Def question.

When building defense into a set with no def debuff resistance, is there a safe point? If I hit 56% def do I need to worry about cascading def failure?

There is no 'safe point' per say. Cascading Defense Failure is what really keeps that strategy in check. 56% def is still ratehr impressive. I'm assuming you're doing Incarnate content (if not you only need 45%).

Of course, some would say 'the more the merrier' and I would agree if you're concerned with enemies plummeting your defenses.. but then again, you shouldn't be too concerned. You have your resistances to fall back on. The added defense is just an additional cushion.

Ok, was just curious. This is the first toon that I have had in a long time with no DDR, So I was looking for, I guess you'd call it a cushion, that way when the def does get debuffed I'll have some wiggle room. Thx guys.

I agree with others. There's no safe point. I run around with 75% melee/lethal defense, and against +4x8 incarnate Banished Pantheon, my defense is often negative (granted, they aren't debuffing me with melee/lethal attacks, so they don't have much trouble landing the debuffs).

That said, against most enemies, a small buffer of defense can actually help quite a bit, and purples used proactively or very quickly reactively (monitor base defense and watch for it to go red) are quite useful. And if you're doing incarnate content with incarnate powers, you can have tools to help deal with cascading defense failure (Barrier, Ageless). You can also run to shed debuffs.

I like running x8, but honestly, I tend to stay at +2

It also depends on what powerset you are running, if you have other layers of protection you dont have to try and get your defense that high, especially at the cost of gimping your other powers.

I tend to see some melee powerset builds on here that try for a super high defense where they have resistance and regen to back them up but totally ignore recharge and kill their accuracy and damage from slotting.

Even on a squishy I would rather have must of my defense types/position close to 45% then have 1 type at 58% and the others at 15%.