I agree theorycrafting has its place and appreciate the values the op has put forth. The way the game calculates things does have an impact yes.. but what none of this adressess is the fact that basic itemisation via commendation vendors means that the figures the op poses would be horrendously hard to achieve without significant sacrifices or HARD mode operation farming in order to get the mods to achieve the ratings he suggests at each gear rank. If defense is valued so highly why is it when I look at my Ultimate and Elite Comms vendors doI not see defense on more gear.. I see loads of absorb loads of shield and one or two pieces with defense stacked with a mitigation attribute.
Grab what defense you can itemisation doesn't make the theorycraft law, theorycraft rarely takes into account reasonable and realistic itemisation spreads.. i certainly am not going out to buy 9 pieces of kit with high end comms just for a defense mod or enhancement, certainly not when my talents promote shield and absorb, not defense like the kiddies say, I get one talent that boosts defense and Ibelieve that is because our gear has NONE of it in significant enough qualities in the current 2.0 envrionment.
As it is i am decked out in 162 gear no arkanian 4 piece for me yet and with mods I am sitting a mere 1.9% away from my defensive soft cap and my shield is 38% with absorb at around 35%, my basic itemisation also follows the soft cap model favoring shield and absorb over defense suggesting "designer intent"