JR east pass or location based pass?

i am going to nikko, hakone plus tokyo, i will stay around 3 days for each location. JR east pass is better or tobu-nikko pass + fujisan-hakone pass is better? kindly advice
cause there is too many passes, and I find it confusing.
did JR east pass cover nikko and hakone local area?
thank you

did JR east pass cover nikko and hakone local area?
You should read the pass official web again, bc including validity rail map.

Hello!
Was that problem solved yet?
I recommend that you ask it at ticket counter.
By the way ,
if you will go to Hakone,
I think you should get a Hakone free pass by Odakyu -line.

You must Buy Greater Tokyo pass 3 Day=7200 yen For unlimited travel

Get local passes with return travel for Nikko and Hakone. Use IC card for Tokyo travels.

will stay around 3 days for each location.

For the above reason, Tobu-nikko pass is perfect: http://www.tobu.co.jp/foreign/en/pass/all.html
+ Hakone 3 day pass: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html
Or Fuji Hakone pass if you decide to visit Kawaguchi area
: https://www.odakyu.jp/english/passes/fujihakone/

JR east pass will only get you to Odawara, and you'll still have to buy the Hakone Free Pass (albeit the slightly cheaper version). The JR pass also doesn't help much within Tokyo, other than for the subway loop line (which is super cheap to ride anyway). It does get you to Nikko, but you can do that for pretty cheap on the Tobu line. I don't think you can make a JR pass work in your favor.

I would just use the Hakone Free Pass, One of the Tobu Nikko Passes, and then get either the discount metro pass at the airport, or buy a SUICA card with maybe 2000 yen loaded on it for getting around Tokyo.

Also, I will say I am not sure I'd do more than an overnight at both Hakone and Nikko. You'll find a lot more to do in Tokyo, so better to do 5 days there and 2 at the others in my opinion.

You should read the pass official web again, bc including validity rail map.

Presumably you have already looked at the validity rail map.
A validity map for a pass can help you only when you can locate geographically your destination and judge whether a route to get there is shown in the map.

The JR pass also doesn't help much within Tokyo, other than for the subway loop line (which is super cheap to ride anyway)

Subway lines are non-JR lines; there is no JR pass to be valid for subway sections.
Also, "subway" and "underground railway" do not mean the same.

Some subway lines have a part above the ground.
Some JR lines have a part under the ground, which is not called as subway.