Excuse me?? I didn’t know that. One of the developers said the armour cap is 9230. How does it work with higher lvl monsters then? Are you sure it works this way?
Thank you for all the info btw, I’ll definitely check it all out! And, I definitely like to kite with my Sorceress 
Pretty sure, yes, I’ve always assumed that was the case, especially because when you hover over the ‘Armor’ value on PC, it will say “Reduces Physical damage taken by enemies of equal level by 85%” (if you’re hitting the cap).
That’s very specific wording. It implies that you don’t need as much armor to protect against lower level monsters. But you will need more to defend against higher level monsters.
In the thread I linked above, the person mentioned the same thing. And here is another source:
They’re called “uniques”. That thing everyone is so quick to describe as useless are, in fact, incredibly useful because many of them got damage reduction added back when the opportunity cost of not having damage reduction was too high.
id like to add that its not only uniques. certain aspects give damage reduction + certain paragon glyphs (not sure if that applies to all classes tho)
Oh yeah, for sure, like I said they only (mostly) removed DR from regular gear, but we have all the old options, and some fun new ones, via aspects, skills, paragon, etc.
Thanks for pointing it out though, DR and damage mitigation in general is as important as ever but thankfully it seems like we’ve got plenty of tools to help keep us alive!
I’ve been trying to min/max my build and I honestly can’t find much to do.
Key survivability skills and passives:
Ice Armour
Flame Shield
Align the Elements
Mana Shield
Protection
Icy Veil
Warmth
I thought tempering would give us options but it only do for Flame Shield and Warmth, and some generic Armour, Dodge, Life. So I found tempering almost useless for building defense.
The Paragon Boards do give DR but in later lvls. Right now, I have no option.
I’m curious what makes you think we’ve been given enough tools for survivability. Outside of RNG, I don’t have any option to put +points in the skills/passives I want, and for my build specifically I don’t have the option to spec DR to burning enemies anymore, or any other defense mechanic for that matter. Except maybe dodge?
I can only speak to the Rogue experience (haven’t really levelled anyone else yet this season) but I would hope and assume that most (if not all) of the same defensive options are available for all classes (it’s a bit rude if not!)
Those options aren’t useless, those stats (along with resistances, which you can also buff via tempering) are the core of your defense. Armor is literally physical damage reduction. Resistances are elemental damage reduction. Dodge can also be super useful now if you invest in it, but, I would only look at that after hitting armor/resist caps and of course, maximizing your hit points.
If it helps, take a look at this, now I wouldn’t expect people to nerd out on the stats (I don’t either, I just play the game) but I came across this yesterday, so here it is (it’s old, but still mostly relevant):
https://mobalytics.gg/blog/diablo-4/how-defense-works/
Starting with the absolute basics, as I said before, you can get extra life now on literally every piece of equipment now. This is absolutely incredible for survivability. You may not find it interesting to stack HP on your gear, but it’s one of your first and best options if you want to survive. My Rogue has +life on everything (and quite a lot from the paragon boards) and is sitting at 41k HP unbuffed (50k HP with fortitude potion).
You have already said your armor and resists are good, so I would suggest you get as much HP as you can, and then of course look for more sources of damage reduction. I am not sure if anything has changed in the patch, but I am quite sure you will find DR options in your paragon boards and glyphs, if you can’t reach them now, well, that’s an easy fix, level up and spec into it.
There are many uniques which still offer damage reduction, even though DR stats have been removed from regular items. I would only take them if they also offer compelling stats and abilities for your class/build, but any extra DR source will be helpful to you.
Movement speed is often overlooked, as someone mentioned in this thread; it’s trivial to avoid a lot of hazards (or kite, or run away) if you have very good movement speed. Plus, it’s more fun! Get boots with max movement speed, you can get it on amulets too, and you may also have skills that boost it, consider using those.
Dodge is certainly an option, not sure I’d recommend it for a Sorc (it’s much easier for a Rogue of course, with Dex as our primary stat) but that’s part of what I meant by the new tools available to us, take for example the new or updated dodge aspects. I use both together and it’s incredible:
Those may not be attractive to you, but the point is, there are many defensive aspects, the ‘old faithful’ staples and some new/updated ones, take a look through the list and see if you can take advantage of any of those. Since you’re having trouble finding DR, for example, just take this one if you use a basic skill:
Spam your basic skill, boom, 20% DR. (Unfortunately I didn’t use a basic skill on my Incinerate Sorc, but if you do, go nuts!) Take a look and see if you have any class specific aspects that add self healing, DR, or anything else useful for extra defenses.
It’s another obvious one, but as part of maximizing your life, you should have the best Rubies you can make in every armor socket, that substantially boosts your HP of course.
You might have to drop some DPS stats to take some of this stuff, but that is the reality of it, you must compromise and sacrifice some offensive power sometimes for better defenses if you’re having trouble surviving. Remember the old truism, “you can’t DPS when you’re dead!”
