How to Become a God Gamer in Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile AMA Podcast | Ep. 3 ft. ds_lily | PodCats Ep3: Gaming, Racing, and Streamer Life
In the third episode of PodCats, we're joined by the incredible ds_lily-a top-tier Path of Exile Hardcore Solo Self-Found (HCSSF) racer and one of the most notable female streamers in the PoE community. Known for her competitive spirit, engaging personality, and thoughtful approach to content creation, Lily brings her expertise and insights to the table as we dive into a wide array of topics.
🌟 What We’ll Cover:
Lily’s personal journey: From her intriguing online name origins to her thoughts on balancing streaming and real-life demands.
Racing mastery: How she consistently places in the top 10 in PoE HCSSF races, her strategies, and advice for “gitting gud.”
The Path of Exile community: Changes, challenges, and her vision for fostering inclusivity and positivity.
Content creation: Behind-the-scenes insights into Lily’s approach to streaming, social media, and dealing with trolls.
Fun rapid-fire questions: From favorite PoE bosses to her go-to stream snacks!
We’ll also touch on her unique streaming style, including the infamous “streaming from a tub of beans” moment, her cooking streams, and what keeps her passion for gaming and content creation alive.
📅 Episode 3 Live Date: TBD - Stay tuned!
📺 Watch on KZbin, Twitch, and X
💬 Get Involved:
Drop your questions for Lily in the comments or join us live to ask her directly during the stream!
📢 Social Links:
TWITTER ►► / catmasterop
DISCORD ►► / discord
PATREON ►► / catmasterop
LINKTREE ►► linktr.ee/Catm...
Join us for an unfiltered, fun, and enlightening conversation with one of the community’s finest! 🎙️

[@jonr7364]

i cant believe you uploaded this

[@sinisasub85]

I watched it, I liked more of it than I disliked, but yeah, at times it felt like pulling teeth. Could Cat have done better at times? Yes, obviously, several surprisingly good points have already been given in the comments. To add one more (hopefully useful): END IT, when you say you will end it, don't backtrack several times and don't do tangents or drawn out outros - that was imho an issue in all three episodes thus far. But imho the majority of bad parts were mostly on DSL. I appreciate her, she has her shtick, some people like it, but it's just not my cup of tea. She is socially awkward, sounds and acts like she has been sleep deprived for days, and can't carry a reciprocal conversation or express herself beyond simple sentences. Again, I appreciate her, I'm glad she's a part of the community, and this is not meant to be an insult, but she's likely on the spectrum (again: I sincerely don't mean it as an insult), and just isn't an interesting speaker, and isn't a good interviewee for 1-on-1s. Take Velyna as a contrast. That woman knows how to carry herself, has charisma for export, she can speak for hours, and I can listen to her for hours. That was by far the best episode thus far. Take the criticism, improve based on it (which you seem to be doing), but don't own it all, this one was absolutely not all on you. Will keep watching, and I'm looking forward for new episodes (I've also been supporting Fated for a while, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon). 👍

[@siqqx]

This looks like a blind date with a girl who really doesn't want to be there.

[@nethstar]

You tried, man. Lily just seems to be too curt for anything outside of streaming and making content on her own - really did feel like she'd rather be mapping and dying to rando white mobs than be there. Having LIly on always makes the host look like they're doing a bad job (so please, don't knock yourself). I noticed this in Zizz's Farm Cast where there was similarly the same vibe. Zizz was able to hop onto other topics naturally to keep the convo going and avoid lots of dead air, but trying to coax lily to just speak on her own about her feelings and thoughts on the game felt like getting blood from a stone. This is just a Lily thing. Even in her streams where she encourages newbies to come in and ask questions feels like a clash when a lot of answers to said questions are the short, sharp, go-nowhere answers of "I guess", "I don't know about that one", "Maybe", "Sure", "Don't know what you're talking about". Hopefully feedback on this doesn't dissuade you from reaching out to more POE content creators.

[@ZCole777]

Yeah shes generally rude to anyone new to the game in her channel, not welcoming at all, don't bother asking her for advice ever, there are a lot more helpful content creaters out there, she is unpleasant to say the least.

