I’ve thought about it. 1) He prioritizes facts over rule of cool. That’s actually a polarizing position. Makes me love Chris, but makes him lame in other camps. 2) His production quality is amateurish. He’s a D&D guy on RU-vid, not a RU-vid guy covering D&D, and it shows. Not a problem for me, I mostly just listen anyway, but his videos aren’t a “dopamine hit every 3 seconds” engagement machine, and he’s not going to hook the people who are into that. 3) Chris rarely shows his own face. You gotta deploy the thirst traps if you want the views.
What attracted views and didn’t is so thumbnail and community love dependent I never really knew since I come watch every time. (Except for rl that sadly I recognize some of the dates)
The build I'm really missing, that I somehow have never found anywhere is a Centaur Oath of Ancients Paladin using a Lance, it's an awesome concept that I think can be very well optimised.
I think you should start making builda for the playtest and update or straight up kill them if the main mechanic is removed, this would be the best way to provide feedback to WotC
I mean it probably is to be expected that high-level focused builds will get less attention, I rarely even have the option to test some combos on lvl 8.
You'll need to find ways to include searchable terms in your video titles, hexadin and sorlock will get you repeat visitors because those are popular and searchable. What do I search if a month from now I want to try that one flying mount build you made... what was it some kind of bard "Treantmonk bard find greater steed build" but "the not-a-soradin" will also show if you search "soradin"
I loved playing your table friendly necromancer. The only change I made is that later on I decided that I'd rather have fighter as the dip (despite the slight delay in spell slot progression). I became so attached to Sir Darington, my ghost companion, that he became a character in his own right, and so I eventially split 17/3 for Echo Knight, so that I could flavor the echo as being Sir Darington following the party around 24/7
I'm really shocked that the moon druids didnt perform well. I loved following your week to week analyses of the features and would have welcomed more builds around the various forms
Chris, have you considered turning your optimization mindset toward the content you create? Your video thumbnails, names, and visual approach need a major overhaul. Their only unifying theme is that they're bad. Mr. Beast has gone on at length about how important the thumbnail is - you're competing based on looks alone in the feed. You should hire / work with a graphic designer to put a template together for you in Figma. You'll easily increase your views just with that. Next, kill the clip art (like the frames in this video) and stock imagery/videos. I've been following you for a long, long time. In a relatively short amount of time, d4, Pack Tactics, and a bunch of other creators have rocketed past you. Consider a makeover. We all want to see you win!
Chris, Deathblow Tornado for me is one of the most creative and ingenuous builds I've have ever seen, and it's so fun to play it blew my mind. Actually, blew my party's mind as well, to the point I had to "study" it to so that I could explain why I could do all those things by the rules (including Air Elemental attacking with DEX) even to my DM (I've entered in an ongoing campaign that was on 13th level already). It gave me a whole new experience of playing, thank you for that, even if didn't have that much views, please don't stop doing this kind of concept, you're to good on it, keep leaving that legacy for people like myself.
As someone who didn't initially watch the tear and scarw video I think it was a combination of thumbnail and title. I tend to type into youtube "bladesinger" or whatever when I'm looking for build inspiration, so tear and scare didn't really do anything for me on that front. However, i did eventually watch it a year after it came out and its an excellent build. Very much enjoyed that vid.
"Tear and Scare: Optimize your attack action" - I confess, I'm one of the people who had no idea what that build was about and put off watching it in favor of your other videos. I think something more Colby-esque like "The Eldritch Dragonsinger" would have been more eye-catching on a thumbnail personally
It's funny because I think it's one of the more memorable videos, but I did often forget what the build was around other than utilizing dragonbreath fear which is just so badass. Not a lot of dragonborn based builds out there, and the clever use of an old 'dead' feat was inspiring. Glad it got a bump up to B
@Treantmonk's Temple: I think the series would be better with ranking just based on your own opinion (not including # of views), and you are considered the expert
@@TreantmonksTempleI think I should retract that idea I just scrolled through the last year of builds and that isn’t really true view wise. The RU-vid algorithm is a mysterious thing.
I really dig your channel. I never expect you to say anything funny but every once in awhile you make a joke and it makes me laugh because it's so unexpected.
You had some golden builds in here man. Lol, Tommy Chong. Sigh, one day I'll get my version Gypsy Jones (2-parts Easy Rider, one Part Eternal Champion) to the table. Playing the Deathblow Tornado, and Its been great vs. dragons
You know, I bet the 'Tear and Scare' didn't get the views because you used a PHB looking dragonborn instead of the half-dragon looking variants they've become.
Currently playing a Dread Necromancer-based build flavored around Colin Robinson. He annoys people with his RP instead of his lack of table friendly action economy.
Have to imagine part of the reason the early 2023 videos suffered a little bit in terms of views is the community sentiment towards WOTC because of the OGL issue. I know I didn't consume as much content for a while even after things were resolved.
TM I think you should keep making old references (yes I'm old too) and punny names and titles that are evocative of the character to you, but you could also have the RU-vid bait 'sorlock' or whatever basic build combo is easily recognizable just in parentheses or asterisks or something like that in the corner of the thumbnail or at the end of the video title. People who don't already watch all your build guides want to know what they're getting in a video before clicking on it, it's why I almost never give D4's builds a try because I want to know what I'm seeing before I start an hour long video (and inevitably give up halfway through anyway when it turns out to not be what I'd hoped for and is taking forever to get to the point).
With the "backwards compatability" of the new edition, I do think your newer videos will still get views since they plan on releasing 4 subclasses/class at first, so it'll probably be a while before we even get all the wizard subclasses for each school of magic, let alone the 'odd' ones like bladesinger or scribes. That being said, if they do release bladesinger later while keeping eldritch knight's war magic as in the playtest, do you think it'll be as popular?
