Long live Swedish methodology. What does this say about us as a nation, one wonders...Look to people who play methodically and use all the tools. Maltatai is a great example of that; so is jiansonz.
MDR is indeed applied before resistances, frustratingly enough, so resists are often more important. But it is something of the same as PDR versus %DR in that MDR is better against a barrage of many but weak magical attacks and resistances are better against fewer but stronger magical attacks. Scarabs are a great example of when high MDR can shine and be better than 75% lightning resistance.Magic Damage Reduce (MDR) can be really helpful if you are struggling to get resists up (resists I think are more important if I'm remembering how damage taken is calculated, but MDR is a decent substitute and/or addition).
There is, or was, a bug connected to attacks that deal both physical and magical damage. If you have PDR and MDR the total damage of the attack is pitted against the combined total of PDR and MDR, even if you have perhaps high PDR but only one or two MDR - which would otherwise have been too much PDR for the physical and too little MDR for the magical part of the attack. The moral of the story is simply to invest in both PDR and MDR if you can.
@Jocular
Yes you did, in no uncertain terms;
https://www.diabloii.net/forums/thr...n-looking-for-tips.867079/page-2#post-8668590
Actually that is a somewhat relevant thread here too even if it's focused on melee Amazons rather than primarily a sorceress as @TestyFish has asked about.
Also, where is the patriarch/guardian thread of that PDR Riftadin?