Revision as of 09:25, 5 July 2022

X-Com agents use their latent psionic powers to attack an enemy with their mind.

In General

A naturally gifted unit can use a Mind Bender to telepathically manipulate any unit on the battlescape. The victim cannot be injured or killed outright but can be anally probed, stunned, demoralised, or mind-controlled.
An agent who has been trained in a Psi-Gym will become adept in the use of psionic projections.

Psi Attributes

An agent has three psionic traits that govern their ability to either project or to resist 'mind games'.

Psi Energy

Agent's psionic energy available to project onto a victim. Slowly recharges.

Psi Skill

Agent's aptitude of performing the particular choice of psionic projection.

Psi Defence

The agent's ability to resist psionic manipulation.

Agents For Hire

Humans: Humans have very low psionic attributes and need maximum training to perform even the easiest of psionic projections.(Probe Unit).
Hybrids: Sectoid-Human hybrids are best suited for training due to their high base-level psionic attributes. To have the best Psi-Troops, hybrids available for hire should be selected for the best natural psionic ability levels, since training will triple the base values. Psi Skill and Psi Energy are together used for psionic manipulation. Both should be high since strong Psi Skill is useless unless your have the energy to use it, and Psi Energy will be depleted without effect if Psi Skill is weak (gives low percentages).
Androids: Androids cannot use psionics which also makes them immune to any projections.

Training

An agent's ability to perform psionic projections is very weak even for hybrids. Abilities will become much more powerful and with a greater chance of success when a suitable agent is trained to completion.

Psionics ability is trained inside the base facility: Psi-Gym.
The training of attributes will cease when the original psionic-skill-set values have tripled.

Psionic Targets

To avoid X-Com agents being the subject of mind games, kill the psionic unit.

An X-Com agent may cancel their own projection manually.
Any unit to be manipulated must be directly visible to the agent who will be performing the projection.
If Psi Energy is depleted, any active projections will immediately fail.
Purposely allowing an X-Com unit to be panicked or stunned will keep the psi-attacker 'connected' with this agent. The hostile will expend their Psi Energy with only minor overall combat effect.
Any unit under hostile mind control will pick up weapons/grenades to use against your troops and if none are near, may use a stun grapple instead.
Manipulated X-Com agents can be targeted by other X-Com agents to remove a threat (eg: stun a panicking unit who is equipped with a dangerous weapon).
Any agent which has been mind controlled by the aliens should be immediately targeted by X-Com for mind control to 'return' the agent. The target unit is usually mind controlled again since they are visible to the hostile projector. Hide this Psi Defense weak agent if your own hybrids are depleted of Psi Energy or use a stun effect to temporarily remove the threat.
A flying agent under attack by "Stun" should immediately land before the effect is successful.
The percentage chance to succeed is best when above 75% otherwise energy levels may be needlessly depleted until slowly recharged for another try.
Projections will not work on entites that are immune or those which have naturally strong psionic resistance. The easiest function of a mind bender projection: Probe Unit, may have little chance to succeed on resistant entities and other projection choices available on the mind bender will mostly fail when attempted.
A "Control Unit" (mind control) projection either works or doesn't. When successful, the effect will only cease when the psionic unit has depleted their Psi Energy, either is killed, or the subject under control is mind controlled by someone else.
Projections can be used with a good chance of success by a skilled hybrid on any unit that carries a weapon: humans, anthropods and skeletoids since their psionic resistance is naturally low.
A mind-controlled unit can be used to go anywhere and scout areas and does not need to be constantly visible to the projector.
Brainsucked hybrid agents are capable of using their mind bender against your troops.

Psionics Against Neutrals

Police can be best targeted for mind manipulation when performing a raid since these units have the lowest (randomised) Psi Defense of all security.
Any mind-controlled entity is classed as an X-Com unit. If you place that entity into a very dangerous situation then cease the mind-control, it is of no concern to X-Com why that unit decided to detonate a grenade at their feet or jump off from a very high roof.
Any mind contolled unit ~~sitting in a fire~~ injured while under mind control, this is viewed as an X-Com agent being hurt, however, if the mind-controlled unit is killed, it is classed as friendly fire and not direct enemy action. If the majority are killed off, others on the map may start to panic.

Psionics And You

Only 'weapon carriers' should be attacked with psionics. Others are strongly resistant.
Hire hybrids that have a higher than average psionic skill set and assign them to Psi Gym training immediately. When capable, they can psionically assist is battle and gain combat experience if using a weapon (preferabily a light-weight pistol).
If possible, some hybrids can do combat training and some learn in the psi gym, swapping them over occasionally (eg: every four weeks). Accuracy training proceeds faster if they can shoot and hit something on the battlescape.
Mind controlled entities should be convinced to throw their weapons away to somewhere out of reach, drop primed grenades at their feet, play 'catch' with a live proximity mine with their old friends, see how far they can ~~jump~~ fly when up high on a roof, run into stun-gas clouds, go play in a fire, and go find other hostiles to show X-Com how many friends they have.

