Resistances vs Melee and Missile Damage reduction

So i have a wizard i’m building and i die to physical melee and physical missile attacks easily (what exactly makes a missile attack a “missile” and if it’s an obviously fire missile does that make it both a fire and missile attack when applied to fire res and missile damage reduction?) And i have a lot of points into Intelligence but i have zero damage reduction in melee and missile attacks. My main question is shouldn’t intelligence (which obviously adds a lot of resistances including physical) include physical attacks? Or do i just not have enough physical res?

The character’s name is Persephone if you want to see it in my profile

Intelligence reduces Elemental attacks. Armor reduces Physical. So, a Wizard would want gear that has Armor rather than All Resist.
Missiles can be either Physical or Elemental. Note that the Bloodstars thrown by Succubus enemies are actually physical even though they are red and look like they are Fire.
Many Wizards will, at some point, start swapping out Topaz in favor of either Rubies or Emeralds in chest and pants to gain more Physical damage reduction.
I noticed that you are using Storm Armor but are wearing a Halo of Arlyse instead of Halo of Karini. The damage reduction of Karini combined with Storm is significant.
Other than being Ancient, that Arlyse ring is not helping without Ice Armor.
IMO a standard Karini with Storm is better than an Ancient Arlyse with or without Ice .

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That sounds like it makes sense, but I’m seeing some conflicting information. If intelligence only reduced elemental attacks then my physical resistance wouldn’t almost match my fire or other elemental resistances. I have 1741 physical res and Maxroll’s d3planner (you can put my battle.net code in a see the character for yourself in better detail, i can’t link it here) says that 1196 of that if from intelligence. Also isn’t physical an element?

Physical res: Head 94, Torso 201, Paragon 250 then intelligence 1196 = 1741
Fire res: Head 94, Hands 203, Paragon 250, Intelligence 1196 = 1743

It’s also possible that melee, physical and missile just feel like they’re stronger than the should because i could be dying to other kinds of damage but the build is better of stopping those other kinds of damage as a range caster.

Sheet stats are not an accurate display of Damage or Damage reduction.
A good example is the Karini effect with Storm Armor. The reduction doesn’t kick in until an enemy 30 yds away gets zapped by the armor.
Few want to keep the details sheet open during battle to watch the numbers change.
Physical is not an Element except for the CoE ring rotation.
I have never used D3 Planner. I am not a number crunching min/max person.
I just go by results and what actually happens in Battle.
Several of your items have plus Armor and Vitality. That may be the source of your Physical Resistance.

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Lets say that d3planner is wrong, why would my physical res be so high (almost the same as my fire res) when i have a lot more intelligence on my gear. Yes i have Armor and vitality but then my fire res wouldn’t almost match the physical res.

I couldn’t say. Perhaps someone who has more experience using D3 Planner will chime in and explain the inconsistencies.
I can only say from experience that Karini with Storm and Ashgenarr with Galvanizing add a lot of defense.
The only LOD Wizard build I have ever used is Twister. It is very tanky but really slow.
You appear to have fallen into the trap that many players, myself included, have done by using gear that is not appropriate for the build just because it is Ancient.
Your shoulders buff channeling skills but you are not using one. It was for a Barb, so the buff to Call of the Ancients is wasted. Your bracers were for a WD and buff Poison damage, which a Wizard cannot do, etc.
Random Ancient gear will only take a LOD/LON build so far. I believe that synergy between the skills and gear buffs is more important.

I sent you a friend request. It would be easier to chat privately and maybe even play together sometimes.

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AFAIK, all-resist does increase physical resistance.

As for why you are being one-shot, it depends on what difficulty level you are playing. LoD doesn’t have as much damage mitigation as some of the other sets, not to mention having items that further mitigate damage.

I notice that you aren’t using your followers, which is a big mistake. For example, you could replace your Halo of Arlyse with Unity, put one on your follower (as long as it also has the immortality token), and you would reduce damage taken by 50%.

You really shouldn’t have to worry about melee damage, since you ideally would attack from a distance.

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But how do you know?

Edit: I don’t know how to link it but there is an Intelligence article on Diablo.fandom says that intelligence covers all resistances.

Basics…

  • 1 Strength = 1 Armour
  • 1 Dexterity = 1 Armour
  • 10 Intelligence = 1 All Resist

This is why Intelligence classes (Wizard, Necro, Witch Doctor) have naturally high All Resist values, but low armour and why the other classes have naturally high Armour and low All Resist. To maximise your EHP (Effective Hit Points) you gear for the mitigation you’re naturally lowest on. That’s why the INT classes want Armour, and why the STR and DEX classes want All Resist, on their gear and/or chest/leg gem slots.

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It’s easy to test by creating a new level 1 character. Note the resistances. Then add 50 paragon points to All-Resist. All the resistances, including physical resistance, will go up by 250.

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I guess I was wrong and All Resist does increase Physical Resist.
Learn something new every day.

If you want to increase your overall tankiness try to equip Ashnagarrs Bracers, Cube or wear Ice Climbers or use the Ivigorating Gem Stone, Wear Stone Gauntlets (Useable through either Invigorating Gem Stone or Ice Climbers), instead of Arlyse Halo use Unity on yourself and your Follower. Switch from Magic Weapon Conduit to Deflection and change your Passive Paralysis to Blur, Illusionist dominance or for more damage to Power Hungry. And you should totally get Arcane Power per Crit on your Source.

Roll Life per Second on your boots to Armor or All Resistance.

I won’t give any advice how to play, cause figuring out stuff on your own is the most joy. But If you want to see some full fledged out Builds, check out the maxroll guides.

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