yt-dlp no longer works without cookie pass through
Freetube is totally broken
All the public invidious instances are usually rate limited and unusable
and Newpipe often wont work if using a VPN

There are a lot of HQ creators on youtube but it seems I cant actually watch them without being brain-blasted by the algorithm (that, or if they have a patreon pay and watch there)

Can anyone share working methods to get yt media without interacting with yt platform?