I die often in my quilted armor, but from trying things I would never have dreamed of with my other toons. I would rather go down soloing a named mob 4 levels below me if I can get it to 20% health rather then die after 3 hits and mob is only to 75%.
I have a level 34 Illusionist and find I am enjoying him more then my 70 Ranger. At 34, I soloed a lvl 30 ^^^ named gargoyle outside Nek castle. Mostly because this mob must melee and I was able to keep him mezzed and rooted. Sent Tiny (my personae) in and when he got low on health pulled him out and let heal then sent back in. I am having more trouble with the named Giant in Nek though. Mostly because this mob is a caster and kills me with DoTs. All-in-all, when I decide to retire my ranger, I feel it will be for my Illusionist.
As a side note, even though Tiny's roots and mezzes did not last full term, I was wondering if anybody noticed our pet can root and mez epics? I was soloing the Windstalker Rumbler to clear out my quest book some. When I sent Tiny in the first thing I saw was he rooted the Rumbler, then I saw the mezzes hit. I was excited because if any class should be able to mez/root epics it should be Illusionists so I tried to cast my roots and mezzes to no avail. I asked a good friend, who is a level 60ish Illusionist and she said she had not tried it but would let me know.