I took a deathblow tornado from 11 to 20 in a modified out of the abyss after asking my dm for a Respec since I was playing a ranger for 11 levels and I was bored, I basically oneshotted Demogorgon with 2 critical smites back to back
You gotta just have a short minute long discussion about some basic charisma multiclass build at the start of every video so you can just Basorclockadin every video because dnd players when they see a reference to a charisma class.
There's a lot of people who treat DnD like a mmorpg and zoom in on specific builds to the detriment of other aspects of the game. I think its hard to overcome the sheer volume of people drooling over hexadins and bladesingers online. As someone who's played those among other things repeatedly.
ב"ה It would also be nice if you update your subclasses tier ranking, with options that you changed your mind about them and with the new subclasses that were out after you released that series of videos.
would have been more interesting to have considered the comment-to-view ratio rather than just pure views. The youtube algorithm is a fickle mistress and a lot of view variance could be entirely up to chance.
Great video as usual, after this series is over i would be curious to hear your opinion as an optimizer on Daggerheart now that the beta is out, it would be really useful to give them feedback on the balance. Obviously only if you are interested
I personally see absolutely nothing wrong with 'playing the YT game' in the title of videos .....in fact I'm pretty sure i missed a couple videos before i subscribed simply because i was looking for a particular class guide and used the name in the search.
@@TreantmonksTemple 😆 oh yeah! Or mash everything you can into the most click-baity title possible like: "OneD&D *don't* want you to know about the 15 SECRET times the Bladesinger DESTROYED the OGL..and you *won't believe* number 5!"
Currently using the Dread Necromancer build in AL. Lots of fun, even more so when a Paladin player gives me the occasional scowl…next up, the Scribe Wizard!
May favorite videos of yours are your feature breakdowns or rules analysis. But love your build videos as well. My biggest takeaway from this series though is how vital thumbnail, video title and popular terms are king even in such a targeted space as you are in on YT.
Your Invisible Bard build has another option that ignores the weird invisibility rules interaction and activates with a bonus action AND makes concentration easier. Using guardian of nature as one of your magical secrets
While playing BG3, I've seen how Warding Bond, Heavy Armor Master, Improved Warding Flare, and Projected Arcane Ward (abjuration school) work extremely well together (across a team, not necessarily all on one character). This is not to mention Aid Spell and/or temp HP sources. With these recent tier lists, I've rewatched a few favorites, like the frostbane barbarian and tank build. The Path of Ancestral Guardian is definitely a powerful feature, but it has its limitations. Only one target can be hindered at a time. You have to be in rage, where you can't cast/concentrate on other spells. It gets me wondering if Warding Bond could be used to create a superior version of Ancestral Protectors. Warding bond says "It also ends if the spell is cast again on either of the connected creatures." There could be some RAW vs RAI ambiguity here, but personally I RAW with a range of Touch that 1 person can cast multiple simultaneous Warding Bonds, but nobody can be the recipient of multiple simultaneous Warding Bonds, and you cannot create a chain of Warding Bonds. So we start getting a concept for a build.... "The Ultimate Force Multiplier". A support oriented character that makes the rest of its team universally more effective, no matter what the team is (as long as they stay within 60 feet). I mean when resistance doesn't stack, it is hard to beat resistance to all damage types for an hour without concentration. Then this character can cast Sanctuary on themselves (if situationally optimal). And then the only job left to do from there is survive. Maybe this character acquires universal resistance for themselves by some other means. Or maybe they use Arcane Ward, Heavy Armor Master, or healing magic. Then aside from all of that, maybe there are ways to buff the damage of allies too. I'd love if you made a build out of this concept. If anyone can do it justice, it's you. Also since this character would be casting Warding Bond (2nd level spell) quite frequently, maybe Warlock 3 would be a worthwhile dip for short rest replenishment. Or maybe Paladin is a great start, since he can always cast healing hands on self and also provides auras. So maybe a good start is Paladin 1-6, Life Cleric 2-6, Warlock 3. Maybe Abjuration Wizard 2-6. Depends on optimal balance in any direction Arcane Ward not only offers pseudo-temp-HP, but it also just synergizes well if you dedicate yourself to it. Every casting of shield, armor of agathys, sanctuary, aid, warding bond, and several auras are all Abjuration School and will recharge the ward. I think RAW you can continue build up the ward even without it resetting to zero. A warlock with Armor of Shadows can spam Mage Armor for free to keep the ward always topped up. Assuming wizard 6 and 16 intelligence, that could be 15 HP ward. I heard somewhere Arcane Ward doesn't benefit from resistance, but who knows. Also choosing Warlock Fiendish Vigor for long term resource-free durability could be good too. It would be interesting to compare the "saved or recovered hit points per spell slot level" with this compared to a straight life domain cleric I'm going to try this in BG3 with Life Cleric 3, Warlock 3, Abjuration Wizard 6
Can confirm works great in BG3 with heavy armor master and adamantine plate Another team member cast Hero's Feast and Freedom of Movement Very resilient team. Not that the centralized damage doesn't require managing, but it's manageable (between sanctuary, old fashion positioning, and life cleric healing options). And it's easy to see where a team member would have been KO'd but wasn't because of the bonds.
Weird, @31:37 &this is the first I recall seeing the title card for the Death Blow Tornado, even though I know I have watched everyone of your videos since 2020, maybe earlier. I am going to have to go watch it again to see what I missed.
I checked before finishing watching this video & it shows the red bar for having watched the whole thing. Beware the Ides of March Chris, I hope it goes well for you.