[@XeroVersus]

Props to Catmaster for trying to keep the conversation going, though it should've ended after first hour. It was obvious from the start Lily was not interested in talking at all, hence these short curt answers.

[@catmasterOP]

Appreciate the props but honestly feel I could have done a lot better. Still looking to improve to become a lot more natural and less awkward. I honestly didn't have the feeling lily was uninterested, unfortunate if it comes off that way. It's just hard with a little bit of a delay so you're not sure if the other person is finishing/starting a sentence and when exactly you can speak. Sometimes when you're a guest on someone elses show it can be hard to tell when you can claim space and when you should let the host do his thing. Lily has been a guest on several FATED episodes in the past, she knows my podcast style and how socially awkard I can be when trying to ask questions. If she had been 'not interested in talking at all' she could have turned my request for the interview down or tell me she didn't want to do this set of questions at any time in the preparation process. She didn't owe me anything, I didn't pay her and I certainly am a much smaller creator with a fraction of the reach she has on any social media. Maybe I bored her a bit with my questions or she was just mentally already checked into Torchlight :D but that's on me then and I will make sure to be a better interviewer next time, pace the interview better and possibly cut it shorter and sweeter.

[@XeroVersus]

@catmasterOP It's not entirely on you. It for sure is for being awkward as well, but her performance was also very bad. Of course you have experience in several conversations with people so you probably know that her very short input did not help at all and were just cutting topics fast. The best conversations are when the guest is giving more than (for lack of better word) 2 words in an answer and also sometimes returns a question to the host. I of course didn't watch in entirety, but after some time I skipped to random segments and it was always the same thing.

[@stedyedy23]

​@catmasterOP she wasn't interested cause it was a poe podcast and you took ages to even talk about it! No small talk awkward weird questions. 5 mins Max on background

[@ZCole777]

It was a podcast, ie a conversation, if the depth of your personality is only being able to talk about poe and not carry on a conversation don't do podcasts ds_lily. Props to Catmaster for trying with this unpleasant human being too.

[@syncplop]

German humor VS. Quirky US girl. It was hilarious Keep it up Catmaster!

[@zenmindgreenthumbful]

Most awkward first date ever

[@D3V1L4NC3]

Dark Alliance, Champions of Norath and gauntlet dark legacy are what got me into gaming and PoE!!!

[@JeffHenneforth]

This is so painful to watch

[@catmasterOP]

Embrace it!

[@daronwojnowski5126]

Nice try Catmaster. Some people have little to no personality. Lily is a grown woman and it's up to her to learn how to carry on a conversation. This is no attack on her, but she should know better that this interview reflects badly on her. If she depends on people watching her channel so that she doesn't have to get a real job, then it's incumbent on her to be more personable. Keep up the good work and thanks for reminding me why I rarely watch anything with Lily in it.

[@Schizm1]

agree

[@Schizm1]

Well it was indeed painfull. Lily has been... special even back when she called herself "rwds_Lilly" (and yes - rwds really means what you think it means... she was THAT edgy/stupid) so props to you for trying to push this conversation

[@catmasterOP]

right wing dont sleep? real wankers? rad wigs?

[@Schizm1]

@@catmasterOP ok, but enough about you...

[@gijs7509]

Thanks for another interview. Did it have quite a few awkward moments because of the clash in communication style? Yes. But that does have its own charm and in the second hour the conversation did gain more flow. My tip for the next one would be to sometimes respond less with a 'I relate this to my own experience in x way' but more with 'What is your reasoning for coming to this conclusion / please elaborate'. Keep the episodes coming Catmaster and respect for always being so open to feedback.

[@catmasterOP]

Hey thanks that's really useful feedback!

[@MaxxxMaxMaxx]

She's so much like me, couldn't care less about small talk. love it. I feel uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time. (for the non gaming talk)

[@ClaudioBramby]

I'm at 15 minutes and they still didn't talk about poe and it's clear from the first 3 seconds that lily doesn't like small talks. I bet if he asked her about the game she wouldn't have stopped talking yet

[@Omalius]

keep going Catmaster, you dun good! DS_Lily is hard work, even on her own stream. I think she has good intentions but an unusual way of interacting with the world. That's not a criticism, just how it seems to me. I've been playing POE for a long time now and i find her content hard to relate to - although its clear that some people love it. Keep going.

