Resistance & Armour Mitigation
Resistances (Fire, Cold, Lightning, Chaos) are applied:

Fire hit × (1 - Fire Resistance %)

Chaos bypasses most layers, unless explicitly reduced.

Armour mitigates physical damage, based on Path of Exile 2 Currency a curve:

Better against small hits, worse against large ones.

Energy Shield, Ward, and other life-buffering mechanics kick in later.

Step 6: Fortify & Damage Reduction Buffs
Fortify, Endurance Charges, Pantheon Effects, and conditional reduction like:

"10% less damage taken while stationary"

"5% reduced damage from Critical Strikes"

These are multiplicative and applied after resistances.

This step helps reduce what's left over after the initial mitigation layers.

Step 7: Damage Taken Modifiers
This includes modifiers like:

"30% of Damage Taken Recouped as Life"

"15% of Cold Damage Taken Over 4 Seconds"

"20% of Elemental Damage Taken as Chaos"

These effects delay, split, or return damage. Important for smoothing out burst hits.

Step 8: Energy Shield & Ward Absorption
Remaining damage is applied to Energy Shield or Ward (if active).

Energy Shield is a buffer against most types of damage (except Chaos unless you're CI).

Ward absorbs a flat value of the next hit and is then broken.

These are your first line of buy POE2 Currency hit point defense before actual life is lost.