Originally posted by Groom:

I have HUGE problems on the defence side.
Some mobs can even one shoot me (especially if they can shotgun me with their spells/skills).
In other words: I died/die alot.

There are so many stats and attributes that can appear on an item, all competing with my current gear.

But I have problems determine if this is good or not (this goes for offensive stats as well), that I might have to comprise a stats(s)/attribute(s) because they are not there BUT another (good) stat is much bigger than the one I currently have.
Sometimes I get stuck with some items for over 10/15+ levels.

I try to prioritize defence more than offensive, but doesn't seem to be enough.

My stat distribution is: 3 str and (from lvl 1 to 35: 1 focus and 1 Vit then) 2 vit.
Stat potions drop, and I will eventually respec my stats to only 3 str and 2 vit.

I try to prioitize:
For defence:
%dmg reduction
All armor types with % (will stop this later)
All armor with flat values (will stop this later)
%health
Health
The missile defence stat
Dodge

Items from Drops usually don't have the Affixes needed to give good survival.
Although Synergies does make it easier to acquire Skulls of Limony and Riechliu because of Tabletop Mountain that can be reached from Estherian Enclave from the beginning and just takes lots of Gold to buy from the Vendors.

Synergies on Elite... lots of one-shot potential from enemies since Synergies adds "Heroic" and "Elite" enemy types between vanilla Champ and Boss types with Enemy Affix expansion for all.

You have a good sense of what offensive Affixes are needed. Just a matter of gathering more of these items as they are found uncommonly.

Getting stuck with items for 15 levels isn't uncommon for TL2 especially when Players know that specific Stats and Affixes are more ideal than others.
Enchanting lower level Weapons with elemental direct damage numbers and socketing them with direct damage embers or skulls will help to maintain Dps amounts.
If using Skills that use no weapon / strength Dps damage then the weapon damage doesn't matter in those cases. Cast, Crit, and Armor-down will always be useful on Weapons to make them support the Player Build.

Stats for Elite is usually decent with 3 Strength and 2 Vitality... although since Block Chance is not a factor in this build - Vitality will be less useful except to defend against common (small) type enemies. Since survival is more of a concern - Dexterity's Critical Chance tends to be less prioritized by players.

And for the most important question:
How much % All Damage Taken Reduction, +Max Health, % Health Steal, and Missile Reflect does this build have? By level 55; there's ways (especially with Synergies-mod) to acquire these through Vendors to make the Build as defensive as possible.

And it's needed more since there's no Block Chance on this build and Dodge doesn't really protect well outside of Melee strikes.