It’s up to you to find the right balance that works for you.
I’d gladly drop DPS for defense. I’m lvl77 currently and I’m melting NMD50 monsters. I’m not pushing either mind you.
I have the aspect that gives you lots of armour and I’m on 13K armour right now. All my resistances are capped at 70% so I don’t need more.
That’s where I am atm.
This seems necessary tbh.
I know this may sound strange but if I need to spec into life in every single item slot then I prefer to stop playing this game. The new items already roll with 2/3 affixes as mainstat and life, so that leaves us with 1 true affix to have fun with and we can only reroll 1 affix. Tempering is another place were is supposed to be fun rolling cool affixes. The only defensive choices we get in tempering are Life, Armour, Dodge, Resist and 2 of those are very easy to cap out. So that leaves us with Life and Dodge. I find this extremely restrictive and ultimately not fun at all.
It seems all you have to do is cap your defensive stats which is extremely easy, you can’t really sacrifice DPS for defense as it stands right now. And then, you pick whatever’s available in Paragon and just stack life infinitely. Other than that, it’s all RNG. No real choice to be made is required at all.
I’d love to be wrong here but there are not many tools.
All these things improve your survivability. However, there are mechanics that will just kill you regardless of how much survivability you have.
The issue I’m facing is I can’t get DR from anywhere else. Also, my caps are maxed.
It’s not an issue if I play super low lvl content but that makes no sense to me when I can casually clear 25+lvl monsters above me.
I’m also not looking in face-tanking. I’m gaming 
Yeah sure, I understand that perspective. Of course you don’t have to! I am coming form the perspective of a Hardcore player. It’s kind of important to me that I have enough life to survive. 
Naturally in your case, you only need enough to manage the content you want to do. Right now, you’re pushing much higher than your level, having more life will help, but it’s up to you to find the balance that works for you, of course.
My example is an extreme example! I’m trying to make progress in the pit in HC. You wouldn’t even need to do that for the pit in normal mode, I’m just being super cautious.
I only give that extreme example to demonstrate that it’s very easy to get more life, which is the starting point to having more survivability.
@Fribbles I did play HC last season and I understand where you’re coming from. I lost my lvl90 Sorceress due to me being stupid, but hey.
I didn’t have this issue last season. There was no point were I felt I was out of defensive options if I so desired. It feels super dumbed down now.
Your playing a game and if you don’t like the rules of the game that’s fine but you will be smashing your head against a brick wall for awhile I guess.
While agree I there are some serious balance issues and one shot mechanics that often just feel bad. That stuff aside it’s a you issue if you don’t like how you have to build your character or play the game to manage higher tier content.
All we can do is point you to all the areas that make your character more hardy and hope Blizz keeps balancing their game.
I’m not smashing my head into anything, lol I’m trying to understand the new itemisation, that’s why I’m asking questions. That’s how people learn, usually.
As I’ve already said, that was no problem for me last season. Defense feels very dumbed down right now.
Oof, sorry to hear that. You live and learn. Well, you die and learn, in this case.
Yeah each season is different, we just have to adapt. Honestly, some classes and builds obviously just have an easier or tougher time of it as we roll through the seasons. I’m not feeling a lack of options personally (quite the opposite), BUT, there are definitely different tempers, aspects, and whatever else available for each class.
I am hoping Incinerate Sorc is good this season though, I wanted to try it again. On paper, they added or buffed some of the offensive options, right? I dunno, let me find the build guide I used back in the day (dislaimer: it’s old, but some of it may still help you). It’s the one time I followed a guide, because I wanted to amp up my Incinerate build (I got it to a decent point, but still, not quite there). There were some really good tips in there. (You can probably find a new/better guide, but this is what I followed then).
https://youtu.be/IAQ-rlnZu0Q
With that build I could do NM100 pretty easily, it was hyper specific with items, but it was hilariously OP and fun. (Note: because it was mostly unique items, most of those are probably still available/unchanged!)
Well you’re right, but looking at it the wrong way (imho). It has been simplified, so that it easier for people to understand. I don’t think it’s necessarily worse or less effective, it’s just perhaps more straightforward than you think (you may be overthinking it!)
That stuff aside its a you issue if you dont like how you HAVE to build your character or play the game or manage higher tear content.
Some times we just have to face reality and right now we need to manage the challenge in front of us and design builds to solve those problems.
It’s clear balance needs attention and some damage cannot be avoided no matter how much you buff your stats. It would be nice if that stuff could get fine tuned. However, for the moment we can’t do anything about that.
Either you park the game until you’re happy with it, or accept the situation and get on with playing……
Getting to lvl 100 will help.
I believe you, I just can’t see it myself. I’m genuinely curious to see your build. Do you mind sharing it?
Defense is dumbed down right now and Blizzard is still trying to figure out game balance. You have a few different issues going on.