Can't really say.. Most people will still be experimenting.
Basically you'll need more resists, more impen and more health..
Stuff that's been suggested includes armour master, fortified brass, impreg, chudan/pirate-skel, protective jewels etc... There's also the new Bright-Throat set from Murkmire to experiment with.
As to Bastion? It isn't necessarily useless - it all depends on your stats. If your shield size without anything in Bastion is less than the health cap - then it's worth putting some points into it. Basically, you need to tailor your spend in Bastion so you're not 'wasting' shield size by being over the cap.