I know it's a question as old as time - but the game has changed a lot since I was last playing 7 years ago, and I'm curious what current thinking is.

I've just got my Jah + Ith + Ber and the indecision is killing me!

These are the 3 bases I have.

https://ibb.co/SDSYB97W

DS has best defence (albeit low roll) but looks janky - do people still care?

260 is 1 off perfect.

296 is solid def for a MP - but apparently people care about repair costs? Is that actually a serious concern, aren't we all rolling in gold once enigma is an option..?

It's got to do with the strength requirement.
Like if you have to add the 22 strength points to equip the dusk shroud vs the mage plate then it's better to use the mage plate.
Really depends on your other gear that can boost your strength up to begin with like torch/anni etc.

repair cost isnt really a factor, it's more so that 13 ed looks really ugly. you want either 0 or 15 ed, anything in between will tank the value

def is a largely useless pvm stat, what you want is a low req lightweight base (such as your clean dusk or mp)