My struggle with chaos damage mitigation options

Hey GGG, loving the game overall. I just wanted to share my personal experience as a Hardcore enjoyer.

For me, Chaos Damage feels like a balancing issue right now. It shows up pretty early in the game and hits very hard, while the Chaos Resistance rolls on gear feel too low to keep up with that damage output.

Even when the ress is capped, it still feels like I can't get enough mitigation through gear, passive points, ascendancy nodes and other sources. I feel forced to take CI just to survive.

The main problem this creates for me is that it locks me into the top-right side of the tree. Even if I don't mind playing ES, having to travel to that specific corner on every build just to not die to Chaos mechanics restricts what I can play.

Basically, I feel pigeonholed into that specific area because there aren't enough effective ways to handle the current Chaos damage mitigation elsewhere on the tree.

Anyway, just needed to get this off my chest. This isn't meant to hateful, I just felt I should leave my opinion here in case it matters.

Thanks.