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Picking up from threads here, here from the old forums, here - where Chris mentions Anti-Psi gear, and here Why I liked them Unlocking the secrets of alien psionics was one of the most rewarding aspects of the original X-COM game. Not only did it open up a method of combat removed from standard weaponry, it involved nearly all aspects of the game. There were new facilities, a training regime, equipment manufacturing and research topics. They also gave the player a clear indication that they were now starting to fight the best of the aliens, if not on their own terms, at least in the same playing area. With months of training completed and equipment made, the first X-Com personnel tried to use their new powers on the enemy, failing as often as they succeeded. That first success was always a highlight of the game. There were also darker implications of the players use of psionics. The player was essentially beginning the approach that had resulted in the creation of the Sectoids and the shrivelled shells of the Ethereals. This connection was further linked through the chilling alien artefacts and the end of game message from the alien leader. So, a new dimension in gameplay supported by nearly every other element in the game. Sounds good. Except, that along with Blaster Launchers, it is considered to be the most overpowering and game breaking part of X-Com. Simply because X-Com, as they did with everything else, became every bit as good as the aliens in using their new abilities. So any reintroduction should be very concerned about maintaining game balance. Considerations Here is a list of balancing features & caveats that would peg back psionics to make players work very hard to get them and to keep them. Not every one of these should be implemented. But a balance reached to ensure that players cannot create whole squads of highly trained psionic Xenonauts and dispose of the rest. As of build 18.2 the economy is so closed that finding extra revenue for anything is already very difficult. - Aliens have lived with or are bred with psionic abilities. Humans will have much weaker abilities. - Humans should have a reduced chance to successfully use psionics, compared to the aliens. - Human psi is unpredictable. Success should not be guaranteed. - Psionic research should be time consuming - Psionic facilities should be expensive - Psionic equipment should be expensive and complex to manufacture. - Psi training should be undertaken over a considerable period to ensure that the soldier is capable of even minor success. - Xenonauts undergoing psionic training cannot be active in missions, as per other training. - Line of sight psionic abilities only for humans – with exception of location ability. No squad sight use or even proximity. - The TU %cost of using a psi-amp should be high. This eliminates the agents ability to perform reaction fire, or to target more than one foe. It also prevents the chances of improving other abilities through actions. It also poses a risk due to line of sight attacks only. The agent may not be able to use the psi amp and return neatly to cover. - Abilities require the use of a psi-amp or other psychotronic technology. - No mind control should be available for humans. - At least one alien race should be psi immune and all constructs will be too. - A Xenonaut can’t carry both offensive and defensive psionic equipment. - Psychotronic charges in lieu of there being a Psi-Skill/ Strength stat. - Xenonauts with psionic ability are actually more susceptible to psionic control -Loss of stats having to go through surgery for Psionic Implant - Powered by the morale (even health) of your own team. - No psionic screening. So, no mass removal of soldiers with poor psi stats. There are no psi stats. - After being the target of X alien psionic attacks, the soldier is stunned. This prevents the aliens constantly spamming the same soldier and the Xenonauts perhaps using this to create Psinks to always be on the receiving end of any alien attack, while the other soldiers can get on with the mission. How they could work in game Equipped like a weapon/ item. Use pistol animations for Psychotron and medi-kit ones for Mind Probe & Mind Shield. Options within each device can be accessed as per the current quick slot grenade system. Effects can be drawn either from existing weapons or form similar alien psionic effects. Requirements Weapon: Psychotron. Device for amplifying a Xenonaut’s psionic ability for attack. Facility: Psi-training (could be combined with laboratory/ in assets training facility) Little effects pics for quick slots Equipment: Mind Probe Equipment: Mind Shield Training Regime: Psionics Research & Manufacturing alterations as below. Research & Manufacturing Links Sectoid Vivisection ®> Psionic Weaponry ®> Psi Lab (F) &Mind Probe (M) Sectoid Leader Vivisection ® > Mind Shield (M) Ethereal Vivisection ® > Psychotrons ® > Psychotrons (M) Key ® - Research Topic, (M) Manufacturing, (F) Facility Notes: EU1994 aliens used above to prevent spoilers Psi Lab