Tempest shield or Herald of ash?

Currently running a dble. legacy BoR build based around Molten Strike, Multistrike, Added fire damage, and weapon elemental damage, which renders about 24k dps via my non-legacy ST and the use of Anger as one of my two auras. Defensively I also have 17k armour, a legacy AA and Warlord's Mark to sustain life and ES - life is at 4600, ES at 900 - and to round out it I have 73% block, with max to come soon.

I use a 20/20 Tempest Shield to boost the block and to add some lightning damage, but given how fire-based the build is I was wondering if it's worth it to take out TS and use the mana for Herald of Ash instead, as I seem to be finding that the 24k dps is getting kind of slow in knocking over some of the opposition in the higher maps. Any rough ideas on how much of a damage boost, if any, I might get from making the switch? All the gems in question are maxed.

I haven't been following the proposed changes too much because I have yet receive a key to the beta, but from what little I've gleaned I get the impression that the upcoming changes to TS means I may be able to use both anyway eventually, with TS due to become a manual cast option only.

If you're going to max out block anyway I can't really see why you would bother with tempest shield.

Personally of those options I'd use Herald of Ash.

Ok, didn't mean to confuse things - I'm near max block WITH Tempest shield, I'm aiming for level 94 (currently 92) to complete the build, at which point I'll have 75% block with TS - without it I'll be at 71%. Of course I can throw in a corrupted 4% Lazwhar, but I have some dex and int issues that need addressing first before I can toss it in.

Either way I guess a 4% loss isn't that big a deal if I'm left at 71%, especially if HoA makes the switch worthwhile. I'm also looking to upgrade my Soul Taker to a legacy soon which should give dps about a 15% - 20% boost depending on which one I can afford. Hard to tell price-wise if I should get one before the expansion or after! All the talk about the new top tier mods makes it hard to guess how it will affect the better legacies, though I fancy some of the mirrored stuff will take a hit.

As for my gear, here's the setup -



Note that the stuff on the gloves (other than the portal) have outlived their usefulness and I'm looking to dump them.

Here's the jewellery. Nothing fancy other than the Doom Grip. The amulet I use for the dex. and int. plus extras, the ruby ring I just threw in to help boost drops a little. Normally I use the other topaz ring, both of which this build inherited from my LC build (hence all the lightning res) - way more than needef for this BoR build.



Finally, I also have a near perfect 6 link LC to switch back to. I basically started playing around with this BoR build a few months ago to see how it compares. Lot of fun, but I do feel the loss of the extra sockets at times.

Thanks, I took a look. Only problem is that your tree is maxed out to level 100 (I'm at 92) so obviously there's going to be some differences - I could max out my build's block as well without TS if I aimed to get it to 100. The other difference of course, though it's minimal because we each pass nearby, is that we have different character bases. Regarding your point about spell block, as I pointed out I do have the option in the background of putting in a lazhwar, I'm just waiting to make a gear change/tweak to boost int. and dex. so I can slot it in.

I'm also a little mystified, as my original question was about switching out TS for HoA - I can't see the latter in your build?

Here's my tree -

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAAecEhwSzBS0GOQz3Dc0UIBRNFSAYkRm0Gj4cziSLJJsnCycvJ-0oKimlK1As6S_MMk426DrYPQ89_ECgQXRDY0d-TipQR1FgValYY1uvXhNfP2BLYVJi7GVNZfBnm2jyagFyqXTtdU52K3fleTl673y7fNl99X7igIqDtoTZhO-GYIbRi0-MdozPj5mQVZd5l7Saz548ns2fy6IApo2nMKmVrK-vbLaKvJ-9Nr6nwGbAv8GCxPbFisbYytPRNt0N5FHp1ew47w7vTvAf8wb2SPcy9037qvxL_lQ=

Actually, it DOES matter if you want to toss in numbers that are relevant to a build 8 points higher in level. I think I could add a considerable boost to the numbers I cited on that basis were I to take the appropriate nodes to boost dps.

I did a point by point comparison of the trees yesterday via POE builder, then hybridized them to a level commensurate with my current level. It was a tit-for-tat situation, and while it's impossible to compare all the points without factoring in the gear and gems the readout I had was that each build had its own strengths and weaknesses.

Again, I would point out that the original question was one regarding the usefulness of TS versus HoA, the latter of which you apparently don't use anyway (so why are you here?) and which you've declined to address.

In essence, your posting strategy seems to be one of engaging in a pissing contest on the basic builds, which is superfluous to the original question and merely acts as a self-serving ego-stroke on your behalf. I don't really care one way or the other as I've just been playing with this build while waiting for the expansion, having taken advantage of the last respec to take a look at someone else's BoR build and see what numbers it throws up in comparison to the much more finely tuned LC build I used to get to level 90 - other than the BoR most of the gear on display is from that build.

I am also well aware of the recent postings in TS and its potential come the expansion - part of the basis for my question on its usefulness in future and the comparison to HoA in a build that is severely limited in its skill choices because of the socket handicap of BoR. The question also has relevancy to a return to my LC build after the expansion, though I have more flexibility on that score.

In lieu of any useful information from your end I actually went out and bought a 20/20 HoA last night to play around with and answered my own question.

End of story.