Whats the point of so many defensive layers..

Armor, Evasion, spell block, Attack block, 4 resistances, Spell Suppression, Life, Energy shield.

Does there need to be so many?

There's also dodge, strait up damage reduction (of all kinds), ward, regen, recoup, damage delay (Petrified Blood), leech, and probably a dozen more I'm not thinking of.

The point is build variety. Every one of these mechanics works in a unique way and interacts with incoming damage in a unique way. They are pieces of a puzzle you can fit together in creative ways to keep your character alive using the resources you have available.

I honestly find it weird you would ask why we should have build options. Maybe the real question you are asking is why is there so many types of damage? The answer to that is that the fun of the game is in solving problems, and for that to happen GGG has to present the player with problems to solve.

I think it's great. One of the most interesting things in the game. Much better than just having everything based off mitigation. The only time I think it causes some problems is if any of them or stacking all of them becomes mandatory to build a strong character. This has been the case at times in the past. With spell suppression, block, flesh and stone, fortify, damage conversion.

They've been continuing to try and keep them balanced and I think they are fairly good currently, with a lot of options and most of them being useable. I think it is as important as having many build varieties for offense and something they have done well in the design.

That's what's make this game so awesome to me
Options.

You don't need to cap them, you can choose what fits better on your build

You can do so many things. Champion is your standard defensive layers guy. But you can just stack ES on a Trickster instead. Or get 10+ endurance charges as a Juggernaut. Or tons of mana as a Hierophant.

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Gaits#5486 wrote:

Does there need to be so many?

Yeah, of course.
Having multiple options lets you tailor your defensive layers to fit your build and playstyle. It gives a lot of flexibility and synergy, helping you create a well-rounded, durable character.

If we only had a few options, we'd end up with everyone running the same ZHP builds, just sitting there, taking damage, barely surviving, and then whining on the forums every league about how things are "too hard" or "overtuned."
We've all seen it, players complaining because their mediocre ZHP heroes can't handle it. The variety lets us avoid that, and it keeps things fresh

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Gaits#5486 wrote:

Armor, Evasion, spell block, Attack block, 4 resistances, Spell Suppression, Life, Energy shield.

Does there need to be so many?

The complexity is part of PoE's charm. It allows you to approach the game from multiple different angels and create characters that feel different in how they play.

I think the question is not why there are so many defensive layers, but why am I forced to almost build all of them to survive endgame content?

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artxev#6334 wrote:

I think the question is not why there are so many defensive layers, but why am I forced to almost build all of them to survive endgame content?

This. I want to believe this is the point of the OP.

And I agree with it. It's just an ever-growing checklist you must complete before your build is considered worthy of running T16 maps, much less T17 or ubers. I don't think we need this many defensive layers when you could rebalance the game to need resistances and your choice of evasion, armor, or energy shield.

And before anyone says it's for build diversity: No it isn't. Your [insert meta here] build is still going to be that build whether it has block and spell suppression or not. The only thing that changed is that the game got rebalanced so you don't instantly die for not having it, because it no longer exists.

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Pizzarugi#6258 wrote:

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artxev#6334 wrote:

I think the question is not why there are so many defensive layers, but why am I forced to almost build all of them to survive endgame content?

This. I want to believe this is the point of the OP.

And I agree with it. It's just an ever-growing checklist you must complete before your build is considered worthy of running T16 maps, much less T17 or ubers. I don't think we need this many defensive layers when you could rebalance the game to need resistances and your choice of evasion, armor, or energy shield.

And before anyone says it's for build diversity: No it isn't. Your [insert meta here] build is still going to be that build whether it has block and spell suppression or not. The only thing that changed is that the game got rebalanced so you don't instantly die for not having it, because it no longer exists.

I think defensive layers are in a good spot right now.

I also disagree, that u're supposed to build all to do basic content. If u build some basic evasion or armor character with some recovery u're already good to go for non juiced T16 maps.
The more difficulty u add to ur maps, the more u have to invest into defensive layers, like spell suppression, block ect.
T17s and the uber content obviously requires the most defensives u can possibly build and sure u can see it as a checklist at some point, but there's still some choice. U can do T17s without block or without evasion, but u probably want spell suppression for example.