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-Psionics in Apocalypse makes use of an agent's latent psionic powers to attack an enemy with their mind. This is aided through the [[Mind Bender]], a device similar to [[Psi-Amp]]s of old that were used by the earlier generation of X-COM combatants.
+'''X-Com agents use their latent psionic powers to attack an enemy with their mind.'''
+<!--
-Psionic powers in the Apocalypse era however are reduced from what they once were during the first two alien invasions. While still powerful in the hands of a powerful human/sectoid hybrid, is field of psionics are no longer the divine balance breaking force that it once was.
+This page is general info about using psionics, tactics, etc. ...and not a "how to" use a mind bender, that's its own page!
-= Psi Stats =
+-->
+=In General=
+* A naturally gifted unit can use a [[Mind Bender]] to telepathically manipulate any unit on the battlescape. The victim cannot be injured or killed outright but can be anally probed, stunned, demoralised, or mind-controlled.
+* An agent who has been trained in a Psi-Gym will become adept in the use of psionic projections.
+==Psi Attributes==
+An agent has three [[Agents Stats (Apocalypse)|psionic]] traits that govern their ability to either project or to resist 'mind games'.
+===Psi Energy===
+Agent's psionic energy available to project onto a victim. Slowly recharges.
+===Psi Skill===
+Agent's aptitude of performing the particular choice of psionic projection.
+===Psi Defence===
+The agent's ability to resist psionic manipulation.
-An agent will have three separate [[Agents Stats (Apocalypse)|stats]] that govern their psi ability. Psi Defence, Psi Energy and Psi Skill.
+==Agents For Hire== <!-- yes i know that only hybrids are bolded -->
+[[Humans (Apocalypse)|Humans]]: Humans have very low psionic attributes and need maximum training to perform even the easiest of psionic projections.(Probe Unit).<br>
+[[Hybrids (Apocalypse)|'''Hybrids''']]: Sectoid-Human hybrids are best suited for training due to their high base-level psionic attributes. To have the best Psi-Troops, hybrids available for hire should be selected for the best natural psionic ability levels, since training will triple the base values. ''Psi Skill'' and ''Psi Energy'' are together used for psionic manipulation. Both should be high since strong ''Psi Skill'' is useless unless your have the energy to use it, and ''Psi Energy'' will be depleted without effect if ''Psi Skill'' is weak (gives low percentages).<br>
+[[Androids (Apocalypse)|Androids]]: Androids cannot use psionics which also makes them immune to any projections.
-;Defense: Controls how well the agent will be able to resist attack.
+==Training==
-;Skill: The Aptitude of the agent at performing a successful attack.
+An agent's ability to perform psionic projections is very weak even for hybrids. Abilities will become much more powerful and with a greater chance of success when a suitable agent is trained to completion.
-;Energy: How much psi energy your agent can store. Think of it as the currency for psi attacks. This recharges in small amounts during combat.
+* Psionics ability is trained inside the base facility: [[Psi-Gym (Apocalypse)|Psi-Gym]].
+* The training of attributes will cease when the original psionic-skill-set values have tripled.
-== Training Psi Stats ==
+==Psionic Targets==
+To avoid X-Com agents being the subject of mind games, '''kill the psionic unit'''.
+* An X-Com agent may cancel their own projection manually.
+* Any unit to be manipulated must be directly visible to the agent who will be performing the projection.
+* If ''Psi Energy'' is depleted, any active projections will immediately fail.
+* Purposely allowing an X-Com unit to be panicked or stunned will keep the psi-attacker 'connected' with this agent. The hostile will expend their Psi Energy with only minor overall combat effect.
+* Any unit under hostile mind control will pick up weapons/grenades to use against your troops and if none are near, may use a stun grapple instead.
+* Manipulated X-Com agents can be targeted by other X-Com agents to remove a threat (eg: stun a panicking unit who is equipped with a dangerous weapon).
+* Any agent which has been mind controlled by the aliens should be immediately targeted by X-Com for mind control to 'return' the agent. The target unit is usually mind controlled again since they are visible to the hostile projector. Hide this ''Psi Defense'' weak agent if your own hybrids are depleted of ''Psi Energy'' or use a stun effect to temporarily remove the threat.
+* A flying agent under attack by "Stun" should immediately land before the effect is successful.
+* The percentage chance to succeed is best when above 75% otherwise energy levels may be needlessly depleted until slowly recharged for another try.
+* Projections will not work on entites that are immune or those which have naturally strong psionic resistance. The easiest function of a mind bender projection: ''Probe Unit'', may have little chance to succeed on resistant entities and other projection choices available on the mind bender will mostly fail when attempted.