training will be for at least 20 days as it also involves a psionic implant. Possible Abilities At this stage in development, it’s easier to use assets that are already in place. That will lead to comments of “well, this only replicates what’s already there.” However, to create anything new will probably mean that there’s much less chance of seeing anything at all. The list of possible abilities is just that. Possible abilities. Some may be a little too powerful, some not powerful enough to be useful. But hopefully, they show a range of things from which a selection could be made. They have been grouped to the relevant device, but this is very flexible. Psi Amp (Generally Ranged Offensive) TK - Explode target square as per grenade effects Pyrokinesis – Use Psi Amp to create flame on target square. Cryokinesis OP?– a one turn stun on opponents. Doubt – increases suppression of already suppressed targets Luminakinesis – create a zone of light around target square. Levitate – as per Buzzard effects Levitate Other – as per Buzzard but to target Xenonaut (not alien) Psi-Shield (Defensive) Mind Shield – Use mind shield and decrease effectiveness of alien psionics. Dull Senses – Use Psi amp to reduce chances of triggering reaction fire. No reduction in alien TUs.~ Invisibility – turns Xenonaut into just a shadow, reducing chances for aliens to see her. Intangibility – shots go through the Xenonaut Resistance – increase resistance to damage of target unit for a turn. Velocity – increase TUs of psionic for 1 turn Focus – Increase accuracy of psionic for 1 turn Cloud Minds – Create FOW pocket around psionic. Psi-Probe (Ranged Passive) Rally – Increase morale of target Xenonaut in mission. Useful in the event of panicking soldiers. Psychic Healing – Self repair or heal others Stasis – effectively stun severely wounded Xenonaut before they bleed out. Locate Life – Detect all units in an area Locate Enemy – detect all enemy units within an area Pathfind – track path of target for X turns Identify – Identifies rank/ possibly health of target. Nudge – Move civilian a square in any direction. Drain – drains % power (ammo) from laser/ plasma and SPOILER weaponry Remote Viewing – increase line of sight of psionic for 1 turn. This possibly could be a tile that is X away from where the Xenonaut is standing, meaning that they couldn’t simply see past the edge of the FOW , but a more distant tile. Blink – teleport X squares away. Notes: The abilities have been selected so that they do not have any direct control over enemy units, who are far more powerful psionics. Psionics in the cold war Just to finish off, here are a few points about why mind control and other psychic abilities were considered during the cold war. These aren’t to be taken in isolation. They should be considered against a backdrop of almost Orwellian paranoia mixed in with equal measures of corruption, showmanship, disinformation, power without oversight and greed. Psychic research fits nicely alongside the likes of laser weapon research and advanced, reverse engineered aircraft at the time of the original release of Enemy Unknown. They fit just as nicely in with the world around the cold war Xenonauts. Based on dubious intelligence reports, the US became involved with, and needless to say kept funding, research in this area. Project Sun Streak, later Star Gate reportedly received some $20 million. Star Gate, followed research conducted at the Stanford Research Institute and focused on clairvoyance, remote viewing and precognition. Supposed successes were predicting submarine launches, hostage releases and attacks on a ship. The project ran through the 1970s, well past the time frame of Xenonauts, and didn’t close until the mid 1990s. On the other side of the iron curtain the release of Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain in 1970, detailing apparent research into this area by the Soviet Union led towards an arms race of sorts. Likewise the first international psychotronics meeting in Prague in 1973, also sparked concerns that the Soviet union were developing methods of using technology to induce a variety of psychic effects. Of particular interest to the DEA were the generators of Robert Pavlita. X-Com Psi-Amps are derived from these devices. This psychic arms race isn’t an isolated one during the cold war. It’s a continuation of the MKUltra “behavioural modification of humans” experiments that ran from 1953 through wars in Korea and Vietnam, to their “official halting” in 1973, costing unknown millions. Experiments on often unwitting subjects were broad, and a variety of methods or whatever methods deemed necessary were used. Induced panic, irrational rage (going beserk) and the other key element of X-Com psionics, mind control, has its roots here. Perhaps more tangentially, MK Ultra used a lot of information retrieved from the subjects of Project Paperclip: Scientists recruited from German forces of WWII to assist in research in the US. Perhaps the “master race” of mind controlling aliens has darker roots, yet ones that are even closer to home.

