As we continue our streamer interview series, we took a moment to get to know one of our long-time streamers, Ghazzy! He's most known for his build guide creations and his focus on summoner style builds!

Hi Ghazzy, thank you for taking part in the interview! Please introduce yourself.

Hey! Thanks for having me, Bex! I'm a 27 year old Swedish part-time streamer in pursuit of going full-time with what I love the most. I'm currently residing in Helsingborg, Sweden.

How long have you been streaming for? How did you get into it?

4-5 years now. I got into it after playing tournaments for a team called GPG back in Dota 2 in the A-Series. A teammate was streaming a lot and told me I should give it a try. I eventually did but at that time I was working a full-time job and slipped back to my roots of playing ARPG games which has always been something I always came back to play no matter what else I was playing. I instantly fell in love with helping others reach their goals in games which is why my main focus has been on creating guides and in general being as helpful as I can be!

What can people expect from your stream? What kind of schedule do you follow?

Due to not being a full-time streamer, I'm working twice a week and have a wonderful girlfriend who makes what I do possible. I currently stream four times a week which I post in my discord every week. Usually the sessions last between 8-20 hours and whenever possible I stream 5-7 days a week depending on work and my girlfriend's work schedule.

How and when did you find out about Path of Exile?

About four years ago, I was streaming and playing Diablo 3 and I was complaining about how bad summoner builds were back then. A friend told me to check out Path of Exile and persuaded me with the simple sentence, "Summoners are viable, man! You're gonna love it.", and so I did.

What was the moment that got you hooked on the game?

1,500 deaths on my first character, a low life build that had less than 2,000 Energy Shield, I realised a tad slowly that this game is extremely complex and really spoke to me. I've always strived to perform the best I can in games and Path of Exile gave me one of the hardest challenges which I'm so happy to have accepted.

What are the top highlights from your time streaming Path of Exile?

World first Uber Atziri kill as a classic summoner. This was way back before Ascendancy classes were a thing and the word "summoner" was never in the same sentence as "Quality of Life". This also included 15 minute resummoning of your minions every time one big zombie died. Not to mention the Grace buff not working on minions which made getting back into the fight after dying near impossible. I did this consistently for a few major patches till I decided to skip playing Standard and start my Hardcore temp league RIPs ;)

Another few big highlights for me were the few times I managed to make time to actually race which I'd love to have more time to do but died at Rank 1 of my Ascendancy Class around level 90. This has happened three times and every time I've been so happy to have been part of the race scene, so to speak.

You focus a lot on creating build guides, particularly builds that are minion/summoner based. What is it that attracts you to this build style?

My interest in build guides comes from my passion to help others reach their goals. It reflects back to my livestream in which I try to be as helpful as humanly possible. It's what makes streaming fun for me, same goes for YouTube.

Regarding my profound love for summoners, it's based around my many hours spent in Diablo 2, in which I almost always only played a Necromancer, because let's face it, they were the only cool looking class in that game. Though I haven't touched the un-modded game after I died on my level 98 Hardcore Necromancer. So, my disappointment in the playstyle of summoners in Diablo 3 was a perfect build-up for me to try out Path of Exile where the summoners were the "underdogs", so to say.

I've always preferred to play things in games that allowed for a "higher skill-cap" rather than the "One-button-mashing-heroes" which is shown in my other games I've played such as Dota 2, Path of Exile and World of Warcraft.

Are there any ideas you've had for builds in this style that haven't yet been possible to create?

I would love to see the possibility of transforming your character, something similar to Druids back in Diablo 2 but in a darker style where you'd be able to, let's say, transform yourself to a zombie or spectre of sorts.

Outside of that I'm very content with the current state of summoner builds in the game. There was a huge lack of variety in the terms of skill-tree planning and how you optimized most summoner builds, though recent changes have made it impossible for me to continue my rants about the lack of diversity in the summoner genre. Obviously, there are a handful of minor tweaks I'd personally like to see but all in all the state of summoner builds has never been better.

What is the most challenging part of creating a solid build guide?

Being able to cater to as many people as possible, especially when you (GGG) are capping the amount of words I'm allowed to use in my threads, and using a comment below the original topic just doesn't look appealing. The most challenging part is honestly to make the guide as consistent and accurate as possible whilst maintaining a professional approach and an easy-to-read template.

