Yeeeeaaah, but at the same time, Tanks are, "so," blasted vital for a parties survival that, indeed, the armor needs to be one of the more easily acquired items. Usually, in most fights, parties can deal with the DPS being a little fragile or their damage being a little lower then it should, but a Tank not being able to survive attacks is essentially a brick wall for progression.
Well they put a ton of DRG loot early on too. Could have swapped some of that out.