Enchantress Question

[Taem]

I currently have a level 50 Enchantress and was wondering, from those whom have made Enchantresses before, if it made more sense to invest into maximizing my Mastery trees (i.e. Cold and Lightening), or Shiver Armor and Mana Shield?

I figure it in one of two ways: Added Damage or Safety.

Argument for Added Damage: If I invest into my masteries fully I'll receive an additional +278% to all my lightening damage and +115% to my cold damage (I know it lowers the enemies resists, not boosts the damage, but isn’t that basically the same thing but opposite?). With enough elemental charms, the right weapon, and Enchant, I'll be doing an awesome amount of damage comparable if not better than most melee characters. Combine that with my current Might mercenary and I may actually be able to kill the Diablo Clone :lol: .

Argument for Safety: If I invest into Shiver Armor and Mana Shield + Telekinesis, I'll have a very high defense and a high damage absorb. If I opt to swap out for a Defiance mercenary, I'll have a defense higher than most Iron Skin/Shouting Barbarians. If I find some DR% gear and my Mana Shield, I'll be a very tough cookie to kill, assuming I can get my resists high enough.

Also, I'm having a difficult time choosing between missile and melee, despite the fact that melee does more damage (supposedly <_< ). Currently, I'm using a Hexfire with a diamond socketed Ward Shield on my first weapon slot and a Kuku bow on my second slot. I find that I do the most damage if I enchant myself with the Hexfire then switch to the Kuku. The listed damage on the character screen is only slightly higher for the Kuku, but the Exploding Arrows do SO MUCH DAMAGE, that I'm breezing through Nightmare relatively easily. The Hexfire takes about three hits to kill a monster in Nightmare, whereas the Kuku kills a group in a single hit! The only reason I can see to play a melee enchantress currently is for the additional safety issue of block and resists (both big pluses), however I find it too be much safer shooting from a distance so this is more or less a mute point for me anyways. Any recommendations?

Here is my current skill placement:

LIGHTENING TREE
1 Static
1 Mana Shield
1 Lightening Mastery
5 Prerequisites

COLD TREE
1 Shiver Armor (because of higher defense and longer slow time from cold)
1 Cold Mastery
3 Prerequisites

FIRE TREE
19 Warmth
20 Enchant
3 Fire Mastery