+* A "Control Unit" (mind control) projection either works or doesn't. When successful, the effect will only cease when the psionic unit has depleted their ''Psi Energy'', either is killed, or the subject under control is mind controlled by someone else.
+* Projections can be used with a good chance of success by a skilled hybrid on any unit that carries a weapon: humans, [[Anthropod (Apocalypse)|anthropods]] and [[Skeletoid (Apocalypse)|skeletoids]] since their psionic resistance is naturally low.
+* A mind-controlled unit can be used to go anywhere and scout areas and does not need to be constantly visible to the projector.
+* Brainsucked hybrid agents are capable of using their mind bender against your troops.
-Psi is a long term investment. You will not be able to get brand new agents to perform successful psi attacks right away. With time and patience, their psi abilities will become much more significant.
+==Psionics Against Neutrals==
+Police can be best targeted for mind manipulation when performing a [[Tactical_Combat_Missions_(Apocalypse)#Raid|raid]] since these units have the lowest (randomised) ''Psi Defense'' of all security.<br>
+Any mind-controlled entity is classed as an X-Com unit. If you place that entity into a very dangerous situation then cease the mind-control, it is of no concern to X-Com why that unit decided to detonate a grenade at their feet or [[Input_Device_Reference_(Apocalypse)|jump]] off from a very high roof.<br>
+Any mind contolled unit <s>sitting in a fire</s> injured while under mind control, this is viewed as an X-Com agent being hurt, however, if the mind-controlled unit is killed, it is classed as friendly fire and not direct enemy action. If the majority are killed off, others on the map may start to panic.
-Psi stat training is done primarily performed through the [[Psi-Gym (Apocalypse)|Psi-Gym]]. Every day at the stroke of midnight, if an agent has been assigned to the lab and is at full health (i.e. the opposite of the [[Medical Bay (Apocalypse)|med-lab]] requirement), the agent will get a chance at gaining some minor increases to his or her psi stats.
+=Psionics And You=
+* Only 'weapon carriers' should be attacked with psionics. Others are strongly resistant.
+* Hire hybrids that have a higher than average psionic skill set and assign them to Psi Gym training immediately. When capable, they can psionically assist is battle and gain combat experience if using a weapon (preferabily a light-weight pistol).
+* If possible, some hybrids can do [[Training Area (Apocalypse)|combat training]] and some learn in the psi gym, swapping them over occasionally (eg: every four weeks). Accuracy training proceeds faster if they can shoot and hit something on the battlescape.
+* Mind controlled entities should be convinced to throw their weapons away to somewhere out of reach, drop primed grenades at their feet, play 'catch' with a live proximity mine with their old friends, see how far they can <s>jump</s> fly when up high on a roof, run into stun-gas clouds, go play in a fire, and go find other hostiles to show X-Com how many friends they have.
-Psi stats for very agent will only be able to improve three times the base amount. For example, if an agent starts with 25 Energy, the agent will max at 75 energy.
+[[Take_Cover!|'''Next''' page]]   [[Capturing_Live_Aliens_(Apocalypse)|'''Previous''' page]]   [[Tactics_(Apocalypse)|Return to Start]]
-== Psi Stat Progression by Race ==
-;[[Humans (Apocalypse)|Humans]] : Humans have very low psi stats, therefore they make the weakest psionic users as their maximum psi stats will be very low. They are still able to obtain a small success rate at probing enemy targets.
-;[[Hybrids (Apocalypse)|Hybrids]]: The mutants will be the core of your psi users as they get the highest base psi stat rolls. However they are weaker than humans, thus have to invest some time in the combat gym as well, so their overall training time tends to be double that of their human counterparts if you wish to keep their strength stat up, which can only be raised through physical training and not actual combat.
-;[[Androids (Apocalypse)|Androids]]: Androids cannot use psi because their psi skill and energy start at 0 and cannot improve beyond that. Their psi defense however is set to 100. This is redundant because enemy psi users ignore androids as psi targets. This makes them effective at combating enemy psi units.
-= Psi Attack Requirements/Limitations  =
-In order to perform a psionic attack, the user must:
-# Have a [[Mind Bender]]
-# Be able to see the target
-# Have enough energy to perform the attack.
-# Be able to maintain the attack (RT Combat only)
-Obviously, to perform a successful attack, the psi users must have a strong enough skill level to combat the target's psi defence.
-== Potential Psi Targets ==
-Psi powers, though powerful, are limited to a small selection of targets due to the unusually high levels of psi defense most enemies exhibit.
-As such, Psi can only be used reliably on humanoid tool-weilding enemies. Namely, [[Anthropod (Apocalypse)|Anthropod]]s, [[Skeletoid (Apocalypse)|Skeletoid]]s and all humanoid enemy guards.
-Every other alien will have such high resistance that only probes will be reliable. All other attacks will tend to have a very low chance of success (2% being the most common).
