[2022] Streamer Interview - Palsteron

Today's streamer interview is with none other than Palsteron! Outside of streaming on Twitch, he also produces a lot of educational content on his Youtube channel! Check out the interview below!

Hi Palsteron, thank you for taking part in the interview! Please introduce yourself:

Hey I’m Daniel aka Palsteron. I make content on Youtube and stream on Twitch! I’ve played Path of Exile for almost a decade and I’m mostly passionate about making fun builds and in-depth guides about them. I also try to give an honest and actionable approach to farming strategies and educational content.

When did you first get into Path of Exile?

It was at a Friday Night Magic (MTG), when a friend introduced me to this “complex and insane game”. He needed a few tries initially to get me hooked, but when Perandus League came out, I was basically playing non-stop during university.

What one thing caught your attention in the beginning and what one thing kept you coming back?

The sheer depth that Path of Exile had was stunning at the time and still is. No attack or movement speed caps, no dailies and definitely no end to build exploration. What makes me come back is the awesome community and frequent updates that keep me on my toes.

Are there any highlights from your time playing Path of Exile that stand out in your memory?

So in Legacy League (2.6), I wasn’t able to play for the first few days of the league. When I finally had time, my friends already had geared characters, leaving me a few days behind in progress which felt really bad. Then I dropped a Mirror of Kalandra at Level 68 in Dried Lake while leveling my first character… So yeah, kinda memorable.

Do you have a favourite build?

I love Cyclone. It’s a skill that has fallen out of favour recently, but it’s just so comfortable to play and I try to make it work whenever possible. Otherwise everything with fast clearspeed that doesn’t have to aim or press a lot of buttons while exploding screens!

Which expansion has been your favourite so far?

Sentinel League (3.18) replaced Legacy League as my favorite league of all time recently. It was a subtle but clever mapping mechanic coupled with great crafting options through Recombinators!

What's one thing every Path of Exile player should hear?

You don’t need fancy items or a lot of currency to have fun. Not everyone has time to farm a Mageblood, and that is ok. Adjust your goals to the time you have at your disposal, instead of comparing yourself to streamers who do this for a living and maybe even have traders or guild support. Most players I know that get to those items quickly burn out in a week or two, I’d know because I was exactly the same way before becoming a content creator.

Adjust your gaming experience to be fun WHILE chasing those items and find fun in the small things or you’ll be disappointed afterwards.

When did you first start streaming? How did you get into it?

I started in May 2021, it was a pretty bad time creatively for me in my life. I tried to find more meaning in my job and couldn’t, especially during COVID, which frustrated me but gave me enough courage to try out new things.

A friend of mine egged me on to try and make a Youtube video since I “talk so much” and I took his dare and learned how to edit. A few days later, I released my first video, which did really well. I then made a business plan, moved to a region where I could be more flexible and started streaming. Best decision ever.

What can people expect from your stream and schedule?

I want my stream to be a place to just hang out and listen to music together, while sharing our gaming passion. I don’t want it to be a permanent Q&A but I do help out where I can and try to give my input on things that people care about! Mostly though, I’m trying to build something that’s not just about me or a game but about the community itself.

On my Youtube I try to be professional, although I can’t help my directness sometimes. That being said, I’m trying to combine educational content for newer players with flavour of the month stuff and more complicated topics for the veteran players, with educated input wherever I can.

I stream 5-6 times a week on twitch.tv/palsteron, usually around 13:30 CET. On my Youtube I don’t have much of a schedule, I upload around 2-4 times a week, but if I have nothing to say I won’t force out a video haha.What were you doing before you started streaming?

After I studied econ, I fell into a year-long battle with “finding a job I actually like”. This ranged from a banking job to selling MTG cards to helping out relatives with businesses. In hindsight, everything I produced was mostly uninspired nonsense, so I’m happy where I am now!

What hobbies or interests do you have outside of streaming?

I like sports, mostly tennis, hiking or going for a run. Other than that, it’s less about activities and more about the people I do them with. If we get a good set of friends together, it’ll be fun regardless of what we do!

That being said, if you want a perfectly healthy work/life balance, definitely don’t become a streamer lol.

Is there anything you'd like to see more of in the streaming community?

Overall, I think Path of Exile has one of the strongest communities in the gaming industry and there’s not much to add to that. We have HC racers, new-player friendly streamers and everything in between.

A bit more civilized discourse maybe, it can feel like highschool in some parts of the community, which can be off-putting at the start.

Do you have any advice for people who are looking to make their own career out of streaming?

Don’t go into this without savings. This is a marathon and it will take time to “pop off”. It won’t be rewarding monetarily anytime soon, so you need to have savings to keep you afloat while trying to find your muse. Being desperate for money will also lead to you taking bad short-term sponsorships that will hurt you in the long-term or destroy the relationship with your viewers.

Also, if you’re somebody who needs outside validation, expect to get absolutely destroyed in the short-term. You need confidence in what you do and that can only come from playing this game for a long time already.

Path of Exile is not a momentum-driven “hype” game, it’s about forging long term relationships with other creators and your viewers. Path of Exile has one of the best gaming communities, but they’ll spit you right out if you just try to go for bullsh*t or “quick money”.

Are there any up and coming streamers that you'd like to shine a spotlight on?

There’s way too many great new streamers to name them all. Also, am I implying some of these people aren’t already established by putting them on the list? Wait, is it good that they are on the list or am I insulting them indirectly?

Oh boy, well here are some off the top of my head:

Crouching_Tuna - Great vibes and music on stream. Very knowledgeable about the game. NEEDS TO MAKE MORE YOUTUBE STUFF!

Captainlance - A super creative build-maker who’s always on the lookout for the next weird interaction to try out. Usually makes bait builds, but has a good heart. (jk)

Subtractem - Cozy and wholesome streamer with great energy and anti-elitism vibes. Also one of the first people to promote my content on stream when I had no following.

MilkyBK_ - Criminally underrated SC mapper that comes up with some big-brain currency strats and is super fun to hang out with.

Tripolarbear - Goofy Memester who’s a brand risk, in the best way possible. He also likes to make Youtube videos of builds originally made by a cat.

Aer0 - Very creative dude who will try to make builds work that other people deem “unplayable”.

Spicysushi - Bigbrain crafter that everyone can learn a lot from. Also CAM WHEN?

Also shout out to Mbxtreme, he’s not exactly “up and coming” but he was one of the first big streamers to teach me things about content creation and hosted me several times when I was new to streaming!

In general though, the Path of Exile community is incredibly friendly and welcoming, which goes for both creators and viewers alike!

Do you have any projects on the horizon you'd like to talk about?

Me and some other creators, notably Grimro, Tytykiller, Crouching_Tuna, Tripolarbear, Spicysushi, Fyregrass and MbXtreme are currently revamping the way high-quality, written content is presented.

Maxroll.gg allows us to have great online-tools to provide in-depth build guides, farming strategies, crafting tech, bossing guides and a new player section that is less intimidating! We started this project in 3.19 and want this to become the golden standard of written guides, especially with Path of Exile 2 on the horizon.

So if that sounds interesting to you, check it out here: maxroll.gg/poe

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Thank you so much for participating in the interview! If you'd like to follow Palsteron, you can do so on Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch. Also, don't forget that you can support both Palsteron and the development of Path of Exile by buying microtransactions from his Nexus page!