In continuation of our new series where we interview streamers from the Path of Exile, we took a moment to get to know Octavian better! Check out his full interview.

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

My name is Chris, but most people reading this will probably know me better as Octavian. I’m a 20-something guy from the greater Boston area who plays an unreasonable amount of Path of Exile and sometimes a more reasonable amount of other things. I enjoy things like playing life based builds in an ES meta, leveling Scions to 100, and long walks on Strand maps.

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

I first got into online broadcast as a result of an illness I contracted sometime just after I had returned from my first year of university to live with my brother. I was going through a nasty bout of Mono at the time, which then left plenty of room for a dormant case of lymes to blossom and wreak havoc with my larger joints. As a result of my knee swelling to three times the size it usually was, I was unable to walk for the better part of a year. This left me somewhat… limited in terms of job options. Perhaps it wasn’t the wisest decision, but in my slightly-better-than-bedridden state I decided to pursue something which had always intrigued me - shoutcasting. At the time, I was a huge League of Legends fan, so I got into shoutcasting that esport, and got into it hard. A few years later, it hadn’t really panned out into much, with at best a few amateur events here or there to show on my resume. Instead of the rational thing, though, I decided to double down and start streaming content for my newest favorite game, Path of Exile. A couple dozen (or dozen dozen) empty streams later, and I was starting to pick up viewership. From there to here has just been a matter of persistence and luck.

How are you doing healthwise now?

I'm doing very well nowadays, just some regular physical therapy to keep my joints in a good state. Fully recovered, thankfully.

What can people expect from your stream and schedule?

As for a schedule, I’m often streaming starting sometime in the early afternoon EST, and going for anywhere from six to eight hours. As far as content, the stream is almost exclusively Path of Exile - unsurprisingly. Within that, though, you can often find me playing my latest excuse to play a Scion again, or my latest excuse to play flicker strike again - or sometimes both. I often make somewhere between three and six builds over the course of a league and will jump back and forth between them as the mood suits me for whatever they’re designed for, be it bossing, mapping, or something in between. As well as that, I like to consider myself something of an “everything” player when it comes to the various gamemodes of Path of Exile, as I frequently jump around between trade SC, trade HC, and SSF of either variety. Usually, I’ll start a league on SC and switch to HC about a month or two in to reinvigorate my interest in the league and provide some challenge to overcome.

Do you have a favourite build?

As far as a favorite build, I think it would be questionable of me to say anything other than Scourge Arrow, since I've leveled that to 100 twice now. Flicker Strike is up there though.

How did you pick your channel name?

I wish there was a more interesting story behind my channel name, but really it's just due to me being a blatant thief. The name of a character in a book I liked growing up was Octavian Nothing, hence the zero on the end of Octavian0. Really, I just thought it sounded cool. I’ll play along with all the folks who’ve assumed it was because of some deep love of roman history, though. Makes me look smart. And no, my last name is not Morosan.

What were you doing before you started streaming?

Before I got into streaming, I was in school for a short time with an indeterminate major, and then during the phase where I was building the stream to where it could support me I worked as a server in a restaurant down in Houston, where I was living when I started streaming Path of Exile. I’ve had brief stints doing construction work and cashiering in a french cafe as well, but nothing too prestigious. I did learn the French words for some very fancy desserts, though. Gotta count for something.

When did you first get into Path of Exile?

I got into Path of Exile back in Warbands league, in July of 2015. A good friend of mine convinced me to try it again when Warbands launched, as I had previously been scared off by the massive passive tree and list of skill gems and dropped it sometime in act two. The second time was the charm though, and I’d say I got a good bit further than act two.

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

The first thing that really hooked me about Path of Exile, and what keeps me hooked to it, was the eureka moment I had when I finally figured out the core concept behind the currency system. That feeling of finally seeing the way an elegant system like that functioned was like watching a particularly beautiful optical illusion fall into place. Path of Exile has consistently delivered on that feeling for me, with that moment of clarity being repeated dozens of times across the many leagues I’ve played and mechanics I’ve dug into. It really is addicting.

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

The easy answer to this one would be my first level 100, or first hardcore boss kill on something or other. Those moments were certainly awesome, and I’m happy to have achieved them, but the Path of Exile related memory that stands out most clearly to me is the first time someone popped up in my chat thanking me for a build I made, saying it had taken them all the way up to Shaper and they were really happy with it. That feeling, to see someone truly enjoying the game more for me having helped them, is half of why I keep doing this. The answer to the previous question is the other half.

What are your thoughts about the Synthesis Expansion?