-Although you are severely limited to the types of enemies you can control, these are also the most significant enemies to control due to the items that they carry. They are also the most common targets.
-= Mind Bender Quick Overview =
-The mind bender is akin to a sorceror's magic staff. A device to channel the user's energy.
-The mind bender provides several functions. The first is a display of the agent's psi stats. These are the same that you can view in the inventory screen, although you can see any updates to the stats as they happen. The data may not be instantaneous, so give the game a few seconds to update the screen. In Real Time Combat, bringing up this panel will also break any current active attack you may have on at the moment.
-The primary use of the mind bender is to perform four separate psi attacks on the enemy. Probe, Panic, Stun and Mind Control.
-;Probe: The easiest function, and only gives you access to the target's statistics in the inventory screen.
-; Panic: Causes the target to lose morale. One of the easier attacks with minimal drain in real-time. Once the target's morale is too low, it will start to panic.
-;Stun: Inflicts stun damage on an enemy target. If the stun threshold exceeds the unit's health, it will be knocked out. Stun damage is the same as the type caused by the stun grenade or stun grapple.
-;Mind Control: Takes full control over the target. The hardest and most expensive attack to perform.
-For detailed information on each attack, see the [[Mind Bender]] article.
-= Turn Based vs. Real Time Psi =
-All of the mind bender attacks will differ based on the game mode.
-In Turn Based, each attack is a one-use attack and the effect takes effect right away. This is not too dissimilar to how it previously functioned, only you still require line of sight.
-In Real Time, once an attack is successful, it must be maintained by spending psi energy in order for the attack to keep the attack live.
-== Real Time: Maintenance Costs ==
-As long as you are attacking the target, your psi energy will be consumed at a rate depending on the attack mode selected. The harder the mode, the more energy will be drained.
-Probe and mind control are instantaneous, but require energy to maintain for as long as you want the effect to last.
-Stun and Panic do not affect the target immediately, but slowly build up the longer the link is maintained. Of the four attacks, these two must be maintained long enough for their effects to be of any use.
-Note that maintenance costs only take effect as the clock is ticking, not while the game is paused. You can avoid paying maintenance costs for probe and mind control by using them while the game is paused, and then breaking the link before restarting the clock.
-== Real Time: Breaking the Psi Link ==
-An active attack will be broken when:
-* The target goes beyond the user's line of sight
-* The user runs out of psi energy
-* The user manually breaks the link by selecting a new attack on the mind bender.
-At this time, some testing will be needed to verify:
-* When the target breaks contact if it falls out of the psi user's line of sight. * If the link is broken when another user succeeds in performing an attack on a unit that's already being attacked.
-== Real Time: Effect on Neutral Guards ==
-If you were to perform a non-violent raid on a non-hostile organization, you can safely practice with your mind bender to your heart's content on the guards with no repercussions.
-If the guards are hurt in any way while under mind control, this will be viewed as a violent action towards the organization and may cause the guards to turn hostile on your agents.
-If the guard gets hurt after you've broken the mind control link, then the action will not be blamed on your troops. Even if the guard is killed or sustains fatal wounds and dies from them, your relations with the building owners will not be affected. The guards must see it as self inflicted damage.
-Note that that while this condition was tested only on whether guards will turn hostile towards you, no visible changes in relation standing or requests for compensation were observed afterwards.
-= Tips =
-* Hire some hybrids from the very start and have them studying in the Psy Gym right from the word go. Either keep them out of direct combat, or make sure they take it easy during the battle.  They may not seem like much now, but they will improve.
-* If you hire lots of hybrids, consider placing half of them in [[Training Area (Apocalypse)|combat training]] and the other half in the psy gym. Swap them over from time to time.
-* Multiple psi users should be employed to combat the low amount of psi energy a single agent will have. Let one attack while the other rests.
-* Don't over-use your psi in a single burst. On the otherh and, try not to let your psi-energy go to waste by having an energy bar at 100% at all times.
-* Mind Control and Probe in Real Time should be used while the game is paused. With Mind Control, do as much as you can in the enemy's inventory such as set off explosives (remember to activate them by moving them after setting the timer) and then breaking the mind control.
-== See Also ==
-* [[Training (Apocalypse)|Training]]
-* [[Mind Bender]]
-* [[Psi-Gym (Apocalypse)|Psy-Gym]]
 [[Category: Apocalypse]]

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