Horcsogg wrote: »

I have been looking for a suitable skill that would absorb some incoming damage and it seems like 3 abilities would all do the trick. I think Hardened ward, Harness magicka and Ward ally from the resto staff tree would all absorb very similar amount of damage.

Any suggestions on which one(s) I could use for effective damage barriers?

Streak behind an object. Without streak, you are good as dead if played alone. Shields won't save you for long either carry you. You need at least 25K+ resistance to make shields effective. Your damage output suffers a lot and has a hard time in the killing. Spamming Hardened ward alone is sufficient in most of the time. Unless you are using armor master with perfected asylum staff or you are part of zerg with spamming endless fury go that route. You cannot kill anyone with more than 20K resistance, provided he knows what he is doing. Your damage output will be rock bottom. Eventually, you will die.

Have crit surge + dark deal + mutagen+boundless storm active all the time. Obviously troll king on top. If someone provides mutagen, stack with rapid generation and vice versa. Note rapid generation and mutagen will stack. 2 Mutagens or rapid won't. You need to have buffs and HOT up all the time. You need to keep your distance and never engage in close fights. Use streak. Stay away from enemy LOS and keep enemy in your LOS as much as possible. You would be fine.