RPG Mount Rushmore? - 10K Subscriber AMA

[@Φέτα-ε5υ]

>where are you from? >"random beautiful fucking poem"

[@enoikay1833]

I just want to say it is very obvious you put a lot of time and thought into each of your tier lists and there is a high level of professionalism in each of your videos. I am very impressed that your channel is less than two years old and doing so well. One small piece of feedback would be that I think you should link the reddit post with your self-imposed rules in each of your tier lists, not just in the first one.

[@spellandshield]

Looking forward to this. Well done on the 10K.

[@SoulsNThings]

Thank you for answering my question! After the session was over, we talked it out and decided that critical fails would only affect the person who did the fail, not other teammates. So I think it was a good compromise 😊

[@Aestus_RPG]

Thanks for your question!

[@WeekendAtWillys]

Thanks for the vid and congrats on 10k. Really looking forward to some build videos as I was really intrigued by your multiclassing choices in your act 1 items videos as well as how you get the most out of them. As a newer player to the genre it can be overwhelming to try to flesh out certain builds. Lol

[@WizardRPG]

Love your channel, looking forward to more from you! Congratulations on the 10k, very well deserved.

[@Xyfiel]

Even though I have frequently disagreed with your content I still enjoy it from time to time. I recognize the effort required to make it and congratulate you on the achievement. Good luck going forward. Still waiting for a tier list of your tier lists😆

[@Aestus_RPG]

People should frequently disagree, I am wrong often. Thanks for the kinds words and for your support!

[@croaker97]

Loved this video, thanks for doing it. I played one of your tier list videos for several friends and we all agree you have an excellent speaking voice for long listens. In the future I hope to see tons of honor mode content as I just beat it yesterday and am sure I made a million mistakes along the way :P

[@Igni_51]

Aestus, I've been subscribed to you since EA. You are the only content creator I take seriously as I feel the passion and diligence you put into these videos. Just wanted you to know that all of your subs appreciate all of this. That said, if you do ever decide to do detailed/lorethrough for "posterity," as you said, I'd be exstatic. Keep doing what you are doing, mate!

[@Aestus_RPG]

I appreciate the kind words!

[@gaigeriel]

Congrats on 10k!! very well deserved :]

[@gideoneklund1193]

This is the best tactical gameplay i have seen on youtube. Looking forward to the release of that playthrough with commentary!

[@theAV8R]

i) The math question was a friendly jab at your take on longstrider (Places Tav can access increases to the square of movement speed, it's nonlinear). ii) It's "The Aviator" haha. iii) not trying to dox you mate. Just making conversation. Congrats on 10k!

[@Aestus_RPG]

Thanks for the great questions!

[@ronenhiller2321]

I enjoyed *every single moment* listening to you, thanks Aestus. Hope you'll do more videos like this in the future.

[@briankelly1240]

Wow! Thank you for the detailed response to my question! I love the detailed response! I tend to be less focused on loot/items as a DM, but you convinced me to try a session where it is more focused on the item(s), would love to see the adventure you mentioned!

[@IFatAdz]

Loved the video, hello from the UK - BG3 is my first CRPG and I've watched all your videos for help; I thought from the content that this was your job! Crazy to hear it's your hobby - please post more videos as it's all the education I get for this game!

[@Aestus_RPG]

Its both a hobby and a job.

[@taywebb9407]

Awesome video!! Also, speaking of short stories, need more please I've run out of the ones you've given already 🥺🥺

[@IzzyItachi]

Wow, recently been watching your BG3 tier lists and was unaware of your sub count. Was not aware you weren’t even at 10k yet. Good work dude.

[@oriolbaulenas7130]

Congrats, well deserved!

[@briankelly1240]

Congrats on 10k+!

[@lostsoulman]

Hi Aestus. Congrats on your work and thanks for answering my question. Not sure I can fully block camp casting, but I've got a few ideas how to change the game with mods. And Merry Christmas

[@Fetenepi]

Congratulations for 10k! I really enjoy your channel. I hear your videos during house cleaning, so keep up the great work 😅

[@garrettwinchester4969]

I loved your talk on superheroes and I completely agree. Growing up reading comic books and watching the justice league was definitely a factor to why I went into the medical field!

[@bradleybedson7790]

Thanks for answering my question Aestus! I figured that would be the answer, but I thought I'd ask anyway in case because I like how you break things down.

[@Aestus_RPG]

Sorry I couldn't have a better answer for you!

[@bradleybedson7790]

@@Aestus_RPG Not a problem at all man! Looking forward to more content!

[@joerundell8197]

Hey good video enjoyed it. Thanks for answering my question, and wanted to say thanks for all the ranking videos you have done, have really enjoyed watching them (multiple times) they have my play throughs much mor enjoyable.