Synthesis is for me another Bestiary, and while that initially may not sound like high praise, people who know my channel well may be aware that me and Bestiary have a complicated relationship. Initial implementation has been rocky, but the core systems at play here, both in regards to the memory mapping as well as the synthesized crafting, have interesting things to bring to Path of Exile. I see memory mapping, and more specifically memory collecting, as another iteration to the question of “what can be loot” - back in Bestiary, monsters were loot, in Incursion, temple rooms were, and in this league zones themselves are loot, in a way. I get excited when I see a memory using the Rooftops tileset, since I know that means it will have good density - I get excited when I see that perfect set of connections I need for my next goal mapping. That is incredibly neat, but the system is so potentially incredible in terms of value generation, that getting it to be appropriately rewarding isn’t an easy task. After the 3.6.3 Patch, I think the mechanic is in a much better, more forgiving position - I just hope that if the system goes core, it doesn’t get as pared down as my initial comparison of Bestiary.

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

I want to see more growth in areas of community oriented events. The recent races organized by Kammell_ which I’ve had the privilege of casting have been great, and Method and Zizaran have been doing a great job pushing competitive events as well - but casting that net wider and encouraging more competitive participation by the community at large is always something I’m going to push. In fact, the most recent race organized by Kammell_ was open registration, with prizes handed out by base class, so if you’ve ever considered getting into competitive POE, I’d highly suggest giving it a go, be you a streamer or just an avid player. I don’t have any insight on when the next race in that format might be, but it was enough of a success that I certainly see it being revisited.

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

Work on the core of your product first, accessories second. If you have a functional webcam that doesn’t look like staring through a pint glass and a mic better than two tin cans and a string, you can start. Do not drop hundreds of dollars on top of the line equipment before you’re sure that you’re providing an entertaining stream people will stick around for - cause if you’re not, no one will. Even if your mic sounds like it was crafted by angels and your webcam is projecting you holographically into their room, in the end you need to be providing something worth watching on that beautiful camera, and listening to from that microphone. So, before you dive all in with soundproofing and pro gear, practice in front of a mic a few dozen or hundred times. Then, realize that even if you do everything right, you’re gonna have to do it all right a few hundred times more before you’re anywhere near doing it for money, since time is the most important final ingredient to making this or almost anything work. Be prepared to stream at a loss, as a hobby, for years - if that's not something you’re in a position to do, streaming may not be a viable career path.

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

A few folks you may have heard of, but should give a look if you haven’t - Thi3n, who is very good at wringing the last bit of efficiency out his time spent in the game, often achieving more than me in the course of a league while also holding down a fulltime job outside of it. SuitSizeSmall, who is one of the guys you have to thank for having lab layouts every day over on PoeLab. Kammell_, who organizes the races we hold every month and is quite a good racer himself to boot, and CatmasterOP and BalorMage who co-host a podcast called Fated Connections thats been a good time whenever I’ve been invited on.

What hobbies or interests do you have outside of streaming?

Nowadays, there isn’t all that much outside of streaming that I find time to do. I’ve been following a few bands pretty closely, and going out with my brother to concerts whenever I can afford the time, just recently taking a trip to see Vulfpeck in NYC, which was awesome. I say that was recent though, and if I recall correctly it was all the way back in November, so that gives you an idea of how often I get out. I do still keep up with competitive League of Legends, and watching the lead-up to LEC and NA LCS finals recently has been how I’ve fallen asleep every night. Aside from that, Path of Exile, eat, sleep, repeat.

How has your life changed from before you were streaming until now? What role has streaming played in that transition?

Streaming has been instrumental in teaching me the value of consistency, as well as helping me to build a stronger work ethic. Something I struggled with growing up was finding something that would hold my attention for long enough for me to truly get great at it, rather than just decent. I ended up with a passing knowledge of a dozen subjects, and a practical knowledge of none of them. It was really when I decided to push myself to streaming, and online broadcast in general, that I spent a lot of time working on one thing, and it has helped provide me the tools to apply that sort of consistency elsewhere in my life. I certainly can’t say I’ve perfected it yet, and my stream schedule still sometimes reflects those flaws - but it has helped, and is helping, immensely. Streaming really gave me something to be, sappy as that might sound.

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

You’re never truly broke in Path of Exile, because every zone is a stepping stone to the next. Every league, every player starts from nothing. A run of bad luck, an unfortunate choice of build, a dry spell of map drops - it can feel terrible in the moment, but everyone gets to guardian maps from tier ones. Everyone gets to tier ones from twilight strand. The game is designed to drop loot, and designed to be progressed through, and making that realisation has more than once helped me with getting through a dry map spell in SSF or something similar. Just don’t make it a competition with how others are doing, and you’ll be free to progress and enjoy the progression as you go.

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

Later this league, once trade SC starts to lose some lustre, and I feel like I want a fresh start, I’m planning on attempting my first SSFHC uber Elder kill. I don’t have a hard date narrowed down for that yet, but I’m already thinking of which builds I want to approach the challenge with, and am excited for giving it a try. First though, I gotta figure out how this whole Synthesis thing works post patch.
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Thank you so much for participating in the interview! If you'd like to follow Octavian, you can do so on Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.