vitality, with strength only as required to wear equipment and Dexterity for either max block or equipment.
With respect to Darzog's post, there are certain practical considerations within the Diablo world that are not referred to on the Arreat Summit such as that Guided Arrow is not stopped by defence, however is stopped by block.
Broadly speaking, largely for the purposes of duelling, the hierarchy of importance of Defence, Damage Reduction and Block is as follows:
Block = Damage Reduction >>>>>>>>>>>>> Defence
Defence is largly useless in PvM due to the fact that monsters seem to hit you anyway, and in PvP because most enemies worth duelling are only significantly disadvantaged when Defence is over 30K.
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