Need some help optimizing my TR build

Hey folks! How's it going?

This is my current build that I use to run t16 100% delirium maps: [https://pastebin.com/JugWYe8X](https://pastebin.com/JugWYe8X)

It does pretty well, but I'm going to be honest I don't understand how to use PoB properly or how to calculate the DPS of my TR... :/

I've tried youtube guides and asking on discord but sometimes you just have to admit when you kind of suck at something and need to ask for help.

My build uses withering step and wither totems, it gains endurance, power, and frenzy charges on kill, and it has its vaal auras up 100% of the time since I run the sextant to allow it. My watchers eye gives me onslaught with haste, so onslaught is 100% uptime. I'm a pathfinder and my potions have 100% uptime as well with hardened scars for fortiy- again 100% uptime. Dying Sun is always up, too.

All I really am wondering is what is my DPS, and am I wasting mods in attack speed/aoe and is there a more optimal stat spread I should be aiming for with what I have? I try to understand it in PoB but it just overwhelms me.

You scale TR damage in several ways. Gem levels, area of effect (pod overlap) and attack speed. There is a calculator / spreadsheet you can find here which will help you determine aoe thresholds for pod overlap. The calculator is linked in the link below:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/igs0u7/toxic_rain_new_calculator_spreadsheet_includes/

No idea if its accurate or not, but I played around with it a while back and seems that you get an extra pod overlap every 5 AoE. You are at 29 with flasks up. Replacing a medium cluster with a megalomaniac with towering threat + wicked pall or tempered arrowheads would get you to 30 AoE. As an alternative, broadside + tempered arrow heads / wicked pall would also get you to 30 AoE, and allow you to change enchant on your bow to attack speed. With that said, most of the better builds I have seen have settled with hitting the 25 threshold for 5 overlapping pods because you just need carcass jack and dying sun to reach it.

Attack speed is really strong and something you have mostly addressed already with the local mod on your bow, AS on gloves and crafted AS on quiver. The only real areas of weakness, not that your build is bad, it looks really good, are as follows:

-Base Jewels, these are all pretty average. I would try to get life% + at least 2 x attack speed / chaos dot multi rolls.
-Boots, could do with an upgrade!
-Amulet - I would at least buy a +2 amulet, they are pretty cheap now
-Helmet - I don't see why you would use Asenath's chant if you have a curse on hit ring. Its up to you, but with a nice despair ring, you can probably afford to switch to a rare helmet, mods like nearby enemies have -9% to chaos resistance is really strong.
-Chest - consier buying a corrupted carcass jack. We aren't using a 6-link, so it may be easy to find one with a nice corruption.

I have linked some fairly min-maxed builds for your reference.

https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/ddangreifer/kingheydrich [TR]
https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/dr032/A%EC%9E%87%EC%87%BC [PF]
https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/DH_POE/TXMANN [PF]

Ah okay thank you, so if I slap my build into PoB all I really have to pay attention to is if my AoE radius is 25 or 30?

As for the upgrades, I mean yeah haha- it's not a perfect build or anything and there's always going to be upgrades to grab, it's just kind of a juggling act to pick which I want or if I'm just going to leave it be as it is.

Aiming for the 30 aoe radius sounds like it would be worth if I'm that close to it though.. All I have to do is swap my chaos large cluster for one like my bow damage one? Then I can swap my bow to attack speed instead of aoe?

"

it's not a perfect build or anything and there's always going to be upgrades to grab, it's just kind of a juggling act to pick which I want

Since you're not min-maxing it will always be about making a first choice on whether you want more offense or defense. That's almost entirely the feel you have for the build based on your personal playstyle and preferences. Sometimes the answer is clear, and sometimes it doesn't matter much and you make the decision entirely based on...

Bang for the buck. If you just put on paper what you get and what it costs you, there will usually be some options you would never go for unless you're min maxing. (No, I'm not doing anything that gets me 1% more dps per ex invested. Just not happening.) But there will often be a couple things that jump out as a good return for modest investment, and you just have to decide between those.

On what mods you want on a weapon, you can edit an item in PoB, and you can also copy and paste anything from trade into PoB. (And then edit if you want.) You can see what the impact of emphasizing once stat over another is.