Magic res is the one stat the you really wont get until later in the game. In regards to other tips for helping you survive... it really depends on what your class is. I usually tend to life chant my weapons just bc that 300 flat life scales really well with battle orders and % max life. Resists, especially physical, are pretty hard to come by nowadays. What I usually do is chant my shield and helmet with a 10% physical resist enchantment. Ber runes work wonders as well. Do not rely on just defense for physical resist because the actual physical resist stat itself will always be superior. Regular resists are pretty important too, I suggest going for 90+ max res and a solid 150 stacked should help a lot. Also depending on your build , again, you may want either Life per hit, or Life stolen per hit(*Physical only). Mercenaries work wonders in the current patch aswell.. Get a good amulet and throw a Cthulhu Physical Thresher on him and he's almost unkillable. Also I've found that the slow target % stat helps LOADS, aswell as battle cry from Call to arms. Finally in regards to magic resists... theres very few end game viable items that give this stat.. my suggestion would be to get good roll string of ears and try to corrupt a stat that would make them decent to use in the end game. If you have anymore questions dont be afraid to ask