[@Aestus_RPG]

Thanks for your question!

[@ApothecaryAlyth]

Congrats and well deserved, Aestus! I am 100% with you about the explained run thing. I write notes for all the games I think I may come back to to help avoid losing knowledge. And if I drop a game part-way into a playthrough for more than a few weeks, I have to start it over from the beginning if/when I return, because I know I will have forgotten too much to pick it up properly. So for those reasons, I'd definitely love it if you did try an explained run some time! I don't think this question made the FAQ, so I will ask here: Do you have any new build videos in the works? Your Early Access build guides were my absolute favorites! I'm also 100% with you regarding Halsin.

[@Aestus_RPG]

I plan on releasing an Eldritch Knight build soon.

[@ApothecaryAlyth]

@@Aestus_RPG Awesome, can't wait! I guess it's the Mourning Frost one you mentioned in the video? Sounds really cool. I haven't played EK yet so I will definitely use your build as my EK debut.

[@seattlelaine]

Just found your channel from tier lists. I'd love if you make more dnd content you're really knowledgable and have good stories. I could listen to you talking dming and dnd for hours.

[@Aestus_RPG]

Thanks! That is encouraging!

[@skullevil]

Don't know how I got here from your Deadfire content but love this it's like a podcast I could listen on the way to work. Sounds like you're a diplobaby though :P

[@Aestus_RPG]

@@skullevil Diplobaby 😄 Something like that, yeah!

[@driftingnitro6490]

Something that I was thinking I'd watch is encounter guides. Since most of bg3 are static encounters with some variables on who's present in the fight. Like id love a tactician guide on the Balthazar fight in the shadow fell. You could easily skip the thorms that you can beat with dialogue but it'd be cool to get help on specific party composition, spells, and potions that maximize efficiency in an encounter.

[@bubblecake4.0]

Great vid! 👍⚔️

[@Xxxkiller101]

POE 2 was the first sequel for that my actions in the first game actually mattered eder - eothas aloth - leaden key Palegina - ending quest kana - sacrificing him in the first, will have him stay dead in the 2nd and mia will attack you when asked adyrac - white march DLC

[@zaftnotameni]

59:30 YES!! the most fun I had with BG3 was in my first run when I was afraid of resting because of all the dialogue kind of implying that bad things would happen if time passed... I didn't want to miss out on anything (ironically I missed out on a ton of camp specific events because of that) I wish honor mode would have added some sort of balancing around that, find it hard to arbitrarily just pick a number and self impose it for myself

[@zaftnotameni]

40:20 halsin, wyll, and gale all feel like wizard of oz characters missing a personality

[@brendankendall41]

In any of the Baldur's Gate games, have you attempted any meme-builds before? Not necessarily ones that cheese the game, but ones that present a unique or goofy playstyle. If not, are there any meme-builds you'd consider trying?

[@Aestus_RPG]

Yes! In early access I made a meme build for Minsc. There's a written version on my website and a youtube video as well.

[@brendankendall41]

@@Aestus_RPG I just checked out your Minsc build and I love it! As a side note, I didn't even know this guy existed, because in my first and only run of BG3, Jaheira died on the very first turn of the assault on Moonrise Towers (🤦‍♂), which apparently stops him from showing up

[@groanhammer282]

On BG1 and 2, especially 1, its more fun to make "meme parties" with the shittiest characters like Quayle, Eldoth, Skie, Safana, then try a noreload SCS Challenge run

[@Noblesquire]

Sorcerer is your favorite class, please include a build guide for a sorcerer. I would love to see your thoughts.

[@ivanacosta3214]

hey Aestus! I've been really enjoying your videos, they've been really helpful for improving my play. I wanted to ask; in your tier list videos you often mention some "house rule" restrictions; limited long rests per run/banned spells/not using certain mechanics/etc. Is there a comprehensive list of all those somewhere? They sound like a good ruleset to enhance gameplay.

[@Aestus_RPG]

www.reddit.com/r/AestusGuides/s/cJ2CrPL5Lq

[@Φέτα-ε5υ]

MORROWIND MENTIONED RAAAAAAAAH I LOBVE MORROWINGD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love morrowind :,)

[@spellandshield]