After that, the work doesn't stop if you want to consider it "solid", at least not in my opinion. You have to maintain the guide from there, for example, I've received feedback, tips and tricks from multiple sources over the past four years which has led to the way I create my build guide threads today. Maintaining them is extremely time consuming and I'm currently working on a fix for that by creating a website for my stream to use as a central hub for my content which will help make it easier for me to respond to each and every single question as I usually do.

You mentioned you're a part time streamer. What else do you for work?

I'm in the pursuit of going full-time. To make sure there's food on the table and roof over my head, but most importantly, electricity to my computer, I'm working as a waiter and back-up chef at a local hotel-restaurant.

What hobbies or interests do you have outside of streaming?

Rock and metal music have always been closest to my heart, though I listen to almost anything! Working out used to be something I did a lot, though time has not been kind on that front.. should probably fix that!

How much pressure is involved in being a streamer? How do you manage it? How has streaming affected your life?

Being a streamer involves a lot of pressure, at the same time, I've always liked being under pressure I guess because it forces me to perform better. On the other hand, I'm Bipolar (Manic-Depressive) which can make it both amazing and some days completely devastating depending on how a session went or what the generic feedback was from what I was doing e.t.c. I'm luckily in a relationship with a social worker who helps keep me balanced during my "downs".

The effect streaming has had on my life is big. I've gone from not knowing what I want to do in life, moved from my parents when I was 17, took care of myself for many years "just existing" as I used to call it. I pretty much used gaming as an escape from reality and thrived on the social aspect and enjoyment it brought. The stream community I have has transformed to what I would call a family at this point. I've even met quite a few members of the community which has been a blast every time!

What do you see as the future of streaming/content creation and where do you feel you fit into that?

I think that with how easily accessible streaming is in today's society I fear it will be very, if it's not already, "watered-down", where a lot of smaller streamers that could have the most entertaining show on the planet won't get noticed. I think we're in a state that requires a content creator to either have a completely brand new idea or simply be known from other sources to be able to work with it part-time or more.

My own place in this is rooted in the guides I make for the Path of Exile community. When I started I was lucky to be known from my sponsored teams I've played with in previous games so I had what you could call a "kick-start". Ultimately, I feel that I'll end up where I end up because in my eyes I'm just a gamer like many of you reading this. Just because I have a stream and extensive experience in a game where I make guides doesn't make me better or worse than the next gamer.

What is one thing you think every Path of Exile player should hear?

You profit 35c. Jokes aside, the Bex item filter pop sound, hands down. It would sell millions on iTunes.

There are many new streamers looking to make their way in the Path of Exile community. What advice do you have for them?

CatmasterOP has been streaming for a while but is fairly new and rocks a chill show that I can absolutely recommend giving a try.

BalorMage is another streamer who's been around for a bit and is someone I think deserves a lot more attention with the quality and knowledge he possesses. He has recently started SSF Hardcore as well!

There are many more streamers that deserves attention in my eyes, not just new streamers. The only advice I have is to keep doing what you love, if you're having fun, the ones watching will have fun with you. I don't think changing the way you behave/stream for the sake of profit is healthy in the long run. Which is why I'm always myself on screen, may it be good or bad. :)

Are there any new streamers you want to give a shout out to?

Outside of Balor & Catmaster there's a long list of old-timers such as the old cast of the "State of Exile" podcast but I will keep myself in the present time and give a shoutout to my boy Lifting_ who injected me with the toughest addiction besides Path of Exile, World of Warcraft. We have very similar ways of streaming which might make me biased but it's absolutely worth checking him out.

Another two streamers I have to give a shoutout to are Cutedog_ and TarkeCat for providing the memes and laughs <3

Do you have any projects on the horizon you want to share with the community?

As stated earlier I'm working on a website for all my content which will include all my build guides among other things. It is being worked on with the help from the guys behind www.poelab.com who provide solid information and are most known for their labyrinth layouts. It will work as a central hub for all my content and is mainly going to be there for the sake of making it easier for me to maintain all my guides. I have to enhance and ensure the quality of my content to be the best I can make them to be.

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Thank you so much for participating in the interview! If you'd like to follow Ghazzy, check out his Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Discord.