[@receth]

Oooff... this was painful. its obviously from the start Lily wasnt comfortable with the small talk and more personal stuff. On a more constructive note, maybe start briefly introducing the person and then going for some foolproof questions about the game. Then, you can try some personal questions when the conversation is already flowing and you have a better feeling about the other person, always having the game conversation to fall back into. Good luck, man.

[@CadorYT]

Wow this is your last interview partner when you found all 3 citadels.

[@RhebelGaming]

Omg midtown madness!!! Played the fk outta that game

[@sammyjenkis5260]

3:00 maaaan, that was brutaaaaaaal

[@catmasterOP]

:D That's not how I meant it at all (and pretty sure lily understood that given that she was given the questions to screen them beforehand) but thanks for pointing it out I will try to phrase such hypotheticals a bit more precisely and carefully.

[@stedyedy23]

This interviewer is so awkward , what are these questions

[@catmasterOP]

Thanks, I'm trying to get better feel free to be more specific.

[@dimensionaldot]

@@catmasterOP Sorry in advance for the long comment haha but my two cents: (for context I enjoy fated a lot but this is the first PodCats I've watched a decent chunk of) These interviews are fun and it's cool to see a bit behind the curtain. That being said I think there are two things that hold it back a bit right now. First is the fact that there is basically no allusion to games for a good first chunk of the interview. I don't say this because I only want to hear about the game but because that is the main thing that you two have in common. If I have a conversation with someone I've only chatted to a few times or someone I don't know much about I start by talking about what we do have in common that then that branches into unrelated topics of conversation. For example, you could ask what got her into playing poe and then you could follow up with how she first got into games and if it was in the same way as poe (e.g., through family/friends), what her first game was, etc. At this point you've had a whole conversation talking about her upbringing and history without just having to ask something like "how close are you to your family" which can result in a very short answer with little room for follow ups. The second thing is that you stick to the questions a little too closely. I'm not sure if this will make sense but it feels like the difference between someone doing a presentation where they read every bullet off a slide word-for-word and move on versus someone who has 1-2 word bullet points and just speaks freely about each topic. They might both cover the same information but the second one is typically much more engaging. For example when she says she only falls asleep when she's bored you say you 'aren't prepared for that answer' which implies that you *are* trying to anticipate their answers and I think it is exactly this prep that is making the conversation feel a bit stilted because when you don't have a prepared question the flow breaks a lot of the time. Try to ask a general question and then when they answer just pick something about your answer that piqued your interest and dig deeper. I think over time you'll ask less and less questions that lead to a dead end topic (e.g., asking how old her grandma is). Also, don't feel like you need to hit all of your questions in order (even if you prepare questions/topics, pick the most natural next one to go into when you feel the current topic dying down). TLDR: (1) Use the game as a vehicle to start the conversation and let it naturally flow while nudging it into a more personal niche (right now you talk about who they are as a person until the conversation falls (seemingly against your will) into talking about the game). (2) Do less prep and wing it more, ask follow ups in the moment instead of trying to prepare them, and don't feel like you need to hit all of your questions in order.

[@XeroVersus]

@@dimensionaldot These were great tips.

[@coreyrachar9694]

I love the channel and the podcast so I'm really not trying to be a dick but... These were the most boring interview questions I have maybe ever heard. Came to learn how to be a 'god gamer' but learned that lily likes history documentaries....

[@lennyghoul]

I know you're going with all women at first so I'm hoping you have Nizmat on at some point. Also Denipon obviously, and you may or may not know a neighbor living in Germany Annacake is new to PoE but was pretty huge in the D3-D4 streaming space. Maybe though don't ask them such weird questions? I knew that the Lily Interview would be a little strange but I didn't think the awkward one would be the one asking the questions. 🙄

[@danzo9528]

Dude respect for trying and all but you should have realized in the first minutes that Lily is not into these talks. Why trying so hard then? Just dig instant into Poe nerf stuff and hope for the best

[@maxschwediauer9808]

👍

[@anba9499]

kino

[@maxschwediauer9808]

🤣

[@zoolzoo4434]

ultra cringe…..also the game is trash