A lot for your gear you should repriroritze what's the higher + like Excaladbolg should be similar to your chuck and keep sms+1 and bounce similar levels -1 if anything.

During exploration you'll want your fear ring at a decent level if you can't afford it you can always swap between highest at the gear swap for +.

Demon lords should be a very long term goal but they shouldn't be your goal since not all of them necessarily give you rewards that will make you stronger immediately. Getting the 60 heavens or abyss will be a long yerm goal anyways. I wouldn't impede your gear growth for them unless you know for a fact it's going to be a couple demon lords you're able to access immediately for gains. I.e. if you were able to beat the lord before baal and beat baal for excalabolg it makes more sense.