When it comes to gearing up in Diablo 4, defensive stats play a crucial role alongside increasing damage numbers. If players are unable to withstand enemy attacks, their damage output becomes irrelevant. Understanding how defensive stats work and making informed choices is essential for survival in the game.

In Diablo 4, there are two primary forms of damage resistance: Armor and Resistances. Armor provides protection against Physical Damage, while Resistances defend against Elemental Damage. However, the way these stats stack and interact with each other may not be immediately clear.

Armor not only reduces Physical Damage but also provides partial protection against Elemental damage. The in-game tooltip states that Armor reduces incoming Elemental damage by half of its Physical Damage reduction value. For example, having 50% Physical protection would provide 25% defense against Elemental attacks. It's important to note that increasing the game's difficulty reduces the effectiveness of all resistances.

Diablo 4 employs a diminishing returns formula to prevent players from becoming invincible in the late game. Resistances do not stack additively, meaning equipping two rings with 20% Fire Resistance each will not result in a total resist value of 40%. The actual increase in resistance will likely be around 2-3% or even less, depending on the existing protection. The stat values shown on the character sheet already include the Elemental Resistance value added by Armor, so the actual amount of Elemental Resistance provided by items is lower than what is implied.

This puts Elemental Resistance in a peculiar position. In general, players should avoid prioritizing this stat on their items unless their protection values against a specific Elemental damage type are extremely low. This is particularly true on higher difficulties like Torment, where reaching the 50% resistance mark can be challenging. Instead, focusing on stacking Life or Armor would be more beneficial in such cases.

In addition to Armor and Resistances, there are also Damage Reduction effects that reduce incoming damage under certain conditions. Damage Reduction stacks multiplicatively with other protection modifiers and is not specific to any damage type. The only time Damage Reduction stacks additively is when multiple sources activate off the same condition, such as Damage from Bleeding or Damage while Fortified.

To maximize survivability, players should ideally stack all three defensive effects: Armor, Resistances, and Damage Reduction. However, when considering gear stat priority, Elemental Resistances should generally be lower on the list unless players find themselves frequently succumbing to a particular elemental damage type.

By understanding how these defensive stats function and making informed gear choices, players can strike a balance between offense and defense, increasing their chances of survival in the treacherous world of Diablo 4.

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