Please don't watter down the difficulty.

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just_dont#6539 wrote:

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nnilfoest#6766 wrote:

I think the problem is the lack of way to obtain the require status need to overcome it. In ER I can grind for more Vigor if need to. Get 100$ physical shield from merchant and tank almost everything. Take some incant to boost my resist and make element attack far less punishing. Here I need good luck to get needed suffix, repeatedly.

Here you have:
1) Basic +5 stat nodes, which are +10 HP if you slot strength. That won't mean much later, but early it's a very substantial boost.

2) Armor/evasion/enshield. Since all of those have diminishing returns (without supporting passives), you can boost your early survivability by taking them all in roughly equal proportions. That doesn't take much from you, just equipping mixed stats armor will suffice.

3) Later you can consciously route your passives build towards more survivability, and it works quite well.

You quite certainly don't need any "elite" loot to be tanky.