OK. I finished listening to it, was a real pleasure and I have a number of things to say. Like you POE is my favourite CRPG of all time and for similar reasons; it actually talks about something difficult and relevant, something that affects our world as well, namely the conflict between the veracity of religious belief and its utility and it deals with the question very well. The companions are great as well. It is such a shame that we will never get a post Eothas Eora game where the consequences of Deadfire are explored. I am less hopeful about Avowed but it is Eora so I will have to return to that world and I fully plan on getting that game, after all it may very well be the last entry we ever get from Eora, though with luck that IP will be expanded just wish we could get another isometic POE game. I share your interest in Lae'zel and she is my favourite as well but I like Gale a lot, all the more so because of his new ending...for me it is the best ending. I agree with you concerning Pathfinder games but I have had so much fun with WOTR specifically fulfilling power fantasies so that alone elevates it above many other games and like you I like BG3 a lot but I do not think it is as amazing as many people do, since, as you correctly have stated, its primary contribution to the genre in terms of novelty are the cinematic cutscenes (made a video about this), which were the real drawing point for most people who would have otherwise never enjoyed a proper CRPG. I honestly don't think the story of BG3 is particularly interesting. It is fun and not bad but nowhere near as compelling as POE or even WOTR or Tyranny. I am enjoying my halfling Honour Mode run atm but duergar are definitely my favourite. If you nerf them there really would be no reason to play them. Their invisibility is their bread and butter. It is interesting that you brought up long stride as most of the comments under my recent play the shorties video revolved around movement speed and how critical it was and how people could not bring themselvs to bear to play a shorty because they would lose out on some movement speed. Some people REALLY think it is makes a HUGE difference. Fortunately for the duergar I don't think they will be nerfed as hardly anyone plays them anyway. I think once I am done with my honour mode lightfoot warlock I will try out a duergar Barbarian though Barbarians really seem meh to me, especially considering that Rage is on Long Rest. I think making it on Short Rest would make them much more competitive but I still have a long way to go with my halfling. Sadly I have to agree with you about the Forgotten Realms as it has become very bland and boring over the years. I remember reading the original Avatar Trilogy and it was great but FR has been overdone. I honestly miss Greyhawk as it had a much greater sense of realism to it and it was darker and more forboding. Iuz the Evil ftw. Then there is Dark Sun, probably my favourite setting. I am curious as to why you don't like the gods of the FR though; I have my own criticisms but I would be interested in hearing yours specifically. Sadly I think we are stuck with the FR for the foreseeable future, shame though. That said, they want to work on Spelljammer but I am not sure how much interest you have in that. Great AMA again. If you ever want to collab or do a talk about POE I would be up for it.

[@Aestus_RPG]

Thanks for watching it and for the thoughtful reply! Your thoughts are very interesting to me (which is why I am a fan of your channel) so I going to respond topic by topic. On PoE and Avowed: I am also hesitant with Avowed. I will 100% play it, of course, but I’m doubtful that an Eora game that’s not made by Josh Sawyer will live up to the high standards of the IP so far. But I am optimistic that Saywer will return to the IP. Judging from recent interviews, it seems like he’s proud of how Deadfire has ended up being profitable and is expressed that he would be interested in making PoE3 if he could get the budget for it. I think he said he wanted a BG3 level budget soo… youtubers like you and me are going to have to drum up a lot of hype! On Gale: I haven’t seen any of the new endings yet (I’ve been saving them) so maybe when I see his I will change my mind! Honestly, he is a well written and well acted companion, he just rubs me the wrong way sometimes, probably because he reminds me of me. On BG3s story: Its like a Blockbuster action/comedy/romance. It does that very well and even has some genuine depth. But yeah, PoE, Tyranny, Planscape: Torment, etc they are actually aspiring to say something or to explore something at a depth I don’t think BG3 aimed for, and I enjoy their story more for that reason. On Longstrider and Shorty speed: For some reason KZbin commentors are experiencing some kind of psychosis that has convinced them that a single unit of movement is make or break for a build. I honestly have no idea why. -1 movement speed is negligible compared to Lucky. There is a 300+ long comment chain on my 1st level spell tier list video arguing with me over this kind of things, and its become a meme for us now! On the Forgotten Realms: It just seems to me like the Forgotten Realms isn’t ABOUT anything. It has no unifying aesthetic or themes. Specifically on Forgotten Realms gods and religion, I think a religion is basically a ritualized worldview, where a worldview is the interconnected answers to questions like “what is ultimately real?” “what is a good life?” and “how can I know/be sure?” A religious mythology expresses that worldview through story, metaphor, symbol, etc. Basically, the kind of thing that gets told around a campfire. Look at Magran from PoE as an example. Magran is the goddess of fire, but fire is just a metaphor. To worship Magran is to adopt a certain picture of the world where, basically, one’s immediate life is a lesser reality, not important. What is ultimately real and important is your soul. A soul is degraded and weakened little by little with each life, which is the problem. The solution to the problem is purification through pain/suffering. Purification, innovation, progress, aren’t they all the result of perspiration? That’s why, to live well, you need to turn of the heat and embrace the cleansing flame. That is a worldview. By comparison, what is the worldview behind Shar’s religion? Or Selune’s? Or Lathender’s? I don’t see the same depth. It doesn’t seem like they answer the core worldview questions in a believable way. On collabing in the future: I’m interested! Shoot me an e-mail some time and we can discuss it!

