Wondering how I can improve my build/gear - this is my first PoE character

https://pobb.in/BTJfB8LTjA5l

Hi Everyone,

First time player here. I did not follow any build guides as I tend to enjoy playing my first time in an RPG going in somewhat blind. I have played many ARPGs in the past but for whatever reason I never played PoE until now.

I only started trading about a week ago and managed to improve my gear quite a bit in a short time. I also just found out about path of building and that has helped me to refund some of my passives on the skill tree in favor of better ones.

So again, I'm extremely new here but I've managed to take down some level 16 maps without any guidance and I feel pretty good about that. With that being said - it does feel like the game is starting to stagnate a bit for me and I think it's likely due to the fact that things are becoming difficult. I'm not sure where I should be farming or what maps I should be doing. My Atlas skill tree I am trying to get to the ritual nodes because I like doing them (found my armor that way). I also have not crafted much of anything because frankly the crafting here is confusing as hell. I've used my lesser/greater searing arch and eater of worlds stuff on my gear when I find them - but other than that I'm not crafting anything because I don't really know how.

So I'm wondering what sort of quick things I could do to improve my character and what longer term things to start thinking about? Also, should I stick to less difficult maps where I will die less so that I can level up more? I'm level 85 and 15 extra passives on the tree would be really nice - but it's very difficult for me to level up now because I die pretty frequently.

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I'm not sure where I should be farming or what maps I should be doing.

Do what you find to be fun. Pick a map or two that have a layout you enjoy and doesn't take too long and favor those. If you don't enjoy what you're doing you'll burn out faster.

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So I'm wondering what sort of quick things I could do to improve my character and what longer term things to start thinking about?

At a quick glance I would highly recommend changing your chest piece from a Death's Oath to something else or max your chaos resistance. I would also recommend removing Sorrow of the Divine and Rotgut to replace with a magic quicksilver and either a basalt or granite flask. As it stand right now you could get into a situation where you start taking chaos damage from DO but be unable to regen life due to the effect of Sorrow. I noticed you aren't using a curse, so check to see what is the most dps (probably Flammability or Poacher's Mark) and slot that in over rallying cry.

As an attack build you should always be on the lookout for a better weapon and making sure your chance to hit in PoB is within the 95%-100% range. You could also keep an eye out for good abyss jewels. Getting source of intimidate besides the warcry would help consistency.

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I'm level 85 and 15 extra passives on the tree would be really nice - but it's very difficult for me to level up now because I die pretty frequently.

Most experienced players don't even level to 100, so don't plan on getting that. 90 is a good level to plan around, you could even shoot for 95, but the experience needed per level scales exponentially at that point. Something to remember is that there is xp gain reduction if your level falls outside a certain range of the zone's level. So you can't expect to farm Blood Aqueducts and gain a significant amount of xp at 85.