Now I'm not talking about mind control, but how about suppressing aliens with psi powers in later gameplay? You would need to catch a ceasan alien leader, interrogate it and then build a psi lab where you can train your soilders, just like in the OG. They then gain the ability to use their psionic power to suppress an alien, just like weapon fire would, but without doing damage. Androns are immune and high rank aliens and Ceasans are harder to suppress.

I'm not sure how Psionics worked in X-COM: UFO Defense, so forgive me if this is pretty much how it was done back then, but I figured I'd just say my idea. Make it so that there are three invisible stats that are only revealed after a unit is tested for Psionic abilities. Psionic Strength: A set rating that doesn't go up or down. Determines what level of Psionic abilities are available to the unit. Psionic Skill: How effective the unit is at using their Psionic abilities. Goes up the more Psionic abilities are used. Psionic Resistance: How effective the unit is at resisting alien Psionic abilities. Goes up the more alien Psionic abilities are resisted by the unit. Psionic Strength can be done with numbers or with a simple word rating. A low-ranking guy would probably only be able to reduce an alien's bravery with a Psionic attack, whereas a "Savant' would be able to perform a mind control. How successful these attacks are, however, are determined by their Psionic Skill, which will probably start out low regardless of their Psionic Strength, requiring them to practice with weaker skills in the beginning. Psionic "Savants" would probably be very rare, too, so the chances of you getting a full team of Psionic Savants who can mind control every enemy would be extremely unlikely. Maybe every 1-in-50 recruits are Savants. While the rests are towards the lower-to-middle end of the Psionic scale, to show the difference between Human Psionics and Alien Psionics.

I have not played the game for a long period of time so could someone tell me

Will there be mind control in this game? I hope not(I know its in for aliens which I like) because in the original once you had mind control the game got very boring. what do you guys think?

So I was doing a terror mission when I saw a really strange alien with a purple shirt and pistol (as a posed to rifles or other higher tier weapons) So I knock it out and learn its a psionic alien but the end mission report said Destroyed. So do psionics (for humans) exist in Xenonauts or is capturing aliens just worthless after the first one.

Are there any? I was invading an Andron base when one of my troops switched sides. Is there a way to UN-mind control him? or is he gone for good? His bravery is crazy high as he is one of my vets, so I am also wondering if there are any defenses to Psionics.

I don't usually get beyond t2, so I've never experienced psychic powers myself. Has anyone experienced them? And if you did, were they nasty?

I was browsing the xeno wiki earlier, and noticed under "Psionics" it said that humans cannot get access, even limited, to psionics. ,.... WHY? I personally found psionics to be one of the best parts of the game. Commanding you troops, enduring mental assault after assault, and then one day unlocking those powers for your self. I remember the first time I turned the power of the mind onto my extraterrestrial foe. I wore a grim smile, watching those little grey B******s run around in panic. I honestly believe we should, at great difficulty, and cost, to be able to research psionic warfare. I would add the addendum that we only have access to a limited number of the psionic powers, at least not mind control(unless perhaps if you can interrogate a praetor). Your thoughts folks?

Is it line of sight? If it isn't it would be rather unfair. This was an issue from the original. If I remember rightly (esp. in an alien base when you were in the upper levels) it was as if they picked on your men at random (maybe he weakest psi strength troop?). Psionic attacks can be devastating enough when the aliens chain them together to decimate your squad!

So well, any news about psionics in the game? are they still going to be present just for the aliens? It would really help to have our troops being able to attain psi ability, it helped a lot in UFO EU. It was kind of an exploit but later it was corrected in xcom apocalypse and it was a nice feature but not the incredible "marvel comics" superpower that soldiers had in UFO EU (bypassing line of sight like professor xavier with **cerebro). Is this kind of coding a heavy duty task? would they have to change anything of the actual game coding? **Just FYI cerebro means brain in spanish ; )

I hate to be a noob on my first post but I just had to ask this. I have been looking around the forums and website and have found nothing on this, I was wondering if because human psi powers where removed (I think that is a good thing) will there be some type of anti psi item to prevent the aliens from controlling your units in any way? Thanks much, Zorac56 btw going to bed now so don't be miffed if I don't respond soon

Another carryover from the old forum. There were some more interesting approaches than "just hold a psi-blocker in your hands". (or tin foil hats) So does that mean the humans will get indirect fire weapons after all? If the aliens are allowed to attack without LOS, there is no other way to even get close to them when they are in a room or behind tall cover. Well, not without leveling every structure on the map. Oh, I'm not talking about a an off-map battery of 155mm artillery but if aliens are able to disable or even control the soldiers through walls and without LOS, soldiers should be able to do something on a similiar scale, such as short-range teleporting stun or frag grenades through walls. Either that or play with a ground team of only vehicles. Smaller ones than "real" tanks so they can get to the aliens. Basically like the Apocalypse androids that portugus mentions below.