[@spellandshield]

@@Aestus_RPG Unrelated but Halfling Luck is seemingly bugged; it only works in combat but does not work on ability checks, happened to me and others can confirm. I am going to restart with either a deep gnome or a duergar.

[@spellandshield]

I am astonished that Larian has not gotten rid of this bug....

[@prof.barney2509]

10k in a year, very impressive

[@AS-sn5gf]

You should check out the music of David Berman, his poetry his well if you havent already.

[@jeffbezos2960]

What are your thoughts in Dos2? Its my personal favorite just because its so much fun to exploit and i love the classless system but i think writing wise poe 1 kind of clears everything, havent play bg1 or 2 though.

[@Aestus_RPG]

It's a decent game. Solid for the genre. Big drawbacks for me are the classless system (I prefer classes. I made a video about it), the equipment system, and the narrative design is a bit bland.

[@kurtcobane1762]

I agree with you about halsin the guy seems like his favourite spice is flour and his favourite crisps are plain boring character and it sucks that pre patch 5 you had a choice of the embodiment of boring but really good gear or not as good gear but one of the best characters in the game imo (minthara) also cant wait for ek build

[@doloresabernathy9809]

Hi I love your BG3 guides but they are so packed with information I cannot follow it all just from listening. Could you post the transcripts or a written summary? I would pay a membership fee for that.

[@AloysiusDente]

Brideshead Revisited mentioned!

[@Aestus_RPG]

Evelyn Waugh's grandson actually has a fascinating KZbin channel!

[@AloysiusDente]

Oh my God he's a Shakespeare truther@@Aestus_RPG

[@Aestus_RPG]

@@AloysiusDente I know! Its so weird and brilliant! It gets my imagination going everytime.

[@faelarie4726]

Can we get a feat tier list?

[@johnwallace5284]

Do you reccomend the best mods to use for BG1 and 2?

[@Aestus_RPG]

Sorry, I never use mods, so I can't comment on them.

[@michaelbrown3849]

Just subbed. I'm struggling to get into BG3 because dnd is COMPLETELY new to me. I'm also a min-max type of RPG player, so your vids kinda scratch that itch. Creators who are able to pump out longer, quality videos are my favorite. You also just feel like you know what you're talking about, which is always nice. I feel the passion through the voice over. Good luck as your channel grows 😁

[@Aestus_RPG]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@Dibbsi]

I got a question: if you reach 10k subscribers would you do an AMA ?

[@Aestus_RPG]

No

[@Dibbsi]

🤯

[@spellandshield]

I thought I had left a message but do you have a business email or something? As we had thought of collaboration...

[@Aestus_RPG]

Yes, you can find it on my channel home page. If you click on the about description it will display channel details. My business e-mail is there, just click the View Email button. If I post it here bots will find it and spam me.

[@doloresabernathy9809]

My question is, who’s Tav?

[@Aestus_RPG]

Tav is the stock name of your custom origin character. They are the main character.

[@acnwwhr]

I love the POE games but I never got past the insultingly short main story for POE2. The yearbook defense for this fuckery has always been, "well, complete all the side quests and it's a full fleshed out experience". Imo, the idea that you would ignore the rampaging apocalypse god just so you can pad out the game with some fetch quests makes absolutely no sense from a RP standpoint. Anyway, congrats on 10k!

[@Aestus_RPG]

That is a fair critique, but it doesn't bother me in the least. The game is so good, why let that ruin it? Thanks for the kind words!

[@enneract9]

If you read fiction for entertainment, I highly recommend reading Virtuous Sons

[@Aestus_RPG]

Looks interesting! Thanks for the recommendation!

[@Daniel_leading_the_13_Plateans]

So you are Mr worldwide

[@Aestus_RPG]

You guessed my identity.

[@Deathelement53]

I'll be honest while I would wish you all the success in the world I wouldn't be nearly as interested in the interview/history content compared to what you are currently doing

[@Splitboltxful]

“This is going to get me haters but I don’t think Halsin is a good character” Nah bro, everyone thinks that you’re safe 😂 He’s a nice guy, but he is totally boring!

[@zaftnotameni]

11:15 interesting, I share your love for bg1 but I think pillars of eternity is extremely overrated...

[@Aestus_RPG]

Not a chance, it's one of the goats!

[@neuroscienxe9266]

I wish you said something about spoilers for BG1 and BG2 since I haven’t played them yet 🫠 I know they’re old games now-I just haven’t gotten to play them yet since I didn’t know I liked cRPGs until BG3.

[@Aestus_RPG]

Sorry!

[@neuroscienxe9266]

@@Aestus_RPGno worries I will hopefully just forget by the time I get to them. Congrats on 10k! 🎉