Interesting thread. Fur mentioned the 20k HP and 535 def threshold.

Well, I've been 80 for a week or so and my tank (after buying a shield and getting one drop in a Heroic) is right at 19.8k hp (buffed) and 539 defense (still need to ding that pesky last def skill point for 540 ). I've been trying to run Gundrak since I dinged 80. My first try on the snake boss I was still only mid 520's def and probably 18k hp. I beat him once. Even now, with some practice, I can still die on that first mob. I've only downed the Collusus once but I'm getting him closer to doable soon.

Point being, I can clearly see that my tank's "squishyness" is my weak point. Sure, if my DPS/healer were epic geared it probably wouldn't matter, but I feel like I'm putting out plenty of DPS for the content and healer mana/heal-size isn't the problem. Its just the fact that my undergeared tank can't be ignored for a second during a boss fight or he's dead. Makes doing other things in the fight (repositioning, casting situational spells, etc.) very tough.

I think every bit of improvement on my tank will translate into better runs. DPS/healer will simply ride-along. The bottle-neck is the tank.