If you've ever been stuck in a Labyrinth, you may have had a hand from SuitSizeSmall who operates and updates the Lab notes on PoELab! Continuing our series of interviews with community streamers, we took a moment to chat with SuitSizeSmall about his cosplay, running the Labyrinth and life outside of streaming.

Hi SuitSizeSmall, thank you for taking part in the interview! For those who may not be familiar with you, can you please introduce yourself?

Thank you for inviting me to be interviewed! I’m SuitSizeSmall, I primarily operate and update the Lab notes for PoELab. I stream Path of Exile and occasionally other games such as souls-likes, metroidvanias and crafting/factory games. I also make cosplays semi-regularly.

When did you first get into Path of Exile?

I started playing Path of Exile around August or September of 2014.

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

The primary thing that caught my attention was the sheer volume of skill gems, passives and items. I moved over from Diablo 3 so seeing this much variety and potential builds really got my attention. This is also the reason I keep coming back. I like making and trying out different builds. Granted this causes problems where I always end up making a bunch of level 70 characters and never commit but it is still fun to try out different skills.

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

Back in Incursion I had a triple Hatred Watcher's Eye drop that I still have in Standard. This was also during the peak time of Glacial Cascade Mines so the build got me into farming Uber Elder. The more recent highlights were my Oshabi and Maven cosplays. They got a lot of traction and support despite being thrown together in a week. And of course going to ExileCon was great. I had a lot of fun meeting everyone, I just wish I was less anxious and stayed out more.

Do you have a favourite build from your time playing Path of Exile?

When Ascendancy first released Elementalist Fire Trap was very satisfying to play due to how Elementalist would proliferate ignites and shocks. A little time after that Voltaxic Spark was also very fun due to being reflect immune and having great clear. Finally my recent favourite build has been Guardian Summon Holy Relic. Fairly tanky, good enough clear and can boss reliably.

Which was your favourite league or expansion?

I’m a little biased but the Ascendancy expansion has to be one of my favourites simply because it added the Labyrinth. Additionally, I really enjoyed Harvest as it was the first time I felt I was slowly improving each of my items through crafting rather than accumulating a mass of currency to maybe make a new item.

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

I started streaming probably around April or May of 2016. After some encouragement from the PoELab website team and guild I started streaming my daily Lab runs of mapping out the Labyrinth. Eventually I grew more comfortable streaming content outside the Labyrinth as well as other games.

What can people expect from your stream and schedule?

You caught me at an unfortunate time as I recently started another semester in university. Normally I stream every day, mapping out all the Lab notes when the Labyrinth resets, 7pm CST. However, with school going on and the nature of Path of Exile being a large time sink I’m currently on a bit of a stream break. I do plan on doing some streams on the weekend if I have time, these will be a bit shorter and might be of other games and occasionally cosplay content. I don’t really have a schedule for these, it's just if I have time and am in the mood.

What were you doing before you started streaming?

So when I started the Lab notes and streaming I was in my first semesters of community college. I have since been going to a regular University studying Mathematics. Unfortunately, my life has primarily been school and it has been regularly extended due to changing fields of study, problems with pre-requisites and inability to take a full set of courses due to mental stress.

What hobbies or interests do you have outside of streaming?

I’ve been gaming most my life and this continues off stream. Recently I’ve been getting more and more into cosplay. Learning how to make costume accessories, how to sew, wig styling, makeup and photography.

You've made some awesome Path of Exile cosplays over the years! Which one was your favourite and why?

As previously mentioned I really liked what I managed to pull off for Oshabi and Maven in such a short period of time. Also those costumes included one of my favorite props to use which was UV contact lenses which is how I made my eyes glow. I also had a lot of fun putting together the budget Vorana armor for my expedition cosplay. The 1 week constraint has been difficult to work around but it has shown me what I can manage to do if I plan out my time.

How has your life changed from before you were streaming until now?

Surprising a lot has both changed and not changed. As mentioned, due to a variety of reasons I’m still going to university so not much has changed there. But I do plan my time around Labyrinth reset a lot so my time management is a bit more strict. Streaming and PoELab is more or less my first job and having a source of income has been incredibly impactful.

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

Taking your time when playing PoE. It is easy to feel like you are “behind” when seeing people get to maps in 24 hours or have already killed Maven before you’ve done a T16. However everyone plays at a different pace and enjoys different parts of PoE. Take your time and don’t worry if you are “behind”.

What drew you to running the Labyrinth? Do you have a favourite build specifically curated for the Labyrinth?

The main draw to Labyrinth to me was how different you had to plan a farming character and how strong simply having knowledge of the Lab could be. It was interesting to focus a build much more on moving quickly and smoothly and somehow having enough damage to fight Izaro. Defense could somewhat be neglected if you knew how to navigate the traps very well, or fast enough that they wouldn’t damage you. Additionally Izaro has fairly well telegraphed attacks so with enough practice it is easy to do the fight with low defense.

The Lab build I used for years was a Toxic Rain Pathfinder. It was incredibly low budget, normally less than an Exalted Orb to get started and it would have around 400% movement speed. This was a great starter Labyrinth build for new Lab runners and league starters however with flask changes in 3.15 hit the build much harder than anticipated. Now I’m back to an old school Leap Slammer with Ancestral Warchief Totems.

What's one tip you'd give for new and old players alike for getting through the Labyrinth?

Practice is the key to doing well in Lab. Knowing the Izaro fight, room layouts and trap layouts help tremendously in getting through Lab. If you don’t get through a Lab your first time it's ok, the layout is the same so try again and be patient (unless you are in Hardcore, sorry).

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

I tend to lurk in channels a lot but my usual go to’s are AphelionPoE, KittenCatNoodle, Arkaynan, piebypie, BrittleKnee, Octavian0 and Smashley. Additionally, Vanhilla and Denipon are two new streamers I recently came across. The fantastic artist NieNie has started streaming as well.

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

As mentioned, I’m on a bit of a streaming break as I focus on school. But I plan on doing some sporadic streams. Best to just follow me on Twitter to see if anything happens streaming related. I recently started a Fanhouse where I post more cosplay and makeup focused content. With October around the corner I’ve been working on my Halloween costume. It isn’t Path of Exile themed but it is spicier than what I usually do so I hope everyone enjoys it nonetheless. If time permits I would also like to do some additional costumes/makeup looks throughout October.

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Thank you so much for participating in the interview! If you'd like to follow SuitSizeSmall, you can do so on Twitter and Twitch.